Hero Oh Hero

[Grim Portent]

Did a little archive binge, because I could swear that there were reasons given for the expedition being so small, the royal guard are apparently guarding the flanks of the expedition, keeping more monsters from closing in from the surrounding area in what ways they can. Which makes sense I suppose, they're following along the fringes in the shadows doing what they do best: quietly murdering things.

The army is doing... something. Fighting I suppose, blocking streets and trying to make safe areas for civilians or something and draw the attention of nightmares.

The local commander and his men are along to serve as extra muscle in the event it proves necessary.

The secret police themselves are only really along to contact their colleague in case things need to go boom. Which is better than them deciding to go boom without trying this plan, or them trying to work out when to send the city up in smoke without being able to see what's going on. I also get the impression that Number 1 is likely to get executed by his superiors even if the plan works, because he disobeyed a direct order by not immediately nuking the city, which is honestly shockingly decent of him.



Noel also advised they bring as small a team as possible on a previous page, since some of the more intelligent and powerful nightmares would be able to stop them easily if they got noticed. Given that he says some can kill with a look, and that Nail seems to be the only defence against that, there's probably a practical limitation to the size of any group depending on how Nail's powers work.


Really the big problem with the plan is Noah, his physical and psychological shortcomings are a major impediment to the plan even while his magic is important for it's success. Other than his ability to sense and hide spirit he's actually not very useful*, though having an esper around seems to mitigate his inability to help in fights because at least now he can make ammo for someone.

*Both are very good abilities in normal magical situtations mind you.