Chapter 65 - Monster Hunting
A small magic circle drawn on the floor glowed with a soft howa light.
The number drawn beside the magic circle was three.
"They came from the front during the day, huh? Might be a big one."
Paul-san, who was watching from the corner of his eye, spoke as if to himself.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. They wouldn't move during the day unless they had a certain amount of confidence."
"Coming from the front means we successfully lured them, right?"
"Yeah, we managed to keep them from escaping toward the north. Thanks to that, we can head out on foot."
It finally happened on the fourth day. Moreover, it seemed to be a big one right from the start. I think there was a Troll? What should I do? As I thought, I have to go, don't I?
"Boss, they're here. Front, Number Three. One Troll, about twenty Orcs."
A Jaeger picked up a scrap of paper that had arrived via the magic circle and read it aloud.
"Alright! Everyone, move out. It's our first battle. Let's do this flashily!"
"Oh!" everyone shouted in unison as they stood up.
"Jeanne. Let's go. Stay behind me and Will."
Beowulf dragged Will over. Hanna-san was with them too.
First was the departure of the central unit. With the commander at the lead, about thirty Jaegers passed through the main gate of the mountain fortress, turned right, and ran down the slope on foot. Paul-san and Angelica-san were there too. Next were the archers from both sides, also totaling thirty, followed by the rear guard unit.
I rode behind the horse Will was controlling and galloped down with the town guards.
The horses were reserved for me and Beatrix, who lacked physical stamina. It was pathetic, but it couldn't be helped.
After running for a while, the front unit was waiting.
We dismounted and joined them.
"Listen, we'll pin them down once we descend from here. The archer squads are positioned on the left and right, so do not get in front of us. You might get hit by a stray arrow. Paul, Angelica, I'm counting on you. McBurn, I'm leaving the rear to you. Protect everyone."
I clung to Beowulf as we slowly descended to where the front unit was lurking in the brush. It was the ambush point.
Paul-san and Angelica-san were staying low, sticking close behind the front unit.
The first move would be a preemptive strike with magic.
I could hear a sound like the earth rumbling; was that the Troll's footsteps?
As I hid behind a tree to observe, I saw it!
It's huge! Its grey head was at the same height as the trees.
That head gradually drew closer.
Everyone was hiding behind trees or bushes, watching the situation.
Judging by the lack of change in the footsteps, it seemed we hadn't been noticed.
"Glaciate!"
Angelica-san suddenly let it rip. The Troll, caught off guard, was frozen in ice up to its solar plexus. This completely stopped its movement. The Orcs that were near its feet were caught in it too. The Troll wailed as it swung its club blindly, but there was no way it would hit anything.
"Wind Barrier!"
Next was Paul-san.
I thought he was going to stop the club, but I was wrong.
The Troll dropped its club and began clawing at its face, but soon it went limp and finally stopped moving altogether. I wonder if, perhaps...
In the meantime, the front unit struck the swarm of Orcs. The Orcs also charged forward with war cries. Arrows flew in from both sides. The arrows of the archers, who had taken careful aim, struck the exposed legs of the armored Orcs, sending more than ten of them tumbling to the ground in an instant.
Lewis-san and the rest of the front unit drew the swords from their backs all at once. The blades were a shimmering, pale silver. The remaining Orcs faltered, and into that fatal opening, the archers' second volley flew. The front unit charged, and it became a melee.
The Orcs were also armed. Their weapons were spears. Even with silver swords, the opponents were monsters. We had the numbers, but they were still strong. It became a back-and-forth struggle. In a melee, bows and magic aren't very useful because you might hit your allies.
For the Orcs that broke out of the melee and tried to come our way, Angelica-san and Paul-san dealt damage with magic, and the town guards delivered the finishing blows. Both of them only used big spells at the start; now they were using beginner or intermediate magic. They could fire them without chanting, and they could use them many times.
As Angelica-san slid closer to the fray, she accurately fired magic between her allies, freezing one Orc solid.
One Orc pushed a Jaeger aside and swung its spear at Angelica-san. Dangerous! I widened my eyes for a moment, but Angelica-san created something like a large ice shield in her left hand to catch the Orc's spear, then immediately chanted a spell with her right hand and froze the Orc's neck.
The corners of her eyes were sharp. This must be the "Ogre Angelica." There wasn't a trace of her usual smile.
The Jaeger who had been pushed aside immediately stood up and thrust his sword into the throat of the Orc whose head was frozen and struggling. Angelica-san had already jumped back to a safe position.
"Jeanne-san. Duck."
I heard Hanna-san's voice from behind, so I ducked as told, and Hanna-san fired an arrow. Without missing its mark, the arrow pierced the forehead of one Orc. It fell to the ground like a toppling tree, still leaning back. She took it down in one shot.
That Orc sprawled on the ground was wearing a helmet with feather decorations. It was likely the unit leader. Seeing that, the swarm of Orcs began to flee all at once, but they were targeted from both sides by the archers who had moved ahead. While they were losing their footing, the Jaegers closing in from behind attacked, finally annihilating them all.
"Jeanne. Could you come here? We have casualties."
"Yes! I'm coming now!"
When I went over after being called by Lewis-san, four people were injured. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, so there was no need to use the scrolls I was holding; I could treat them with my magic. One person had a broken shoulder bone. I had to use both hands and give it my all, but it was fine.
"Sorry about that. I owe you one."
He thanked me while slowly rotating his injured shoulder. It's a good feeling to be thanked by everyone. Being able to be useful in my original role, I, who had just been watching during the battle, felt I had redeemed myself.
The archers began recovering their arrows. Since they were using silver arrows, they probably couldn't afford to treat them as disposables. Hanna-san also went to the Orc that seemed to be the leader and pulled out her arrow.
"Since you two took out the Troll first, the rest became easier. My thanks."
"It was nothing much. No big deal."
Paul-san was humble, and Angelica-san had returned to her usual smile.
"How on earth did you defeat that thing? If I recall, the magic you used was Wind Barrier, right?"
Lewis-san pointed at the Troll that had died standing up, its lower body frozen in ice. The Troll's mouth was hanging open loosely, dripping drool.
"I wrapped a Wind Barrier around its face and suffocated it. Since Angelica had secured its feet, I thought I'd give it a try. It worked well, but it took a bit of time."
I knew it. Paul-san had been moving his outstretched palm as if lightly gripping something, so I had suspected as much.
"Is such a thing possible?"
Lewis-san was astonished. Well, that makes sense. If you think about it, it's quite a vicious use of magic.
"Bishop Catherine taught me. It's an applied use of magic."
"The Headmistress did?"
"That's right. I attended Bishop Catherine's lecture the other day."
The Headmistress's lecture must be the one on the applied use of magic for injured returning soldiers. Paul-san, who wants to fire magic from his mouth, should have been taking it as a paid student.
"Hero Catherine's lectures are amazing. She asked every single participant what their most applicable magic on hand was, so I said Wind Barrier. I answered that I could suffocate monsters if it were a sealed room. Then she said, 'You can do it outside too, can't you?' I didn't know how, so I asked, and she came back with, 'How about changing the shape of the barrier?'"
"So that's why you were changing the shape of your hand after activating it."
"You were watching closely. You wrap it around with the image of grabbing the opponent's face like this, with a clutching grip. After that, you make the walls even thicker to suffocate them to death."
That's a lecture worthy of the name "Catherine the Iconoclast." It's not even an applied use of magic anymore; it's just a method for simply killing enemies.
"However, this has a weakness."
"A weakness?"
"Yeah. If the opponent's face is too small, a gap inevitably forms, and it doesn't work. It's strictly for big targets. It succeeded today because it was a Troll."
But compared to hacking them to pieces, the damage to the corpse is less, so in a way, it's easier afterward.
"Angelica did well too. As expected of the Ogre... no, no, as expected of Angelica."
Seeing Angelica-san's eyes flash sharply for a moment, it seems her former epithet is a forbidden word. When Lewis-san corrected himself, she returned to her smiling face.
"And then there's Hanna. To be able to aim for the boss in that situation... you're quite something."
"No, I used to be a hunter, though I might not look it. Besides, it was just luck."
She was being humble, but the boss was standing in the middle of the melee, surrounded by underlings. She shot through that. She really must be a crack shot.
"And Jeanne. As expected of a priest. You did well. Thanks to you, my subordinates are healthy, and we didn't have to use expensive scrolls."
"No, no, this is my duty. Besides, I'm glad there were no serious injuries. Treating those kinds of people is impossible for me."
Lewis-san cleared his throat with a gohon.
"By the way, how about it? The Kingdom... ah, hey, where are you going?"
It's useless to even listen to the rest of his lines. The three women turned their backs.
"One Troll and twenty-two Orcs, huh? That's twenty-seven silver coins in total. It was a good profit."
Paul-san concluded with a laugh.