Chapter 46: An Improper Authority
The journey from Augusta Raurica to Agripina would take a contemporary Roman legion infantry unit twenty days to complete. On average, they would have to march for six hours a day before setting up camp to rest. Supposedly, this was considered the fastest marching speed for a Roman legion in this era.
Hikigaya knew that in history, for a period after the Marian reforms, the marching capability of Roman legions was so high it was practically abnormal. But even though they no longer possessed the flair of their ancestors, the current Roman field armies were still considered elite forces in the Mediterranean world. Their poor performance in the late Empire was due, firstly, to the Roman upper class's habit of making unfortunate tactical decisions, and secondly, to a series of issues arising from financial exhaustion.
The combat effectiveness of a Roman legion depended on strict discipline, efficient organization, and exaggerated engineering capabilities—but the premise for all of this was money, and not just a small amount.
The reason for mentioning this was that the Roman soldiers in Lauriacum all wanted to skip work to accompany Aisha on her long journey. They were then unceremoniously lectured by Hikigaya. With this group of garrison troops, having them guard a city was passable, but dragging them out to fight a field battle against the Franks was a death wish.
Aisha was a powerful "Healer," yes, but the opponent, Doni, was a member of the extreme DPS output faction. If he truly got annoyed, one swing of his sword would leave nothing of several hundred Roman soldiers. Most importantly, traveling with this group would annoy Hikigaya to death. Thus, he resolutely refused the Roman soldiers' requests to come along. Poor guys—a group of rough men were actually moved to tears. After all, no matter how fanatical their worship of Aisha was, they couldn't stop a God-slayer.
Consequently, only the three God-slayers left Lauriacum, bringing not a single irrelevant person. Uldin, the "Porsche owner," kindly summoned Wyverns for transportation.
Augusta Raurica and Agripina were both Roman cities built along the Rhine; one could naturally reach the destination by traveling downstream. However, the three God-slayers first headed upstream into the familiar forest—Uldin's forest, the dwelling of dragons. Uldin needed to arrange matters at home first.
Of course, the so-called "matters at home" meant his harem. Upon entering the fortress, Uldin indeed gathered his wives. Hikigaya listened roughly to the content: it was nothing more than Uldin arranging for his wives to guard his properties in various places during his absence. People were property, livestock was property, and territory was also property. In this Hunnic God-slayer's worldview, everything in the world except his own kind could be categorized as "my property" or "property I want."
When Uldin had arranged everything and indicated they could depart, one of his wives suddenly stepped forward. "Wait a moment, Lord Uldin. I have something to say."
This wife's name was Luska. Like Uldin, she was a Hun, a beauty with shoulder-length black hair. Just a moment ago, she had used Spirit Vision. "Recently... I've had a bad feeling."
"Oh?" Uldin thought for a moment, showing a look of joy. "Are you pregnant?"
Hikigaya glanced at him sideways. This guy's head was truly full of nothing but "seed."
"No, that's not what I meant," Luska responded flatly, then pointed at Hikigaya. "I guess... this feeling comes from you God-slayers who have come from afar."
"Isn't it good to have a few more of our kind?" Uldin cut in curiously. Luska nodded and continued: "It's very bad. To be precise... the number is too high, and they've appeared too fast."
Hikigaya and Aisha looked at each other. "Luska, what do you mean by 'too fast'?" asked Krutit, who served as the commander of the Hunnic army. She wasn't in her military regalia now, revealing her beautiful long golden hair.
"Sorry, I don't quite know how to explain it... I just feel that so many God-slayers gathering should be something that happens decades from now... This situation is decades too early."
Looking at her bewildered husband, Luska wore a helpless expression and made an ominous prophecy. "I feel that if things continue to develop this way, it will be very bad. It seems something that shouldn't happen is about to occur."
Hikigaya had heard similar words back in the modern era. Thus, he was the fastest person present to realize what she was talking about. Could gathering God-slayers from different eras also awaken the King of the End? He was a bit skeptical. The gods weren't exactly unfamiliar with the power of time. Did they really need to be that diligent? Wouldn't it be better to just slack off a bit?
With such thoughts, the three mounted the Wyverns and flew downstream along the Danube. Putting aside the bickering and Uldin's awkward small talk along the way, Aisha pulled another stunt. She claimed she wanted to pray for a safe journey and good luck; the result was that Hikigaya and Uldin were mysteriously struck by lightning out of a clear blue sky.
Fortunately, they were God-slayers and wouldn't be hurt falling from a great height. However, the Wyverns were struck dead, so Uldin had to summon two more. After asking around, it turned out Aisha had used her Authority again—an incredibly "pitfall" one that blesses oneself by stealing the luck of others. What were you thinking, using such an Authority with three God-slayers present? It was truly, utterly improper.
Luckily, the speed of the Wyverns was impressive. Before long, the three arrived at their destination. Below was still dense primeval forest, but there were also meadows with lush green grass; the landscape here was plains.
When the three God-slayers landed, they all furrowed their brows. A strong stench drifted through the air, so pungent that even a native Hun like Uldin frowned. "What kind of beast smells this bad?" Hikigaya was quite displeased.
Uldin, however, smoothed his brow. "There's a lot of food here," he said. "It seems I don't have to worry about the tribe's food supply."
The three walked for a while and climbed a small hill ahead, discovering the source of the stench. Dozens of giant bears were wandering here; the smell came from their bodies.
"Madame, are the bears here usually this big?" Hikigaya watched, tongue-tied. Of course, this was a joke; these bears possessed a power Hikigaya knew all too well. The power of a God.
He was joking, but Aisha took it seriously, answering earnestly: "No, this is my first time seeing such big baby bears, too."
'How do they look like babies to you?!'
The giant bears all looked highly agitated with ferocious eyes—clearly not friendly. Just then, a group of humans appeared in front of the bear pack, radiating killing intent. Upon seeing the giant bears, these people began to howl.
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