Chapter 137 - Chapter 11: The Second Night Battle of the Northern Fortress
By July, we had finished exterminating the boars in the west of the restricted hunting area. With this, the usual business of dealing with foxes and boars would cease for a while. Left with no other choice as monster exterminators, we spent our time handling rat exterminations twice a week and hunting boars and foxes in the Flatlands once a week.
During that time, I also took Flora around to look at potential land candidates for purchase, and checked to see if there were any large centipedes around to ensure they wouldn't swarm.
On Tuesday night, remembering what had happened before, I decided to stay at the Northern Pass camp, and the night of the second week happened to be a full moon.
"Will they come this month too?"
"I don't know. We hit them pretty hard last month, and the repairs afterward were sufficient. Orcs might not even come, but since it's wide open, there's no telling what might show up."
While I was talking with everyone in a room in the residential area, Lewis-san walked in.
"Sorry about this. Thanks for coming all this way."
"Last month, despite all the trouble we caused, we left empty-handed. We want to earn something this time."
"They might not come tonight, you know."
"Is that so?"
Apparently, after the previous encounter, a few people went out on reconnaissance to chase the fleeing Orcs. The result was the discovery that it wasn't a particularly large pack.
"It seems they attacked with almost the entire pack last time. Apparently, they're short on water or food. They seem to be wandering, and it's highly likely they just happened to run into us while trying to cross this pass."
"So, tonight might be a bust?"
"Could be. Though, for us, that would be for the best."
Beatrix shrugged at his apologetic tone, but it's obviously better if they don't come. Beatrix replied that since they were staying in the Flatlands anyway, a bust was fine.
"Flora. What's it like inside the northern mountains?"
I tried asking Flora, whom I had brought along. Since she was in her basket, those around her just thought she was a potted plant.
Flora, who had kept her flower closed like a bud while Lewis-san and the others were there, popped her face out.
"They were doing nothing but fighting amongst themselves. Things like finding a good feeding ground, or a water source. Other than that, new members joining, or attacking the nearest pack that looked like it could be beaten to play territory games."
Apparently, the losers retreat and wander off to find a new place. Captives from the losing side are supposedly integrated into the pack, but once the numbers increase to a certain point, they split the pack because they run out of prey. In that way, they are constantly playing territory games by merging and splitting.
"Where do the new members come from?"
"I don't know. About twenty or thirty of them just show up out of nowhere and reach the pack."
"Are there no children?"
"I've never seen any."
How are they increasing? They said powerful monsters spawn from the Northeastern Forest, but is there a place where monsters just spawn? Or, as Dune said, were they summoned by someone...
"How exactly do the Orcs live?"
"If it hasn't changed since I was there, they hunt. Near ponds or where small streams flow in valleys, they make roofs out of tree branches and leaves and just sleep under them. When they're hungry, they hunt; when they're done eating, they sleep. That's all."
They lead quite a carefree life. If they didn't play territory games, they could probably live in peace.
"Were there no Goblins?"
Beatrix asked, but she would come to regret it.
"There were, but they were worked like slaves. Their females and children were taken hostage, so they were always forced to stand in the vanguard. If they lost, they were held responsible and beaten mercilessly. Even if they won, they got no reward. Just like us, they spent their time running around trying not to be found by Orcs. To Orcs, spirits weaker than themselves are just tools."
Flora said sadly that Goblins are cowardly, but they fight without fear of death if it's to protect their kin.
I know that well. I saw them with my own eyes, fighting until they died, covered in blood. After Robinson-san was defeated, they had challenged the armed guards to hand-to-hand combat with nothing but wooden sticks.
"Orcs are definitely monsters, so we can hunt them without reservation."
Beatrix's eyes were dead serious.
I understand the feeling, but it might be better to cool her head a bit.
"Is there anything else you remember about the Orcs?"
Paul-san changed the subject while patting Beatrix on the shoulder.
Apparently, when Flora was there, it was a period when there was no Demon Lord in Sertoria. There was no Demon Lord's army or remnants; they were just wild creatures with weapons made of wood and stone. However, even for the remnants who fled from the Northeastern Forest, although their weapons might be different, now that they are away from the Demon Lord's control, what they do shouldn't change much.
By the way, she said there were only Orcs and Ogres; there were no things like Gargoyles or Fenrirs.
"Come to think of it, they always fought on the night of a full moon. I don't know why. Monsters might just become aggressive during the full moon after all. They wouldn't challenge an opponent they lost to for a while, but it was common for them to attack a different pack on the next full moon. So, if they come tonight, it'll be a different pack."
So, does that mean...? Are they really going to attack tonight?
"Paul-san. Do you have a moment?"
"What is it? Did you think of something?"
"No, I was thinking, why don't we go on reconnaissance? It seems there are no Gargoyles."
"Hmm. Not bad."
When I asked Lewis-san, he said he didn't mind, so we decided to light a fire in the residential area, create a dark-colored bowl, and head out for reconnaissance.
Flying through the sky on a summer night with a full moon is exhilarating.
The mountain breeze is cool, and there are no mosquitoes.
Beatrix's head seemed to have cooled down too, as she was smiling.
The mountains seen from above were just silent and black, with only the outlines of the ridges visible in the moonlight.
Since the flight was limited to one hour, I had Flora take her human form. Today she was wearing Black-Purple. Her main body's pot was at her feet. For when we ride the bowl, I had asked Bonnie to make a triangular basket that was hard to tip over.
"Flora, can you see at night too?"
"I'm fine. It's not much different from the daytime."
Just as I thought. Since the Goblins also have night vision, I figured that would be the case.
"Then, if a pack of Orcs is climbing up the pass, would you know?"
"I'd know. But in this form, even for reconnaissance, two hours is the limit."
She was grinning. It seems I've been seen through.
"What's this, were you planning to make Flora do the scouting?"
"No, the Goblins would have been fine too, but I thought if Flora did something like this, she might eventually get along with the Jaeger unit."
The Goblins are doing reconnaissance in Northern Nakanohara and working on the second water pipe construction. In addition to that, they will be taking on the job of trial mining for silica starting in October. Now, they are even on good terms with the Nakanohara Jaegers.
If we could perform night reconnaissance on full moon nights with Flora, limited to when Paul-san is around, perhaps we could dispel the negative image.
However, for now, Mayor Adolf has told me to keep it quiet.
"It's fine. If you'll fly the bowl for me, I'll do it."
The OK came easily.
"What's this. Are you planning to make Flora an employee of the Marcelo Company?"
"No, I wasn't thinking that far ahead..."
"Even if you make her an employee, what about the compensation? Just living together isn't nearly enough to pay her."
It's as Beatrix says. Between the land and the niter, we're constantly in her debt. At this rate, we'd just be using Flora.
"We have to think of something."
Flora says it's enough if we provide a place to live, water, forest soil, and fertilizer, but we can't just leave it at that. That said, no good ideas come to mind...
While we were tossing around various ideas, it seemed Flora found something.
"They're here. Orcs... and there are Ogres mixed in too. No Goblins."
We looked down together, but we couldn't see anything.
Since it was right in the shadow of the mountain, it remained pitch black.
"Shall we launch a preemptive strike?"
Beatrix rolled up the sleeves of her robe. Bonnie also notched an arrow to her bow.
"No, reporting comes first. We have to let them know."
According to Flora, it would take over an hour even at an Orc's pace to reach the camp. If we hurry now, we can set up an ambush more than half an hour in advance.
And so, the Second Night Battle began.
Orcs on all fours slowly climbed the slope that Paul-san had cleared of trees.
The three in the vanguard held wooden shields and spears, while the three in the rear held bows with quivers attached to their waists.
The fortress had not a single bonfire; only the fence illuminated by the moon cast shadows. No human figures were to be seen.
No human voices could be heard. Only the occasional sound of insects.
The six Orcs, having climbed about a third of the slope, bared their fangs and grinned at each other under the full moon, then signaled to their comrades lurking in the forest at the bottom of the slope.
An Ogre crawled forward and held up both hands. It must have deployed magic defense. With this, intermediate magic cast from the camp would be completely useless, and even high-level magic wouldn't be able to inflict injury.
Orcs swarmed out of the forest. Half had wooden shields and spears, half had bows and arrows.
Quietly but quickly, they began to crawl up the slope.
The six Orcs who had been leading the way, seeing their pack begin the advance, started crawling toward the wooden fence.
The fence was high, but not unclimbable; they probably thought that once they broke through the first one, they could crush everything at once. Halfway up the slope, they stood up and started running.
However, they should have noticed.
The four tiny lights I had rolled out at appropriate intervals on the slope...
"Light!"
Timing it for when the gunpowder cylinder Beatrix threw from the bowl would blow up, I turned the light intensity to the maximum.
At the same time, a roar echoed out.
With just one stick of gunpowder, it was mostly noise and smoke and couldn't deal damage to the Orcs. However, the Orc pack, robbed of their sight and hearing by the sudden intense light and roar, simply dropped to all fours and reflexively cradled their heads with both hands to protect themselves.
"Fire!"
Dozens of holy water arrows were fired all at once by the Jaegers lurking in the second tier. They were aiming from above.
The arrows pierced the Orcs' bodies one after another, dealing fatal wounds.
A rain of arrows fell upon the Orc pack. Some were killed instantly by arrows through the head, while others screamed as they clutched arms pierced by arrows. Even so, the vanguard desperately held up their shields to try and stop the damage.
For a moment, the light vanished, and darkness returned.
"Now! Push!"
"Heave-ho!"
The Jaegers lurking inside the first tier of fencing lined up and rolled logs down.
At the same time, maximum light and roar once again.
Caught off guard again, the logs went thud, thud as they rolled down.
The strange sound of the vanguard's bones being crushed and flesh being pulped rang out, and just as the weight bore down on the second and third rows, arrows rained down again.
"Oh! They're running!"
Paul-san moved the bowl around, chasing the Orcs under Flora's direction. I illuminated them, Beatrix fired lightning magic, and Bonnie finished off those whose movements had stopped.
In that way, we chased them around for about half an hour, killed ten of them, and returned in triumph.
We landed at the camp after signaling with blinking lights and were greeted by the applause and cheers of the Jaegers.
There were zero casualties. Two sticks of gunpowder, three logs, and two volleys from fifty archers—that was all. The logs, of course, could be reused.
The "Light and Sound Tactic," as I had secretly named it, was a brilliant success.
Well, it was an application of the Lightning Strike Tactic used to paralyze rats with lightning before finishing them off.
I made use of what Flora had said: even if you drive one pack away, another might attack. I figured that if it was a different pack, we could catch them off guard with light and sound.
"Wow, as expected. When it comes to night battles, it's Jeanne after all."
"Umu. 'Jeanne of the Night Battles' is here."
The Jaegers were saying something. I'm being treated as a night battle specialist. Even if I look like this, I work hard during the day too, you know.
"What the Eastern Plains Jaegers said about Jeanne being there on the night of the full moon was true."
Oh, they were saying that? I'm blushing.
It must be the three I formed a quartet with.
"Isn't that amazing?" Beatrix poked me.
"What I heard was, 'Jeanne came on the night of the full moon.'"
"Wasn't it 'Jeanne became stronger on the night of the full moon'?"
The bandits are getting carried away. They're grinning while glancing over here.
Treating a person like a monster.
I had no choice but to point the Light at them and illuminate them, and they ran away while squealing.
They seemed happy for some reason.
Beatrix poked me while grinning. Apparently, there are still bandits saying things.
"Last month, she got hit by an arrow but stood right back up and attacked. The secret to Jeanne's strength must be in the full moon."
Crap. I was seen. And it's been exaggerated. When I chased them off with the Light, they ran away laughing.
This is bad. It seems a strange habit has taken hold.
"Jeanne is amazing!"
Bonnie! Don't believe what the bandits say.
"I've mostly been treated like a monster myself, but Jeanne is the same, isn't she?"
Even Flora, who had only poked her face out from her bud, said it secretly.
Geez, I can't stay mad if everyone is laughing.
In the end, Lewis-san told me he'd be counting on me for the next full moon too.
"What's the reward?"
The cheeky mage asked.
"I'll officially apply to the Royal Capital to make her current unofficial position as Nakanohara Honorary Jaeger Commander official."
I blasted him with Light magic and had the bow-wielding bandits surround him.