Chapter 185 - Ninth Story: Near the Regnentes Border
“Chururi, chururi,” went the sound.
The Chururi Family had returned.
When I showed them Beatrix’s drawing, all three birds pecked at the wolf repeatedly.
It seemed the first wave was a pack of wolves.
“Chururi-tachi, good work. You must be hungry.”
I took out caterpillars from a small pouch and gave them two each, and they seemed satisfied.
After perching on the rim of a bowl and drinking water, they entered their cage, so I decided to let them rest.
“It’s a pack of wolves. I don’t know the exact number, but there seem to be many.”
When I told Paul-san, he nodded, saying, “Then it’s fire.” Hanna-san immediately shot a single fire arrow into the sky.
This was to transmit the message to the other mountain huts.
The message content, depending on the opponent, was: one arrow for fire, two for ice, three for lightning, and four for holy magic to intercept.
Since I had sent the Chururi Family in three directions, they could cover the areas in front of the mountain huts on both the left and right.
“We got a reply!”
Bonnie, who had climbed onto the roof of the mountain hut, shouted loudly.
Fire arrows seemed to have risen from the mountain huts on both sides.
“Alright. The enemy’s first wave is wolves. Let’s meet them!”
Everyone simultaneously climbed the ladders to the roof and watchtowers.
Those who could use bows nocked arrows dipped in holy water, and those who could use magic braced themselves.
“Then, Bonnie, let’s go.”
“Yes, Master.”
The aerial reconnaissance team soared into the sky, riding on Paul-san’s bowl, which had received Angelica-san’s Camouflage and Marcelo-san’s Magic Reflection.
The piloting was, of course, Paul-san. Accompanying him was Bonnie, who could use a bow and arrow.
The role of the aerial reconnaissance team also included searching for mages or Engrio forces who might be behind the monsters. They wouldn’t be back for two hours.
Three months had passed since Mayor Adolf’s talk.
Chururi had become a family bird this spring, raising the eggs she laid at Dune’s place. With the cooperation of the two parent birds and their grown chick, they trained with me under the guidance of Robinson-san and Flora. They could now be released from their cage, fly in the direction I pointed, return after flying a certain distance, and signal the monsters they found by pecking at Beatrix’s drawing.
Since they were originally fond of me, they learned quickly.
During winter, they eat insects on the trees protecting the island at Dune’s place, so they are also good friends with Dune and Kuroko.
Thanks to Dune’s cooperation, she apparently flew around the lake with Kuroko, teaching them about monster characteristics and how to find them.
This time, the Chururi couple and one of their second-generation chicks participated. They are now excellent scouts.
It’s impossible for them to give complex instructions for reconnaissance like Robinson-san, or fly at night like owls, but it still makes a huge difference.
They actually found the pack of wolves advancing through the forest.
Hanna-san, Beowulf, and Will held bows in the watchtower inside the fence. Marcelo-san and Angelica-san were on the roof as a pair. I was guarding one of the watchtowers with Beatrix and Mary.
“Mary. This is practice this time. Don’t use too much magic.”
“I know. We’re going to use fire on the wolves, right?”
“That’s right. We’re basically on watch. We’ll only aim for two or three.”
Unlike the rat extermination at the fort some time ago, Mary was calm.
This time, she was also in charge of tools, but she probably wouldn’t throw gunpowder anymore.
We were in a mountain hut in the forest near the Regnentes border, in Southwestern Nakanohara.
The border area in Southern Nakanohara was a deep forest covering low hills.
Those heading north from the center of Engrio had two paths to choose from: east or west.
The eastern path went straight north and reached Nakanohara. The western path first went north, then turned west, heading towards Southeastern Regnentes.
The mountain hut was located north of the Engrio army advancing west towards Regnentes.
During the previous war, it was apparently used as a base for surprise attack units that threatened the flank of the Engrio army heading towards their ally, Regnentes.
As soon as information arrived that Engrio had begun its invasion of Regnentes, we immediately moved here using the Teleportation Circle that Marcelo-san had prepared in advance.
Now, the Regnentes border, about three post stations wide, was lined with two staggered rows of ten mountain huts, where over a hundred soldiers, mainly hunters, were holed up and ready to intercept.
A week of waiting, self-sufficient in the forest. Finally, they came.
The supreme commander was Mayor Adolf.
If the first row of mountain huts was the front line, he was at the eastern end of the second row of mountain huts.
The supreme commander also had to guard the Engrio border.
The Engrio border area was fortified by kingdom army garrisons along with border guards.
There was a sturdy fort in the forest, with high stone walls forming a defensive barrier, so it wouldn’t be easily breached unless a large human army attacked.
The third line was no longer in the forest but in the plains, where temporary huts had been built at key points for rotation and rest, and local village guards and vigilante groups were tasked with protecting them.
The role of the first and second lines was to prevent the enemy from reaching that far.
Of course, a large number of traps had been set in the forest. Holes were dug, ropes were strung, tree branches were bent, and things were prepared to surely kill any monster caught.
The first and second lines were connected by Teleportation Circles, allowing for smooth retreats, reinforcements, and rotations.
The second and third lines would involve traveling by carriage on forest roads, but it would take less than an hour, so there would be no problem.
Birds suddenly flew up from the tree branches.
They came.
Without howling or caution, they seemed to have rushed through the daytime forest in a pack.
This was clearly unusual. It was not the behavior of wild animals.
The area around the mountain hut had been cleared of trees for better visibility, surrounded by a wooden fence, and outside that, two moats had been dug.
They must surely be surrounded by the pack.
We had set many traps, but they broke through?
I had heard that their caution against traps would be dulled while being controlled by Subordination, but it wasn’t that easy.
Several of them staggered out from behind the trees.
They snarled and bared their fangs at us on the roof.
The first moat was narrow and shallow. They easily jumped over it.
The second moat was wide and just outside the fence.
They couldn’t cross it, as expected, and started pacing around.
When Hanna-san shot a holy water arrow with her bow, it pierced a wolf’s brow, and it fell without a scream.
At the same time, a large number of wolves rushed towards the hut from the shadows of the forest.
Perhaps angered by their comrade being killed, they howled as they crossed the first moat and then jumped repeatedly, trying to leap over the wooden fence.
Several parts of the wooden fence were intentionally made low. Surely, they would aim for those spots and gather near them. That’s where we would strike.
As expected, several wolves succeeded in crossing the fence and gathered in the surrounding area.
However, sadly, the wolves that crossed the fence were impaled by sharpened wooden spears buried at the bottom of the moat inside the fence, and were already dead.
“Now!”
At Marcelo-san’s signal, three people successively shot fire arrows, and Beatrix fired three Fire Balls, causing flames to rise from the first moat, which had been covered with dry grass soaked in oil.
A wall of fire was created.
The area around the hut was enveloped in a ring of fire.
Now, the wolves couldn’t escape.
Paul-san had said that normally they wouldn’t cross the moat because they would smell it. (T/N: Wolves have a keen sense of smell, implying they would detect the oil and fire before crossing.)
This time, they crossed. They must be controlled.
Hanna-san and the others steadily killed the wolves, which howled and paced around, having lost their escape route, with arrows. After Beatrix, Mary, and I took turns firing several amplified magic spells, we annihilated the pack of wolves.
“That was easy, wasn’t it?”
Mary said, picking up the arrows that had struck.
“This is just a warm-up. Bears and other creatures will surely come, so the real challenge is yet to come.”
After all, Marcelo-san and Angelica-san hadn’t done anything.
They were just covering the moat with soil to extinguish the fire, then digging it up again and spreading oil.
Surely, Fenrir or Cyclops wouldn’t come, but if they kept coming one after another, we would run out of arrows and magic.
“When you cast magic, it’s in order. Only the ones amplified using Jeanne’s stone.”
“Does it become mid-level magic power?”
“That’s right. So, no holding back. We have to shoot many.”
King Griffith’s Black Stone was excellent; it could produce mid-level magic power with beginner-level magic control. This meant we could use it as many times as beginner magic. If the three of us combined, we could probably manage about eighty shots, so we might be alright even if a pack of bears attacked.
After that, roughly every other day, a second, third, and fourth wave of boars, foxes, and bears attacked, but we managed to repel them without the fence being broken.
I was really surprised when dozens of bears appeared all at once. We ran out of arrows, and while the three of us took turns casting amplified magic, Marcelo-san and Angelica-san, who had been conserving their strength, used Teleport to go outside the fence and froze the bears that had gathered at our feet, allowing us to defeat them.
It was still better when they came during the day, but nights were apparently tough. Without Chururi’s prior warning, we wouldn’t know until the hut was surrounded. Paul-san conveyed the day’s events as much as possible to the rotating shifts.
The total number of monsters that attacked exceeded two hundred. Since there were five mountain huts and night attacks, the total truly reached into the thousands.
We teleported them all to the warehouse, but I wonder if they can be butchered.
This time, the furs and meat were to be taken by the town hall. It would be a very good earning.
Engrio was making a thoughtful gesture. (T/N: This is sarcastic, implying Engrio is inadvertently providing resources by sending monsters.)
If they had all come at once, we don’t know what would have happened.
They were sending monsters from Engrio, which we usually couldn’t deal with, to our side.
If they attacked to an extent we could handle, everyone would earn well.
On days when monsters attacked, we would be exhausted.
Apparently, the first line was largely successful in stopping them. Some also reached the second line, but their numbers were small, and they were easily dealt with.
Night battles were mainly handled by the magic soldiers of the guard.
Matilda and the workshop members also became night battle personnel. They seemed ready to set up gunpowder and repel the enemy.
Among the Class of 175, only one person was assigned to night battle, and I hoped they would do their best.
My Light magic was suitable for night battles, but since aerial reconnaissance using Chururi would become impossible, I was assigned to the day battle team. We would retreat, join the second line tomorrow morning, and then the first line in the afternoon.
The entire force was organized into four shifts, one of which, though small in number, was constantly stationed in the second line, ready to head to the first line immediately if a request for reinforcement came in.
This shift was mainly composed of skilled young hunters with stamina. In the case of a night battle, almost everyone would apparently go out to support as soon as monsters arrived.
After retreating to the third line and seeing off Angelica-san and Mary, we ate dinner.
During the meal, Paul-san, who had been on reconnaissance, told us about the overall situation.
“So far, we’re successfully stopping them. The enemy is probably controlling them to attack humans. Most of them seem to be drawn to the mountain huts. The fact that they’re coming in waves means that’s probably the number of mages involved.”
It was just as Mayor Adolf had predicted. We were all outside the mountain huts, not inside. Surely, they would sniff us out and swarm.
“The problem is night. Especially if bats come out, it’ll be troublesome.”
If we were on the roof, we would definitely be targeted.
“What will you do?”
“There were iron cages, weren’t there? They’re going to install those on the watchtowers, and people will go inside and stab anything that clings to them with spears. They also said they’d cover the Anti-Air Ballistas and aim with those.”
Anti-Air Ballista.
I had seen them at the Northern Pass encampment in the Flatlands.
They could fire almost straight up. They could rotate smoothly all the way around, and since they fired holy water arrowheads, one hit would probably be enough.
They were originally for Gargoyle countermeasures, and deployment seemed to be progressing everywhere.
They could be installed starting with tonight’s shift.
If they fell for the decoy, we could probably defeat them.
“There are fishing nets, right? Can’t we use those to catch them?”
Beatrix suddenly said something outlandish.
Could you catch bats with a net for catching fish?
“That’s an interesting idea. If we use a fishing net like a mist net, we might be able to catch them.”
Surprisingly, Hanna-san agreed.
“Mist net?”
Beatrix herself didn’t seem to know, but Paul-san explained.
“It’s a net made of thin threads stretched between trees to catch small birds. Bats are big, so using connected fishing nets might be just right. Wild ones might not get caught easily, but those being controlled probably only think about attacking humans.”
I had shown Chururi the real thing and told them to be careful when flying between trees.
Bonnie knew about it.
“But, Master, do bats fly between trees?”
They were quite large. They would probably fly above the trees, not in narrow gaps.
“Then, how about completely covering the mountain hut? The number of people who can enter the cage is limited, so we can’t protect everyone, right?”
As expected of the Second-sama. (T/N: “Second-sama” refers to Beatrix, who is the second-ranked orphan in the Class of 175, implying her ideas are grand.) Her scale was large.
Paul-san, with his arms crossed, hummed and said he would consult with the mayor.
The next morning.
When we went to the second line by carriage, some of the night watch had returned. When I asked Matilda, she said they had struggled with bats. So, they finally came.
Over a hundred bats had apparently flown in.
“It was good that it was just bats, but if bears or wolves had been with them, it would have been quite dangerous. Arrows and magic just whizzed past them. We couldn’t even use gunpowder. And what’s more, they supposedly transmit strange diseases. Everyone got scared and those who couldn’t get into the cages hid inside the mountain hut.”
Despite that, she bravely stayed in the cage and apparently defeated five bats by herself.
She successfully obtained bat wings.
I immediately told Mayor Adolf about the mist nets.
Mayor Adolf immediately agreed, saying, “Let’s try it,” and sent a messenger to Nakanohara Town to collect fishing nets from the riverside hunters.
For now, if we could get enough for the first line by nightfall, we would manage.
Unlike the nights, the days continued without incident, perhaps because the collected monsters had run out.
The returning Chururi-tachi just tilted their heads left and right.
But that was cute in its own way, so when I gently stroked them with the pads of my fingers, they closed their eyes and looked comfortable.
It was a rare moment of peace. We connected the collected fishing nets and covered the mountain hut.
Angelica-san used Paul-san’s wind magic to cut off all the branches of a tree, then transplanted the tree, roots and all, into holes she dug at the four corners of the mountain hut to serve as pillars.
As expected of Angelica-san. When I explained what Eleanor-sama used to do, she accomplished it. She couldn’t make it fly through the air, but just moving it was impressive.
Once the pillars were in place, we just had to tie the nets to them and cover the mountain hut. The iron cages were placed over the watchtowers, and Anti-Air Ballistas were installed.
Two Anti-Air Ballistas had been brought in.
They were installed on two watchtowers, and the remaining watchtowers were used for people to take shelter.
As an extra measure, we strung wire around the forest surrounding the mountain hut to slow down enemies.
When I asked the next day, the effect was tremendous; they were able to defeat all the creatures that crashed into the net and got caught by stabbing them with spears. Perhaps because they thrashed around in the net, some had torn wings in places, but this time, it was meaningless if they weren’t defeated.
“That saved us. Who came up with that idea?”
When an old man on the night watch asked, I said it was Hanna-san, and he pumped his fist.
He must have voted for it. (T/N: This implies a system where good ideas are