Her heterochromatic gaze swept into the distance.
A small military encampment was set up on the Gusteko Plains, and within this camp, a considerable number of soldiers wearing the Royal Army uniforms could be seen.
It had to be them; there was no mistake.
Because among these people, Regulus had already spotted a very familiar figure. It was a young man with brown hair, fiercely swinging a blade all by himself on the outskirts of the camp.
The young Sword Demon. Unlike the elderly Wilhelm van Astrea that Regulus remembered from his meta-knowledge—a butler who was gentle, refined, and gave off a profound sense of stability and reliability—the Sword Demon at this young age could only be described with one word: 'sharp.'
He was an unsheathed blade, radiating a fierce, bloodthirsty aura so sharp that it made the people around him physically uncomfortable.
Regulus merely glanced at him and didn't pay too much attention to him. He had absolutely no intention of getting too involved with the boy. After all, there was no benefit to it. Not to mention, the young Sword Demon did not have an easygoing personality, and he was a man, so there was even less need to initiate any contact with him.
As they continued to advance, the convoy quickly arrived at the edge of the camp.
The soldiers, noticing Regulus's massive, luxurious group approaching, were hastily organized into a welcoming formation under the direction of a tall, burly man.
While the dragon carriage was still some distance away, the man's loud voice boomed across the plains.
"You little rascals, all of you stand tall and proud! We are about to receive important reinforcements from the Capital! Look serious!"
Following his shout, the lined-up soldiers immediately adjusted their stances, looking much sharper than before. It finally had a bit of a proper military feel to it.
It didn't take long for the leading dragon carriage to arrive right in front of the formation.
In the driver's seat of the carriage, Anileni had already retreated inside the passenger compartment, replaced by Carol, who sat formally beside Regulus.
The moment the earth dragon stopped, Carol proactively chose to stand up. Regulus, holding Beatrice in his arms, and Julia naturally stepped down from the carriage as well.
"I am very sorry, Commander. We are much later than scheduled," Carol saluted smoothly.
"It's nothing," the burly man laughed heartily, waving his hand. "The situation on the battlefield has been relatively stable the past few days, so this minor delay is nothing. We will still heavily rely on Marquis Mathers's magical artillery later."
"About that..." Carol's expression became awkward.
"Hmm!? What's wrong?" the man asked, a bit confused.
"Let me explain this," Julia stepped forward, her posture perfectly aristocratic. "I am Julia, the daughter of Roswaal L. Mathers. My father has fallen severely unwell and is truly unable to come to assist the front lines. Therefore, I will be carrying out future operations in place of my father."
"Miss Julia... but..."
"Don't worry," Julia interrupted with absolute confidence. "My martial abilities have been affirmed by my father and are more than sufficient to solve the military problems you face."
"..."
The commander couldn't help but fall silent for a moment. This absolutely did not match the orders he had received from the Capital. But even if it didn't match, the Marquis wasn't here. There seemed to be no other way.
"I understand," he finally sighed. "Please allow us to escort you to the command tent afterwards to outline the subsequent mission."
"Please guide us," Julia nodded.
As the commander spoke, his gaze shifted from Julia, to Carol, then to Regulus and the Great Spirit in his arms. Finally, he looked curiously past them at the long convoy of several ornate dragon carriages.
He wasn't the only one curious; all the soldiers standing in formation were craning their necks.
As the dragon carriages settled, the girls resting inside were naturally a little curious about the military camp. Several beautiful faces peeked out through the carriage windows.
Noticing the rough, staring soldiers outside, the girls immediately withdrew their gazes behind the curtains.
This made all the knights and soldiers incredibly confused.
'Girls? And all those dragon carriages seem to be completely full of young, beautiful girls?'
They were practically on the edge of an active warzone against the Demi-Humans. Wasn't it a bit too inappropriate to bring a massive touring party of noblewomen here?
"Ahem~" The burly man deliberately coughed loudly, reminding his staring team members to keep their eyes front.
"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I am the captain of this squad, Bordeaux Zellgef," the burly man proactively brought up a topic to clear the awkward air.
However, when the name Bordeaux was mentioned, Regulus suddenly remembered a piece of lore. Combined with the man's extremely thick and distinctive eyebrows...
'This burly man with thick hair and a large build... isn't he the bald, shriveled old man who sits on the Council of Wise Men forty years later?' Regulus thought, amused.
He hadn't connected the two people before because the difference between them was just too vast. But now that he saw the real person, the more he looked at the eyebrows, the more alike they seemed. He was absolutely sure it was that guy.
'However, in just forty years, your physical decline is a bit too drastic, isn't it? Not only do you go completely bald, but you shrink! You practically lose your entire shape.'
Thinking back to the elderly Sword Demon, who still maintained his sharp edge in old age, this comparison was quite tragic.
While Regulus was distracted by these thoughts, Carol had already finished her formal self-introduction.
Bordeaux then looked over at the white-haired man holding the little girl.
"I am Regulus," Regulus smiled pleasantly. "As for my identity... I am just a commoner. An ordinary person. I came here mainly because I was worried about my women. You don't need to pay too much attention to my presence."
"..."
Bordeaux blinked rapidly. This self-introduction was truly beyond his wildest expectations.
But if he spoke of the "women" present—excluding the dozens who hadn't gotten off the dragon carriages—only Julia and Carol were standing there.
"May I ask... which of these women are yours...?" Bordeaux asked carefully. This had to be clarified.
Marquis Mathers only had one daughter, and Miss Julia would certainly inherit the title in the future. As for Carol Remelius, her family was also very famous in the Kingdom and had intricate ties to the Astrea family. Neither of these two women was someone an "ordinary commoner" could claim.
"All of them," Regulus answered simply.
"All of them!?" Bordeaux's jaw dropped.
"That's right. The women here, the ones in the carriages... all of them are my women."
"Uh—"
Bordeaux glanced at Julia, then at Carol, then at Beatrice held in his arms, and finally, his gaze snapped back to Regulus. Not to mention the unseen beauties in the carriages, just these three alone were incredibly rare beauties of high status!
This was far too enviable. It defied all logic!
Just then...
"Tsk~"
A loud, dissatisfied click of the tongue echoed from the side, followed by a very displeased, icy complaint.
"Two capable women acting as shields is one thing... but dragging along a mountain of useless burdens to a battlefield makes me sick."
The harsh remarks made everyone turn their heads.
It was the young Sword Demon, Wilhelm Trias, walking over with his sword resting casually on his shoulder, his eyes filled with absolute disdain.
"Hey! You over there, what exactly do you mean by that?!" Carol questioned with extreme displeasure. Her brows furrowed tightly as she glared at the young swordsman, her hand resting on the hilt of her knight sword.
"Nothing," Wilhelm replied coldly, his eyes dead and focused entirely on the blade of his sword. "I am just stating the facts and expressing my personal opinion on your baggage."
"Ha!" Carol drew her blade an inch.
"Alright, alright, Carol. Calm down," Regulus intervened first.
He reached out and gently pushed Carol's hand away from her sword, while simultaneously stopping Bordeaux, who looked ready to reprimand his unruly subordinate.
"Regulus, he just insulted—" Carol protested.
"I know," Regulus interrupted, a dark, serene smile forming on his lips.
Carol immediately stopped talking and stepped back. She calmed down. The reason was simple: she had spent a considerable amount of time with Regulus, and she knew his twisted personality perfectly. He was definitely the type of man who wouldn't tolerate even the absolute slightest disadvantage or insult to his pride.
However, Wilhelm, completely unaware of the monster standing before him, thought Regulus had simply chickened out to avoid a fight. He felt a brief flash of sorrow for the Knight, Carol, having to serve such a spineless master.
Regulus stepped forward, his smile never wavering, and looked at the captain.
"Captain Bordeaux."
"Yes?" Bordeaux asked nervously.
"I heard there is an extraordinary young man in your squad. One who, at a very young age, has achieved many bloody merits on the battlefield and even earned the arrogant title of 'Sword Demon'."
"That... is true..."
"Good," Regulus nodded, finally turning his gaze to Wilhelm. "Although my swordsmanship isn't exactly refined, I'd like to see if this 'genius' known as the Sword Demon truly possesses the ability to match his loud mouth."
Regulus tilted his head, his eyes glinting with a dangerous, greedy light.
"Would you mind being our witness, Captain?"
Of course, the "witness" Regulus spoke of was actually just a necessary tool to carry away Wilhelm's broken body afterward. This arrogant brat, who started being verbally abusive the moment they met without any reason, absolutely needed to be taught a severe lesson and cured of his bad habit.
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