Through the complex we march, through the northern gate of the city center, and into the city proper. Marching in time, though having never received any proper training in the methodology, we make our way down the wide street towards the city gate.
As usual, I am struck by the clear lessening of wealth as our distance from the military complex increases, the buildings consistency growing smaller and less opulent. Still, considering that we are still within the walled-off portion of the city, which is to say the nicer part, nothing is too dilapidated.
Considering that there is not a single person on the street at this time of day, or at least not any that are within our vision, our silly and pretentious display, that of a kingdom's proud soldiers marching off to war, is wasted.
Our group of two hundred is surprisingly quiet in our movement. Though the rattle of armor and the crash of boots is somewhat loud, there is no talking within our procession, as per Reinhart's orders.
We reach the gates, which have already been opened for us in advance. We pass through without issue, the guards manning it occasionally wishing us good luck.
This is my fifth time leaving the city since my arrival, and the first with a group nearly so large. My previous excursions had all been to hunt monsters, and after the first time, the group had only a handful of soldiers as that was all that remained of Reinhart's troops. As for the targets of these missions, none were of any great difficulty to defeat; we were never again so unlucky as to have giant scorpions appear near the city again, which, considering that Reinhart would have definitely volunteered our small group to take them down, is certainly a good thing.
Despite being at least my tenth time passing through the outer city, I am again amazed at how awful it is. At this time, there are many unconscious individuals curled into balls in alleys and even the sides of the main walkway, too poor to even afford this dismal housing.
The moonlight filters down from the towering and crooked wooden buildings, passing through the gaps left by their inward slant. The nearly covered walkway is illuminated by an occasional open fire, which always seems to be poised to burn this whole city down. I occasionally see some scrawny cats scrounging for rats, though I must turn my head away when I see one that looks dead and half-eaten, presumably by this city's residents.
The contrast between the inner and outer cities is clear, with the inner city being open and well-lit, guarded and well built, and with the outer city being cramped and dark, dangerous and decrepit. And, of course, the two cities, so vastly different as to seem impossible for one to surround the other, are separated by a towering wall, as though the inner city is more worried about the threat posed by the outer than it is about the threat posed to the outer, undefended, portion of the city from external forces.
[And those in the inner city are those whom I fight for eh? How heroic of me, and the military as a whole. I doubt our procession gives these impoverished individuals much confort; why should they fear an external threat, which isn't even a threat to begin with, when they can't even find enough food to eat? I'm sure they are happy that the oppressive taxes levied from them go towards this force that provides them no benefit, and is even, at times, used in their oppression, especially when they can't even afford housing and food. This is who I shall fight for as I bring this world to its knees, these people whom the world has been so unfair towards. Sure, they may all die in the process, but they are not innocent either; as punishment for their sins of putting up with a world such as this, they will merely die; for those who played an active role in the corruption of this world, they shall be destroyed! Very different things, of that fact I am insistent!]
The outer city gradually transforms from a towering and chaotic mess to a scene displaying nothing but poverty as the wooden buildings are slowly replaced with single-room mud dwellings. The filth having reached new levels, I cannot help but think [even pigs wouldn't willingly live like this!]
The sound of whistling catches my attention, the sound sharply contrasting with the dismal state of my surroundings. I turn my attention to the one making the noise to find an old man staring blankly into space.
[A bit cheerful given the state of things, eh, buddy? Perhaps you're as mad as I, though I doubt it.] We pass him by quickly, and I note that I am not the only member of our procession to give him a strange look.
Finally, the city fades away and the road further narrows, leaving us to face a rather flat field extending as far as the eye can see, occasionally dotted by farm houses of various sizes. Once we are free from the city, we drop the marching act and begin to run. While the speeds at which we move would be considered sprinting on Earth, for warriors who have spent time training in strength and in speed, and for whom the majority are above level 25 and thus have bodies far stronger than most people's, this speed is quite manageable.
The sun begins to rise as we race across the landscape, keeping to the narrow but well-maintained road as we pass down farms of varying sizes, ranging from a shack on a few acres of land to a manor surrounded by huts and with control over whole miles of farmland.
As the day progresses, time in which I practice DNTI with all of my attention, the frequency of buildings steadily decreases. After passing through a forest of sparse trees, we reach an area of dust, like the plain that I had first awoken on. Actually, this probably [is] the same field as that on which my journey in this world began.
At this point, it is determined that we are far enough from civilization to warrant sending forth the scouts. As the other scout races off along the ground, utilizing whatever methods are available to him, I take off into the sky. Ignoring the murmuring from the soldiers who have somehow avoided seeing me fly in the past, I take off to the north, the direction of our heading.
Because the area north of our procession is the most important to keep tabs on, I have been chosen for the job. As the only one besides Lector able to fly (excluding one of our healers, who can fly only for a short duration like any other straight magic user of notable ability), and as someone rather trusted by both of our commanders, it is natural that I would receive a job of such import.
After flying high into the air, I can already observe well beyond twenty miles ahead of us; and, with my enhanced eyesight, I am confident that I would see anything if there was anything worth seeing. In fact, I can see adequately far in all directions, evn seeing the city to our south, such that we really don't need any scouts besides myself… However, I wouldn't want to make the others feel unneeded, so I think I will keep the fact that I am capable of this on my own to myself.
Though I am confident in my ability to see any threats approaching from the north from my position in the sky, I feel as though I would be neglecting my duties if I didn't at least fly a ways in that direction, just to make sure.
That thought in mind, I, from my position of nearly two miles in the air, fly to the north, keeping my eyes peeled for any lifeform that could pose a threat to our group. The only animals that could even potentially qualify for this is a small group of wild dogs, which I slaughter with ease.
Other than them, there are no other beasts for as far as the eye can see in any direction… and that's my eye, mind you, an eye aided by elevation and enhanced by my skills. Really, this place is too boring. Dry, but not very hot considering that it is early autumn, with almost nothing living upon it. And flat, too; oh so flat.
When I think of a long journey in a fantasy world, what comes to mind is mystical creatures and terrain made impossible by the magic acting upon it; here, however, there is nothing but an unbearably bland plain. The road traveled is straight and compact, heading due north as our heading would take us. While the distance may be shorter to go to the northeast, to keep to the roads is the military's policy; the areas off the roads are entirely unmonitored, so actually power monsters may be hiding beyond.
That there are scouts at all is merely an extra precaution; these roads are kept well enough to be surely free of any monsters that could impede us, so long as we aren't unfortunate. Of course, unfortunate things of such a nature do occasionally occur, take those scorpions near the city as an example, such beasts rarely wander so near to civilization. And this road is far less 'civilized' than the city, monsters are more likely here.
Of course, by 'civilized' I am simply referring to the degree of safety from monsters; any place devoid of inhabitants and their evil deeds would be far more civilized than that wretched city, in my humble opinion. Slavery, poverty, a shop behind the auction house that I recall being used to sell human body parts… hardly any more civilized than a barren road through a dusty plain.
Our progress is both rapid and gradual. Our pace is maintained without issue, and the distance covered with every hour is nothing to scoff at; however, with our objective being some distance away, our progress towards it is slow.
The military - based - city is the nearest city of the Eroen kingdom to the northern border, so the distance to travel is actually not particularly large. We are traveling fifteen miles an hour for twenty hours a day, that totals out to three-hundred miles a day; at such a pace, we should need less than a week to reach our destination.