Miel detached his eyes from the ledger he had been reading up until now, and focused on the movements of the woman at the door. She had entered without making a single sound, without saying good morning, even. She closed the door with equal silence and grabbed a chair without asking for permission. The woman sat down, looking at him with indifference, and accommodated her robes.

Miel smiled as he put down the ledger, and slid it across the desk to remain at his left.

"Valta." He arched an eyebrow. "I trust everything went well, from the great happiness you're expressing upon entering my office."

He said with exaggerated mannerisms to emphasize his sarcasm, seeing how the woman's face was as expressionless as always. Valta only nodded.

"Then he must have had no trouble to remain in the army. Honestly, it's like the gods want everything to go our way yet they want it to go badly. There's no bad that doesn't come for good, they say? But it seems we're already past that. I even managed to replace that lieutenant of yours who met a rather... Untimely fate."

Miel grabbed a bag from one of the drawers on his desk, pulling from within a small leather bag with bread inside it. He didn't pay any mind to the person in front of him as he started to devour them slowly, and took pauses in his speech.

"Piston is dead. Wonderful. And we didn't even have to move a finger. Petyo was on his way to poison the bastard's drink when he saw the building up in flames." He ripped loaf of bread in half and dripped it in some wine, then chewed it with apparent delight. "Hmph, the only problem is that rumor has started to spread around the city that it was a tactic from the empire. Shit, even worse, some more... Eloquent folk have started to divulge that it was the king who ordered it."

"To stop..." Valta tried to speak.

"To stop the nobles from using loans as a means to snatch the land, yes." But she was cut by Miel who hastily kept talking.

The woman sighed silently while putting her hands above her lap.

"Well... Nobody has to know that we've hired the murderer in our army. Nobody has to know he's an exiled Clawgold either. I trust a fellow of nobility such as yourself would understand that?"

Valta resorted to simply nod as her answers once more.

"Very well. If he accepted the charge maybe it means that's what he was after all along. It's not impossible. Fuu." He blew away the long strand of hair floating in front of his mouth. "The king still paid us a good sum for an assassination we didn't have to perform. I like the guy."

Valta nodded again, this time with a more hesitant look on her face.

"Well... You know what to do. Your company is close to 200 people, right? Put our new man in charge of the section that Erina is under, reassign the current one if need be. Oh, and give the man a bow. A crude bow, if you can."

Valta's eyelids twitched. She seemed to ask a big and loud why with her subtle demonstration of disagreement, and Miel snickered after noticing her trying to hide her sentiment away.

"Why, you ask? That's simple. To fuck them both up. That's it." Miel smiled and bit on the bread as the crumbles fell down beneath the desk.

Valta stood up, nodding one last time before going away.

•••

The army of Pontya was one of the most well-equipped and more sturdily built of all the Dukes' in the kingdom of Kulkus. It boasted of a grand army 8,000 strong, of which only 3,500 were active combatants. These were all highly capable and loyal to the nobility of the land, but did not make a majority. The biggest part of the army was comprised by a drafted workforce that was appointed to several places of the region, and was called the Lower Brigade

The Lower Brigade was, as its name indicated, a brigade of its own, counting with over 4,500 soldiers spread along the cities and villages of Goldblack. Although most of them were peasants and farmers who wished to pocket a slightly higher amount of coin than just a few coppers a month, they had short routine training at the headquarters every now and then.

These men and women at the lower brigade were mainly appointed as guards, and they were commanded by the Chief of the guardsmen, Chamgue Tothemharf.

The middle brigade also had its own general of the brigade. With 2,500 soldiers, they were the core fighting force of the army, and were soldiers who had ascended from the lower battalion. Many of them were corporals or even chiefs of small squadrons. These soldiers had usual training and were oftentimes dispatched to take care of missions like hunting goblins, getting rid of bandits, or such bothersome orders.

Although one from such a place would inspire respect or even fear, things turned different once you saw soldiers from the upper battalion.

Almost 1,000 people, many of them carrying honorary titles and ranks. Most of them being sergeants, lieutenants or people ascended from the middle battalion, they showed off an aura that no normal soldier could show. It possessed not only strong and apt melee combatants but also rangers of high skill, and even a handful of magic users the army made good use of.

"And then there's you."

The black-haired girl pressed her finger on Thom's back, and he felt a stinging pain as if his ribs had been broken into pieces.

"Ack! Yes, yeah I— I understand how it works, but it's not what I asked, Erina!"

The girl behind him was the one who had brutally made him lose his fight in the trial, her sword not even caring about his supposedly invincible [Copper Skin].

"You're part of the Core Battalion. The selected few that Miel especially trusts. Actually, you'll probably fit right into the close Assembly too. The main reason was that I told the captain you were a Clawgold, but also because of your skill, of course. And... Well, about the reason why you're the leader of the Section I belong to, I have no clue, my man." She snickered.

What a useless roundabout...

Thom felt like the number of times he had smiled out of bitter confusion had been growing dearly in the last few days. That alone was worrying, but the situation he found himself in was even more so.

To think that I'd be appointed a mission just as soon as I was declared a lieutenant... This is quite ridiculous.

Thom looked behind him, over Erina's shoulder. There were several soldiers chatting and marching with their flags and their weapons at the ready, they were part of the section Thom had been appointed as a lieutenant to— about 12 of them to be precise, and they were taking a high-risk mission at the moment.

"The lieutenant doesn't go to squad missions. The person in charge is usually someone appointed from the group or the one with the highest rank. But go. You'll learn."

He remembered Valta's words and sighed.

"You're getting better at the horse-riding. You're a fast learner for someone who had never ridden one."

「Learning successful. The subordinate skill [Horse Riding] has been acquired. You are now able to skillfully manage a horse and use it as transport.」

"Yeah... Quite the fast learner. Thank you for teaching me, Erina. You can go back to your horse now."

Well, it's not much different from a mule anyways. I didn't need a skill specifically for that! Why wasn't there a skill for mule-riding to begin with?

Erina nodded with a smile and hopped down the horse after they had stopped. Thom handed her the reigns of the horse that had been walking by their side, and she hopped onto it without much of an effort.

Both Erina and Thom, people who did not surpass the 5'6" mark and didn't weight more than 60 kilos, would not be any burden for a horse. Had it been someone with a massive build like Chamgue, Erina probably wouldn't have taken the liberty to teach him while riding on the same horse's back.

The party started to advance once again.

"Anyway, it seems there is a large distance between the other villages of Blackgold and Pontya. I never imagined it to be such a large region." Thom sighed as he felt the distance from the city growing bigger and bigger.

The only thing his eyes could see was an endless prairie, and on its sides, the occasional changes of altitude, hills, rocks, animals wandering about, small puddles and such. It had been a rather uneventful trip, and the small squad behind him had started to yawn before they had even walked an hour.

Well, not that I do not understand the sentiment. It's tiresome without a doubt. And this prairie seems infinite. I wonder if we'll ever get to that Hillside village...

It was just at the southwest of Pontya were they were heading, so it couldn't have been that far. But looking back, even the castle of Pontya was hard to see from such distance. How long had it been? Two hours, perhaps? If that was the case, they must have already advanced at least 5 kilometers to the south.

"Oh, we're close. See that smoke in the distance?"

Erina pointed towards the back of the hills that started to cover the entirety of the land, and Thom could barely discern a few columns of smoke dancing in the air from afar. It was as she said, they were indeed getting closer.

"Woah, it's big."

When they arrived at the end of the road, they were met by a village that extended deep into the hills. Thom could count over three dozen houses both in the close vicinity of the entrance and far into the more steep or depressed spots, and each one of the houses had at least a small farming lot on their sides. The people here seemed quite prosperous, and contrary to the villagers Thom was used to, they seemed to wear at least half-decent clothes.

For any other place, this would, of course, be a cause for great rejoicing. Yet, this had been the reason for which Erina's party had been called to the village.

As soon as their horses arrived at the gates, they were welcomed by the bow of the guards standing at the sides of the road. Apparently, they had caught a glimpse of Thom's badge.

"Lieutenant, thank you for arriving. Miss Erina has come as well. That is great news."

One of the guards saluted. Erina handed them the reigns of the horses while she stole a glance and a smile at the lieutenant. Thom breathed in deeply and sighed his nervousness away. He approached the guard with a confident smile, and opened with a question:

"Are you enjoying your stay in such a peaceful village, soldier?"

"That is very much the case, lieutenant. All the 20 guards stationed in the village have been living their best life. We couldn't lie and say it isn't relieving that such a thing occurs, yet, it's a matter for worrying. The villagers, well... They have started acting more and more compliant with this person we wrote our report on. She doesn't speak or understand Kuulkiam, so the villagers have been treating her like a goddess, thinking it's the language of the gods."

Thom took a second to analyze those words. He hadn't directly read the report— Erina had more or less been the one to transmit the information to him, and the girl wasn't the brightest one around. Taking this time to ask for information was crucial.

"I heard something about a zombie horde, yes?" Thom started walking inside the village, and the guard followed him closely.

"Indeed. The village had a few problems with zombies suddenly starting to appear from the sides of the hills. It's a common occurrence, and with twenty guards and a couple of village men it was an easy job to take care of."

As Thom walked in he couldn't help but snicker. He saw a pair of brothers playing on a yard, and a furious mom chasing them for using the kitchen tools as weapons. The farmers at the sides of the road saluted to him after seeing his badge, and he saluted back.

"I see. Zombies aren't a problem for trained people of the lower battalion, that's only natural." Thom now had an evaluation of how strong these zombies could be. Although he had never heard of them or seen one, [Lexicon]'s description was more or less "A cadaver that has regained the ability to move, and holds deeply-rooted hatred for everything that lives."

"Yes. The problem was when... That thing appeared." The guard sighed.

Erina quickly hopped by, and Thom looked back to see the soldiers building a small camp at the edge of the village. When his eyes fell back on the man beside him, he followed with a question.

"A greater undead, I was told?" He asked the soldier.

"Yes. Honestly, we were afraid. The thing was a bad premonition as it was, and it also kept stealing the cows and chickens from the farmers. This happened a lot in the past so we were never worried about it... But it started to happen too quickly. We discovered later that it was about three ghouls led by a wight. They had meant no harm to the people, but kept stealing from the cattle."

Shit, more things that I haven't heard about. Well, the Lexicon says they're all undead, but of different power. Could they be so dangerous that 20 guards couldn't take care of them?

"Oh, but the village is thriving. I assume that the woman these people worship took care of them?"

"Exactly, lieutenant. She fell from heaven... High enough an eagle would fear it. But her wounds were like scratches, and not one of her bones was broken. It was weird enough already, but then we saw her face the undead it turned worse. Their teeth wouldn't sink in her, their claws wouldn't pierce, and even the wounds made by the wight were minuscule! I was more afraid of this woman than the undead!"

"Haha..."

Thom laughed as he saw the fear appear in the soldier's eyes, and looked back at Erina for some help with the situation.

"Fell from heaven, aye? Sounds familiar, lieutenant?" She smiled mischievously, to what Thom simply grinned as if implying he understood what she meant. When he turned around, his expression turned serious.

I don't know what she means.

After a few minutes, they finally stopped at the single stone building in the village aside from the well. Although he couldn't say it was beautiful, as it was quite crude, it gave off a comforting air that invited one to go inside. By the looks of it, and looking inside his memories, this looked like a church back in the city. Although different from the temples from where he was, the use was similar enough.

"A place to worship the gods." Thom whispered, to what the soldier furiously nodded and exclaimed:

"And she claimed this spot for herself! Can you believe it, lieutenant? The spite!"

"Hm? Ah, yes! Quite unforgivable indeed."

The man opened the door to the church, and the face of a villager appeared behind it. He seemed to be stepping out at that same moment, as he trailed off behind Thom's party while holding an empty basket. The young lieutenant squinted his eyes, he already knew which road this would take.

Once inside the church, he was surprised to find a queue of half a dozen people standing with baskets full of vegetables and clothes. They looked as if they were waiting for something, so Thom stepped slightly to the side, and stretched his mouth in disgust as he saw the scene unfold. These people were giving their precious resources away to a person that was imitating a god, after all. Even when Thom had never been a religious person, he felt quite bothered by it.

But that feeling of bother only lasted for a short while. Then, after he took a glance at the woman on the altar, the irritation was replaced by surprise, and ultimately, with laughter.

"Come, come, my children! Yes, your offers are greatly appreciated! Wohohoho, this servant of the gods— I mean, this goddess... Yes, goddess is way better, this goddess will take in your offers!"

Thom looked at the scene unfold in front of his eyes with incredible amusement. He was lightly holding his chin with a dumb smile on his face, as one arm rested below the other. As he thought, he could understand every word of what the girl was saying. And not only that, it wasn't any language— it was his own.

Amazing. This is absolutely amazing. If the gods exist, this gift is good enough! This means that I'm at least not lonely in this stupid ordeal of being astray in a strange land.

Black-haired, black-eyed, black eyebrows. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail by a fine piece of cloth probably gifted by the villagers, and her robes were just as fine as the ones Valta used. This whole situation wasn't just a play, it was clear that everyone involved wasn't aware of how much of a joke it all was, except for the main actress.

It was clear to Thom that the others couldn't understand her. If they could, they wouldn't be worshiping her as they were.

Thom looked back at Erina, who was blinking dumbfounded at the situation. She shrunk her shoulders, she was visibly just as lost as the rest of the villagers. Then, as Thom noticed her obliviousness, he decided to take off the translating stone from his neck.

"Hey, whatcha doing there? We won't be able to talk if you— Ahh, you're not understanding me, are ya?"

"Hmm?" Thom feigned ignorance for a moment. "Ah, don't worry, we can perfectly talk even if I don't have it. I'm a Clawgold after all, am I not?"

"Ah... What an archaic speech..." She mustered below her breath.

Thom handed it to Erina and told her to keep it for later. Then, cleaning his voice, he walked closer to the altar where the woman was.

"Yes, this is a very fine cloth! I love the way it looks, did you make it thinking about my hair? Oh, thank you! I know I'm beautiful and extremely graceful, I kno—"

The woman seemed to look at Thom for a second while still upholding her smile. She looked back at the person who she was unidirectionally speaking to, and then, after her face had completely frozen, she looked back to the man who was slowly approaching her.

"Uwah! It can't be... You... Arburson!"

The woman immediately stood up, letting go of all the fancy trinkets she had on herself.

"Well, if it isn't the daughter of old-man Dragonson! Suu, my pal! How are you?" He extended his arms with a radiant smile.