n

n

n'They are really an organized unit of the military,' Layn noticed dully after just a single moment of watching how quickly the entire camp was stirred into action. Or rather, how little time everyone in there needed to get ready for the departure.

nBefore long, one of Castor's soldiers brought Layn a horse only to push the reins to the archmage's hand and go back to his own duties. With nothing better to do, Layn jumped atop the mount before looking around to assess the situation.

nThe camp itself wasn't big at all. From his slightly elevated position, Layn could see only about fifty tents. Given how only two or three people could fit in each, it was pretty easy to guess the strenght of the entire unit.

n

"Tell me, why are we in such a hurry?

" Layn asked as soon as Castor returned to his vincity.

"If it's dead, it's dead,

" he added, trying to explain his doubts.

n

"I know it's dead, but that doesn't mean the window of opportunity will remain the same for long,

" Castor shook his head, taking a moment to talk with Layn despite how busy everyone was within the camp.

n'I guess that's the privilege of being the commander, huh?' Layn thought, watching how Castor eagerly took the opportunity to slack a little.

n

"What do you mean by that?

" the archmage inquired, still unable to understand the reasons for the hurry.

n

"The death of the Overlord means that there is now a power vacuum in the area where it originally resided,

" Castor explained, before releasing a deep sigh,

"but that doesn't mean the situation will remain like that for long,

" he added after a moment of thought.

n

"Do you have any means of taking over the seat of power? Like,

" Layn lowered his head to think for a moment before looking at Castor's face again,

"can you create an Overlord of your own that will protect the area or something?

"

nThis suggestion was something that Layn didn't consider to be real in the first place. But by suggesting something, he could hide his intent of actually trying to sound off the other party's intentions.

n

"Create a new Overlord?

" Castor shook his head before looking at Layn with a small dose of ridicule in his eyes.

"Now I'm not sure if you are an idiot, or take me for an idiot by asking questions like that.

"

nFor a moment, the atmosphere turned tense. Layn, already sitting in the saddle, couldn't really do much to dissolve it, given how any response to Castor's words would likely only make the problem worse.

n

"Man, you really need to stop with this scheming attitude of yours. It will only make others think that you are an actual spy,

" Castor said after several more moments.

n

"Others? So you are certain I'm not one?

" Layn couldn't help but ask.

n

"You? A spy?

" the commander asked, looking at Layn with his eyes widened.

"Don't joke around, please. I dealt with a handful of spies during my service. I can tell you are not one,

" he summarised while shaking his head.

"But don't expect others to have the same experience as me. But going back to the topic, while we can't create an Overlord class monster, we have a way of claiming the area for our own. It's just...

" Castor suddenly cut his explanation.

nPuzzled by this behavior, Layn looked over to the camp... Or rather, to the place where the camp used to be. In the short span of time that their discussion took, Castor's troops managed to round up the entire thing. Right now, roughly a hundred soldiers were already all on horseback.

n'How the heck can those horses carry so much?' This thought appeared in the archmage's mind. Because outside of the soldiers themselves, the tent and their weapons, every single horse carried the supplies, spare weapons, and several more bags.

n

"But wait, didn't you claim that this is an opportunity for your people to migrate?

" Layn suddenly asked. 'If they want to escape war, running to an area attached to their former country wouldn't do much good, would it?' he thought, puzzled by Castor's determination.

n

"Yeah, what about it?

" the commander asked, clearly unable to understand Layn's question.

n

"While I don't know what kind of ** your people are in, I can tell it's something about others encroaching on your lands, right?

" Layn decided to present his line of thought point by point rather than revealing the entire thing at once.

n'In this way, I will be able to see just what part of the situation I'm misunderstanding, rather than just learning that there is something wrong with my way of thinking,' he thought, keenly observing Castor's face in hopes of deriving some hints from his expressions.

n

"Yeah, that's right, what about it?

" Despite Layn's hopes, Castor managed to keep his face fully straight.

n

"And the area that was under the influence of the Overlord I killed is directly attached to your current lands, right?

" Layn posed another question. He also gave up on attempting to sound of Castor's intentions by reading his face.

n

"Yes, that's also fully correct,

" he answered while one of the soldiers brought a horse for their leader.

n

"Then how migrating to the lands attached to your current dominion would help you escape the war?

" Layn finally reached the last point of his question. Yet, he still wasn't satisfied with how precise it was.

"I mean, moving to the area where that Overlord used to rule would mean that your warmongering neighbors would just have more lands to conquer!

" he added, trying to be as precise with his opinion as possible.

n

"And here is where you are wrong,

" Castor didn't even need a second to think about his answer.

"While it's true that the lands of the Overlords are directly attached to the lands controlled by our people... It's not that simple to invade them,

" he shook his head.

n

"Sir!

" Before Castor would even have a chance to explain his thoughts, one of the soldiers came running to him while holding a long stick and a multi-colored piece of cloth.

"The banner is ready to be raised,

" the soldier announced, only to cast a quick glance at Layn afterward.

n

"Great,

" Castor instantly switched the focus of his attention, grabbing both the stick and cloth only to unravel the latter.

nAs it turned out, it wasn't just a simple rug but a proper flag. Consisting of three colors, it had white at the top, red at the bottom, and a golden circle in the middle.

nRather than leaving the task of donning the flag on the banner's handle, Castor took quite a long time to do it all on his own. From how precise and gentle the movements of his hands were, it was clear that fixing the flag wasn't a simple thing to do but rather a complicated ritual where each step had some kind of meaning behind it.

n

"To answer your question, you need to understand one thing about magic. Don't get your hopes up. You won't be able to learn the basics of the true magic from this, though,

" Castor added with a wicked smile as if he just pulled out the greatest prank in the history of pranks.

n

"The entire world is divided into the spheres of influence. Some are fully controlled by powerful beings like the Overlords, some are controlled by the collective consciousness by the beings inhabiting them.

" Castor started his lecture as soon as he finished donning the flag on the banner. He then raised it high in the air, only to lean it forward a bit.

nThe next moment, everyone started to move. At first, the front of the unit kicked the sides of their horses. Before anyone else could move, they formed what appeared to be a front-guard, proving that those lands weren't as safe as Layn hoped them to be.

n

"Most of those spheres of influence formed over years, decades, and millennia. Right now, the entire fertile plain where our country is located is barely an edge of the continent.

" Castor explained before finally lowering the banner a bit more, giving the signal for everyone to depart.

nFor a few following minutes, the commander remained silent. With no other choice, Layn hurried his own horse, strictly following behind the man.

n

"What I wanted to say back then,

" Castor finally started speaking again once the group left the former campsite well behind them.

"Is that the rules of each sphere of influences can change depending on the will of what's controlling them,

" he said. In the instant he did, his face turned sour.

n

"Don't tell me,

" Layn said, terrified by the thought, or rather a logical conclusion he could derive from Castor's words so far.

n

"Yeah,

" the commander nodded his head.

"Once our last ally betrayed us, our lands no longer welcome us. While we could still fight against this by killing off the entire population of a neighbor or two of ours....

" he stopped his words for a moment before swallowing a gulp of saliva and forcing a smile on his face.

"But isn't is easier to settle the area without a ruler for its influence while making sure no one would ever be able to infringe on its control?

"

n