170: To the rescue (2)

To the rescue (2)

When the group reached the bridge, they saw some elementalists guarding the place, and two guards on the other side. That wasn't like the usual number… Jean at least left with them some simple carriages in case Edward sent some help, so the traveling speed would increase a little. After talking with the elementalists to be quiet about that, they left. Billy was a bit worried, it seemed like many soldiers were going to participate in that war... almost everyone available.1

"You think they will keep their mouths shut about it?" Billy asked. "Sarah is their direct leader, after all."

"They also respond to Edward Edward and said that those were his orders," Drew said. "That will put them in a difficult situation, but since they don't know much about the issue, they will buy some time."

Sarah wasn't exactly friendly toward anyone, while she had her goals and interests, she never showed too much emotion. It was weird considering the first time Billy saw her. Still, Kate was friendly enough for many people, so they were good friends now, so the information was bound to leak out.

In any case, the group headed east and kept going for quite a while. Alexander was supposed to be in the southern part of the continent, but the enemies were in that direction. In south, there was the ocean and in the North, there was another state that didn't want to get involved in the conflict. Despite that, Edward considered that a stroke of luck. Things could have become messy if they were too be attacked in two fronts. After seven days, they reached Vergena city and they saw many battalions camping outside. Considering the number of groups, Billy would say that they had fifteen thousand men ready to fight. Quite the number, but many of those, almost half were of barely trained soldiers that were as young as Billy.

"There are many people here who look different from regular soldiers… they have a different aura," Nikola said.

"They are adventurers, while they aren't that disciplined, they become quite strong facing dungeon monsters on a daily basis," Billy explained.

Speaking if adventurers, there were Gerald and Marie. Those two fellows didn't seem like the type who would join in wars, but they do have a chance now? Even if they had lost some friends due to those, they were going to lose a whole bunch more if they just stood and watched things happening.

"We should buy you guys some defensive equipment after we talk with Jean," Billy said. "Fighting against an army, it will be important to avoid being wounded by surprise attacks. Even if we are faster than most, we only have two eyes."

"You call him directly like that?" Drew asked. "Speaking of which, lord Edward also seems pretty relaxed when he talks about you."

"He doesn't seem like the type of person who would worry about that… but it isn't a good idea to say that out loud in front of his people," Billy explained.

"Is that so…" Drew said. "My image of him was a bit different."

"Putting that aside, we stand out here, so we should hurry and find an inn and then look for Jean at night when few people will see us moving," Billy said.

Billy was mildly famous after clearing the dungeon that belonged to Marie's guild, so maybe there wasn't any point in keeping a low profile. Still, given that it might be spies around that city, he decided to be cautious in order to surprise the enemies. They will be more effective on the first day… even though the enemy might be waiting for them.

Although they found a cheap inn and then waited until nightfall, things still looked a bit hectic in the streets at night. Naturally… they were going to war again, so everyone would prepare as much as possible to prevent their deaths. In any case, Nikola wanted to confirm Alexander's safety as soon as possible, but they had to wait since asking around might be troublesome.

Eventually, they reached the fortress of the city, and then they identified themselves to the guards. Their leader sent a message to the people inside and then he eventually returned bringing them the permission to enter. Since it would be too much to walk with everyone inside it, only Billy, Drew and Nikola entered the fortress and once they reached the conference room, they frowned while looking at the individuals inside. Aside from some captains, that could be identified by their red spears, they could be three lightly dressed people. Two of them were Gerald, and Marie, so the other must be a guild master as well. He was a guy even bigger than Gerald, who had long black hair and was wearing some kind of coat made by monster's fur. However, Billy didn't pay attention to him, but to Pierre and Alexander that were there as well. Alexander was already informed of their arrival, so he wasn't that surprised. He seemed a bit troubled, though.

"Dad, Billy…" Alexander said.

"We came to help, son," Nikola said.

"Don't get all sentimental on me," Billy said while frowning.

"Hey, kid, it has been a while," Gerald said.

"I had the feeling that you would come," Marie said.

Pierre smiled wryly and the other Captains seemed annoyed since everyone was ignoring the fact that Jean was supposed to tali first, but Jean was tired and he couldn't care less about that. He seemed a bit happy with the Reinforcements, but considering their numbers…

"Thank you for coming," Jean said. "We were just talking about a topic related to you. The recruits trained by Alexander can hold their own, but they didn't receive proper military training, so it would be difficult to put them alongside normal soldiers. We were planning to use them as an external force like the Adventurers. I assumed your people would fit more among them as well."

"Leave it to us, sir," Drew said and then nodded.

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