However, because the mist registered as an undead creature to spells, it produced false positive reactions which foiled attempts to detect other undead beings, and as a result many adventurers had been ambushed by undead while inside it.
However, there was no mist now. Visibility was excellent and one could see a long way. It was as though the land was welcoming the combatants of the upcoming war onto itself as future undead.
The undead had dispersed with the fog, and none of them could be seen. There were no living creatures present, and a deathly silence reigned over the plains.
Collapsed towers, built hundreds of years ago, jutted out from the earth like scattered tombstones.
Of course, none of them was intact.
The towers were originally six floors high, but everything above the third floor had collapsed, and the debris was everywhere. Less than half of the thick walls were left. The cause was not so much weathering as battles between monsters.
Scenes like these existed side by side with normal grass-covered plains, separated only by an invisible line. This was why the Kattse Plains were called cursed land.
The sun shone on the land which had not seen its light for nearly a year. As though to look down on this piece of unhallowed domain, a vast structure loomed high on the other side of the land ― the world of the living.
It was built with huge logs that were nowhere to be found on the surrounding plains, with sturdy walls that seemed to deny passage to everything in its vicinity. It was ringed by shallow ditches that were nevertheless carefully excavated and filled with sharpened stakes. This was to ward against unintelligent undead.
On the other side of the ditch flew countless flags. Of these, the most numerous were the Empire’s flags ― bearing the insignia of the Baharuth Empire.
That was only to be expected. After all, this building, this castrum, was the Imperial Army’s Kattse Plain garrison base.
The Empire had mobilized 60'000 knights for this operation. The garrison could house all of them, which itself spoke volumes about the base’s size. And this formidable castrum, as mighty as a fortress, was built on a piece of easily defended terrain.
It was built on top of a hill. This hill was not native to the Kattse Plains, but built up entirely through magical landscaping.
Even the Baharuth Empire, which used magic casters as a part of their national defense, could not complete work like this in a short time. This structure had been built over a period of several years.
Originally, this place was intended to be the starting point of invasions targeting E-Rantel. That was to say, this massive castrum had been built with the intention of withstanding an extended siege by the Kingdom’s hundreds of thousands of troops.
The Kingdom had no answer to the creation of this castrum, simply because they had no spare manpower or resources to attack the garrison.
Although they would unite when the Empire invaded their own country, when it came to launching an invasion, there were several problems to consider ― that each faction had their own things to worry about besides invasion, that they would not gain usable land, and that whoever did this would be paying for the invasion out of their own pockets.
In the end, none of the nobles would bother unless they were in the line of fire.
Three griffons flew in the skies above that massive castrum. They began with a wide aerial orbit, followed by a slow descent. Any knight would know that this was the way a unit of the ‘Imperial Air Guard’ ― troops under the Emperor’s direct command ― saluted while in flight, which was to say their ceremonial descent was meant to show that emissaries of the Empire had arrived.
On the surface, there were around ten mounted knights in a circular formation, each raising the Imperial flag. This was the return of the salute from the ground ― the ceremony for welcoming an Imperial agent. The griffins landed in the center of the circle, and the accuracy of the landing was a test of the riders’ skills, but all three passed with flying colors, which showed the excellence of their ability.
After landing, the Imperial emissaries revealed themselves. Although these knights were tasked with maintaining the appropriate gravitas during these ceremonial welcomes, their surprise at the oddity of these emissaries surprised them to the point where the flags they were holding wavered.
The reason for this wavering was the man who was dressed in a manner completely unlike the other two people accompanying him.
Once he removed his helmet and revealed his handsome features, everyone immediately knew who he was.
His blond hair was slightly tossed by the wind, and his eyes were as blue as the sea. His mouth, which suggested an iron will, was tightly shut. He was the picture of the perfect knight.
There was nobody who didn’t know who this knight was.
More importantly, there was nobody who didn’t know about the armor he wore. It was made of the rare metal adamantite, and further enchanted into a suit of magic full plate armor. There were only a few suits of armor like this in the Empire.
The wearer of this armor was one of the highest-ranking knights in the Empire.
One of the Empire’s Four Knights, “Gale” Nimble Ark dale Anock.
In a gallant voice that matched the image he projected, Nimble addressed one of the knights.
“I seek your commander, General Kabein of the Second Legion. Do you know where he is?
“Sir! General Kabein is in a meeting now to plan the offensive against the Kingdom! I will have Anock-sama escorted to the General’s praetorium!”
“I see. Then… has Sorcerer King Gown-dono arrived here as well?”
“Sir! No sir! The Sorcerer King-dono has not been sighted here.”
“Understood.”
Since word had been sent and had arrived faster than him, Nimble sighed in relief.
“Then, may I ask you to lead the way? There is a matter that I must entrust to him.”
Nimble slowly closed his hands around something concealed in a breast pocket.
♦ ♦ ♦
Nimble was brought to a luxurious tent, where he waited for almost an hour, in the company of numerous guards, until the owner of the tent returned.
He was a middle-aged man whose hair was pure white, and he had a kindly air about him.
Although he was armored like all the other knights, he gave off a completely different impression from them. One could say that he looked like a noble, rather than a soldier.
“Welcome, Nimble.”
The smile on his face made him seem even more like a noble than a knight. His voice was gentle, far too out of place on a grim place like the battlefield.
Nimble responded in the approved ceremonial fashion.
Natel Inyem dale Kabein.
He was a noble who had lost his chance to get ahead in the peerage, but he had been recognized by the previous Emperor for his talents, and placed in command of the Second Legion. Although he was not possessed of martial valor as a person, he was famed for his ability to command, with rumors saying that he had never lost a battle. With him in command, the Second Legion enjoyed very high morale.