Chapter 350: From Escaping to Encountering (2)

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Loren and Gula, who had left the encampment together, were soon joined by Lapis, who had followed them.

They were worried about pursuers, but thanks to Lapis’ skilful diversion tactics, no one was in pursuit of them, and the team ran along the empty streets, hoping to gain a little distance before they were noticed.

“I was worried that at the very least, the Commander would appear and say ‘Wait’.”

Yuri gave off the impression of anticipating, predicting, and standing in the way of anything. Loren thought that he would appear in front of them this time as well, but his fears were proved to be unfounded.

“I guess a confused army is a weak army, huh?”

“No, he realized.”

Lapis smoothly said these outrageous words to Loren, who was looking behind them with worry.

Loren and Gula were so surprised that they slowed down, and Lapis held up her index finger as she recounted how she had escaped from the encampment.

“Yuri seemed to be the only one who thought Loren would make it out of the encampment in the chaos. He was going to go after Loren by himself, so I gave him a little push with my palm and he went back.”

“Is the Commander all right?”

Even though Yuri was being very suspicious, as far as Loren knew, the man was a human. He wondered if Yuri would be able to survive being ‘pushed a little’ by Lapis.

Loren suspected that Lapis had done something terrible, but without stopping, she told him in no uncertain terms.

“I doubt if he’s really human, that Mister Commander. I was going to send him to the hospital, but he was the picture of health.”

“Wait a minute.”

Pushing someone with the intention of sending them to the hospital was usually not called a little push. Yuri was of advanced age, and compared to Loren, he was not as strong in terms of physical strength and healing capacity. Loren was worried that Lapis might have seriously injured the man without being aware of it, but he was relieved to hear that Yuri was the picture of health.

“The quickest way to get them to give up the chase is to disable the leader.”

“That may be true, but…”

It was not uncommon for a group that has lost its leader to become a disorderly crowd. However, Loren was not sure if it was appropriate to do so to a non-enemy group.

“In the end, I did what I had to do without causing any injuries, so please give me credit for that.”

Regardless of the methods, it was true that no one was injured as far as the results were concerned. Loren, who was wondering whether it was even worth praising, gently patted Lapis on the head, losing to the silent pressure of her staring at him with an expectant look in her eyes.

“Loren, if you don’t let her have it like this every once in a while, I’m worried something terrible will happen.”

Seeing Lapis looking happy when being patted on the head, Gula said with an aghast look on her face, and Loren let out a quiet sigh.

“I have the same thought from time to time.”

Seeing their reaction, Lapis’ cheeks puffed up in disapproval.

“You two are terrible. I’ll have you know; I’ve been running errands for you.”

“Errands?”

Under Loren’s questioning eyes, Lapis slipped out from under the hand that was patting her head and took out a folded piece of paper hidden under her clothes, and opened it.

As Loren had a look at what was written on it, he realized that it was a map with quite detailed information.

“Yuri told us to take it with us, as we would need it if we were to continue on.”

Apparently, the scouts the Empire army had sent out to march through the Kingdom’s territory had succeeded in creating a reasonably detailed map.

However, this kind of information was usually considered confidential and should be kept under wraps, and Loren wondered if it was okay for Yuri to give it to someone who was only an adventurer like him.

“He said it’s just a copy, and asked me to tell you not to worry about it.”

“He even knows I’ll be concerned.”

Loren was astonished at the extent to which Yuri had anticipated and predicted the future, but the map that Lapis had brought with her indeed did contain necessary information for their group, and it was certain to be of great help to them.

With this information, they would not have to fumble through the Kingdom’s territory blindly, and it would be easier to make a plan for the future.

“If that black-armoured bastard is somewhere, it’s usually in the capital, right?”

With the map Lapis had unfolded in front of them, the group discussed the route they would take as they walked on.

The bastard was, of course, Magna. Since no one had heard of his appearance during the battle against the Empire army, Loren thought it was highly likely that he was camping in a place that could be called his headquarters.

“If we are aiming for the capital, or the best city in the country, then all we have to do is walk eastward along the road we are on now.”

Lapis pointed at a location that was probably where they were, and her finger slid eastward from there.

The city she indicated was, indeed, the royal capital.

However, there were several cities in between, and the dots that marked these cities were crossed out, probably by Yuri or someone from the Empire army.

“I’m assuming that these cross marks mean that they were found to be empty.”

“If that’s what they mean, there seems to be few human obstacles on the way…”

The cities on the road that they had to go through were almost all crossed out. It meant that there were no inhabitants in these cities, and no soldiers to protect them. Loren looked at the marks with a dismayed expression on his face.

“If there’s no one there, then those golems must be there, right?”

“Yes, I’m sure they are there.”

“I don’t really want to encounter them. They’re not too strong, but their appearance is too gross.”

A flesh golem was a creature that looked like it had been made into human form from a mass of flesh that had not been drained of blood.

It was easy to guess that the raw materials for the flesh golems were probably the residents that had disappeared without a trace from the Kingdom’s cities, and neither Gula nor Lapis tried to hide their disgust.

“I doubt the person who made them is right in the head.”

“He must be a nasty, obnoxious creep.”

Loren looked at the map while smiling wryly at their complaints, but he knew that there was no other way but to continue on this road, even though they would encounter enemies.

It was not that they couldn’t take a detour, but it was unclear whether they could avoid encountering a large gathering of golems even if they did so.

Moreover, by taking a detour, they would be going through places where there were no roads; if they encountered a large number of golems in such a place, they might not be able to fight or escape.

“However, there are just too many for us to handle on our own.”

Loren frowned as he recalled the horde of flesh golems that had surrounded the Empire army.

That time, they had somehow managed to cut through and open a hole in the encirclement, but it was unlikely that they would have such luck again next time.

And the next time they encountered flesh golems; there will be no Empire army to support them. It was unlikely that they would be able to cope with the situation by simply opening a hole in the encirclement.

“I wonder if the entire population of the Kingdom has really been turned into golems.”

“They have reasonably good fighting power, and they obey orders absolutely, so they’re easy to manage.”

If other people’s eyes were not on them, Lapis and Gula would be able to get serious. Even a crowd of golems might be scattered around like debris and dirt in the face of a powerful demon and an Evil God.

But Loren was just a human being. To ask him to act at the level of Lapis and Gula was quite an impossible task.

“Well, we’ll take care of clearing the path.”

“That’s right. In normal times, we rely on you to do everything for us, so in times like this, we have to take the initiative.”

Lapis slapped her own chest as if to say ‘Leave it to me’, and Gula patted Loren’s back as if to say ‘Don’t worry’.

A thought suddenly came to his mind as Loren watched the two of them, and he asked in a whisper.

“You just want to vent, don’t you?”

Normally, neither Lapis nor Gula were able to use all of their abilities. They had to be aware of their surroundings, and could only exercise power to an extent that could somehow fit within the bounds of common sense while being concerned about the eyes of others.

Loren could only imagine what it must be like to be unable to wield a mighty power, but it seemed to him that continually suppressing one’s power must be a source of frustration.

Thinking about it, on the rare occasions when Lapis was able to release her power, she seemed to look refreshed; Loren looked between her and Gula.

“N-no, of course not.”

“Wh-wh-what the heck? There’s no way I’m thinking like that.”

Their eyes were shifting, and they were acting suspiciously. Loren shook his head without saying anything.

If these two wielded their powers as they wished, it was impossible to know what would happen to the Kingdom after this was over.

The Kingdom would not disappear from the map, Loren thought, but he would not be surprised if it became an ominous place where no one would ever be able to live again.

“Should we call the other kids? I think there really won’t be any witnesses this time.”

“If it’s not Luxuria, I think it’s worth considering.”

Loren did not know how serious they were about this, but they seemed to be seriously considering it. He hoped and prayed that, even if the situation turned troublesome, they would not do anything that would involve mobilizing multiple Evil Gods.

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