Leonidas and the others followed along. Lady Eve and her nephew took the helm. Her two subordinates, the bowman, Jacque, and the dual axman, Yako, followed behind. Following them were Kyzer and Alfan before Leonidas and Daisy, who brought up the rear.
Leonidas wasn't very well informed on formations and the safest of them. But, they didn't have much of a choice in this regard. Though this forest wasn't overly dense, two horses was about the maximum that could move along side by side.
"Do you think lesser of me?"
Leonidas' brow furrowed when he heard Daisy's voice. It sounded pretty gruff, as though she was dealing with a sore throat or like she had just woken up. But, they had clearly been awake for a while and had even had breakfast already, so it definitely wasn't the latter.
Turning a gaze over, Leonidas found Daisy was staring at him.
He couldn't help but feel that this woman was too odd. He didn't really know her, so how could he have an opinion one way or another? At most, she was an acquaintance who he had spoken to a few times. However, her question sounded like something she'd ask someone she cared for the opinion of.
Daisy seemed to sense the weirdness in Leonidas' gaze. For him, this was about as much emotion as he would show.
Daisy smiled somewhat bitterly. Maybe she had just gotten too used to venting all her thoughts to Leonidas these days.
He rarely if ever responded. But, the words he spoke that night still resonated in her mind sometimes. It was like a spike of dopamine that shot through her veins. And now, she was constantly searching for the next time he'd speak and what words he would use to shock her next.
That was probably the truth, anyway. Because both Daisy and Leonidas knew that it had nothing to do with her being worried about his opinion.
At that moment, Lady Eve suddenly pulled on the reins of her horse. Like clockwork, everyone came to a stop right along with her.
She held a hand up, signaling for silence for a long while. In those moments, none of them even dared to breathe too loudly.
"Here. Everyone dismount."
Leonidas' eyes narrowed, but he didn't say much, doing as he was told.
Much like they had done the night previous, the horse reins were passed on to Leonidas who began to find a good place to anchor them.
"Our destination is close. We will go the rest of the way on foot. Leonidas, you will come as well."
Leonidas' tail twitched when he heard this. But, once again, he didn't question it.
Wasn't he brought here for the sake of taking care of the horses? If they were leaving their steeds in the middle of the forest like this with no protection, what was the purpose behind asking him to come?
However, at this moment, even Manfroi didn't say a word despite how much he treasured his precious Thunder.
The group began to move on foot. No one but maybe Lady Eve herself, though, expected them to suddenly come to the end of the forest.
"Get down." She said with a hint of command in her tone.
Just outside the last line of trees, the group had come to the edge of a valley.
The walls of the valley were more than steep enough for it to still be considered as one. However, the slope was still gentle enough that while getting down might be a feat of coordination, it wouldn't be impossible either.
Still, what immediately caught all of their attention wasn't the makeup of the valley or even its abrupt appearance in a land that was otherwise lush and green. Rather, it was the fact that below, there was an encampment. And not just any encampment… But one of Ogres.
Leonidas' nose twitched. Even before reaching this point, he had already caught a whiff of the heavy scent of sweat. However, this was the very first time he was seeing an Ogre in the flesh, how could he have drawn the connection so quickly?
The tallest of them stood at three meters tall. Some of them had massive bellies and short stocky legs, while others had sturdy and muscular frames, brimming with strength. However, they all had the same greyish-green skin, saliva-coated tusks, and beast loin cloths covering their lower halves.
The weapon of choice for these Ogres seemed to be large wooden clubs, most wrapped with a tough leather exterior.
They stood about fairly spread out, but their encampment seemed to be surrounding a cave excavated out of a wall of the valley. The sun was too bright in contrast to the darkness within the cave, so it was impossible to see any true detail. It might as well have been a black circle painted onto the valley walls.
Each and every one of them lowered themselves to the ground, careful not to make any noise.
Leonidas, however, noticed that Lady Eve's hands gripped into a fist as she lay down. Though he couldn't see her face from this vantage point, he felt that she didn't like what she was seeing very much.
To this point, Eve hadn't explained what the mission was. But, whether it was for a Knight, a Paladin or an Apostle, the missions always had one target: To spread the Faith of their God.
No matter what it is that they were doing now, it was definitely related to this matter. And, since there were Ogres below, Leonidas had a good guess that they were the very same Lower Ogres that came from the town nearest to Violet Waters, Swallowing Tusk.
If that was the case, this mission was likely a clash between Yves and Swallowing Tusk's God – a struggle for supremacy and power.
With how things were now, though, Leonidas wasn't sure what Lady Eve wanted to do. There were at least ten Lower Ogres below, and that wasn't counting any that may or may not have already entered the cave.
However, of all the things Leonidas thought Eve might choose to do, leaping up and roaring at the top of her lungs before diving down in a charge was the very last.
"CHARGE!"
Leonidas froze.
Lady Eve's bellow resonated through the valley, echoing across and into the skies.
Jacque and Yako leapt after her so quickly it almost seemed as though they had moved at the same time.
Manfroi waited just a split moment before following suit.
The four slid down the side of the valley, large clouds of dust and dried ground kicking up along their path.
Leonidas couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening. This was the plan? There wasn't a better option? What about waiting for nightfall? What about scouting out the situation? Why didn't they even attempt stealth before roaring out like this? What the hell was going on?
In his disorientation, Leonidas was suddenly the last left at the top of the valley, Alfan, Kyzer and even Daisy having followed, each clutching onto their own weapons.
Unfortunately, their descent wasn't nearly as coordinated. Alfan, specifically, didn't manage to keep his balance, his head rolling over his body, resulting in him tumbling down. If he continued like that and reached the bottom, there was no doubt that even if he didn't die, he would be severely injured. Either way, in such a situation, his likelihood of survival had plummeted.
Leonidas pushed himself up. As he looked up, he didn't feel any fear. Even with the daunting fall before him and the Lower Ogres who had suddenly all turned their attention this way, he didn't flinch. All he felt at that moment was confusion.
However, that feeling soon faded, his mind seemingly clicking over from this state toward understanding.
'I see…'
Leonidas' gaze narrowed.
Leonidas didn't go for style points. Using his tail like a slide and his glove-covered hands for balance, he jumped forward.
The armor that coated his tail whined, but more than held up. As for his Close Combat Gloves, they fared even better.
Leonidas felt his speed kicking up, his body disappearing into the fog of earth left by those who went before him. Unfortunately, though this helped him hide himself, it also thwarted his vision.
Leonidas raised a hand to his nose, protecting it from the dust as he took deep breaths. At the same time, his ears began to twitch continuously. The two worked as one to give him an image of what was happening below.
For the first time, Leonidas heard the sounds of battle. The roars of enraged Ogres, the unsheathing of swords, the war cry of a youth entering his first battlefield.
The feeling lasted just a moment, yet for Leonidas, it was almost like an eternity.
The world slowed, the beating of his heart thrumming blood to his mind.
It was then that he felt his feet hit the ground.
Taking advantage of the momentum, he rolled forward, knowing that there wasn't an Ogre before him. Then, as agilely as he could, he bounced to his feet, using his strong tail to balance himself.
The thumping of Leonidas' heart grew fiercer. As though a war drum, it was deep and resonating, forcing his rib cage to expand and contract under its forcefulness.
As unbothered as he was at the top of the valley, the moment he reached the bottom, it all hit him like a ton of bricks.
There was battle. He could die.