"Eight hundred. I want eight hundred!"
So Lucas said, taking a contingent of soldiers with him. Most were human; aside from a few Dog Demi-human and Cat demi-human scouts, the rest were all humans. Humans were naturally a race suited for long-distance raids. Though demi-humans somewhat resembled humans—hence the name—they had still inherited certain animal habits. Their minds were nowhere near as sharp as humans', nor was their endurance as good.
Humans were among the most enduring creatures in nature. On a long march, people sometimes had to stop and wait for the horses.
Horses could run fast and burst forward with tremendous power, but on a long march, they were pampered things, delicate and unable to take much punishment. But you, my dear human friend—you had a scavenger's stomach and astonishing endurance. Carts could break, horses could die, dogs, cats, and rabbits could all run themselves to death, yet humans could keep running.
This march was meant to take a city, so they still brought Devil Beast Horses and Field Cannons—not many, just four.
The plan was for each person to carry four days' worth of rations, while the convoy carried another four days' worth, making eight days in total. They were to reach Sakir City within eight days, take the city, rest briefly, then immediately head toward Kief. After taking that city, they would receive whatever news Deruowo had sent—roughly how many men the enemy had mobilized. Deruowo would then secretly send some troops to join Lucas's eight-hundred-man Vanguard Army, and they would head out to fight the enemy's field army in open battle.
The march went very smoothly. In this era, everyone built their strategies around cities. Lucas's lightly equipped force slept in the open and ate whatever they could, avoiding villages whenever possible, and soon reached