Epilogue II
“U-Uncle Yuuto of the Wolf Clan?! S-so you truly were alive after all!”
“Hey there. Sorry for making you guys in the Horn Clan worry too.”
The day after the Lightning Clan retreated from Gimlé, Yuuto showed himself before the main body of the Horn Clan army, in a location some one hundred and fifty kilometers away.
Even for the expert horse riders in the Múspell special forces, the most distance one could manage on horseback in one day was seventy kilometers. If one were to ride in an emergency without regard for the next horse’s health the next day, the most would still be about one hundred kilometers.
And furthermore, Yuuto couldn’t ride on his own. He always had Felicia take him on her horse. Naturally, with two people on one horse, there was less distance you could cover in one day.
And despite all of that, Yuuto had managed to travel this long distance in the span of one full day, thanks to the “post station system.”
This system was made to provide for the rapid, continuous transport of people, goods, and messages. It was said that the concept behind it first came about during the seventh century B.C.E., in the Assyrian empire.
Obviously, horses are living creatures. They grew fatigued by running and being ridden, and their average pace constantly got slower over time. The usual solution would be to periodically walk them slowly and let them rest.
But here was where the post station system came into play. At certain fixed distances along the main roads, the post stations were constructed, and kept stocked with fresh horses to ride. So, a messenger could switch to a fresh horse at each station, one after the other, and constantly travel at the fastest horseback speed possible.
Following the Assyrian Empire, there was the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, which conquered the lands of the ancient Orient. The Achaemenid Empire’s version of the post station system along their “King’s Road” is said to have made it possible to travel some 2,700 kilometers in only seven days.
In Yggdrasil, the post station system had already been put in place to a decent degree by the first divine emperor Wotan, some two hundred years prior when he’d conquered and united the empire.
Yuuto had utilized this system to travel quickly from Iárnviðr to Gimlé, then from Gimlé to the Fólkvangr area.
“Now that Uncle Yuuto, the renowned commander, has come to us, our battle is surely as good as won,” Haugspori said confidently. “Now then, what reinforcements have you brought with you to us?” There was great anticipation in his eyes.
According to the intel from Kristina, the Horn Clan forces were caught in a dilemma. The city of Fólkvangr was surrounded by the Panther Clan, yet the troops here couldn’t move freely because of the even larger force of Panther Clan soldiers on the opposite shore of the river.
It seems like they had a lot of faith that because he, the patriarch, had come himself, he must have brought a great deal of reinforcements with him.
“I’ve got five people, including myself.” Yuuto gestured with his chin at the people who were standing behind him.
Felicia, Sigrún, Albertina, Kristina. The four of them were indeed strong and proud Einherjar of the Wolf Clan, but... a look of despair spread across Haugspori’s face.
The Panther Clan army numbered over ten thousand in total. A mere addition of five more fighters wasn’t going to change the difference in their strengths. That was what Yuuto could read clearly from the man’s expression.
For Yuuto’s part, he would have liked to bring the elite special forces unit with him as well, but most post stations along the roads had only had five horses.
And one of the horses had needed to be used to carry their belongings, so the number of people he could bring was limited.
Furthermore, his greatest combat asset, Sigrún, was still in pain after her recent bout with Steinþórr, and couldn’t fight at her full strength yet.
Even so, that wasn’t going to pose a problem.
“Don’t worry. We’ll chase off the Panther Clan in no time. I can’t afford to waste any time here, after all.” Yuuto said this softly, but with a sense of finality. There was an aura about him, a fighting spirit that seemed to burn quietly.
Even though that flame was not directed at him, Haugspori instinctively took one step back, and swallowed.
Yuuto turned and stared into the distance, toward the direction of Fólkvangr.
He whispered, “All right, Big Brother. I think it’s about time you and I settled things between us.”
To Be Continued...
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