Soul Nexus. Volume 2: The beginning of the forced adventurer

28

It took a week to prepare things, a little longer than we had anticipated because building a gigantic explosive is no easy task. We managed with what little we had, almost exhausting all the remaining gunpowder supplies we had, and somehow were able to mix it with enough glue and glycerin. It was like a huge, rough stone that only one person could barely carry.

Laurent: 『 *Groan! * Why do I have to carry this thing? 』

Cmdr. Rask: 『 You're the expert in heavy weapons, are you not? So don't complain. 』

Laurent: 『 This is unfair! This thing is much different and heavier than a guillotine cannon! 』

Roef: 『 Hmph, you're just a slacker. 』

Laurent: 『 If it weren't for this thing, I would have killed you already. 』

If he wanted to waste his energy so soon by whining like a crybaby, that was on him. It wouldn't be our fault if he fell behind.

We had been walking for several days toward our destination. The border towns are one or two days' journey apart, relatively close to each other. But the journey from Rezok to Mount Arok is different, much farther and more strenuous, especially because of the mountain range we had to cross. It practically took us almost another week to cover the distance... a long and tiresome journey.

We arrived at a cliff, on one of the neighboring hills to the enormous hollow mountain of Arok. A great panorama unfolded before us, with dry and fallen trees covering what once was a lush green forest. The slopes of the hill, where the town of Losalt stood, were now filled with enormous tents, a valley flooded with thousands of men coming and going between the rails that guided them into the mountain's interior while they pushed dirty and half-empty wagons. It was a massive barracks they had set up, almost resembling a city laid upon a rocky floor that was in constant motion.

The mission was to bring it all crashing down, but I wasn't sure if our improvised "powder keg" would be enough, even if it was extra-large. No matter where one looked, there didn't seem to be much potential for success.

Roef: 『 Commander, will this really work? Also, they don't seem as weakened as in the report; it seems challenging to get in there. 』

Cmdr. Rask: 『 Fear not, Roef. No matter how tough they are, they also have a limit. Currently, they have almost no manpower. 』

Roef: 『 What happened to the people they enslaved here? 』

Cmdr. Rask: 『 As in almost all the other villages we've liberated, many fell ill, and others were executed. Now they've had to replace them themselves and believe me, there is nothing more fatiguing than chipping and extracting stone in a dark and sweltering cave. 』

Laurent: 『 If that's the case, why haven't they continued invading more villages in the South? That way, they could enslave more people. 』

Cmdr. Rask: 『 I have a few ideas, but I believe the greatest reason they dare not is fear. 』

Laurent: 『 Fear? What the devil would they fear? The sunlight that we have here? 』

Cmdr. Rask: 『 I will explain later. Let us focus on the mission. 』

Without giving a clear answer, the commander was the first to draw his pair of climbing axes and latch onto the enormous exposed earthen wall. Jean, Hector, and a slow-moving Laurent followed him down the cliff. I stayed behind as I wandered a bit through my thoughts, intrigued by what the commander had said. Did a cruel and barbaric army like Tesotl truly fear something enough to halt their campaign? Something didn't add up; they were wasting a clear opportunity to seize the entire kingdom. Were they really only here for the mines? Is that all they cared about, and have so little ambition?