...it's so small.

　I was now trapped in a dimly lit, cramped, warehouse-like place with about twenty other pioneer group members.

　This is the hold.

　We are in that wooden boat on wheels.

　I'm sitting in the hold with the others on my knees.

　The rumble of the floor tells us that the wooden ship is now running on the land.

　This was the result of our discussion.

　I remember the words from General Roberto, who has returned.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


"We have been invited to the Imperial City of Leda.

　That's what General Roberto told all of us in the Fifth Frontier Corps, who were waiting with bated breath.

　Reda, the imperial capital, was the capital of the Toluga Empire.

　That's the capital of the "Toluga Empire".

　General Robert had told us our position at the meeting.

We are from the Kingdom of Shumuria, a foreign country.

We had come to this continent by crossing the northern ocean in search of the "Spirit Stone".

We have no intention of being a rival to the Toluga Empire.

　Of course, even though he didn't know it, he also apologized for invading the Empire's territory without permission.

　The reply was.

"We await the judgment of Her Majesty, Queen Ameldaus.

　That's what it was all about.

　Apparently, it seems that 'His Majesty Empress Ameldas' is the person who stands at the top of the Toluga Empire.　

　Of course, it's not an easy thing to meet him.

　However, I heard that the fact that we fought the Black Great Monkeys to help the people of the Toluga Empire was highly regarded.

　Especially, we showed our strength there.

　It seems that this was the best thing about it.

　Illtimina-san, who participated in the discussion, said

"On the contrary, the atmosphere was that if you hadn't shown 'strength,' no matter how many times you fought for the Trujans, you would not have been forgiven for the crime of unauthorized entry.

　He said.

(Strength is justice....?)

　It seems that they were saved by that Toluga style national policy.

　Incidentally, the 5,000 warriors of the Toluga Divine People were one of the forces that defeated the Black Great Ape, which had caused the outbreak of the Great Ape.

　I heard that a similar scale of defeating army is heading to various places.

(So there are tens of thousands of them, or even more?)

　The Tolga Empire is a great power, after all.　

　And to the extent that they can mobilize that many troops, the "Black Great Ape" is also a threat.

　It seems that there are more than a thousand of them here and there.

(This is the Dark Continent........)

　I shuddered a little as I thought of the horror of it all.

　And so we, the 5th Settlers, split up into 20 wooden ships, each with 20 men, and headed for the imperial capital Leda.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　It's been three days since I got on the wooden boat.

I'm bored.

　Solstice blurted out.

(Yes.)

　I nodded to myself.

　I haven't stepped outside in the last three days.

　There's nothing else in the hold except for one private toilet and a small round window about ten centimeters long.

　The only sunlight comes from that window.

　Meals are eaten twice a day.

　We are served mostly grains and meat.

(Personally, I'd like a few more vegetables...)

　What do you think?

　By the way, they didn't even ask me to leave my luggage or armament when I boarded the ship.

(Are you sure?)

　I thought.

It's more like, 'If you want a fight, you're going to get one. To those who pride themselves on their strength, "fighting" is something they should welcome.

　Kilt said.

(I see.)

　When Kirto Amandes, the Golden Mark demon hunter, says it, it's very convincing.

　Well, it's boring, but I'm not complaining about the treatment.

(Not being able to move around much is hard, but...)

　But we are illegal aliens.

　Considering our position, it's enough to be treated humanely.

　Besides, we were told that it's only a couple of weeks until we get to the "Imperial City of Leda".

(Yeah, we'll have to be patient until then.)

　I decided to wait patiently for that day to come.


　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.


　It was the tenth day of the wooden ship's journey.

　We were still trapped in the hold, but there was a battle in the middle of our journey.

　In the wilderness, there was a gathering of giant centipedes.

　They were about one mede in length.

　Inside, there was also a five-medal sized 'giant centipede'.

''Ah-la-la-la-la!''

　The roaring 'Toruga God People' attacked the big Hundred Footers and others, kicking them out in a flash.

(Strong.)

　I thought again as I looked out the small window.

(If there were 400 warriors of the 'Toluga Divine People', would the 400 of us from the 'Fifth Pioneer Group' really be able to win?

　I felt like I couldn't say for sure that we would win.

　Even after that, the wooden fleet was attacked by demons several times.

　And the warriors of the 'Toluga God People' easily defeated them.

　Solstice, who had been watching them, had

Hmm?　Seems like the further south you go, the more demons you have to deal with.

　Suddenly, I said something like that.

(Huh?)

''The northern part of the Dark Continent is the territory of the Black Great Ape, so there are no other demons there. On the other hand, the southern part of the Dark Continent doesn't have the Black Great Ape, so it seems that there are many different kinds of demons there.　

　Really?

(There are just as many demons on the Dark Continent as there are on the Albac Continent, right?

　Perhaps it is because of this environment that the culture of the Tolga civilization respects "strength".

　With this in mind, the journey continued.

　On the 12th day, we came across a large river.

　It looks like it's a thousand meters across the river.

　The wooden boat of the "Toluga Godmin" plunged into the flow of the river without stopping.

　Zapaaan.

　There is an impact, and a violent splash of water pops against the window.

(Wow, I'm floating!)

　The wooden boat was going directly on the water.

　After all this time, I realized that this wooden boat was not a land-based vessel, but an amphibious one.

　The other pioneers also looked impressed.

　Zapaa.

　The fleet eventually crossed to the other side of the river, bobbing with the waves.

　The wheels stepped on the bottom of the water and went up to land.

(That's cool.)

　I get a little excited.

　My eyes light up, and Iltimina laughs at me, "After all, Marle is a boy, isn't he?

　But an amphibious ship is an amazing technology.

It seems that the Toluga Empire is not only a military power like the Shumurian Kingdom, but also a technological powerhouse like the Arun Divine Empire.

　Its capital, the imperial capital Leda.

(What kind of place is it on earth?)

　I couldn't help but think about it.

　And the day after we crossed the great river, we, the Fifth Pioneer Group, saw the majestic capital of the Toluga Empire, the imperial capital of Leda.