The creature that came out of the trees was a man-sized pig with a large club, and a number of small man-sized monsters with knives. Then moving mud. Not these guys again.
“Orc Pigman, Hundjager Nord, and Mudman Madman.”
I’ll explain more later, but we had a fight earlier. I think there’s someone else behind this.
I tell Goretzka briefly and ready my spear. Actually, I’d expected an ambush, but I’m a little surprised to find that the soldiers of Reslatga who had ambushed us have been attacked by demons and wiped out.
If we hadn’t gotten here first that Rafedo guy would’ve been attacked by the demons we took care of. Maybe Rafed and the others were supposed to lead Mazel’s family out of here. The question is how much do they know about the situation?
Let’s not think too far ahead. First things first. Goretzka and the lady knight take up positions to protect each other and the others around them move into a mutually supportive formation so that they can protect the chariot too.
I was warned. Stay calm.
“Yes, sir.”
Gecke-san, the mercenary leader who took care of us when the demons ran amok and when we escorted the merchants, is in command of the entire group. They’re all veterans in the mercenary group, but they really are used to defeating demons.
Hundjager Noll looks like a human hyena, and this one looks like one of those old hyena images, standing on two legs, looking dirty and drooling over his human food. He’s a bandit on the demon side.
The pigman orc is exactly as depicted in the old games, pig-faced, short-legged and hideous looking. They are famous for their toughness at this stage. I’ve never heard of them, but do they attack women in this world? I mean, demons attack humans basically, but…
Mud Man Mud Men are the same color as zombies in the game… but in this world they’re a different kind of monster. He’s a humanoid creature made of mud. They can use swords and spears, too. This part is based on the game.
It looks complicated, but apparently Hundjager and Hundjager are not beastmen lycanthropes, but a different kind of demon. I’m not sure about the classification, to be honest. Well, Kobold Dogmen aren’t beastmen either, so I guess they’re the same thing.
All we know for sure is that they’re under the command of Egibigol, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Army that Mazel is probably fighting right now. They’re the random-encountered monsters that appear during inn battles in towns where there are demons disguised as lords, or in dungeons where Egibigol is present.
Both events took place in Reslatga, so I’m guessing Egibigol is behind this too. We don’t have any physical proof of this, but it doesn’t matter. Egibigol will be defeated by Mazel in the near future.
“Whoo-hoo! Demon!
Oh, you’re awake, that gentleman. I mean, if you make that noise, you could get attacked.
Or maybe I should say “gofu-gofu” or “gafu-gafu,” but that’s what they sound like when the Hundjager and the Pigman start running. They charge at us without a plan, as if we’re no match for them.
A mere soldier might have feared them… but that’s a poor plan if we’re expecting them to come out. The mud men have started sneaking up behind them, but they’re moving too fast for us to be able to hit them all at once. Let’s get rid of the pigs and the Hundjager as soon as possible.
You take on the fast Hundjager in reverse. It’s bigger than a knife and shorter than a sword, but it’s rusty and looks like it’s been painted with something, so you don’t want to get in close. First, you use your reach to stab one of them to death.
You swing your spear widely to the side, checking your allies’ positions, and check a few of your opponents. One of them lunged at me from the side, and I moved back to keep my distance. I pushed one of them down, and the other one closed the distance, and the lady knight cut him in two from the side.
Next he came at me, swinging his club up in the air and watching the movement of the pig man who lunged at him, he lowered himself and reared his spear at his feet. The club and the spear have a longer reach. A long sword glaive or something like that would be better, but this is good enough.
Cleave diagonally as if scooping up one leg and the pig man flinched widely. I wonder if demons have a place for Benkei’s tears. I’m not sure I understand the word.
The best way to deal with tough demons is hit-and-away. If you’re careless in close combat, you might get hurt by a counterattack.
The pig man screamed in rage and tried to regain his position. He loses his balance again and I draw my spear and step forward to meet their swords and stab him through the torso. Thank goodness these men move with precision.
But I don’t care… the pig man smells bad.
I quickly checked my surroundings and saw that Goretzka and the female knight had slaughtered one of them. They’re overpowered there. Over there are three groups of people fighting with one spear and two swords like us, and one guy is killing a pigman by himself.
He’s a friend of Rugenz, a member of the heroic party, and he’s a mercenary captain, so I figured he’d have some ability… but Gecke’s strong as a rock. The other members of the mercenary group under his command are used to demons too…they’re very dependable.
I don’t think I’m going to lose, so I’m just going to focus on the opponent in front of me. Mudmen are the easiest to hit-and-away with, so you don’t have to consider that for now.
I was just thinking that when I felt another presence in the woods. I took a step back to cover the carriage. The next moment, something came flying out of the darkness at a tremendous speed.
I’m not sure if it’s me or the carriage he’s aiming at. I was going to reave him to stop him, not poke him, but he dodged the spearhead just before it struck him, rising at a steep angle. You’re very mobile.
It’s got wings, and once it’s in the air, it stops, and then it comes hurtling down from above. Not at me, but at the carriage. I don’t know if he was trying to destroy the carriage or take it with him, but that’s a bad move.
He jumped down on top of the wagon so hard that Lily let out a little yelp as the wagon shook, and then he let out a wild, ungrammatical scream that was a dozen times louder than that. Shut up! The castle will hear us!
I had a bunch of potions thrown on the wagon in case Rafed or his men were demons. It’s like sticking your hand in boiling water if you’re human. I don’t know how painful it is.
Either way, you pierce your opponent from behind as he screams and tries to jump back. It felt good, but it didn’t knock him down. I don’t think I’ll be able to kill him with a single blow anytime soon. But if you use the length of your spear properly you can drag him down.
He spins her half around with his weight and drags her to the ground. Goretzka and the lady knight slash at him without hesitation. Didn’t Goretzka’s sword smash his head?
I knew it was a gargoyle. In a dungeon with Egivigor, he’s the first one to act because of his high agility, so he’s a pain in the ass.
Master Werner, there’s another one up there!
I look up in response to Lily’s voice. I see the new gargoyle swooping down on us, and I have a bad feeling about what it’s going to do, so I leap backwards.
Just then an arm reaches out from under his feet. Madman the Mud Man was mimicking on the ground. Shit! The gargoyle changes its trajectory at a sharp angle to the ground behind the wagon… but at that speed and at this distance you can’t avoid it…
You check your footing and thrust your spear as hard as you can. The spearhead enters the gargoyle’s mouth and pierces the back of his head, as he does not slow down. Goretzka slams her sword into his back. The mudman seems to have been taken care of by the lady knight.
I had to work a bit harder to pull the spear out because it was stuck so firmly… the fighting around us is winding down. I’ll have to clean up the spearhead later. I didn’t do much to kill the enemy myself, but Lily doesn’t seem to be hurt either. I guess we didn’t need to use the insurance.
Viscount, what do we do?
“I’m kind of sick of it.”
Goretzka replies to your question. I don’t like the idea of a soldier of Reslatga coming out of the gargoyle’s scream earlier, and with the Four Heavenly Kings’ men the enemy will be using magic as well as physical attacks. In other words, they’re all small fry around here, including the gargoyles.
I mean, in the game, the gargoyles that appear in the dungeon don’t appear in the field. I’ve gotten used to it in Aarea Village, so I’ll just assume that’s the way it is in this world.
The problem is that I don’t like strong enemies, especially low level demons minor daemons. They fly and use ranged magic. If he uses a lot of ranged magic from the air, he’s going to cause a lot of damage. If we’re at a disadvantage in an open field where we don’t have any flying gear ready, we’re at a disadvantage here.
In games, there’s usually an enemy within reach of your sword, even in fields without ceilings. I don’t know if I envy them or not. Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m not going to check it out.
All hands stand down. All personnel, prepare flying boots and skywalks.”
“What a waste of materials and magic stones…”
“I’ll color the rewards for you, just bear with me.”
I responded to one of the mercenaries and Gecke nodded. The evidence is enough from the demons we killed during the day and Lily is safe and sound. I’m not going to say it because it won’t be understood in this world.
Now we just need to get Rafed and the others in custody and get the hell out of here.
Then go to King’s Landing.
Check with Mr. Goretzka? Not necessary. He’ll probably just agree with me. So we’ll all move quickly to the capital. We may have left some roots, but it’s better than getting greedy and causing more damage.
We meet up with Iron Hammer, who’s been waiting outside the castle just in case. It’s almost midnight, so I’ll have the lady knight and the Hammer of Steel escort Lily to the Zehrfeldt house.
We part company with Mr. Goeke and the others as we enter King’s Landing. I assure them that I will pay them extra for their services later and only give them money for wine today.
I’m going to head back to the castle with Mr. Goretzka and report the results. We’ve got men deployed all over the place and we’ll be in trouble if we don’t clear out soon. Rafed and the others will be turned over to the castle guard.
At the castle, His Highness the Crown Prince and my father took the trouble to take me and Goretzka to the conference room where we made our report. I’m all right, and everything went as planned, but there are some demons among the enemy, and they’re of this and that type.
The situation in the capital was briefly explained to me by his subordinates instead of His Highness the Crown Prince, but I got a reply that the details would come later and I left with my father this time. I guess…
I bow to my father in the hallway.
I’m sorry for the inconvenience.
It’s okay. Thanks for your help.
This is a matter of political considerations, including the fact that I asked you to play the role of Allie and Lily’s parents. In other words, to make sure that after I take Lily back, you won’t both go into exile in another country.
Nominally, he may have been assigned to various tasks, but in reality, my father was a hostage until this hour. Including Allie and the others at Zehrfeldt Manor. The two men who played Lily’s parents were also my guards, but I’m pretty sure they were also in charge of keeping an eye on me.
I knew that and asked for someone other than Zehrfeldt to play the role of the parents. I didn’t think Goretzka would show up… and I’m sure he really wanted to be on the front lines. I’m sure Goretzka’s giving a detailed report right now.
It’s just a lot of nerve… to deploy all of that political consideration. Those bastards really added to the hassle.
Tomorrow afternoon, we’ll make the pilgrimage. I’ll tell Frensen to make a list. The order in which you thank them is also important because it affects their face.
I learned later that the soldiers of Reslatga and the demons came out after we disappeared and had a pretty rough fight with them. That was close.
