Diu Ni Leimu had no idea what Charles and the other senior leaders of Minisia had decided far away on Treasure Island, but he and the Holy Crusade Army had certainly benefited a little.
While marching along the coastline, Diu Ni Leimu had actually expected attacks and harassment from Minisian warships.
Sudden bombardments, for example, or nighttime raids by small detachments.
As a precaution, the Holy Crusade Army sent out three times the usual number of scouts while marching. When setting up camp, they stayed as far from the coastline as possible or camped in separate groups to prevent a night raid from triggering a camp-wide panic.
Naturally, this slowed their march, but it kept them safe.
The only way to avoid that trouble was to leave the coastline. But if the Holy Crusade Army marched inland, supplies would become a problem... Yes, they had chosen the coastal route precisely because it made supplying the army easier.
The Kingdom of Bagnia now had a navy.
Its fleet was small, with only five thousand-ton warships launched in the autumn. But those five ships, escorting merchant vessels Chris had secretly purchased from Minisian merchants, were enough to form a maritime transport fleet and supply the Holy Crusade Army.
Strictly speaking, then, the Holy Crusade Army was not simply a land force, but a combined army of land and naval units.
Strangely, however, its voyages went smoothly. The players and NPC sailors sailing nervously through the coastal waters, ready to fight at any moment, never encountered the attacks they had expected.
Strange or not, an uneventful march was a good thing. When the Holy Crusade Army finally reached the vicinity of the Suvano Region and stopped five kilometers outside the Snake-Man Swamp to set up camp, Diu Ni Leimu finally breathed a sigh