"You sure are patient with young girls, sir," Zaos said.

"What are you trying to imply?" Verkan frowned. "I am patient with all kids, be they girls or spoiled boys like you. If most officers of this region had received a group of ten years old kids to help with the security of their town, they would have chased you down and made you leave your horses behind."

After the talk, both Verkan and Zaos moved to the Eastern side of the town. Thanks to that, they had to cross the stone bridge that would decide the destiny of that battle. If they manage to hold back the enemy, it is their win, but if they fail…

"Sir… I know this is a drastic measure, but can't we destroy the bridge just to make sure that the enemies won't reach the northern base?" Zaos asked.

"We can, but I bet the enemies also are ready for that," Verkan said. "The followers of the demon god build their houses with earth magic when they find a good place to live and have enough time to do it. "Building a bridge like this in a single day with a group of thirty of them should be easy."

That was quite something. After all, the bridge was twenty meters large and one hundred meters long. The bridge had been built so that several wagons could pass at the same time. Who could have thought that the size would give the enemies the idea to use it to cross with their siege weapons?

On the other side of the town, they saw many soldiers making preparations for the battle. It looked like Zaos would know how an army could siege a town and how exactly such a battle would happen. The soldiers were preparing everything they could. Moving rocks to the walls in order to throw them at the enemies when they try to climb it. Hundreds of quivers were also on the walls to be used by the archers, but what surprised Zaos more were the bonfires and some barrels there. The bonfires were boiling water, and judging by the smell, the barrels were filled with oil.

"It looked like the people of this place had a stock of useful things," Zaos said.

"Don't be a fool," Verkan said. "The commander was the one who gave the order for the soldiers of several towns to make a stock of oil over the last year. That battle that you participated in made everyone understand how weak our defenses were. While that was only natural since we stayed on the offensive for long, it isn't something we should just accept.

"I see… Now that I think about it, we didn't have to face many followers of the demon god in that battle," Zaos said. "Did they want to obtain a base only relying on the mercenaries?"

"The followers of the demon god work together, but that doesn't mean they all live together in a single place," Verkan said. "Most likely, a single tribe was responsible for the attack, and while they wanted Krisaldia, it isn't like they left with empty hands. They learned a lot about us and about our overall strength. That is why they devised this plan to attack us from two sides."

Although it was a bit weird, it also made sense. They had the same goal, but most tribes would do whatever they feel like without a single strong leader. Considering that many groups are attacking the cities that are being evacuated, perhaps some leaders showed up, but it was hard to be sure.

"It looks like all the abandoned houses in this area have been occupied by soldiers. We will have to camp in the open," Verkan said. "We should be able to rest properly since the grass isn't that tall."

While Zaos wanted to hear about Verkan's plans, he was too tired to ask. After he laid down and put his head against some shirts he used in the place of a pillow, he quickly fell asleep. Even though things were as noisy as they could be around.

In the end, Zaos only slept for a couple of hours. For Zaos, it was hard to keep sleeping while the sunlight was right on his face. Verkan was nowhere to be seen when he got up, but he left the box of potions.

"That is quite the stock the alchemist made…" Zaos frowned when he saw more than one hundred potions in the box. "Weird… I can even feel the presence since this is essentially an energetic drink… What is an energetic drink again?"

That was one of the situations where Zaos used some weird words that he couldn't quite understand. They were probably related to his old life, but thinking it never made Zaos recall anything.

While Zaos was waiting for Verkan since it would be a waste of time to look for him, some villagers passed by offering breakfast for the soldiers. It was quite unexpected that so many stayed behind, but it looked like they would be paid for their help.

Things began to get tense a few hours before breakfast. Some riders crossed the gate of the town, and they came from the East. Apparently, they had some bad news. Zaos made sure to prepare himself for whatever changes that might happen, and in half an hour, Verkan showed up alongside a group of twenty soldiers and two kids that seemed around Zaos's age. They were wearing armor, but the kids didn't have weapons.

"It looked like our predictions weren't exactly correct," Verkan said as he passed the potions to the kids, and they stored in the bags that they had in their chest and backs. "Since they have the numbers to do it, the enemies split their forces to take all the villages and towns between us and their main camp in a single swoop."

"… They send an advanced group to attack us while others bring the siege weapons," Zaos furrowed his eyebrows.

"That is right. They know that our best chance to slow them down is here," Verkan said. "So, they will try to wear down our forces before their toys can be used against us."