Chapter 142: The Republic is Mustering Its Troops

Chapter 142: The Republic is Mustering Its Troops

After a bit of a delay, Airael finally crawled out of bed.

Once she had dressed and tidied herself up, she stepped out of the room and found Celia and Aurora waiting—or rather, standing guard—at the door.

“Celia, how long have you been waiting here?”

Seeing them, Airael asked.

“About two hours,” Celia replied.

“How long has Axi been gone?”

“Also two hours!”

Airael nodded, indicating she understood.

At the same time, she was quite surprised.

This guy’s recovery ability is off the charts!

After such a wild night, he’s up on time.

To think, she barely managed to keep it together while Arthur was the one actually expending the “energy.”

She could totally feel just how much he’d given yesterday.

It felt like they’d been apart for ages, or were about to be.

This kind of craziness was bound to wear oneself out eventually.

A young man should really cherish his body more!

While internally critiquing, Airael completely forgot that she had also been lost in desire last night.

After venting about Arthur in her mind, Airael’s mood lightened, and she said to Celia and Aurora, “I’m going to have breakfast now.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Airael suddenly remembered something and stopped in her tracks to ask, “By the way, did Axi tell you what he was going to do?”

“No!” Celia shook her head in response.

“Did you ask him?”

“No!” Celia continued to shake her head.

Hearing this, Airael paused for a moment and told her, “Next time, you should ask him appropriately.”

“Yes!” Celia replied without further discussion.

No matter how reasonable, since it was Your Majesty’s command, they simply complied.

As for whether Axi would say anything, that was Axi’s business.

Besides, Airael hadn’t pressured them to find out Axi’s whereabouts.

She just wanted them to ask casually.

After sorting this out, Airael led them off to breakfast.

However, by then, most of the morning food was sold out, and finding anything appetizing turned out to be quite a challenge.

As for stale bread and leftovers? No thanks!

She had eaten that stuff due to limited circumstances before.

Now that she had the means, she wasn’t going to shortchange herself!

It must be said, Airael was not a complete miser.

While she knew waste was shameful, as long as she finished what she bought, it was all good.

Can food in her belly be called waste?

And if it isn’t necessary, why live a lesser life when she could enjoy a better one?

In this regard, she and Arthur shared a common perspective.

But still, she had to find something, no matter how tough!

After all, she was hungry!

On the streets, Airael led Celia and Aurora in their search.

Whenever Airael came across a snack she liked, she generously bought it and stuffed it into her mouth.

While eating, they also strolled around, enjoying the bustling human city.

Having been there for several days, Airael hadn’t truly appreciated this city yet.

Machia’s splendor was undeniably evident.

Though just an inland city, it was quite well-connected and steeped in history.

Moreover, while it lacked sea transport, it did have waterways.

As a settlement for humans, water had always been a vital resource—especially since it was the capital of a kingdom.

A large river flowed by Lanahl city, providing water and transport conveniences to this massive and thriving metropolis.

Plot twist!

While walking along the busy streets, Airael momentarily forgot many things.

She felt like an ordinary girl enjoying shopping and the joy brought by various local snacks.

Seeing Airael so happy, Celia and Aurora naturally allowed her to do her thing.

Only, they subtly heightened their vigilance towards their surroundings.

This way, Airael could enjoy her blissful life worry-free.

Everything continued smoothly until they encountered a group of people.

To be precise, an entire battalion of fully armored soldiers.

Since there was a military procession, the road was naturally blocked.

They had to wait for the army to pass before anyone could continue walking.

Airael and her companions were no exception.

Forced to stop, Airael carefully surveyed the passing army.

She noted that this troop was impressive.

They could be called an elite force.

There were about a thousand of them, all clad in full armor, and their strength was generally at the intermediate warrior level.

Given such an elite unit, their origins were certainly noteworthy.

At that moment, discussions about the troop’s background buzzed through the crowd.

“I hear the fighting in the north isn’t going well. Looks like the Governor is about to lead a personal campaign this time,” one person said.

“Really? I doubt it! The orcs can only act tough in the north; they are no match for our human army,” another replied.

“…”

From their chatter, it was clear that the people were rather confident about their race or, shall we say, their nation.

Yet, the orcs were no pushovers either.

Humans were the ones attacking, and expeditionary forces could encounter plenty of problems.

Airael thought to herself, making no further effort to listen to their conversations.

In this matter, she had her own judgment.

Firstly, the frontline situation was definitely not looking good.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be mustering an army.

Keep in mind, this costs money.

And not just a little!

The more troops gathered, the higher the expenses.

Previously, this country had gathered one batch of troops, and now another.

If the war was not resolved quickly, the massive costs could potentially crush this nation.

A while later, the roughly thousand-strong force finally passed by them.

Traffic was restored on the road.

Airael once again immersed herself in shopping and spending.

It was as if the earlier incident had never occurred.

Only she knew precisely what was on her mind.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Arthur was also active in Lanahl.

Previously, as a well-known mercenary, he had some clout.

However, he hadn’t really leveraged any of it, so picking it up now was somewhat challenging but not impossible.

For Arthur, people were quite eager to befriend him.

Especially after learning that Arthur was about to compete against the up-and-coming Cain at the Grand Arena.

Many expressed confidence in Arthur, believing he would win and achieve great prospects.