Ch.1919. Dren Barony (3)

After both sides’ positions became clear, the negotiations proceeded quickly.

I would participate in suppressing the remnants of the Jebodan beast incident that attacked Baron Dren’s territory, and Baron Dren would grant me my hometown village and its surrounding area as a manor as compensation for my participation.

For such a contract where both parties could smile at the outcome, a notary trusted by both sides was necessary. And typically, the person invited as such a notary was… none other than a priest of the Pantheon faith, considered the state religion of the Frankish Kingdom.

Therefore, present at this meeting was a junior priest from the territory’s only temple, the Temple of Jephtal, who worshipped Jephtal, the God of Light and Justice. And it was… the very same priest I had seen a few times in my childhood.

Perhaps due to his physical development being heavily influenced by the mysteries of nature, the priest didn’t seem to notice my identity. If that was the case, I saw no need to complicate matters by acknowledging our past acquaintance.

“—So, do the parties present agree to the conclusion of this contract?”

“Yes,” we both answered.

“Very well. Then I, as a priest of the ‘Golden Hand,’ hereby declare as notary. This contract has been concluded under the name of the sacred Pantheon!”

A contract witnessed by a priest and concluded in the name of the gods carries a different level of importance and severity of punishment than mere verbal agreements or paper contracts.

It is, so to speak, an act of placing conditions upon each other’s souls that must never be violated. Therefore, if one breaks this contract without just cause, they will receive divine punishment according to their actions.

Well, it’s precisely because such strict and serious conditions are attached that the content of the contract becomes trustworthy.

Anyway, while I was thinking this, the contract was concluded with the priest as notary, and recognizing the terms engraved on a corner of my soul, I spoke to Baron Dren.

“Baron Dren, now that our contract is concluded, may I ask how you plan to approach resolving this incident?”

“…First, I intend to repel the wolves’ attack. Afterward, I plan to proceed by having the hunters in my territory strike at the enemy’s base…”

“Strike? Would that be possible?”

“…It would be difficult.”

Repelling the wolves’ offensive seems entirely possible.

The barrier protecting Baron Dren’s territory may be called a palisade, but it’s actually a wooden wall over 4 meters high made of logs. The pack of Fen wolves, whose only siege method is climbing over walls, cannot easily overcome it.

Additionally, present here is a mage specialized in large-scale battlefields—specifically, a druid like myself.

Wide-area ally support such as healing and enhancement. Mass crowd control against enemies. Area attacks and anti-personnel attacks. Production of additional troops and deployment of animal friends.

The versatility of a druid, capable of doing almost everything a magic user can do.

In most cases, such versatility often results in mediocrity, but the story changes when given the means to compensate for this middling nature.

Wild magic talent closely related to ally support and animal friends. Nature magic that can be used in various ways is reinforced with a staff. Celestial magic… though somewhat ambiguous, can be reinforced with Corin’s power.

Therefore, with me present, repelling the wolf pack’s attack shouldn’t be a major problem… But the subsequent strike seemed less feasible to me, and Baron Dren acknowledged my opinion.

“Whatever else, engaging Fen wolves in forest combat is unacceptable. Baron, even the finest hunters in your barony have clear limitations.”

“Then, how shall we…”

“I will handle it alone.”

“…Pardon?”

Perhaps I appeared to be suicidal?

As the baron looked at me with a gaze full of doubt, concern, and worry, I simply laughed and spoke.

“Baron Dren, do not worry. I am an intermediate druid, and I have agreed to receive a manor from you. How could I possibly propose something impossible?”

“…Is that so?”

“Of course, Baron.”

The odds are sufficient, and I’ve agreed to receive proper compensation. In that case… since I’m receiving my hometown village and its surrounding farmland, I should do work worthy of what I’m getting.

That is the minimum business ethics and the proper duty one should fulfill as a human being.

※ ※ ※

After the contract was concluded, having agreed to stay at the baron’s castle (wooden fortress), I first moved to repair and reinforce the outer walls, the palisade section of the lord’s castle.

In exchange for receiving some convenience regarding the land survey of the area near my future manor, I agreed to strengthen the outer walls so they could still be utilized even after the wolves’ attack.

This outer wall, though called a palisade, has watchtowers installed throughout and allows access to the top of the palisade. It’s essentially no different from a wall built with logs, but it would undoubtedly be weaker than the outer wall I would complete with magical reinforcement.

[Grow!]

The first task I undertook was reinforcing the existing palisade. For this, I used a special plant called ‘steel vine’ to firmly bind and secure the entire palisade.

Normally an ordinary climbing plant, when subjected to impact, it hardens like steel, and when infused with a tiny amount of magical power in this state, it remains fixed in its hardened condition.

This characteristic allowed me to use the steel vine as a kind of pseudo-wire.

[In the name of nature, I declare! Earth, flow!]

-───KUGUUGUGUNG!!!

And on top of this secured outer wall, I added soil drawn from the ground to form a kind of earthen wall. In this process, as soil was removed from its original location, a naturally deep and wide moat was formed.

Unfortunately, the interior of the moat isn’t sturdy enough to fill with water, but even so, a moat is a moat. Its impact on defense is considerable.

I used a bit of magic to fix it in this state, so it will probably maintain itself for at least several decades.

Moreover, Baron Dren wasn’t so incompetent as to leave only me in charge of repairing the castle.

“This way, this way!”

“Sharpen it! Make it as pointed as possible!”

“If those beasts enter the castle, you die!”

Conscripting manpower from within the castle to produce wooden spears in large quantities for the conscripted militia to use from a distance was just the beginning.

The baron wasn’t just standing by watching either.

“Gather stones! Make sure they’re easy to throw!”

“No bigger than a fist!”

The baron ordered his servants and subordinates to have the territory’s residents collect stones smaller than a fist—just the right size to crack someone’s skull when thrown—and bring them up to the wall.

The best weapon for lightly armored militia with little training to use for defense is stone throwing. Since anyone can throw stones, it was the best weapon in the current situation where they couldn’t train the residents because the wolves could attack at any time.

In any case, the work of reinforcing the castle’s defenses progressed quite smoothly.

The residents of Baron Dren’s territory, well aware of the danger posed by Fen wolves, cooperated actively and participated enthusiastically in stone-throwing practice to train themselves.

Thanks to this, after exactly about a week, when all the basic defensive reinforcements that could be done were nearly complete…

[Master! Wolves coming! Wolves coming!]

“…?!! Baron! The enemy approaches!”

“Understood! Everyone to battle stations!”

Immediately after I relayed the report from Corin, who had secretly gone on reconnaissance, the residents scattered throughout the lord’s castle gathered at the walls following Baron Dren’s orders.

Able-bodied and relatively strong adults climbed onto the reinforced walls with wooden spears, while the territory’s regular soldiers, the men-at-arms, positioned themselves in between.

Of course, given the current situation where they couldn’t afford to discriminate by age or gender, children and the elderly were assigned the role of passing up the stones piled at the base of the wall for throwing.

And then…

“Oh, they’re coming! They’re coming!”

As someone unnamed said, a dust cloud appeared in the distance, and the Fen wolf pack charged forward. The ferocious appearance of the wolves, filled with killing intent, was enough to frighten the people on the wall who had never experienced such bloodlust before.

“Stay calm!”

“We can handle the enemy!”

The men-at-arms who had climbed the wall with the others tried to calm the agitated people, boost their morale, and improve the situation.

And apart from their efforts, I positioned myself a step back from the battlefield, ready to support whenever a crisis arose… and finally, the exact form of the approaching wolves became visible to my eyes.

And thus—the war between humans and magical beasts began.