Arc 3 Chapter 5 : Cataluna's Plain

[Emilia PoV]

The Cataluna Plains — a fairly fertile stretch of land, sitting between the Montana mountain range and the vast Mazovia Forest.

Before the Empire's founding, several peoples had fought over control of this plain.

After the Empire expanded and conquered this land 200 years ago, they appointed my great-great-grandfather, Vicente, who at the time served as an imperial general, to take responsibility for this territory, granting him the noble title of Marquis under the name Vicente de Cataluna, after the plain itself.

Those granted the title of Marquis were typically given responsibility over a country's border regions. They commanded anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 troops, depending on the country's overall strength.

In military affairs, troop mobilization is one of the key factors in achieving victory. That's exactly why the Margraviate of Cataluna served not only as a fortress against enemies of the Empire attempting to invade from this border region, but also as the nation's spearhead for launching attacks into neighboring lands.

The Margraviate of Cataluna consisted of one central Fortress City, two smaller towns, and eight villages, with a total population of roughly 70,000 people.

That number was fairly small compared to the territory of a Count, a rank one level below Marquis.

That's because a Marquis's territory typically lay at a nation's frontier or border, far from the political and economic center, making it a far less appealing place for imperial citizens to settle.

Currently, the Margraviate of Cataluna was in the midst of a crisis, due to rising monster activity along with several other issues.

Father, myself, and other officials were still deliberating on how to conduct extermination efforts and increase patrol activity across this region. We'd also invited adventurers here to serve as additional support.

After graduation, I'd honored Father's request to help him govern here, following my first-round defeat in last year's year-end tournament.

At first, I'd deeply regretted not being able to pursue my dream of joining the Calvatra Knight Order. But seeing my homeland in such a crisis, I figured it was best to stay here until things stabilized.

Right now, I was walking through the center of Cataluna Fortress City, heading back to my residence after completing patrol duty. I'd also received word that the academy students participating in the field practicum would be arriving here today.

"Good afternoon, Miss Emilia!"

"You always look so beautiful, young lady!"

The merchants and residents here greeted me with smiles.

Despite the difficult circumstances, they still looked lively, determined to carry on with their lives. As those responsible for protecting them, we needed to work even harder to make this region safe and peaceful.

Arriving at the Cataluna family castle, the soldiers saluted me — as the daughter of this territory's ruler, not for any particular skill I possessed as a soldier. I supposed that was only natural, given how rarely I'd interacted with them before.

Father had been right — the soldiers wouldn't recognize me as their future leader if I remained absent from this place so often.

In the castle courtyard, I spotted the academy students who'd just arrived. I wanted to greet them and chat for a bit, but Father summoned me to come to his office right away.

Arriving outside his study, I knocked on the door.

Before long, the door opened, and I stepped inside.

"Ah, Emilia, you've finally arrived," Father greeted, noticing my presence.

I didn't respond to his greeting, my attention entirely fixed on the black-haired man currently in the room.

"Good to see you again, Senior Emilia," the black-haired man greeted me.

"What are you doing here, Raul de Garcia..."

Yes... the black-haired man standing here was the junior who'd defeated me in the academy tournament, the man who'd shattered my dream and the Lancer Club I'd once led.

[Ariel PoV]

After a long journey from the imperial capital to the Margraviate of Cataluna in the northeastern border region, we'd finally arrived and were resting at the residence of Marquis Fran de Cataluna, ruler of this territory.

"Finally, we get to rest..." said the brown-haired woman carrying a bow.

That was Viera Regnan, an archer from the disciplinary committee. During our journey here, she'd often struck up conversation with me, and her friendly demeanor made me feel comfortable around her.

"But after this, we're going to have a lot of work to do, aren't we?" said a short man.

If I remembered correctly, his name was Piers Morgan. He'd talked quite a bit throughout the journey. Still, I didn't mind spending time with him.

"Entering the city, I saw so many soldiers around — is every Fortress City like this?" said a petite woman.

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That was Tianna Lovecraft.

Despite her small frame, she'd fought several monsters that attacked us along the way with real courage. She used a rapier, well-suited to her small stature.

Actually, everyone who made up the disciplinary committee members under Raul's leadership had their own unique qualities.

There was one man who constantly worshipped women without pause, even attempting reckless stunts during the journey just to catch my attention.

But he was frequently mocked by another man, who seemed to carry a deep-seated resentment toward women. He'd insult him for acting as though he had no problem being some sort of slave to women.

Even though everyone had different backgrounds and personalities, Raul, as their leader, still managed to keep them in line. Everyone here held him in genuine respect, since he was the one who'd elevated them from students with poor reputations into people now held in high regard.

Speaking of the black-haired man, he was currently in the Marquis's office, discussing where we'd be staying, our assignments, and the current situation across the Margraviate of Cataluna.

It had been nearly an hour since he'd gone in there...

I wondered what exactly he was discussing with the Marquis.

[Raul PoV]

Marquis Fran and I discussed our journey from the capital, though we hadn't yet touched on the matter of our group's assignments at all.

The Marquis said he wanted to wait for his daughter, Emilia, to return before discussing this matter together with her.

—Knock! Knock! Knock!

Hearing the knock at the door, the Marquis's aide opened it.

A brown-haired woman with shoulder-length hair, dressed in military uniform, appeared. She was Marquis Fran de Cataluna's daughter — Emilia de Cataluna, the senior I'd defeated in the academy tournament.

"Ah, you've finally arrived, Emilia." Marquis Fran greeted his daughter.

But Emilia didn't return her father's greeting, instead staring at me with a sharp glare.

"Good to see you again, Senior Emilia." I greeted her, trying to ease the awkward tension.

"What are you doing here, Raul de Garcia?" Emilia asked, her tone cold.

"He's here as the leader of the group of academy students carrying out their field practicum in our territory, Emilia," Marquis Fran answered his daughter's question. "You'll be working with him on various matters throughout their three-month stay here."

Emilia still didn't respond to her father's words. It seemed she still harbored a deep grudge against me over her defeat.

"I know the two of you have some unpleasant history, but try to work together for the sake of the greater good," the Marquis said, now holding a sheet of paper. "Let's begin discussing your group's assignments."

Emilia simply nodded silently in response to the Marquis's words, and I felt the same — I just wanted this whole thing wrapped up quickly so I could finally rest after such a long journey.

"We'll be assigning two of the three priests you've brought to assist temples in two villages currently short-staffed," Marquis Fran explained. "We'll also be borrowing two of your mages for a monster-nest raid scheduled to take place in a few days."

Which meant that for this first month, we'd only have 16 people available for patrol duty or whatever missions came our way.

"For the remaining 16, you can join the patrol team currently under my daughter's command," Marquis Fran said. "But be ready — we may need your manpower on short notice, should any urgent situation arise."

Grunbelt Academy's students were among the finest this nation had to offer. Even though they were still young, their capabilities far exceeded those of ordinary soldiers or mages.

That's exactly why 20 students could provide such a meaningful boost to the troops stationed in this border region.

"Emilia will inform you if we have a specific mission for your group — she's responsible for overseeing the students helping out here."

After explaining a few more matters, Marquis Fran assigned us to a barracks used for cadets, which would serve as the students' accommodations for these three months.

Except for the priests, who would be staying at the temple instead.

Emilia and I left the Marquis's office and headed toward where the students were resting, to relay what the Marquis had told us.

"Captain Raul, will there be any days off during this assignment?" Piers asked, raising his hand.

"No days off, but there will be rest periods between patrol or guard duty shift changes." Emilia answered Piers's question.

"Just to confirm, are you part of our group's command structure, Senior Emilia?" I asked her.

I didn't want her interfering with my decisions when it came to organizing the members for future missions. That would disrupt many of the plans I'd already put in place.

"No, my duty is simply to relay assignments, record the steps you take to complete a mission, and receive your patrol activity reports," Emilia answered flatly.

Starting tomorrow, we'd begin this activity.

In the game Path of Destiny, a group of demons would arrive here, searching for Brian. They'd appear in this region and establish a base of operations.

Still, I had no knowledge of exactly where their base would be, since the game never went into that level of detail.

Brian's field practicum location was in the Duchy of Grenaut, specifically at Alcantara Fortress, one of the Empire's Inquisitor bases.

That location was roughly 50 kilometers southwest of Cataluna Fortress City.

Which meant, if left unchecked, these demons would eventually track down Brian's location. If I remembered correctly, they'd awaken Syrax, a powerful Magical Beast, to wreak havoc across this surrounding region.

Their goal was to lure Brian, the Hero, out into the open, then kill him once they confirmed his identity.

This region was about to descend into chaos because of the demons soon to appear. Even if I warned the Marquis about this, there was no guarantee he'd believe me, since the Empire hadn't yet officially announced Brian's status as Hero.

I also had no evidence whatsoever regarding these demons' arrival, aside from the knowledge I carried from the game.

Beyond the Brian situation, I also needed to make sure Ariel was chosen as Saint during the upcoming Night of Blessing.

I suspected these three months would feel remarkably long, given the problems that were about to unfold in the near future.

[Vilmore PoV]

Several days had passed since my subordinates and I arrived in this world — the world our ancestors originally came from, before that wretched Goddess cast them out.

"Ahhh... I miss the taste of fresh human blood so much..."

I'll bring some of them back to our world as livestock, to secure a fresh blood supply once this mission is complete.

Right now, I needed to figure out how to locate the Hero. We demons can track a Hero's Mana from a considerable distance.

The greater the amount of Mana the Hero releases, the more strongly we can pinpoint their location.

It seems I'll need to stir up some chaos around this area to draw him out.

"Nuna! Yuna!" I called out to two of my subordinates who'd come here with me.

Before long, two bats flew in, then transformed into two female vampires standing before me.

"Your loyal servants stand ready to carry out your orders, Lord Vilmore."

"Is there a task you'd like us to carry out?"

The two of them were True Vampires, the youngest generation of pure-blooded Vampires.

"Pure-blooded" referred to Vampires born from the wombs of pure-blood Vampire ancestors, rather than created through a bite, like ordinary Vampires.

"Find us a better place to stay than this cave," I told them. "Also, contact our human worshippers to monitor the movements of that wretched Goddess's followers."

"Your orders will be carried out, my lord," both said, bowing their heads.

"Don't draw too much attention while carrying out this mission, not until we've confirmed the Hero's identity, understand?"

The two of them nodded, then transformed back into bats and flew out of the cave.