Chapter 112

When we arrived, more time had passed than expected.

The Pink Marten private army from the Blueberry County had already established their encampment at the rendezvous point.

I slowly dismounted my horse, taking in the sight.

After hours of riding through the portal, which was an undulating, aurora-like space where it was difficult to distinguish front from back, my head was throbbing and my stomach felt nauseous.

‘Normally, such a long distance wouldn’t be covered in a single large-scale portal jump.’

‘The urgency of the matter made it unavoidable this time, though.’

The longer one stayed in the portal, the more their sense of balance was disrupted.

In this world, this kind of motion sickness was called ‘portal sickness.’

For short periods, one only saw a mysterious aurora, but prolonged use brought on nausea, as it did now.

‘It feels much worse than car sickness.’

I leaned my body against Nine, who was standing behind me.

Glancing back, he looked perfectly fine, as if he hadn’t experienced any portal sickness at all.

‘Are Sword Masters’ inner ears sturdy too?’

Nine, who had commanded the knights to establish the camp, looked concerned upon seeing my pale complexion.

“Chacha, are you alright? Are you feeling very unwell?”

“No. I’ll feel better after a short rest.”

As I inhaled Nine’s distinct refreshing scent, the churning in my stomach seemed to gradually subside.

I wanted to be held in his arms, but I decided to endure it, given the onlookers and the location.

‘Besides, there’s someone who looks much worse than me.’

I looked to the side.

“Ugh.”

Unlike me, who had used portals frequently, Iris, who had taken a portal for the first time, looked nearly dead.

She had lain down immediately upon arrival, but the nausea didn’t seem to be improving, as sounds of her suffering kept coming.

‘It’s a shame that this is her first portal experience; she might be scared of portals from now on.’

Her appearance certainly warranted such a worry.

Perhaps the only saving grace was that even with that pale complexion, she wasn’t vomiting.

I thought, ‘True to being the original heroine, her image is being maintained.’

“Ugh!”

Ah, scratch that.

As soon as she showed signs of dry heaving, Kroel expertly handed her an earthenware jar.

While this side looked like a late-night college town bar street, there were people who looked perfectly fine, as if they were in a completely different world.

“The construction method is unique. Is it a Northern method?”

“Yes, we build it this way in the North because it’s more effective when dealing with monsters.”

“It is said to be based on a fortified position built at some ancient ruins. There’s a story that it withstood the attacks of monsters in those days.”

As the knights began constructing the camp on Nine’s order, the private army showed interest. Their exchange of opinions looked quite amicable.

Despite the serious objective of suppressing a rebellious force, the atmosphere was relatively light.

I felt a little relieved.

‘This level of atmosphere isn’t bad. Though we shouldn’t relax too much.’

I had worried that the private army might feel uncomfortable with the Spinelle tribe members due to recent events, like dealing with monster hordes, but my worry was unnecessary.

While I felt secretly relieved, Norman, who had approached without my noticing, called me.

“The strategy meeting is about to begin. Please come in.”

I nodded, brought Wilhelm, who was talking near the encampment, and entered the central tent.

On the large table were meticulously prepared materials, including a map of the city of Vivian and floor plans of Count Laurel’s mansion.

‘This is amazing.’

Floor plans of the lord’s mansion, in particular, weren’t easy to obtain, even with a spy. Usually, only a few insiders had access to them.

I was newly reminded of Eclipse’s formidable intelligence capabilities.

As Nine and I took the seats of honor, the scouts began their report.

“We confirmed that the White Fox private army evacuated residents to several locations starting early this morning.”

“Evacuation?”

Iris asked, clutching her forehead. Her face was deathly pale, and she still seemed to be suffering badly from portal sickness.

Others followed up with questions.

“Evacuation? Isn’t the current White Fox private army following the Cult’s will?”

“Then, does that mean the Cult ordered the residents’ evacuation?”

Based on the situation alone, that seemed correct.

However, it was questionable whether those advocating for the end of the world would evacuate Vivian’s residents for safety reasons.

‘The core of the Cult is likely the Spinelle tribe.’

As people who had suffered long-term discrimination and ostracism, their anger towards the Empire’s people would undoubtedly be immense.

‘Would they really have evacuated the residents out of concern for them?’

The probability was very low.

In my opinion, the Cult’s intention was…

“Hostages?”

My eyes met Nine’s.

He seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me.

“If they did take the residents hostage, it’s highly likely they are being held in military facilities.”

Norman continued.

“The residents would have known their intention was to take them hostage. The reason they didn’t escape despite this must be due to some form of oppression. Perhaps their families were scattered.”

Iris’s face hardened. Others also shook their heads at the wickedness of the Cult for taking innocent residents hostage.

Now, the method of simply overpowering the Cult with force was impossible. The problem was how to safely extract the residents being held hostage before that.

The meeting officially began. The discussion mainly revolved around the best way to suppress them with minimal damage.

Amidst the various suggestions, an odd point suddenly occurred to me.

I raised my hand and looked at Nine, and he nodded, granting me permission to speak.

Everyone’s attention focused on me. I asked the scouts.

“Have you seen any monsters here or nearby yesterday or today?”

I had listened through all the scouts’ reports, but there had been no mention of monsters so far. They wouldn’t have forgotten to report it in this situation.

The scout’s answer was indeed as I had expected.

“No. We have not.”

Upon his reply, those who realized something strange immediately hardened their expressions fearfully.

It seemed I was not the only one who found this issue odd.

I looked at Nine and spoke.

“It’s strange. Monsters are swarming all over the Empire, yet they haven’t been seen at the main base?”

Just then.

Boom.

The heavy atmosphere due to the ominous feeling was short-lived. With a loud roar, the ground began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.

“W-what is it!”

“What’s going on?”

Confused voices rang out one after another, both inside and outside the tent, due to the sudden tremor.

“Chacha!”

Nine immediately pulled me into an embrace and moved outside the tent. Following him, others also quickly exited the tent.

“Everyone, be on guard!”

The Silver Wolf Knights and the Pink Marten private army, who were resting in other tents, also rushed out to assess the situation.

The tremor grew increasingly violent.

“Ah!”

“Ugh!”

Those who couldn’t keep their balance and fell to the ground groaned. I definitely would have rolled on the ground if Nine hadn’t held me.

“Thank you.”

“Be careful…”

Nine’s eyes, which had been looking at me worriedly, suddenly changed completely.

He drew his sword in an instant. It was so fast that I didn’t even see him touch the scabbard.

Simultaneously with Nine blocking my path, something enormous erupted from the ground.

Kroooaar!

It was a gigantic monster shaped like a mealworm.

The monster, which burst out of the ground with its large mouth wide open, instantly swallowed things on the ground and vanished back into the earth.

In the place where the monster had passed, only a hole as large as its body remained.

It was a strange sight: not a drop of blood flowed, even though the knights who couldn’t dodge in time had become the monster’s prey and disappeared.

“All units, prepare for combat!”

At Nine’s command, the knights’ eyes changed.

Their look of confusion vanished in an instant, replaced only by the fury and killing intent of losing a comrade.

I tried to calmly assess the situation, but my hands trembled uncontrollably despite my will.

Even though I had realized the combat prowess of Nine and the Knights, the fear of being on the battlefield remained.

Despite all I had experienced, facing monsters and seeing people die right before my eyes was still terrifying.

‘No. Remember why you came here!’

I hid my trembling hands behind my back. After taking a few deep breaths, the trembling subsided slightly.

I stepped forward and shouted with a dignified posture.

“Wilhelm!”

“Yes! All Pink Marten private army, prepare!”

“Yes!”

The soldiers of the Pink Marten, conspicuous even among the armed individuals, shouted in unison.

They immediately drew their swords and, without hesitation, slashed their own palms.

Red blood dripped down, staining the dirt ground.