Chapter 176. The Dragoons' Naive Girl (1)
“Hmph, it looks like there are a ton of people here?”
Sirocco, who had been lightly hopping across the scattered building debris, perhaps out of boredom, looked down at Enoch and grumbled.
“Hey, I’m getting tired of waiting. When is this so-called operation supposed to start?”
“Perhaps in about a day and a half.”
As he walked, Enoch looked up at the sun still high in the midday sky, frowning at the intense heat of its rays before glancing to his side.
“Oh! The view here is pretty good-mda!”
Nano stood with one hand on her slender waist and the other shielding her eyes from the sun. Opposite her was April, tapping away at her terminal in the shade of a tree.
The scent of grass filled the air.
As we headed to the outskirts of the outsourcing district, the path, which was otherwise in ruins, was beautifully adorned with grass and trees.
Walking up the high hill, Enoch suddenly stopped and looked down at the vast landscape stretching out below.
“Alright, it’s just ahead.”
“Ooh! Are we there?”
Sirocco, who seemed bored from the long walk, shouted and took the lead.
With the white tip of her tail swishing, she trotted ahead of Enoch, then looked back and said something like, “What are you doing, hurry up!” Enoch slowly followed behind her.
The outskirts of the 19th outsourcing district. A sector near the edge of the forest.
The freelancers’ temporary assembly point.
After the whole magical beast commotion had ended, we heard information in the plaza about the temporary assembly point for freelancers participating in this operation. When we arrived, it was a place lined with abandoned buildings, as expected of an outsourcing district.
Looking around from the top of the hill, one could see the steel frames of construction cranes and reddish-black cylindrical pipes piled up here and there.
Moss and vines covered them, creating a unique atmosphere.
And atop it all, a great number of freelancers, carrying all sorts of equipment, had gathered like a cloud.
Sirocco came to Enoch’s side as he stood still and gazed at the temporary base before her. Then, she suddenly turned her head and asked.
“So, what are we here for? Isn’t there not much time left?”
Next to her, Nano, with her drone floating above her head, also had a puzzled expression, her visor pushed up onto her forehead.
“That’s right-mda! This isn’t even the operation area. Was there a reason for coming here-mka?”
Enoch replied simply.
“I wanted to check on things first.”
Honestly, I wanted to see it for myself before jumping into battle. The freelancers who had come here—in other words, I wanted to know just how strong our allies were.
“Hmph, I see.”
Sirocco landed lightly on a low rock behind Enoch and sat down.
Then, she rested her small chin on Enoch’s shoulder and stared blankly at the crowd.
“Hey, so are those guys on our side?”
“You could say that.”
The high hill offered a good view of the whole scene. Following Sirocco's gaze, a vast campsite unfolded around the temporary base.
Near the groups formed by each set of freelancers, modern, sleek black tents made of advanced materials were scattered about.
It seemed that a great number of freelancer teams had already laid out their camping gear and claimed their spots by setting up one-touch pop-up tents.
Just looking around was certainly not boring. Just then, April, who had been watching from the side, spoke quietly.
“As expected, they’re gathering in an ‘interim’ format.”
“Interim?”
When Nano tilted her head from the side, April nodded and answered.
“Yes. It’s a temporary team formed by freelancers, regardless of whether they have a Follower Family or not. Should I call it a freelancer task force?”
April shrugged and added.
“Anyway, since the direct lineage member wanted it, I offered a decent reward and gathered as many freelancers from the 37th outsourcing district as I could, but I’m still anxious. I don’t know if it will go well with just those people.”
“…Is this professional rivalry?”
“Well, it’s like that in any profession, isn’t it? You know how that world works.”
Holding back her hair as it fluttered in the wind with one hand, April looked at them and grumbled softly.
“No matter how many freelancers you gather, the best command structure you’ll get is an interim. They’re specialized for small-scale battles, not for large-scale ones like this.”
She glanced back at Enoch and added.
“…So, those people are probably a complete ragtag group.”
Enoch silently agreed. Just as she said, a ragtag group. The freelancers coming and going before my eyes were dressed in a true variety of styles.
Scanning the area, there were freelancers in tactical looks with black ballistic-spec plate carriers and tactical pouches.
From combat helmets with bulletproof glass visors, metal arm guards, and tight-fitting techwear-style clothing, to those clad in flowing modern tactical robes and thick exo-armor resembling EOD suits.
Their magic gear was even more varied.
Staffs and wands were a given. Short-barreled machine guns, assault rifles, magnum revolvers, and even mechanical-looking war hammers caught my eye.
Among them, products from SIEG Industry could be seen, albeit very rarely.
It seemed that some skilled individuals, who earned quite well among freelancers to afford such expensive equipment, had also joined the mix.
However, no matter how expensive and high-end their equipment was, the fact that each team's gear and magic gear were so mismatched, without any consideration for synergy, was a concern.
“Hmph, they’re all so self-centered.”
Sirocco, who was sitting next to me swinging her smooth, bare legs back and forth, seemed to have a similar impression.
If there was one commonality, it was that most of the magic gear was black, regardless of its shape, because it used a special alloy containing mana stones.
There didn’t seem to be many interims with coordinated compositions.
I couldn’t help but fully agree with April’s description of them as a ragtag group. But it couldn’t be helped.
“But even a ragtag group is necessary.”
Enoch lifted his head and answered concisely.
“The number of magical beasts gathering at the border of the outsourcing district is two thousand. If our numbers are overwhelmingly smaller than the enemy’s, nothing will get done.”
“That’s true, but. Ugh.”
April agreed but let out a slight groan.
As long as the Victoria army was taking a passive stance, it was clear to anyone that having the freelancers participate was the best option in the current situation.
“Phew, well. I just hope it’s a needless worry. After all, the freelancers are in the rear, and I heard the Victoria army will be deployed to the front first.”
April sighed heavily beside me.
She seemed to have been scrolling through the news, as she looked at her terminal under the shade of a tree and said.
“But they say you need three more people in your interim or squad to officially go out to the border outside the outsourcing district. Do we really have to follow these rules of engagement?”
As she said, the Victoria army, which held effective control over the outsourcing district, required a minimum of six members to participate in this operation.
Of course, the same applied to Enoch’s squad.
Surprisingly, the Victoria army’s stance was that there were no exceptions, not even for a direct lineage member of the Elsyde family on dispatch.
As expected of an army commanded by Shepherd, they were a group that, to put it nicely, followed the book without exceptions or special treatment, and to put it bluntly, were extremely rigid.
“In any case, there’s no problem.”
Enoch added.
“Nano and April, you two haven’t met them yet, but there are two more people on my side who will be joining us. One of them, in particular, will be here soon.”
“Eh, really? Who are they?”
“One is a healer dispatched from The Order, and the other is my servant who works with me.”
“A s-servant? Like a maid or a butler?”
April tilted her head with a blank look, as if she had misheard. After a moment, her expression turned serious and she asked.
“Umm, are they really a reliable force?”
“I guarantee it.”
Enoch answered curtly without a second thought, but for some reason, he felt a strange sensation right after and briefly bowed his head.
He thought of Lien, the silver-haired maid who was currently away booking lodging in the outsourcing district. Recalling her consistently cool demeanor, an unexplainable sense of reassurance spread through his chest.
It was a surprising sentiment even to himself.
Here in this remote Victoria Kazimieśi Domain, he hadn’t realized just how much he was relying on Lien’s presence ahead of the operation.
Just then, Sirocco popped her head out from the side, tilted it, perked up her ears, and asked.
“Hmph, so who’s the other one?”
“I should be able to find them soon. Until then, I wanted to see what I could of the situation beforehand.”
As Enoch replied simply, April shook her head with a look of disappointment.
“Still, it’s a bit of a shame. I thought Lord Enoch was going around looking for companions. That would’ve been a real sight to see.”
“A sight to see? What do you mean?”
“Huh? Lord Enoch, you and Lady Sirocco are super hot on the internet community for outsourcing district freelancers right now.”
“What…?”
When Enoch asked, bewildered, April giggled and looked at her terminal.
“Lord Enoch, you’re a huge celebrity right now, you know? Especially since Lady Sirocco took down that magical beast in one shot in front of all those freelancers earlier, it’s become a huge topic!”
Well, I suppose it was inevitable that there would be repercussions from Sirocco openly taking down a magical beast in one hit.
Considering it was an operation he officially participated in as a direct lineage member, it becoming a topic of conversation within the outsourcing district was bound to happen sooner or later….
“…So. There’s a community for freelancers in the outsourcing district, and Sirocco is a hot topic there?”
“Ahaha, she’s practically an idol right now.”
April scrolled through the posts on her terminal, chuckling as she read them.
“Wow, Lord Enoch is one thing, but Lady Sirocco is creating a huge buzz.”
“……Sirocco is?”
“Yes! Someone even took a picture of Lady Sirocco.”
April thrust the display toward the speechless Enoch.
“It came out really pretty, want to see for yourself?”
As the screen came closer, a bad feeling flashed through Enoch’s mind.
Sirocco was a beast-kin.
A representative of those who were deeply discriminated against in the Empire.
Considering the treatment of beast-kin until now, it was possible that some would be wary of her, or even harbor ill intentions, plotting to sell her as an experimental subject to a black mage.
But the moment he checked the terminal April held out, Enoch was at a loss for words.
[Real-time update on the beast-kin and the Elsyde direct lineage just dropped…]
[If you saw Sirocco in person and think she's pretty, smash that like button…]
[Everyone who's started to like beast-kin, let's see some upvotes…]
The reaction was incredibly lighthearted, contrary to what I expected.
“……”
Somewhat dumbfounded, Enoch let out a sigh. Beside him, April laughed and patted his shoulder lightly.
“Ahaha! Don’t take it so seriously, okay? Whenever a celebrity comes to the outsourcing district, they just have fun messing around with plot hooks! It’ll die down soon enough!”
“I’d like to hope so.”
“Still, even if it is the outsourcing district. Won’t this serve as good publicity for you as a direct lineage member, Lord Enoch?”
Enoch just nodded at April’s encouraging words.
She wasn’t wrong. Unfortunately, for Enoch specifically, it wasn't particularly uplifting news.
“…Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Enoch slowly raised his head.
Honestly, seeing people’s reactions firsthand, it was different from what I expected, but it also felt a little amusing.
It was said that there was deep-seated mistrust of beast-kin. And indeed, there were quite a few people who were wary.
“I’ve seen many people who are cautious of beast-kin, so this kind of positive reaction is unexpected.”
“Ah? Of course. That’s how the atmosphere is these days.”
“Is that a characteristic unique to freelancers?”
“Well. As you said, freelancers in the outsourcing district don’t really care about dangerous rumors, do they?”
As expected. I couldn’t help but shake my head. The outsourcing district was certainly not an easy place. Just then, April, who was staring at us, tilted her head and added.
“But, aren’t you forgetting one thing?”
“Forgetting?”
“Yes. The missions you and Lady Sirocco have done so far, remember?”
April held up her index finger in front of Enoch’s nose and said.
“Because of that, the reputation of beast-kin has been gradually improving, little by little. You’re the one who’s been doing it all this time, didn’t you know?”
Now that I thought about it, maybe that was true.
I glanced to the side and saw Sirocco, her white cheek still resting on my shoulder, ears twitching as she let out a big yawn.
When our eyes met, she tilted her head slightly with a coy look.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“Sirocco. It seems you’ve made a spectacular debut here.”
“Hmph. What, I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Perhaps sensing something odd, Sirocco lifted her chin as if to say she was innocent, closed her eyes slightly, and swished her tail back and forth.
Enoch smiled faintly at her.
“Of course not. Thank you for your help.”
“What. That’s a given.”
Sirocco opened one eye slightly and looked at me. Her tail was wagging a bit faster behind her back, which seemed to indicate she was in a rather good mood.
Come to think of it, have I been pushing forward relentlessly without even a moment to look back on the satisfaction of a successful mission?
It was a relief that the promise I made to Sirocco, who had become a Follower Family and was always a source of strength for me, was being kept well enough.
Just then, a buzzing vibration sounded.
It was a notification from the terminal in my pocket.
I took it out and checked. It was a call. The name [Aslin] was displayed on the screen.
Finally, I thought, as I answered the call. It seemed the Dragoons had returned.
However, the moment I put the terminal to my ear, what I heard was Aslin’s voice, speaking in a great hurry.
[…Look, whatever happened! We need to search quickly…! This isn’t the first or second time…!]
“…Aslin?”
[Yes, yes! That’s right! It’s Aslin, I’m sorry!]
For some reason, her voice coming through the terminal sounded quite flustered. Feeling a bad premonition creeping up, Enoch asked back.
“Seeing as you contacted me first, have the Dragoons who went out on reconnaissance returned?”
[Yes. But, th-that is….]
“What is it?”
When Enoch asked, slightly puzzled, Aslin’s words that followed through the terminal were quite shocking.
[…It’s just that, one of the Dragoons who went out on reconnaissance has not returned to our side!]
For a moment, Enoch’s eyes widened.
What did she say?