How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 4

The monsters that raided the territory were Raptors.

8th-grade, bipedal lizard monsters, Raptors.

Their threat level was quite low at grade 8, but because they tended to form groups, they were rather troublesome.

In cases where they gathered in massive hordes, a Raptor Leader or Champion would appear, and those were grade 6 or 7 monsters.

Since they naturally formed groups in spring, it was best to exterminate them beforehand before they grew too large.

In truth, threat level or not, from the perspective of the residents it was simply horrifying.

It was human instinct to flinch even when a large dog rushed at you—so if a one-meter-tall lizard came charging with its jaws wide open, panic was only natural.

So of course, farmers working in the fields would immediately flee into the castle.

“What the…?”

But the residents of our Johnson Territory, those working outside, showed behavior a little different from what I had expected.

Flails, pickaxes, hammers, and other tools.

It was as if they had been waiting for this, pulling out their implements in a way that didn’t seem ordinary.

Moreover, the swift way they moved into formation looked strangely practiced.

It was hard to believe these were the same farmers who usually plowed their fields so sluggishly.

“This much is routine. Why so surprised?”

“Well, that’s true. They don’t even bother reporting when it’s just the yellow flag.”

I was watching in confusion when Rudick nagged at me from the side.

As if asking why I was making such a fuss over nothing.

I agreed with him.

There was no way anything serious could come from just this.

What I really wanted to know was what exactly was happening right now.

Routine or not, anyone could see this was unusual.

“So…”

Right now, in the fields, the Raptors and the residents were locked in a standoff.

Farmers with tools in hand were preparing to face the Raptors.

-Over there!!

And around then, the soldiers who had received the warning signal rushed out from the castle.

Their numbers were about fifty.

With this, they had enough force to take down a few Raptors without issue.

“Huh?”

But strangely enough…

The soldiers who came out from the castle only surrounded the area from a distance, restricting the Raptors’ movement.

Then, all of a sudden, they broke into heated cheering.

-Hup hup!

-Go! Go!

Just as my eyes widened at this absurd scene—

The farmers charged all at once.

Then they began to beat down the Raptors with pickaxes and flails.

When a man in his fifties smashed one’s chest with a flail, a woman in her forties beside him brought her pickaxe down on its skull.

A clean combination, a thrilling pummeling.

‘Wait, isn’t that Smith’s mother? (Peter’s next-door neighbor, six years old)’

The gentle lady who always smiled politely and waved… was now like that.

At this point, I was beginning to wonder who the real monsters were.

“Hmm.”

The thirty or so Raptors were wiped out in an instant.

The soldiers who had rushed out from the castle collected the corpses and returned inside.

The farmers, as if nothing had happened, went back to the fields to till the earth again.

Although, compared to the energy they had shown rushing out to face the Raptors, they looked far more worn out.

“Well, it was handled cleanly as always.”

“…Right.”

“Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just…”

I was speechless.

So this was considered ‘routine’ in this region?

To be honest, I had known somewhat through Iron’s memories.

Because this land was so infested with monsters, the residents were naturally used to dealing with them.

And they were incredibly aggressive.

In Korea, the term “tough guy” came to mind, but here there were only tough men and tough women.

It was natural.

Even if one went out just to gather herbs or hunt, one could never ignore the existence of monsters here.

No matter how much the soldiers protected them, it wasn’t possible to leave everything to them.

In the end, this was a land where you couldn’t survive unless you were strong, and the residents who had lived here until now could only be strong.

‘Still, to this extent?’

I hadn’t expected them to be so aggressive as to run out themselves and beat monsters to death.

Even if they were only grade 8 Raptors, wiping them out so swiftly like that was unbelievable.

The residents seemed suspiciously accustomed to real combat, while the soldiers cheered them on as if it was the most natural thing.

If such a festival(?) was held every time the yellow flag was raised, it made my head hurt.

I had known this in theory, but seeing it with my own eyes felt different.

Weren’t the residents of a monster apocalypse supposed to be those who had to rely completely on soldiers for protection?

The reality was so different from my common sense that I felt a strange cognitive dissonance.

“I don’t think our residents care much about farming.”

Another absurd thing—

The same residents who had so joyfully beaten the monsters to death were now staggering around like sick chickens once they returned to their fields.

Their attitude was so drastically opposite it was impossible not to notice.

The truth was, the residents of Johnson Castle enjoyed killing monsters far more than tilling the soil.

At this point, efficiency in farming didn’t matter—their very nature was simply like that.

‘No… perhaps that’s actually a good thing?’

Of course, Johnson Castle’s grand, beautiful walls were reassuring, but that very size gave me concerns.

Bigger walls didn’t always mean better defense.

With walls of this scale, even if every soldier was dedicated to defense, it would be hard to guard all sectors.

Our castle only had about 200 soldiers, while Johnson Castle’s walls required at least 1,000 to be defended properly.

‘But if the residents could be mobilized for defense…’

With roughly 3,000 residents, even if I selected carefully, I could field about a thousand.

If even a housewife could smash a Raptor with a pickaxe, then surely they could handle pushing back monsters from atop the walls.

‘And in Johnson Castle, there isn’t a man who can’t use a bow.’

Even if a massive horde of monsters attacked, with the residents uniting, defense seemed possible.

‘Which means, the vision the diary showed me was in the end…’

A castle emptied of its lord, knights, and soldiers.

If monsters attacked suddenly, there was no way a normal defense could be carried out.

If I weren’t present, Steward Harold would have led the residents as acting lord—but his specialty was management, not combat.

So the most logical conclusion was that the diary’s vision had been showing me the castle walls being overrun due to a sudden large-scale monster raid.

‘Still, I must not let my guard down.’

As long as I didn’t know exactly what that situation had been, it wasn’t safe to be complacent.

I especially had to remember the part about a section of these thick castle walls having collapsed.

For now, I should prepare as much as possible and then confirm the situation.

“Let’s go.”

“Go? Where to this time?”

“The warehouse. I need to check if there’s enough combat supplies.”

“Ugh, really… Fine, fine. Let’s go.”

I took Rudick, who was grumbling, and turned toward the warehouse.

Since I was planning to mobilize even the residents for the defense, the first thing I had to check was whether there were enough weapons and supplies for them to use.

If we didn’t have sufficient weapons and armor, then my plan to put the residents into the defense would fall apart from the start.

---

The state of the warehouse was much better than I expected.

What pleased me most was the large pile of iron arrows stacked in one corner.

These arrows, with even their shafts made of steel, were meant for mass use during the winter defense battles, and had been prepared thoroughly.

After all, Johnson Territory’s defensive battles against monsters were primarily in late autumn through winter, when massive hordes crawled down from the Monster Mountains toward the northern gate.

“I can’t expect full suits of armor, can I? Maybe we can make shields quickly… No, spears would be more urgent. To face monsters from the walls, they’ll need spears.”

The problem was, compared to arrows, the stock of armor and weapons wasn’t that abundant.

There were enough for the soldiers, but if I extended that to the residents, it was definitely short.

Since the supplies had been prepared with only 200 soldiers in mind from the beginning, that was only natural.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to do here. So, you’re saying we need spears and shields?”

“Yeah. The more the better.”

“And why exactly do we need them?”

“Because the residents might need to arm themselves.”

“…The residents? Armed? Is that necessary?”

“Yes, necessary.”

“I don’t get what you’re trying to do.”

Rudick, who had been just watching me silently, finally spoke.

He seemed a little displeased, but since I insisted it was needed, he looked like he’d go along with it somehow.

Still, his suggestion left me surprised—it was a little different from my assumptions.

“Why not just tell them to bring their own weapons?”

“…Their own weapons?”

“I mean, if the residents are going to fight anyway. How many of our people don’t already have their own arms?”

“They have equipment?”

In Johnson Territory, where you couldn’t survive unless you were strong, the residents actually possessed their own equipment.

Armor made from leftover monster hides, and weapons crafted bit by bit from surplus materials.

Everyone here was more than ready to defend themselves.

There couldn’t be a more perfect fusion of farmer and soldier.

“As for shields, well, those take some effort.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, people don’t usually use shields. Our tradition here is using big, heavy weapons. Let’s see… The Forest of Illusions has ironwood. If we bring that back, carve it, and reinforce it with monster hides, that’ll make a decent shield. And if we tell the residents to make their own, it’ll be no problem.”

“Make their own?”

“They’ll need to gather materials with the soldiers, of course. That area’s crawling with monsters too.”

Apparently, if given the materials, the residents could even prepare their own shields.

After all, there wasn’t a man in Johnson Territory who wasn’t skilled in leatherworking or carpentry.

From archery to woodworking to leather crafting—

Truly fitting for survivors of a monster apocalypse, their lives of self-sufficiency had given them many skills.

‘Preparation might actually proceed more smoothly than expected, but…’

The more I learned about the residents’ capabilities, the more one thing nagged at me.

‘Even with all this equipment, the walls were breached?’

The fact that such a territory had lost part of its wall to monsters.

Either a massive horde had poured in that the residents couldn’t handle, or a monster far beyond their level had smashed down part of the walls.

‘Or maybe both.’

Which meant this coming defense could be far more dangerous than I had assumed.

‘I need something more groundbreaking as a countermeasure… huh?’

While pondering what could have forced Johnson Territory’s mighty residents to give up even the walls—

My eyes fell on something quietly stored in one corner of the warehouse.

A massive cylindrical body, covered with all sorts of magical apparatus.

The shape was unfamiliar, but the feeling it gave off was oddly familiar.

“…That’s… a cannon?”

If someone had taken an old-world cannon and given it a fantasy twist, it would look exactly like this.

To confirm what it really was, I immediately summoned Peter, the owner of the alchemy workshop.