Duel Request

Eurius's troops had to march for more than half a day to chase after the retreating Nuada.

But his speed and the speed of his soldiers who were following the traces of the mountain road were not the same.

'The knights might be fine, but the soldiers are too exhausted. It will be hard at this rate.'

"Let's rest here. I'm worried about the soldiers."

"But the barbarians are moving too fast. If we rest here, we might lose them…"

Eurius said firmly.

"This is something I'm doing out of my personal greed. I can't let any soldier fall behind or get into an accident because of that."

"I understand."

'He is truly His Highness the first prince. He cares for every single soldier even in this situation.'

Linfield admired him and started to prepare for camping.

'How can I chase after Nuada's tribe without any trouble?'

He thought about taking only the knights with him at first, but then he couldn't guarantee the safety of the knights if the alliance failed. He might be able to escape, but he couldn't risk them.

He already considered all the knights as his own people.

"Bring me the map."

Eurius's expression was grim as he received the map in his tent.

'As expected, there is no proper map of the northern mountains at this point.'

The map showed the whole mountain range, but that was all. 

Even if he roughly knew his destination, he didn't know which direction to go because there was no road marked on it.

The situation was different from when he was an emperor and fled to the north. 

The north was still mostly unknown land, and there was no proper map except for the part near the entrance of the mountain range.

'I roughly know where it is.'

Eurius had been there in his previous life, so he could find his way if he knew the direction, even with a map that only vaguely showed the whole mountain range.

But coincidentally, he had no way to determine his direction right now.

He was an emperor in his previous life, not a traveler or an expert in finding directions.

'I heard there is something called a compass in the east?'

It was not widely used yet, but it was a device that was usually used for sailing and always pointed to north, south, east and west.

He might find one if he went to Valdes Fortress, but finding directions in the north was mostly done by looking at the map and roughly guessing by the direction of the sun rising and setting, or by using a guide or a messenger who was familiar with the land.

'Is there anyone who can do that role?'

"Ah!"

A solution came to Eurius's mind as he was thinking.

'Help menu open.'

[Help menu – How to find directions in the mountains – Use a compass.]

A vein popped on Eurius's forehead.

'If I had something like that, I would have used it already!'

Was it doing this on purpose? 

The help menu had a knack for raising his blood pressure.

[Opening how to find directions without a compass.]

'There it is!'

It was indeed the knowledge of a player. He was sure that it would help him a lot and started to look at the help menu.

And the next day.

"Are you sure you can find directions with this method?"

Linfield asked cautiously, but Eurius was confident.

"It's a travel method I found when I was at the academy. It's not very accurate, but I can at least tell which way to go."

Eurius first ordered to cut down some trees on a flat terrain nearby.

Then he looked closely at the tree rings of the cut trees.

[1. The direction where the tree rings are narrow is likely to be relatively north. Note) There may be differences depending on the environment.]

'It's hard to be sure with just this!'

 As a second method, Eurius tries something that feels more reliable.

'What are you doing?'

Ignoring the knights' questions, he stabs his sword into the ground and marks the position of its shadow.

[2. Place a flat stick or something similar on the ground. Then, after about 10 minutes, connect the direction of the shadows and the end of the back shadow will be east.]

'The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. That's obvious. I can trust this!'

There were also various pieces of information in the help menu that could help with tracking.

Trusting them, Eurius resumes his march. In fact, he doesn't think that the player's information is perfect either.

But what supplements it are the traces of the immigrants.

'Several tribes are moving at the same time, so they can't completely hide their traces!'

Help menu and Nuada's movement traces! And his memories from his previous life, these three things combined make a plausible tracking route.

'I know that Nuada's Thunder Rock tribe is located somewhere in the northwest from here.'

Once he finds out the direction somehow, it won't be hard to find them.

Linfield and the other knights look at him with blank stares.

'He only knows how to swing his sword around. How can he compare to His highness the first prince who is wise and learned?'

'It's a strange method, but if it's His highness doing, then I can believe it.'

And surprisingly, his method works out well.

"Your Majesty, there are traces of barbarians moving in the area you told us to look."

'Phew, thank goodness.'

This way, Eurius begins tracking inside the mountain range.

On the other hand, Nuada's side is also bewildered.

'Even if we can't completely erase our traces, how can they follow us in the mountain range that only we know?'

The inside of the northern mountain range was their territory only. It was a place where there had been no external invasion for hundreds of years.

But those foreign pursuers seem to wander around at first glance, but somehow they keep following them.

They can't help but tilt their heads.

'Are they following our scent or something?'

But if this goes on, even if it's deep in the mountain range, it's only a matter of time before they reach their tribe.

Nuada's tribe also falls into a great dilemma.

A week passes by like this for both the chasers and the chased.

'Now, we're almost there.'

Eurius smiles with satisfaction. 

There were unexpected variables, but this time too, the system saved him splendidly.

The knights also look at him with admiration in their eyes.

"He really is different from those who study. How did he get such knowledge?"

"He graduated from Savior Academy. In fact, his command skills were not ordinary either."

The reason why the knights admire him is not only because he found the way, but also because Eurius showed very skillful responses while marching in the unfamiliar northern mountain range.

"That place looks like it won't let in any wind. It would be good for the soldiers to rest there."

Starting from finding a good spot for camping,

"Tell the soldiers to dig a little bit of dirt and set up their field tents on top of it. That will help them keep their body temperature!"

[Help menu – How to move in the mountains and not lose body temperature]

He also orders camping as soon as the weather gets slightly cloudy.

"It's suicidal to march in a blizzard in this cold mountain range. The immigrants are no different, so let's set up barracks quickly."

[Help menu – How to travel in polar lands]

Thanks to Eurius's exploits, they were able to chase at a reasonable speed while preserving the soldiers' stamina.

"But it's amazing. Why did he learn such knowledge when he was born and never saw anything but the imperial palace and the holy kingdom?"

Some knights, like Linfield, who had some qualities of a staff officer, expressed some doubts, but how many times did Eurius show unexpected behavior?

"His Majesty is beyond our measure."

They were knights anyway.

It was rather a good thing for the lord to show outstanding performance. They soon brushed off their trivial doubts.

On the other hand, the chased side also reached their limit of patience.

"I really don't understand!"

Nuada was also really puzzled this time. It was hard to survive in the winter mountain range even if they prepared poorly, let alone warriors.

But those strange foreign pursuers have been chasing them for over a week without showing much fatigue.

Normally, after three or four days, soldiers would freeze to death from frostbite and hypothermia.

The reason why the empire couldn't easily enter the northern mountain range was because this environment was a powerful ally for the immigrants.

But those pursuers broke this common sense and reached their tribe's doorstep.

"If we leave them alone for another three or four days, our closest tribe will be exposed to the foreigners!"

One of the chiefs following him looks like he's dying.

It was natural that their territory, which had not allowed foreigners for hundreds of years, was invaded.

Nuada finally made a decision.

"Let's wait for them here and settle it!"

No matter how the other side had a great warrior of equal skill to him, they had an advantage in fighting in the mountains.

'The problem is how much damage can be reduced…'

Thinking about it, his face also darkened.

Nuada was a typical warrior with a strong fighting spirit, but before that, he was a person who was responsible for these tribes.

Even if he repelled the foreigners who attacked this time, the damage would be unspeakable.

'Is there any other reason why they are chasing us like this?'

He didn't know the exact reason, but he wanted to avoid the collision somehow.

It was natural for him, how could he think that the other side was chasing him to death with the intention of forming an alliance with him?

Nuada stopped marching and it wasn't long before Eurius's troops almost caught up with them.

"Your highness! The distance between us and the barbarians seems to be getting closer."

Eurius smiles triumphantly.

'They finally gave up.'

It was an obvious result. 

Once he achieved his primary goal of catching up with them, the next step was negotiation.

'The negotiation itself won't be difficult.'

Eurius trusted Nuada. He wasn't a fool who would attack them without thinking even though he knew the damage would be great.

'He'll try to reduce the damage somehow and talk to me.'

The next step was to get through with his own skills.

The forces of Nuada had prepared a base on a hill that was easy to defend.

"If we clash with them head-on, we will suffer heavy losses."

Lnfield cautiously said.

'Fortunately, that won't happen.'

Eurius smiled faintly and summoned his knights.

"Follow me for now. I have something to discuss with the enemy's leader."

The knights also didn't think that Eurius had made such a reckless march into the mountains just to wipe out some barbarians.

'His highness the first prince must have some plan in mind.'

Eurius led his knights and slowly ascended towards the enemy camp.

Thud, thud.

The knights followed him quietly with their footsteps.

Clang!

Eurius stopped at a place where he could see the enemy camp clearly.

The enemy was already in a defensive posture. Nuada was at the front, flanked by his warriors.

Eurius, who brought the elite knights of the north!

Nuada, who gathered the strong ones from the depths of the mountains!

The two finally faced each other.

'It was really hard to get here.'

Eurius took a deep breath and shouted towards the camp.

"I am Eurius, the first prince of the Scharnos Empire!"

And then he said something that no one there expected.

"I challenge you, the chief of the Thunder Rock tribe, to a duel of warriors!"