Harem System In A fantasy World - Chapter 335: Travelling V

They were led into the camp shortly after. Unlike the palace or the fortified estates of Haven, this place was rough, practical, and stripped of comfort.

The buildings were temporary structures of wood and stone, the tents thick and weatherproof, the paths muddy in places despite the paved centre road. Torches and mana lamps were already being lit as dusk deepened, their light flickering against armour, spears, and the tired faces of soldiers preparing for the long night ahead.

Elion was given a small room in one of the sturdier wooden buildings near the command tent. It had a bed, a table, a chair, and not much else. Compared to the palace guest room, it was pitiful; however, at the same time, compared to the battlefield, it was luxurious. He didn’t complain.

After dropping off a few things, he stepped back outside and found Alexander standing near the edge of the camp, looking toward the darkening forest beyond the northern ridge. The prince’s silver armour reflected the torchlight faintly, though his expression was hard to read.

“You look like you’re waiting for something to happen,” Elion said as he approached.

Alexander didn’t look back immediately. “I hope nothing happens.”

“That’s different from not expecting it.”

The prince was quiet for a moment. Then he sighed. “These smaller attacks worry me.”

Elion leaned casually against a wooden post. “Because they’re testing your roads?”

“Because they’re changing patterns,” Alexander said. “For years, the demons mostly focused on the main fronts. There were raids, of course, but nothing too coordinated. Lately, though, reports have been strange. Small groups appear where they shouldn’t, scouts have been vanishing, and villages are being attacked without any strategic value.”

Elion narrowed his eyes slightly. “A distraction perhaps?”

“Maybe.” Alexander’s gaze remained fixed on the distant dark. “Or preparation.”

“For the council’s plan?”

“That’s what worries me,” Alexander admitted. “If they already suspect something, then our operation may not be as secret as we think.

Elion was silent for a moment. The thought had crossed his mind too, though he hadn’t said it out loud. Plans involving kings, saints, armies, and heroes were not the kind of things that remained perfectly hidden forever.

The more people involved, the more cracks there were for information to slip through. And demons were not mindless beasts, especially the more powerful ones; that much was clear.

“Then we adjust if things go wrong,” Elion said eventually.

Alexander looked toward him. “You say that very easily.”

“It’s the only thing you can do. Plans are useful until the first unexpected thing happens. After that, everyone either adapts or dies.”

Alexander studied him for a second. “That sounds like something my father would say, if he were less loud and more miserable.”

Elion snorted. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It wasn’t one.”

“I’ll take it anyway.”

Alexander’s lips twitched faintly, but the humour did not last long. His gaze returned to the horizon. “Tomorrow, we will stop at one more checkpoint before reaching the forward roads. After that, we’ll be close enough to the Great Forest that flight might become dangerous. Powerful wild beasts have been sighted around that region.”

“So we travel on the ground?”

“Possibly. It depends on the reports we receive.”

Elion nodded. “Fine by me.”

A brief silence settled between them. Around the camp, soldiers moved in steady patterns, changing shifts, carrying crates, sharpening blades, whispering prayers, and pretending not to look worried.

The sound of distant laughter came from one of the tents where some soldiers were eating, but even that laughter felt a bit restrained, as if none of them wanted to be too loud in the dark.

Eventually, Alexander spoke again, his voice lower. “Elion.”

“Hm?”

“If something happens during this operation…”

Elion looked at him. “Don’t start.”

Alexander frowned. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” Elion said. “Don’t start saying things that sound like death flags. Isla already told me not to die this morning. I don’t need you adding to the list.”

Alexander’s expression changed strangely at the mention of his sister. “She gave you something, didn’t she?”

Elion’s fingers unconsciously brushed against the necklace beneath his tunic. “Maybe.”

Alexander noticed. His eyes softened slightly, though his mouth still twisted in annoyance. “She worked on it all night.”

Elion looked at him.

“She asked me what kind of protective enchantments would be most useful for someone who fights like you,” Alexander said. “I didn’t know she was making something for you until later, but I suspected it.”

Elion was quiet.

Alexander looked back toward the forest. “My sister doesn’t open herself up to people easily.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Elion didn’t answer immediately.

Alexander turned to him fully now. “She may be awkward, but she is not careless. If she gave herself to you like that, and also made something valuable for you, then she has already placed more trust in you than she places in most people.”

Elion’s expression remained calm, but his gaze drifted.

“I won’t ask what your intentions are,” Alexander continued. “Partly because I’m afraid of your answer, and partly because my father somehow trusts you, which is ridiculous in itself.”

Elion smirked faintly. “Smart.”

“But I will say this.” Alexander’s voice became firmer. “If you hurt her needlessly, I will challenge you.”

Elion raised a brow. “You?”

“Yes.”

“You remember our training sessions, right?”

Alexander’s face darkened. “I didn’t say I would win.”

Elion stared at him for a second, and he laughed softly.

Alexander clicked his tongue. “I’m serious.”

“I know,” Elion said, his smile fading slightly. “And I won’t hurt her needlessly.”

Alexander studied him for a moment longer, then nodded. “Good.”

Elion looked toward the sky, where the last light of day had almost vanished completely. “You know, you’re a decent brother when you’re not being annoying.”

Alexander snorted. “You’re a decent person when you’re not opening your mouth.”

“Unfortunately for you, I recently found that I enjoy speaking more than I care to admit.”

“Unfortunately for everyone.”

They both stood there quietly for a while longer, watching the night settle over the checkpoint.

The sharp blast of a horn suddenly sounded; Both of them turned at once. A second horn followed, and then they heard shouting erupt near the northern wall.

“Movement!”

“Demon movement beyond the ridge!”

Alexander’s expression hardened instantly. “How many?”

A soldier came running toward them, breathless. “Unknown, Your Highness! Scouts spotted shadows moving through the trees. They were fast and too many to count in the dark!”

Elion’s hand moved instinctively toward his side, only to remember that Kurogoroshi was in storage.

A faint hum pulsed somewhere deep within him, making him smile slightly.

Alexander noticed the expression and frowned. “Why are you smiling?”

Elion opened his storage and withdrew the black scabbard in one smooth motion, the air around him seeming to still as Kurogoroshi appeared in his hand.

“No reason,” he said calmly.

The sword hummed once.

Elion’s grin sharpened.

“Looks like the road won’t be boring after all.”

And he was mostly excited because Kurogoroshi was impatient to taste blood as much as he was eager to get some action.

Alexander looked at him for a heartbeat and let out the kind of sigh that carried both exhaustion and deep, personal regret.

“Of course, I should have known you would say that; the rest of us are not enjoying this as much as you are, you know?”

Elion only smiled wider as he strapped Kurogoroshi’s scabbard to the side of his waist with a strip of dark cloth he had taken out along with it, the blade settling against him like it had always belonged there.

The moment his hand rested on the hilt, that faint hum deep inside his bones sharpened, like a beast opening one eye after a long sleep.

At the same time, around them, the whole camp erupted into motion.