Foreigner Volume 7, Chapter 119

Volume 7 Chapter 119, Magic Sword ~ 27

　With a sigh of relief, the farmers watched as the army of over 500 men advanced northeast along the road. It is just about time to harvest the wheat, and they have to go off to war. Such dismay was in his exhale.

　The equipment is scattered and not standardized, so they are probably the private army of a noble family or something. The other day, the farmers heard that the road that snatches the edge of the Deep Green Forest that connects the Raid has been blocked by some kind of mysterious big explosion.

　This area is also known as a group of city-states, but of course, a country cannot be built only on city-states. Farming and cattle raising are also necessary, and the city-states repeatedly skirmish with each other for control of the land. Fortunately, the city-state is close to Ares and has not had its agricultural land threatened for decades.

　The peasants were horrified when they saw a man on horseback breaking away from the army and coming toward them. The farmer shuddered, wondering if he might be robbed of his wheat, which was just about to be harvested.

「Oi, you ever there」

「Heh. Do you need something from me?」

　Directly approached, the farmer had no choice but to bow his head. He was a slender man of about 50 years of age, but his appearance and clothes were of high quality, so the farmer judged him to be a member of the aristocracy.

「Can you tell me who has been down this road in the past few days?」

　Huh, the farmer replied in a voice that was not quite to the point. This area is in Ares' power area, and although it is indeed the road to Mugere and Raid, there is not much traffic, to begin with, because of the many monsters and beasts crawling out of the Deep Green Forests. And moreover, since the road to Raid was blocked a few days ago, it has been visibly reduced.

「I think the only traffic in front of the knight's house was a caravan of merchants from Mugere that passed by yesterday.」

「What about the young men and women traveling in the direction of Ares?」

「I haven't seen any such thing for the past 10 days.」

　Of course, it would be different if people were passing by while he was absorbed in his work or at night, but the farmer shook his head from side to side. The farmer's not lying.

「Well then, on the other hand, who came from the Ares area? Can you remember back to about 20 days ago?」

「Let's see... ...... a fast horse passed by three days ago, and about seven days ago, a group of adventurers passed by on foot.」

「Hoo. About that adventurer's appearance...」

　The farmer answered honestly what was asked of him: he remembered a group of four men and a woman in their mid-30s who rented the eaves of his barn because it was raining.

　When asked what else he remembered, he recalled a group of traders passing by just 20 days earlier, but the middle-aged man simply replied in a bored tone.

　What on earth did he want to ask? The farmer did not understand well.

「Now that I remembered, that group of adventurers was making a lot of noise about seeing a Flying Dragon a few days ago.」

「A Flying Dragon?」

　A middle-aged man made a thoughtful gesture. The peasant looked up at him as if he were a knight, but he was not wearing sheet metal armor, and the peasant shuddered to think that he might have been treated better than a knight. But the middle-aged man only muttered, "I see," and tossed him 10 copper coins as a thank-you.

　He hurriedly gathered them up and looked at the middle-aged man's expression, but the man turned his head and went back to the army.

　The peasant, feeling he had gained something, slipped the 10 coppers into his pocket and went back to work.

　Baron Dantes, the leader of the army, is approached by a middle-aged man who has been talking with the farmer. It was Sheryl's father, Edward Coogan. After apologizing for his rudeness on horseback, Edward said, somewhat proudly.

「Apparently, the target hasn't come through yet.」

「Good」

「If the information we received in Ares is correct, I think it would be best to wait for them in the Valley of the Horwood's, just up ahead.」

　Baron Dantes threw a cold stare at Edward. He was saying, "I know that without you telling me.".

　It is Baron Dantes' cause and goal to take down the murderous man who killed his son, Raymond, with impunity. He has no intention of sneaking around in hiding, making use of ambush and other means to finish Satoru.

　Baron Dantes has gathered 500 mercenaries and adventurers, but as it is, they are nothing more than a mere crowd. It is only with the knowledge of this former nobleman, Edward Coogan, that they have been able to fight with a minimum of skill after marching for the past three days, although it is annoying. However, this man who gives wise instructions at every turn is a relative of the High Mentor and his granddaughter, who led to the death of Baron Dantes's son Raymond. He can't bring himself to accept this from the bottom of his heart.

「There is no reason why I should go out of my way to wait for him with an army of 500 men. First of all, I want to kill Satoru, the man who killed my son, as soon as possible.」

「That's true, but ......」

　Edward was honestly unable to resist Baron Dantes' desire for revenge. Although Edward has his own resentment toward Satoru and the others for ruining his plan, there is no profit in this battle. It was only vanity and stubbornness that led him to organize such a large army, even though it would not bring him a single penny of profit. No matter how good he was at swordsmanship or magic, he could not possibly have 500 men to kill just one man. Edward heard that his father Graham had described Satoru in the Senate as a possible Demon King, but in today's world, the term "Demon King" does not appear unless it is a children's fairy tale. Edward had underestimated Satoru's ability.

「Then, may I at least have your permission to make the first mention?」

　The fact that he carries a large sword that exceeds his height suggests that he is probably a warrior and not very skilled in magic. If the opponent is a magician, the priority is to close the distance, but if not, a crossbow or bow and arrow will do the trick. Regardless of what Baron Dantes thinks, Edward thinks that there is no better way to reduce the danger.

　With Baron Dantes's elated permission, Edward ordered a party to go ahead. If they had to fight in too narrow a terrain, they would not be able to take advantage of the difference in numbers. The valley of Horwood has many narrow terrains and is often used as a defensive base when fighting against Raid.

　Edward has a bitter feeling about this. This valley was the site of the battle that led to his own loss of his status as noble. When he was sent to fight the Raid, he advised the crown prince's younger brother to take advantage of the narrow terrain to defend the valley, but the crown prince's younger brother refused to listen to him and marched into the valley. When the rearguard was attacked by an ambush of Raid's army, Edward saw his vanguard collapse and immediately ordered a retreat, and he himself was the first to flee.

　Edward still believes that he made the right decision at that moment, partly because he did not want to be caught in the narrow terrain as the army retreated from the front line.

「Squad 41, advance ahead into the valley.」

「Understood, sir.」

　Among the ordered 41st is a veteran mercenary. He is highly regarded by those around him as a man who always survives no matter what predicament he is in, but his skills are not that great.

　No one in the squad knows that he is actually a member of the Holy Sword Clan.

　He was ordered to join this army by Sayasute, who controls the western part of the country, and he usually makes his living as a mercenary. He has been able to misrepresent his abilities to the extent that he has been inconspicuous but not underestimated, but when he encounters the target this time, he is told not to hide his strength and to challenge with all his might.

　That is suddenly hard to believe, even for a man.

　The man is the third most powerful member of the clan in this region, but since the head of the clan herself went to the trouble of coming out on this case, it is easy to imagine that he is no match for the man himself. However, if the Holy Sword Clan is seen by others, it will not be able to maintain its secrecy, which will be troublesome in some way. This time, there are more than 500 people in the army. It is hard to believe that they will be annihilated so easily.

　Even for a man who has fought many battles in his career, this mission was full of exceptions.

　After all, the objective was just one man. Perhaps the target may have dozens of friends, but even so, it is also unusual to gather 500 mercenaries, even if it is not a war, and the high reward is also unusual.

　The reason why the chief of the West, Sayasute, told him to give his all ― that's what the man was thinking about.

　The reason may be that they don't know the strength of Satoru, the big man who is the target of the Holy Sword Clan this time. The man also has information that it was this man, Satoru, who caused the great explosion that occurred in the suburbs of the Dark Green Forest. If this is true, his magical power must be enormous. If Satoru was a master of a magic sword that feeds on magic, there would be no problem, but if he were to use more magic than imagined in his swordsmanship, it would not be an easy task. It is necessary to measure the opponent's ability.

　He was entrusted with the role of measuring the opponent's strength ― in other words, he was a pawn to be discarded. Of course, it would be better if he could defeat the opponent himself, but it would not be that easy. He has no objection to being a pawn. Loyalty to the clan is absolute.

　I only hope that my death will not be in vain.

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