Chapter 198 – Sacrificial Operation (2)

On the surface, everything seemed fine, but the citizens of the imperial capital were deeply uneasy due to the news of the Demon King’s army advancing from the east.

It seemed as though every citizen of the capital had come out for the departure ceremony and the subsequent parade. People filled the square, the buildings overlooking it, and lined both sides of the streets where the knights and mages marched.

It was a sea of people, truly a sight to behold.

The crowd cheered at the emperor’s declaration of departure and showered the marching knights and mages with flowers. The mages’ fire magic lit up the sky, making the scene even more spectacular than any festival I had seen in my previous life.

Thanks to this, after the departure ceremony, no one paid attention to us anymore. The citizens didn’t know who we were, and the knights, mages, and swordsmen marching in the parade were too busy responding to the crowd’s enthusiasm.

Even the hero and saint, whom we had seen just a week ago, were waving to the people with pale faces, so there was no one left to care about us.

As a result, unlike the tense departure ceremony, we were able to relax and enjoy the surroundings.

“Wow, now I finally feel like I’m in a fantasy world. This is it. This is the fantasy world I imagined,” Yerim said, looking around with a dazed expression.

Hoffman gave her a pitiful look. “What kind of place did you think Ea was? Even I’ve never seen such a lavish parade before.”

Yerim pouted at Hoffman’s words. “Well, dreams can be a bit exaggerated, you know. I didn’t say I wanted to see this every day. Just think, ‘She’s happy to see the scene she’s been dreaming of,’ okay?”

To my eyes, the departure ceremony seemed like an over-the-top attempt to mask the grim reality of the empire’s retreat and loss of territory. The citizens’ enthusiastic welcome also seemed like a way to hide their anxiety.

But as Yerim said, there was no harm in enjoying the moment. After all, this was the most spectacular scene I had witnessed since being born into this world.

“Once the hero defeats the Demon King, we’ll get to see this again, right?” Yerim added.

Her words made me look at her again. The emperor had announced something similar during the departure ceremony, and the citizens and nobles likely believed it too. But Yerim knew the true purpose of this expedition.

Yet, she still said something like that. It seemed she hadn’t given up hope.

However, I couldn’t answer her question. Perhaps she didn’t want to hear the answer either, as she quickly turned her attention back to the surroundings and continued walking. Soon, we arrived at the building with the portal.

Normally, a parade like this would have exited through the city gates, but the destination of this parade was the building with the portal we had come through. Despite the Demon King’s army destroying numerous territories and pushing deep into the empire, the battlefield was still too far from the capital to reach without spatial movement.

Of course, moving thousands of imperial soldiers would be too much for the mages managing the portal, but the only ones moving were us, the swordsmen, the imperial knights, and the mages. Moving a few hundred people was entirely feasible.

The procession stopped in front of the portal building, and we entered first. Those who entered with us were the swordsmen, the hero, the saint, and the imperial knight we had seen earlier with the chancellor.

Leaving the imperial knights and mages outside, the rest of us entered the building. The swordsmen, who had been quiet until now, began to speak.

The first to speak was a cold-faced middle-aged woman. “This is why I didn’t want to come to the capital. In the end, we’re just here to help the emperor with his propaganda.”

The woman, who looked like she must have been very beautiful in her youth, was a mage. She was wearing an extravagant outfit that seemed uncomfortable to move in. The reason she could move comfortably in such attire was due to the mana flowing through the clothes.

Just to wear fancy clothes, she was channeling mana into them. The only person I knew who would do such a thing was Countess Lima de Müller, the Rose Mage.

Though she looked middle-aged, I knew she was over 70. She was called the Rose Mage not because of the red dress she was wearing, but because of the blood she spread with her magic.

She was a mage specialized in water magic, and now that she was a swordsman, she could control any liquid, including the blood inside people.

However, because of this trait, she wasn’t of much use in the fight against the Demon King’s army, as they were undead with rotting blood.

‘Could her bad mood be because of that?’

The irritable mage’s words were soothed by an elderly knight with a gentle voice. “Everyone was anxious. Think of it as a way to reassure the people.”

At the handsome old knight’s words, the Rose Mage closed her mouth with a pout. She seemed like the type to be arrogant, but she couldn’t act recklessly towards this knight.

That was because this knight was the master of the imperial knights, a swordsman, and a distant relative of the emperor. Though not officially a member of the royal family, everyone recognized him as a senior member of the royal family.

That’s why the emperor had bestowed upon him the name Alex, after the first emperor, and granted him the title of duke, which was only possible for royalty.

The old knight smiled and said nothing more, causing the atmosphere to become awkward. A mage then quietly spoke up.

This time, it was a swordsman I knew—Mage Quanter, the mage who had brought us to the capital.

“Well, in times like these, we can’t help but be called. But this is the first time we’ve all gathered like this, right?”

“We’ll part ways again before we even have time to catch up,” a swordsman muttered from the corner.

Though his voice was soft, everyone heard him. He was the only one among the nine swordsmen who was a shaman. He wore a tattered cloak, unlike the others.

I couldn’t even remember his name, as he hadn’t received any title.

The atmosphere that Mage Quanter had tried to lighten was ruined again by the shaman’s muttering. In this situation, the Rose Mage started talking again.

Unable to badmouth the emperor, her targets were the hero, the saint, and us.

“Like the old man said, it can’t be helped in this situation. But more importantly, kids, I get the hero and the saint, but what are those monsters next to them?”

Everyone in the building, waiting for the portal to activate, turned their eyes to us.

In fact, half of what she said was insults towards the hero and the saint, but it seemed no one heard that part.

“I was curious about that too. The mana and divine power emanating from the knight, mage, and priest are so strong that I thought they might be the emperor’s secret weapons,” said the master of the imperial knights.

The Rose Mage continued excitedly, “Right? The daughter of the sacred tree is one thing, but the other two are really out of nowhere. Are they really secret weapons?”

Their relationship seemed better than I thought.

‘Hmm, now that I think about it, despite their different appearances, they might be around the same age.’

Both were swordsmen, a male knight and a female mage of the same generation.

It seemed like the kind of story Yerim would enjoy. She was watching them with sparkling eyes when someone else poured cold water on her expectations.

“No, they are all part of the allied forces and were recently chasing the Demon King in another world. Besides, the priest is the saint from another world,” said Count Schponheim, who had been providing us with food and shelter.

“What? You knew about these monsters?” The Rose Mage glared at the middle-aged count.

“I knew as well,” interjected Mage Quanter.

“What? Does everyone know except us? Are we the only ones who didn’t know?”

Mage Quanter shook his head at the Rose Mage’s words. “No, only a few of us know. Count Schponheim, myself, and Marquis Kolbe, right?”

The mage nodded.

Since the establishment of the new empire, the number of imperial swordsmen had always been around ten. Currently, there were nine swordsmen, six of whom were present here.

Among them, the ones I knew were Count Schponheim and Mage Quanter. The other swordsman I knew had returned to his territory to protect it from the undead.

“Speaking of which, we called everyone, but three are missing,” said the Rose Mage.

Indeed, only six swordsmen were here: the Rose Mage, the master of the imperial knights, the silent knight, Count Schponheim, Mage Quanter, and the shaman standing apart.

“I heard Marquis Kolbe is defending his territory, but why didn’t the other two come?”

“Kruger is commanding troops on the front lines,” said the old knight.

The mage tilted her head. “Ah, he’s part of the imperial army, so that makes sense. What about Warner?”

A quiet imperial knight spoke up. “Warner hasn’t been in contact for a while. He’s missing.”

“Is he dead?” the mage asked, half-jokingly.

The knight nodded. “It’s possible.”

“Tsk, a swordsman missing… Things must really be bad,” the mage said, and the others’ expressions darkened.

For them, the disappearance of a swordsman seemed more serious than the death of the hero.

As the conversation continued, a spatial mage who had been adjusting the magic circle hurried over to us.

“It seems we need to change the departure order,” he said.

The old knight asked, “What’s going on?”

“We’ve received word that the territory where the knights need to go is under attack. We should head there first.”

“Have they already reached that far?”

The territory we were supposed to portal to was one we thought was still safe. It was located in the center of the eastern barrier, not far from the imperial capital, but the Demon King’s army had already pushed that far.

“Understood. Is everyone ready?” the old knight asked, looking around at those who would depart first.

Those who would move with us to the hidden gate were the imperial knights and mages waiting outside, Mage Quanter, and the old knight leading the imperial knights.

The hero and saint were also there, but the old knight stopped them from following.

“You two, follow last.”

“But…” the hero tried to say something, but the saint held his hand and shook her head. He bit his lip and bowed his head.

It was a pitiful sight, but there was no other choice. The new hero was still a novice knight, only filled with divine power.

Unfortunately, in a large-scale battle like this, the hero and saint wouldn’t be of much use. What was needed were powerful knights and mages—the swordsmen.

“Let’s go. With five swordsmen, we can hold them off until the others arrive.”

“Or maybe we can push them back.”

“Even better.”

With those words, our party, excluding the two swordsmen and Hoffman, stepped onto the portal magic circle.

The hero and saint watched us with gloomy expressions from outside the circle, while Hoffman waved at us.

Hoffman was set to depart with the main force. Despite saying he would retire, he had decided to follow us again.

He said it was for closure.

I didn’t fully understand, but we accepted his decision.

“We’re departing. Be mindful of dizziness.”

As always, the mage’s words were followed by the magic circle glowing brightly.

And in the next moment, we were facing a burning castle with an undead army advancing towards us.