Aldred walked to the forest beside Mira. Bartrem led the army ahead while Joseph and Jeffery marched beside him.

“Why are we entering the forest?” Aldred asked.

Bartrem smiled. “Remember how we captured the nun?”

“Yes. I did.”

“Well, we kept their horses in this forest in secret.” Bartrem laughed.

“That is smart.”

“You have to play it smart on this playing field. One wrong move and that could be the end.”

Aldred nodded as they walked further. Soon after, they saw horses tied to the trees. A group of soldiers was grooming them and feeding them with grain.

“I forgot to say this, but we asked Bernard for some of the grain. At first, he hesitated to give them to us, until we mentioned your name. Sorry for not telling you, Aldred.”

“I am fine. But I don’t think we can do this a lot. If the others found out, Bernard’s life would be endangered.”

“I know. The other farmers know as well.”

“They all share the grain?”

“Yes. This way, no one will be in danger because they only lost a little bit of grain.”

“Bartrem, you are so smart. I have a lot to learn from you.”_-.

Bartrem laughed. “What part of me is smart? I am not the one who reached Silver Rank at the age of ten.”

The soldiers agreed to that. Their age was far from Aldred, but they were all still at Copper Rank.

“I’m just lucky. That is all,” Aldred said as he and the others approached the horses.

“Have you rode a horse before, Aldred?”

“No, I have not actually.”

“Then you will ride with me. Not that your legs could reach the saddle anyway.”

They all laughed.

Aldred smiled and shrugged. He did not mind a little joke.

Bartrem lifted him and sat him on the horse before he heaved on top of it as well. The horse had strong muscles and powerful limbs. Unlike the horses in his world, the horses here seemed to be much more resilient.

Mira then climbed the horses and sat behind him.

“What are you doing, nun. Go ride with the other soldier.”

Mira sweated. Her expression showed fear and hesitation.

“Don’t tell me you are afraid of riding a horse.”

Mira nodded. “I am not good with horses. Let me sit behind Aldred.”

The boy was the only person she was comfortable with in this group. Not only was he easy to talk to, his mindset, knowledge, and philosophical thought made him a great person to debate. That made her feel much closer to the boy.

“Fine. Are all of you ready?” Bartrem asked.

“Yes, sir!”

All twenty-three soldiers shouted. Bartrem felt sad that so many of his men died that day. He regretted not accepting the nun’s offer, but regret would not bring back the dead. All he had to do was accept it and move on. That was it. He still had soldiers to lead, and goals to achieve.

“The bandit is said to camp to the east. More specifically to the north of a small village, Treille. Since all of you are ready, then let us go.”

The horses galloped out of the forest. Mira closed her eyes and hugged Aldred tight.

“Calm down, Mira. Why are you so scared?”

She did not say anything and simply hugged him. Pongo was sitting on Aldred’s lap, enjoying the scenery around.

Aldred looked at his comrades and realized they brought a shield with them. “Bartrem, did you make the shield?”

“Me and the others. Since we already know how to make armor, we figure to try making the shield as well. I also bring some potions with me.” He tapped a skin bag hanging on the horse.

“And you make a spear as well?”

“That’s a javelin, boy. Just like your fire javelin, we can throw those at the enemy as we charge forward. It’s good to disrupt their formation before we penetrate it. Thanks to you for teaching us and providing us with the skills and equipment, we can make anything on our own. Hahaha.”

“I am glad that I can help.”

“You’re more than helping. You make our life much easier, and these shields and equipment might really save our lives.”

Aldred smiled. He looked at his hands, wondering how many people he could help with them. Softly, Mira’s hand caressed his arm and then held his fingers.

“What’s wrong, Mira?”

“Nothing.”

Time quickly passed.

“There they are!” Bartrem shouted.

A few hundred meters ahead of them was a bunch of tents with bandits patrolling the area. Unlike what Bartrem expected, these bandits wore proper armor and equipment.

“They’re not normal bandits. Ready your javelin!”

Bartrem narrowed his eyes as he waited for the right moment. The bandits noticed them and immediately returned to the camp, shouting for their friends to come. Shockingly, the group of bandits gathered like proper soldiers. They were quick and entered a phalanx formation with long spears.

“Phalanx formation?” Bartrem frowned. “Throw the javelins!”

Twenty-three javelins shot to the sky and arched in the air. The phalanx formation reacted. They put down their spears and raised their shields. The Javelins knocked them down and pierced their shields, but none died.

“Damn! Are they really a group of bandits?”

“Let me try,” Aldred said, jumping from the horse, and flying to the sky.

The enemy was shocked to see him flying. Aldred was amused by their reaction. He aimed with his palms. “Fire javelin. Fire javelin. Fire javelin. Fire javelin.”

They were wondering what the flying boy would do until they realized he was attacking them.

“Shield up!” All of them ducked down as the fire javelins rained upon them.

“Wait until he runs out of mana.”

Flying usually consumed a lot of mana, if combined with attacking, the consumption of mana increased exponentially. That was what they thought, but the rain of javelins never ended. It continuously struck their shield, melting them and denting them.

But then, the rain stopped. They thought the boy had run out of mana, until…

“Bartrem, now!”

“Charge!”

Bartrem’s cavalry unit raised their sword and cut through the infantry. With their shields in tattered condition, they amounted to nothing in front of Pressure Platoon II who were designed and built to breach through solid formations. The phalanx formation did not have time to pick up their spears before all of them were killed.

Arrows came from the camps.

“Scatter! Kill all the bandits you see.”

Aldred rushed to the camp from the sky, accurately shooting bandits with his arrows and javelins. He landed on the ground and sprayed them with his fire bullets. The bullets tore through the tents and burned them down. Joseph and Jeffery rode on their horses, attacking any bandits they saw. Bartrem roared as he led them in destroying the camp.

The boy summoned his undead and let them loose. They worked together and killed any enemies they saw.

Pongo was like a crazed penguin with his baguette. He saw a soldier running in panic, and he swept the man’s leg with the bread. The man fell and was shocked to see a tiny creature jumping over him with a long piece of bread. That long bread slammed his head, making everything dark.

Then they heard a woman’s warrior cry. Aldred flew to the sky to check, and it was apparently Mareona. She waved at him with a smile.

“Mareona, what are you doing here?” he asked as he landed beside her.

“We are ordered to attack the bandits as well. Hey, where did you find those horses?”

“It’s a long story,”

Mareona flicked his forehead. “Then you better tell me about it on our second date.”

Aldred rubbed his forehead. “Alright.”

Mareona kissed him and played with her blue hair. “The bandits have more camps. This is only the outskirts.”

“So that’s why they send you as well.”

Bartrem approached with his horse. “Take all the horses from the bandits. We will charge the other camps immediately.”

Mareona nodded. “Come on, girls!”

They all ran to the nearest horses and hopped on them. All of the female soldiers were beautiful and petite, making the male soldiers look at them in a daze.

“Get yourself together, soldiers! We’re on the battlefield, not in the red-light district!” Bartrem shouted.

The female soldiers looked at them with a sweet smile as they galloped past.

“Try to keep up, boys.”