The ghost of the battlefield.

  That was the nickname given to Roan during the subjugation in the Pedian plains.

  But the nickname back then was given because he accurately found the monster nests. Not because of his overwhelming and powerful strength and abilities.

  A ghost that was a fortuneteller.

  However, the Roan right now, he really resembled an amazing ghost.

  Spat!

  The Travias spear split the air.

  Because of the Flamdor mana technique, mana of white light flowed in the spear.

  Slash! Stab!

  “Kuek!”


  “Kek!”


  The cries of the monsters became mixed with the terrible noises.

  Every time Travias spear moved once, several monsters fell.

  It was a spear drawing a line.

  Blood flowed from the traces.

  Paat!

  The blood boiled the air of the battlefield.

  At Roan’s hand movements, the flagman moved his flags quickly.

  Flutter! Flutter!

  Followed by that, sounds of the horn trumpet and drums were heard.

  Puuuuuu! Dun! Dun! Dun!

  Four centurion squads that were spread in a rectangular shape pressed down the monsters.

  Amaranth troop outclassed them by far in both spirit and force.

  But the numbers of the monsters were more than double.

  The battle became fiercer than what they thought.

  “Injured ones to the back! Quickly fill in the collapsed formations!”


  Roan yelled with all his strength at the front.

  Each centurions operated some squads of ten in an organic shape.

  It was a strange and weird movement.

  Amaranth troop resembled a living being.

  “If we fall, the village falls.”


  Roan yell aloud.

  He had a determined expression.

  He put more strength in his hands.

  And that was the same for the members of the Amaranth troop.

  They had clearly grasped the nature and thoughts Roan had while roaming the battlefield with him.

  ‘We are protecting the villagers.’


  ‘They’re people we must protect.’


  The troop members took in a deep breath.

  The number of the monsters was still more than a thousand.

  Roan and the troop members glared at them coldly.

  In this situation, they couldn’t hope for luck.

  Strength vs strength.

  They needed a frontal victory.

  “Charge!”


  “Uaaaaaa!”


  As Amaranth troop started the charge, the monsters also kicked the ground.

  “Chwee!”


  “Kek!”


  The front of each side collided.

  A great battle unfolded in front of the village.

  Spat!

  Roan’s spear danced and drew a line.

  *****

  “Whew.”


  A long breath flowed out.

  Roan was standing in the middle of the battlefield.

  ‘Did it end?’


  It was fierce.

  So much so that it could be considered the fiercest battle since he returned to the past.

  The surroundings were filled with the corpses of monsters.

  Blood flowed through his armor, spear, and helmet.

  “There aren’t any monsters alive.”


  “The monsters were exterminated.”


  Semi and the several centurions approached and saluted.

  They all looked terrible.

  However, a faint excitement and pride was shown on their faces.

  “Retrieve the corpses of the soldiers that died in battle and heal the injured ones.”


  “Yes! Understood.”


  At Roan’s orders, the centurions replied with strength and scattered to the sides.

  Soon, the troop members started to move quickly according to their orders.

  Roan looked at that for a moment and then went to the entrance of the village.

  Kiiiiiik!

  The closed gates started to open as if it was waiting for him.

  You could see Hans and the villagers from the opened crack.

  Everyone had moved expressions.

  Roan roughly shook off the blood on his armor and stood in front of the villagers.

  “I’m troop commander Roan of the Amaranth troop.”


  He said with his head lightly bowing.

  At that moment, Hans and the others also bowed.

  “Oh my. Tha, thank you!”


  “We were able to keep our lives thanks to you.”


  “Much thanks.”


  At that look, Roan had a faint smile.

  It gave off a somewhat lonesome feeling.

  “I’m glad everyone’s safe.”


  It was true.

  He was glad that the people, the village, was safe.

  However.

  ‘More troop members died and became injured than what I had initially thought.’


  This was the fate of a soldier.

  They were the ones that would end up dying while protecting what they had to.

  ‘I mustn’t forget their deaths.’


  Roan took in a deep breath.

  Then, Hans stood to the front and spoke in a low voice; almost as if he was whispering.

  “How did you realize so quickly and come here?”


  Roan faintly smiled and explained about the patrolling system and the beacons in a simple manner.

  Hans, who was listening to it, nodded with an amazed expression.

  ‘He really has a perfect defensive system.’


  The more he saw him the more he felt reliable and trustworthy.

  “Ah……”


  Then he saw the soldiers retrieving the corpses of the fallen soldiers behind Roan.

  At that instant, Hans’s expression turned dark.

  “It seems like many soldiers died because of us………It seems like you suffered a really big loss for a village that wouldn’t matter if it even existed.”


  Hans looked at the villagers closely.

  Just how much strength did the Amaranth troop put in protecting the village?

  They couldn’t forget their pathetic looks.

  The villagers gathered both of their hands to their chests and slightly bowed.

  Roan shook his head at that look.

  “Our role is protecting your life and well being.”


  There was strength in his voice.

  “We are no different from a family.”


  Roan looked at the faces of Hans and the villagers.

  “I, and our Amaranth troop never forget about family.”


  Even if he was powerful and rich, he wouldn’t be able to live on as a monarch throwing away his citizens.

  ‘That’s a real monarch.’


  This was one of the principles of the monarch he thought that a monarch required and one of the most important things.

  That was the loving feeling towards his citizens.

  “Ah……”


  Hans and the villagers let out low exclamations.

  ‘I knew that he was a fine person……’


  When Roan first came to the village while leading Amaranth troop.

  When they built an even higher and sturdier fence and even built a watchtower.

  When they subjugated the monsters one step ahead.

  By then, they had already felt that Roan was different from the ordinary commanders until now.

  However, they didn’t know that he was a person with such a big plate that he would even put his life on the line to protect the lives of the commoners.

  Hans knew the reason as to why the troop members moved without any hesitation at Roan’s orders.

  ‘If it’s him, they can trust and follow him.’


  Because it was to the point that even he felt like that.

  Then, Roan’s voice was heard.

  “Chief. I have something to tell you in private.”


  He spoke with a careful expression and words different from before.

  Hans nodded.

  “Yes. Let’s go to our house.”


  He was the benefactor of his life.

  He was planning to listen to him in whatever he said.

  Hans walked in front and Roan followed him.

  As they moved inside the fence, they saw an old and shabby but clean village.

  The kids were looking at him with eyes filled with curiosity.

  The ladies pulled those kids into their embrace.

  It was a really peaceful scenery.

  ‘I did well in protecting them while putting my life on the line.’


  He wanted to protect this small and simple happiness.

  Roan took in a deep breath.

  ‘To keep protecting this happiness………’


  There was a need to migrate the villagers to a new place, the south.

  But now, it wasn’t simply to harvest the rich soil.

  ‘The monsters migrating to the north was ahead of the timetable that I thought.’


  Roan knew the reason why the monsters were moving to the north.

  ‘There’s not much left for the exodus of Poskein lake.’


  The lights in his eyes sank down calmly.

  The Poskein exodus.

  It was a strange phenomenon that was revealed only after a really long time even in his past life.

  “Whew.”


  Roan took a long sigh and shook his head.

  ‘I’ll have to hurry up a bit more.’


  It was now time to whip on the running horse.

  For Roan, Poskein’s exodus was a danger and an opportunity.

  ‘And to turn the danger into an opportunity………’


  Several plans flowed down in his head.

  A red light shined in his clear and deep eyes.

  *****

  The exodus of Poskein lake.

  After the war between Rinse and Byron kingdom, the continent folded in a period of safety for a moment.

  The kingdoms that waged war concentrated on cleaning it up, and the ones that didn’t wage war focused on their livings.

  At that moment.

  Monsters started to pour out from Poskein lake to the ground.

  The four kingdoms surrounding Poskein lake couldn’t act properly at the sudden phenomenon and because of that, the region near the lake ended up getting destroyed.

  The four kingdoms mobilized their forces late and went up to subjugate the monsters, and only after three months of war could they exterminate all of their enemies.

  The four kingdoms that were each estranged with each other started to work together in this opportunity.

  At first, the investigation team researched the reason why the monsters started to pour out to the ground so suddenly.

  However, even after spending eight years on it, they couldn’t reveal any clear reasons.

  Then Ferb, who was the librarian from the kingdom of Estia’s library, found out one interesting thing.

  And it was that in a historical book that was in a romero in the library, the ‘continental movement’ was mentioned several times. Written in it, the ‘continental movement’ mentioned about the monsters from Poskein Lake pouring out into the land.

  Although there wasn’t any specific reason written in it, things about the omens were recorded in detail.

  And one of the omens was that the water of Poskein lake, that was supposed to provide water to the soil of the Istel kingdom’s ground, started to flow out into the sea through a passage; making the harvest decrease. Also, it mentioned that an unknown disease would spread rampantly.

  The next omen was that the monsters near Poskein lake moved to the sides to get further away from the lake.

  The romero was recording this phenomenon of Poskein lake as the ‘Poskin exodus’.

  Only then did the research teams of the four kingdoms realize that the decrease in harvests of the Istel kingdom and the unknown movements of the monsters were all due to the Poskein exodus.

  ‘Even the monsters in the region of Tale started to move to the north, evading Poskein lake in the south.’


  It meant that there wasn’t much time left until the exodus.

  ‘The disturbance of the monsters will become more severe every time.’


  As a result, the northern Tale region wasn’t a safe place anymore.

  If the three villages were scattered like this, there was a high probability in giving serious burdens to the defense system.

  ‘It’s safer to migrate them to a new village.’


  The village that was being developed in the south had a proper defense and headquarters where the centurion squads could stay at.

  In the position of the villagers, rather than entrusting their lives to a sloppy fence, watch tower, and inexperienced guards, it was safer to migrate to a new village.

  And even if that place was closer to Poskein lake.

  “Chief. What I want to tell you today is related to migration.”


  Right after he finished saying that, Han’s face became solid.

  “Do, do you want to kick us out?”


  He had an uneasy expression.

  At those words, Roan smiled faintly and shook his head.

  “No. We want to migrate the residents in the north to the south.”


  “To the south?”


  These were words that he hadn’t thought would come out at all.

  Roan slowly nodded.

  “Yes. To the south.”


  He explained for a long while the reasons why they should migrate to the south in great detail.

  The fertile ground, houses provided with no compensation, a safe defensive system.

  And at the end he emphasized that the northern region would stop being a safe zone because of the commotion of the monsters.

  But of course, he didn’t talk about the Poskein exodus.

  “Mmm……”


  Hans fell into his thoughts while he shut his mouth.

  He couldn’t decide this alone.

  “For now, I will consult with the villagers.”


  “Yes. Talk and debate the time you need and decide. And if perhaps……”


  Roan paused the last words for a moment and continued speaking.

  “It would be better to leave the region of Tale momentarily for the ones that don’t want to migrate to the south.”


  “Is it because of the disturbance of the monsters?”


  Hans asked carefully.

  And Roan slowly nodded.

  “Yes. The disturbance would probably become fiercer the more time passes. But there’s a limit in the defensive system of our troop. It’s impossible to guard all three villages set up in the northern region.”


  “Right.”


  Hans smiled bitterly.

  He took in a deep breath and looked at Roan.

  “For now, I will speak with the villages.”


  “Yes. Then, I will be waiting for good news.”


  Roan stood up from his seat.

  The things he had to do here had ended.

  ‘For now, I’ll have to wait for the decision of the people and go subjugate some monsters.’


  He was planning to sweep up everything he could before the Poskein lake exodus occurred.

  ‘For now, I’ll have to go find the alchemists and blacksmiths.’


  He had many things to do.

  He had to build and test the several weapons and tools being developed before the exodus.

  And it was also time to move Daiv and the sailor alliance that was expanding in force in the village of Perr.

  ‘I need to do it one by one.’


  Roan clenched his fists.

  He already had some kind of a base.

  And now was time to raise an axis and build a house.

  And it was time to protect that house.

  End

  Translator: Subak

  Proofreader: st8_lupe.