A Western Outing
The journey west was exceedingly monotonous.
Travel, rest, travel, rest, travel, sleep. Beyond that, nothing changed at all.
This was no ordinary carriage trip, either. Right beside them rode a grand duke, his knight order, and an entire legion.
Hardly the conditions for meeting anyone new in a new place.
Any real change, at the very least, would have to wait until they reached the western border.
If I'd known it would be like this, I should've gone all out against Captain Priscilla back then… Wait. What am I thinking? I've lost it. Seriously.
Even after transmigration, it seemed John Nassen blood could not be denied.
More than the unchanging boredom of the journey, what he truly regretted was not being able to exercise properly.
To the point of wondering whether he should have gone all-out against Priscilla last time.
Kyle slapped his own cheeks a few times and shook his head hard.
I have to suppress the John Nassen inside me. Please calm down already, damn it.
Thinking of John Nassen brought back what had happened with the Saintess not long ago.
And how, in that perfect situation, he had suddenly asked what kind of effect it would have on the body.
The atmosphere with the Saintess had been so good. The way she got flustered had been unbearably cute.
If he had just pushed a little further—just a tiny bit more teasing conversation—it would have been perfect.
Instead, what came out of his mouth was the kind of denseness only a textbook romance-fantasy male lead would spew.
It was a situation where every curse in existence could have flown freely without the slightest problem.
It had been a chance to get closer to his favorite character, to confirm her feelings!
Why did his brain keep spinning on exercise he didn't even like, making him do stupid things!
"Kyle, you look restless too."
Lea, who had no idea what was going on inside Kyle's head, seemed to assume it was simply because he couldn't exercise.
The words Absolutely not nearly leaped straight out of his throat.
"I can't take this anymore. I'm going out for a run."
Unable to endure any longer, Lia finally burst from the carriage and started hammering cardio.
Then Lea followed as well, declaring that they had to burn what they'd eaten, and ran alongside her brother.
Kyle was holding out because he hated the John Nassen will that had ruined things between him and the Saintess.
Unfortunately, Kyle's stubbornness did not last long.
"Kyle! Come run with us!"
Lea barged in through the carriage door, and with Kyle's already conflicted heart—plus a high-calorie combat ration for lunch—he could not hold out any longer.
Aaaargh!! Fuck!!
I hate exercise. I hate diet control. I hate everything! But what I hate most—
Is myself, already hooked on it, unable to give up even though I hate it!
God! Why on earth! How did I end up transmigrating into this guy!
Why does a race like this even exist in a romance fantasy! You crazy author!!
Is this a romance fantasy!? Is it!? No matter how I look at it, this is too much!!
Screaming his heartfelt protests inside, Kyle started running after his brother and sister.
"…."
And Grand Duke Schurelitz watched that scene from afar.
He had given them a carriage so they could travel more comfortably—one provided by the Imperial family, no less.
Yet they claimed they couldn't do anything in it, left the carriage behind, and ran.
According to the reports, they had reached the positions of the vanguard and reconnaissance units several times already.
The lead force and main body kept a certain distance as a precaution against emergencies.
And they were simply running back and forth to those positions over and over—was that even possible?
I'd heard the rumors, but I thought they were exaggerated.
Even the most diligent knights did not train to that extent.
Because the body could not handle it. It could actually harm one's health.
Even high-intensity training never went that far by any reasonable measure.
Yet the three siblings from John Nassen acted as if this were nothing special at all.
They were repeatedly covering distances that left others exhausted even on horseback.
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable.
Even the head of House Schurelitz—the foremost martial house by any measure—could only shake his head.
News that an Imperial legion had marched out reached the Western Kingdom Alliance at once.
It had not been a secret departure, and even if it had been, they would have learned soon enough.
While compiling the intelligence, the Alliance leadership received strange news.
"Only a single Imperial legion is coming? Are you certain?"
"Yes. Several legions that had been mustered earlier returned to their posts, and currently only one legion is heading west."
The numbers had shrunk to an absurd degree compared to what they had originally expected.
Even if the western kingdoms no longer held the power they once did—
Even if they were crumbling sandcastles drunk on past glory—the Empire was still the Empire.
They never let their guard down, no matter the situation or the enemy.
That terrifying strength was precisely what had elevated them to their current position.
If they had grown arrogant merely because their national power had increased somewhat, they never would have made it this far.
Yet that Empire had dispatched only a single legion toward them.
A great army of ten thousand, yes—but that was nowhere near enough.
They themselves had tens of thousands of troops, numerous knights, and mages.
A single legion alone would not even be able to cross the border.
What made it stranger still was that Grand Duke Schurelitz and the Sword Brothers Knight Order were with that one legion.
They appointed Grand Duke Schurelitz to lead a single legion? No matter how I think about it, it's strange.
House Schurelitz. One of the three grand ducal houses in the Empire. The Empire's Sword, the Trumpet of War.
They always stood at the forefront whenever war broke out between the Empire and other nations.
Given their participation in nearly every war, one could say they were leading the legion this time as well.
But as one of only three grand ducal houses, they had pride—and face—to maintain.
A grand duke personally joining an expedition of a single legion? There should be at least seven.
Only then would there be reason enough for a grand duke to move.
Yet the Empire had sent Grand Duke Schurelitz, and he was advancing without complaint.
Considering that the Imperial family and the grand ducal house were political partners of sorts, it was an extremely discourteous act.
Could there have been some friction between the Imperial family and the grand ducal house?
Was this a form of punishment forced upon them?
But given the loyalty House Schurelitz had offered, and the time they had endured—
"Check again. Is it truly only one Imperial legion coming? Are there no other legions waiting in advance nearby? Or have they already stationed large forces along the western border? Investigate every minute detail thoroughly and report back."
At the Alliance leadership's order, the intelligence chief bowed and withdrew.
As the Imperial army continued to approach, they checked and rechecked several more times.
But no matter how hard they looked, all they could see was the single legion currently advancing—
Along with Grand Duke Schurelitz and his subordinate Sword Brothers Knight Order. That was everything.
Stranger still, the Empire did not seem to be hiding anything in particular.
It was as if they were saying: look if you want, examine as much as you please.
Because of that, the leadership grew even more suspicious.
"Does this make any sense? Only a single legion?"
"The forces our Alliance can mobilize right now exceed fifty thousand by a wide margin. That's excluding the garrisons of each fortress, of course. Numbers aren't everything in battle, but they certainly help. The Empire can't be unaware of that. Aren't they the ones who always fight with the advantage?"
There was something. These were not people coming to take a single fortress—they were targeting the entire Alliance.
Their army could not end at a mere ten thousand or so. There was definitely more to it.
Soon, several other pieces of intelligence arrived for the Alliance leadership.
"…The John Nassen baronial house?"
"Yes. They're said to be people even the Empire finds extremely troublesome."
"I've heard of the John Nassens. Weren't they barbarians living in the north?"
"I've heard of them too. They held out against the Empire for years, apparently."
Those who heard that much could roughly predict the situation.
They had reduced the army's scale and brought people who could make up for it instead.
If they were people the Empire found troublesome, they would certainly be a major force.
"Still, reducing the number of legions for just a few people is strange."
"Could the Imperial 10 Strongest be among them? It seems like they intend to push through with an elite few."
But they knew relatively little about the John Nassens.
It had been nearly thirty years since they had been active in the Empire.
From the Alliance leadership's perspective, they were more worried about other things than the John Nassens themselves.
"We absolutely cannot let our guard down. I've heard that a young lady of the John Nassens half-destroyed the Academy—there's a chance that's true."
"Even if they're at the level of the Imperial 10 Strongest, or slightly below, they're clearly an enormous force."
Fortunately, several people voiced such concerns.
They seemed to have judged that nothing should be carelessly overlooked.
Accordingly, the leadership decided to mobilize all of their own top forces as well.
"Send letters to the Three Heroes. Tell them to prepare to move to the front immediately."
If the Empire had the Imperial 10 Strongest, the Alliance had the Three Heroes.
It was true that their numbers were vastly inferior to the Empire's.
No matter how strong the Three Heroes were, facing twice as many warriors of similar caliber was impossible.
But the Alliance was not particularly worried.
They had nothing left to lose, and nowhere left to retreat.
The Three Heroes themselves knew that if they were pushed back here, it was over.
Having prepared a trump card for times like this, the Alliance decided to use that.
"You've confirmed the effects multiple times, yes?"
"Yes. Severe mana exhaustion follows use, but the body won't collapse like before."
"We've also extended the duration by at least two to three times. It's sufficient even against the Imperial 10 Strongest."
An improved version of the mana-burst drug previously distributed to the suicide squad.
By increasing stability and enhancing the effects, they had finally created an effective amplifier.
The problem was that the process was so difficult that even after all that effort, they only had three vials.
It would have been nice to arm every knight with the amplifier, but that plan had fallen through.
Creating those three vials had required every mage in the Alliance, and the funds spent were astronomical.
The effects were excellent, but the price paid for them was far too steep.
The already reeling Alliance had been shaken even further by those three vials.
So the leadership instructed that the amplifiers only be used in the absolute worst case.
The west, where the borders of the Empire and the Alliance met.
All of the Alliance's forces had gathered to meet the Imperial legion.
And among them stood the Alliance's greatest warriors, known as the Three Heroes.
"Hoo."
Looking toward the Imperial border, knights and soldiers alike displayed tension.
Before long, the Imperial legion would appear from beyond, flaunting their glittering majesty.
They would roar battle cries that would shake heaven and earth to apply psychological pressure!
Crunch, crunch—.
"…Huh?"
But the sight the Alliance soldiers actually beheld was nothing of the sort.
"What…?"
The Imperial legion was nowhere to be seen—instead, three unknown men and women had appeared.