While Serena was carrying the unconscious man back to his tent, Ash just sat quietly in his tent, staring at the map he had just received from that person.
He had looked at the map over and over again, and finally, Ash was able to come to the conclusion that the camp of the remnants of the Ur kingdom was a night's travel away from here.
And yet, the death row inmate was willing to run through the forest filled with dangerous animals alone to give Ash this valuable information.
Maybe not all prisoners were as bad as he had thought?
If the location on the map was correct, then all Ash needed to do was lead his troops there and finish them off. And then, he would be able to safely return to the palace and rest before the next journey began.
It seemed like everything was easy, but it wasn't.
Since the area where the remnants of the Ur Kingdom were was their territory, they would definitely be more familiar with that place than Ash's soldiers.
Furthermore, all of his soldiers had almost no will to fight. So, if he didn't do anything and just led his troops there, Ash would be completely defeated.
Just as Ash was lost in his plans, Serena had returned to the hut without him noticing.
Why was she able to move without making any noise in such a magical way? Was that the power of the academy's great genius?
"What's wrong, Prince?"
"Damn it, Serena! Why do you always move around without making any noise? Next time, please give me a heads up."
Serena ignored Ash's reminder and continued asking the same question:
"What's the matter, Your Highness?"
"Sigh... I was just thinking about how to get those death row inmates out there to regain their fighting spirit. Even though they look fine, they really don't want to fight anymore."
"Ah, if that's the case, I have a way!" With that, Serena took out something that looked like a button from her silver armor.
Ash took the item, looked at it from all sides, and came to the conclusion that he really didn't understand what this thing was. He had never seen this thing in the game before.
Completely defeated, he had no choice but to ask the person who took out the button - Serena:
"What is this?"
"This is a button. If you press it, the collars on the death row inmates will explode. And so we can use it to threaten them."
"Huh?" Ash could only reply with a dumbfounded and dazed face.
He looked at the button and then back at Serena, still finding it extremely hard to believe that Serena was carrying such a great item all this time.
At first, when Ash saw the black collars on the death row inmates' necks, he couldn't help but wonder why they were all wearing such things.
But Ash didn't intend to ask because he had thought that was the fashion sense of those people.
However, the truth was completely different from what he thought.
With sparkling, hopeful eyes, Ash stared at this button, treating it like a god, a living saint. However, that gaze was replaced by a look of disappointment shortly after.
Recognizing Ash's change, Serena couldn't help but ask what happened:
"What's wrong, Your Highness?"
"Um… this item is really useful for threatening others but… I don't think it will be useful for raising the fighting spirit of those out there. It might even make the situation worse."
That was the truth, no one could maintain their fighting spirit when they knew they were being threatened and could die at any moment.
And so, once again, Ash was at a loss, not knowing what to do in this situation.
'What should I do…think…think…think…'
Closing his eyes for a long time, he suddenly opened them wide, followed by a bright smile as he realized what he needed to do in this situation.
He needed a call to arms, and it needed to be emotional and powerful enough to influence the fighting spirits of those death row inmates.
"It seems like you already know what you should do." Serena said after noticing Ash's reaction. She really understood him.
"Of course!" Ash also smiled at her, a happy smile that was rare ever since he was reincarnated into the game False Horizon.
"Then do you need any help?"
"Hmm…no need, you should go to sleep, it's quite dark already."
"Alright."
Then, she slowly walked towards the massive bed in Ash's tent and slowly relaxed her body on it, wrapping herself in the warm blanket to ward off the cold of the night before falling completely asleep.
Meanwhile, Ash was still sitting in the same position, watching everything that had just happened without understanding anything.
'Eh? Why is she sleeping here? Isn't this my tent? Huh? Huh? Huh? What the fuck?' Ash kept his idiotic face for a while before returning to his work.
That night, Ash had stayed up until morning without having a single rest, busy thinking about what he should say to all his soldiers tomorrow.
And after checking everything over and over again, he was finally able to smile in relief, all the preparations were complete.
And at the same time, Serena was slowly sitting up, it was already morning. A new day had come.
The second day since Ash had been reincarnated here.
***
The next morning, after all the death row inmates woke up, the first order they received was not to prepare for breakfast, but to gather in a single place.
When they arrived at the designated place, all the death row inmates couldn't help but wonder what the hell was going on.
In front of all of them was Ash "Worthless" Voidveil, who was considered a useless, mischievous Prince. And now, that Prince was standing on a wooden box, making him much taller than them.
Beside the Third Prince was Serena, still wearing the same calm demeanor as always.
The whispers began to appear, and they gradually became louder.
However, with just one word filled with authority from Ash Voidveil, all the unnecessary noises disappeared:
"SILENCE!"
Almost immediately, all the talking voices were completely gone, as if nothing had happened.
"Everyone! I know that you guys are wondering why I summoned you all here right?"
Everyone still didn't say anything, but their eyes said it all.
"I'll say it straight. I know that all of you have no will to fight, so I'm here to call out to you! Arouse your noble will to fight! And if anyone doesn't want to listen, then leave! I won't stop you!"
All of the death row inmates started looking at each other with puzzled eyes, but not a single one of them left. After all, they wouldn't lose anything if they stayed here.
Then, with a voice filled with the authority belonged to a ruler, Ash slowly said:
"You, death row inmates, have you thought that you have no chance? I'm not here to talk about death, but about life. Every moment you're still breathing, you can still change your fate."