My Death Flag Shows No Sign Of Ending

Episode 40

(Harold's POV)

I can't exactly say that I'm ready, but I'm not going to get any more time no matter how frustrated I am. In the end, I wasn't able to think of any contingency plans and had to request Tasuku's cooperation.

Even if I claimed that this expedition was a trap, I wouldn't be able to fully convince him unless I was able to present firm evidence. If there's anything else that I should do in preparation, then I should probably warn Cody to be cautious.

There's not really any point in doing so, though.

We were proceeding at the rate of horses that had their reins tugged while they were pulling a carriage full of rocks over a rocky area. I could swear that this craggy path was making my feet heavier somehow.

"Use the muscles in your shoulders more, Harold. I know you can do it because the muscles you use to keep your face stiff all the time must be at least five times stronger!"

Maybe I looked more stressed out than I thought, because Sid, who was walking beside me, decided it would be fun to tease me a bit.

Everyday since the first day of the expedition, without fail, Cody's unit had continued to say things of a similar sense to me time and time again. Perhaps they thought I was nervous, with this being my first assignment and all, and they were just trying to help me relax.

Though there was no doubt that I was nervous in a different sense.

Unfortunately, my various remarks such as "Be careful, don't grow negligent" or "Watch your surroundings" were all overlooked by the lack of tension. The majority of the veterans such as Robinson saw the expedition as a low-risk campaign that we shouldn't worry about.

Sometimes I wonder if I should've been more thorough with my preparations, but I still have plenty of time left. In a bad way, there wasn't any tension in the air at all.

"You bastards are taking this too lightly. If a battle starts, you'll be the ones to die first."

"Who would we be fighting?"

"From the patrol guard on the border, they've reported sightings of men who might be spies from the Empire.

"Well I guess that's something to be wary of, but if they're a reconnaissance team, they'd only thirty people at most. While we're numbering a little over two-hundred, even if a battle were to start, we'd be able to resolve it easily enough."

I'm not sure what answer I should give Sid, because I know this isn't going to be some small skirmish.

It's only natural that a thirty-person unit specialized in reconnaissance would die in vain against a fully supplied and equipped opponent in enemy territory. So there's no way any veteran from the Order would conclude such a battle happening.

But that's only the case if the prior information was true. There's a high chance that things will take a turn for the worse from that premise.

Originally it's supposed to be a battle where many casualties are supposed to appear, it's more than likely that there's going to be ambushes and other surprises waiting for us in the forest.

I wonder how Sid could be so calm and composed yet still meet his demise at the hands of Larry Cloud.

While thinking about such dark things, I swore that I'd stab a metal nail through him before that happens.

If possible, I'll crush any chance of that meeting happening so that Sid can return home.

"If you don't want to die, then you should prepare yourself to be battle-ready at any moment. Well, a bastard like you already knows that, no?"