The Severe Winter Expedition (3)
The Severe Winter Expedition (3)
"I never knew it could be this cold...!"
The Allied Expeditionary Force was thoroughly feeling just how harsh the northern winter was.
The nobles reacted with disbelief and horror before the Frontier Count of the Oridan Kingdom.
"Frontier Count, is that really true? You mean it gets even colder than this?"
"The cold has not even begun yet. When the real cold hits, your eyelashes and nostrils freeze, and the moment you urinate, it freezes in mid-air."
"That's impossible...!"
The Empire's Count Yunes widened his eyes and glared toward the Elf Forest.
"Once every few years, a massive frigid wind blows down from the north, and every living thing exposed outdoors simply became ice."
The non-northern nobles could hardly believe it.
At least, they wanted to believe that the Frontier Count was just bluffing about that one thing.
"Count Yunes, Your Excellency."
"...."
The nobles 'who did not know the taste of meat' pleaded with desperate hearts.
"This time, wouldn't it be better to rest in the Frontier Count's territory first, and resume the expedition once spring returns next year?"
Count Yunes looked around.
The Allied Expeditionary Force had already broken more than 1km into the Elf Forest and established a massive encampment.
Both knights and soldiers alike were completely exhausted.
To those who have awakened mana, the cold is not much of a problem.
So they had thought it wouldn't be difficult.
But there was something Count Yunes and the other non-northern nobles had overlooked.
'The food is being consumed far too quickly.'
The food was being consumed much faster than they had anticipated.
And this was even after Count Yunes had strictly ordered them to conserve it.
Mana allows one to endure the cold.
Mana consumes calories.
In other words, the more severe the cold, the more calories they burned.
'I thought with this much, we could hold out until the end of winter.'
Because food was being controlled, the knights and soldiers couldn't muster their full strength.
Yet if they released the food freely, they could clearly foresee the future of having to retreat.
Count Yunes stared at the piles of monster carcasses in the spoils area.
White Wolves, Black Wolves, Great Hills Bears.
And numerous other monster corpses hunted while pioneering the forest.
Naturally, the secret society that formed the core of the Allied Expeditionary Force, the 'Meat Expedition Force,' had already confirmed the taste of this meat.
'It was unbearably revolting.'
The gamey smell was severe, and it was terribly tough.
It was absolutely not the monster meat they were looking for.
'Just, just where on earth is it...!'
***
The secret society 'Meat Expedition Force' held a meeting centered around Yunes.
"We must advance faster."
The unenlightened who did not know the taste insisted that since food consumption was so fast, they should retreat and prepare thoroughly for next year.
But the Meat Expedition Force was different.
"We just need to find that monster first."
"Exactly. Once everyone learns of that taste, no one will ever speak of retreating."
"On the contrary, their courage will be inflamed, and they'll push forward more vigorously."
"To give everyone an unshakable motivation to advance, we must push deeper before the food runs out! And that's how we'll find it!"
Count Yunes made his decision.
"To conserve food, from now on, even the unpalatable monster meat will be distributed as meals. Let us make haste."
The amount of distributed meals increased.
But due to the terribly unpalatable monster meat, the expedition's morale plummeted severely.
Complaints and discontent grew.
"Why on earth do we have to go this far?"
"The Oridan Kingdom doesn't seem to be in much trouble right now?"
"We've been ransacking this forest, and we haven't seen any plant legions, have we?"
"What went wrong, and from where?"
There was no elven counterattack at all, only the merciless cold tormenting the army.
Compared to the calories they were burning, the meal portions were clearly insufficient, so they were constantly hungry.
"Get a grip! The elves are hoping we collapse from the cold! It's a perfectly natural military strategy!"
"If we yield to such a trivial cold, we will become the laughing stock of the continent's history for ages!"
The commanders who were not part of the Meat Expedition Force tried their best to boost morale with enthusiasm and sincerity.
"Commander! L-look at this!"
"Is that a rabbit monster? It has a horn."
"A scouting party hunted and brought this monster in, and its taste is phenomenal!"
"What did you say?"
The commander quickly grilled and tasted the meat.
He opened his eyes wide at the concentration of fantastic texture and tenderness he had never experienced before.
Above all, the gamey flavor was 'minimal.'
"How can this be! Such a fantastically tasting monster existed in the North!"
"A truly astonishing taste!"
Upon receiving the report, Count Yunes and the nobles of the secret society rushed over and tasted the small quantity of One-Horned Rabbit meat.
The reporting commander shouted out in excitement.
"How is it, Count Your Excellency? Is it not a truly astonishing taste? Does it not rival a feast of the gods?"
"...The taste is superb. See to it that every sighted One-Horned Rabbit is hunted from now on."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
As the astonishing taste of the One-Horned Rabbit became known, a sense of anticipation and morale began to bloom little by little throughout the army.
However, the atmosphere within the secret society, the Meat Expedition Force, was somber.
"This is not the taste."
"It was certainly delicious. That is, compared to the meat we have been eating until now back in our home countries."
"It was definitely an overwhelming taste. Compared to what we had been eating...."
They understood why others were amazed.
Since it was a taste surpassing even the meat the emperor of the Empire ate.
"However, compared to Ainshuvan meat, it is merely tough meat with a strong gamey smell."
If the meat nobles usually ate was a common soldier,
then the One-Horned Rabbit would be about the level of a Mana soldier.
Ainshuvan meat was a Sword Master and beyond.
The gap in taste was that overwhelmingly superior.
"Above all, its body is too small. With that size, it will be difficult to obtain enough meat...."
But the Meat Expedition Force had failed to account for the enthusiasm of those whose eyes were newly opened.
Everyone was boiling over at the taste of the One-Horned Rabbit.
"Let's go! To hunt One-Horned Rabbits!"
"We shall not return until we've hunted at least 50 of them today!"
Everyone became fixated on hunting One-Horned Rabbits.
There were no more commanders insisting they had to return before the food supplies ran out.
"More One-Horned Rabbits! More and more meat!"
"Food is short? Then we can just eat One-Horned Rabbit as we advance and that'll solve it!"
"Eat that wolf meat!"
The knights and soldiers did not hesitate to grill and eat the unpalatable wolf meat to gain calories.
And so, the Allied Expeditionary Force advanced through the Elf Forest as one heart and one mind.
"We must offer these One-Horned Rabbits to His Majesty and the various Kings! This taste must be made widely known!"
"Cast preservation magic... No, no, capture live One-Horned Rabbits! We must send them to the home countries and attempt to raise them!"
The secret society Meat Expedition Force finally succeeded in capturing live One-Horned Rabbits and sent them to the home countries as the top priority.
A high-ranking Wind Mage stepped forward generously.
"I, a 7th-Class Wind Mage, shall go myself! I can go to the Empire and return within two days!"
"Oh, Lord Berkshire. Will you truly step forward for this?"
The finicky Wind Mage, who would not lift anyone's palanquin except family members, actively volunteered.
"Once His Majesty learns of this taste, he will send even more support to the expedition!"
Count Yunes gazed at the Wind Mage flying away with the One-Horned Rabbit enclosure, filled with deep emotion.
The expedition force pioneered the forest even more aggressively and hunted One-Horned Rabbits.
The One-Horned Rabbit was timid and ran away the moment it saw an enemy, was terribly swift making pursuit difficult, and had a small body with little meat—but apart from those points, it was flawless.
"Why is Lord Berkshire so late? He said a round trip to the imperial capital would take 4 days, but it's already the 5th day, isn't it?"
"I see Lord Berkshire's figure over there!"
"Oh, finally!"
Berkshire was not alone.
He had brought along every one of his disciples.
All were Wind Mages, and all were carrying supply carts with flying spells.
The carts were loaded full with supply boxes enchanted with Storage Warehouse Magic.
"Lord Berkshire? What is the meaning of this?"
"Provisions by His Majesty's command!"
The emperor, having tasted the One-Horned Rabbit, had sent more food to boost the expedition's strength.
And that prideful Wind Mage had even gathered up his disciples and carried it all in one trip!
Count Yunes was moved to the point of choking up.
'This is precisely the capability of our great Empire...!'
"It is the Imperial Order! From now on, the personal consumption of One-Horned Rabbits is prohibited! Capture the One-Horned Rabbits alive and offer them to the Imperial Household!"
The Empire began to move in earnest.
The Wind Mages, casting aside their pride, freely used their magic for transporting One-Horned Rabbits and carrying supplies.
The Wind Mages who were belatedly dragged along by their masters or family heads were initially filled with complaints, but after tasting the One-Horned Rabbit just once, their eyes turned upside down.
Only then did the secret society, the Meat Expedition Force, reveal the secret they had been hiding to the other nobles.
"In truth, a monster far more delicious than the One-Horned Rabbit exists somewhere in the Elf Forest."
"Can that really be true? Don't tell me the reason you raised your voices insisting an expedition force be formed was...!"
"If the Ainshuvan Army recklessly hunts those monsters to extinction, wouldn't that truly be a catastrophe?"
When a few break the law, it's a crime, but when everyone participates, it becomes the new order.
Yunes unofficially confessed the fault, and the emperor magnanimously condoned everything.
「I hereby designate the Elf Forest pioneered thus far as Imperial territory and appoint you as Provincial Governor.」
Yunes was so moved by the emperor's gracious measure that he cried out toward the sky.
"For His Majesty! Advance deeper!"
The Imperial Household sent supplies like mad.
As the Wind Mage unit cast aside their pride and undertook supply transport, the transport period that would have originally taken years was reduced to days.
"Convert the entire encampment into barracks! We must finish before the greater cold arrives!"
The expedition force put the crazy idea of enclosing the entire garrison with a single outer wall into action.
Even the Frontier Count of Oridan was amazed with his mouth agape at the accomplishment of this absurd miracle.
"This is unreal. With all the Empire's nobles determined and joining forces, nothing is impossible."
He decided not to make the rude remark of how nice it would have been if they had helped like this from the start.
Backed by the extraordinary support from the Empire and other kingdoms, the expedition force steadily pressed north.
And at last, they encountered it.
A being spoken of as legendary....
"A D-dragon!"
***
V-Bat UAV unit 1 observed in hovering mode from a point about 5km away from the combat zone.
Unit 2 prepared at a higher altitude in case Unit 1 came under attack.
Against the gigantic Dragon, a small and insignificant human army fought in opposition.
A desperate, gruesome battle beyond words.
Piel and Luna vividly watched that scene through the ground control station monitors.
"Luna, that thing, could it be...?"
"It looks like a Dragon!"
Piel was genuinely surprised.
Not just at the Dragon's appearance, but also at the sheer scale of the expedition force.
Everyone was thoroughly clad in thick cold-weather gear wrapped tightly around their bodies, and they were fighting against the Dragon without backing down.
Since it was a thermal image, their expressions were impossible to read, but even the lowest-ranking soldiers faced it without fear.
The battle was long. And it showed no sign of ending.
Luna assessed it coldly.
"The Dragon is playing with them."
"You can see that?"
"Yes, the expedition force is no match for it at all. Right now, the Dragon is devoting great care to avoid breaking a toy it's gotten after a long time."
Those in a frenzy down there wouldn't know.
They're probably deluding themselves that they're gaining the upper hand against the Dragon.
The moment the truth becomes known, they will lose all morale and collapse all at once.
Piel was filled with both admiration and scorn.
"They never once paid attention to the northern situation until now... What on earth is making them so fierce at this point?"
"I think they believe what the Colonel-nim served at the meat buffet was Dragon meat."