50 War camp

"Wake up beardlings." Elder Thrikrondromm said sharply as some of the younger members of our party were about to fall asleep while walking. "You can sleep when we get camped, and not before. I'm not carrying you through the city."

"Mgrhh." Miyata whined as she almost tripped over her own feet sleepily. "Why did we get kicked out? Couldn't they have let us sleep?"

"..." Elder Thrikrondromm gave her a pointed glare that was meant to silence her, which, as always, went unnoticed and unheeded. So he reluctantly elaborated. "Elder Hunmarum did not take kindly to finding out that you and Tatsuki are summoned heroes. The discovery of Delimira's race was even less pleasant for him. He did not want to harbor you under his roof. Be grateful he did not set the city against us."

Miyata just whined a little bit more, and honestly I could sympathize with her. We had been working non stop all night in boiling temperatures performing physically strenuous tasks. Every single one of us was at our limit, it's just that the ones with a few centuries under their belt were experienced enough to not let it show.

We kept walking until we passed the northern gates, just outside of which were camped the armies of the Empire. Humans kept their camp much brighter than dwarves kept their cities, so it was easy to spot from behind the walls.

"Woah." Tatsuki paused just outside the gate, looking at the huge numbers of tents spreading down the tunnels and caverns. "Isn't this overkill for a goblin horde?"

Elder Thrikrondromm kept walking with a dour grimace. "It's possible that this will not be enough. Estimates from the dwarven scouts put the goblins numbers at well over one hundred thousand, and they are coming with thousands of other monsters. Including trolls, ogres, orcs, and other cursed races. It will take all your skills and weapons to survive the coming battle."

"Are we gonna be alright, papa?" Gerde asked, holding my hand just a little nervously. Before I could assure her, Delimira spoke up.

"We're gonna be fine, Gerde. If we don't make it, then I won't get my apprenticeship with your papa and we won't get to play together." Her voice hardened a little, dropping into sarcasm. "And if we don't hold them back here, then my dad'll have nothing to conquer on the continent except a bunch of monsters, and I don't want to make it that easy for him."

"Don't worry, Gerde. I'll protect you, and the world. I was summoned here to defend everyone." Tatsuki attempted to stride in a heroic manner, and I have to admit that he came close to actually looking like a summoned hero. But to keep him from doing anything stupid, I opted to pour just a little cold water on his enthusiasm.

"You can't protect everyone. Do not try to. Otherwise you'll die a completely meaningless death. One without honor, or brave deeds to toast to in the Halls of the Ancestors."

This seemed to deflate Tatsuki a little, and I felt a little bit bad about it. But better that he be deflated than dead. He was the same age as I was (If you only count physical ages. Being reincarnated, my spirit was several decades older.) and I understood the temptation to think oneself invincible.

As we walked through the camps of humans on our way to deliver both the weapons and the summoned heroes to the Emperor, I glanced around at the state of the humans who were awaiting the call to battle. They were tired after their long forced march stance, like office workers who had just gone through several weeks of mandatory overtime, but the impending battle was also pumping them with adrenaline, causing them to be very jumpy. It was a bit funny to watch them jump at the normal sounds that the underground caverns made, that no dwarf would ever think twice about. I could see some of the mercenary companies were drinking dwarven ale that had been diluted enough to be safe for humans to drink while toasting their future brave deeds. While the drafted farmers and townsmen were nervously fumbling with their weapons, or praying to the various gods for safety. Altogether, it made for a scene that was straight out of a WWI movie, just without the trenches, machine guns, or gas masks.

Some groups stood out from the masses though. There were small knots of obvious nobles, who were boasting of their superiority to the dwarves, and loudly wondering how high in rank they would rise off the glory from this battle. There were also a few grandstanders, telling how the Empire thanked them for their sacrifice, as well as one or two proselytizers of the various gods, telling people that one god or another would keep them safe. Those who stood out to me the most though, were the quiet comforters. Nobles in their high quality clothes who were going between the campfires. They would give a word of praise here, a promise of victory there, and an encouraging chat all around. It was heartening to see.

After walking for some time, we stumbled upon the encampment of the dwarves from Einangrad. They were solemnly drinking non-watered down dwarven beer, while maintaining their weapons and armor.

"Elder Thrikrondromm! Thank the ancestors you're here." Dak rounded the corner of a tent and strode towards us with an agitated look on his face. "The weapons. Something's happening with them. I need your help to stabilize them until we can fling them at the goblins."

"Goblins grog, how bad is it?"

"Bad."

A few swear words ranging from PG-13 to hard R later, Elder Thrikrondromm strode off to where the weapons were being stored. The range and number of swear words in the Dwarven language never ceased to amaze me.

"Where's mama?" Gerde was looking around and sniffing the air to try to locate her mother. Dak responded with a sigh and a frustrated pinch to his nose.

"It's a long story, but she's with the emperor, helping him keep that wazzock of a summoned hero under control. They're that way. I'd take you myself, but I don't want to be anywhere near that punk's magic again."

"Go ahead, Kvalinn." My father patted me on the shoulder. "Dealing with royalty is something I avoid." He then left the group, and accepted a mug of beer from another dwarf as he sat down at a dim fire.

"Alright, anyone else have stuff they need to do before we go meet the emperor?" I asked. "Last chance for bathroom breaks."

My attempt at a joke flopped, since it was met with only confused stares. So I just shrugged, and started walking in the direction Dak had pointed towards, everyone else following quietly behind me.