Chapter 128: Whose Hand will the God of War Raise (2)

༺ Whose Hand will the God of War Raise (2) ༻

"It's quiet."

"It is. Even the gates of the Mars Temple have been barred entry."

We were near the rear portion of the temple. There, a brown tent, with swords planted all over the place on the surrounding grounds, was erected.

It was my first time in such a place, so I began wondering why I was led there.

"It's a sword grave for the deceased warriors of Mars. Their swords have been put there as a kind of memorial to honor their deaths."

Some of the questions swirling in my mind had been answered by Hippolyte's short explanation. This was, in other words, a tomb for the dead.

However, instead of the eerie feeling characteristic of tombs, the candles and flower garlands placed on the graves gave it a somewhat solemn aura.

"You can come inside. I'm pretty much done with everything already."

Hippolyte then walked into the tent with her uncomfortable-looking shoes.

I glanced for one more instant at all the swords planted in the ground then followed her inside the tent.

The scenery inside the thick erect tent was nothing special.

A faint light was shining on the insides of the tent, coming from a lantern that was hanging on the unusually high ceiling, along with a simple bed. I could also see a sword and some pieces of armor stacked on a shelf in one of the corners.

That red armor with a long cloth attached to the shoulders was clearly that of Hippolyte. Were these barracks something akin to Hippolyte's office? There was also an amazingly large mirror inside the tent.

"Hmmm, this is the first time I've ever invited someone here, you should feel honored, Samaritan."

I thought entering this tent would be nothing special, but now that I was here with the glossy-skinned Hippolyte, my face began burning and I found it rather hard to calm myself down.

Sliing—

Hippolyte drew out the sword from its sheath that was placed in the corner of the tent and began checking it out as if to inspect the state of the blade, then spoke once more.

"The priests and priestesses of Mars are responsible for blessing those who go to war. It's a tradition that has been passed down for a very long time— times so old and long forgotten that we have no recorded history of them any longer."

"I-Is that so?"

Hippolyte began talking about some archaic concepts of some sort, but I was not able to focus on them as I was mostly distracted by the alluring back view of her eye-catching dress.

"But going back to the source, you can notice that these blessings of old were very primitive... very primitive. But their effectiveness couldn't be denied."

Sliing— Thud—

Hyppolyte sheathed the sword once again and returned it to its position.

She came closer to me and then pushed my shoulder until I ended up sitting on the simple bed.

"...T-The kings of old, would take the chastity of the priestesses and anoint themselves with their blood before going to battle. What I'm going to do... is something similar to that. I'm a priestess, who also happens to be a virgin."

Hippolyte started straddling my thighs as she spoke of those words.

The heat that was emanating from her body went through my pants and soon filled my whole body.

Moreover, her unreasonably big breasts were completely enveloping my face. The unexpected sensation along with the warmth accompanying it, made my lower body rapidly expand like a spear trying to pierce the skies.

"M-Miss Hippolyte, w-wait...?"

"Shh, be quiet— Though inexperienced, I still know what to do. The blessing may fail if you distract me at a critical moment."

Her breaths, fluttering right above my nose, had a strange sweetness to them.

Moreover, her body was letting out the musky and tangy scent of a female that would fry the brains of any male around her.

Hippolyte's face was slightly higher than mine, so she naturally looked down at me while calling out my name.

"Hassan."

But being completely ensnared in this warm yet soft honey trap, I couldn't muster an answer.

What the hell is going on here? This kind of situation, it's... Me and Hippolyte? Does she like—?

No, I shouldn't get ahead of myself here, instead I should try to stop her from doing something irreversible. Multiple 'What if' scenarios of how much trouble this action could bring kept popping up in my head.

And then...

"Is it because of your past criminal record that you are trying to participate in this war, Hassan?"

"My criminal record?"

"... Silver-tier adventurers have many rights. Like reading the official documents of the kingdom. An unusual Samaritan like you is bound to leave a record somewhere."

Hippolyte paused for a moment, grabbed both of my wrists, lifted them up, and carefully studied my palms with narrowed eyes.

"No stigma remains, but records cannot be altered. Does Deasros' Arena ring a bell?"

"That..."

Hippolyte's words seemed to have unearthed some memories that I had buried deep into my mind.

An underground arena with chains and broken nails scattered across the floor.

"You look like you want to keep this a secret so I won't say anything more. Now, there's a secret that only me and you share."

"A secret?"

"As Lord Mercury preaches, keeping each other's secrets opens the way to a good relationship. You knew mine already, and now I know yours, so we're tied from henceforth. I don't like living in defeat."

Hippolyte stroked my chest with the palm of her hand as she uttered those words.

"Don't open your mouth from now on, Hassan. I'm gonna focus on bestowing the blessing to you."

And... just like that, her hand, which was stroking my chest, got stuck on the clearly visible teeth mark left by Luna on my leather jacket, leading Hippolyte to frown.

She then stayed silent for a while.

"...As expected, I can't win against her. I hate how defeated this is making me feel."

Hippolyte stopped speaking after she uttered those strange words, got off my lap, walked away a bit then began slowly taking off her shoes and dress.

I was greatly flustered at her sudden actions and the apparition of her bare back, she then however, picked up her armor and underwear that were lying in the corner of the room and put them on one by one.

Cling— Cling—

"I don't think you need my protection. Too much attention and you'll get torn apart like a little frog."

"... Then, is this all? Am I not getting a blessing or anything?"

"No, but I can at least make it so that you won't get killed by a random stray arrow or something similar. Follow me outside."

Then Hippolyte unsheathed the sword again.

"W-Why did you pick it up again?"

"You should count yourself lucky for knowing someone like me."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

As I was coming back to the cabin where Luna and I lived, I could see her head sticking out of the windows, watching over me as I returned.

Luna hid her head in surprise, as she saw me appear in the distance, then immediately rushed out of the cabin after opening the door on the first floor.

"Hassan, uh, how did it go? Did you get the blessing?"

"Blah, she decided against giving it to me in the end."

"R-Really? So what the hell have you been doing there all this time?!"

Luna began looking around my body and frowned when she saw the small cuts and nicks that were present on my leather clothes around the area of my vital organs.

"Did you fight with a tiger or something?"

"Yeah, something like that. I thought I was going to die, damn it!"

Under the guise of training my courage in the face of arrows and swords, Hippolyte trained me to stare at her sword or fists while she would try to hit me.

I'd only get hit, if I closed my eyes. I lost count of how many times I got hit in the hour long training that she put me through. Damn this ignorant world and its ignorant training techniques.

Luna, however, seemed strangely happy at my miserable state.

"Oh, strange... I heard... I heard that the protection of the God of War was quite effective. Hassan, I'll cast a spell to ward off evil spirits then! Take off your clothes!"

Luna quickly ran into the first floor of the workshop soon after saying those words.

I could hear the Thud-s and other kinds of loud noises spreading through the cabin before Luna returned with a paintbrush and a foul-smelling wooden barrel.

"Now that I think about it, I can still do some things for you before you go to war, Hassan!"

Squelch—

Inside the barrel, there lay a type of red paint where all kinds of gross-looking birds were wriggling inside. It honestly looked pretty disgusting.

Luna then crushed them using a mortar and pestle.

Crush— Crush—

The disgusting paste made up of crushed insects then began mixing with the weird red material. Luna then dropped an old-looking brush inside the mortar and pushed it toward me.

"What are you going to do?"

"Battlefield Ceremony! All men of Ideope use magic to ward off evil spirits before going to war!"

Was it like when tribal warriors applied war paint before going to battle? I honestly had no clue what this meant.

Press—

Looking at Luna's tightly shut lips and the intensity of her gaze, I was left with no choice but to allow her to apply this paint on my body.

"It needs to be applied the day before the fight for it to dry well. You'll also have to pray throughout the night!"

"Staying up the entire night before going to the army?"

"Feel reverence! You also have to dance!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We were now at the front gate of the city of Sodomora, which was frequently used as the place to form a party.

As the sun rose, marking the start of dawn to the inhabitants of this world, I could see that there were way more people buzzing around this place than usual.

In their hands, I could see all kinds of weapons, ranging from swords to clubs, including spears and farming tools. Some of them even carried pot lids to use as a makeshift shield.

While I knew that this world wasn't really known for the intelligence of its people, I didn't expect so many idiots to have gathered here today. It was like the oncoming war had dragged them all out of were they dwelled.

I wondered absentmindedly whether this was how the training of the reserve forces usually went, however, I soon recalled the reality of the situation... that this wasn't just a drill, but a real war that was about to transpire soon.

"War, huh? I've never even held a weapon properly."

"It will work out somehow. Still, we who have been called at the West Gate are lucky. They say we're gonna be part of the Young Lady's unit."

With people gathering in groups of two or three to chatter, the gate felt more like a noisy market than anything else.

I looked around to see if there was anyone I recognized among the crowd, but I maintained my distance from the gathered mobs after not finding anyone I knew.

Was I the only one to get drafted or were they sent to other places?

"You have to be careful, Hassan. If you think it's getting dangerous, just lie down among the dead bodies and play dead!"

Luna, who was standing next to me, was relentlessly giving me all kinds of advice to survive through this ordeal. She looked quite put together for someone who hadn't slept a wink the night before.

I, however, was just feeling tired and drowsy at the moment, so I kept yawning to no end.

Tension about what was about to come, along with the drowsiness I felt was slowly mixing up, making my heart beat like never before. The noise produced by the chattering of the mobs didn't help me either, making me kind of dizzy and my mind feel hazy.

I didn't think that I'd have to dance while reciting a bizarre dialect from dusk till dawn.

I finally understand why some of the male warriors of Ideope never returned after going to war.

Those poor guys probably lost their strength before the war even started, and must have died in a ditch after missing a step fucking dammit...

However, Luna's sincerity was so heartfelt that I didn't muster the power to offer any resistance. I thought she'd go crazy before me if I didn't listen to her words.

In fact, Luna had been acting a bit odd the previous night.

Hustle— Bustle—

The sound of the crowd suddenly increased and from somewhere I could hear the loud sound of hooves. Soon after that, knights in yellow armor appeared among the crowd, cutting through the procession.

Leading them from the front was someone riding a horse in shiny brass armor— a clear sign of a high-ranked individual.

"It's the Young Lady."

"It's Lady Enya. She's really joining us!"

"Wow—!"

People raised their hands high and began cheering when they saw the riders in brass armor.

The expressions of the people that had previously been gloomy just a moment ago, as though they accepted their inevitable doom suddenly brightened up at the new arrival. Just what kind of magic was this?

Hustle—

After circling around the crowd for a while, the horses finally stopped at some sort of platform.

One of the riders raised his flag quite high up into the air, then proceeded to shout aloud from beneath the red peacock-feathered helmet covering his whole face.

"We hate the cultists!"

After that, another rider next to him stomped his flagpole on the floor and shouted.

"The cultists shall be eradicated!"

"Wow!"

What the heck?

I was completely flabbergasted by what was happening right now. Luna also didn't seem very aware and was looking around while blinking her eyes rapidly in confusion at the current scene.

"Let's eradicate the cultists!"

"The cultists are our enemies!"

And... as though caught up in some kind of a fanatical celebration, the atmosphere around the crown began to heat up. Was this supposed to boost everyone's morale?

However, standing in the midst of it all, I could only feel awkwardness creeping up my spine— just like an irreligious person being invited to a zealous summer Bible school.

Someone tapped me on the side with his elbow when he saw me standing still like that.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and pretend to cheer!"

"What?"

"The Young Lady is said to be very strict when it comes to the soldier's morale. We might have to go at it for the whole day if you don't cheer louder!"

No fucking way!

So I and Luna raised our hands as high as possible in the middle of the gap between the crowds and shouted as loud as we possibly could.

"T-The cultists shall be eradicated!"

"The cultists are our enemies!"

Wow—!

The banners were finally lowered after a few seconds of intense and bizarre shouting, and with them, the excitement died down and the atmosphere returned to its previous somber state.

I nervously watched on as I began wondering what was about to happen now.

Then a woman with a peacock feather-adorned helmet on her head began talking from the gathered crowd of soldiers. Her helmet was strangely reminiscent of an owl.

"Everyone, I am Enya Sardich, eldest daughter of Margrave Hawkins. I come here today, as a great priest of Minerva, protector of Sodomora, and as everyone's sister in arms—"

Chatter— Chatter—

The podium was so far away from me, and the crowd before me was so loud, that I couldn't hear anything that the lady was saying.

Luna patted me on the sides and then asked.

"What did the Young Lady say?"

"I don't know."

In a microphone-less world, it was obviously going to be hard to be heard clearly in front of a large crowd if you were unable to speak loudly.

People then started clapping, and soon enough, me and Luna imitated them as well.

Dammit, what the hell is going on here!?

An improvised army.

With an improvised chain of command.

So instead of listening to the words of the Young Lady, I decided to indulge a little more in the warmth that Luna emanated as she was standing next to me.

"I'll be right back Luna, so wait for me."

"Y-Yes."

Luna looked up at my face, and quickly after that, tears began gathering at the corners of her sparkly emerald eyes. She then began shaking her head violently.

"T-They say that it's unlucky to send men off in tears as they set off to war."

"Is that so?"

"Hassan, should I just come with you?"

"No, we can't be sure of what's gonna happen on the battlefield. Just stay in the city, inside the cabin, and await my return with Kong Kong."

"Then make sure to use the talismans and the potions I prepared for you!"

To be honest, let alone Luna, I was already stressed enough as is about myself joining this unpredictable war.

Rather than letting her join and increase my concerns, it would be better for her to stay in a safe place where I knew that she would be safe and sound.

"We will set out as soon as I'm done organizing the Lieutenants of our unit."

I could clearly hear the Young Lady's voice this time around. Luna and I just looked at each other's faces while everyone around us started clapping and cheering in an exaggerated manner.

"..."

At that moment, Luna suddenly blushed and said something to me.

Her words got buried in the chatter of the surrounding people.

I really wondered just what she said to me just now.

I decided to ask her when I came back safe and sound.

"Let's go!"

Today, I, Hassan, became a mercenary from a foreign land.

And I was going to war.