「Well then, let’s depart! The non-combatants will take up position at the center, combatants assigned to them will take up defensive positions around them. Remember, we are the army led my His Highness Mercurio, the Third Prince of the Bestir Empire. We area also known as the rebel army, and we call ourselves that as well.」

He must have been using wind magic to make his voice heard by everyone present. Theorem’s voice echoed naturally even in the ears of those at the edge of the camp.

The day had come for the rebel army to leave their camp and head towards the Imperial Capital……away from the Obrisin County.

By this day, some merchants had already made sufficient profit and had left the rebel camp.

On the other hand, there were also those who had gathered with the rebel army, expecting to make even greater profits from here on.

The rebel army would advance with those people at the center while soldiers and adventurers guarded the perimeters.

At first, there were some who thought that protecting such people would hinder the rebel army’s fighting strength, but such people were also valuable to them.

They would provide food, or more accurately, sell it, without consuming the army’s own rations. They would also buy and sell other commodities in addition to repairing weapons and armour.

Some of them even brought warhorses to sell, although nobody knew how they had obtained them. It could be said that the non-combatants in the the rebel army were starting to occupy an important position.

That said, while such people were collectively referred to as non-combatants, they had still joined the rebel army. Naturally, it wasn’t uncommon for them to have a certain level of fighting skill. It wasn’t unusual to hear stories of some of them getting into arguments with soldiers and punching back.

Regardless, such people had come along for the relocation of the camp……or more accurately, the march towards the Imperial Capital.

「But, whether we’re rebels or not……it would be a great humiliation if we couldn’t protect those who say they’re coming with us. Don’t forget that. If we got further, punitive forces will naturally appear. There will be bandits and monsters. We must never allow them to harm the non-combatants who are lending us their strength! I expect each of you to act with the awareness that you are a member of the troops led by Prince Mercurio. Now, let’s go!」

『UOOOOOOOOOOOOH-!』

As soon as Theorem finished his speech, a loud cheer rose from the rebel army.

They started to advance while shouting that they would help Prince Mercurio.

The first to set off where the cavalry units.

Their role was to scout ahead and eliminate any enemies they found.

They could be thought of as a unit with two missions, reconnaissance and attack.

They advanced not only in the direction of the rebel army’s march, but also behind and to both sides.

The cavalry and infantry covered the perimeters while archers and other long range attacks remained on the inside, with non-combatants at the center.

The shape was similar to that of a square formation.

Because they were using such a formation, their speed wasn’t that high. However, it was possible to deal with attacks from any direction, and if there was an enemy that could break through it, the rebel army’s specialised forces, such as Vihera, Gurgast, Theorem, and Rei would take action.

In addition to the non-combatants, carriages loaded with supplies were also placed in the center of the formation.

At first, Rei asked if he should use the Misty Ring to transport the supplies, like he had done for Margrave Rowlock’s army during the Spring War, but was told no.

The reason was that if Rei was given the supplies, he would have to be the one to distribute them as well and they wouldn’t be able to respond quickly in an emergency.

In fact, considering the supplies that Rei had transported during the Spring War were mainly from Gilm to the Selemus Plains, Theorem’s opinion wasn’t wrong at all.

Unlike during the Spring War, when Rei had been moving in friendly territory, they were currently being treated as rebels traveling in enemy territory……in other words, they were in the enemy’s sphere of influence and it wouldn’t be strange for them to be attacked at any given time.

Another reason for not asking Rei to store everything, which Theorem didn’t voice, was that although Rei was cooperating with the rebel army, he wasn’t part of the Bestir Empire.

The supplies included large amounts of weapons, armour, medicine, food, and other things. It would be bad for the rebel army if Rei carried all those supplies by himself and some people in the rebel army, although they didn’t voice their thoughts, were worried that Rei would run off with all the supplies. There were quite a few people who thought that way.

If Rei had heard that, he would have told them not to be stupid, but it was only fair that the leaders of the rebel army, which had grown to nearly 3,000 troops after their overwhelming initial victory, would judge it to be dangerous to rely on an uncertain factor like Rei.

It wasn’t a question of whether Rei could be trusted or not, but a necessary decision to be made when running a large organised group of people like the rebel army.

That was why Theorem, who strongly trusted Rei’s abilities, and Vihera, who loved Rei, both accepted it without any issue.

Rei himself understood that and since it had been explained to him beforehand, he didn’t feel particularly dissatisfied.

「Well, it’s a good thing our burden was reduced.」

「Guru~?」

Set, who was walking beside Rei, gave a cry as if to ask what was wrong.

「No, it’s nothing, I just thought it would be a boring march.」

Rei muttered as he looked around.

Rei and Set were near the center of the formation……where the non-combatants and rebel leaders had gathered.

Leaving aside the leaders, Rei and Set were outstanding individual combatants. Theorem would have liked to have them with the infantry or cavalry on the perimeter, but Rei and set weren’t good at working together with others.

Since that was the case, it would concluded that it would be better to have the two of them escort the non-combatants near the center and use them as a trump card in the event that the cavalry scouting ahead encountered an enemy they couldn’t handle.

An important benefit was that Set could fly.

If Rei had been an ordinary cavalryman, he would have been in the way of the surrounding non-combatants if they were attacked by a powerful enemy. And, with archers and other ranged attackers at the perimeter with infantry and cavalry even further out, there would have been a significant delay in his response time.

But, since Set could fly, he only needed a small run up to get going.

Being able to move through the air was a very powerful advantage.

(Well, of course, they should know that. Or rather, since they have Dragon Knights who can also fly, they should be familiar with the advantages of having airborne troops. Although it’s unclear whether they’ll use them in battle.)

It was widely known that Rei and Set had killed many Dragon Knights in the Spring War.

Knowing that, Rei predicted the same outcome if the the enemy sent Dragon Knights to fight them again.

However, since it was still not known that Rei was with the rebel army, it wasn’t unlikely that they would send out Dragon Knights at first.

(Well, this is a spread out formation, so it would be a bit troublesome if they used hit and run tactics in waves targeting various places.)

After all, Rei and Set couldn’t be everywhere at once. Given that, if wave attacks were launched, it would soon spiral out of control.

If they attacked from a single location, Rei could launch a wide area attack using his specialty, fire magic. Rei’s main method of fighting, which used fire magic and his enormous amount of magic power, meant that he was good and wide area attacks.

However, that also meant that he was susceptible to hitting allies within his effective range if he used something like that.

There was no way for his magic to automatically distinguish friend from foe like in a game.

If he wanted such an effect, it would mean, for example, that every fireball or fire arrow Rei shot out would have to be individually controlled……

It was still possible to do that for one or two people, but it would be impossible to do the same for over 3,000 people.

Also, since they were advancing in a square formation, it naturally meant that they were vulnerable to hit and run attacks from all directions.

(Well, it seems like Dragon Knights cost a lost of money, so they’re probably one of their prized units. They know that if they run into us, they’ll definitely suffer losses, so they won’t try something like that……or so I’d like to think.)

It was just his wish, but Rei hoped it would come true.

Thinking like that, Rei looked at the advancing rebel army.

In the center were the non-combatants, including merchants, who transported everything they had in carriages.

It was obvious that their movement was slow. The army as a whole was moving at a speed unusual for that of an army.

However, with such a large group, even bandits, who had increased significantly since the start of the civil war, wouldn’t bother them.

As for monsters, they had mostly been killed beforehand and rarely made an appearance.

Occasionally, Goblins would show up before being found and killed by the cavalry scouting ahead.

Since only monsters of that level appeared, it was fair to say that the rebel army was progressing smoothly, even if slowly.

At this point in time……

「Rei, can I talk to you for a moment?」

A voice called out to Rei as they marched along.

Turning to face the voice, he saw Theorem, riding on his warhorse.

A short distance away, Set was giving happy cries after being fed by some of the prostitutes in the carriages, but the warhorse showed no signs of fear, probably due to its training.

「Oh, there’s no problems here. ……Actually, I’m really bored. I could take on some Goblins right now.」

「……No, that would cause a lot of problems for me. But, it’s not that.」

「What? Has a Goblin rare species appeared? In that case, I’ll go. Rare species magic stones are valuable, even if they are Goblins.」

Rare species, as their name suggested, were rare, and Rei had only encountered one a handful of times.

That was why he would like to find one if possible. Those were the thoughts behind his words, but what came back to him was a rather exasperated look on Theorem’s face.

「Hey, since when did I say that Goblins had appeared? Seriously, even if you’re bored, why don’t you look a little more serious? Even if things look like this, it is still a military operation.」

「Even if you say that. It would be one thing if an enemy was coming, but this is just boring for me. No, there are probably some weak monsters and bandits, but the cavalry is dealing with them, right?」

「Yes, I have received reports. After all, they are soldiers and knights personally trained by you. There is no doubt to their abilities.」

Where was the look of exasperation on his face that had been there a few seconds ago? Theorem’s words of admiration made Rei want to ask.

However, he ended up shrugging his shoulders as he prompted Theorem to continue.

Rei put on the hood of his Dragon Robe, which he had taken off until now, but Theorem could tell that it was just a way to hide his embarrassment.

「……So, what are you here for anyway?」

「Yes. If we continue at this speed, we should leave the Obrisin County around evening. I’m sorry, but could you please go out and scout then?」

「I see. Of course, Set as well, right?」

Rei asked, just to confirm, and Theorem nodded as if it were obvious.

The reason why Theorem had asked Rei to scout was because Set gave Rei the overwhelming advantage of being able to fly.

Rei wouldn’t want to scout on horseback and even if he did, he had Set’s scent on him. Unless it was a very well trained horse……a warhorse like the one Theorem was riding on, they wouldn’t let Rei get on their back.

「I understand what you mean. As I said before, I have no problem with it. If you want, we can even scout right now.」

「Don’t do that. No matter what you say, having a fighting force like you here in the case of an emergency is a big deal in many ways. The rebel army is also relying on you.」

Hearing Theorem say that, Rei frowned slightly.

The army, after all, was led by Mercurio. The question just occurred to Rei about whether it was okay for a mere hired adventurer like himself to occupy such an important role.

(A common scenario would be for the rebel leadership to see me as a nuisance and try to eliminate me……but maybe not.)

He knew that some people, including Mercurio, had their own opinions about him, but he didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to try anything reckless. If they did do anything wrong, there was a chance that the rebel army itself would be burned to the ground.

Thinking like that, Rei nodded back at Theorem.

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