Kuro no Maou

The 21st of the month of dawn.

We, the Dark Knights, left for work for the first time.

The village of Dakia on the way is about a day's journey from Sparda. The streets are well maintained as it also serves as a passage to Avalon, and the large carriages and dragon cars are also guaranteed a spacious road width through which to pass.

I have been to the village of Dakia on this road many times before.

At first, when he received a Dortos capture quest for a Rank 3 promotion. The quest itself was a success, but it meets Will, who flees all over Mount Galahad, and the first trial encountered with Larspun is burned as an intense memory.

The second time was when we headed to the village of Asbel for the fourth trial, the Last Rose Crusade. The village of Dakia, as a crossing point, stayed here.

Then, when I run errands to Avalon, I always go this way. Even for me, it's a street I'm used to seeing.

Anyway, the journey between Sparda Dakia is to such an extent that even the runaway adventurers can tread without any problems. Though an unfamiliar march leading a hundred mercenary regiments, it is harder to fail, with all the equipment and supplies in place.

But there was a problem.

It is just at noon, when the sun climbs directly above it.

"No, no, Mr. Chrono... to me, this, this... very, unbearable!

"Oh, hey, wait, Fiona!

Fiona escapes like a rabbit. Even thin tears seep into its golden eyes.

I didn't expect deserters from my mercenary regiment in just half a day. Besides, he's the captain.

"Master, I still told Master Fiona that this scheme was too cruel"

"No, but hey..."

And, listening to Saliel's serious advice, I see the meal I gripped.

It's a palm-sized rectangle. This bottle is said to be packed with all the nutrients that humans need, a complete nutritional diet.

That is, a calorie block, commonly known as a caroboo,.

If you ask me why I'm bothering to lunch a slave meal like this, this is for another exam.

Caroboo is a nothingness because of its flavour, but it is an excellent way to get both nutrition and energy in one bottle. As a portable meal for military use (Ration), there is no such thing as optimal.

So wacky, I thought I'd take this opportunity to try out what it's like to actually keep eating this...

"I knew you wouldn't feel like eating this unless you stuffed it."

"I was wondering if it would be spiritually better to wait until the taste improves than to try this calorie block"

He tells Lily about Caroboo's plan to recruit for the job. I am aware of the problem of flavour, so I have been discussing whether the carobou that will be produced in the Great Labyrinth can be delicious or not.

Most importantly, because of the low priority, I don't think I'm still getting my hands on it.

"Okay. Only my troops will try caroboo. Let's make the rest of the squad a normal meal."

Perfect for the heavy cavalry, but with the task entrusted to the elite.

"Eating a meal better than a master is resistant to us."

"It's in the job, too, so keep it."

Only a great guy eats delicious meals, and the state is what makes soldiers dissatisfied.

Homunculus may not think of it as anything, but depending on Lily, the Karamara may also join as a force. In that case, an attitude as sweet as Homunculus' loyalty would cause problems in leading an ordinary soldier.

From now on, I've never gone beyond making sure I can stand coarse foods.

From me, caroboo is much better than experimental gelomas soup.

"Come back, Fiona, because I cook normally with a wack called"

"... is that true?

From the shadow of a dragon car, the head of a leopard triangle hat peeks.

"True. Well, it's this number of people, and it's less quality than usual, but you have to be patient there."

"Because black bread and dried meat are my lowest line"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan to eat a lot of stuff."

Caroboo is eating in performance tests as a lation, but in terms of regular food, it is also being developed for flavor.

Fiona's lowest line is the kind of meal a common adventurer or soldier would say. Stiff dried meat just salty on kachikachi black bread. Others include dried legumes and shredded and used cheeses.

None of this is cold and stiff, the flavor is not very praiseworthy, but its highly conservative nature makes it adopted as an offering for long journeys, dungeon strategies, and war.

Conversely, if it does not rot, there is no need to force it to eat such a thing.

A meal also involves morale. I've never gone beyond delicious.

"I don't specialize in cooking, Saliel. I'll take care of the rest."

"Yes, Master"

Thus, under the command of Sariel, we were to have a safe lunch.

I did, but I felt more annihilated than I thought when I sidelined people who eat warm, hot meals with no concept of flavor. What makes you sad and have to eat something like this when it comes to having delicious handicrafts made by Sariel under the cold winter skies?

You made your own decision, and there was so much to come to my heart that I really thought about it.

Yeah, no, he needs a quick fix, after all. I mean, Simon, you can't if you're eating all this stuff. Seriously...

We arrived at the village of Dakia on schedule, although we were stuffed about the meal.

He didn't seem to expect a hundred mercenaries to come with Zorozolo, something that surprised him a lot.

This kind of quest seems to be in your word if a few small mercenary regiments participate, and then they're usually adventurers and secure the number of guards. I was told in the Adventurer's Guild here that it is unusual for a cohesive group of mercenaries to bother to join because it is not a particularly good job.

"Well, then let's start the brief"

We arrived on the ground so we could get more detailed information. At the moment, what monsters were confirmed or crusaded? Such as the area in charge of the person who participated in the security.

Add this information to determine our course of action.

"I think the village of Dakia will leave within today to go to the north side closer to the Galahad Mountains"

This quest is for security on Dakian territory. The subjects to be protected include not only the village of Dakia, but also several villages dotted around it.

The village of Dakia, which bears the name of the realm, is of a size that cannot even be called a town, but is nevertheless the largest in the realm, with all its population and adventurers, and has good access because of the streets it passes through. In other words, safety is high because Dakian territory is the most well-guarded and you can hope for quick reinforcements from the capital at times of need.

However, villages located closer to the Galahad Mountains than here are not in a reassuring situation. It will be in these areas that we need security.

"We're almost at the foot of the mountains when we get around here."

"Some villages near the foot have already begun evacuation. Temporary village abandonment is also an acceptable circumstance. Impossible adherence to this line is incompatible with danger and quest rewards"

Look at the point I showed you going on the map, a mouthful that neither Fiona nor Sariel are very enthusiastic about.

Sure, going all the way out here doesn't fit what Sariel says.

"If Mr. Krono says he wants to pity the villagers and go help them, he won't stop them."

"It's not like I don't feel that way, but I can't make cheap decisions with this many people."

"Master, we are Homunculus. Whatever the order, I will risk my life to carry it out."

"That's why I don't really want you to hang out with my wagamama"

Nevertheless, if it were a war of sorts, it would make it impossible and unscrupulous.

It's obvious that it's going to happen, so I'm going to stop being impotent in normal times.

"Anyway, this request is more like an exercise purpose than making money. There's no point in trying our gear without a certain degree of danger."

What we need now is experience, not money.

Anyway, it's important to accumulate all the experience and information you can get through the action. In the present situation, where we do not know when the next Galahad war will take place, it will be important to see how effective experience can be gained in a short time.

So to speak, it's not efficiency focused power leveling...... Anyway, me and everybody, we just have practice.

"So is that. At a distance, as a practice for marching in the snow."

"I understand the master's intentions. There's no room to disagree."

"That's settled. Then we leave immediately."

The northern foothills of the Galahad Mountains, where we will be on guard from the village of Dakia, are a day away from here. It is shorter in straight distance than between Dakia and Sparda, but there is also an unpaved narrow road and a growing amount of snow to take you closer to the mountains, making it a tougher journey than just going down the street.

Still, it is no different that it is the road that connects the village to the village. It is a much better route than breaking through deep woods and rugged mountains. It would be useless on the battlefield in the Galahad Mountains in winter, as it would seem to cause problems in this degree of march.

There was no particular problem, and the next day safely, on the 23rd of the month of dawn, he arrived at the village of destination.

In northern Dakia, at the foot of the Galahad Mountains, it is also remote within Sparta. It is a small village that should be known as de countryside.

Looking at a village this size reminds me of the village of Iles... no, this village is definitely smaller than Iles.

The village is a little festive because as many as a hundred mercenaries came to such a place. The village chief's grandfather, he saw us and flew in.

There is an Adventurer's Guild in any small village, so when it came to taking the quest, we quickly gained an understanding.

"Then we'll set a security route."

We meet in the Guild Ground Floor Lobby. Because the number of people is the number of people, it is in the rented out state.

In the corner, the only dedicated party in this village looked very uncomfortable at us. Honestly, I'm sorry.

"Fiona is in second unit, ask for a range from here to the neighboring village to the east. Sariel is all around the village and all the way to the neighboring village to the west."

"Yes, Master"

"What will Mr. Chrono do?

"I will remain in this village."

"I didn't know Mr. Chrono was going to leave you."

"You have no choice, because the Admiral can't go out on his own to scout the front lines."

I can't help but protect this little village for all 100 of us. We take advantage of the numbers, defeat as many people as we can, and put ourselves on guard.

Fiona and Saliel are the captains leading their respective squads, but underneath they are divided into ten units of squadrons and two more pairs.

The "Dark Knights" have a total of 103. Speaking of modern armies, it's squadron size. So I'm in a place like Squadron Leader, Major if it applies to rank... no, it's a small number of people even on squadron size, so maybe a lieutenant would be a good place.

Led by Fiona and Saliel are thirty and fifty, respectively. It's platoon size, so you two are platoon captains. The rank is sergeant, I guess.

And each leading the detachment is headed by Homunculus, who is considered to be a top performer. The rank is Corporal.

This quest is essentially a training exercise in small units of detachments or groups. Not everyone in the mercenary corps will always see me, or Fiona or Saliel. Reconnaissance and other things always come up to hit the mission with a unit formed by Homunculus alone.

Therefore, both training purposes are imposed: to try out the troop behavior only with them, and to see if I can lead each moving unit as a commander.

"As far as working in Alsace, I don't think Mr. Chrono has any particular problems,"

"It was a defensive battle, and they were all in one place. You won't know how good you can be when you move it in pieces like this one."

Anyway, it is a different world with limited means of communication. Once a unit goes out of its sight, it doesn't know what kind of incident will occur there.

Even if things didn't go wrong, if the communication is flawed, it could mean that we haven't heard from him or something.

"My heavy cavalry will be split and accompanied this time by Fiona, Saliel and both platoons. It's an order and a scout."

Fiona Platoon will have five led by Zwei and Sariel Platoon will have ten led by Dry. I'll keep five of them, including Ain, the deputy.

At the corner, we formed a heavy cavalry, a battlefield flower shape, but suddenly it is a dispersed operation. Only this time, there's no point in being intentionally solidified together with a showdown force, so it would be an unavoidable exploitation.

"That's it, any questions?

"Yes, who makes my rice"

Uh, we're going to cross the day in a different way than Saliel. I'm not a wack to dine with.

"Caroboo, you want to try it?

"I'll stop the mercenaries."

"Sebastiano, take care of him about Fiona"

"Jesus, My Lord"

I'm sure you, Deacon Representative, can prepare battlefield meals that will satisfy Fiona as well.

It's Fiona, who's been out of the Crusades because the rice tastes bad. Seriously, we could quit.

"Any other questions?"

Good, now it looks like nothing.

"Well, let's start the quest."