episode_0024

***

“Looking at it like this makes me feel dirty.”

A frown on the forehead, physiologically uncomfortable with the sight of a herd of Chujaras approaching from afar.

The messenger told me earlier.

They say that they were camping noisily last night and then fell asleep, then moved around lazily in the morning and had lunch in a visible location.

“Is he diligent or easygoing? Or does he just sit there when he’s hungry?”

Thanks to their habit of strictly observing meal times, they were able to leisurely finish preparing for battle.

Here the spirits were active, strengthening the walls and making them more solid, and making the ground muddy and difficult to move.

There was no sign of even the common stone, and there were also traces of precautions taken to prevent anyone from throwing it.

There were quite a few elaborate traps, so I felt like they were indeed the Element Tribe. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t clear the trees, but there was no sign of any siege weapons, so it seemed like there was no one who knew how to use their brains.

Only the actual body came in.

Their only weapon was a crude, wooden club.

“You’re a loser who sees that there is no sorcerer.”

However, even if only their bodies had arrived, it was a number that was difficult to ignore. I wondered how Aor, the commander of this place, would defend against a group of nearly 300 Chujaras.

But that’s just the beginning.

Today it’s 300, but I heard that in the future, there will be multiples of that number. The funny thing is, I also heard that this happens every few decades.

The reason why Aor couldn’t stop this was partly because of the Demon King’s army, but also because the Chujara group’s invasion cycle was random.

“What the heck? The ground is sinking?!”

“I’m walking but I can’t walk!”

The ground is obviously muddy and sloppy, but he ignores it and approaches, eventually slowing down from the front.

“Choosak! Don’t push me!”

“If you go quickly, you won’t get pushed!”

“Chu, chujaak!!”

Eventually, they all fell over one another.

“Oh my-.”

A sigh from the enemy, but a fierce and ugly bastard. Despite that, he was treated like a starving bear for several days because his physical abilities were good.

If we meet, we’ll get eaten.

If a 3m tall giant were to charge at you, most humans would die in nine cases out of ten. A horde of such a race came rushing in and made for a spectacular sight, but it was hard not to get discouraged because they had set a trap from the start, making the tension of needing to help the Elemental Tribe seem meaningless.

“Choosak! Choosak!”

Still, they weren’t so stupid that they couldn’t pass by the ones that were falling.

“Ready to launch!”

“””Ready to launch!”””

As if he was used to this kind of behavior, he watched silently, and when he came within firing range, the commander Aor shouted. He was defending himself well, so there seemed to be no need to step forward.

“These cowardly bastards are attacking from afar!!”

“Everyone, watch your head! It hurts the most!”

‘Pavabavabak!!’

‘Thump thump’

Since they don’t even have a shield, they have to raise both arms or lower their heads to deal with the hail of arrows.

“Choojaak!!”

“It still hurts!!”

Foolishly, I couldn’t avoid being treated like a hedgehog.

“One step back! This step forward! Ready to fire! Fire!”

On the other hand, there are elements that move quickly under command.

“””Fire!”””

Arrows fly out along with the shouts of the elements holding the spear.

“Chujaaaak!!”

The elemental defense force attacks in a disciplined manner according to the signal, and the Chujara hordes approach in a disorderly manner and fall as soon as they arrive. Since they are arrows rather than guns or magic, they do not die after being hit a few times like Ollie, but at least the damage accumulates steadily.

Although there were no deaths in the first baptism of arrows, the number of casualties and deaths increased as the number of final shots increased.

On the plains, the Chujara tribe had a hard time pushing back the Yeoso tribe with their human wave tactics that were somewhat disregarding death and their larger body size than that of a bear, but when they defended the city behind a wall, it was this one-sided.

We even prepared from the crack of dawn.

The element tribe’s gunfire toward the Chujara group was no ordinary one.

“They say it’s perfect for practice when the Chujara tribe is on the water, but they waste their lives so pointlessly?”

He has a great physique, but it’s hard not to say something about his idiotic operation, so I did it without thinking.

I repeatedly frowned and clicked my tongue at the overwhelming, one-sided sight. It would be nice if our forces won without any casualties, but I had a bigger wish that war or such unrest would not occur.

“Well, if they had that level of physical strength and reproductive speed, and if they had high intelligence, the ecosystem would have been in trouble.”

That’s why the number of intelligent Chujara sorcerers was small.

“Wow. I didn’t know there would be this much of a difference between communicating and not communicating.”

If we had at least had some communication, it wouldn’t have come to this.

Even seeing the sight of my enemies dying in vain made me feel reassured that I was still wary of the feeling of death.

Because there is nothing more terrifying than becoming numb to killing.

The Chujara swarm was about a third of the way up the wall, and it was bustling like cockroaches in a sewer looking for food.

“Three steps back! One step forward! Shooting target is behind!”

Despite this situation, Aoru aimed for the group of Chujara behind him. It wasn’t a bad decision, since he didn’t think that those foolishly trying to climb up the 20m high wall would come here.

“Choo-chat! This is the door!”

“Everyone break this place!”

It’s hard to ignore it, so if you just rely on the numbers and push the gate, something might happen again.

“Activate the pit trap!”

For that reason, there was a tribe of elements that were only responsible for defending the city gates.

Just as the Chujara horde was pushing forward to the point where the gates were shaking uneasily, the trap that had been prepared with the help of the spirits came into play.

“Chujaaaak!!”

“I’m going down!!”

The Chujaras in front of the castle gate, who were helpless as they were forced to fall down again after filling in the previously dug hole with the power of the spirit.

The only thing that signaled the victory of the Element Tribe was the screams of a rock being dropped on them.

They don’t use things like boiling oil or chemicals. That’s only natural, since they haven’t been able to treat the surrounding trees.

Instead of the brutality that comes to mind when thinking of siege warfare, it is effective even though it is a basic tactic. Instead, it is tenacious like a cockroach’s life force and falls into traps one after another, but even though it cannot escape, it leaves behind only a miserable sight until it dies.

That’s another scene that makes me frown.

I feel like I’ve come to understand a little bit about the hardships that the Element Tribe goes through all the time.

‘earth!’

“Chujaak-!”

As I turned my gaze from the roughly organized gate to the castle wall, I saw one of Chujara striking the wall with his fist. The wooden club he was holding had already broken, so he was bare-handed, but when even that became a fist, he kicked or used his head.

“Oh my, he’s dead.”

Looking closely, the guy who had hit me was dead and leaning against me.

“Write-.”

Whenever I saw it, war was truly bitter.

“I’d rather just kill them all cleanly.”

It’s something that can be done with just a wave of the hand. The time I spent in Maruk was filled with more than this.

“Is it right to interfere?”

From the day I was summoned to the day I caught the Demon King, I knew full well that I was an outsider in this world.

I am just a being bound by a contract.

The affairs of the Element and Chujara tribes are not my place to interfere.

I heard that it was an annual event, but coincidentally, the timing was different than expected, and the surrounding villages were destroyed.

Now that the Demon King’s army is involved, it’s hard to say that there’s no connection at all.

Both the defending Element Tribe and the invading Chujara Tribe were played into the hands of the Demon King’s army by the existence of Kritik.

What should I say?

Things were going smoothly for the time being, but they were going too smoothly, which actually gave me a bad feeling.

For example, I wonder if they are planning to create a mountain of corpses and use them as a stepping stone to climb over.

Or maybe it was a vague, fateful intuition that there was a reason I hadn’t returned to Earth and was still here.

It’s not like we can just sit around like this now, but it’s a warning based on an immediate sense to move so that the mastermind can’t do anything else.

“Hero.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Of course.”

I feel awkward and embarrassed by the monotonous answers I give to the messenger who comes by every 20 minutes, perhaps because he caught me saying polite greetings.

Even though I knew that the original elemental personality was like this, I didn’t answer with a bad meaning.

“Is there anything different this time?”

Since Ollie always said this and that, I tried to get information about Ollie’s location or situation several times. I wondered if there would be any changes this time.

“That’s it, Mr. Ollie encountered the enemies who are believed to be the cause of this incident. He massacred the enemy camp one-sidedly and then disappeared after being caught in a teleportation scroll.”

“You got caught in a teleport scroll?”

“Yes.”

“… I see.”

It’s a method I’ve almost fallen for a few times.

I used it well.

It is mainly used for the purpose of excluding difficult characters from the battlefield.

Should I go help?

It’s a bit tricky, but with Ollie’s skills, you’ll be able to get through it without much trouble.

If you’re really worried, you can contact Mille and ask her to take care of it.

No, let’s just say it without hesitation.

It is really important to keep the information up to date.

I thought it was inefficient for a messenger to report every 20 minutes, but if you have an instantaneous transmitter and receiver like a smartphone, why not use it?

“This is something that is difficult for me to decide on my own. I would like to discuss it with the commander here, but it would be difficult, right?”

Even though I thought that simple command could be left to the adjutant, I was a little impressed by the attitude of the adjutant, who was active in the defense of the city, so I asked him a question.

Miocchi would be jealous if he saw this.

The front line is a battlefield, but seeing this sight of those who only look out for themselves in the relatively safe rear will make Mioch lament why there isn’t even one person like that in a neighboring country.

“It’s possible. If we prioritize, the priestess’s safety is more important than ours.”

Take back what you said about being jealous. How on earth is that a priority?

“… I see.”

Even when comparing these many elements and Ollie, Ollie comes first, and I can’t help but feel a bitter sense of resentment.

Rather than sending a messenger to exchange opinions with the commander, it was better to go and find out what the commander thought, since it was more important to get confirmation.

“What’s going on, Hero of the Other World?”

As I approached Aor, who was in the middle of commanding, I checked my direction and handed command over to my adjutant.

“I just heard from the messenger that Ollie got caught in a teleport scroll in enemy territory.”

“Huh?!”

He had been leading with a firm voice until now, but when he heard the news about Ollie, his voice became light.

“So I was going to go look for it myself, but there are people in our party outside the barrier. I’m going to contact them and ask them to track down Ollie’s whereabouts.”

“… … … … I see.”

Is it really that shocking that Ollie ended up like that?

It is certainly not good for a commander to be silent for long periods of time during a war, but it is not urgent and it does not point out any defensive issues that require command.

“And I did ask Ollie to help me, but when he asked if I wanted to join, I said no. So I’m going to stay here for now.”

When I was going around Maruk, I often filmed a series where I survived alone, but as I got stronger, my immunity to forced teleportation increased, so I couldn’t do that much. It was the same for me, Oli and Miocchi.

Since Millet and Amijel are both archmages and saints, they didn’t work out from the start.

“… … Thank you for your consideration.”

“No, it’s a request from a colleague.”

“Colleague… .”

Seeing him chew on the word colleague, I wonder if he still feels uncomfortable mentioning the name Oli.

“Okay. Then I’ll ask the other world’s warriors to take care of you.”

“Of course. I will help you even if you don’t ask me.”

“Aorim! The Chujara group is running away!”

As soon as the discussion was over, the adjutant shouted.

“Choo-jak! Everyone’s dead! I don’t want to die!!”

“But I haven’t gotten my revenge on the rascals yet!”

“I don’t want to die! I’m going to run away!”

When most of the Chujara hordes clinging to the walls are dead and quiet, the ones lying in the mud are noisy.

Especially since I was so flustered.

As the gap between the dying leader and the fleeing rear widened, more and more Chujaras began to hesitate about whether to follow the leader or join the rear.

If the hesitation had been short, I wouldn’t know, but since I was thinking too long, the guy in front of me started screaming, so only then did I run away.

I felt that this was the kind of situation where the word rabble was used.

“Messenger! Call the riot squad!”

The waiting messenger blew his horn, and soon a number of capable Elementalists appeared on the walls.

“Mobile squad dispatched! The goal is to completely destroy the fleeing Chujara group!”

Soon, he chased after the Chujaras who were running away by jumping down the high wall.

***

The Queen’s second thorn Aor looked around the front and unfolded the map. The otherworldly warrior behind him crossed his arms and took a step back, and he lightly bowed. This was because he showed an attitude of not interfering as much as possible, and respected them to resolve the current situation among themselves.

“Adjutant!”

The Leaf City Mercury could do it without him, but the real problem was the important supply operation.

The distribution date is tomorrow. The Queen’s support will arrive in three days. According to the search party’s information, the Chujara group’s invasion will last approximately a week or more.

If you wait for support, your supplies will be delayed, and you will be trapped in the castle. If you force your way through, there is nothing you can’t do, but there was no reason to consider a safe victory a victory with a lot of losses.

For safety reasons, waiting for support was also a method, but what was certain was that there would be disruption in supply.

In the end, it was a race against time, so it was better to leave now, even if it was earlier than planned.

“Is the distribution ready?”

Fortunately, most of the items they distributed were small in size and not very heavy.

Only in the land of the elements, only in the bosom of Terah, did products come that were of great help in the war.

“Yes! Aor-nim. We can leave right now!”

An immediate response because it was prepared in advance. For safety and stability, only particularly important items were set aside.

It’s at a level where you can carry it in a bag rather than carrying it on a cart.

“Courier! Please call the search leader.”

As I gave orders to the messenger, I looked ahead and saw the mobile force coming in after wiping out the remnants of the Chujara forces.

“Leaf City Search Captain Shalina! I have come to receive the Queen’s second order of thorns.”

“When will the next Chujara group come?”

“It will be visible this evening at the earliest, or tomorrow morning at the latest.”

Given the habits of the Chujara group, they will attack at daybreak.

The only exception would probably be the joining of a sorcerer or a dark force.

“Then, here, here, and here. Is there a possibility that a group of Chujaras will appear here?”

Aorga shows the map to the search leader.

Since he had already decided to lead the supply operation, Su-seong trusted that his predecessor would do a good job.

“… The terrain of the Kanio Mountains is so rugged that the Chujara herd probably won’t bother to come there.”

“Okay.”

It was a fact that Aordo also knew, but he asked to cross-check the information, and upon receiving the search leader’s confirmation, he put the map away and adjusted his clothes.

“Adjutant. I’ll ask you to guard the defense.”

“Don’t worry and have a nice trip, Aorim.”

After finishing the encouragement, we went down to the gate. When Aor ordered it to be opened, the horn blew loudly and the gate opened.

“Prepare for supply operation!”

“””Prepare for supply operation!”””

Just before going outside.

The elements that had been waiting for Aor’s cry repeated.

“I, Aorga, the Queen’s second thorn! I will command the sixty-third supply operation!”

With that curious declaration, Aor took the lead, and the elements with their backpacks tightly fastened followed behind.

The other world warrior also joined Aor, and muttered, “”It’s going to be hard to clean up the corpses of the Chujara group that died near the castle wall.”

“May Teranim bless you!”

Aor, who was leaving for battle, exchanged greetings with the returning mobile unit.

Aor moved his steps towards the mountains, not the plains.