Trinitas Mundus

Episode 27: Escort Work

After showing Hamish and the others the magic at the training ground, Ray, Ashley and Stella rolled out to the city.

Ashley still seemed to think of something, but Ray wasn't so worried.

(Well, the chances of using magic don't seem so good, and a light crossbow would suffice when using it...)

Meanwhile, Ashley was reflecting on Hamish and his other reactions.

(Like Father, Brother Al, and Sister Val, not all people think about Ray. Ray's right, less alert. If I don't hold the reins with certainty, there could be a disaster for him...)

After a short walk, Ashley was back to her usual condition as well.

"We're going to the grocery store first."

"What kind of things do you buy?

"It's a sweetener for preserving dried meat and fatigue. After that, it's condiments."

The grocery store was located in a commercial district that went north of the mercenary regiment headquarters.

It also houses dried meat and cereals such as wheat, as well as candy made of sugar from southern gilsor.

Ashley starts choosing dried meat and candy.

(How much should I buy? Can you buy it in the city on the way? Is it better to have something to eat on horseback because travel is a horse?

He and Stella look at Ashley's shopping and buy something similar.

I bought less dried meat, more candy, sweet baked confectionery, etc.

Her story was that sweeteners, which were imports, were a better range of products than local cities, and Wang Du decided to buy as many sweeteners as possible.

(I see. Dry meat can be obtained in the countryside, but do you mean that the sweet things of luxury are cheaper and better in Wang Du? And that's a lot. It's not just Ash's taste, is it?

After leaving the grocery store, I go to buy cold clothes and blankets.

Ray buys an oiled leather cape on a waterproof surface. Trying to buy a thicker blanket,

"I guess I'll take the blanket in brackets on the horse, but what else do we have for our luggage? I'm not sure how much?

He was worried there would be too much horse to put on.

"Basically, I'm going to put the supplies I need in the Chamber's carriage, so all individuals have is weapons, equipment and personal effects. You'll also need clothes to change and small pots and cups, but that's enough for a minute now. The rest is about the magic props of the lights, but if it's going to get in the way, it won't have to be there. Anyway, Stella has a good night's eye, and you can use the magic of light."

"Something like that...... thanks for the help. Now we're ready, okay?

Ashley nodded contentedly and went back to headquarters.

We will relax and sight the city of Fonce from noon, as we are ready for our expedition from tomorrow in the morning.

From the square of the fountain in the center of the city, he walked blah blah blah blah and elsewhere on the western side with the royal palace for a relaxing holiday.

June 5, 7 a.m.

Early summer sunny weather spreads and a refreshing breeze blows across.

The courtyard at the headquarters of the Mercenary Corps of Markat was lined up with equipped Unit V.

All of them, Ray was impressed that his figure of solidifying himself into red-dyed equipment and standing upright deserved to be said to be elite.

(It's only twenty-five or six of us, and it's so intimidating. I don't know if the Knights have a sense of crisis. Was this what Takeda's "Red Readiness" looked like? You say elite troops also come from this sense of unity)

The fact that he was also for identification meant that he had a red cloth wrapped around his arm and was not uncomfortable standing among its elites.

(Exactly more tingly than usual. The air was also brisk, completely different from when Ash and I received a request for escort. Don't pass on the feeling of an army...)

There is a Valerian lesson, all riding in unison.

The handicapper stood at the drop off and headed into the meeting place with the Chamber of Commerce - the East Gate - in a slow stride through it.

The fifth squad, led by Ashley, is located at the rear of the fifth squad, in a formation called Ashley and Ray, Stella and Hull and, at the rear, Renzi of the Bobcat tribe, to advance the horse.

7: 30 am.

Rendezvous with the merchant corps of the Meracrino Chamber of Commerce, the subject of this escort.

As Valeria greeted a representative of the Chamber of Commerce, she invited Ashley.

As Ashley approaches,

"It's Lord Eric Meracrino. I thought you had some face-to-face knowledge.

Melaclino, who saw Ashley,

"Is that Ashley? You've done a fine job. Remember, it's Eric."

"Eric, little father? We're out of time."

Meracrino was one of the patrons at the time of the creation of the Mercenary Corps of Markat, who personally had an affair with Hamish and had an acquaintance with Ashley.

Speaking a word or two, Ashley returns to the line.

(I knew Ash was a celebrity. If only I knew this much, I'd feel cramped too)

8: 00 am.

The meeting with the merchant squad is over, and we line up and leave.

The fifth squad was placed second from the beginning, with the eleventh to twentieth being subject to escort.

(One spot at the beginning has Mr. Valeria, and two squads at the rear have Mr. Dougal. Since we have Stella and I, young Hal, who have little experience in the Five Squads, we are the second most likely to be instructed by the captain...)

As soon as we leave the city of Fonce, we enter the hills.

The hills are soon covered in forests, and large trees such as conifers, jaws and oaks are depressed and lush.

The streets passing between the hills were similar to those from the north, but the number of travellers and carriages going east streets was considerably smaller than the Fons-Raurus streets penetrating north and south.

The first day goes well without anything, but Ray couldn't hide his confusion on a massive escort mission he wasn't used to.

When it came to escorts, it was considered one of the tasks not only to fight when they were attacked, but also to smoothly move a large merchant corps of up to five hundred metres in length.

Among its tasks, there were many detailed chores, such as pre-empting the streets, adjusting the incorrect location with the merchant team coming from before, communicating requests from your staff to the entire merchant team to adjust the speed of travel, and organizing traffic for carriages at rest areas.

(Fine, you have a lot of chores. It feels more like an adjuster than a soldier... I only did a massive escort once, and I wasn't doing anything in particular because it was a stopover once. You really don't know anything, I...)

I manage to arrive in a small town, which is my first day of accommodation, shrinking my nerves with unfamiliar chores.

But we didn't immediately enter the inn, we had jobs like caring for our own horses and rearranging the carriages, which were packed for over two hours even after we arrived at the accommodation.

He goes into the inn in a heap, but soon a collective order arrives from Valeria, the captain.

Valeria announces the assignment of the night police for that day.

The second squad of the Rays had been assigned from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. shortly before departure.

As soon as he picked up the meal and entered the assigned room, he collapsed into bed.

(Pretty hard. Even though it's only my first day, does this last more than twenty days...... to be honest, I was licking it. of close range, because that was only a small escort too...... are the other mercenary regiments as tough?

We get to the floor early because we have early morning security.

Ray was more mentally tired than he was physically tired, so he fell asleep immediately and was completely asleep until Ashley woke him up.

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he gears up and heads to the carriage security.

The parking spot for the wagons was a square about a minute from the inn, with fifty wagons parked in an array of five vertically and ten horizontally, without gaps.

They alternate with the previous squad, and the five take the magic props of the lights and head to a determined place.

Ray was assigned a place close to the inn and was on his own to be on guard around him.

In the night sky the stars are brilliant, from the grass bushes we hear the bugs moving gasagoso, and in the distance we hear the beeping of the livestock.

But Ray was starting to get bored in about twenty minutes with security that just kept an eye on the perimeter without any sign of anyone other than ourselves.

(I'm bored... I don't have someone to talk to, and I don't have anything to do. You can sit down, but you might fall asleep. When you see the squad leader "Ash" who comes around regularly, he says there's severe punishment, so he's hesitant to sit down... whatever the camp is, you might want to think about some leisure time in the city...)

Ray starts barebacking, to distract him from boredom.

After waving the spear all the way, I still take the unusable long sword.

(Long sword... shorter range than spear makes it hard to use and distant, but should I practice a little more, seriously? Next time I have time, but let Renzi tell me...)

Continue the long sword bareback for about thirty minutes.

Along the way, Ashley comes around, but he just checks for anomalies and continues his patrol without saying anything in particular.

After hearing the 4: 00 a.m. bell, after about half an hour, the sky began to whiten.

The shape of the mountains to the east begins to clear, changing from dark blue to flock blue and blue.

He looked at the mountains to the east,

(Mountain to the east, beyond the mountain of Aquila is the land of the demons, Kwaedam Tenebre. I wonder why. Something I need to remind you...)

When it was about 5: 00 a.m., those who drew horses began to appear.

Are they on duty too, not all of them, but about ten of them connect the horses handily.

Each wagon that connected the horses was taken to the inn, and Ray followed the wagon as well.

At 6: 00 a.m., when a horse is connected to almost every wagon, the merchants of the Chamber of Commerce examine the wagon to make sure that there are no abnormalities.

The Rays rush back to the inn for breakfast.

And not even while I'm resting, they're going after me to get ready to leave.

6: 30 a.m.

We leave sequentially from the carriage ready to leave. The fifth squad of the Rays entered second from before, the same as yesterday, leaving five minutes after the lead carriage left.

The second day of travel also goes well.

The weather was good and the street was not badly maintained, so he sandwiched several breaks and arrived in the city called Corolt at 3 p.m.

Corolt has a population of about five thousand, roughly the same size as the city of Morton.

When the merchants enter the city of Corolt, they do not head straight to the inn, but to the commercial guild.

(Why go to a commercial guild?

Ray wonders, and asks Ashley,

"Ask the commercial guild to keep the carriage and the barn. There are few places in these cities where carriages can be parked near inns. So there's no night police today. Sleep tight."

Ray is horrified by what she says with a smile on her face.

In front of the commercial guild carriage yard, Valeria tells me what she plans to do tomorrow.

"We'll meet here tomorrow at 7: 00 a.m. Until then, allow free movement. The late squad will have more time for the night police tomorrow! Then dissolve!"

Listening to that voice, the mercenaries begin to move slowly.

Ray will check with Ashley about today's inn.

"Ash, where are you staying? Do you have a guess?

"Stay together with every squad. Renzi, don't you know a good place to stay?

Renzi, called by Ashley, with his well-moving eyes shining.

"I know a good place to stay. Rice is good and alcohol is cheap. There you go, okay?

When Ashley nods, Renzi takes the lead.

Walking about five minutes pulling the horse, I could see the inn Renzi was after.

"There it is. It's called" Lolo's Inn, "but I don't know the real name. It's an inn run by a cat general named Rollo. Whatever you say, wild bird food is good. And Yale here is a delicacy..."

(Mr. Renzi, I never really talked to him, but he talks quite a bit, sounds like a fun guy. After all, shall we teach this man his sword?

Upon entering the inn, a small cat woman from her late thirties, known as Lolo, appears.

Ray thought it was a cozy looking inn, although it's not cheap at 8C (Krona) per night with horses included.

(Don't remind me of Silver Bell Pavilion. Is Mr. Lester or Mr. Bianca doing well?

Take your beloved horse traveler to the stables and take care of him.

When I hang the brush while giving it water and water and checking the condition of my horse, I notice that the hair is better than before.

"Speaking of which, you're getting better hairy. It used to be duller gray, but now it's almost silver. Perhaps it would have been nice to have Mr. Burt take care of him..."

The traveler talked to was happily hissing lightly as if he knew what he was saying.

Ashley was taking care of her own horse while she was experiencing her first sense of fullness in the work of the Marcut Mercenary Corps.

(I've never felt so full. Everyone calls me “Ashley." The captain's daughter, not the "lady," but the name... is treated not as an accessory to someone, but as a single person. I didn't think this was such a heartbeat...... maybe this is also due to meeting Ray. If we hadn't met, even if we had returned to the mercenary regiment (here), they would have called us “ladies"...)

She comes to think of Stella.

(If Stella also admits she's not a "part of the force," “just an escort," but a single person... right! Ray knew about this. So you were calling Stella as much as you could, stroking her head and doing it... I only saw myself...)

If the voice of that heart had been heard by Ray, he would have immediately denied it, but happy or unhappy, the voice of that heart had not reached him.