Episode 29: Follow me with all your might (1)
Fully armed mercenaries gathered in one place in an instant at Giselle’s command.
Everyone seemed to be nervous in their own way, and they were all in sync with the topic of mercenaries. Even though it was a short period of training, it was showing results.
Jiselle led them to a camp close to the Forest of Demons.
“The condition is still a bit disappointing.”
The garrison had only the basics laid down quickly so that they could immediately provide food and lodging.
It would have been nice to start after it was completed, but I didn’t have the luxury of waiting until then.
In the past few days, the deceased had come to visit several times with suspicious eyes.
Every time, Giselle and Belinda would make excuses and send them away, but rumors were starting to spread among the workers, so it was hard to hold out any longer.
“Since construction work on the garrison will continue even while we are in the forest anyway… … .”
Jiselle looked around at the mercenaries and shouted loudly.
“You’ve all heard the rumors, but the forest is dangerous! If you do as I say, there will be fewer casualties. Never act alone and never let your guard down!”
The soldiers guarding the entrance to the forest couldn’t help but be bewildered when they saw Jiselle suddenly appearing leading an armed force.
‘What the hell is that crazy guy talking about now… … . He’s going into the forest?’
The soldiers tried to block it with blank expressions, but they were not strong enough to stop the nearly two hundred mercenaries.
After everything was ready and before entering the forest, Giselle closed her eyes for a moment and fell into thought.
‘If things go well, all eyes will be on this place.’
The Duke of Delphine could not just sit by and watch Ferdium grow bigger.
No, there is no need to go all the way to the Duke’s residence; the surrounding lords will be eyeing this place.
In a way, Giselle’s actions were tantamount to bringing danger upon herself.
‘But that doesn’t mean we can stop.’
I knew death was coming, but I couldn’t just wait around doing nothing.
‘Do the best you can. That’s the only way to survive.’
Jiselle, who had once again gathered her strength, opened her eyes and raised her hands high.
Just as they were about to lead everyone into the forest, someone ran toward them shouting loudly.
“Your Highness, that won’t do!”
“Oh, Skoban?”
The one running was Skoban, the current captain of the Demon Forest Guard.
After the subjugation of the orcs, he became drunk and was demoted, not demoted.
Out of loyalty to him for having joined him in the orc subjugation campaign, Giselle ran to him and waited for him to catch his breath.
“Huff, huff, Your Highness. Are you planning on going into the forest?”
“Okay, I’ll go in now.”
“No! I disobey your orders… … .”
“Skoban, I have a favor to ask.”
“yes?”
“You made some money thanks to me before, right? Please listen to me out of loyalty.”
At the word “please,” Skoban’s eyes widened.
He had never even imagined that the Archduke would ask him for something.
Jiselle was the type of person who would just take things away without warning or force you to do annoying things.
Jiselle smiled at the bewildered Skoban.
“For the time being, I need to keep the soldiers’ mouths shut and keep my entry here a secret. The forces of the territory cannot follow me right away. If we’re not careful, we might end up fighting each other with our swords. This is not a joke.”
“Ha, but didn’t the garrison see that the mercenaries had already entered the territory? They’ll report back soon.”
“That’s why I said it before. On-site commanders make their own judgments and take action.”
“That, that means… …”
“I’m telling you to be moderate. We’re not in the forest, we’re going somewhere else. What do you think? Can you do it?”
‘Hey, you have to refuse!’
If you get caught lying, you won’t be safe either.
but…….
Skoban gulped as he looked at Giselle, who was smiling meaningfully.
His eyes were filled with confidence, as if he was slaughtering orcs.
It was the same back then. The Archduke demanded command authority and pushed forward as he pleased.
But thanks to that, we were able to kill all the orcs without any sacrifices.
Looking at those eyes, I suddenly felt like I wanted to trust him again.
In the end, Skoban nodded without realizing it.
After all, the Archduke in front of him was a person who wouldn’t listen even if you tried to stop him.
“As expected, you’re hot. Okay, then buy me some time. I’ll show you what you can do.”
Giselle also told Ricardo, who followed Skoban late.
“Hey, Ricardo! You’re now Skoban’s adjutant? Congratulations on your promotion. Glad you’re still handsome.”
Ricardo looked at him with a bewildered expression, not yet fully understanding the situation, and then asked.
“Your Highness, where are you going?”
“The Forest of Demons.”
“If you go in there without permission, we, the security guards, will die too!”
“It’s okay, I’ll be back before you guys die.”
Ricardo cried out in horror at those words.
“Why on earth are you doing this to me!”
“What did I do? You did it last time and you’re doing it again today.”
Jiselle clicked her tongue a few times and continued speaking.
“Anyway, monsters might pop out, so guard the entrance carefully. I’ll be back soon.”
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Jiselle quickly walked into the forest, afraid that someone else would catch him.
“Okay, let’s go in!”
The mercenaries followed Jiselle and walked slowly.
Skoban, Ricardo, and the rest of the soldiers just stared blankly.
A forest of demons that no one has dared to explore.
It was the moment when Giselle’s expedition finally took its first step.
* * *
Since they didn’t bring any horses, everyone had to walk themselves.
If a horse gets scared by a monster attack and runs away, it will only cause more trouble.
All the luggage was placed on several carts and pulled by the mercenaries themselves.
The entrance to the Demon Forest was no different from a normal forest.
A few small wild animals were seen and the sound of insects chirping could be heard intermittently.
Among the mercenaries, there were some who thought that the rumors were exaggerated, even though they were nothing special.
But after going a little further into the forest, I couldn’t help but change my mind.
“This is where it gets real.”
Everyone nodded at what someone muttered absentmindedly.
The forest was quiet. For some time now, not even the sound of insects chirping could be heard. Only a suffocating silence continued.
As we went in a little further, the size of the trees also began to change.
The tall trees covered the sky with their large leaves.
It’s dark.
If it weren’t for the sunlight streaming in through the tiny gaps between the leaves, I wouldn’t be able to see anything.
A small sigh escaped from among the mercenaries.
“So the dark forest… … .”
Another name for the Forest of Demons is the Forest of Darkness.
As its name suggests, the forest was thickly covered in darkness.
Even though it was clearly broad daylight, the fog spread wide and undispersed beneath our feet, giving off an eerie atmosphere.
The cool forest air flowed around the group.
“Turn on the lamp.”
Following Giselle’s words, several mercenaries lit the lamps.
The mercenaries held up their lamps and muttered among themselves.
“But why did you bring so many lamps?”
“Pretend, pretense. Are you ashamed of using a torch?”
Although lamps are much more convenient than torches, they are quite expensive.
But Giselle had prepared hundreds of lamps.
There were also several boxes piled up, with no idea what they contained.
The mercenaries were busy secretly cursing Giselle, saying that she was a noble and spent her money lavishly.
Once they had divided up the lamps and had a clear view, the group began to move slowly again.
Soon after, when the road was cut off, Giselle gave instructions to the mercenaries.
“We’ll make a road from here. Cut down the trees and clear the grass.”
Until now, there had been at least some traces of people walking around, but now there was nothing.
To pave the way to our destination, we had to lay the groundwork.
It would take quite some time, but the road had to be cleared now so the workers could erect fences and pave the road.
Jiselle took the lead, picked up the axe and started cutting down the tree.
The sound of an axe chopping echoed through the forest.
“What? The employer is also stepping in?”
“Is that what you call leading by example? Something like the dignity of a nobleman? Hehe.”
“How much would it cost? It’s probably just something I did because I was feeling a little motivated.”
The mercenaries began to cut down trees and taunt Giselle.
He was met with ridicule rather than respect for his actions that did not befit his status as a noble.
“Still, the tree is cut down pretty well.”
“Even so, it will probably stop soon. There are nobles who act like that sometimes, right?”
“Well, you probably only practiced swordsmanship at home, so your body must be aching. Hahaha.”
There was murmuring here and there, but the Cerberus mercenary group was the only one that didn’t say anything.
Because they knew that once their employers started to hit them, it wouldn’t end easily.
However, he had no obligation to tell the other mercenaries about this fact. This is something that needs to be learned firsthand so that it remains in the memory for a long time.
Belinda frowned and approached Giselle, whispering.
“Oh my, why do you do things like this, Master? If you hired someone, you should use that person.”
“It’s okay. If we help at least one person, it’ll end quickly.”
“It’s strange. Your Highness, you weren’t like this before. You don’t even wash your precious body yourself.”
“… … I don’t remember.”
To Belinda, it had only been a few days, but to Giselle, it was a distant memory from her childhood, a time she would rather forget.
Even as the two men bickered, the trees fell one by one thanks to the strength of the mercenaries.
As sunlight began to pour in through the gap created by the cut down tree, the mood among the group became much softer.
Even as he was chopping down trees, Giselle never stopped thinking.
‘There shouldn’t be anything different from what’s in that diary.’
In her previous life, while investigating the Forest of Demons, Jiselle obtained a journal written by the Delphine Duke’s pioneer group, and read and memorized it over and over again.
Although I wanted to reclaim the territory and seize its resources, I also kept reading because I missed Ferdium.
The Forest of Demons is one of the main culprits that has hindered the development of the Ferdium territory, but it is also inseparable from Ferdium.
‘There may be a time difference, but the ecosystem or the monster habitats may not have changed that much.’
I started this work by trusting that document, which detailed what monsters appeared where and when, and how much damage they inflicted.
If that information is wrong, not only will you not make any money, but the mercenaries will also be wiped out.
I had to move as carefully as possible.
As I got absorbed in my work, time passed quickly and my tension began to ease little by little.
“Isn’t this just gloomy?”
“Yeah. I think everyone was just scared and didn’t come in.”
“If this is how you make roads, I feel a little bad about receiving hazard pay.”
The mercenaries chattered noisily and worked quickly.
The destination wasn’t that far away, so I had a feeling that things would be easy.
As we went in a little further, Giselle, who was in the lead, stopped everyone.
“Everyone, prepare for battle.”
“Huh? Why?”
“There’s nothing?”
The mercenaries tilted their heads as they looked at the forest beyond Jiselle.
There was no sign of life, not even the usual animal howls.
There were only very thick and large trees densely blocking the view.
“Don’t come close, but step back a little. Prepare to attack.”
Jiselle said repeatedly.
Gillian looked around cautiously, but felt nothing.
I looked at Belinda and she shrugged her shoulders as if she had no idea what was going on.
Finally, he asked Giselle softly.
“Your Majesty, what’s the matter? I can’t feel anything around me. I don’t think there’s a monster lurking around.”
Gillian prided herself on being quite adept at sensing the presence of others.
In the past, weren’t the assassins of the lynx smuggling group easily found?
But Giselle shook her head.
“It’s not hidden.”
A phrase he had seen in a diary from his previous life flashed through his mind.
[When we arrived at a place full of trees covered in thick vines… … .]
Indeed, the trees standing densely in front of me were all wrapped in thick vines.
Gillian asked again.
“There’s nothing around you but trees, so what are you guarding against?”
[They made no sound at all. Even Count Balzac, the kingdom’s foremost swordsman and Sword Master, could not sense any sign of them… … .]
Jiselle answered, carefully observing the trees in front of her.
“What is before our eyes.”
