Here, in the small town of Krotto, on top of a hill. When you went to the outskirts of town, you would get a wide view down the hill. However, as far as the eye could see there was nothing but rocky barren land, making it no place suitable for farming or livestock farming. The town was not a very suitable place for humans to live. So why had there been a small town on this hill since ancient times?
(...Perhaps it's a remnant of a watchtower... A role from long ago. No one knows why they have to live in such an inconvenient place anymore, but they are still following the tradition passed down from their ancestors that "we have to live here"... The reason why this country has an ancient dragon village and has so many ruins is...) (Mile)
Mile was thinking about such things, but she didn't know if they were correct. The passage of time was so long that it wore away and erased everything—
And below the hill, beyond that stretches the wilderness, and far beyond that are the mountain ranges. The sun hadn't risen yet and it's still dark, so they couldn't see what's happening on the ground. However, Mile's highly advanced eyes spotted something wriggling below the hill.
"...hu...man...?" (Mile)
Yes, they were certainly humans, no, those of the human species.
"Why……" (Mile)
The sun had not yet risen, and the wilderness and the distance were still gloomy, but the area at the foot of the hill was gradually becoming brighter. And there emerged a group of hundreds, no, what seemed to be more than a thousand, humans. Mile squinted her eyes and noticed flags and banners set up here and there.
"Is that the flag of the Albarn Empire army? And the words on the flag say... Saint... Saint's Guard?" (Mile)
"Ah, it seems to be a gathering of people from across unit boundaries that has formed within the Albarn Empire army. Apparently, they are a gathering of people who were saved by girls calling themselves saints during the invasion of Askham territory... Also, it seems that all the troops stationed along the borders with other countries have come here. So, the troops from other countries that were opposing them all crossed the border and came here. Furthermore, it seems that the remaining peacekeeping forces in each country, the royal guards and security corps protecting the royal palace, have all come." (Glenn)
"Wha-..." (Mile)
As expected of an A-rank hunter, Glenn from Mithril Roar seemed to have done a lot of research beforehand.
As it gradually got lighter, the others could begin to see the soldiers at the foot of the mountain. The others were also peering, but as expected, they couldn't make out the details like Mile could.
(Nano-chan, can't you zoom in on a target with optical manipulation?) (Mile)
[Leave it to us! We will enlarge the image and create a sound duct. We will pick out you and people you know...] (Nano)
A "duct" is a phenomenon in which electromagnetic waves and sound waves are reflected and refracted due to changes in air temperature, water temperature, density, and are confined to a narrow area, and propagate over long distances with a low attenuation rate.
Then a large image appeared in front of Mile and her group.—No one was surprised by something like that at this point.
"...That flag is from the Kingdom of Brandell Royal Guard.... You're saying they sent out the Royal Guard to protect the royal palace? Eh, is that a royal flag? Ugh, His Highness Princess Morena and the female guard squad! Why are you here?!" (Monica)
Monica's cry was answered calmly by Marcella and Aureana.
"I wonder if the last letter I sent was bad..." (Marcella)
"You mean, 'All right, everyone is fine. We are willing to sacrifice our lives for our friends. Farewell!'" (Aureana)
"Ah! Aaaahhh! You guys, don't mess with me! Me too... I'm also a member of "Wonder Trio". I won't allow you to leave me behind!" (Morena)
"What? This video is two-way! And they can even hear the voice... Next! Please go to the next one!" (Marcella)
At the request of Marcella, the subject of the video was changed.
"Is that the Askham Lord's army? They were left behind because they were close to the border with the Empire and weren't sent to the east..."
"My Lady!!"
"Juno-san..." (Mile)
At this point, these were the only words Mile had to say to Juno.
"Juno, Askham, ...then protect the world..." (Mile)
And then, one after another, what appeared on the screen was—
"They are the last remaining military forces for maintaining peace and defense in each country, the Royal Guard, private soldiers of the wealthy, mercenaries, and hunters." (Glenn)
Continuing with Glenn's explanation—
"Everyone from the elf village. The captain of the second mining site recapture force, along with all the other dwarf troops. And everyone from the beastfolk's village..." (Mile)
Mile was stunned as the images continued to appear on screen one after the other.
"Of course. You didn't think the elves would come, did you?"
"Hehe," said Professor Kureleia with a laugh.
"Hundreds... no, thousands of them, huh... With this..."
"Yes, if we can kill about 500 each, we'll win, right?!"
"Ahaha..."
Monica let out a dry chuckle at the carefree and optimistic conversation between Marcella and Aureana. Only hunters with A-rank or above could do such a thing.
Then the surroundings became brighter and gradually things became visible in the distance.
"Eh……"
And what everyone saw was...
People.
People, people, people...
A huge crowd of people filling the vast wilderness. Then, there was a line of people heading out into the wilderness.
"Thousands, tens of thousands... no, far more than that... Why...? There's no way the combined forces that fought in the east could have arrived in time..." (Mile)
Mile muttered with her eyes wide open, so Glenn asked her a question.
"Do you know how many people in the military actually wield weapons and fight the enemy?" (Glenn)
"Eh? Yes, well... Even though it's an army, there are people with various roles such as logistics officers who carry food and supplies to the battlefield, cooks, medical soldiers, weapon maintenance personnel, messengers, and so on, so I'd say that only about half of them are combatants who train all day long and specialize in battle... But the support workers are accompanying the combatants, right? They wouldn't have appeared in a place like this right now..." (Mile)
"Tsk tsk! The story isn't over yet. So how many people does a country with an army of 100,000 have?" (Glenn)
"Eh... Well, of course, a military that doesn't produce anything but only consumes would only be two to three percent of the population in peacetime, and at most five percent in times of war. If it was more than that, the country wouldn't be able to survive. Even if something extraordinary were to happen, the most we could do would be a temporary figure of just under ten percent. So, if we take 5 percent, the total population is 20 times the military, or 2 million... No way!" (Mile)
"…That’s right. That’s the 5% that are military personnel, the remaining 95% are ordinary people. Here's a part of it. Farmers, artisans, merchants, and all sorts of people came clutching their farm implements, tools, knives, and mop handles. They said they were going to protect their own world, and that they couldn't stand to sacrifice young girls to survive..." (Glenn)
"…………" (Mile)
Then the image showed the withered figures of old people.
"Eh? The old men and women who are regular customers at the bakery?" (Mile)
Yes, they were the old men who were regular customers hanging out at the bakery where Mile worked part-time during his Ekland Academy days.
"Huh? It's the former A-rank party, the "Reaper's Scythe" party! They're still alive..." (Glenn)
Glenn spoke up, his face twisted.
"Oh, it's been a while, miss Adelle... I had thought I would just continue to grow old and decay, but to find that such a fun and rewarding place to die had been prepared for me, what a stroke of luck... I'm grateful, young lady..."
"...all of them in the elderly brigade. 'It's the job of the elderly to die first, and it's up to the young ones to survive and create the future,' said the retired hunters, mercenaries, and soldiers who volunteered to be in the vanguard."
Telyusia explained this from behind her.
"...Everyone, everyone... are all idiots..." (Mile)
"What is this particularly stupid idiot saying out of all of them...?" (Reina)
Reina shrugged her shoulders with a look of exasperation on her face.
And then the video showed—
"The school emblem flag of Ekland Academy..." (Mile)
"Ah, the school alliance. Fighting students and teachers from each country's school... but why does that old hag from Hell, _ELISU_, here? She should have been dead a long time ago!!" (Glenn)
"...Dorm Superintendent?" (Mile)
Glenn was making some kind of fuss, but the person leading the school alliance was the dorm supervisor who had taken care of Adelle at Ekland Academy.
"It's been a while, Adelle-san. You've grown up so much..."
As the dorm supervisor said this with a smile, Mile blurted out some outrageous remark.
"...This isn't an old man's army..." (Mile)
Crack!
A crack had appeared in the world...
"Fu, fu, fufu... you say something interesting... We'll have something to talk about later. Once this battle is over, come to the student guidance office at Ekland Academy."
Saying this, the dorm supervisor smiled quietly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" (Everyone)
Screams rose up from the hunters and guild members who knew about the legendary S-rank hunter, "Hell's Elis."