The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

At the current temporary terminus of the Magic Train, in a former noble territory near the Golden Harvest Plain, many escaped Dog Army soldiers are chatting and boasting with adventurers in a tavern.

"I saw it clearly at the time. For some reason, the demon commander exploded, and the black flesh inside swelled up and swelled until it became as big as a mountain!"

After saying that, the Doug soldier took a big gulp of beer.

"Is this for real? If it were really as big as you say, wouldn't we be able to see it all from here?"

The surrounding adventurers were speechless. If the dimensions reported by the Dog Army soldier were accurate, then the mountain-like demon monsters of the Golden Harvest Plains could be seen directly from this territory.

"Oh my, I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be fake? Later, more and more demons turned into monsters and poured into the battlefield, and many humans were turned into another kind of monster by the black saliva spat out by that monster."

"Although I fought desperately, I ran out of musket bullets, my knife was chipped, and I even killed two monsters with my bare hands. But there were just too many of them, and I had no choice but to escape."

It's clear that once you're away from Noam, the monsters' impact on your mind disappears. At least this Doug soldier seems to be in good spirits, recounting his heroic tales vividly.

"But didn't you say before that if your body came into contact with those mud monsters, you would be tainted by the mud and assimilated? So how did you defeat those mud monsters with your fists?"

The adventurers had already realized that the Dog soldier was exaggerating. He wasn't the first Dog soldier to boast in the tavern, but to understand what had actually happened on the Golden Harvest Plains, the words of these Dog soldiers were undoubtedly very valuable.

"Oh, don't worry about those details."

Just as the Doug soldier was about to take another sip of beer, preparing to add a beautiful female protagonist to his story, and even having imagined the scene of their encounter, he discovered that the beer in his glass had already been finished.

"Where's the wine? Refill it quickly if you want to hear more!"

But no one at the scene was willing to refill the Doug soldier's cup anymore, because he was talking more and more outrageously about how bravely he killed the enemy, and there was less and less useful information.

"cut!"

The soldier from Doug's army slammed his cup down, and his flushed face showed that he was already somewhat drunk.

"You're not going to refill my cup, are you? Don't blame me for not warning you when the demon monsters come! If you ask me, your Gray Collar army is almost finished, you're about to lose, we're all going to turn into monsters, you might as well surrender to the Demon Lord sooner, maybe you can even get a position!"

At this moment, the tavern owner finally came up and poured the soldier another beer, saying, "Tell me the details!"

"Hmph! When we escaped—oh no, when I broke through the encirclement, the Gray Collar army was already on its last legs. The artillery was useless; those demon monsters could fully regenerate by eating corpses. If I hadn't led my brothers in a desperate resistance, the Gray Collar army might have collapsed even faster!"

Then, the Doug soldier started bragging again, but at least he did give the adventurers some useful information.

The adventurers in the tavern were all highly experienced veterans, able to easily distinguish between what was true and what was false from the words of the Dogg soldiers.

Judging from the descriptions of the Doug Army soldiers who recently escaped, the Golden Harvest Plains may indeed be unable to hold out. Many people have begun to consider what to do next: whether to escape or join the Demon Clan.

However, many adventurers didn't care much and only wanted to return to the past. After all, under the rule of the gray-collar workers, the number of quests in the tavern guild had decreased by more than half, and the remaining quests were mostly lost and found items, forcing some adventurers to find some legitimate ways to make a living.

This is not risky at all.

Just then, an adventurer rushed into the tavern in a panic, shouting, "It's here! It's here! The magic train is here!"

Everyone in the tavern stood up and ran to the station under construction to see what was going on.

In fact, although this territory is the last stop for the magic train, few people in the territory have ever seen the magic train. This is because the last stop is not fully completed. The railway has only been laid to allow the magic train to reach this place, and the materials were all transported from the previous station.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the nobles of the territory were gathered together to discuss important matters.

The nobles had far more accurate information than the adventurers, after all, since the war had just begun, the nobles from all sides had sent out quite a few spies to the Golden Harvest Plain.

"Even that gray-collar worker was defeated, why don't we just surrender to the demons!"

"And if we're going to go all the way, why don't we just blow up that governor's railway too?"

No sooner had these nobles finished speaking than another noble objected, "Even if we lose, we're still just white-collar workers. They can still easily manipulate us, right? If we fail to defeat the demons, we can take our anger out on you!"

"Hmph, maybe after the battle there won't be any more gray-collar workers, and we'll just hand over the land to the demons."

Then, while the nobles were still arguing amongst themselves, a servant rushed over in a panic and said, "Master, the Governor has arrived."

"What? So fast?"

These nobles have been discussing the battle situation on the Golden Harvest Plains and whether they should rebel and surrender to the Demon Clan. After all, they surrendered quickly, and the Gray and White Collars were busy with the final battle. They originally planned to deal with these nobles after the battle was over, but they were dragged into the Golden Harvest Plains.

As a result, the power of these nobles was relatively well preserved, which made them harbor rebellious intentions.

But these nobles did not expect that the gray-collar workers would act so quickly and that the railway would be so fast. The nobles rushed to the station in a panic to welcome Lind.

When these nobles arrived at the still-under-construction station, a large number of adventurers had already gathered around it.

The whistle of the magic train sounded like the roar of a steel behemoth, causing everyone to take a step back. When the train arrived at the station, many people couldn't help but swallow hard as they looked at this real steel behemoth. Some were afraid, while others were more curious.

The train doors opened simultaneously, and countless fully armed soldiers and knights jumped off the train in perfect unison.

Among them were members of the nunnery class wearing blood-stained habit.

At first, the Dog Army soldier who had been bragging in the tavern was saying that this magic train was nothing compared to the monsters of the demon race. But when he saw the soldiers pouring out of the train, everyone, including the Dog Army soldier, unconsciously kept backing away to make room for the soldiers.

Even though their positions had been moved to a safe distance by local temporary officials.

Linde and Rena, on the other hand, were escorted off the train by the guards.

Lind, dressed in a black military uniform, did not speak, but simply glanced around at the crowd that seemed to want to watch the show.

Even with just a simple glance, the Doug soldier who had been boasting about how brave he was on the battlefield fell to the ground in fear. Perhaps because he had drunk too much, his crotch was turning yellow. He wasn't a real soldier; he had been recruited by Doug with money and had only escaped the battlefield by sheer luck.

Although it was their first meeting, the nobles immediately recognized Linde and stepped forward to pay their respects.

Before the nobles could even bow, Lucanus announced loudly, "From this moment forward, all surrounding territories will be temporarily placed under military control. All affairs will be managed by the Governor, and all nobles must remain at home and are not permitted to leave the premises at will."

Seeing the scene, beads of sweat dripped from the heads of the nobles, especially those who had just said they wanted to join the demon race, who were now feeling quite bewildered.

The few soldiers and professionals he had were probably not even enough to fill the enemy's teeth.

Only then did these nobles realize that when gods fight, mortals have no right or space to take sides.