47. Expedition

On the mountain path from the capital to the southwest border, a group of people was riding horses at a leisurely pace. They were Sora, Esdeath, and others, ordered to quell the rebellion of the foreign tribes.

As they had said earlier, despite the foreign tribes having hundreds of thousands of troops, Sora and Esdeath only brought 60 female guards.

Oh, no, plus a pink tsundere Mine!

Originally, Mine didn't want to go. Staying at home enjoying life was much better, but she was forcibly dragged along by Sora. He even grandly said that she had grown up and it was time for her to experience the darkness of the world.

Clever Mine wouldn't believe that big bad guy's nonsense. She felt her life was already dark enough. Like now, she could have ridden a horse herself, enjoying the breeze and scenery, but why did she have to ride the same horse with that big bad guy, and let his two evil hands take advantage of her?!!!

If she were seven or eight years old, Mine would have struggled and resisted, but after countless lessons, she had learned to give up. Anyway, her whole body had already been bullied by that bad guy, so let him do whatever he wanted!

Unlike the depressed Mine, Sora, Esdeath, and the carefree female guards were chatting and laughing along the way, looking around, occasionally picking fruits from the roadside trees to munch on, enjoying themselves immensely.

If uninformed people saw them, they would think they were on a group tour, not going to war?!!!

"General Sora, we are moving too slowly!"

Finally unable to bear it any longer, Najenda, riding a horse alongside Sora and Esdeath, burst out.

With her guard of over a hundred soldiers, these days she had been walking slowly with Sora and his group, and Najenda was already anxious. With hundreds of thousands of foreign tribes invading, countless imperial citizens were suffering every day, yet these two bastards weren't in a hurry at all, still leisurely enjoying themselves!

If possible, Najenda really wanted to shoot this pair of dogs with her Teigu Pumpkin, then lead her troops to the battlefield. But what frustrated her was that she was only going as their strategist, not allowed to bring any soldiers except her guard. How could she fight like this?

Although her guard was well-trained and much stronger than ordinary soldiers, with such a small force against hundreds of thousands of enemy troops, it was undoubtedly suicidal. In the face of absolute strength, any strategy was useless!

This was what made Najenda feel most powerless. Although this pair of demonic men and women were detestable, they and those equally demonic female guards were very strong, and defeating the enemy still relied on them.

So, these days, despite her immense anxiety, Najenda had been enduring it. Even when Sora teased her from time to time, she pretended not to hear. But everyone has a limit to their patience, and Najenda felt she was going crazy if this continued!

This bastard, looking quite decent, why is he so detestable?!!!

"Hey… General Najenda, I think we are moving too fast. We are fine, but look at your soldiers behind you, they have been exhausted these days. Are you sure you want us to move faster?"

Continuing to take advantage of Mine, Sora looked at the angry Najenda and said with a wicked smile.

"You, you…"

Looking back at the soldiers behind her, who were stumbling and staggering, Najenda felt even more furious. She really wanted to shout, "Isn't this all your fault, you bastard!"

The soldiers of the guard corps were each clad in extremely heavy armor, which was already a tremendous burden for them. On top of that, they were heading to the battlefield, surviving on dry rations and sleeping in the wild at night, with no proper rest or recovery for their strength. The first couple of days were manageable, but by now, the soldiers' spirits had been completely worn out!

In contrast, Sora and his group had none of these problems. It was unclear what strange Teigu they possessed, but they seemed to have the ability to store items. At every rest stop, they would take out luxurious, spacious tents and fresh, abundant food. Not only the soldiers, but even Najenda herself couldn't help but feel envious. Yet, these bastards refused to share any of it!

To make matters worse, those demonic guard girls, who wore the skins of beautiful women, often sat in their camp, enjoying their delicious food while mocking the soldiers who were stuck with dry rations and sleeping in the wild!

Several times, soldiers, unable to contain their anger, tried to confront them, only to be kicked back, nearly suffering serious injuries!

As a result, over the past few days, Najenda's resentment towards Sora and his demonic women had grown immensely. Even she, who was usually calm and resourceful, felt an overwhelming urge to crush them all into dust!

"Maa, maa, General Najenda, don't be angry. Women who get angry often tend to get wrinkles and age faster, you know!"

Every time Sora saw Najenda, the usually composed and unflappable boss who was deeply relied upon by her Night Raid comrades, showing such frustration in front of him, he felt an unusual sense of enjoyment.

Bullying the Empire's first and exceptionally talented female general was not something everyone could enjoy!

"I, I…"

If she could, Najenda really wanted to shout, "I don't care!"

However, when the words reached her lips, she found herself unable to say them. In truth, she did care.

Although she was a general of the Empire and always appeared strong and resolute in front of her subordinates, she was still a young woman in her twenties!

In the original story, after losing an arm and an eye to Esdeath, she cut her hair short, making herself look more masculine. But now, she was still a genuine woman. How could she not care?

"Hahaha, General Najenda, I was just teasing you!"

"Maa, since you want to speed up, let's pick up the pace!"

Although he found it amusing to tease her, Sora knew his limits. He still planned to win her over and didn't want to push her to the point of outright hatred.

"Girls, pick up the pace!"

After calling out to the guard girls behind him, Sora whipped his horse and galloped away with Mine.

Esdeath, standing nearby, gave a mocking glance at the still bewildered Najenda. She could feel that the time to "train" this woman was not far off. Licking her lips, she followed.

The guard girls, who had been chatting and enjoying the scenery, immediately sped up upon Sora's command. However, these shameless girls couldn't resist turning back to make faces at Najenda and her soldiers.

"Damn it! All of you, get your spirits up and speed up!"

Najenda was initially surprised and pleased when Sora suddenly agreed to increase the pace. But seeing Esdeath's unsettling smile and the mocking faces of the guard girls, she flared up again, shouting at the exhausted soldiers behind her.

The soldiers, encased in their armor, were on the verge of tears. A group of grown men, they had been constantly teased and belittled by a bunch of girls these past few days. It was utterly humiliating!

"Roar!!!"

Letting out angry roars, the soldiers, determined to reclaim their dignity, hurriedly followed…