A Demon's Journey

If he began to project a false sense of tranquility around himself, it would negate the objective of telling him of all their sentiments. It was Luna who added, "We need to be subtle with this. Firstly, we need to act normally. Don't be excessively concerned about him. He isn't so weak that he needs our comfort."

Aria supported her statement by adding, "Yes, it is right. In this case, being discreet would have the most impact. After all, haven't you heard that showing rather than telling is preferable? That's exactly what we're dealing with here."

Nearly all these warriors in this meeting understood what Aria and Luna wanted to say. They did have some doubts and inquired the two, "How will we do that?" They were all rather straightforward men. No one of them had any idea about how they should do this kind of thing discreetly.

Aria and Luna stared at each other with a faint grin on their faces. They spoke collectively, "Leave this to us." Aria added, "Just make sure that you give your all on the battlefield. Our leader's emotional state isn't the only thing we should focus on."

All their comrades agreed with those words. They had heard rumors that the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces were planning an attack. Even though these were mere rumors, these warriors knew that there was no smoke without fire.

When they fought against the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces during their operation to save the Glerian Kingdom's soldiers, they had noticed that the Sinyalian Kingdom's soldiers were much stronger than usual.

The warriors of Noah's squad, except for Noah, William, Aria, and Luna, found these new soldiers quite troublesome to deal with. If not for their high morale and great training, Noah's squad might have suffered great losses against them.

In reality, the strength of these new soldiers of the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces wasn't that impressive. Noah's squad could have easily dealt with them if such was the case. What was truly annoying was their battle formations that seemed to boost their strength collectively!

The battle formations would not only increase their strength, but also their endurance. Furthermore, they did not appear to experience any pain whilst under the influence of the battle formation. Even if their limb was chopped off or their gut was torn, they could still fight at their peak state.

Thus, all these warriors dispersed in different directions. While these members were leaving, Luna called out to one of them. This was a warrior who belonged to Luna's team during the Heavenly Dragon's Battleground Tournament.

He still had enough respect for Luna to never refuse a command from her. Thus, Luna used him for some errands and save some time for herself. She ordered him, "Get some of the strongest whisky and vodka."

"...As you command, Miss," the warrior said politely. Soldiers usually had little trouble obtaining booze. This was how they stayed warm and survived even in the dead of winter. It was also customary for the troops to consume alcoholic beverages during celebrations. As a result, the army stockpile housed a wide variety of alcohols.

However, Noah's group was a bit different. Noah would allow them to ingest booze before a giant mission or operation. He would never allow them to drink alcohol when they were on an operation.

In fact, if Noah found out that a warrior of his group was actually going to get some alcohol during a mission, he would have severely punished that warrior. Fortunately for this subordinate, Luna was ready to take responsibility for any consequences.

Aria would generally chastise Luna for attempting to obtain alcohol from the Glerian Kingdom's Army Stockpile. However, she knew that this situation was quite different. Luna wasn't getting alcohol for herself or for her subordinates. It was for Noah.

This booze was undoubtedly a part of the sophisticated strategy she had in mind. Aria considered this an exception. Just like Luna, she also wanted to comfort Noah. And there were not a lot of methods through which they could comfort him subtly.

Noah had never drunk alcohol before, she was certain. Even during their celebrations, he drank soft drinks instead of alcohol. As a result, Noah was unaware of the consequences of consuming alcohol.

After some time, Luna and Aria held three bottles of Alcohol. Two were bottles of Whisky while one was a bottle of Vodka. The two brought these bottles of Alcohol in their tents.

They intended to carry out their plan the next day. They had to make some more preparations, of course. It would be difficult to get Noah to consume alcohol without him realizing it.

The very next day, Luna and Aria took turns to inquire Noah some questions regarding their training. Naturally, these questions were genuine as they didn't want Noah to realize that something was wrong.

While training them, Noah naturally got a little thirsty. He asked for water from one of the warriors nearby. Now, this warrior had already been informed to mix some whisky in the water and hand it to Noah.

After drinking that glass of water, Noah had an ugly complexion as he didn't like the taste of the water. He frowned and asked that warrior, "What is this? Why is it so bitter?"

The warrior who had mixed alcohol with water was sweating nervously. Noah was staring at him intensely and he couldn't lie if Noah kept on gazing at him like that. Fortunately for this barrier, Aria came to his rescue as she spoke casually, "Our water reserves were getting low, so we borrowed some water from the Glerian Kingdom's army. Their water is slightly different from ours since they do not purify it to the same extent that we do."

Noah nodded his head as he heard that statement. He felt that Aria's words made sense. He had indeed heard a report earlier that their water reserves were getting low. He stared at the glass of water in his hand and sighed out, "Looks like we will have to make do with what we have."

Noah gulped down the remaining portion of water before ordering the warrior, "Pour some more." The warrior was sweating nervously but he quickly refilled Noah's glass and allowed him to drink another glass full of water.

This warrior belonged to Luna's personal team. He greatly respected Luna and would risk his life to fulfill the order given to him. However, he knew that if Noah found out about his crime, he would be punished heavily punished. Thus, he was quite terrified at this moment.

Noah had no idea that this water was mixed with concentrated whisky. After drinking these two glasses, his head was spinning a little. However, he wasn't going to lose consciousness in front of his subordinates and maintained a focused expression on his face.

However, Aria, who was staring at Noah's face, was not fooled by this look. She noted that his eyelids had dropped slightly, and he appeared less attentive than usual. She was confident that Alcohol was producing the outcomes she had hoped for.

Aria signaled the warrior to scram with her eyes. After he was gone, she placed her hand on Noah's shoulder and asked him with a concerned gaze, "Leader, are you fine? Your face looks a little reddish."

"W-What? R-Really?" Noah reacted by taking a step back with a startled look on his face. He was truly shocked to hear Aria's words.

Aria took a step forward and spoke with a concerned look in her eyes, "That's right, leader." She placed her hand over Noah's head and whispered, "Your temperature is normal. So, it isn't a fever."

Noah was getting confused by Aria's actions and words. He asked her, "What's going on, Aria?"

Aria responded to Noah, "I think you are tired, leader. You are working too hard these days. Please follow me to my tent. You need to get some rest."

"…I can rest in my tent," Noah tried to shake off Aria while turning his head. However, Aria grabbed hold of him again.

She stubbornly responded, "No. You would try to sneak out to get some more training. This isn't the first time you are overworking yourself, leader. I need to keep an eye on you and verify that you are getting proper rest."

How could Aria let Noah slip away now that he'd fallen into her trap? As a result, she had to make certain that Noah would accompany her, no matter how ridiculous her explanation seemed.

Noah was a bit drunk, and he didn't find anything wrong with what she was saying. If he was normal, he would have sternly commanded her to leave him alone. But currently, his head was spinning, and he felt that he truly needed someone's assistance.

Before Noah realized it, he was being escorted to a cabin. Aria and Luna had planned for this, and Aria was escorting Noah to a cottage located a little distance from the encampment. Luna was already in the cabin, waiting for Aria and Noah.

There was a smile on Luna's face as she saw Noah and Aria enter the small cabin.. She was a little excited to know that Aria had succeeded in her task.