Capítulo 11: Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Parting Ways and Accidentally Joining the Army
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Thanks to Ash's hornless nature, their journey north was unexpectedly smooth.
The animals moved alone through the jungle. Ash sat up front, driving the carriage, while Aura hid inside, posing as a young lady. She was dressed like a Middle Eastern woman, her head wrapped tightly in cloth.
"Ah, this is so boring. Ash, tell me a joke," Aura's complaint came from the carriage. Without missing a beat, Ash retorted, "Don't bother me. I'm reading a book."
"A new book? What's so interesting about human history? You're so weird."
"I'd rather not end up like you—uneducated and clueless," he replied, occasionally flicking the horse's reins while keeping his eyes fixed on a book he'd recently bought in town, a history of the world.
While Aura occasionally chatted with him, Ash had also discovered something noteworthy in the yellowed, nearly weathered book that had been given to him as a freebie.
"...Five hundred years ago, humans could all learn magic... The Great Magician Flamme had an even stronger master, someone considered the magician closest to the goddess... The Great Magician Serie?"
As he carefully flipped through the damaged pages, it felt as though he had uncovered a long-forgotten, extraordinary figure. He sighed softly. "...It would be great if I could learn from someone like that. Flamme's magic from five hundred years ago was far beyond this era. Serie must've been even stronger, right?"
"Do you really think they'd teach demons?" Aura poked her head out from the carriage, resting her chin on his shoulder as she mercilessly doused his musings with cold reality.
"...I was just daydreaming. It's been five hundred years; no one knows if Serie is even alive. And, by the way, your horn is pressing into my temple. It hurts. Maybe don't get so close next time."
For now, Ash could only feel regret over the legendary magician, whose existence was summed up in just one sentence.
If only he had someone to teach him—if he were the strongest magician in the world—maybe he wouldn't have had to hide in the mountains all this time. Perhaps the village's tragedy could've been avoided. These were the thoughts that would occasionally weigh on his mind after reading the book.
But it was just a sigh of regret. Traveling through time was nothing more than a pipe dream.
For a while, the two traveled at a leisurely pace, thinking together about where they might find a quiet place to continue their magic research.
...
Early one morning, as the sun barely rose above the horizon, the air was cold and slightly damp.
On a seemingly endless, desolate road with no sign of human habitation, their solitary carriage moved slowly. As they neared the border...they saw a group of heavily armed soldiers guarding the crossing not far ahead.
"...Because it's wartime, we're not allowed to leave the country freely?" Ash muttered, troubled. Aura's voice piped up from behind, "Why don't we just kill them?"
"...Don't be rash unless it's absolutely necessary. What if there are more troops nearby?"
"Fine, fine, I'll do what you say," Aura grumbled but quickly dropped the idea.
Ash climbed off the carriage, approaching the soldiers who surrounded them. He reached into his pocket, intending to bribe them to let them pass, but...things didn't go as expected.
Instead of taking the money and sending him on his way, as was usually the case, the soldiers wanted to conscript him, allowing the much younger Aura to leave.
The situation could only be described in one word—conscription.
During times of war, it was normal to drag people into labor or conscript them as soldiers. This made Ash understand why there was no one else on the road—because the local residents knew that soldiers were blocking the way and drafting men.
What should I do? Should I get rid of them? Or should I follow them and look for a chance to escape? Should I leave peacefully? Ash worried for a while but eventually shook his head slightly at Aura, who was watching him from a distance. He was taken away, while Aura watched.
At that moment, the two were forced to part ways.
Although Aura was troubled for a while, she chose to take a detour, leaving the war-torn country and continuing north because…
"It's Ash, after all. There's no way he'll die so easily~" With this thought in mind, Aura left without worry.
However, due to the lack of Ash, she had no choice but to avoid human settlements and take a longer detour through the forest.
As for Ash, whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, he was taken directly to a recruit camp and spared from becoming labor to build fortifications.
When registering his information, Ash mentioned that he knew magic and gave a live demonstration. This successfully earned him a position as a battlefield mage, where he received what seemed to be pretty good treatment.
In the military camp, most of the country's magic was made available to him, and Ash found that there no longer seemed to be a need for him to head north. He stayed in the military camp, studying magic all day long.
Only one month passed this way, and Ash was given a saber and a robe, following the troops as they marched towards the enemy country.
That night, the atmosphere in the mage corps was extremely tense, as many of them, like Ash, had been conscripted against their will and dragged into a war they didn't want to be part of.
As mages, Ash and his three new companions received some special treatment. Even during the march, they didn't have to walk like the rest but were allowed to stay together in a carriage.
Of course, this was more to save their energy so they could play a greater role on the battlefield, but…
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die..." The young female mage sitting opposite Ash was curled up in the corner, her hands wrapped around her knees, her face full of despair as she repeated the same words over and over.
Upon closer inspection, her body was trembling constantly.
Next to Ash, the middle-aged woman sat absentmindedly stroking a letter with her thumb. Ash knew her well enough to know that the letter was from her daughter.
There was nothing strange about this. Most people on the battlefield clung to thoughts of their family or loved ones to help them survive this hell. It seemed that even in this world, it was no different.
Sitting diagonally across from Ash, an old man with a long beard held a wooden statue of a goddess, praying quietly. However, Ash knew that this man wasn't actually a devout believer of the goddess of creation; he had never been religious. He was only praying now because he had no other option.
Whether cramming in faith at the last minute would have any effect, the answer would soon be found on the battlefield.
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