By the end of the first day, a time filled with quite literally nothing of note, we have crossed much of the dusty plain and are nearing the foothills of the mountain. A distance that had taken days to travel in the slave-traders carriage, traversed in less than a day; in fact, we are nearer to the mountains now than I ever managed to get before I was picked up by those lawless brutes.
If we were able to cross the mountains, the remaining journey would occupy no less than one more day to enter the Arenese empire. However, the mountain paths are unsuited for passage by a group so large as ours, our progress would slow to a crawl. And with winter being only a couple of months out, higher up in the mountains we would be at considerable risk of being pummeled with snow.
Thus, we are to go around the eastern side of the mountains, a journey that shall occupy the bulk of our travels. The mountains extend well beyond the eastern border of both the Kingdom of Eroen and the Arenese Empire, deep into monster territory. The territory is, as one would imagine, heavily populated by ferocious beasts and filled with undesirable terrain, forests, hills, rivers, and the like; still, it is deemed to be a better route than crossing the mountains, so it is the path we shall take.
The time to reach the easternmost mountain of the range is estimated at three days from our current location, at which point we would need to turn around and head back towards the Arenese Empire along the eastern border of the mountains. Overall, six additional days to cross an area that, if it were flat ground, would take less than one to cross through.
Of course, Lector or I would have no trouble whatsoever passing through the mountains, what with our ability to fly and all. This shows the benefits of the apparent strategy of our kingdom: ease and speed of motion for powerful troops. Where this group needs a week to make the journey, had either of us been flying with intent, we could reach deep into the empire in a single day, starting at the city.
Compared to the speed of flight, their level-enhanced bodies moving at a breakneck pace simply cannot compare. If I so desired, I could fly circles around them with ease for days on end without feeling any trace of magical exhaustion; such is one of the few benefits of elemental manipulation I suppose, that of being able to fly far longer than straight magic users due to actually having to manipulate the elements yourself and not suffering the almost arbitrary cost imposed by the god of magic when designing his unfair system.
Actually, sometimes I [am] flying circles around them, though not out of boredom or out of mockery of their pathetic pace; no, as the most capable scout, I fly around as part of my duties. Though the other scouts serving on the first day try their best, their abysmally low speed and weakness of information gathering techniques makes them essentially useless when I can check an area that would take them an hour to survey in only a minute by employing my vantage point with my enhanced vision.
About halfway through the second day, by which point we have turned due east, feeling a bit bad for the little scout racing around for no reason, I decide to privately meet with him.
My decision made, I turn towards him from my vantage point high in the sky, shooting like a bullet towards his clearly defined form. He is sprinting as fast as he can to the south, employing wind elemental techniques to further increase his speed, surveying for any monsters, his back turned towards my rapid approach. Even when I am still a mile away, I can see sweat pouring down his red face, his speed gradually lagging from the exertion.
[He clearly has been working much harder than I have, relieving him from his position is a good idea. I would bring this up before the group tonight during the short sleeping time, but I wouldn't want to insult the other scouts by implying that they are worthless. I mean, they are worthless, but it would be mean to say so, especially when I am presumably doing this to be of aid to them.]
Lost in my thoughts, I rapidly decrease my distance from him in just a few minutes, traversing a distance that had taken him nearly an hour of arduous effort to move through. When I am only a hundred yard away, he whips around, sensing me through one fancy method or another. An expression of panic crosses his face, as he whips out a sword and wreaths it in wind, taking a defensive stance against me.
A second later, I land gracefully on the ground ten feet in front of him, my speed brought down to nothing in a period of deceleration so short that I won't even berate myself for being proud of it. It took a lot of practice to get good at that speedy deceleration, I'll have you know!
"Oh, it's just you," he says upon recognizing me, putting away his sword. His expression quickly turns from moderate surprise to determination as he asks "What is it? Have you seen something? Are we under attack?"
"No, no, nothing so drastic. There is simply something I wanted to talk about with you in private, from one scout to another."
"In private? If this is something that you would not say before the group, how can it be upstanding? If you will not say it to me in front of others, I do not desire to hear what you have to say; I have no desire to be part of your conspiracy."
"Ha, ha, you are far too worried. Why would I have anything so extreme to discuss with you as for it to warrant being called a conspiracy? You are far too paranoid, my friend, do you not know me?"
"Subordinate of the mysterious wizard, a killer of comrades, a prodigy in possession of methods unknown, a recently liberated slave, a mage who duels with swordsmen and comes out on top without utilizing magic…"
"Now, now, no need to say such extreme things! Those are merely my past activities, they need not influence your current perception of me!"
"Did you not kill a comrade merely two days ago?"
"Nearly a lifetime away, I have changed greatly since then!"
"I guess they called you a madman as well…"
"Well, the point holds that I have no scheme nor conspiracy! I merely wanted to discuss a touchy topic with you in private so as not to inadvertently humiliate you in public!"
"Oh? What could you have to say to me then? I warn you, any conspiratorial hint from you and I shall race to our commanders to warn them."
"You make things far too difficult you know… well, to put things simply, you and the other scouts are worthless. You need not have any hand in scouting so long as I exist; merely by flying above our group, with minimal effort I can observe territory that would take you an hour of hard running to reach. My vision is impeccable as well, I will not miss anything, in this area I believe that I am superior to you, yes? You are overexerting yourselves, for a task that does not need any other than myself to be performing and that you perform worse than I regardless. I say this out of no disrespect for you or for the other scouts, in fact, the degree to which I mean no disrespect is such that I did not bring this up in front of the larger group. I simply tire of seeing you and the others meaninglessly scurrying around like rats, performing a service that you are not needed in. Considering that I am already active in every shift of scouts, my schedule would not change at all, I would merely lessen the burden upon you all."
After thinking for a moment, he responds "there is no need to say it in such a harsh manner, had you tempered your word usage you could have gotten away with saying this in front of everyone with no issues."
"Well, I didn't want to insult you, I worried I would, whether I tried to or not, through the implication that you provide us nothing of value."
"Well, thanks, I guess… yes, I had honestly thought the same regarding the use for us, I didn't want to speak up for fear of being accused of not being dedicated enough, of trying to shrug off my duties. If you were to volunteer to take over all of our roles, I would have no reason to complain."
"And do you think that the others will feel the same?"
"Well, they may feel slightly unhappy at being deemed unnecessary, but, so long as they are not idiots, they will see this for the blessing that it is."
"Well, that is good to hear. I'll bring this up tonight, no need to worry about it."
"Very well then. Thank you for your considerations."
"Of course!" I respond as I take off from the ground, creating a small cloud of dust in my wake, leaving our silly scout to finish his last mission as such.