The next day, Iri obtained some bandages and gauze from her attendant, who was responsible for looking after her. She fashioned a self-made eye patch and put it on, covering her left eye, which was the one with the red pupil.
When Gelos saw Iri's new look, he smiled bitterly and apologized to Iri, asking her to be understanding of Death Knight. It seemed Gelos misunderstood that Iri was doing this to cover up a black eye or something from her fight with Death Knight, but that wasn't it... She was merely trying to slightly conceal her features, and didn't it look quite cool (chuunibyou)?
While Iri was still feeling pleased with her new look, the attendant who had guided her yesterday came running over and told Iri that her troops had already assembled and wanted Iri to come and see them.
He also instructed Iri to prepare her luggage today, as they would depart tomorrow. Iri didn't have much luggage to pack anyway, as it was all stored in her spatial bag. There was no problem leaving now, but she still wanted to see what kind of troops that old man had prepared for her first!
Then, Iri followed the attendant, winding their way to a place that resembled a training ground. Indeed... there were quite a few people standing neatly in formation, waiting for Iri to arrive. However, as soon as Iri saw these people, she became melancholic.
It wasn't that she was dissatisfied with these people; rather, seeing them standing so neatly, like a regular army, reminded Iri of Nazarick. Nazarick should have officially occupied E-Rantel by now, right?
Ugh... It was quite regrettable that she wasn't present for Nazarick's official entry into E-Rantel! She wondered if the play that Ainz-papa and the Crown Prince were performing went smoothly?
That was the part where the children threw stones at Ainz-papa. Since Iri had arbitrarily changed the setting there, Iri had altered it so that Feifei-daren, Ainz-papa's son, stepped forward to confront his father for the sake of E-Rantel's people. It should be fine, right? It's a pity she wasn't there... otherwise, she definitely would have had a role.
"Clementine-daren?" Seeing Iri's melancholic expression, the attendant cautiously asked.
"Uh... How many people are here?" Iri asked casually, snapping out of her thoughts.
"There are a total of one hundred people, and including the logistics support team, there are one hundred and twenty in total," the attendant replied.
What? Iri was instantly stunned. There seemed to be a lot of people, but why only a hundred? Iri could hardly believe it. She then quickly walked up to a place resembling a grandstand on the training ground, stood at a high vantage point, and took a closer look. The attendant really hadn't lied to her; it was probably around a hundred people.
This made things difficult. She had originally thought that old man would assign a few of her colleagues from Black Scripture to come along, but she didn't expect them to be ordinary monk soldiers.
Never mind ordinary soldiers... their numbers were so few? A hundred people? That's not even enough to fill a tooth! It would be more convenient for her to go alone. Having these hundred people follow her would only get in the way and serve no purpose!
The monk soldiers below saw Iri's conflicted expression on the platform and began to whisper among themselves. They probably didn't expect their commander to be an unfamiliar little loli.
"Uh... these people..." Iri thought about her words. How could she politely decline these hundred people?
"What's wrong, Clementine-daren? Do you have any other requests?" the attendant asked.
"I don't have any requests... but, could you please convey to His Holiness the Pope that I can complete this mission alone? Having these people follow along just feels..." Iri tried to say to the attendant beside her in a roundabout tone.
However, as soon as the people below heard Iri's words, they immediately became agitated, talking about loyalty to the True God, making up their minds, and letting the beastmen witness the bravery of Theocracy's warriors. This was already enough.
Someone in the front row, seeking death, yelled, "What does a stinky little brat know!" This single sentence completely enraged Iri.
I'm doing this for your sake! How dare you call me a little brat! Although from my appearance, I am indeed a loli!
"Hey! You! I know you are loyal to Theocracy! I know you are all brave! But once a person dies, there's nothing left!" Iri raised her voice and roared, then stomped her foot on the edge of the grandstand with a rather "domineering" gesture, looking down at them with an extremely disdainful gaze.
"Dying for the country, the True God will remember our loyalty!" Someone shouted this, and then the other monk soldiers below followed suit.
"Are you idiots! There are so many ways to show loyalty, why choose'suicide'?! Do you know what kind of opponents you are about to face this time? They are beastmen! Thousands and tens of thousands of beastmen! And you! Just a pitiful hundred people? Do you have the confidence to take on ten each? Can you?" Iri roared, extremely displeased.
The people below instantly fell silent. Although Theocracy strongly repelled other races, they were well aware of the difference between humans and other races. The beastmen's physical prowess was inherently far superior to humans, and this time, the numbers were extremely disproportionate. Basically, this mission was a suicide mission.
In fact, when these people were selected, they had already resolved to die for their country, otherwise they wouldn't have said such things. Iri understood this very well.
"I'm afraid everyone here understands! Forget about one against ten? Can anyone here, uncles, guarantee a one-for-one trade?" Iri continued to roar.
The monk soldiers below looked ashen... They also understood this very well. One-for-one? It would be difficult to even achieve three-for-one, wouldn't it?
The attendant at her side, seeing Iri utter such morale-damaging words before their departure, immediately panicked.
"I know you uncles are very brave, and very loyal. Even though you know this mission is a one-way trip, you still stand here without hesitation. This already demonstrates your loyalty to Theocracy." The whip was done, now for the candy, Iri thought.
"The True God and His Holiness the Pope have also seen your loyalty, and that is enough. There's no need to waste your lives in such a meaningless place. The True God will indeed remember your sacrifices, but uncles, in your hearts, do you have no family besides the True God and His Holiness the Pope? Indeed... dying for the country will bring honor to your families, but what after the honor? All that remains is the pain and sorrow of losing your loved ones!" Iri continued.
"Um... Clementine-daren..." The attendant increasingly felt that what Iri was saying was wrong and wanted to stop Iri from continuing her outburst, but didn't know how to stop her. The monk soldiers below also lowered their heads.
"The True God and His Holiness the Pope still need you uncles to continue serving Theocracy in the future, so let me, who is capable of doing so, complete this suicide mission for you!" Finally, Iri patted her chest and said with full confidence.
"But... seeing a little sister your age go to the battlefield alone..." Someone below said this again.
"Heh heh heh! I am Clementine, the Ninth Seat of Black Scripture! Can mere beastmen trouble me?! As long as I take action... all problems are no problem! Uncles, just stay at home and wait for the good news of my triumphant return!" Iri continued.
"Um..." The attendant was completely at a loss as to what to do.
"Where's the applause!" Seeing the bewildered crowd of uncles below, Iri asked, very displeased.
Finally, someone started clapping, and the others followed suit. Only then did Iri, satisfied, say "Dismissed" and left the training ground.
Originally, these hundred people following her would be useless except for delivering takeaways to the beastmen, and they would also greatly slow down her journey. One must know that these people were all infantry. How long would it take to march to the Dragon Kingdom?
By the time she brought these hundred people to the Dragon Kingdom, the Dragon Kingdom would probably have already cooled down, right? So the most convenient way was to have that old man arrange someone who could use teleportation to send her there. Although she didn't know how far the Dragon Kingdom was, with teleportation, even a week would probably be enough, right? Iri thought so, and then she made her request to see the Pope to the attendant, whose face was ashen.
The attendant immediately nodded in agreement, and then she saw him hold his hand to his ear and talk to himself, saying that Clementine-daren had something to ask to see His Holiness the Pope. It seemed this attendant could use message magic. Don't natives not use messages much? She remembered that the native version of message magic was easily interfered with and cross-talked, so it was basically not used much.
Subsequently, the attendant turned to Iri and said that His Holiness the Pope was very busy at the moment, and if she had any questions, she should just tell him directly. Iri naturally brought up what she had just thought: she didn't need these hundred people; please send someone who could teleport to the Dragon Kingdom to take her there.
The attendant also relayed Iri's words truthfully. After a long wait, the old man, the Pope, finally replied, agreeing to Iri's request. He said that he could assign a priestess who could send her to the Dragon Kingdom, but the condition was that Iri must take that priestess with her.
This was clearly a collar, wasn't it? She was already being watched by Astrology Thousand Miles, and now they were putting a collar on her too? This Pope was too cautious!
But it didn't matter... If she had to be accompanied, then so be it. Anyway, before gaining Theocracy's trust, Iri didn't intend to cause any extra trouble. However, if possible, she still wanted to go back to Nazarick to see.
She wanted to go see E-Rantel, which was under Nazarick's dominion, after all, that was Ainz-papa's first step in world conquest!
And she had previously instructed Deitrus, the Head Librarian of the Library, to help her get some flying scrolls. Iri also wanted him to analyze the magic mask that Gelos had given her last time, which had already lost its effect, to see if he could replicate a few first.
In short... she had to find an opportunity to return to Nazarick! Iri thought so.
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