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Fort Skull.

A fort in the Glenvarga Empire, long in preparation for the war against the Kingdom of Metis.

There is a large lake behind it - Lake Skull, and the streets that have stretched from the Kingdom of Metis continue to the left and right via the fort.

The streets were made by cutting through the woods.

That's why I'm surrounded by woods.

The forest is inhabited by demons, so if you advance the army, you will always have to fight. The condition could be ascertained from the fort, making covert operations in the army impossible anyway for small numbers.

War against the kingdom is upon us.

Normally, surveillance at the boring Fort Skull was also under tension these days.

"No abnormalities."

"Right."

Corporal who was still on surveillance duty was reporting to his superior officer.

The superior officer had been tired of unchanged reports for a few days. Still listening because you can't miss it.

"You can back off."

"Um..."

"What?"

"Can't we just attack from here?

"Like a few years ago, huh?

Years ago.

A war waged just before he turned into the emperor of today.

At that time, he had attacked the Kingdom of Metis from the side of the Glenvarga Empire. For this reason, the military establishment closest to the border, but the role of Fort Skull, is a waiting point for the soldiers, a force of war. Besides, the main task was to store the barracks.

If you put the battlefield on the kingdom's side, Fort Skull doesn't need to hit a surveillance mission.

In the first place, surveillance continued because of the intention to make the battlefield the side of the Glenvarga Empire, even though it had not yet been attacked.

"That's what I don't get. I don't understand your intention to turn your country into a battlefield."

"You were on a rear mission in a previous war."

"Yes, I was on an escort mission for the Heavy Forces carrying supplies to this fort"

A prolongation of the war was expected.

No, at that time it was not a small battle like the one we used to have, but a war aimed at taking the country in earnest.

For this reason, the target of the invasion was the King's Capital.

If we were to go to King's Capital in the army, it would take weeks.

The supplies consumed in the meantime will be enormous, so the task he undertook was important. No, it was supposed to matter.

The war has ended with dismay.

It is also a humiliating consequence of the overwhelming defeat on the part of the Empire.

The then Crown Prince, who was commander-in-chief after being held accountable at that time, was beheaded.

The senior nobles who were on the Crown Prince's side were also to be disposed of one after the other. It was temporarily confusing because it included an army executive role in it.

The confusion also succeeded in putting away what would temporarily be a busy kill because Rio had predicted in advance and was hitting his hand.

"That war is nothing but trauma for those who know that battlefield"

I was fully prepared.

Nevertheless, the army was destroyed by the arrival of several people.

The adventurer's intervention was conceived. But where a few of the tens of thousands of troops have joined, the war cannot be allowed to overshadow. That's common sense.

But the common sense was overturned.

"It's a miracle for the kingdom. And if we start a war here, it's a sure miracle it'll happen again."

The Mars didn't do anything to hide themselves on the battlefield.

In other words, some of those who survived that battlefield remember what Mars looked like.

Young, old enough to say boy.

It could be mature rather than old after a few years.

If we turn the kingdom into a battlefield, the Mars will surely intervene.

I know that. The commanders of Fort Skull did not imitate what they would set up from themselves.

"I see. So you haven't done anything that the enemy would attack you"

"That's right. Apparently, the new emperor knows the adventurer who destroyed the Imperial Army"

"Become!?

I know someone who devastated the army.

Corporal loses his word in an action that can also be a betrayal.

"But thanks to someone I know, I succeeded in mounting my promise"

I will not cooperate if the kingdom attacks for unreasonable reasons.

"Got it? We have no choice but to turn the Empire into a battlefield while he's alive."

"I see why. But..."

At least my hometown becomes a battlefield.

Corporal's home town was one of the villages between Fort Skull and the border.

The villages between Fort Skull and Krashel are lands that have been taken and taken from them in wars that have been waged many times before. He doesn't know that his village was previously a kingdom village because he has been calm for nearly a hundred years.

That's all peaceful evidence in recent years.

"Think of it as a better situation than not setting up a determined war of defeat that has turned the kingdom into a battlefield for a few years. You don't want to die either."

Copy that, sir.

Corporal turns around to leave the room behind.

"And excuse me!

Just before touching the door knob, the door can be opened from the outside without knocking.

It was the soldier in charge of the gatekeeper who opened it.

"What?"

My superior officer frowns at my indignation.

"A mercenary has arrived."

"Mercenaries. Then deal with them the same way they've done before."

Few regular soldiers are sent to Fort Skull.

The war with the Gardis Empire in the north was also tough, because of the power allocated to it. That doesn't mean you don't have to devote your power to the kingdom. So the policy of hiring mercenaries of costly things to outrun them was adopted by the upper management.

I can count on it for my strength.

But the chain of command wasn't strong enough to help the war just by gathering fragmented forces.

I'm keeping him waiting at Fort Skull now.

If an invasion from the kingdom side was confirmed, it was meant to be launched using mercenaries.

Mercenaries who listen and gather.

A superior officer who tells the newly-arrived mercenaries to treat them the same way they have ever gathered.

but it was unacceptable as a gatekeeper who dealt with them.

"Take this one?

Pass the letter you kept to your superior officer.

"What's this?

"This is a letter from His Majesty the Emperor, brought more by the new mercenaries."

"Huh!? Say that fast!

Confirm the letter.

It was written in a letter of introduction that it was a mercenary hired immediately by the emperor in view of the current predicament.

"Is this the truth?

"I'm pretty sure it's because it also has the Emperor's signature. Then, it's only my own thoughts against them, but the mercenaries who came were so wrapped up in an unparalleled presence with those who came before. I'm sure you can count on me."

"Right."

The gatekeeper has been working at Fort Skull for a long time.

Before the state of war, we used to run background checks on people from the kingdom, so we need to look people in the eye to keep the gatekeeper going.

In that sense, he can be trusted.

"I see that it is an introduction by His Majesty the Emperor. But let me judge how much I can count on as a force of war. First, let me talk to that person."

Superior officer taking the gatekeeper out of the room.

"So, what was he like?

The writ from the emperor only stated that the person with the writ could be trusted.

It is unlikely that only the writ was taken along the way. A person who makes such a mistake cannot possibly gain credibility from the Emperor.

It's a trio of mercenaries.

"A threesome? Much less."

Dozens of people will be needed at least to participate in the war.

No, it's dangerous to judge only by the number of people, because there are just a few people who have turned the war upside down.

"They covered their whole bodies with 'black' and 'white', and 'red' armor, and they couldn't tell their faces - they called themselves' Phantom Mercenaries'"