Ch.103Chapter 103 – Outer Wall Defense Battle (1)

Dawn had broken.

I woke up and got out of bed as usual.

My body moved before my mind was fully awake, completing my preparations and heading out.

Then I turned around to look at my room.

‘It’s quite cramped.’

I had no roommate and my position wasn’t particularly impressive.

So yesterday, I had slept alone in a somewhat awkwardly small room, one that seemed like it might have once been used to store cleaning supplies, with a bed crammed into it.

Even this room was far better than the inn I’d stayed at in the capital, so I walked along seriously considering moving here.

Then I stopped in front of Sera’s room, instinctively about to knock on her door before stopping myself.

‘Right, Christina is in there too.’

There was no need to knock. Christina usually woke up early for morning prayers, so she would wake Sera up on her own.

Even if Sera was still sleeping, I’d feel bad waking her when she hadn’t asked me to.

‘Maybe I’ll get some fresh air.’

I headed toward the wall where I had spoken with Ludger yesterday, partly to clear my slightly drowsy head.

A cold wind blew as soon as I stepped outside.

“Winter really is approaching.”

It seemed like it wasn’t long ago that we were preparing for winter.

Now those preparations felt useless.

No, they had actually become mostly useless.

We needed to return quickly if those efforts weren’t to be in vain.

I walked around, letting the morning air clear my drowsy head, naturally greeting the soldiers patrolling the wall.

“Oh, benefactor?”

“Christina?”

For some reason, I ran into Christina walking from the opposite direction.

“Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I woke up a little while ago. I finished my morning prayers and was taking a walk to wake myself up.”

“I see.”

So Sera was alone in the room.

Maybe I should have woken her up after all.

‘No, it’s better to let her sleep.’

Carriage travel is never comfortable.

I remember that from the mine journey.

Since things would get hectic soon enough, it seemed best to let her rest while she could.

Since I’d run into Christina, we decided to walk together.

“When do you think they’ll serve breakfast?”

“Not sure. Probably soon.”

“This weather makes me want warm soup.”

“Indeed.”

The conversation was casual, but we didn’t have much to talk about, so that was all we exchanged.

Even that topic dried up, and silence began to fall between us.

Just as I was thinking about heading back, Christina suddenly spoke.

“Today will be peaceful, right?”

“I hope so.”

Until yesterday, we’d spent all our time traveling here, so we didn’t know what might happen.

Peace would be nice, but this place was essentially the front line.

It wouldn’t be strange if something happened suddenly.

“Let me warn you again, always be careful of the Emiris Order.”

“Yes, I know.”

I warned Christina again because of what happened with Sera.

Though it might be unnecessary since those people hadn’t even arrived yet.

I noticed the slightly dark sky gradually beginning to be tinged with sunlight.

Time had passed that quickly.

“Breakfast should be ready soon. I’ll go wake Sera.”

“I’ll check on Beatrice.”

Just as we were saying this and about to head back inside the wall, a familiar shadow emerged from inside.

“…Sir Kay.”

“Karl, was it?”

He seemed to have been dispatched from the Zeolei Order.

From our brief conflict over the Paladin position, he appeared to be a knight who greatly respected Ludger.

His expression darkened a bit when he saw me, perhaps holding a grudge from that time.

Yet he also looked somewhat flustered.

“……”

“……”

Naturally, we had nothing to say to each other.

The situation became awkward as we just stood there blocking each other’s path.

I wondered if I should say something.

-DOOONG!!

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!”

A loud bell rang out.

Then urgent voices began to echo everywhere.

“W-what is it?!”

Leaving the confused Christina behind, I quickly moved to the wall and looked outside.

I could see dust rising in the distance.

“Monsters, already!”

Karl rushed inside the wall.

Since I had no reason to pay attention to him, I quickly gave Christina instructions.

“Go wake Beatrice right now!”

“Yes! What about you, benefactor?”

“I’ll head to the outer wall!”

I quickly entered the wall and parted ways with Christina at the fork.

‘An enemy attack the very next day.’

I thought we’d have at least a day or two of respite, but apparently not.

+

The fortress walls had a double structure: an inner wall protecting the fortress itself, and an outer wall protecting the inner wall.

Naturally, the outer wall was built at a considerable distance from the inner wall in case enemies breached the walls.

Inside the walls, there were passages that operated with magic, like warp gates, allowing troops to move quickly.

Using one of these passages that I’d been told about, I moved to the outer wall where soldiers and knights who had also spotted the enemy were rushing in.

Since there was some distance between the inner and outer walls, and many people would still be sleeping at this hour, there weren’t many soldiers yet.

I quickly grabbed a bow and arrow and shot down an enemy in the sky.

-SCREECH!

A large bat-like monster crashed into the wall before falling to the ground.

Of course, I had no reason to watch its fate to the end, so I quickly fired arrows at other monsters.

“Where are the siege weapons? Cannons or ballistas?!”

“They just arrived yesterday and haven’t been installed on the outer wall yet! Don’t panic and keep shooting arrows!”

Around me, voices of soldiers in confusion, knights encouraging their men, and the screams of monsters spread out.

After emptying about half my quiver, suddenly a fireball flew from behind me and incinerated another bat monster.

“K-Kay!”

“Helmet, are you alright?”

Instead of answering immediately, I shot an arrow at the enemy I had been targeting.

-Swoosh!

-SCREECH!

Only after watching another monster fall to the ground did I turn around to see Beatrice standing right behind me, slightly out of breath.

“Helmet, situation report!”

“As you can see, monsters are everywhere!”

I answered while firing another arrow.

Beatrice clicked her tongue.

The outer wall wasn’t immediately overrun thanks to the armed soldiers and knights who were already there.

Even now, more people who had been sleeping were waking up and joining the fight.

-Boom!

I saw Sera shoot a magic missile into the air, taking down one of the creatures.

Christina looked at me helplessly.

“What should we do?”

“Target the ones in the air first!”

Following my instruction, Christina began shooting Holy Arrows.

I wasn’t sure how effective they would be, but they seemed capable of bringing down enemies.

Meanwhile, Beatrice had taken out her chain and begun chanting something.

-Whoosh

“Duck your heads!!!”

Everyone nearby quickly ducked as they saw the burning chain.

The end of Beatrice’s chain split into multiple strands, and she immediately began swinging it.

A net of fire began striking down enemies, sending them crashing to the ground.

I spotted one that had barely avoided Beatrice’s attack and quickly shot an arrow at it.

-SCREECH!

“Oh, thanks!”

“Just keep swinging that thing!”

Without much of a response, Beatrice swung her chain again, driving away the aerial enemies.

When relying on walls, flying enemies were the most troublesome.

There were some climbing the walls too, but they could be knocked down before they reached the top.

Those that couldn’t climb could be attacked one-sidedly from the wall.

But flying creatures were the exception.

One or two might be manageable, but if several occupied the wall and ran amok, proper resistance would be impossible.

After shooting arrows for a while, I realized I had emptied my quiver.

“Kay!”

Sera, who had just knocked down another monster with a magic missile, called out to me urgently.

As if noticing I was out of arrows, one creature began diving straight toward me.

I quickly grabbed my empty quiver and threw it at the creature.

-THWACK!

-SCREECH!

Thanks to throwing it with all my might, the creature that had been charging at me began falling to the ground.

Then I heard screams and quickly turned my gaze.

“L-let go!”

“Wait…!”

I saw two soldiers being grabbed in mid-air.

Looking further, I could see several people being carried by monsters.

The monsters carrying people began moving away from the wall.

Then they released them in mid-air.

“Help…!”

The fate of people falling to the ground with no protection was predetermined.

The sound of things bursting could be heard here and there.

“Eek!”

“Keep your eyes open! Don’t close them!”

Whether the monsters knew instinctively or were following their leader’s orders, I could see some people freezing in terror.

The monsters began charging at these paralyzed people.

Naturally, one flew toward Sera as well.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

I drew the dagger I usually carried and threw it. The monster fell pathetically onto the wall.

While confirming the kill by stomping on its neck, I quickly spoke to Sera.

“I’ll protect you, so it’s okay! Keep your eyes open, Sera!”

“Y-yes!”

Seeing Sera regain her composure and prepare to attack again, I quickly checked on the others.

Christina, her face slightly pale, was shooting Holy Arrows, while Beatrice, with a frown, was now creating multiple fireballs and launching them into the sky.

“Shoot them all down!”

At the knight’s loud command, seemingly trying to hide his fear, soldiers began shooting arrows into the sky.

A rain of arrows flew upward, and the aerial enemies began falling one by one.

As the arrow rain targeted the aerial enemies, a voice that was almost a scream came from another direction.

“There, a big one is coming!”

“Arrows! Hey! Shoot over there!”

A huge shadow appeared in the distance.

I couldn’t tell what it was, but it was undoubtedly sent to destroy the gate.

-ROAR!

“It’s charging!”

With a scream-like voice, the massive shadow charged toward the gate.

It trampled even the monsters that had come before it, taking the arrows shot by some alert archers into its body as it charged like a giant projectile.

Soon there was a tremendous crashing sound as the gate collapsed.

“The outer wall gate has been destroyed!”

Another voice that sounded like a scream rang out.

I quickly looked down to see a giant boar.

It had arrows stuck all over its body and was bleeding slightly from its head, but those were its only wounds.

Still, it seemed dizzy and was momentarily staggering in place.

“Kill that thing quickly!”

“Don’t let it reach the inner wall!”

People could be seen drawing weapons and rushing down.

“That’s reckless…!”

Sera shouted loudly.

The archers were still distracted by the flying monsters, making proper support from the wall difficult.

And now monsters were pouring in through the broken gate.

With forces already stretched thin dealing with the giant boar, the situation was getting worse.

“Where’s the reinforcement? Where are they?!”

“They’re currently gathering at the inner wall, sir!”

“Tell them we need to stop them here!!”

An officer was shouting in the distance.

He was still burning with fighting spirit, but looking around, some soldiers were retreating, their morale broken.

‘This isn’t good.’

If we keep fighting here, everyone will die.

But if we retreat to the inner wall, the damage could be even greater…

“Kay?”

“Sera, Christina. Come here.”

I quickly called the two over.

In the meantime, I split a bat that was targeting me with its claws using my halberd.

“What is it, benefactor?”

“You two need to move to the inner wall now. If anyone tries to stop you, tell them you’re going to report to Ludger and Aria.”

“What about you?!”

Sera urgently stepped forward, as if she thought I had some bad idea.

“Kay, let’s retreat together! We should fall back and fight from the inner wall…!”

“We can’t leave that thing unchecked.”

I was referring to the boar that was starting to get up again.

Looking closely, it was like a mix of boar and bear, something you might call a bear-boar.

Still, I’ll just call it a boar for simplicity.

Anyway, if that boar rammed the inner wall, the damage could be even greater.

With the outer gate destroyed, stopping that thing from advancing further seemed like the best option.

“It’s dangerous alone!”

“I never said I was going alone, Sera.”

Why would I go alone?

I quickly looked at Beatrice.

“Me?”

“Earn your keep.”

“Why should I earn my keep for you?”

Beatrice said this while taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

Then she looked sadly at her cigarette pack.

It seemed she didn’t have many left.

“Fine. One pack of cigarettes when we get back. Deal?”

“Damn you.”

If that was all it took, it was a cheap price.

I could buy them for her, but something about it annoyed me, so I answered a bit harshly.

Taking that as agreement, Beatrice got up with a slight grin.

“Little ladies, you’d better go now. If people crowd in, you might not be able to leave.”

“But…”

Sera seemed to be trying to find a way to stay.

At that moment, as monsters charged again, Christina intercepted them with Holy Arrows.

Then urgent footsteps were heard from behind.

“She’s here, Lady Mage!”

“Hurry to the inner wall!”

Knights with pristine armor, seemingly just arrived from the inner wall.

There were two of them.

“Hurry! Lady Diana says she’ll fight at the inner wall and wants you to come quickly!”

“Before people crowd in, hurry!”

The knights were urgently trying to take Beatrice away.

Seeing them, Beatrice nodded and grabbed Sera and Christina, gently pushing their backs.

“Beatrice?!”

“Hey, knights. Take these two to Aria first.”

“But…”

The knights began to look confused.

Of course, they were supposed to bring the important asset Beatrice, but now they were being told to take two random women first.

They seemed to be thinking about how to convince Beatrice…

“What are you waiting for? If you want to take me, take them first.”

When Beatrice threatened them, one cried out in a voice that sounded like he might cry.

“You could just come with us!”

“I need to kill that thing first. Go when I tell you to go.”

Turning her back as if refusing further conversation, the knights finally bowed their heads and took a step back.

They seemed to have accepted there was no choice.

“Kay, come with us!”

“I’ll move after we take care of that thing, so go first!”

Just as Sera was about to say more, Christina grabbed her shoulder.

After bowing her head briefly, Sera shouted.

“Come back safely!”

“I will.”

Soon the knights left with Sera and Christina.

As we headed down the stairs to get to the ground level, Beatrice was running beside me with a grin.

“What?”

“I’m just happy for my little sister because you’re so loved~.”

She had a face I wanted to punch, but I held back for now.

To return safely, I needed Beatrice’s help.

Beatrice didn’t tease me further, and when we reached the bottom of the stairs…

People who had descended before us were entangled in battle with monsters.

“AAAHHH!!!”

“Hey, that one. Wasn’t he your final opponent back then?”

I could see Karl fighting monsters with his sword.

Around him were other knights and soldiers.

I could hear what seemed to be the commander shouting.

“That, that giant one must be killed here…!”

The commander couldn’t finish his sentence.

A wolf-like monster had jumped on top of him.

I quickly threw my halberd, knocking the wolf away, and approached them.

“I’m… alive!”

“Why are you here?!”

Karl shouted as he approached me.

“Escape to the inner wall immediately! I will handle this!”

“What can you do with those wounds?”

I pulled my halberd out of the wolf and snapped at Karl.

His armor was a mess, suggesting he had fought fiercely.

“I-I can do it. Right now!”

“Hey, shut up. This isn’t some competition.”

Unable to watch anymore, Beatrice stepped forward and pushed Karl.

His body was pushed back pathetically.

He protested.

“I can still fight…!”

“If you’re so energetic, at least stop other monsters from approaching.”

Was he that desperate to prove himself?

I can’t say it’s bad, but in his exhausted state, he’d only be a hindrance.

I looked ahead with Beatrice.

“It’s big.”

“Sure is.”

I took my stance, looking at the boar that seemed even larger than when I saw it from the wall.

I punched and slashed the monsters that charged at us with my fist and halberd.

“Hey, think we’ll get tired before we even reach it?”

“No way.”

While others seemed to be struggling, these opponents weren’t particularly difficult for Beatrice and me.

Glancing back, I saw Karl watching us with a dejected expression.

“Let’s finish this quickly and get back to the inner wall to rest.”

“Sounds good.”

Responding to Beatrice’s fierce smile, I looked at the giant boar.

Having regained its senses, the creature raised its head toward the sky.

-ROAR!!!

As the boar monster roared, Beatrice and I kicked off the ground and charged toward it.