Early in the morning, I woke up Oracle and Herman and decided to leave early.
I was a little surprised that even this early in the morning, the butler knight Kato-san was awake. I guess that's to be expected of a head butler….or maybe because oldies wake up early.
When I told him I wanted to leave early, he said, "Leave everything to me" without asking why.
As expected of Kato-san. He is so easy to talk with that I would like to hire him for my company.
But even the sleepy faced Duke Emehart woke up.
「Your Excellency King General, why don't you at least eat breakfast?」
「We're in a hurry!」
To put it bluntly, I wanted to get away quickly because I didn't want to wait for Eleonora to wake up and get into another nasty entanglement like last night.
However, my wish was in vain because Eleonora woke up wearing a negligee. You're a princess so just go back to sleep.
「Hero, take this with you. You don't' want to go to the imperial capital with only a gun as a weapon, don't you?」
Just when I was thinking that she'll complain about what happened last night, Eleonora handed me a black cedar wooden sword.
Certainly, a wooden sword that is stronger than steel is good now that I can't use my magic swords. The color is also black which fits well with my black robe and its size is just right to hang at my waist.
「Ah, thanks.」
I mean, thank you but this is originally mine. I couldn't find it anywhere then I realized that this lady took it and didn't return it. One of the two has finally returned.
However, Eleonora is not acting like herself. She seemed to be in a strange mood but it was not time for me to ask the other one back. She saw me off with a clear smile.
「Be careful….Takeru」
「Yeah, I'm going. Stay safe too, Eleonora.」
I thought she was going to get involved with me again and start to get noisy about last night but the crow that cried already laughed. I really don't know what's in a woman's mind.
The reason why the princess knight looks so cute in the morning is because she's dressed like a princess, smiling, and even waving her hand as she sees me off. If dressed like a woman, she's so beautiful that no one would believe she's a tomboy.
Looking at her now, she's like a completely different person from last night who was a mess.
It would be nice if Princess Knight Eleonora has matured a little.
---Scene Change---
We flew smoothly towards the imperial capital. When we were close to the imperial capital, Herman asked us to go down to a nearby village.
As expected, flying to the imperial capital is too conspicuous.
「There is a village northwest of the capital where the resistance is holed up for the rescue of his majesty. It sho9uld be in this area.」
「Could it be the village where that smoke is rising?」
「What?!」
Herman had finally gotten used to flying but his face turned pale again.
I'm not surprised.
As we got closer to the imperial capital, he saw many looted towns and ruined farming villages that are still burning.
In such devastation, it would be strange if only the villages where the imperial army were stationed were safe.
This level of development is already expected.
The question is whether the villages where the resistance forces against the new empire are hiding are being looted by actual bandits or whether they are being attacked by the new imperial forces.
「Herman, let's go down and check it out.」
「Yes, this might mean that the enemy has already cracked our hideout….」
Oh well, I thought we were going to make a quick plan and retreat and not dash forward from the start.
When we entered the village, we found a group of men wearing makeshift leather armor and carrying crude spears with blades strapped on a stick, fighting with knights and soldiers who had apparently been hiding in the village.
「Hyaha, burn burn!」
「Damn, you little bastards!」
The people attacking the village were a bunch of soldiers who had unusually high tension.
It's been a long time since I heard the word "Hyaha".
「To think they'll really say hyaha….」
「Definitely your typical villain.」