The next few days were much more ordinary. Because they were traveling on the main road, there were no more encounters with beast hordes like before.
The occasional one or two clueless wild beasts that appeared became part of the team's meals.
"The eight mobile fortresses in northern Laterano collectively form the largest commercial hub in the north. The area has a huge flow of people and very prosperous commerce. If any of these fortresses were to suffer a Calamity, the losses, both financial and human, would be enormous.
We are still several days away from our office in northern Laterano, so everyone doesn't need to be too nervous."
Many people in the squad were on their first field mission, so they had been very tense throughout the journey. Anto had said this several times already. Although everyone's emotions would calm down for a while, they would soon become tense again as the atmosphere solidified.
Facing this situation, Anto was a bit at a loss. Previously, when she followed other teams on field missions, the teams not only had experienced veterans but also had rich experience and knowledge throughout.
But this team... the average age was less than 15 (counting Kanna-chan and Nian by their apparent age), and there were even several problem children among them.
At this moment, she had a tiny bit of regret for having fallen for Kaltsit's trick. She was clearly a beautiful young girl; wouldn't it be better to go drinking and eating meat with Hoshiguma? Why did she have to come and babysit? "How about I tell everyone a story!" After Anto was too exhausted to continue, Kanna-chan took over the conversation.
Hearing Kanna-chan offer to tell a story, everyone looked at her with curiosity, wanting to hear what interesting stories Kanna-chan could tell.
"Hmm, do you want to hear about a scheming man who usurped a country and then willingly died for his sister, or a hot-blooded youth who killed his father and mother for world peace and ultimately became a companion of justice?"
...After Kanna-chan finished speaking, the vehicle instantly fell silent.
"You don't like either? Then how about a pure-hearted youth who couldn't stand the empire's corruption, joined the resistance, and eventually died without a trace? Or a girl who repeatedly rewound time to save her beloved, only for her beloved to completely disappear..."
"After we get back this time, I'll suggest Kaltsit give you a mental evaluation..." Folinic stared at Kanna-chan with a deadpan expression. At this moment, she was a bit confused as to where Kanna-chan had heard such stories that sounded like they would make one's SAN value plummet just by their titles.
"Don't be like that! I'm serious. These stories are carefully selected by me. Each one has grand scenes, rich content, and profound ideas. They are rare good stories!"
"But even just by their names, we know they're not suitable for us!" Unable to hold back, Folinic reached out and pinched Kanna-chan's cheek.
"Then do you want to hear about the love-hate relationship between two bears and a lumberjack, or a wolf that can never catch a sheep? That's too childish..." Kanna-chan looked at Folinic with disdain.
"It's fine, why don't you tell them all? I think what you're saying is quite interesting. Maybe it can give me a lot of inspiration for my next movie!" Just as Folinic was inflicting the cheek-pinching punishment on Kanna-chan, Nian's voice came through the intercom.
Nian, whose thoughts were sufficiently unconstrained, was attracted by Kanna-chan's "interesting" story titles. She was curious about the specific content of the stories.
"See? My stories still have an audience." Hearing Nian's words, Kanna-chan's momentum, which was about to be suppressed, suddenly rose again.
Folinic put her arm around Kanna-chan's neck.
"Nian, don't stir things up. If you want to hear stories, I'll tell them. Although they're old stories, they're better than Kanna-chan's unreliable ones..."
Ever since Kanna-chan made the suggestion, the intercom became a story exchange device. At Folinic's suggestion, everyone except Kanna-chan would share a story they knew in each round. With this activity, everyone's attention shifted to racking their brains to recall stories they had heard or knew. Not only did the atmosphere become much livelier, but the tense atmosphere was also swept away.
Finally, the convoy arrived in northern Leithanien.
Outside the mobile fortress, everyone was surprised to find that the mobile cities here did not refuse entry to the Infected, but required registration and restricted their areas of activity.
However, compared to Ursus, where the Infected, let alone entering the city, would be directly thrown into mines as laborers if discovered, and other countries where the Infected were not allowed to enter mobile cities, Leithanien here could be called paradise.
One must know that this was northern Leithanien. Further north was Ursus territory. Although only a hundred miles separated them, the living standards of the Infected on both sides were poles apart.
Upon entering the fortress, they found that although the entry requirements were very low, there were many military police in the city for maintaining order. It could be said that, judging by the density of military police along the way, it far exceeded the normal needs of a city.
Upon arriving at the office, Folinic inquired about the situation with the Operator there.
"This can't be helped. Recently, two high-ranking noble families in the north formed a marriage alliance. For the safety during the wedding, almost all the military police from the surrounding towns were called back. That's why you see so many military police on the streets."
The Operator stationed there was very clear about the reason for this matter.
"All the military police from the surrounding towns have been called back? Isn't this preposterous? What if a problem arises? Without a team to maintain order, if Ursus attacks, wouldn't there be no defense at all?"
After hearing the Operator explain the reason, everyone found it somewhat unbelievable. The arrangements of these great nobles were too improper. Even though it was still far from the Ursus border and wouldn't be attacked by Ursus, didn't the Calamity Messenger warn of signs of a Calamity here?
If a city were to be struck by a Calamity, and without sufficient official military force as a deterrent, once something happened, it could very well become the next Chernobog.
"As far as I know, the Calamity Messenger submitted a letter to the Noble Council, stating that every town must retain enough military police as a force to prevent a possible Calamity. However, I heard it was rejected, with the reason being that a Calamity is only a possibility, but the wedding is a certainty. For a possible danger to put a great noble in danger is unacceptable to the noble side..."
When saying this, the Operator stationed there couldn't help but laugh, but everyone knew that this laugh carried no goodwill, but was rather from being angered by the great nobles' absurd behavior.
"Then our small group isn't enough to guard so many surrounding towns, is it?" After spreading out the map, looking at the mobile fortresses, it was clear that Kanna Squad's small number of people was simply not enough to meet the needs of all the cities.
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