chapter 5

In the bars or even on the street, the refugees would be stopped and asked "Are you from Coda Village?" And because the villagers saw different things from different points of view, what came out of each of their mouths were naturally different. With this, their words painted a surprisingly realistic scene.

Just by telling their story, the people of Coda Village did not have to worry about food or lodging before returning to their village.

"Knight Norma, what do you think?"

In the Imperial courts, there were female knights who served as aides. One of them, Hamilton Uno Ro, asked her senpai, who was also her colleague, about the tales from the street.

Several knights and their followers sat in the corner of the rowdy tavern, filled with guests. The bar was dirty, and it only had a little space between tables. The place was so noisy that one might not be able to hear what was being said at a nearby table, unless one shouted. Amidst this noisy atmosphere, the knights and their followers sat side by side reaching out with their hands for food and holding their cups full of wine.

Glancing over, there was a girl from Coda Village working as a temporary waitress who was serving her customers from a tray of ale. After she set the plate of dishes down on the table, she described what she had seen, and collected a good amount of tips.

Knight Norma, whose mustache was neatly trimmed, had an uncomfortable look on his face.

While he was at court in the sparkling clean palace, he enjoyed delicious meals prepared by the wives of the nobles or their daughters. Although he was part of the Princess's order of Knights, they were nothing but a decoration of the court and had nothing to do with the frontlines. And now, an aide like himself was eating crude dishes and murky alcohol.

Although it was a mission, it did not sit well with him

How the hell did I get myself into this mess…? Norma felt like cursing his superiors. Just keeping himself from doing so had taken all of his willpower. Since it was a direct order from the Princess, the mission of investigating Arnus Hill could not be helped. However, he had expected the Princess to lead the whole order of knights, so that his servants would have to wait on him hand and foot throughout the journey.

However, that willful girl issued orders to station her main forces far behind, only taking a few people to perform reconnaissance. They even hid their identities, intentionally dirtying their clothes, eating the crude black bread and murky wine of common peasants, which he considered unfit for a knight like himself.

Norma raised his hand to signal the waitress for a refill. Seeing how his kouhai did not recognize how bad the situation was for them, he sighed a little.

After he got his refill, Norma shrugged under the innocent gaze of Hamilton who was waiting for his reply.

"If there are that many refugees who said the same thing, then it probably isn't a rumor. It's not likely that so many people would come together to tell such a lie. Still, it's very hard for me to believe that it was a Flame Dragon."

"I think that if that many people are saying the same thing, then it wouldn't hurt to believe them."

The waitress put down a bottle of red wine on the table as she said "It's true, Knight-nii-san. ~It really was a Flame Dragon.~"

"I think that if that many people are saying the same thing, then it wouldn't hurt to believe them."

The waitress put down a bottle of red wine on the table as she said "It's true, Knight-nii-san. ~It really was a Flame Dragon.~"

"Hahahahahaha, you won't fool me so easily." replied Knight Norma Co Igloo. "Ancient Dragons, Dragonewts, Slither Wyrms, and Wyverns, they are all called dragons. It must be some sort of mistake."

In reply to his reaction, the waitress pursed her lips in displeasure.

"Now now, don't mind him. I believe what you just said, so tell me more." Hamilton said as she gave her a few copper coins. That was way too much for a normal tip.

The waitress's mood immediately changed. She smiled cutely while saying, "Thank you, young Knight-sama". Although her attire made her look old, she might be younger than she looked.

"After receiving so much, I'll tell you what I kept from the others."

Saying that, the waitress started her story:

When the news of the Flame Dragon's appearance started to spread, Coda Village became as busy as a beehive. The blacksmith's wife next door had come over to tell Melissa about the news. It was noon and she was drying her clothes.

"Melissa! Melissa! Bad news!"

They often gossiped about the happenings in the small village and had become quite close. Even if there was no one in the house, she knew where Melissa would be as she went around back to where she dried her clothes to look for Melissa.

Melissa told her son who was taking in the dry clothes to inform her husband who was out in the fields, and then she ran into her home to start packing.

After a short while, her husband came back panting and shouting, "Is everything okay?!?!" Apparently, the way their son had described it made him think that the Flame Dragon had already attacked the village.

Seeing that his wife was safe and sound, the husband sat down on the floor in relief. Although she was safe, the real danger was still lurking around the corner. After explaining the situation to her husband, Melissa returned to packing their luggage.

After loading their food, water, some basic daily necessities, a few changes of clothes and their hard-earned savings onto their wagon which was used for farming, it was buckling under the weight of all their luggage.

They used a mule to pull the cart while her son and husband pushed it from behind, and then they started down the road towards the village. When they reached the center of the village, there were already many other villagers also in their wagons crowding the road.

Many wagons had broken down due to their heavy loads, blocking the street.

After wasting precious time waiting for the wagons to be cleared up, they were finally out of the village. By then, the sun was already beginning to set.

At night they set up camp. At daybreak, they proceeded with their journey. However, among the refugees, there were people who were slow and people who were fast.

Three days later, the villages who brought the elders and children along had fallen behind the caravan. The distance between each wagon was widening and those in the back could not see those in front anymore.

Sometimes a wagon's wheels would get stuck in the muddy ground and it would become immobile. Angry shouts of "Get out of the way!" and desperate cries of "Come help!" intertwined with each other, amplifying the frustrations of everyone present.

Scenes of people quarrelling, wagons overturned, luggage scattered all over, children crying loudly and women with obvious looks of despair on their faces could be seen everywhere.

But, in their time of need, their saviors came to their aid.

"They were the Men in Green. There were twelve of them, two of which were girls."

The waitress's voice not only could be heard by the Knights, but also by the other patrons. Unconsciously, the tavern had gone silent as Melissa described the exodus of the village as well as the presence of females among the people in green. No one in the tavern knew anything about them.

"What do the girls look like?"

Norma's question made Melissa "Hmph!" in annoyance.

"Men are pigs. Ugh, whatever. There was a tall female. During the day, she wore a helmet that covered her hair, but at night, when we broke for camp, I saw it clearly."

"When she untied her ponytail, even I, a fellow female, gasped in surprise. Her hair color was as black as a crow's feather. If there wasn't a language barrier between us, I would have asked for the secret to its vivid black colour. Her body was also slim. She was definitely an exotic beauty."

Hearing her description, the eyes of the men lit up with lust.

"Err, how about the other one?"

"That one was like a cat. Her hair was chestnut brown and she had a small body. Her hair was cut short like a boy's and she was full of spirit. She was also capable of taking care of others and instantly got along with the children. But even the most powerful men were afraid of her. When my husband got into a fight with Moyer's husband, she entered into the fight like thunder and used only her legs to beat down those two large men..."

The men surrounding them instantly lost their interest. A blank atmosphere had enveloped the scene. Such a boyish woman wasn't popular among the men.

"She's got a great figure. Although she was short, her breasts were like cow's udders. Even I grew jealous of those melons. Her waist was also very slim, it was unforgivable. However, her face was more cute than beautiful."

"UWAAAAA!"

"As expected..."

Melissa clicked her tongue in annoyance at the cheering men. Although the customers being excited was a good thing, as a woman, she could not be happy about that.

"Hmm. It was like that. Many things happened, but we still managed to move on. But that beast finally caught up with us."

There was not enough water for the villagers and they didn't have enough food to satiate them. Still, they did their best to endure in order to take another step forward, but they were nearing their limit.

Yet, they continued their difficult journey even as their supplies rapidly dwindled to nothing.

Alas, they finally reached their limit.

Those who could still move continued on, while those who couldn't sat down in fatigue.

The people in green's strange wagon which didn't need any horses to move carried the children and elders who couldn't move anymore. Still, it could not take all of them .

"I couldn't move anymore. Still, I wished for my son to live on. I prayed hard to God, but nothing happened. Those priests said that God exists, but why didn't God help us when we were in such dire straits? I won't do an idiotic thing like praying to God next time."

The bright sky above them suddenly turned dark. Expecting to see rain clouds, the villagers raised their heads and froze in place.

"It was a red Dragon. It had arms and legs, and it spread its wings like a bat. It was those large wings that covered the sky."

The dragon landed. In an instant, Moyer and her husband disappeared before Melissa's eyes.

Only the lower halves of their bodies were left.

Before the people even understood the situation, their natural instinct took over as each of them ran. Carrying their children, they abandoned their luggage as they tried to get away from the monster.

The wagons overturned, crushing many villagers under them.

While everyone was escaping, the Flame Dragon spewed fire all around it. After thoroughly roasting the humans, it swallowed them whole.

They scampered around like baby spiders as they tried to escape. Like a child destroying an ant's nest, the Flame Dragon squashed the escaping villagers under its foot and ate them.

"In that instant, the Men in Green appeared."

Melissa said with a tone of admiration.

"They rode on their wagons, which were faster than horses. On the two wagons, the Men in Green raised their magic staffs and attacked the Flame Dragon with spells.

However, the dragon remained unscathed. Even their magic was unable to pierce the dragon scales. But, they didn't give up.

They circled around the dragon repeatedly and kept attacking to buy time for the villagers to escape.

Thanks to them, many of the the villagers survived.

The Flame Dragon turned around to attack the Men in Green. But, the beast could not catch up with their frightening speed. By moving around, they kept themselves safe from the scorching flames of the dragon.

But soon, the dragon got used to their tactics. The people in green who could only cast magic from afar were at a disadvantage.

"At that moment, the leader of the people in green shouted something and they took out that thing."

"What thing?"

"A giant magic staff. We call it the Divine Rod of Steel. We even heard the incantations. It was 'Baku-Burasuto-Kuria'. After that, there was a loud bang and the Flame Dragon's whole left arm was blown off."

It was that moment when the so-called invincible Flame Dragon was defeated.

After getting injured, the dragon let out an earth-shaking roar and rapidly flew off.

After finishing the story, the people present were silenced by the magnanimity of her tale.

"Divine...Divine Rod of Steel?"

Such an exaggerated name awed them into shocked silence.

After a moment of quiet contemplation, the Knights began discussing their thoughts on this. The tavern also returned to its rowdy atmosphere.

"In-In a nutshell, they were very powerful. Although they look like foreign mercenaries, they had such amazing skills. I think we should employ them. What do you think, Your Highness?"

The vermillion-haired female knight who was about to eat the Ma Nuga meat in her hands was asked a question. She then put the meat back onto her plate on the table to reply to the knight.

Ma Nuga meat was made by wrapping the a long bone from livestock with smoked meat. To people from Earth, it looked like a type of sausage or turkey leg. The meat was roasted and eaten directly without being cut. It tasted magnificent when one bit into it.

Stretching her hands towards her wine cup, Piña Co Lada replied, "I'm quite interested in the weapons used by those people who repelled the dragon."

Despair filled the villagers' hearts.

Senator Godasen had said it before. "The enemy infantry's weapon made a sound of 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' A moment later, our troops had fallen."

Based on these words, it seemed to fit the bill with the Coda villagers' descriptions. The Coalition Army's defeat at Arnus hill must be related to that magic weapon.

Piña called the waitress to ask her a question.

"Woman, you have seen the weapons of those people. What do they look like?"

Melissa tilted her head as she told her what she had seen.

Although being addressed as 'woman' made her unhappy, because of the presence of the young female knight who gave her tips, she decided to tell her the truth.

"In other words, those people used staffs that looked like steel. They made an exploding sound, as well as spitting fire?"

"In my opinion, it is a magic weapon."

"Then, the staff they used to repel the Slither Wyrm....it's called the Divine Rod of Steel, right? What does it look like? Try with the best of your abilities to describe it."

"Didn't I say that it was a Flame Dragon, not a Slither Wyrm?" the waitress insisted. With a wicked smile, she glanced at the men around her.

"You're being rhetorical. The Divine Rod is good stuff…...Well, I can't blame you, seeing that you were born in an overprotective environment. But, why don't you ask the girls who have husbands? It's the same as a man's thing. Of course, it's so large that you can hug it. I don't think any man here has a thing that's as big or as black as it..."

The waitress laughed crudely as she went to the other table to take orders.

Confused, Piña looked to the male knights for an explanation.

As if on cue, all of them averted their faces from Piña's gaze.

She finally set her sights on Hamilton.

"You...you have a fiancee, right?"

She must have thought that she was safe from the line of fire.

The prim and proper Knight, Hamilton Uno Ro, who was drinking soup, sprayed it out in surprise. Her messy short hair shook with her head as she protested, "I-I do…...but I am still a maiden! How would I know about such a things…...ah."

The men's eyes landed on Hamilton. "Hmm, that kind of thing, eh?"

Piña's suspicious gaze pierced her.

Hamilton could only blush furiously as she cowered down in her seat.

Scene Change: Expeditionary army base: One Month later:

Construction began here soon after the genocide ended. Thanks to the tireless work of Golems and Skeleton workers and the advanced technology of the Sorcerous Empire, it took only 1 month to build a huge fort around the Gate.

The Gate was open in the mountains area, so many parts of the fort were built inside the mountains. An entire Military base was built here. The outpost included storage areas, garages, administration buildings, living quarters, Research center, Workshop, Hospitals, inns, barracks, stables, command center, runway, etc. Also, numerous artillery, Trench Bunkers were created in many mountains. Invisible magic was also used in the bunkers so that no one could find them easily. Roads were also made suitable for vehicular traffic through the mountains.

Scout Towers were built on the high mountains. There were also many weapons in the Scout Towers. The walls of the fort were made very strong. The walls were enchanted by the magic. The walls were equipped with cannons, machine guns, etc. Numerous lamps were lit inside and outside the fort, these lamps (continuous light) were enchanted by the spell

Also in the mountain forest, monsters like Treant, Ghost, Plant, Dryad, are guarding.

...

Ragnarok office

Albert: "Sir, there are two cities on either side of this mountains, Italica and Rondel. The southern city is Rondel, the city of knowledge, and the northern city is Italica, the city of commerce. Which city should we go to first?"

Ragnarok: "Hmm... Send Altair to Italica and William to Rondel."

"Yes, Sir. Sir, I have another report to give."

"What is that?"

"We found several Humanoid villages around this mountain range. The villages were attacked by the imperial troops. We captured some soldiers, according to them their emperor told them to do so. They did not do much harm to the villagers. They just Burning the fields and grain warehouses, mixed poison in the water, etc."

"What! Why? According to all the information we have, they had this territory, why did they invade their territory?"

"I think they did it so we can't use them."

"They don't know that we can deliver supplies to our troops through gates (spells) at any time. Also, our troops can keep things up to 500 kg in their storage."

"Sir, what do we need to do with the villagers now. We have talked to them, they're willing to be our citizens."

"Hm, Build a city for them next to the mountains. Remember they are our citizens now."

"OK"

..

Scene Change: City of Italica:

Italica city was founded two hundred years ago by gathering merchants in the region to construct a fortress town. Politically speaking, this place was the crossroad of the Dressia and Appian highways and developed as a border town between the nations. But with the expansion of the Empire's borders, its political importance had declined significantly, and it was just a mid-sized local market now. It doesn't have any local specialties, but the crops, livestock, and handmade products such as cloth would be sent to the capital, so it served as a collection base.

Right now, this was the territory of the Empire's noble family, the clan of Count Formal. Colt, the head of the clan Formal had three daughters, Elle, Loui, and Myui. Aside from the youngest Myui, the other two had been married off to other clans. Colt was planning to find someone to marry into the clan after his youngest grew up to take over the family estate.

Myui was still single, and after Colt and his wife died because of an accident, misfortune started to befall the city. The eldest daughter Elle and the second daughter Loui married into the Count Roen clan and the Count Missna clan respectively, so Myui had the right of succession over them. This was the law of the Empire, and there were no grounds for them to dispute. However, the youngest Myui was only eleven, so whoever became her guardian… would become the de facto leader. And so, the power struggle began.

The talks between the two elder sisters started as a calm discussion and quickly turned into ugly quarrels, pulling the others' hair in scuffles, and even went so far as involving their husbands. The soldiers of Count Roen and Count Missna fought a small-scale war as a result. But their struggle did not escalate further. They had limited forces after all, and the husbands weren't blind with rage like their wives were.

The security within the territory was maintained by the vassals of Count Formal and the soldiers of Count Roen and Count Missna, so there wasn't any threat to the livelihood of the merchants and residents. The value of Italica lay with its trade; there would be nothing to gain if it was laid to waste.

And so, the situation became a stalemate. The dispute of the sisters shifted into the courts of the capital, and Maui's guardian would soon be decided by the deliberation of the Emperor.

However, the situation worsened after the empire campaigned against the other world. The heads of the Roen and Missna clans died in battle at the Gate. With their husbands dead, Elle and Louise couldn't spare the effort to take care of the Formal territory anymore and withdrew their forces, leaving Myui with the vassals of Count Formal.

The young Myui couldn't control her vassals, and the running of the territory became ineffective from neglect. There weren't many loyal vassals left, but there were plenty who had ulterior motives. Before she realized it, corruption and injustice were running rampant. The citizens were wary, and security deteriorated. Loose bands of soldiers turned to banditry and started attacking caravans, grinding trade to a halt, and stagnating the movement of resources.

Bandits and trolls formed a group together and numbered in the hundreds. Finally, Italica city itself was attacked. Standing at the city gate, Pina let loose a few arrows at the retreating bandits and took a deep breath. She took a moment to look at the battlefield. Wounded soldiers staggered around or collapsed from blood loss. Arrows were shot into the stone walls, and the surrounding area was a mess. She spotted several citizens holding farm tools and sticks with a glance. Outside the wall, the corpses of bandits and carcasses of horses were scattered all over the ground.

"Norma! Hamilton! Are you alright?"

Inside the broken gate, Norma was defending a barricade. He supported his body by putting his weight on a sword, his shoulders rising and down as he panted. He lifted a hand to signal that he was well, but his armor was covered with arrows and signs of being hit by a sword. His surroundings showed evidence of an intense battle, with bodies from the attacking bandits and defending soldiers everywhere.

As for Hamilton, she was already sitting on the ground.

Her legs were straightened with her palms supporting her body, barely keeping herself from keeling over. Her grip on her sword was loose.

"I am, hah hah, alive."

"What about me, princess? How cold!" An older soldier joked.

"Grey! Of course, you will be all right, that's why I didn't ask."

"Should I be happy? Or sad?"

Grey, a man who looked about forty with a stout build, showed no hint of fatigue as he rested his sword on his shoulders.

There wasn't any blood on him. If there wasn't any blood on his sword, he had probably been hiding somewhere, which would explain why he still looked so energetic. He was the Knight Grey Co Aldo, a veteran of the battlefield who rose through the ranks. In Pina's knight order, most of the knights were nobles. Since the knight order didn't have any real battle experience, such veterans were the real core of the unit. The path to knighthood was narrow for soldiers. However, they would be treated like ordinary officers after they made it through.

Hamilton said with a complaining tone, "Princess, why are we fighting with the marauders here?" It was a bit rude, but she had to say it out loud.

"It can't be helped! I thought the army from the other world would attack Italica! Don't you all agree?" Piña exclaimed.

After completing her investigation of the areas around Arnus, Pina heard some news as she was planning to infiltrate Arnus Hill. She came to this decision because she had more information from the enemy who resides in Arnus hill. Arnus Hill was a lot closer to the capital than the Romalia Mountains. She heard that many scout groups were sent to the Romalia Mountains. But none of them came back. She realized that there must have been a trap set so that no scout group could return.

So, she decided. To concentrate one enemy at once. She can't rip herself two after all.

That's when she heard the news, "A large armed group appeared in Count Formal's territory and is planning to attack Italica.'

After hearing this, Pina thought the army from the other world had finally started their invasion. 'Are they sending out forces to suppress the surrounding territories before laying siege to the Imperial capital?', she thought.

She had to take countermeasures then. For Pina, instead of meaningless reconnaissance, an elegant battle suited her better. She pulled out of Arnus, ordered her knights to head for Italica, while she and her group rushed there in advance. No matter what kind of battle it was, not knowing the scale and battle potential of the enemy would be useless. If the enemy forces were limited, she would defend Italica and attack with a pincer attack with her knights that would arrive later. However, she soon realized the ones are attacking Italica were a marauding band. Most of the members were remnants of the former Coalition Army. In contrast, the head of the clan Formal in charge of the city's defenses was just eleven. She couldn't command in battle, and morale was at its lowest.

Pina was disheartened, but she couldn't stand idle and watch the bandits ravage the city. So, she revealed her identity to the clan and forcefully took over command of the Countess' soldiers in defense of Italica.

"If we can hold for three days, my knights will be here," Pina said.

To be honest, they might arrive even later than that. But the citizens and the countess' troops believed in Pina and fought with all they had. The enemy might be the remnants of a defeated army, but they were former soldiers and proficient in attacking fortresses.

The city didn't fall, but the gate that was supposed to be solid was destroyed, granting the enemy entry. With the help of the citizens and militia fighting with their farm tools, they survived the first day, but it felt like a defeat.

They had lost too much. The small number of troops decreased, and the courageous ones of the militia fell in battle. What remained were casualties and exhausted soldiers. Just one day was enough to plummet the morale of the soldiers and citizens to rock bottom. Pina couldn't think of anything to raise their spirits. That was how her first battle ended.