The next day, just before dawn, the troops were urged to hurry.

Metor bid Artenus farewell and hurried back to lead his troops. He cursed the other leaders in his heart as he rode his horse back to the "long serpent's" tail. He believed that the reason they put their troops to serve as a rear guard was because the other mercenary leaders hated his close relationship with the Aserai and persecuted him.

At the same time, he noticed that the soldiers were tired and complaining. It turned out that due to last night's march, the rest time was too short, but they also had to protect themselves against the aserai's sneak attack, they just lay down on the ground. Early in the morning, they had to hurry up and leave, so the soldiers soon got tired and hungry. However, the supply unit was unable to provide more food, which lowered the morale of the soldiers.

Metor thought to himself, the food situation in the other camps was already bad. His subordinates could be more miserable to be bullied these 2 days due to his absence! He was afraid that his soldiers would cause trouble and he hurriedly ran until he saw many familiar faces before slowing down.

As a result, he was surprised to find that, unlike what he had imagined, his soldiers were in good spirits and many of them chewed on a bunch of dark things hanging from their chests as they walked. Therefore, he curiously called an officer to ask.

"It's called smoked sausage, it can fill your stomach and it won't spoil for a few days." The officer pointed to the thing on his chest and said.

Metor cut a small piece and tasted it, although it was a bit dry, the taste was not bad. After seeing the soldiers from the other camps go hungry and his soldiers were able to eat enough, he gloated, "This...smoke...was it the sausage made by Lucious?"

"No. It's Demarcus, the 'God-favored one'!"

"God's Favorite?" Metor curiously asked about the situation in detail. After hearing the officer's words, his face turned gloomy and he immediately noticed that some soldiers were carrying 2 more javelins.

"Where is this Demarcus?"

"The unit he was in was sent to defend the supply unit." The officer obviously didn't notice his expression and asked with a bit of excitement, "Are you going to look for him?"

The officer's look dissuaded Metor: 'Is it worth making a fuss over a local boy from a small town in Sargot?' It is totally inconsistent with the identity of him hurriedly fetching a soldier, especially now that the army is currently marching. If there's time, you can have Demarcus see you later.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

From dawn to noon and then into the afternoon, the troops have been marching without a break.

Demarcus felt his legs were full of lead and every step he took was hard and his throat burned, shields, spears and javelins becoming heavy. In the morning he could still talk and laugh with his companions, now he felt that every time he opened his mouth he wasted his physical strength, but he clenched his teeth and insisted, since his companions did too. they walk in silence.

Finally, the troops stopped. But the information from the front made them nervous again, they found the Aserai cavalry!

Other information soon came in, it wasn't the cavalry, it was the Aserai army animals grazing.

The troops continued to march.

It was getting dark, and after walking a bit, Demarcus saw smoke rising in the distance.

Laurenz told him, "That must be the Aserai army camp."

However, the mercenaries continued to advance, without the slightest hint of protection and evasion.

It was late at night and there was no moonlight. The soldiers leaned on the torches to advance and the march became more difficult.

Finally, an order came from the front: 'Camp in place and rest.'

The land is flat and the trees were sparse, and it is impossible to order them to build a camp in the dark. At the same time, because there are Aserai troops nearby and they are afraid of being attacked. The soldiers began to shout the name of each of their friends and gathered to find a way to camp. Also, the exhausted officers couldn't control the order and the entire rearguard was turned into chaos from the shouting, like a boiling pot making a loud noise. Many of the animals in the supply unit became frightened and ran in panic, injuring many people. The screams made the troops feel more restless and in danger of collapsing at any moment.

At the critical moment, Clechus dispatched the single cavalry squadron of the Vladian mercenaries, each bearing torches, and rushed to the rear, loudly announcing Clechus's order, demanding that the soldiers remain silent, and at the same time, ordered to the supply unit to care for the animals and punish anyone who turned them loose. The troops gradually regained their composure after capturing several soldiers who were scared.

Only then did Metor find the cavalry leader, Tormi, known as the "Best Emissary".

“How clechus ordered the march of the troops! There is almost a ruckus that happened in the camp! I've just been away for a day and things got worse! He is in no condition to command the entire army!…” Metor used this opportunity to discredit Clechus.

Tormi didn't say a word.

"Where is he now?"

Tormi hesitated a bit: “…at the forefront”.

When Metor noticed his hesitation, he immediately asked, "Is it the same as us, without a camp?"

Tormi had to tell the truth: "The vanguard stayed in the village... Metor, now is a special moment-"

Metor cut him off with a scowl: “This is Clechus's call to be fair?! He stayed in a warm house, while he let us sleep on the cold and wet floor!!” Metor couldn't help but scream even though he too knew it was inappropriate to stimulate the soldiers at this time.

Fortunately, the soldiers around him were already exhausted after the earlier ruckus. After an oath, they fell asleep.

“Hey! Metor!…” At that moment, someone shouted.

It's Lucious! Metor hurriedly brought it over: “How's the supply unit? Is there any loss? The supply unit is the place that worries him the most, because all his belongings were there, and only with money can he have soldiers.

"Nope!" Lucious's greasy face broke into a proud smile, "We made a big circle with the supply cart and tied up the animals, they all slept inside and it's very safe."

"Aren't those animals going on a rampage and being noisy?" Tormi asked curiously, since most of the supply unit he had seen earlier was in chaos.

"It was Demarcus who told me to blindfold these animals, and they really became obedient!" Lucious said excitedly.

That Demarcus again! Meno frowned.

“Metor, this child is very smart! If you just assign it to the supply unit, then I'll have a much easier time.” Lucious asked.

"We'll discuss it later." Metor said a few words. The supply unit is the base of him, Lucious has a close relationship with him, he is good at supervision and financial management, and he has no ambitions, so he is sure to use it. Letting a stranger into the supply unit and not just a stranger but a smart one, what if he finds out his secret?

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next morning, a messenger woke Metor up and informed him that the king's envoy had arrived and the other mercenary leaders asked him to come and discuss it.

Metor mounted his horse and galloped towards the main camp of the mercenaries at the front. There was not a shadow of the Aserai camp in sight of him, it turned out that last night the Aserai were frightened by the great noise of the mercenaries, and they withdrew their camp 5 km during the night.

As soon as he reached the main mercenary camp, Metor saw 4 full units of hoplites in front of the camp, waiting in formation. Hesitantly, he entered and saw several leaders, such as Clechus, Malcius, Aetxes, Thymeros and Sossis, waiting and all of them fully armed.

When he saw Clechus, Metor snorted and said sarcastically, "Looks like you slept well last night, while my sorry soldiers slept on the wet ground all night!"

As a Galendian, Clechus is blunt and opinionated, he also doesn't like Metor and didn't want to talk to him much.

Aetxes laughed and said, "Hey, when did Metor start worrying about his soldiers?"

Malcius came to mediate: “Metor, listening to what Tormi said, that there was no problem that happened in your camp last night. Amazing! You must share something of your experience with us.

"Not only that! Metor's soldiers also made some kind of... something called smoked sausage. As a result, everyone was hungry and only their soldiers were able to fill their stomachs with these things!" Thymeros said sadly to the others, his troops were leading Metor's troops in marching formation, so he had a better understanding of the situation.

"Metor, tell us all about your experience." Metor was somewhat pleased with the requests from Sossis and various other mercenary leaders, and he couldn't help but say, “Even if the environment they gave me was more difficult, I could still find a way to solve it. So just knowing how to fight will not make you a good leader!”

"Well... let King Aserai's envoy come in. Let's hear what new proposal the king has." Clechus interrupted Metor's boast.

The leaders began to lift their spirits and Metor helplessly shut his mouth.