The Cloud-Raised Brave Man's Travels

The sound of tens of thousands of military boots approached the city, targeting the huge city walls and the giant white towers that reached the sky.

The emblem of a hero wearing heavy armor - the red military flag flutters in the wind.

The army continued to advance westward, approaching the city. Perhaps in two days, the army's might could be seen in the area around Orario.

The above is the scene that Aina described to Koya in the guild. Koya naturally knew about this country. When he was about to leave Orario without receiving the gift, he actually thought about joining this country and becoming a soldier to obtain the gift, but then he thought about it... Soldiers are different from adventurers, or they are two extremes, one requires absolute obedience to orders while the other is free. Koya's temperament at the time definitely could not accept the military life after becoming a soldier, so he gave up this idea and prepared to return to the countryside to farm.

As a result, the name that was almost mentioned by Koya in the corner was brought up again.

"What's the level of the strongest person in the Lakia Kingdom?"

"Level 4 General."

"What about the strength of his soldiers?"

"Lv.1 accounts for the vast majority, and Lv.2 and Lv.3 are extremely rare."

"Then where did he get the courage to attack Orario!"

"Hmm... maybe it's due to some tradition. God Ares only starts wars, but doesn't care about winning or losing."

As expected, these gods in the upper realm are so willful that they even treat real wars as games... According to Aegina, every attack of the god Ares is a carnival for Orario.

"Oh, speaking of which, the commander-in-chief of this war is still our Loki clan, but no one seems to care much."

"After all, the strongest is only Lv. 4. Wars these days aren't won simply by numbers. Those Lv. 5 adventurers can take on a thousand enemies alone."

"That's right, Mr. Koya. I'm looking for you because I want to issue you a conscription order. The guild stipulates that during the war with Lakia, families with adventurers of level 3 or above are required to participate."

"I see."

This was the reason why Aegina asked Koya to come to the guild. By the way, since most of the clans were managed by the leaders, even if Hestia had a clan conscription order, it would not be issued to her. After all, there was a case where the main god had thrown away the conscription order as waste paper.

"This time, the guild will give each participating clan a subsidy of one million faris. It will be distributed uniformly after the war ends. Mr. Koya, remember to come and claim it then."

Two days later, Lakia's army finally arrived at the city. Coia, Helen and Atalanta represented the Hestia family to fight.

Facing the sudden invasion of the Kingdom of Lakia, the reaction of Orario City was—

"Come on, come on, it's a bargain!? Two thousand fares for a whole giant black fish. Two thousand fares!"

"Weapons maintenance and equipment tailor-made to meet various needs?"

"Can someone please join my faction and clan?!"

"Well, that adventurer girl elf over there, I'll give you this potion. It wouldn't be good if her beautiful face was scarred."

“T-thank you…!?”

"Mihe is unconsciously seducing girls again--!?"

"No way, he's Mih."

——Still the same as usual.

There was no connection with the cloudy sky in the far west. There was a clear blue sky overhead and the citizens were basking in the warm sunshine without looking panicked at all.

They just lived their busy lives as usual, only their thoughts remained the same.

"Ah, here they come again." This was the sixth time Ares had attacked Orario. The result was obvious from the citizens' reactions, right? The armies that attacked Lakia the previous five times never even reached the walls of Orario.

The city remained peaceful, but from the other side, beyond the city walls, screams announcing war echoed.

The military horses neighed loudly.

This was followed by the sound of fierce horse hooves kicking the grassland.

Thirty kilometers east of Orario, there is a large plain, and countless cavalry with flying military flags are galloping towards them.

The cavalry was the star of the battlefield, their armored knights and armored horses scattering and crushing everything in their path, like a battlefield spear with hidden, powerful penetration capabilities.

The lances placed in front of them like a forest of spears reflected the sunlight, emitting a silver glow.

However, the heavy cavalry, who were invincible on traditional battlefields, encountered obstacles that they could not overcome.

The knights' faces turned pale beneath their iron helmets. In front of their sight, a dwarf stood in front of the charging horses.

A muscular physique and heavy equipment, with a cape draped over the armor.

His helmet was pulled low, and he held a large battle axe in his hand.

Listening to the sound of iron hooves coming from the front, he raised his super-sized weapon and immediately attacked the approaching cavalry as soon as the distance between the two sides was shortened to within ten meters.

He pulled the large battle axe to the side and swung it, drawing a horizontal line.

"Hmmmm!!"

The next moment, the Invincible Cavalry was blown away.

乪『Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! ？』

Knights and horses flew into the air, and the vast plain presented an incredible scene.

The knights seemed to have anticipated this. They looked up at the blue sky and shed hot tears, then fell to the ground along with their fallen helmets and wailing horses.

The front of the cavalry collapsed, causing the horses following behind to collide with the vanguard that had stopped advancing, and fall one after another.

On the battlefield where the defeat was so sudden, the dwarf who had dispersed the cavalry with only an axe - Grace Landrock of the [Loki Family] sighed deeply.

"Really, that kid Finn... he always brings troubles to me."

Seeing the squadron, the second and third cavalry units charging forward without warning, Grace lost even the energy to sigh. With a stern look on his face, he once again raised his great axe. Before long, the tearful knights, just like before, soared majestically into the air.

Grace Landrock, the first-level adventurer in Orario.

A renowned dwarf warrior with a Level 6 [Ability Value].

In comparison, the Kingdom Cavalry's [Ability Value] is almost all LV.1, with only a few captains being LV.2.

No matter how much skill and tactics are invested, it is impossible to overturn this overwhelming gap in LV and ability, let alone strategy.

The Kingdom's knights were also well aware of how reckless this assault was.

——In combat, especially in wars between humans, the era of overwhelming the enemy with numbers is over.

The modern era, commonly known as the “heroic age,” is known as the era of “quality over quantity.”

A single hero—a warrior elevated by the divine grace—possibly possesses the power to easily overturn the tide of battle. In fact, it's generally believed that a ten-man Lv. 2 squad, after upgrading, can directly withstand an enemy force of a hundred or even a thousand men.

Under such rules, if a monster reaches level 6, its strength will be equal to or even far superior to the monsters that invaded and wreaked havoc on the surface of the earth in the "ancient times".

In other words, in the eyes of the Kingdom Army, Grace is like an ancient dragon.

Without a "hero", a huge army of thousands of soldiers would naturally be unable to defeat a dragon.

As if it were a scene from a heroic tale or fairy tale, the mediocre soldiers were slaughtered without a single piece of armor remaining by a great dwarf warrior.

"Tione, sound the retreat. The enemy's first retreating army is a decoy. Go around behind them and attack them from the front and back with our forces."

"Yes!"

"Also, there might be wizards on the hill... The bombardment unit is on full alert. Diona, send a message to the [Ganesha Familia] to surround and suppress them without being detected by the enemy."

"Yes... Oh, it's so boring to keep passing on messages!"

Far away from the great plains where Grace displayed his might, in the main battlefield, which was a vast wilderness, the screams never ceased.

Finna, the leader of the [Loki Familia], a dwarf, holding a spear, observed the movements of multiple battlefields from far behind and gave many instructions.

Against an enemy intent on victory through sheer numbers and an all-out assault from the outset, the Orario Temporary Alliance decided to unite for now, with Finn as overall commander. The faction leader, on the front lines of the dungeon clearing, demonstrated his insight and command, even on the battlefield, successfully thwarting the enemy's every move.

Chapter 191: Farce of War

The location of Koya and the other two was far away from the battlefield. After all, according to the information reported to the guild, one of them was Lv.3 and the other two were Lv.2, so their impact on the battle situation was actually not that big. The main force was still the strong men of Loki's family and Freya's family. Those of them who were neither too strong nor too weak just had to pay attention to those small sneak attack troops.

In fact, Koya could see that the army of the Kingdom of Lakia was quite strong. They were well-disciplined, well-equipped and knew how to use tactics. If they were to attack an ordinary army, they would definitely be invincible. But unfortunately, they had to face Orario, the adventure city with the largest number of powerful people on this continent.

"Captain, some of the Families are refusing to obey orders...especially the Freya Families."

"We are just a ragtag group of organizations. It's impossible for us to enforce strict discipline like a military. We can simply inform them of the battle situation and leave it to them to judge. We don't need to worry about the Freya Familia."

"Finn, there seems to be enemy reinforcements in the east. What should we do?"

"Hmm—compared to the east, the forest in the north seems more suspicious. Livilia, please excuse me, but please take Ais and the others there. I think the main force is probably there."

Finn had absolutely no problem with Freya's Familia's independent actions. Rather, she had never considered them to be a force he could mobilize. Simply leave them alone and allow them to act freely. Then, he gave Livilia instructions. He licked his right thumb, predicting the enemy's tactics and strategies like a prophet.

Finn's habit reminded Koya of a hero named Finn whom he met in Chaldea. The two Finns had the same habit and used the same weapons. He didn't know if they had any connection... Never mind, don't think too much about it. It was probably similar to the relationship between the two Artemis.

The battle continued. Aside from Freya's Familia, most factions and numerous adventurers remained obedient to Finn's orders, mowing down the wailing enemy soldiers and gradually destroying the enemy forces. Like a nine-headed dragon, each with its own consciousness, the Orario Alliance gradually overran the Kingdom's army arrayed across the plains.

"So free..."

"I still have things to do!"

Behind Finn and his men, who were in charge of the command, the main gods of the [Family] gathered on the hill. To them, the war between Lakia and Orario was no different from the Familiar War between Hestia and Apollo. They were both farces for their enjoyment. However, in terms of drama, the Familiar War that exposed Koya's identity was more interesting.

The gods each had their members prepare tents and chairs. Freya sat on a luxurious throne, drinking wine. Loki also sat cross-legged on the throne. The two gods looked at the one-sided battle unfolding in front of them, with nothing to do.

"Just seeing them coming on horseback tells me there's no need to fight."

"The kids who've grown [Ability Value] are running much faster than Marco—I don't know if they're trying to be cool, but doesn't that directly reveal that their strength is exactly the same as last time? It's been so long, and their ability values haven't increased at all. Ares is really lazy."

The other gods around him also showed no signs of tension and were all in a lazy state, all the same.

In this headquarters... or rather, the divine camp, only a few guards and the banners of various factions fluttered in the wind. Especially the banners of the Loki and Freya Families—the adventurers also held high the emblems of the clown and the Valkyrie, striking a chill in the hearts of the Kingdom's soldiers.

The frightened enemy's movements lacked excitement, and the charge lacked momentum. The mere presence of the totem of the renowned Labyrinth City's most powerful faction could significantly reduce enemy morale.

"On the other hand, if we don't show up, our opponents will think we're in trouble and get carried away... Alas, being the largest faction really doesn't do us any good."

"You're complaining now?"

Loki folded his hands behind his head as if he couldn't stand it, and Freya closed her eyes and smiled.

"By the way... I heard there weren't any casualties in the Kingdom of Lakia either. What's going on?"

"What can we do? Those business guys told us not to kill our cash cow! Speaking of which, Freya, you were on an expedition to the dungeon the last time Lakia launched the attack. Ever since then, you've been trying not to kill these soldiers. After all, it's pointless."

Loki answered Freya's question with annoyance.

She gazed at the battlefield that had turned into a living hell, filled with screams, and told Freya that all the adventurers in Orario were fought with the back of their swords.

"Besides, I don't want the children of the [Family] to get their hands dirty with this kind of war game."

"makes sense."

Rocky says it's just a farce and swallows a yawn.

"That idiot Ares clearly knew the difference in strength between the two sides, so why did he still attack?"

It was clear he would only be ripped off. Loki cast his gaze towards the enemy position in the distance.

"Come on, come on, soldier brother—Olario's elixir, now only one thousand faris—!?"

The wounded were brought into the Royal Army camp one after another, creating an unprecedented scene.

Countless tents stood side by side, and the wounded lying there to rest groaned. A group of humans, demihumans, and gods who were clearly not soldiers strode among them.

The commercial [Families] affiliated with Orario broke free from the enemy's restraint or took advantage of the opportunity to invade and sell various products of the faction to the wounded.

"It hurts, doesn't it? It's very uncomfortable, right? You really want it to be cured soon, right?"

"I really, really want to..."

"Good! Deal!"

The gods of Orario, upon seeing the wounded soldiers, offered elixirs with cheerful smiles. These profiteers, driven by profit, sold their wares to the enemy instead of their own cities, hoping to profit handsomely. Of course, even if they sold to the soldiers, it wouldn't matter; they couldn't win anyway.

"How can we fight a war if our weapons are broken? Come, buy some!"

"You accept barter too!?"

"Huhahahahaha!? What do you think, Mihe? Our products are just as popular here!! Looks like I'm the winner again, right, Amid!?"

"No, God Dean Kate, God Mih and the others didn't come at all."

"What!? Are you scared, Mih——!?"