Sword of the Philosopher

Me and Croix, this is our escort. We'll use the devil to get to the village we found in the demon. There were no enemies around, and we were able to reach our destination without any trouble.

We confirm that he is a demon of use and has no appearance of a villager, but just in case, he descends a little far from the village and checks the situation first from outside the village.

"There's no such thing as a light... it's odd to think that there's not even one light, even though it hasn't even reached midnight yet"

"After all, you evacuated for fear of us?

"Maybe..."

Croix slowly moves on to the village, whining. I'll follow it inside.

Desolate winds blow through and stroke our bodies. Only the footsteps echoed around, and if there were a villager, you would notice ninety-eight or nine, but no one would come out of the house.

"Do you want to check the house?

One of the escorts asks Croix. After much thought, he

"Right...... sorry though"

The escort says, "Okay, I'll start," and moves out. I don't loosen the perimeter surveillance... but I can't even see a demon.

So I decide to look around the village too... the wind blows through the village on the pretend. Except for the sound of the wind, only the sound of our walking, so much so that we even feel lonely.

So, while I'm a little sorry, I checked the house, and there are no signs of vandalism, for example. It doesn't seem to be a situation where villagers have been attacked, so it's reasonable to think of it as an evacuation.

"Master Croix!

The voice of an escort like it was played here. I went outside and checked, and there was a boy next to the escort.

"Villagers?

"Seems so"

"Officials? I left him alone..."

The boy groans as he mourns. You mean you missed evacuation?

"I'm sorry, but I just need to talk to you for a minute before you come with me"

"Yeah."

To the boy who replied, Croix asks a few questions... how the boy thinks we're under Bizell's command for now.

Croix's question comes from the name of this village, from which he enters the question he penetrates.

"First of all, when did this village face start evacuating?

"Uh, it's after lunch. I was playing outside the village, and I fell asleep."

"So you said they left you... what about your parents?

"He's out to a nearby town today."

If so, are you evacuating toward town about those parents?

"Ok...... so check it out, did you see how the evacuation took place?

"Yeah. We all rode the devil. I flew over there."

That's the direction I pointed at... the west side.

"... the nearest town must have been the northeast?

"He was such a big demon as he was in the castle, wouldn't he take you to the castle?

To the castle...? That's uncomfortable. What's this all about?

"Am I going to the castle too?

"No, I'm sorry, but I'm going to head to the nearest town where my parents are out. Talk, thanks."

Then Croix instructs the escort to fly the boy on the devil. Probably put him down near town and let him make it to town on the boy's feet. Some people would assume that it's not Bizel's gesture to be just a demon in town.

"... West, huh?"

Croix looks in the direction where the castle is located.

"Evacuation has definitely caused the villagers to disappear... the question is whether that is true or an excuse to move the villagers"

"An excuse... it's certainly odd to bother moving to Bizell's castle..."

"Mr. Luon, about the other village we found in the camp, there's no shadow, either, is there?

"Oh... by the way, I found another village on the way here"

"No one?

"Sounds like... and our march route is out of place."

Croix makes a difficult face at the word. It just seems like you know what that face is...

"... for whatever reason, Bizel seems to be circling these villages and gathering villagers to the castle"

"Villages, not towns..."

"I may have avoided moving from town to town because of the confusion. And if the whole town disappeared, it would be a riot, but even if the people of the dotted village disappeared, we could justify evacuating them because of our presence."

Problem is, that's why.

With his arms around him. When this one mentioned it, Croix nodded small,

"... I got the information first. It doesn't seem to make any sense to stay longer, and when the escort who sent the boy returns, we'll go back to the camp."

That said, the conversation on this occasion was interrupted.

Eventually he returned to the camp and Croix came to me and Sofia's tent.

"I first visited the village to get information. A whole village disappears, and its destination is apparently Bizell's stronghold… there are two possibilities"

Me and Sophia listen to him.

"One is simply for evacuation purposes... considering the danger that the vicinity of this village will become a battlefield... All the deserted villages Mr. Luon spoke of exist in a position far off our march path, but do you expect the front to expand that far by daring to evacuate the villagers in those places -"

"Or even a trap, and Bizel calculates that the front will be as wide as that"

He nodded small at my words that followed Croix.

"Oh, that's possible... but it's also a treatment for villages that are a long way from our marching path. If it's a trap, it's bigger than you can imagine."

"Ambush, you don't mean. If you look in the demon, Croix will look into it and nothing will come out of it, not that the enemy will suddenly emerge from somewhere."

"Well... if you're an enemy to stop this advance, it's a good number. Naturally, the larger they are, the easier they become to expose…"

"I'll notice this one when it does just that...... should"

"I want to think so, but definitely not"

Croix speaks in harsh terms. Consider and prepare for all possibilities...... I mean, also think about the possibilities we've just raised, and Croix is going to march on.

"We only have enough countermeasures to keep our defenses in place about this, but we haven't drained much of our fighting power so far, and yet some of Mr. Luon and others have. What's more, Amel seems to be able to get closer and rendezvous here. There's a good chance you can eat and break even if you're planting ambushes."

"You mean alert, but not so pessimistic either... I said there are two possibilities, but what's the other?

"... I don't think that's the other possibility I'm guessing. But the word that came out of the discussion with Amel… so I have the idea that maybe"

In my discussions with Amel... there's only one thing.

"Weapons of war, is it?

Sophia asks. Croix nodded instantly,

"Yes... the second one is conjuring up the villagers"

"Syncope......? So you're saying we're moving the villagers somewhere in the name of evacuation?

"That's right. Information from the protected boy confirms that the villagers are moving in the direction of Bizell's stronghold... and we only assume that evacuation is not definitive."

"In other words, for purposes other than evacuation...... in relation to weapons of war?

Croix nods. That the hell...... when he was silent, he started talking heavily.