A Person on Terra, With No Books to Read

"Load the crossbows! Anyone who dares to mess around will be shot dead!"

Under Woken's command, the Sarkaz soldiers inserted magazines into their crossbows and loaded Originium batteries. The faint sound of mechanical string-pulling resonated slightly in the ears of the Palermo residents.

"If you want to make a fuss, go do it in front of Lady Sicilia! We are the army of Kazdel, and if you interfere with our mission, I will eliminate you!"

At Woken's roar, the crowd quieted down. Looking at the sharp arrows in front of them, they became obedient and well-behaved. They no longer pushed or shoved, and did as the Sarkaz said. The second airship, which had stopped, resumed its landing.

At 6 PM that evening, the first airship landed near the settlement point reserved by Kazdel, and the second one faintly appeared on the horizon.

The returning airships, along with the two that had flown to Volscian city, took off once again, continuing their transport mission.

At the same time, a group of enormous figures arrived in Kazdel. From a distance, they resembled a high wall. Their eyes, in the dark night, emitted a strange, scarlet glow, and the ground trembled slightly under their marching footsteps.

As the Wendigo troops slowly approached him, Theresica couldn't help but grasp the corner of Shining's cloak.

He had once not understood why the powerful Wendigo tribe was rejected by Kazdel. Now he understood; they were indeed a bit frightening to look at.

Chapter 86: Exchange Rate Only

"Your Majesty."

A muffled voice came from under the helmet. Although the other party was bowing to him, the Wendigo's body seemed to topple over like a mountain, bringing an even stronger sense of oppression.

"Thank you for making the long journey. The community planned for the Wendigo is already under construction, but it will take a few more days to complete. For these next few days, I apologize for the inconvenience, but you will have to temporarily reside in the military camp."

Theresica took a deep breath and said with a hint of apology, but there was no response from the other side.

"What's wrong? If you need anything, feel free to ask."

"Combat tactics are ever-changing. Don't we need to head to the battlefield?" the muffled voice asked.

"Not for now. It's not time for us to go all out."

Theresica said with a smile, and the other party asked, "What are you waiting for?"

"For our temporary allies. When they move, we can move."

"I understand. Where is the military camp?"

He immediately got up, wanting to head straight to the military camp without the slightest intention of lingering. Theresica could only have someone lead them there.

"These guys really cherish their time."

"Well, don't let their large size fool you; they're actually quite considerate."

Listening to Theresica's complaint, Warfarin suddenly stepped forward and said, "They know their appearance doesn't conform to Terra's general aesthetics, so they deliberately avoid crowds to avoid scaring people. If you want to talk to them, it's best to bring only one person, or to communicate with them alone."

"Is that so?"

Theresica was enlightened. The next day, following Warfarin's advice, he brought only Shining to the Wendigo encampment. Their tents were a good deal taller than those around them, making them particularly conspicuous.

"Your Majesty."

"How is it? Are you getting used to it?"

He greeted them with a smile. The atmosphere today was much more relaxed than yesterday. The Wendigos were also less taciturn, and many of them pointed at the airships flying overhead, discussing them with curiosity.

"Your Majesty, Kazdel has changed a lot."

"Yes, they can now accept desert refugees living near Kazdel. I believe Kazdel will also accept you now."

The Wendigo chieftain smiled slightly and pointed at the airships in the sky, saying, "I didn't expect Sarkaz creations to be so popular in Terra."

"Those are airships, civilian vessels used for transporting goods,"

Theresica explained, "The ones that just flew by are transporting war refugees from Siracusa. A creation that makes life more convenient, how could it be rejected? As long as it's useful, no one cares which country made it."

"I saw you building camps for the Siracusan refugees and providing supplies... Are you willing to provide them with such significant aid?"

Seeing the Wendigo chieftain's look of disbelief, Theresica smiled and said, "I've given even greater aid before, perhaps you even know about it."

"Yes, we have heard something about it,"

The Wendigo chieftain nodded. "This caused quite a stir within Ursus, and some even held demonstrations demanding that the Ursus authorities relax their border control policies."

"Is that so?"

Theresica chuckled. What was the point of opening up? Unless they were specialized technicians, Kazdel would not accept people from other countries.

"Your Majesty, we've only just arrived here. Could you tell us how Kazdel fights now?"

The Wendigo chieftain said with some concern, "Our combat methods are probably quite different from here. If we bring these differences into actual combat, we won't be able to achieve effective coordination with our allies."

"That's one of the reasons I'm here today."

Theresica handed over a document that had been specifically enlarged and printed. "This contains the organizational structure of the Siracusan combat group and some combat requirements. The specific adjustments will be made by yourselves. I believe no one understands yourselves better than you do."

"Please rest assured."

The Wendigo chieftain solemnly accepted the document, sighing with relief in his heart. It seemed this king knew what he should manage and what he shouldn't.

However, Woken, the captain in Palermo, wished His Majesty would issue an order telling him what to do.

A scout from the camp moved forward and unexpectedly found traces of the Leithanian army.

Their marching speed was higher than previously estimated, and they would reach Palermo in about two days. However, two days was not enough time to evacuate, and there would likely be many people left in the city.

'Do I have to go out of the city to meet them? That would result in the deaths of many soldiers! But fighting within the city would cause civilian casualties. Evacuating these people was a command from His Majesty!'

He clutched his head in pain, "Has the camp's long-range communicator still not been repaired?"

Siracusa had beautiful natural scenery and many small animals in its cities, but the Sarkaz were born in the barren lands of Kazdel and had never dealt with small animals. They thought they could catch and roast them later, so they didn't deal with these little creatures too early. But the result was that this morning a small beast chewed off the communicator's antenna! Now they were cut off from Kazdel.

They had all come by airship and were strictly limited by weight, so they had brought fewer spare parts for the communicator, but they hadn't expected this part to break!

Just as they were at a loss, an airship slowly began to descend. Just as Woken was about to call for people to prepare for evacuation, someone walked out from it.

"Siracusa combat group dispatch, Palette Squad, Oz."

Before the airship had fully landed, he jumped out first.

"Woken, Camp Commander."

After they met, they shook hands. Woken quickly asked, "Do you have long-range communication equipment? The Leithanians will be here in two days!"

"We know this information. Laterano has already notified us. His Majesty has sent us to delay the Leithanians' advance."

"Just you people?" Woken thought for a moment and said, "I'll lend you all my Arts Users."

"Thank you, we are only the first wave of troops."

Oz said, "We won't go head-to-head with the Leithanians. We will let them into this city and then leverage our advantages here."

Woken's eyes widened at this statement, "Let them into the city? This is a Siracusan city, it will be reduced to ruins!"

"Yes, these are His Majesty's orders."

Oz spoke, "His Majesty said he only cares about the exchange ratio. As for what happens to the Siracusan city, he doesn't care."

Chapter 87: The Man-Eating City

Another report was delivered by a messenger. Adjutant Zha took the slightly crumpled paper, glanced at it a few times, and reported to the officer.

"Sir, there has been another attack ahead. 13 people died."

"Mm, I know."

The officer waved his hand casually and continued to lie in his soft private landship, closing his eyes to rest.

It wasn't that he was cold-blooded, but that small attacks like this had been happening too frequently in the past two days, countless times.

The Sarkaz vermin continuously attacked the Leithanian marching formations. Each time they successfully ambushed, a few would escape. Furthermore, it wasn't the regular Leithanian Arts Users who were damaged, but the armed Infected used as cannon fodder, so the officer let them be.

Out of sight, out of mind. Wasn't it comfortable lying in his private landship?

The officer shifted into a more comfortable position, enjoying the suitable temperature. However, the armed Infected outside the landship were not so fortunate.

They could only tighten the meager cold-weather clothing they had, praying for the cold early spring to pass quickly.

"Before, when the Sarkaz attacked, we could stop and rest for a while. Why are we still advancing today?"

"It seems to be because of a higher-ranking official. We were originally required to enter Palermo city last night, but it's already morning, and we're only just seeing the city outskirts road signs."

The nearby armed Infected chatted idly, exhaling warm air to rub their hands, trying to alleviate the chill.

"If we stop again to search for Sarkaz, that fat pig in the vehicle will be finished. Compared to himself, he'd definitely prefer to sacrifice us unlucky souls."

"Is that so? You know a lot."

"Just lucky to live a bit longer."

The man chuckled indifferently and then sized up the person beside him, "You wear glasses, you seem quite cultured. What do you do?"

"A teacher, I teach children poetry."

He smiled helplessly. He had just accidentally brushed against an Infected on his way to work. The Originium crystal on that person's hand scratched his back, and thus he became Infected and was forcibly conscripted into the army.

"Oh? No wonder you look so frail."

The man looked at the teacher and advised, "Let me give you a tip to live a little longer: don't let Arts Users see Originium crystals on you, and maybe you'll survive longer."

"Oh, oh."

He nodded, not fully understanding, and was about to ask why when a messenger suddenly ran over, shouting as he ran.

"All units, accelerate! Charge into Palermo city!"

The entire team immediately started running. This was the end for the poetry teacher, who was worst at physical fitness, which was why he became a teacher.

He stood with his hands on his hips, gasping for breath, "Why are we running all of a sudden!"

"He wants to snatch the first merit!" someone nearby said with disgust. "Hurry up and run! If we delay him from getting the credit, we're truly finished."

[Whoosh—]

A series of dull whistling sounds passed over their heads, followed by explosions behind them.

The loud noises were terrifying, but without the messenger's orders, no one dared to stop. They could only keep running forward.

"X-axis correction -7, Y-axis correction 5, fire a ranging shot!"

"Understood, watch the impact point."

Behind an inconspicuous dirt slope, a Sarkaz soldier, completely covered in weeds, hid behind the bushes, carefully observing the scene through binoculars.

A mortar shell had just landed next to the marching formation, scaring them and leaving them unsure what to do. But then another shell landed, this time right in the middle of the crowd.

A cloud of bloody mist instantly erupted, and more than a dozen people lay sprawled on the ground. Seeing this, the Sarkaz soldier quickly contacted his rear.

"Target acquired, X-axis correction 1, all gun crews fire 3 rounds, fire at will!"

"Understood."

A brief reply came through the earpiece of the communicator. Ten seconds later, a series of explosions erupted in the crowd.

"Hit!"

He replied, but Leithanien wasn't just standing there to take the hits. Their Arts Users had awakened their Originium Arts.

The Infected corpses lying on the ground suddenly turned into pure energy, manipulated by the Arts Users to form a barrier in mid-air. Several artillery shells were detonated in the air.

The Sarkaz observer could only backpedal as he reported, "Artillery shells intercepted, cease fire."

"Understood."

Various messages were compiled by the communicator and then handed over to the two officers on site.

"Report! Artillery coverage failed, a portion of the enemy has entered Palermo from the west suburbs."

A red chess piece was placed on the west side of the city map. Oz asked, "How many people are left in this city who haven't evacuated?"

"Not many. I've gathered them all in the east district. They'll all be out today. Anyone left behind will have to evacuate on their own."

Woken's answer made Oz breathe a sigh of relief. He said, "The troops aren't fully in position yet, and His Majesty hasn't ordered us to go all out. Let's eliminate this group in the west district and then abandon this area."

The poetry teacher, running at full speed with the troops, suddenly realized the mountains and forests had disappeared. The surrounding scenery had completely turned into buildings. He looked at the tall residential apartments and couldn't help but feel envious.

"After we take it, can we live here?"

He turned his head to look at the person who had spoken to him earlier, but he didn't get an answer. Just then, an arrow pierced his heart.