The next day, late at night.
Satou Kazuma and Natsuki Subaru, with Rem and Ram and others, were riding in a dragon carriage, rushing at full speed to the place where they had previously encountered the White Whale.
Emilia went with them.
She had heard that the other candidates were participating in this operation, so no matter what, Emilia had to do her part.
"Kazuma-sama, how are you sure the White Whale will appear in this place?"
On the way, Emilia asked curiously.
"It's because of Aqua's abilities."
Satou Kazuma said, following Aqua's previous explanation.
After all, in many people's eyes, Aqua is a very special person, so adding a little special ability to her character is reasonable.
Just make up some kind of blessing effect when the time comes.
"Speaking of which, where is Aqua going?"
"She and Geuse have something to deal with first, and then they'll meet us at the destination."
Satou Kazuma answered.
In reality, Aqua and Geuse were bringing the witches—the followers of the Axis Church—to support them.
After all, Satou Kazuma and the others were going to face a super monster that had been causing trouble in the world for over four hundred years, so it's always good to be safe.
"We're here."
As the dragon carriage stopped, Satou Kazuma got out and found that the place was already packed with people.
On one side were fully armed, well-trained soldiers, who seemed to be carrying some special magic devices, like cannons.
Crusch, wearing armor, was standing in front of them, giving a pre-battle speech.
On the other side was a completely different kind of army.
Iron Fang, a mercenary group under Anastasia.
Anastasia and Julius stood to one side, along with a tall demi-human.
He was burly, with a large sword hanging at his waist, and above his neck was a head like a wolf's.
Ricardo Welkin, the leader of Iron Fang.
"Hey, kid, are you the one planning this operation?"
Ricardo noticed Satou Kazuma's presence, crossed his arms, and spoke in a loud voice, with the same accent as Anastasia.
"Wow, a dog-man!"
Satou Kazuma looked at Ricardo and couldn't help but exclaim.
This was the first time he had seen a demi-human with such obvious features.
Satou Kazuma had seen a few demi-humans before, like Rom, who was a giant, and Felix, who was a cat-boy.
But at first glance, those two didn't look much different from humans.
Rom was tall, but he had a face that was similar to a human's.
Felix, aside from his ears and tail, was no different from an ordinary human.
But Ricardo was completely different from humans.
Instead of a demi-human, it would be more accurate to call him a werewolf.
"Geez, kid, I, I am a dog-man."
Ricardo scratched his head and smiled.
Usually, people could tell at a glance that Ricardo was a werewolf, but he would jokingly say that he was actually a dog-man.
But now, Satou Kazuma directly called him a dog-man, which left Ricardo at a loss for what to say.
But he immediately stepped forward and patted Satou Kazuma on the shoulder:
"I'm really impressed with you, kid, being able to organize so many people and come up with a plan to deal with the White Whale. I thought it would be some old guy who's been on the battlefield all the time, but I didn't expect you to be so young."
He had no idea that Satou Kazuma had to do all this.
"Well, to protect the safety of the world, of course I have to stand up!"
Ricardo's praise made Satou Kazuma a little giddy, and an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face.
Cool, so cool!
Is this what it feels like to be a hero!
When he first came to this world, Satou Kazuma still had the heart of an adventurer.
But Aqua almost single-handedly destroyed Satou Kazuma's dream of being a hero.
"Kazuma-sama."
Julius bowed deeply to Satou Kazuma. In every aspect of his words and actions, he was perfect, so he was called the perfect knight.
Anastasia stood by his side. At first, Julius was against her participating in this battle, because defeating the White Whale was too dangerous.
But Anastasia thought that the other candidates were going to participate, and even Priscilla, who was hard to deal with, had been persuaded by Satou Kazuma, so she was a little curious.
She was curious about what Satou Kazuma could do and wanted to see it for herself.
"Kazuma-sama, where is Aqua-sama?"
At this time, Crusch noticed Satou Kazuma's arrival and asked politely.
"Aqua is... also gathering people. She should be here soon..."
As Satou Kazuma answered, he heard shouts in the distance.
Because the distance was too far, Satou Kazuma couldn't hear the sounds clearly at all.
As a large group of people came towards Satou Kazuma and the others at a terrifying speed, the latter realized what they were shouting.
"Eat when you want, drink when you want!"
"Run away from things you can't solve!"
"It's the world's fault, not yours!"
"No breast pads allowed!"
These people were shouting the heretical sayings of Aqua's Axis Church.
Satou Kazuma gasped and looked at these people with a grimace.
These guys looked... even more fanatical than before.
Had they been trained into this in just twenty-four hours?
Aqua, you monster.
These followers were actually wearing their clothes inside out, which looked completely different from the usual Witch Cult.
Even their eyes revealed a kind of almost foolish clarity.
Aqua's membership application was a brainwashing tool, wasn't it?
"Whew, that was tiring!"
At the front of all the people, Aqua wiped the sweat from her forehead and said to Satou Kazuma and the others.
"Aqua-sama, who are these people?"
Crusch asked curiously, not expecting Aqua to have so many helpers.
"These people are all my followers!"
Aqua said to Crusch with a smile, then turned to look behind her.
The followers were still raising their arms and shouting the teachings of the Axis Church.
"I see, I admire Aqua-sama's personal charm. You've gained so many followers in such a short time."
Crusch said with a smile.
She had heard some things about Aqua before, that she seemed to have started some activities in the royal capital and had gained many followers.
But Crusch didn't expect there to be so many people, and that they were all willing to risk their lives for Aqua.
"Gee, your clothes are so special?"
Felix looked at the followers' clothes curiously. It looked weird to wear clothes backwards.
"That's because... Aqua's sense of style is out of the ordinary."
Satou Kazuma explained with a smile.
After all, saying that these were Witch Cult uniforms could cause a fight right then and there.
"So, is everyone here now?"
Satou Kazuma said, looking over everyone.
Crusch and Anastasia had both arrived with plenty of people.
Although the Emilia camp didn't have enough subordinates, Emilia herself and RemRam were very strong fighters.
As for his side, Aqua's fighting power could be ignored, but she could help with logistics, those followers could also act as fighters, and Elsa and Beatrice could serve as insurance.
So...
"Priscilla, where did that girl go? Did she change her mind again?"
At that moment, a dragon carriage with a fiery red color slowly drove up.
It was Al and Priscilla.
"Princess, we're here."
Al stopped the dragon carriage and helped Priscilla out of the carriage.
"Making mortals wait is also a pleasure!"
Priscilla smiled, and she had changed back into the gorgeous red dress she had worn before.
"Hey, hey, we've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Satou Kazuma walked up to Priscilla.
"So, where are the others?"
"What others?"
Priscilla held her fan in front of her face.
"Your other subordinates?"
"Subordinates? Isn't Al here?"
"Wait, you just brought Al with you?"
Satou Kazuma looked at Priscilla in disbelief.
Was she really just here to make an appearance?
When Satou Kazuma went to Priscilla's mansion before, he noticed that she didn't have many subordinates, but he thought that since she was participating in this White Whale hunt, Priscilla would bring some people with her.
But she only brought two people?
That's even less than Emilia's side!
"For me to participate in this activity of mortals is already a gift to you."
Priscilla smiled indifferently and walked past Satou Kazuma.
Damn, I shouldn't have called this girl.
But well, I did get to touch her legs, so it's not a complete loss, I guess.
Satou Kazuma shook his head and didn't pay much attention.
"Now that everyone's here, Kazuma-sama, do you have any tactical plans?"
Crusch and the others gathered around Satou Kazuma, waiting for his answer.
Satou Kazuma was enjoying this moment a little.
"The White Whale isn't an easy enemy to deal with. It's huge and flies in the air."
Satou Kazuma gestured with his hand.
"This means that at first, we can only use ranged attacks, and we have to be careful of the White Whale's abilities. It can create fog to block our view, and it can even cause mental pollution—but most importantly, the White Whale has another way to use fog to attack. People who get hit will be erased from existence, and no one will remember them."
"An ability that can erase existence?"
Anastasia frowned.
"That's right."
"Kazuma-sama, how do you know that?"
Crusch crossed her arms and asked curiously.
The White Whale is one of the most mysterious things in this world. Everyone knows that it has caused countless terrible disasters, but no one has ever been able to see it in person.
Because everyone who has seen the White Whale is dead.
Even the former Sword Saint of Lugunica.
"This... you can ask Aqua."
Satou Kazuma turned his head and pointed to Aqua.
When you can't answer a question, let Aqua answer.
"Huh, ask me? How would I..."
Aqua looked at everyone in a daze at first, until she saw Satou Kazuma's eyes blinking like Morse code, and then she suddenly understood.
"That's right, this is all my ability! I can see the future, I can..."
"Aqua-sama's abilities are special, but there are limits to their use. We can only know so much for now!"
To prevent Aqua from saying something outrageous that she couldn't take back, Satou Kazuma had to interrupt her.
"Aqua-sama can do that much?"
Emilia's face was full of surprise, and the soldiers around her were also discussing it.
They had heard many rumors about Aqua before.
There were rumors that Aqua was favored by the Divine Dragon, and some even said that Aqua was the incarnation of the Divine Dragon.
But no matter what the rumors were, they could be sure of one thing.
Aqua is definitely a very special person.
"After the White Whale appears, we'll immediately use all of our ranged attacks. As long as we can shoot the White Whale down and bring it to the ground, we'll have a big advantage!"
"We've brought magical cannons that can attack from a distance, which should be useful."
Crusch nodded.
"Ram can also—"
"Hold on."
Satou Kazuma immediately held out his hand to stop Ram.
"You've only just recovered your strength, and you're not very good at controlling it yet, so Ram, don't attack yet, just be a backup."
Ram's actual strength is very strong, and even though she has only just recovered her strength and is a little rusty, her fighting power is still not to be ignored.
But Satou Kazuma didn't want to be accidentally hit again.
When he woke up from his unconscious state yesterday, he found himself flying in the sky like a kite, and he almost met Eris again when he fell to the ground.
Satou Kazuma didn't want to do that again.
What's more, it's best to save a super-strong fighter like Ram for the key moment, as a form of insurance.
"Understood."
Ram answered.
Then Satou Kazuma told everyone the general plan in his mind, and all the soldiers began to divide into lines, and started the final preparations, waiting for the White Whale to arrive.
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