Several days' journey through dense forest...

For several days, you and the other "volunteers" who had joined the militia trekked through the dense forest, struggling to navigate the terrain and enduring hardships.

The detachment of plebs, who had only recently been given weapons, clearly did not demonstrate a high fighting spirit...

During every night's rest, at least one of the militiamen attempted to escape.

However, each of them was caught by the baron's well-armed and experienced warriors, small detachments of whom moved behind your detachment.

What fate befell these few deserters?

You find it unpleasant to remember...

Those cries of pain and fear...

And then the bodies of the hanged men dangled for a long time from ropes tied to the branches of tall trees...

For the second time, as a warning to potential "trespassers", the baron ordered your detachment to make a night's rest near the site of the deserters' execution. The nauseating stench emanating from the hanged bodies was repulsive and prevented you from sleeping...

You seemed to see these bodies swaying in the wind, emitting faint sounds...

At the next night's halt, for some reason, no new deserters appeared among the detachment's militiamen...

You interacted little with your "colleagues", as the days were filled with grueling marches through winding forest paths and carrying out the detachment commander's assignments (carrying heavy loads, foraging, gathering firewood, and so on).

However, occasionally you managed to talk with some of the plebs, who, like you, were forced to join the militia.

The red-haired, freckled weirdo Lenny usually chatted nonsense. For example: he bragged about his great-uncle selling fish in the city of Ranelborg (a large city much further north, the economic center of the duchy).

"Shut up, Lenny... I've never been to that city and I don't care what kind of crap your great-uncle does there!" - was how you usually responded to this intrusive interlocutor.

Although, he still wouldn't stop his stupid chatter until it reached the point of a slap on the back of the head...

By the way, you had other interlocutors too...

For example, a sullen, short guy (who, however, had well-developed muscles and a strong body) named Rolf...

To your surprise, he was one of the few who showed "enthusiasm" about what you would soon be doing.

In response to your cautious inquiries, he responded gloomily: "The small village where I come from... Garon's ford... the bastard orcs killed everyone there! I returned from hunting and saw only the bloody remains of human bodies and burning buildings... Now I have no family... And now I will only be glad that soon we will be killing vile green-skinned beasts!"

So, your militia detachment is penetrating deeper and deeper into the forested areas east of the town of Ashcross with each passing day.

Obviously, your detachment will soon cross the kingdom's border and set foot on the lands of one of the orc tribes.

Surprisingly, for some reason, you haven't seen any signs of enemies in these past few days...

This is odd, considering the fact that the orcs had prepared a cunning plan in advance and deliberately attacked the lands of the Duchy of Forest Reach.

However, you have no time for deep reflection now - you are busy following orders.

So, your militia squad continues to move forward...

The rest of the troops are moving behind your squad...