Their group had two carriages to bring all their equipment, from tents to construction tools. The first carriage was handled by group A and the second one was given to group B.
In the front, Noel and Stella were sitting in the front, with Stella holding the helm.
Since Noel had nothing to do, he was staring at the map to see the path they took. "Ehm… If I'm not wrong, we're going through the Vines Mountain, right?"
"No, we're going the other way, through the Leimas Plain. It's a plain, so we should pick up some speed. If we go through the mountain, we'll need two weeks to go around it. I mean, that's not a problem if we're in our house and don't have to care about our carriage. But we're not…"
"But… Leimas Plain is…" Noel pointed at the Leimas Plain that had been marked red. This red mark only meant one thing.
"Yeah." Stella nodded. "It's past the border. In other words, we're going through the demon territory."
"…" Noel's eyebrows twitched. He had heard that the area across the border was very dangerous. The demons over there were more aggressive and stronger. Unless they were confident in fighting those demons, they shouldn't go near the border.
"Well, it must be scary if you learn it when you're training. But it's better to experience it yourself. There aren't many differences compared to this place, except for more demons." Stella paused for a moment before a smile appeared on her face. She looked at the sky and said, "Do you know about this story… In the past, humans once conquered the world. We ruled over all living beings in this world."
Noel fell silent, listening to this story. This was a story about ancient times.
"Suddenly, the demons started emerging in the world. We don't know what the cause was and where it started coming from. But the demons soon filled the world. They entered one thing after another. They turned our animals into demon beasts, trees into demon plants… They infected all living beings."
Noel paused for a moment and asked, "Now that I think about it, is there any record of a human being infected by the demon?"
"Mhm… I haven't heard about such a case. The demons were supposed to infect the living creatures with less intelligence than us. From what I've heard, the demons have the same intelligence as us, so they can only devour the consciousness lower than them, which is the animals and trees.
"It might be due to the mobility as well, but the plants are rarely infected. After all, the demons will have to live there for the rest of their lives." Stella explained.
"Mhm…" Noel thought for a moment. "I mean, if the world was once ruled by humans, shouldn't there be a record about a rare case like that? I mean, how big the world is compared to our kingdom's territory or maybe all of the human territory?"
"That's a good question. Even I don't know how big the world is… Though, I've heard that if you keep advancing toward the east, you'll find a place filled with water. The water expands to the horizon to the point you will be surrounded by water. This is what I heard from my past friend who once lived in Aikuvell Kingdom." Stella explained. "The more amazing thing is that this water is salty and if you evaporate the water, you can get salt."
"Salt…" Noel widened his eyes in surprise.
"Yes. Our kingdom uses the salt extracted from the ground called Rock Salt. Even the commoners there won't have any problems with salt. They even imported their rock salt to our kingdom."
"Mhm. That sounds like a good place to live…" Noel nodded.
"Well, we also have our own advantages. We might not be near that water land, but we have found several mines that we can use to strengthen our forces. Do you know there is another living area that is said to have a living being that is not human?"
"Yes." Noel nodded.
"It's said they're the product of a combination between human and animal. Humans might have good adaptability, but animals have superior strength. In the past, people wanted to combine them to create a strong soldier.
"They succeeded and they're thriving. However, there was a conflict between humans and this new race, causing all of us to weaken each other.
"Because their number can't be compared to the humans, they've been expelled and stayed there for generations. But at that time, human territory had been reduced to tenth percent of our original size.
"According to the record, it seems we have regained another ten percent, which means, all the combined human territory is similar to a fifth to what we had back then."
"Oh…" Noel was amused by the story. "Then, is there any record about the past civilization? I mean, we're reclaiming our territory, right? There should be some traces out there."
"There should be some. In fact, the reason why we know there's a mine or not is because of the previous map. However, only the royal family has the right to see that map, considering it has been controlled by the four great forces…"
"But if it's the royal family, won't they just be sending you to your death if they lie to you?"
"That's true. Though, unless they're a complete fool who wants to ruin the kingdom, they won't do that on a large scale. Besides, the commander should be one of the few people who were given the right by the royal family to see that map, allowing him to make another decision different from the royal family. You should know about the power balance in the kingdom, right?"
"Yes. There are three great forces in our kingdom. The Royal Family is the head that directs the kingdom. The Demon Banner Army is the sword that fights the demons and expands the territory. And lastly, the Tower Association… they're the ones developing the kingdom with their knowledge."
"Yes. They're keeping each other in check to make sure the kingdom can still run. If one of the leaders is a complete fool, the kingdom won't be destroyed because there are the other two. But it'll be a different case if two or even all of them are fools. I just hope it won't happen."
"Well…" Noel nodded in agreement.
