NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
“Crafting.”
The carriages are blocked by a wall of mixed dirt and stone. Unless they lift the carriages, there’s no way they can harm Karina. I shouted a word of encouragement to the knights who were surprised by my skill and jumped into the chaos of the battlefield.
Goblins, orcs, werewolves, trolls, and nameless monsters… I could see suspiciously dressed humans shouting as they charged at the knights. Are those the Harpas Cult bastards?
What a mess.
Where did they come from?
And did everyone drink or something? Why are their eyes so red? Looking closely, they seem on the verge of exploding. They clearly don’t seem to be in their right minds.
It’s obvious they’re not in a normal state. And what happened to those damn guards that nobody noticed until they got this close? Looking around, the soldiers are being picked off little by little without forming ranks.
Has this month of peace poisoned us?
It’s been an excessively relaxed trip, but I never expected everyone to have let their guard down to the point of not noticing an ambush. Given the sheer size of their forces, they might not even have thought an ambush was possible.
“…First, I need to protect the non-combatants.”
I quickly surveyed the area and checked the priests and servants huddled together. The soldiers are struggling a bit against the trolls’ fierce attacks. I kicked off the ground and rushed behind a troll. I didn’t know if it shared the same weaknesses as humans, but my priority was to take care of the one causing the most trouble for the soldiers.
There’s no way I can inflict meaningful damage with a dirt structure, so this time…
I used my skill right behind the troll.
“Crafting.”
The ground sinks. Suddenly, the 5-meter-tall troll wobbles as its height adjusts. The soldiers’ surprised faces can be seen over the troll’s shoulder. Before the troll regains its senses, I climbed onto its shoulder and whacked its head with the shovel blade.
Once, twice, three times.
You know what they say, there’s no tree that doesn’t fall after ten knocks, and as I frantically pounded the troll’s stubborn skull, its movements began to slow. The soldiers quickly realized and targeted the troll’s arms and legs to keep it from attacking me. In the end, with our coordinated efforts, even the mighty troll couldn’t help but collapse, its head split in two on the dirt.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No, thanks to you…”
Judging by the soup stains that haven’t been wiped off, it seems like this soldier grabbed their weapon in a hurry mid-meal. I looked at the soldier who couldn’t even finish their meal before getting swept into this chaos and said,
“Then I’ll take care of this side, so go support elsewhere. Spread the word to your comrades.”
“Wha? But…”
“There are always ways.”
“…Understood.”
It seems taking down the troll added some trust to my words. Perhaps it would be better to appeal to the soldiers a little more this time. This squad could be likened to a constructor battalion.
Maybe.
Fortunately, the soldiers didn’t insist and scattered to help others. All that remained were the priests and servants. I shouted to the terrified crowd.
“Priests! And servants! Huddle together! Don’t move!”
At my command, the priests and servants clung to each other tightly. Hmm, it’s nice when they listen well.
This was all thanks to the various things I created during this tedious journey.
I estimated rapidly with my eyes and stuck the shovel into the ground.
“Crafting.”
A huge hut made of dirt, rustic to the point of being crude, enveloped the priests and servants. Given that the only material was dirt, it’s not sturdy, but it should withstand flying stones or clubs.
For good measure, I also created a simple ditch to block any possible goblin approaches.
This should be enough to hold up under most circumstances.
I took my eyes off them and surveyed the battlefield.
Where could Millia and Renny be? Renny is one thing, but Millia is likely only capable of putting up a fight like a Chihuahua. I started scanning for Millia, graciously smashing goblin heads with my shovel.
“Millia!”
“Johann! Save meeee!”
I glanced at the orc following Millia, who was desperately running towards me. Clutching a rusty axe I couldn’t tell where he found it, the orc seemed to have taken a liking to Millia’s red hair, ignoring everything else and only chasing after her.
“Crafting.”
I erected an ankle-high obstacle between Millia and the orc. As the orc tripped and exposed its vulnerability, I stomped the ground. The orc’s green bald head looked at me as it raised its axe to block an attack, but with its unstable stance, it couldn’t defend properly. I yanked the shovel blade lodged in the orc’s head back out. Brain matter and blood spilled out between the cracked skull.
What a disgusting sight.
“Johann! I was scared!”
Don’t cling to me, the brain matter splattered, and my clothes are sticky.
“See that building over there? Head there.”
“Got it!”
Millia dashed into the structure I created.
So let’s keep moving.
I threw myself toward the collapsing front lines.
First up are those in Harpas Cult costumes. I hesitate about killing humans, but is there really room for hesitation now? A hydra, bear, or human; they’re all living beings.
I swung the shovel blade towards the neck of a clearly visible enemy.
A nauseating and unpleasant sensation flows from my hand to my shoulder. Blood splatters as the head drops to the ground. It’s a revolting sight, but it might be something I have to see countless times ahead. I looked away from the corpse and searched for my next target.
On one side, Renny is holding the line alone, while the knights on the northern side are properly defending in formation. I guess I should head east.
I moved towards the east where orcs and goblins are crowding together, pressing forward. As I stepped east, the thick smell of blood engulfed me. The situation to the east was dire. Perhaps around ten had already died. I passed by the soldiers dragging the injured to the rear and approached the battlefield.
Thinking back, this is my first battle.
But I’m not afraid.
After battling massive monsters for ten years, you end up maintaining composure in any situation.
I stuck the shovel in the ground and closed my eyes for a moment. I clearly visualize the image. What structure do I need right now? I recalled the structures I had created.
Walls, pillars, ditches, houses…
That could work.
“Crafting.”
A wall rises behind the enemies. It was a barrier to separate the wandering monsters in the front from the ones lurking in the rear.
I continued to use my skills to slice the eastern battlefield in two and put a period at the end.
“Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.”
No matter how strong the army, they can’t exert their power if the ground collapses. I raised a barricade of dirt with sharp spikes protruding, blocking the rampaging monsters.
“Slowly fall back and regroup!”
I shouted loud enough to be heard, and luckily the soldiers seemed to heed my call, retreating little by little to regroup. The severely injured pulled back, and those who could fight calmly dealt with the attacking monsters. No matter how crazily the monsters charged, we had the numerical advantage.
After all, this was a campaign army of a thousand soldiers.
“East is now secure, and the south…”
… I realized I hadn’t checked on Karina. I immediately dashed toward the carriages.
Fortunately, the area around the carriages was quiet. The knights on guard, upon seeing me, greeted me with relief.
“What’s going on?”
“How’s it here?”
“Those damn monsters attacked, but we repelled them all.”
Looking in the direction the knight pointed, I saw the fallen bodies of orcs and goblins. Seeing that even two trolls had fallen, it seemed the elite knights summoned to protect the saint had effectively handled the enemies.
I turned my gaze to the wall. There were a few broken spots, but it was still mostly intact. I used my skill to repair the wall and then turned my gaze back to the battlefield.
The battle isn’t over yet, so there’s still much to do.
The night of the battlefield hasn’t ended yet.
—————
The battle that raged from midnight to dawn finally came to an end as the morning sun barely peeked out.
All the soldiers were recovering the bodies of their fallen comrades, and the sight of priests searching for the wounded and using healing magic was heartbreaking enough to make me look away.
The faces of everyone who participated in the war were filled with dark emotions.
Which was only natural.
Who would rejoice at surviving when their comrades and subordinates lay dead?
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you, we would have suffered catastrophic damage.”
“…It’s nothing.”
Not being able to speak informally to an older person, I tried to respond with respect. The knight named Carbonaro, adorned with a mustache, genuinely seemed thankful. The gaze that used to look at me as merely a servant had changed, and it felt a bit burdensome.
That gaze is a bit uncomfortable.
Honestly, being looked at like that by a man isn’t really my thing.
If Karina looked at me like that… cough.
“Are you perhaps considering joining the knight order?”
What is this, a graduate school invitation? I have no intention of becoming a knight. I just want to live peacefully, not throw myself into slaughter.
“I have things to do.”
“What a pity.”
I awkwardly brushed off the suggestion to join the knighthood and asked about something I was curious about regarding the ambush.
“By the way, what happened? We clearly had guards set up, but for it to be breached so easily…”
“…It seems the soldiers on watch fell victim to an illusion spell. Who would have thought they would show up with monsters to launch an ambush? That’s my oversight. I should have prepared for such an attack. I never imagined they would ambush us with this large of a force…”
“From now on, we need to stay vigilant.”
“Indeed.”
Carbonaro’s face was etched with worry that couldn’t be hidden.
And it’s only to be expected.
Reaching Kalon Academy is at least a month and a half away.
Our route is predictable. We can’t ignore the possibility of traps and ambushes along the way. Moreover, they brought along not just humans, but monsters. Though I don’t know how they did it, they seem to be brainwashing these monsters to accompany them, which suggests they can easily replenish their forces, making them quite a nuisance.
But we don’t have much of a choice. Considering Karina’s condition, even charging at full strength could be precarious.
It was painfully obvious more ambushes were on the horizon, and they could very well have set traps.
But still, we must move forward.
“…I have a plan.”
An operation that unexpectedly sprang to mind, but it might just be okay.
“Oh, really? What is it?”
I began outlining the plan I had come up with to the commander.