Land of Mirriam

Gallo was watching through his telescope, almost halfway. He couldn’t see Simon, but the blood in the snow left a track of his movements. He was thankful that it wasn't snowing heavily; he had never appreciated the sunlight until now.

“I can’t believe it… he's not letting up,” Gallo thought. The world was truly vast. The hero and the northern soldiers had already recognized Simon’s abilities. A tinge of jealousy was sprouting in his heart but he didn’t mind it, Simon was just too amazing.

“It's really a long way to go… probably I have to give up.” Gallo thought that achieving feats before his school years started would put him far ahead as a hero candidate. It was one of the reasons he was here, along with acquiring Pyre ore as an upgrade for their cannons.

“My lord, they are here now,” one of the engineers informed Gallo.

“Is everything prepared?” Gallo asked without putting down his spyglass.

“Yes, my lord…” Afara answered, Gallo noticed the word ‘My Lord’ but was still busy on his own, he continued watching the movements through the lens.

“Wait a moment… he's slowing down… no… fire two more shots after 15 minutes. Archers! Check on Simon, I think there's something wrong! Track him by watching the blood on the snow! Keep watch! I'll be back in 30! Sir Percival is the commander for now! Follow his orders even if they contradict mine!” Gallo ran down from the plank where he was commanding. He slid on the straight ladder and went out of the wall.

He quickly located the elevator and began running, dodging a Spike that one of the warriors was handling, and went straight into the elevator nonchalantly.

“Down!” the warriors who were operating the elevator shouted as the mechanisms started to spin.

“Two kids on the battlefield… the world's getting crazy,” the warrior thought as he watched the elevator descend.

Percival was aware of his surroundings and of what was happening on top of the wall. All along, he was fighting the spikes too. It was actually the first time he was fighting without exhaustion; he immediately killed the spike he was handling.

Percival's eyes met Gallo's for a brief moment as the elevator slowly went down, and the two nodded to each other.

Percival assumed the commanding responsibilities. He also had a spyglass, immediately moving closer to the wall's edge as he bashed some spikes, he took a look.

The boy was right… it seemed that Simon had stopped shedding enemy blood. Something was definitely wrong. Percival really appreciated the spyglass that he received from the boy, it was better than a normal one and could see on a much longer distance. He scanned the horizon of the battlefield. Afara stood near him.

“I can translate your commands; just tell me the idea,” Afara said, knowledgeable of Gallo’s specific cannon commands.

“Damn… that kid really thought everything out,” Percival smiled.

<--->

The town’s gate opens. It revealed five figures in a cloak. Gallo and the Mayor stood there waiting for the gates to fully open. But the brat in the party of five didn’t wait and she approached the two, clearly annoyed by the situation.

“It seems that the northern walls are belittling the empire, even at war we would hold a party if the emperor wishes it.” It was a woman rather than a girl; she was quite developed at an early age.

They were busy; Gallo couldn’t even care about who it was but… the straight and golden yellow hair, she was probably around 16, as per Gallo’s guess. She was a nefarious existence among the circle of the nobles in the central, and he had heard of her before.

It was the 3rd princess of the empire, Carla Felafel. “My brother the 5th prince will be debuting, the hero of the era’s presence is needed in the central… what the hell is that?”

Finally, Carla, who didn’t even look at Gallo, noticed that he was filthy. The Mayor was also there; he had bed hair and was still wearing his sleeping attire.

“You came to greet me looking like that!!! I could kill you for this!!” Carla was enraged.

He smiled and bowed nonchalantly and guided the ambassador’s party of 5. They walked through the empty town; she could hear screams atop the wall, the boy and the man were laughing on their own while ignoring her presence.

The path was not even cleared of snow; for some reason, the boy's and the man’s boots were not sinking in the snow. The knights behind her grunted as they were having a hard time walking the snow with their heavy iron boots.

She sure did announce her arrival a day before she arrived. (She usually does this to harass/test the ruler of the place she is visiting) The other nobles would at least arrange an entourage and prepare their town like it was a festival.

But the northern town felt cold. Finally, they arrived at an empty house. There was a chair there, a crate for a table, and another makeshift bench of what she could describe as a pile of wood.

To add insult, Gallo immediately told the Mayor to take the chair and offered the pile of wood to the princess and her escorts. But it was totally Gallo’s smirk that made the princess snap.

“This the last straw; how dare you disrespect me… disrespecting me means disrespecting the empire itself!!! You are…” Gallo suddenly raised his hands before the princess ended her sentence.

“Oh, I forgot the tea!!” he said, and he opened the crate; there was already a teapot there, it was not even warm… totally cold. He took out 2 beer mugs. He looked at the princess.

“Uhm… do you have mugs? Looks like you don’t, I won’t give you then,” Gallo said mockingly. The Mayor almost laughed.

“Execute this little piece of …” the princess became furious but Gallo’s hands stopped her sentence from finishing. The princess’s escorts were already grabbing their weapons.

“Princess… this is just how severe our situation is… I remember I sent a letter to request reinforcement for the battle in the northern wall as per Sir Percival’s request…” Gallo then clapped his hands, and a servant came down from the 2nd floor of the house and quickly spread a map into the ground.

“Princess… the enemies are called the spike; from here to here, the field is covered with enemies… even without command, they looked like an army in a square formation but moving at the speed of a cavalry,” the knights who were together with the princess were surprised, but the princess couldn’t care about it.

“I don’t care; it's your problem, I’m here for the hero! Where is he?” she had a bratty tone that Gallo really didn’t like.

“He is currently holding the enemy's front wall... Also, he said it would be impossible to retreat right now... He hopes that you forgive him.” Before the princess could retort, Gallo cut her off. “As you have seen, we are fighting a losing battle here. Didn’t you see any townspeople? There are none. This is because there is a high chance that the wall might fall. I requested backups, but it seems that the empire doesn’t care at all.”

The princess, of course, didn’t know anything about it. She was just there to get a gift for her brother, but she was not a fool. The princess puts her hands on her waist and glares imposing her attitude.

“But the northerners have handled it by themselves, and they have never asked for help!” Gallo was a little late to stop Carla’s retort, so he let her speak. It had been a long time since the northerners asked for help, and it was true. The princess was not that clueless at all.

Gallo knew the reason. It was because the request didn’t penetrate into the central continent. He had talked with the Mayor for a while now, and although the Elford clan answered their request, sending a message for help into the central was like sending a message into a black hole.

To further explain, when the message asking for help is passed through, the nobles, who tend to be opportunists, would find ways to capitalize. The help would be totally tainted with political or greedy schemes. On that note, the time the help arrived and its qualities were either late or bad, respectively.

Gallo was an opportunist too. It was a noble’s good trait, but for Gallo, he would always make sure that both sides profit. Trust builds long-lasting bonds, and it thickens the circulation of wealth.

“True, but why would they ask for help right now? It's because they can’t handle it on their own!… Tell this to the kings and the emperor, postpone his parties , and prepare for war. If we fall here, the whole north will fall to the Spikes… Well, at least the nobles will have one common enemy from now on.” The princess could not retort; the cannon fire shook the whole room, dust falling from the ceiling.

Gallo looked at the princess’s face; it seemed that she couldn’t retort. It must have been the first time someone had talked back to her face.

“Take the princess away… If you can’t help, then at least be out of our way,” Gallo steps back… The Mayor is totally flabbergasted with Gallo’s answer. Gallo had to get back into the field now; it must have been around 45 minutes already… A surge of magical power started filling the room.

“A damn mere boy of the frontier tries to scold me?” Carla was flowing with magical energy. Her hair started floating while her dress fluttered.

“Princess, please be calm; remember your goals here,” one of the knights together with her reminded her.

“Shut up! You! We will stay here, and you, by the authority bestowed on me, send a message to Father now! Call for the army! It will take a long time, but I will stay here to even the battle!” With pride, Carla declared so. Gallo was not really expecting that. Carla was just also around Simon’s and his age.

“You are lucky I’m joining the battlefield… Now show me the enemies, and I will turn them to dust!” Carla was a powerful mage.

Her firepower rivaled that of 10 imperial court mages. She used fire for offensive magic and earth for defensive magic. She can also use wind—a triple elemental at her age, considered the peak of magic potential for growth.

“I didn’t expect that... Well, with all due respect, I would like to ask for forgiveness for being rude, but it seems that the princess is much more than the rumors... With you by my side, it will make things much easier!” Gallo bowed. Suddenly, the princess walked to him and hit him on the head.

“Ouch!!” Gallo grabs his head, the princess specifically timed the hit as his head was going up after bowing.

“Enough with the pleasantries... I don’t need you to be formal with me... I’m actually pent up, you see... Show me some targets!” The princess then drank the tea that was not even served for her. “Disgusting!” she screamed. Gallo rubbed his head.

“By the way, how would you transfer that army?” the Mayor suddenly asked. The princess, who was coughing off the tea, looked at them and blushed a little. Talking about human capabilities, it was impossible to mass teleport.