Chapter 233: Cardio Before War

After a long round of smithing, Dorbish and Moon were tired.

As well as hungry, very...

Moon hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

"My muscles." He was starting to panic when he realized the fact that he’d been running for a whole day on an empty stomach.

He didn’t even have coffee or cheesecake.

Dorbish was also hungry; thus, they started searching for the kitchen to get something to eat.

Their time in this palace was coming closer to an end.

Once they were done eating together, it was morning.

It was finally time to start moving from the eastern side of the kingdom to the western side, where the castle of Deshter was.

And eventually... the first battle of the ongoing war would take place.

At first, they planned on using steeds to move there, but soon the idea was turned into a nonsensical attempt.

Raiju was a predator; Fisher was too murderous by nature.

There was also Mishu hanging on Moon’s shoulder...

Not to mention...

Moon himself.

The presence of any of them threw the steeds into a maddened frenzy, trying to run for their lives.

Though they didn’t try having Moon get close by himself, "I guess this won’t work," Talia said.

Moon understood what she meant and had no choice but to agree.

The observation gave them a glimpse of how they should go through this war.

"Sir Gustav, aren’t there any war steeds that could handle this lineup?" Talia asked discreetly.

"There aren’t many, but I doubt they would react any differently," Gustav affirmed, meeting their expectations.

Steeds were a no-go in the upcoming war.

They also expected the other side to come to a similar conclusion.

As for the change in troops, it was finally starting to take place on the screens hovering in the sky.

Defence Troops

451 Ascenders

7350 Non-ascenders

Total Participants 7801

They had lost over 150 ascenders, which wasn’t a very great number when looking at the overall total. Yet, it still struck fear in the hearts of the people of the kingdom.

A soldier and an ascender were both a single individual in the count, but on the battlefield the differences were vast.

On the other side, Enzo’s faction had indeed gained most of the deserters, but not all of them.

Assault Troops

1040 Ascenders

22000 Non-ascenders

Total Participants 23040

Some probably chose to just drop out this time around for a better chance in the future, or were rejected by Enzo.

It was unknown.

Yet, at least for now... These numbers were the reality they were facing.

In the end, it was a long journey on foot.

Moon and Gustav studied the map for a while, calculating the distance both parties would need to travel.

"I guess two weeks at least," Gustav said with a hint of certainty.

Moon nodded in agreement. The two weeks Gustav mentioned were not the time they needed to travel to Deshter, but the time they had before the first battle took place.

"Have the scouts keep their eyes open," he instructed, knowing too well nothing would happen outside of their expectations.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more cautious.

Moon turned around, facing the ascenders he was leading. His eyes scanned them hastily.

Most of them were wearing armor or neatly fixed robes. Almost everyone.

Raiju wasn’t wearing anything, and Haya wasn’t much different from him in her dress.

Moon pursed his lips at the sight.

’At least she’s staying away from me, but she probably wouldn’t keep her distance for long,’ he thought, but he was looking at them for a different reason.

He didn’t want to waste too much time travelling if he could afford it, thus—

"Listen up," he called, grabbing everyone’s attention. "We’re running at a fixed pace; no time to waste strolling for a week."

Moon held the straps of his bag on his shoulders tightly.

"We’re going to war; keep your body active while you can and maybe increase your stats a little."

With that said, Moon turned around and started running with Gustav and Talia next to him.

He still needed Gustav to lead the way.

Moon didn’t wait for anyone to react to his words in any way... He tapped Gustav’s shoulder and started running right away.

Mishu used Moon’s bag as a balcony to watch the view while everyone ran, though the one who seemed to enjoy the run the most was Raiju.

A predator he was, he was faster than most ascenders.

’Who is faster among these two?’

Moon had seen his peak speed as well when he had attacked Mishu, or rather, failed to hit him. Raiju was so fast that he suspected he might be faster than Roran.

He wasn’t sure since speed wasn’t his forte, but he would soon find out anyway.

Still, the most interesting thing was that Raiju made sure he never ran too close to him and never let his gaze fall on Mishu.

Mishu gave him a unique experience that he didn’t seem to fancy going through a second time.

Fisher, on the other hand, was utterly oblivious to Mishu.

Like most of the ascenders who hadn’t seen his feats in the Southern Branch.

As for those who knew...

They mostly tried to keep a safe distance from Moon most of the time.

Basil tried to act casually, but he had been less noisy and talkative since the moment he noticed Mishu dangling an arm out of Moon’s bag like a cart driver feeling hot.

Time passed fast for Moon and those who were of good physical stats, enjoyable even.

For those who weren’t... It wasn’t even bearable.

The route they went through was a paved stone walkway, nothing too tiring or rigid. They passed by many citizens who, like before, had complicated emotions.

Still, there were more who looked rather grateful, gesturing with bows and smiles.

There were also children who ran after the large group, cheering.

Moon didn’t know how to react to any of this, so he just observed.

How Talia waved at them... How Basil cheered back...

There were too many things for him to learn about the world, but regardless...

Thanks to the approach Moon had suggested, they arrived faster than expected.

Before nightfall, they had already arrived at a new place where they would spend the night... Another palace.

As Gustav led them, "Another palace?" Moon exclaimed, catching his breath.

Gustav nodded. "Each district has a palace that belongs to the governor; they were all transported away, and I was given permission to use them whenever needed."

He gave Moon a full explanation.

Yet, Moon had something else on his mind.

He wasn’t asking why another palace, but feeling distant as he would reside in a new place for a short period of time.

"Say, Gustav," Moon suddenly said. "Once this war is over, would your king give me a house in the kingdom?"

Moon asked a casual, almost sarcastic question.

Gustav let out a light chuckle.

"Sir Moon, His Majesty Yutian would not only give you a simple palace." He gave Moon a deep, meaningful look. "Our King is a very generous man."

Moon didn’t look impressed; he shrugged dismissively.

"Nah, I don’t want more or anything weird... I like the sea here," he said while heading into the palace. "I want to have a house by the sea."

Gustav smiled. "That certainly is very possible."

He said with a voice of assurance rather than his earlier tone, which was closer to greed-enticing.

Gustav was a very smart man; if he wasn’t, the king, Yutian, wouldn’t have entrusted him with the kingdom under the dire circumstances he had fallen into.

It was easy for a man to give his life for money or power.

For a dream, a man could get greedy and do the impossible.

Gustav didn’t know Moon’s background or where he came from, but that greed he aimed to spark wasn’t there.

"Sir Moon, do you think a house by the sea is better than a palace like this one?" Gustav asked, following Moon.