What a stupid plan!
Both Dray and Quinn said this at the same time and Dray was a little surprised that Quinn would say that. He didn't think that Quinn was the sort of person to think about the risks and rewards when faced with saving people. The rewards for saving those slaves wouldn't be as good as the rewards for destroying the demon lord's mines, it would be pointless to save them.
Everyone in the meeting room looked at Dray in shock because they all expected him to be the most supportive of the new plan. As a priest, he should be trying to preserve human life as much as possible, but why is he calling this plan a stupid one!? Dray realized his mistake a little late and he realized that his reaction wasn't what a regular priest would have done. He cleared his throat as he tried to explain himself.
"This isn't a rescue mission. It's war. There will always be casualties and we should be prioritizing the weakening of the enemy instead of trying to save a few slaves. I understand your concern for the slaves, but if we save those slaves there won't be any damage done to the enemy. They will not even feel the impact of what we did. The demons can still farm as much as they want without those slaves. But if we destroy their mines, we can set them back and prevent them from getting supplies for a while. I think that mining town should be our priority,"
The room was stunned into silence after hearing his thoughts. They knew what he said was right, but they just couldn't believe those words would come from a priest of all people! Quinn nodded along with what Dray said and she also supported it because it was the best course of action. But even after they tried their best to set the plan in motion, the generals wouldn't budge. The generals all wanted to save the slaves. Dray couldn't believe how foolish they were. Why would they try to save slaves when you can cause a lot more damage by destroying the mines!? Is this really how deep the stupidity of humans runs?
Dray sighed from his place beside Quinn and he heard her scoff quietly. Dray turned to her and he saw her looking forward with narrowed eyes. It was obvious that she was not happy. They recently rescued the slaves from the farming village and their forces had to split up. One-third of them went back with the slaves and they will take the slaves to Uta before coming back to rejoin the rest of the army. But Quinn still didn't like it!
"This is a waste of time,"
Quinn suddenly said this and Dray couldn't help but agree with her. They were wasting time that they could be using to raid the demon towns. Right now, their forces were reduced and they will have to fight with fewer people because of sentimental bullshit.
"Let's be grateful that we haven't run into any strong demons. Things have been quiet for a while so we should be grateful for that,"
Quinn looked to Dray with a raised brow once he said this and she gave him a grin.
"You know, priest, you were not very priest-like back in the meeting. I thought you would be the first to go against my plan but I didn't expect you to be the only one to support me,"
Dray shrugged. He knew her plan was the best choice and that was why he supported her. It's too bad that things didn't work out.
"I'm more of a realist than an optimist. I've learned the hard way that you can't save everyone in this world and there's nothing you can do about it. We should have prioritized the important mines over a few slaves,"
Quinn's smile left her face as she asked a question.
"You've lost someone?"
Dray narrowed his eyes and his teeth clenched tightly as his mind went back in time to when he lost Willow. Pyra's blank expression crossed his mind again and the scar on his chest pulsed with a vengeance. I still have nightmares about that damn demon.
Dray nodded silently and Quinn realized that he didn't want to talk about it so the two of them fell silent once again.
Quinn didn't understand much about Dray and she hasn't had the time to ask him about himself yet. Quinn knew that Dray was hiding something from everyone. Dray wasn't like a normal priest at all and the way he acts isn't very priestly! Even the way he acted in the meeting was also strange. Anyone would think that a priest would try to prioritize human life over everything else but Dray wasn't like that. Dray was smart enough to look at all the variables and he also came to the same conclusion as Quinn. Quinn didn't expect him to support her but she was grateful that at least one person was on her side.
Quinn decided that she would try and ask Dray more about himself at their next campsite. They were currently moving towards the town of Noir for another battle but hopefully, they will have some time to talk once they were finished there. She wanted to know more about him.
"Wait!! Hero, wait!!"
But before the platoon of soldiers could go any further, there was a sudden shout from someone behind them! Quinn and Dray both turned around to see a soldier riding towards them at intense speed! His horse was breathing heavily and it was obvious that he has been pushing the horse to run at full speed for a long time! Quinn recognized the rider as one of the soldiers from the platoon that went back to return the slaves to Uta.
The army had separated into three platoons that were led by different generals to make it easier to move to different towns. The rider coming towards them was from the platoon of soldiers that was in charge of taking the slaves back to Uta! What is he doing here!? Aren't they meant to be close to the kingdom by now!?
"Hero! There's trouble! There's trouble!"
The man was frantically pointing back towards the place where his platoon went and Quinn shouted at him to tell her what the hell happened! Just saying "there's trouble" isn't going to tell her anything! The man tried to catch his breath and he spoke again. This time, he was able to talk normally.
"The platoon and slaves were attacked by demons! The demons are wiping them out! I barely managed to run back here to call for help!"
Quinn's eyes widened and she immediately gave out an order to the platoon to follow her! They had to go and help! Quinn knew that this was how things would end up! She knew that it was a bad idea to choose the slaves over the mine! Demons never forgive or forget and it is very common for demons to retaliate when they are attacked! If we had simply destroyed the mines then we would have already left that place and the demons wouldn't be able to attack us, but since we took the slaves, the demons know exactly where we are and they were able to retaliate perfectly! Dammit! This wasn't Quinn's fault, but even though it wasn't her fault she couldn't just let the slaves die. She already saved them once so she has to complete her task no matter what!
Quinn immediately started to ride towards the location where the messenger was leading them! Behind her, Dray was following with a scowl on his face. Dray knew that something wasn't right here and he didn't think it was a good idea to simply rush to go and help the slaves, but it would be pointless to try and stop Quinn since she really wants to save the slaves, so Dray hoped that things would work out.
The scar on Dray's chest pulsed again and his eyes narrowed even more. Dray had a really bad feeling about this.
.......
[Ten Minutes Earlier]
Pyra and Andromeda made their way through the portal that Andromeda opened and they arrived at the farming town that the hero attacked. Andromeda was the one taking the lead this time and she frowned in anger as she saw the destruction that the hero caused to the town. There wasn't a single demon left alive and the farms had been ravaged and destroyed! The houses were on fire and there wasn't anything left intact!
Andromeda felt the great anger rising inside her! This was one of the farms that the demon lord put her in charge of and it was ruined! These fucking humans dared to ruin her hard work and they made the demon lord lose an entire farm! And the worst thing about it is that the fucking idiots did it for mere slaves! The humans didn't even steal the food or produce, they only took the slaves and burnt the food and soil so that we wouldn't be able to farm here for a long time! It was infuriating!
Andromeda was not an aggressive person by nature, but she can never hold back her anger whenever it involves the demon lord! If anyone ever dared to ruin something that belongs to her lord she feels like tearing that thing apart! That is the reason why Andromeda is always cruel and aggressive when dealing with the slaves! They belong to the demon lord and they must work to please him! If they are slacking or lazy, they will have to answer her directly!
Andromeda heard Pyra moving behind her and she turned back to see Pyra bending down to pick up a piece of cloth. Pyra still had that blank look on her face but Andromeda could tell that Pyra was also pissed. Pyra was not the sort of person to express anger outwardly. Her anger was calm and precise and you never know when she will lash out with that anger.
The last time Pyra lashed out in anger was hundreds of years ago when she was fighting for the honor of becoming a member of the demon lord's household! She used her anger to fight in the competition and that anger led to the death of more than twenty of her people! She killed every other competitor in cold blood without batting an eye!
And right now, Pyra was angry once again.
Pyra activated a skill directly on the cloth.
[Mana Tracker - A] has been activated.
This was a skill that could take the residual Mana left on someone's belonging and use that residual Mana to track the person. Pyra doesn't use this skill a lot because the skill will only work if the person left their Mana in their belonging less than one hour ago. If one hour passes, the skill will not work. But luckily for her, this attack happened less than an hour ago.
Andromeda slithered over and asked Pyra if she got anything from the cloth. Pyra nodded. The cloth doesn't belong to any of the dead humans there, so that means whoever had this cloth is alive. They are probably moving with the other slaves towards another location. Pyra squeezed the cloth in her fist and she told Andromeda to open a portal 100km to the east. Andromeda put her hand forward and opened the portal and they both walked through.
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