Regarding this issue, the best solution was to ask someone with more authority. Thinking this, I went straight towards Douglas' tent, but unexpectedly met Alfreed on the way.
"So it's really not related to your kingdom's army?"
After some simple questioning, Alfreed firmly denied that the situation involved the kingdom's secret operations. At least he was completely unaware, otherwise he wouldn't be rushing to discuss the situation with the commander.
"This is a very favorable sudden incident for us. At least it proves that the resistance and monsters are not entirely united. Even if other countries' spies are involved, it also means we may be able to get assistance from other countries..."
On the way, Alfreed casually expressed a few of his own views. However, when we reached the entrance of Douglas' tent, we almost bumped into an acquaintance.
"Reed?"
We got lucky! I had been looking for her everywhere before but couldn't find her. I thought she might be reading alone in some corner! Who would have expected to unexpectedly meet her here?
Speaking of which, what was she doing? Seeing her coming out from inside, Alfreed and I couldn't help but give her a puzzled look.
"You've always wanted to find Adrian, right? I took this opportunity to help you out!"
Reed looked up at the new Parristol in the sky, then glanced at me and left without turning back after saying that.
"Huh? You..."
What did that mean? I stared blankly with my mouth open, completely baffled. I looked at Alfreed, pointed at Reed's back, but couldn't get the rest of the words out.
"Is it related to the new situation in the city?"
Alfreed was just as clueless as me. But recalling the supposed "fire" that had just occurred at the new Parristol city, he suggested that this might be Reed's doing.
However, for Reed to sneak into the sky city and cause destruction by herself should be impossible without being detected. What riddle was she talking about?
I even suspected whether Mia had returned and the commotion in the city was her masterpiece. But after careful thought, I felt this possibility was small. Crescent City is not too far from here, but after leaving Crescent City, Mia seemed to have some other matters to attend to. She couldn't have rushed back so quickly, let alone have time to go cause trouble in the sky city.
In the end, I could only enter the Fifth Legion commander's tent with Alfreed, feeling even more puzzled.
We saw Douglas pacing back and forth in the tent, as if he had just made a difficult decision. Seeing Alfreed enter, he immediately pulled him over and instructed:
"You're just in time. Quickly pass down the order - we're going to launch an all-out offensive immediately!"
"Wait, why the rush?"
Douglas' words were shocking. Alfreed was so startled that he could only react after a while, quickly stepping forward to dissuade him.
"It's only been half a day. Even if we wait until tomorrow morning, we may not be able to gather everyone. Not to mention the enemy still has the Ilandra Dominion Empire's assistance. It may not be a good idea for us to rashly attack, right?"
We had only joined up with the kingdom's army this morning. It was just past noon now, still early before the agreed time for reinforcements to arrive. No wonder Alfreed couldn't accept this order to fight alone.
"What's there to be afraid of? Haven't you seen the infighting on the enemy's side? Now is the perfect opportunity! Otherwise, once they finish mobilizing the city, we can only chase after them. Besides, we have new allies now..."
Douglas waved his hand nonchalantly and resolutely issued the attack order. But halfway through, he seemed to notice me and respectfully greeted me.
"Excuse me, honorable angel lady. We're about to discuss troop deployments and pre-battle preparations. Could you please step aside for now? Of course, this isn't because we don't trust you. It's just that since you're not a member of the angel legion, you're not a military ally of the Astralrealm Kingdom. Based on the kingdom's military regulations..."
"Uh, then I..."
What was this development? I was still trying to make sense of the situation when Douglas politely asked me to leave, citing regulations! Even though he seemed apologetic about it, he was still kicking me out!
"Alright!"
Never mind, since I am an outsider, it's not proper for me to stand by and watch them deploy troops. I didn't want to get kicked out in the end! Even though I had a belly full of questions, now was not the time to figure it out. Seeing Alfreed take out a terrain map of Parristol's surroundings and spread it on the ground, he had no time to attend to me. I could only purse my lips, turn around and reluctantly leave that place.
Why not go ask Reed again?
As I came out of the tent, I immediately had a new lead. After all, Reed had just come out from there when we arrived, so Douglas' sudden decision might be related to her! I didn't know what the two of them had said inside earlier, and what exactly were these "new allies" they mentioned?
"Where's Reed?"
But when I came to Cyra's tent, I didn't see her around. Since they were both two-winged angels with limited resources in the camp, Alfreed had assigned Cyra and Reed to stay together during the allocation.
As for Cyra, she was still there, but this girl was actually sitting at the table by herself, holding a chicken drumstick and gnawing on it greasily.
"What kind of lunch is an angel eating?!"
I didn't expect such good food in a military camp. It was probably prepared specially for Cyra, as ordinary soldiers wouldn't eat so well.
"Wow, delicious!"
"Take it easy, this isn't lunch, it's my afternoon tea! Haven't you seen it before? Don't snatch it all!"
Seeing me stuffing food into my mouth, Cyra hurriedly spit out the bone in her mouth and kept tugging at my clothes with her greasy hand. However, her little movements couldn't stop me at all. Soon, I had devoured everything.
"Not bad taste, you've got some skills, I'll give you that!"
I grabbed a napkin, wiped my mouth, and gave my satisfied final review. Only then did I remember the purpose of my visit and hurriedly asked again.
"Oh right...haven't you seen Reed? She didn't come back just now?"
"How rude! Don't you know we haven't had decent food for days?"
Looking at the leftover scraps in front of her, Cyra was a bit resentful, but since she couldn't beat me, she had no choice.
"Reed hasn't come back, but just now I saw her and Judith leaving the camp together. They looked like they had some important matter to attend to, but I don't know exactly where they went."
Huh, what kind of plot development was this? I was completely dumbfounded. Reed actually went AWOL? And she even brought the weaker Judith with her?
Don't forget this is a combat zone! It's a dangerous period right now, and the battle will begin very soon. For their strength, going out alone is extremely dangerous!
"Why didn't you stop them?"
I couldn't help feeling anxious and blaming Cyra. Whether it was Reed or Judith, I couldn't afford to lose either of them. What should I do if something happened to them!
"I wanted to, but I'm no match for them! Don't forget, my combat strength is actually not much different from Reed's. Moreover, she has all sorts of tricks - she can fling magic scrolls around like they're free. I've never been able to beat her!"
Cyra spread her hands in helplessness, not seeming worried at all. In fact, she tried to reassure me instead.
"Don't worry, you know how formidable Reed is. Just her 'Five Light Ten Color' technique alone is enough to subdue most enemies!"
"Well...but..."
What she said was true, but I still felt uneasy. Previously whenever Reed went out, Mia the ten-winged angel would accompany her for the most meticulous protection. But now that bodyguard wasn't around, it was really unsettling for Reed to run around alone in such a dangerous place.
I turned to look at Cyra again, but saw that she finally couldn't hold back anymore, gulping down the remaining soup nonstop. Suddenly remembering this girl was also a hopeless case, I could only shake my head and temporarily leave by myself, flying up into the sky to gaze outside the camp.
A desolate scene filled my view.
The area surrounding Parristol was all desert, especially on this side within the Astralrealm Kingdom's borders. Due to the persistent lack of water and drought, as far as the eye could see, the ground was covered with rocks of all sizes and short trees. In such a short time, it was impossible to see clearly where Reed and Judith had run off to.
What important matter did they have to attend to at this moment?
I really couldn't understand it. At the same time, a resounding horn suddenly blared. The soldiers in the camp below all came out of their tents and looked in the same direction - towards the sentry platform in front of the camp. It seemed Douglas and Alfreed had finished their preparations, and the attack was about to begin.
"What's going on? I just heard the guard at the entrance say we're about to go to war?"
Cyra seemed clueless! When I descended from the sky, seeing the soldiers running back and forth outside the tents, she hurriedly pulled me aside to ask.