Heroes on the Battlefield

After seven days of marching, the forces of Nakea and Neporo finally spotted each other.

From there, camps were established, and both sides sent scouts to reconnoiter each other's positions. In this scouting work, Neporo seemed to have the advantage, as they had more beastkin among the demon race.

As it became known later, both armies exceeded 100,000 troops and were roughly equal in strength. Their armaments were also roughly equal. Then again, if that hadn't been the case, perhaps there wouldn't have been a war in the first place.

After three days of standoff, the two armies clashed.

The terrain was a series of gently rolling hills, not particularly suited for tactical maneuvering. Thus, both sides deployed in wide horizontal formations.

There weren't many options: either charge and break through the center, or encircle and annihilate. That was about it.

Because magic existed, neither side opted for trench warfare. They fought with firepower head-on.

Long-range attacks gradually closed in, and eventually the battle devolved into a grimy, old-fashioned melee of bayonets and swords.

Sei and the others watched this from afar.

Given the range of weapons, they couldn't get too close. But they still wanted to know the battle situation in as much detail as possible.

After creating a thick wall with earth magic, Sei deployed her map. Even at this distance, the sounds of both armies fighting reached them.

Fortunately—if one could call it that—the battle was going in Nakea's favor.

Nakea's left wing was pushing the enemy back. On Sei's map, the dots representing lives were disappearing.

"Which side has the advantage?"

To Chaos's question, Sei answered in a cold voice.

"Nakea. Their left wing is gradually pushing the enemy back… One of the heroes is near the front lines. They're probably firing off spells repeatedly, whittling down the enemy."

Many spells existed that were more powerful than modern rifles. And if someone could use even one of them, a hero with the Gift of infinite magic power would be a formidable force indeed.

The same was true for defense. If they could use magic to block mere bullets, they could keep using it without limit.

"Level-up sickness… isn't happening, huh. The enemy isn't monsters after all."

Level-up sickness primarily occurred when killing large numbers of monsters. If the enemies were demon race, they wouldn't give that much experience.

Besides, if they knew about level-up sickness, they would use magic for defense. Block the enemy's attacks while landing your own. Just that alone was an overwhelming advantage.

"I wonder if they realize the demon race are the same species as humans…"

Sei murmured unconsciously, but it was probably better not to realize that.

Monsters could still be killed. But if the opponent had intelligence and could hold conversations?

Sei recalled the goblins she had seen in the Dwarf village and the labyrinth city.

A race with green, wrinkled faces and large, charming eyes. She had seen them in Remdria too. They weren't evil beings.

Though whether they were evil or not probably looked the same from a Divine Dragon's perspective.

The battle that began in the morning was decided by early afternoon.

Nakea's army had won. Though it wasn't an overwhelming victory. Their left wing had pushed through, and that resulted in victory.

There were units pursuing the retreating Neporo forces. But the heroes remained behind.

The hero who had been at the front lines must have been exhausted. The hero in the rear was probably a medic. Come to think of it, they had the healing magic skill.

It was then that Sei finally moved.

She went to where those who had fought were resting, behind the units that were giving chase.

The seriously wounded, the lightly wounded, those awaiting death—people bearing all manner of injuries were there, friend and foe alike.

The battlefield was hell.

The heroes were moving about, treating the wounded.

That was honest work. Far more acceptable than killing people… killing the demon race.

Before she knew it, Sei was treating the wounded.

Humans and demon race alike. The goblins were prisoners, but an exchange would take place when the war ended.

While she was treating them without thinking, she noticed that Mako and Lavi were doing the same.

Lavi's magic was especially powerful. She could heal even those on the brink of death without any problem. And she never ran out of magic power.

Later, Lavi's feats would become a great rumor, but since no one could confirm her existence in the regular military, as a mercenary, or as an adventurer, it remained nothing more than a rumor.

If she had sent Lavi to the goblin army's side, she probably could have completed all the treatments by herself. She was only here because of Sei's circumstances.

As a result, they had ended up helping the human nation, but was that really okay?

"Alright, now we can continue the pursuit!"

When she heard such voices from those she had healed, she decided to put a stop to that.

It was simple. Just burn the provisions.

No matter how elite an army was, without food, they couldn't march. If she had realized this earlier, she could have gotten ahead of them and burned both Nakea and Neporo's provisions.

Had Ria not realized either? Or had she realized but judged it too dangerous? She didn't know.

A fire that broke out during the night burned a large amount of Nakea's food supplies. This would stop the reinforcements from moving, and the advancing units would have to fall back.

Then, late at night, after confirming that only three heroes were in one tent, Sei and Mako infiltrated.

Perhaps because it was after a victory, the atmosphere in the camp was relaxed.

Even so, because of the arson, many people were awake. Though most of them seemed to be busy putting out the fires in the provisions.

The three heroes also seemed to be awake. But they weren't moving.

It was the perfect opportunity. Sei and Mako entered the tent.

"Are you okay? We came to help."

Mako called out. At first, the three were wary, staying in the back of the tent, but Mako entered without any weapons.

"It's me, Tsubaki Mako. Is everyone okay?"

Three boys and girls clad in grimy equipment.

When the three clearly recognized Mako, they were obviously relieved.

"We can go home…?"

The boy said as if in a daze, and the two girls embraced each other in joy.

Sei's persuasion sank into the three easily.

"Why couldn't you have come a little earlier…"

The boy groaned, but Sei had been thinking the same thing.

If only they had been one day earlier. The boy wouldn't have had to become a mass murderer.

"Is Mako-cchi staying behind?"

When one of the girls asked, Mako nodded.

"Without at least one hero, it'll be hard to find everyone else."

Due to the nature of the map, Mako's presence had become more important.

"Besides, I've leveled up quite a bit, so I won't die that easily."

She wouldn't die. But that wasn't necessarily reassuring.

The heroes knew about the girl who had been driven mad after being devoured endlessly.

"Then do it already."

The boy stepped forward first. When asked if there was anything left undone in this world, he shook his head.

"Nope. And if the boss finds us, it'll be trouble, so hurry it up."

He was probably referring to the leader of this mercenary group. As a member of a mercenary band, he would want to leave before being discovered.

Using the return stone, the boy returned home.

The two girls also returned in the same way.

The last girl looked anxiously at Mako, and Mako waved at her with a smile.

"It's over…"

"For now."

The two left the tent and exited the camp.

Walking on foot over several hills, they reunited with the carriage.

"Now then, about our next destination…"

One of the dots on the map was the obvious target. But this dot, while having a base, was moving around in small spurts.

"Probably an adventurer, huh."

Sei agreed with Mako's murmur.

If they were succeeding as an adventurer, this time it might actually come to combat.

Still, this experience had made one thing painfully clear: heroes fundamentally wanted to go home.

No matter how much they were pampered, the difference in civilization level was significant.

"Being caught up in wars is possible too, so wanting to go home when you consider that is only natural, but…"

Sei thought deeply. Conversely, if someone had adapted to this world to the point where they felt nothing about being caught up in wars, the chances of them becoming an enemy were high.

The group headed east along the highway. There was a town of Neporo on the way, but they would bypass it. Since it was populated by many goblins and was in conflict with human nations, Sei figured they would get caught up in unnecessary trouble.

Along the way, there were several settlements that appeared to have been burned in the fighting.

They had probably been plundered by Nakea's army. Perhaps humans could kill goblins without much guilt.

The carriage headed east. As they approached the dot on the map, they could feel the climate changing.

"The sea is close."

As Chaos murmured, there was only one major city ahead.

The port city of Aqua. Facing the sea to the east and the demon territory to the north, it was also a nation with considerable military power.

There was one hero in that city. No doubt about it.

The Gift they possessed was called "Awakening."

"It was a Gift that once a day, for one minute, all your stats would double."

There was a reason Mako spoke in the past tense.

This Gift had levels. The current level was 10. And its effects were quite extreme.

Up to ten times a day, for ten minutes, all stats would multiply by ten.

Having your stats multiplied by ten for over 100 minutes—there was no way to win in a head-on fight.

However, once used, there was a cooldown equal to the duration. If they could exploit that, they might manage somehow.

Since the base level wasn't that high, they had probably used the Gift repeatedly to level it up first. They understood their own abilities well.

"Hmm, this time it really does seem like we'll have to fight…"

Sei couldn't help but sigh.

Naturally, there was a checkpoint to enter Aqua.

"Adventurers from another region, huh…"

As had been the case in Nakea, adventurer guild certification from different regions wasn't particularly welcomed.

"We came all this way looking for someone. We have no intention of operating as adventurers here."

"Is that so? Well, you may pass."

Having safely entered, the carriage first took up residence at a high-class inn. To get into good condition, staying at a nice inn was necessary.

She had Kukuri and Chaos gather information. Meanwhile, Sei had her regular strategy session with Ria.

"Well, we should try to persuade them first, but I have a feeling they've adapted to this world."

The fact that they were moving around on the map meant they were probably completing requests as an adventurer.

Awakening was an incredible ability. It could overwhelm opponents regardless of level differences.

Comparing Sei's stats to the opponent's, if Awakening was used, she had no chance of winning.

In a normal state, she could win easily though.

"Did they acquire any special skills besides magic or swordsmanship?"

"No, there was nothing else."

"Then you can win even if it comes to combat."

She wanted to avoid it if possible, but assuming combat occurred:

At first, Sei would have the advantage. Her swordsmanship skill and magic skill both overwhelmed her opponent.

Then, naturally, the opponent would use Awakening. The situation would reverse. Even a small skill gap would be overcome by the difference in stats through brute force.

Sei would have to endure for ten minutes. If she could hold out for ten minutes until the opponent's Gift expired, the situation would reverse again.

With her various healing and recovery abilities, Sei just needed to capture the exhausted opponent. Then, even by force, she would make the hero return.

"I have a feeling I'm going to get hurt badly."

"Use your immortality well. I'm counting on you."

After cutting the communication, Sei sprawled out on the bed.