Bright sunlight spilled across the land, leaving no trace of the previous day’s clouds. The sky was a brilliant, endless blue, as if the heavens themselves were insisting that summer was far from over.
The morning after Daskar’s arrival in Goto, the group finished breakfast and prepared to depart immediately.
Only five people had come to the village entrance to see them off: the village head, Luchard, Epika, and the two gatekeepers. Normally, the entire village should have turned out for such an occasion, but Daskar had personally forbidden it. Their arrival the previous day had already interrupted the wheat harvest; he insisted that the residents stay in the fields and finish their work rather than wasting time on a ceremony.
For the farmers, this gesture was deeply moving. Their own local lord was only a viscount and belonged to no major faction. While he wasn't tyrannical and his taxes were relatively light—a concession for a village so close to the Seremuse Plain and the threat of the Bestia Empire—the idea of a noble personally looking out for their livelihoods was almost unheard of.
That was simply the way of the world.
And yet Daskar, despite his high status as a Margrave, had shown them genuine concern. He had even spoken directly to several of them during the previous night's welcoming banquet. To the farmers, the Lord of Gilm was a noble unlike any they had ever seen or imagined.
"Waaaaah! No, no, no! Seto, Big Brother, Big Sister—don't go!"
Epika’s wailing echoed at the village entrance. He was clinging to Seto, making his refusal to let go as clear as possible. With his parents and the other adults busy in the fields, Rei, Seto, and Vihera had been his only playmates. The realization that they were leaving was more than the five-year-old could bear.
"Epika, stop that. You're being a nuisance," a voice scolded.
"Nooooo!"
Despite the adult's attempts to pull him away, Epika refused to budge. Finally, Rei, who was standing beside the gryphon, reached out and placed a hand on the boy's head.
"Hic... Big Brother?"
Epika looked up through a veil of tears. Rei patted his head gently and spoke.
"We’re saying goodbye for now, but it’s not forever. We’re heading to the Bestia Empire, and once we finish what we need to do there, we’ll be coming back to the Kingdom of Mireana. I’ll make sure we stop by the village then. So, wipe those eyes. You're a boy, right? If you keep crying like that, Seto won't like you anymore."
"Uu... Really?"
Rei nodded solemnly at the boy's question. Finally convinced, Epika squeezed Seto one last time with all his might.
"Seto, stay healthy. Let's play again soon."
"Guruuu," the gryphon chirped softly.
Epika let go and immediately turned to throw his arms around Rei’s waist. Though Rei was small for an adventurer, he was still a giant compared to a five-year-old. Rei stroked the boy’s hair.
"Take care of yourself."
"I will!"
Epika beamed, his tears vanishing as if they had never existed. He nodded at Rei and then moved on to hug... not Theoreme, but Vihera.
Luchard watched the scene with a flash of envy, though fortunately or unfortunately, Vihera was currently wrapped in a travel robe, hiding her usual provocative attire from view.
The reason Epika hadn't warmed up to Theoreme was simple: they had barely interacted. After Rei had warned him about Elk’s grudge, the general had spent nearly every waking moment in combat training to ensure his own survival until Daskar’s arrival.
Speaking of Theoreme, since he had broken his favorite longsword during the duel with Elk, he now wore a weapon Rei had provided from the Misty Ring. However, since it was a blade seized from a group of bandits, it was undeniably a cheap crude product.
Theoreme had hoped for something better, but Rei’s inventory was skewed. His collection consisted mostly of damaged throwing spears, his magic spear—the Thorn Spear—and a few extremely expensive high-end lances he had bought on impulse. He couldn't lend out a magic item, and while he had offered one of the high-priced spears, Theoreme had politely declined after hearing the cost. Though the general could use a spear, he preferred the longsword and was far more skilled with a blade. Thus, he had settled for the bandit's sword.
"Alright, it’s time to move!"
Daskar called out from the carriage window, having waited just long enough for the farewells to conclude. At his signal, Rei mounted Seto, while Vihera and Theoreme climbed into their saddles.
Daskar gave Luchard a final nod and shouted, "Move out!"
The carriage lurched forward. As they passed the fields flanking the highway, the farmers harvesting wheat stopped their work to bow deeply. The knights, attendants, and driver maintained a stoic, dignified front befitting a noble’s escort, though they couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at the display.
"Big Brotheeer! Big Sisteeer! Setooo! Come back soon!"
Rei didn't look back at the tearful shout, but he gave a casual wave of his hand. Beside him, Vihera did the same from atop her horse.
Joined together at last, Daskar’s entourage and Vihera's group set their sights on the Seremuse Plain.
"Always such a desolate place," one of the knights guarding the carriage muttered.
The knight, a subordinate of Daskar, had fought in the Spring War. It had been several months since he last set eyes on the vast expanse of the Seremuse Plain, yet as he looked out, the landscape seemed entirely unchanged. To him and the others who had seen it before, the scenery was exactly as they remembered it.
Granted, the grass was taller than it had been in the spring, and there were perhaps a few more scattered bones—animal or otherwise—bleaching in the sun. But in every significant way, the plain remained the same.
"...Wait, those bones aren't undead, are they?" another knight whispered.
The Seremuse Plain was infamous for its heavy concentration of undead, a legacy of the countless battles fought there between the Kingdom of Mireana and the Bestia Empire.
"They should be fine," Rei said from atop Seto. "The sun is too bright for most undead to manifest right now."
Despite the proximity of the gryphon, the knights' warhorses remained calm. It was a testament to their combat training and the skill with which the knights handled them.
"I suppose you're right. Besides, with you and Seto around, undead shouldn't be much of a problem anyway."
"I hope so," Rei replied. "But the real issue isn't the day; it's the night. We'll have to camp out here for several days, right?"
The knight nodded, his expression souring. "Yeah. Honestly, I hate the idea of camping in this place."
However, his gaze shifted from Rei down to Seto, and the bitterness softened.
"Guruuu?" Seto tilted its head, letting out a questioning trill.
"At least we have Seto this time. You couldn't ask for a better deterrent against monsters during a night watch."
"I can't argue with that. It would be a nightmare with a large group like we had during the Spring War, but for a party of this size, it'll be perfect."
"Right?" the knight asked. Seto let out a proud chirp in response.
Though the knight seemed relieved, Rei added a warning. "Just remember, undead aren't like normal monsters. They don't feel fear. Don't get too complacent."
The group continued their steady pace across the plain, stopping only once for a brief lunch before pressing on into the afternoon.
"Looking at these endless grasslands, I can see why this would make for an ideal settlement site," Rei remarked.
The summer sun was brutal, and even though autumn was nearing, the heat was stifling. While the driver and the knights glared at the sun in exasperation, Rei seemed unaffected. Vihera and Theoreme were also taking the direct heat in stride; they were slightly flushed with sweat, but otherwise appeared perfectly fine—a clear sign that their physical endurance far outclassed that of the ordinary soldiers.
Vihera, hearing Rei's comment, brought her horse alongside Seto. "You're right. The soil here is fertile, the grasslands are vast, and there's plenty of water. It's perfect for both farming and ranching. Of course, that's exactly why Mireana and Bestia have been bleeding each other for this land for generations."
Theoreme pulled up on her other side and added his own perspective. "And because it has been a battlefield for so long, the undead have become a permanent fixture. Even if one side officially ceded the land to the other, it would be impossible to settle it under normal circumstances. You would need every single settler to be a high-ranked adventurer or a seasoned soldier just to survive."
The nearby knights nodded in agreement.
"He's right. Settling the Seremuse Plain would be a logistical nightmare," one knight said. He spoke to Theoreme without any lingering hostility. Unlike Elk, these knights hadn't suffered direct losses at the general's hands, and the Neutral Faction had seen very little combat against his forces during the Spring War. If anything, many were curious to speak with a man of such legendary reputation. "A kingdom could try it, I suppose, but the cost would far outweigh the benefits."
"I see," Rei muttered. "Reclaiming land and tending livestock by day, keeping watch against ghouls by night... even for a few days, that sounds exhausting. I certainly wouldn't want to live here."
Privately, Rei mused that the only way to make a settlement work would be to pour in the national army and a massive number of adventurers to erect a fortified city all at once, much like they had done with Gilm.
But Gilm only existed because of the frontier’s unique value. Its rare monster materials, minerals, and herbs were so profitable that the previous king had been willing to gamble a significant portion of the kingdom’s resources on it. The Seremuse Plain was fertile, but it wasn't unique. There were still plenty of lands within the Kingdom of Mireana that could be reclaimed without the headache of wandering undead.
Ultimately, the plain was a territory Mireana couldn't afford to lose to Bestia for strategic reasons, and one Bestia desperately wanted because it was the gateway to the sea. Since neither side could truly occupy it without being drained by the endless undead, a tacit agreement had formed. The land remained a buffer zone—a graveyard that belonged to no one.
Rei watched the sun begin its slow descent toward the horizon, knowing that the years of bloodshed had only served to nourish the very grudges that kept the undead rising from the earth.