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nChapter 66: The Outbreak of War 3

nFrom Lamer to Rakan, there were three possible routes.

nThe first was to move by using a boat from the Nair River. However, the problem was that they were going through a drought famine, so heavy ships couldn’t be moved in that path.

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nAlso, if there was a situation like an overturned accident in the water, they might drown, and their expensive weapons couldn’t be put to use later on.

nThe second way was to use the highway along the river.

nThat wasn’t the path that Cain had chosen. The highway was under good maintenance, so there was no problem should they chose to march there. However, the disadvantage was that they had to go around; it was the long way.

nWanting to demonstrate his strength and agility in capturing the Lord of Rakan, he chose the third way, which moved straight and fast.

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nGoth did fear that the enemy might be waiting for an ambush in advance. However, Cain decided to ignore it.

nHe was confident that tricks like ambushing wouldn’t work against him.

nTheir march had been going very smoothly. There were very few monsters in the region, so all they had to do was walk.

n“Let’s rest in here for today.”

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nWhen the sun came down, Cain ordered the camp.

nRight away, the soldiers made camps and scattered all over the place. Some of them were gathering firewood, fetching drinking water and making dinner.

n“Hmm, meat stew? It smells good.”

nAfter a while, his subordinate bought a stew full of meat, potato, vegetable with bread and honey.

nSince they wanted to finish marching as soon as possible, their pace was fast and that made Cain hungry, so he immediately dug into the stew and bread.

n‘It has been so long since I ate in a field.’

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nIt was a short time. This was his first time after 5 years of being in the border with the Volga Republic.

nIt was indeed a while, but it wasn’t that bad.

n‘Would we be able to reach the Rakan lordship region by the end of the week?’

nIf he was riding a horse, he would have arrived there faster.

nBut he had to haul 5,000 troops, trailers with Gigants and the carts filled with supplies.

n‘I think this can also be training for the war that we might have with Marquis Mayers.’

nSomeday, there was bound to be a war between the Emperors and the Nobles.

nAt that time, Count Monarch was likely to face Marquis Mayers.

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nIt was because the two estates were close in distance, and their powers were equal.

nAfter deciding that the current war was going to be like a military training for the future, Cain swept the stew clean with his last piece of bread.

nAfter a while…

nGrrrr!

n‘Uh?’

nGrrrr?!

nSuddenly, Cain’s face went confused at the urgent and loud sound of his stomach.

n“Soldier!”

n“Huh?”

n“Soldier give me a piece of cloth!”

nCain ripped off the cloth, which was near him, and ran into the forest.

nHowever, there was a problem. There were many soldiers who had gone into the forest first to assign their places for the night.

nEverybody had a place they wanted to be at.

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nSitting behind a large tree and finishing his business, Cain later pulled up his pants.

n“Phew, I will live now.”

nCooling down his stomach, he went back to the camp to get some rest to calm his anxious stomach.

nGrrrr!

n“Oops!”

nWith the strange feeling in his stomach coming back, Cain went back to his spot in the forest to finish his business.

nCain had to do it three times. He called for his lieutenant when he reached the camp.

nHowever, the lieutenant took some time too.

nHe too had struggles and was trying to resolve his anxiety.

n“What has happened? What were the ingredients that were used for our dinner? Did anything went wrong?”

nIt was summer, so the ingredients might have gone bad. Or the water that they fetched for drinking could have been contaminated.

n“It was strange even as we checked. However, the wizards have stated that the ingredient that we used for the stew had an ingredient that causes diarrhea.”

nThe wizards were the Iron mages who supported the trailer and the Gigant.

nThey had basic medical knowledge, so they were able to find the cause.

n“Is there a mole from the Rakan within the caterers?”

nAt that thought, Cain looked at the lieutenant, who just shook his head.

n“I interrogated a while back while we were looking for the cause but that isn’t the cause. Nevertheless, no suspicious guys came or went out of the cooking place.”

n“I don’t know what kind of person did this, but if I catch that guy, I will smash his head. Deploy credible men to watch over the cooks.”

n“Understood.”

nBut despite such actions, the next morning, Cain and the soldiers suffered from severe diarrhea.

n“Pa, paper please…!”

n“None, I used up mine!”

n“Sh*t! Even if that paper was cheap, you should have left some!”

nThe cries of embarrassment and the anger of the 5,000 soldiers were huge.

nThe remaining strong ones in there all went down.

nAfter two successive attacks of diarrhea, they picked some credible knights and cooked for themselves.

nThe wizards took their sides and monitored the entire process from the inspection of the ingredients to the cooking.

nHowever, the result was the same.

nThe wizards clearly stated that nothing was wrong even with the silver cutlery they used for eating. However, everyone was down to the trees and bushes.

nThey continued to feast on the frustrating truth. Their butts were sore, and they were afraid to even sit down, and that wasn’t the end of their problems.

nFor a war, one had to eat and rest well.

n“Kaaak! Who the hell is doing all this stuff? Ah!”

nIf they found out who the perpetrator was, everyone wanted to tear him to pieces.

nBut no matter how many times and how thoroughly they checked, they couldn’t find the culprit, and that made their misery continue.

n‘Kyayaya, stupid humans! No matter how many times you hit your heads, you won’t be able to detect my art!’

nFrom a tree, someone was overlooking the miserable army of the Count Monarch.

nIt was a cat that was hanging from a branch.

nThe cat was looking down at the worried group of humans.

nHe was the lower-ranked demon Sebastian, who just became Luke’s slave.

nSebastian, who boasted himself as the best monster in the Devildom, had extraordinary transformation power and stealth.

nAnd he had one more specialty; it was the mixing of herbs and poisons to make bizarre drugs.

nHe mainly used it for hunting dangerous monsters in the Devildom, and since he was so clever, he made the poison so that it would be hard to notice its smell and taste.

nSebastian went on harassing the Monarch’s army under the directions of Luke.

nRather than fighting them, Luke decided to de-energize the army instead.

nAt the same time, they sneak up and spray the drugs.

nThe drug was made using several mixtures of toxic poisons that were available only in the Devildom, and the drug would only activate once it reached a living being’s stomach and would react with one’s digestive enzymes.

nMoreover, there was a miscalculation in Cain and Count Monarch’s part.

nThey thought that the drug had gone into the food preparation process, but it was actually sprayed after the food had been prepared.

nIt was sprayed through the wind, like the pollen in the time of breeding.

nIn other words, it was sprayed at their mealtime, and the food that they were eating was what made their gates to open up!

nAs a result, the army had suffered three more days of stormy diarrhea, and now they were all walking while limping wide-legged.

n‘However, I don’t understand why the master still doesn’t want to kill them.’

nAmong the drugs that Sebastian had, there was a poison that could kill even an Ogre right away.

nHowever, his master had told him not to use that poison.

nIf the damage to the army was serious, they might decide to retreat and the come back to fight another time.

n‘Kyaaa, whatever! It is always fun to see human beings suffer!’

nThe demons were spiritual races like the elves.

nTherefore, they reacted to emotional waves, unlike other creatures. However, unlike the elves, the demons’ way of feeling pleasure was twisted.

nThat was the same for Sebastian too.

nHe continued to roam around the army of the Count Monarch and sprayed his drug and enjoyed the outcome of it.

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