novelraw Chapter 61
Chapter 61
Chapter 61
While I was receiving a report from the Rangers about the situation in the Monster Mountains and pondering over it, one of the mana communicators I had brought along started blinking.
It was paired with the mana communicator Leisha had taken to Rotsy.
-Bear, it’s me.
“Yeah, Leisha. Did you arrive in Rotsy?”
-Arrived, but returning right away will be difficult.
“Why? Did something happen?”
-There are a lot of monsters around Rotsy.
“Really?”
Things were fairly quiet here, but over in Rotsy, the number of monsters was increasing.
Could this be the precursor to a Wave?
“Are there really that many monsters that you have to stay and help?”
-No, that’s not it. The problem is that many of the tribe’s warriors are away.
“Why?”
-Preparing for winter. In just a few days, the warriors will return one by one.
“Ah, so Rudelrof set the schedule too tightly.”
The monsters were gathering, but it wasn’t enough to be a precursor to the start of a Wave.
It was just that the monsters’ movements were faster than Rudelrof had expected, and with the warriors absent, there was a need to watch over the area temporarily.
If I were to tell her to return immediately in this situation, it wouldn’t look good.
And here, there wasn’t any pressing problem anyway.
In the end, I had to accept that Leisha’s return would be delayed by at least a few days.
“Tell Rudelrof that if there are any signs of monster movements resembling a Wave, he should contact me right away.”
-I already told him.
“Good, well done. Then return safely.”
-Bear. Take care of the tribe and the Horned Rabbit ranch.
“Hey, I’m the lord, you know.”
I let out a small laugh at Leisha’s unchanging love for rabbits and ended the communication.
The fact that she mentioned the rabbits right after the tribe showed how deeply she cared.
Well, it wasn’t just Leisha. Most of the Lion Tribe warriors were like that anyway.
“What is this, some kind of special day?”
Right after finishing the communication with Leisha, this time a call came in from Rudick, who had gone to Henil.
Rudick had departed for Henil even earlier than when Leisha had left for Rotsy, and honestly, around this time, he should already have been on his way back to the territory.
But here he was, still lingering in Henil Territory and even sending me a communication.
I had no idea what this guy was doing.
-Brother, it’s me.
“Yeah, I figured. What are you doing still in Henil?”
-There’s been a mess with the monsters here, so I’ve been helping out. I couldn’t just run off when it was happening right in front of my eyes, you know?
“…Is that so?”
Well, if that was the case, then there was no helping it, but honestly, I wished he’d come back as soon as possible.
“Was it that serious?”
-It was when I first arrived. It’s mostly settled now. So I was about to head back, but…
“But?”
-A landslide happened in the gorge between Henil and Johnson.
“What? A landslide?”
-If it weren’t for the snow, I could’ve found a detour, but snow fell right on top of it…
“Yeah, when it’s snowing, you need to be careful. Getting lost would be a disaster.”
-I wanted to bring dried abalone as a gift for Selin, but that’s ruined now.
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about the state of the territory? There’s no Knight Captain right now.”
-That’s fine, you’re there, Brother. And there’s also Sir Irene. Worst case, you can leave some things to Limond too.
“Well, I am doing that… ha, fine. Just come back quickly once things are settled.”
Henil, though small in population, was filled with sturdy people.
They had that characteristic temperament of seaside folk—sea warriors, so to speak.
For Rudick to have voluntarily stayed to help, the situation must have been pretty severe.
And once snow completely covered the land, even familiar roads had to be traveled carefully.
If one lost their way, even a knight couldn’t guarantee survival.
In the end, Rudick would also be stuck until the landslide was cleared, probably for a few days.
“This is starting to feel strange.”
The plan itself was very sensible and orthodox.
Both Henil and Rotsy were perfect for forming cooperation with us, and the mission was simply to deliver Horned Rabbits and mana communicators to strengthen that cooperation.
But with things turning out like this, it all felt uncomfortably coincidental.
‘Which means… for the time being, I can’t rely on Leisha or Rudick.’
-The diary’s warning weighed on my mind.
‘Exactly. Things are taking a very strange turn, aren’t they?’
And what finally put the last piece of doubt in place was the communication that arrived from the castle.
-My lord, it’s Limond.
“Yeah, it’s me. Speak.”
-Multiple Raptor groups sighted. Requesting permission to sortie.
“Raptors?”
The Raptors had been the ones to mark the end of the Great Escape.
After we had slain the Raptor Queen, the massive horde had scattered, splitting into smaller groups that fled in all directions.
Some of those small surviving groups were now roaming near our territory.
In winter, Raptors’ mobility was greatly reduced.
Which was why the time just before winter set in fully was when they were at their most aggressive.
If we left this situation unattended, the farmland south of the castle—which had only just begun to take root—might be ruined again.
‘If that happens…’
-Then the lord would have sortie’d personally.
If I had remained at the castle, I would have gone out myself to deal with the Raptors.
Especially since in snowy conditions like now, I knew the terrain far better than Limond and would have been the more suitable commander.
Not to mention, the newly-formed 2nd Knight Order needed real battle experience, and Raptors were perfect opponents for that.
‘If I had personally gone out to fight the Raptors, then even if the Gate Fortress had called for reinforcements, I wouldn’t have been able to respond immediately.’
The puzzle pieces were starting to come together.
“I’ll authorize the sortie.”
Regardless, if Raptor groups were approaching, they had to be dealt with, even if it was troublesome.
However, caution was needed here as well.
“But keep it entirely defensive. Don’t pursue them—just defend around the farmland.”
If they recklessly chased Raptors across snowy plains, they could easily lose their way.
That was plain common sense, but the Lion Tribe warriors often forgot such things.
They were even more aggressive than the knights of our territory.
That was why I made sure to emphasize this part.
“And send about one unit (thirty men) here as reinforcements. They’ll hunt the Raptors together with the 2nd Knight Order.”
By attaching knights native to Johnson Territory, we could prevent unnecessary losses from getting lost in unfamiliar terrain.
Summoning the Lion Tribe warriors here would also allow us to prepare for any unforeseen incidents.
From the flow of things, it looked like something big was about to happen here as well, so I needed to be ready for this situation too.
‘Now all that’s left is to wait.’
This would be the first defensive battle I faced since becoming a Master.
It seemed like it would become an important test to measure just how strong I truly was.
The very next day, the signs became clear.
Monsters began appearing sporadically, and the frequency of their appearances gradually increased.
Here too, just like Rotsy, there were signs of incoming monster raids.
On the gate walls, the newly deployed Horn Assaults were hunting down small monsters climbing down from the mountains.
They stood guard alongside the soldiers defending the ramparts.
“Trolls! Three of them!”
One of the Rangers, who had been monitoring the monsters’ advance routes from the watchtower, shouted the alarm at the appearance of trolls.
“Archers, hold! Leave these to me!”
The moment a mid-class Mountain Troll appeared, Sir Irene, who was commanding the soldiers atop the gate, dashed forward like lightning.
Silver full plate emblazoned with a red bird, and in her hands, a massive war hammer.
Just like her epithet, the Red Devil, her war hammer shimmered with crimson Aura.
“Squad One, support the captain! Squad Two, guard against any monsters approaching from the rear. Squad Three, stay on standby.”
“Ah, seriously, the captain…”
“Leave her be. Isn’t this her first time against trolls?”
“This is exactly why we need a vice-captain.”
“If we didn’t have one, we’d all have rushed out after the captain, wouldn’t we?”
I had thought Irene would be the type of knight commander who led from the rear, but contrary to my expectations, she was an assault-type knight.
And judging by how smoothly Selin began commanding the remaining troops as soon as Irene charged forward, it seemed this kind of reckless action wasn’t exactly rare for her.
One squad went to support Irene against the trolls, another was assigned to watch their backs against additional monsters, while the last squad remained here on standby, chatting idly as they monitored the situation.
I, too, stayed near the standby squad, watching as she fought the trolls.
“Haa!!! Hyah!!!”
-Kraaaagh!!
Irene’s hammer showed no mercy.
With a single swing of that heavy war hammer, she smashed apart a troll’s head in one blow.
Among the troll’s byproducts, the most valuable was its blood.
A troll’s regenerative power was rooted in its blood, so pointless hacking only reduced the amount of blood that could be harvested.
That was why the most important thing when fighting trolls was to crush their heads as quickly as possible—and Irene had done exactly that.
To think she had found the right answer on her first encounter with trolls suggested she had talent in this area too.
But more impressive than that was her blazing war hammer.
At a glance, it looked like fire-attribute Aura.
I had heard that finding someone capable of using attribute Aura was as rare as plucking a star from the sky. So how in the world was she using it?
“Sir Selin, is Sir Irene using attribute Aura?”
“Ah, yes, my lord. It’s thanks to the ‘Phoenix’ the captain wears.”
“Right, I recall that was an Artifact.”
The silver full plate ‘Phoenix’ worn by Irene was a relic from before the Great Cataclysm, and its ability was to absorb ambient mana and convert it into flame-attribute power.
Training Aura while clad in that armor naturally allowed one to master flame-attribute Aura.
Thanks to that, Irene had become a rare flame-attribute Aura user, and considering how attribute Aura was far more destructive than ordinary Aura, her power had become formidable.
If she became a Master in that state, even I wouldn’t be confident in winning against her.
With attribute Aura, even just defending against it gradually accumulated damage over time.
The only drawback was that if the opponent had strong fire resistance, it became difficult to inflict real damage. But encountering monsters with elemental resistances was exceedingly rare, so there wasn’t much need to worry.
“How was it, Lord Iron?”
“Ah, well, it was quite a sight.”
“A good start, then. To think we took down three trolls. I hear troll blood is needed for potion-making, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. The trolls you felled will become potions that save our knights’ lives.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
After that, only small, insignificant monsters trickled down, and the gate was successfully defended without incident.
About five hours passed like that.
When Irene returned to the gate, she was all smiles, saying that the day had begun with a great harvest.
‘So far, so good.’
I humored Irene and kept watching the situation, but so far, there was no major problem.
Had the time simply not yet come?
Still, something serious was definitely brewing here, so I stayed on edge.
“Since small groups of monsters keep raiding, we’ll need to rotate shifts.”
“That would be best. Once the resting soldiers return, we should start immediately.”
“Yes, agreed. I was thinking of mixing the troops into three shifts. Would that be acceptable?”
“With three shifts, the issue will be leadership. I’ll take command of the third rotation.”
“Thank you. Also, I think we should ask the Rangers to operate as a scouting force.”
“Good, let’s do that. Ah, and the Lion Tribe warriors will be joining us here soon as well.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
During the five hours Irene held the gate, no fewer than eight groups of monsters attacked it.
If things continued like this, with small groups of monsters constantly creeping toward the gate, we’d have to revise our defensive strategy.
In such a situation, the defense was likely to turn into a long-drawn battle.
The best approach would be to divide the troops, ensuring the gate was always manned while also guaranteeing sufficient rest time.
That way, the men could fight for long stretches without exhausting themselves.
Of course, vigilance must never waver.
It wasn’t uncommon for the monsters to trickle down like this and then suddenly pour down in a flood.
And Irene, almost as if she had read my thoughts, altered the defensive tactics.
-A rather capable commander.
‘Well, she’s had plenty of experience after all.’
Though Irene’s demeanor changed completely the moment she faced monsters, she was usually rational.
She had immediately requested my support upon checking the situation at the gate, after all.
That was no small thing.
Hadn’t she just told me, only a few hours ago, to sit back and watch while she showed me Haken’s strength?
This was why I appreciated Irene’s way of doing things.
She prioritized the safety of her soldiers over her pride.
‘It would be nice if things stayed this way.’
But of course, that wouldn’t be the case.
Something big was certain to happen here.