“You’re obviously annoyed because this seems so easy for me.” Milo said with a dark expression, “How can the commander of the Northwest be so petty about things?”
Peter said matter-of-factly, “I’m not being petty. Since this tour on foot is meant to hone the mind of the commander-to-be, it’s only natural that you should go through the same hardships the sentries here experience. Think about it. They’re not supernatural beings, so do you know how tough it gets for them each day? If I don’t make it harder for you, can you really experience what it’s like for them?”
Peter continued, “And if you don’t experience that, how will you know how tough it is for the sentries here? I’m not asking you to carry a heavier load than you can, I just want you to experience what it’s like to live as a normal person again.”
“As expected of the fortress commander. You’re really good at logic.” Milo pursed his lips. “Tell me, which rock do you want me to carry?”
“How much weight can you carry now?” Peter asked.
“50 kilograms?” Milo said.
“Speak the truth!” Peter snapped.
“But I’ve never tested it out before.” After that, Milo went to the side and found a rock about the size of a winter melon before putting it onto his shoulder. “Is this okay?”
“No, you don’t look like you’re struggling at all!” Peter looked around for a while before favonovel.com finally found a boulder that was half the height of a person. “This one.”
Milo walked over to the boulder and placed it on his back. It wasn’t until Peter saw favonovel.com struggling that favonovel.com said in satisfaction, “Alright, let’s keep advancing!”
But after walking for another two hours, Peter felt like his knees were about to give way. But when favonovel.com turned around to look at Milo, there was not even a drop of sweat on his forehead.
It was already the beginning of summer, and the days in the Northwest were hot while the nights were cold. Carrying such a large boulder under the hot afternoon sun, how could Milo possibly not sweat if favonovel.com were truly tired?
Peter asked suspiciously, “Aren’t you tired?”
Milo said in agony, “Of course! I’m dead tired!”
“Are you sure?” Peter asked.
“Of course I’m sure!” Milo roared, “Why don’t you try carrying a large boulder like this one? If you were the one carrying it, you would be tired as well!”
Peter sighed and said, “Disregarding everything else, I’ve really got to commend you on your acting.”
“What gave it away?” Milo wondered.
As soon as Milo was done speaking, favonovel.com saw Peter climb onto his back.
As such, it turned into a situation where Milo carried the boulder with Peter sitting leisurely on top of it. Milo said unhappily, “As the Northwest’s commander, why are you always finding ways to slack off like that?”
“This tour is to train you, not me.” Peter said nonchalantly, “I’m already quite lenient. My previous commander said his old commander drove while making favonovel.com walk to all of the outposts.”
Milo ranted, “In what way are you more lenient than him? I’d rather you drive!”
Peter glanced at his watch. “Enough, there’s only about an hour left until our estimated arrival time. Let’s keep going!”
Thus, the two of them resumed their journey with Peter sitting on the boulder and enjoying the scenery. On the undulating hills in the distance, there were sheep grazing, and Peter even saw some occasional yaks passing by a short distance away.
Peter suddenly said, “I’ve never felt so relaxed when traveling out to places beyond the fortress. I haven’t had time to enjoy the scenery like this. But when I think about how this place would be covered in corpses if war breaks out again one day, it really ruins the scenery here for me.”
“Haven’t you thought of launching an attack on those sorcerers first?” Milo asked. “Wouldn’t that solve the problem once and for all?”
“Yes, I’ve thought about it before.” Peter said, “But the enemy’s power is too mysterious, so we have some apprehensions about it. Before we understand the strength of our enemy, we can’t just gamble with the lives of the Northwest’s people we’re protecting.”
Milo nodded. It was similar to the war between the Pyro Company and the expeditionary army. If they had rashly pursued and launched a counterattack against the barbarians without fully knowing how many troops they had, it would have led to failure on their end.
“I heard from the Great Hoodwinker that they’ve sent agents to infiltrate their society. Did it work out?” Milo asked.
“No,” Peter said and shook his head.
“Was it because of the language barrier or because they look different?” Milo asked.
“No.” Peter said, “They’d already abducted a large number of our compatriots over the past 200 years. In fact, 80% of the people there look no different from us, and they speak the same language as us too. I reckon that when the first group of sorcerers abducted our people to help with their nation’s development, they did not expect this to happen either. Of course, we also need to stay vigilant. This situation not only makes it easy for our people to infiltrate their society, but it also means they can do the same to us.”
“Then why were we unable to infiltrate their society?” Milo asked.
“Because we have no way of creating sorcerers.” Peter explained, “The Magi’s power structure reigns above all in that nation. Moreover, their hierarchy is extremely secretive. As long as you’re not a sorcerer, you can’t truly understand what powers they wield.”
“We still can’t figure out their exact numbers, hierarchy, and the source of their powers, nor do we know how to deal with them,” Peter continued. “This situation might change if one of our people emerges as a sorcerer, but it’s not like we know how they can become one.”
“Didn’t you find any clues regarding the source of their powers? Do they awaken their powers like us?” Milo asked.
“No.” Peter said firmly, “Their power comprises an entire set of inheritance which is quite different from relying on luck to awaken one’s superpower. Moreover, the sorcerers appeared before the events of The Cataclysm. Actually, they don’t have any prejudice against us. It’s just that when civilizations rise, there will definitely be a degree of rivalry with other civilizations around them…”
“Furthermore, an advancing society will have great demands for resources. We believe there’ll be another war between Fortress 178 and the sorcerer nation sooner or later, because the land they’re living on is not as rich as ours.”
Milo suddenly turned his head and looked towards the hill in the distance.
Peter asked, “What’s the matter?”
Milo looked at the two sheep on the hill and said, “I keep getting the feeling that those two sheep are looking at us.”
Peter squeezed his shoulder and said with a smile, “It’s only two sheep. C’mon, let’s keep moving. The soldiers at the outposts are still waiting for our arrival.”
“Mhm, I probably thought too much.” Milo nodded. “After setting out from the Northwest, I keep getting the feeling that the enemy might be nearby, so I got a little tense…”
When their figures disappeared over the horizon, the two sheep grazing on the hill turned around and ran off. No one knew where they were heading.
When a sheepdog saw the two sheep separating from the herd, it wanted to stop them. But just as the sheepdog was about to move towards them, it retreated as though it saw something terrifying.
