After two days of preparation, the Grinder strike force left the city of Tria.

　It was led by the troops of the territorial army, followed by the mercenaries hired on a temporary basis behind them.

　The Marquis of Tria has deployed two companies for this operation.
　This was about a third of the total number of troops that the Tria Territorial Army had on hand, which showed how seriously the Marquis was taking this situation.

　In fact, it was the general in charge of the Tholian army who had advised him to take immediate action, and who had sent such a large number of troops to defeat the enemy.
　Frederick, Marquis of Thoria, is not an incompetent politician by any means, but he is not very well versed in military matters.
　Therefore, when a situation like this arose, it was left to the general to deal with it.

　After appointing one of the company commanders as the commander, the general formed a squad with four spearmen, two heavy armor and three archers, and placed an experienced soldier there as the squad leader.
　A total of forty-seven troops, thirty-eight troops formed by the territorial army and nine mercenary troops, would make up the Grinder's strike force.

　Two company commanders and eight platoon leaders from the territorial army were participating in this strike force.
　One of those platoon leaders, Deken, was given the authority to command five squads.
　A voice spoke from the side to Dekken, who was riding his horse and leading the marching party.

'Platoon Leader Dekken. It's a pleasure to be with you.''

　The voice came from the top of a horse that was advancing parallel to Dekken.

'Platoon Leader Druise, is it? This is the first time I've fought with you, isn't it?

Yes, it's good to see the finest sword in all of Trier, Captain Dekken.

　In the Trier Territorial Army, the right to ride is given to platoon leaders and above.
　Since Druise is also a platoon commander, he is riding in this way and is advancing in the lead group.

　In the lead were the commander of the company, the company commander, the other company commander, who was the deputy commander, and six platoon leaders on horseback, in addition to Dekken and Druise.
　Normally, Dekken and Druise would have been equals. However, since Druise was just promoted from squad leader two months ago and is the youngest platoon leader in age, he treats Dekken and the other platoon leaders in a humble manner.

''With this many troops, we can't afford to lose a single demon,''

　Dekken and his army did not have much information about the grinder.
　The fact that the grinders that originally inhabited the Canobis Mountains in the far west could be found in the grasslands around Thoria was an anomaly.

　Even among the mercenaries who traveled to the mysterious and demonic regions, there were few people who liked to climb the Canobis Mountains.
　Inevitably, there were very few who had ever engaged in battle with grinders.

　There are documents that mention the existence of grinders in the territorial army of Thoria as well. However, other than being a powerful demon, there was no specific description of it.

''Ah, that's right. With this strength, grinders would be an insignificant opponent. Some of the mercenaries complain about being too generous with their troops, but this is just ridiculous. It's just too much against a mere monster.

　Since the strength of the grinder is not clear, the general is using what could be considered an excessive amount of force to defeat it.

　That in itself is not wrong from an army perspective.
　But for Dekken, it's not necessary to be so cautious, and he can't help but feel frustrated.
　If you have that kind of money, it would be much more beneficial to spend it on improving the armaments of the territorial army.

''Not at all. You will be rewarded for simply following me, and yet you have no idea what you're doing by being stingy with the formation of the territorial army. They are, after all, those who wield swords for a pittance of money.

I don't expect mercenaries to be an asset in the first place. They'll do the best they can with a search party.

　Dekken personally finds it difficult to accept the idea of spending a large sum of money on such a person as a reward for participating.

　However, there is a different way of looking at it from the perspective of administration.

　A mercenary is a tricky thing to do.
　Since they are more powerful than ordinary people by nature, once they lose their grip, they can quickly turn into bandits, brigands, or violent devices of the underworld.
　In order to prevent such a situation, giving the mercenaries a good amount of work and charity will ultimately prevent a decline in security.

　We should just get rid of those people and get rid of them from the city. I'm not going to say it, but I've always thought so.

　Dekken was reminded of the mercenary woman he had faced ten days ago. She was a barbaric mercenary who was only strong and knew no civility or honor.
　It was true that her Alice Blue hair was beautiful, and she had to admit that she had striking beauty with her sky-blue eyes, but she could hardly be forgiven for her many rudenesses to her lord and her own territorial army.

　He tried to beat the woman's hubris with the intention of beating her hubris with enthusiasm, and he was defeated. He was humiliated by being treated unceremoniously in front of his lord, not to mention the general.
　In the first place, it was a game to restore the honor of the company commander who challenged the woman and lost, but the result shows that Dekken himself suffered even more disgrace than the company commander.

　The name of Dekken, who had been called the best wielder in the territorial army, quickly fell to the ground when he was defeated by a mercenary woman.
　On the outside, no one is mocking him, but behind the scenes, he has no idea what is being said.
　I'm sure the reason they ordered us to defeat them this time is because they are implicitly telling us that we should shame them by working as spearmen.
　We must defeat the grinder at all costs and make a name for ourselves.

"We don't need the help of mercenaries.

　Blurting out to no one, Deken grabbed his horse's reins.