Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Investing Through the Status Window.

Episode 57: The Festival Of Dark Mages (3).

The group occasionally encountered refugee processions. Each time, Group Leader Rudra would briefly stop the carriage, gather the group leaders, and obtain the latest information from them. After all, the information heard at the conference room not so long ago was already more than a fortnight old.

Thus, she slowly tracked the location of the dark mages by marking the gathered information on the map.

“How many dark mages are there now?”

One of the mercenary leaders asked Rudra, looking at the dots marked on the map. Just by looking at the dots, it was clear there wasn’t just one. No matter how fast one moved, logically, the placement of the dots didn’t make sense.

Rudra glanced over them and answered.

“There should be at least two here… But now, it’s not important how many there are. It’s not just this place experiencing this situation. It’s happening almost simultaneously in many places… The number will be more than you think.”

Everyone nodded. Rudra roughly predicted the route the dark mages would take with the dots marked on the map.

“We can’t just keep tailing them. We’ll go ahead and wait. And the moment they attack the village, we’ll turn the tables and wipe them out.”

Rudra’s finger pointed at a specific place. A village that had not yet been attacked. However, it was not far from the most recently marked spot.

“After all, a necromancer needs corpses. They will definitely not pass by a nearby village.”

She roughly estimated the distance between their current location and the village. If they hurried, it seemed they could just barely arrive before their enemies.

“Does anyone have a different opinion? Perhaps something I’ve overlooked.”

The gaze of Group Leader Rudra swept over the other leaders and stopped abruptly in front of Allen. The others followed her gaze and looked at him.

Allen smiled slyly and even clapped lightly.

“I have no objections to Group Leader Rudra’s thoughts.”

“…Good, then let’s move immediately. We’re quite short on time. We’ll rest only enough that word doesn’t spread, so be aware.”

“Yes.”

The gathered group leaders dispersed back to their respective carriages.

With the tension completely eased, the members who had been idly cracking jokes and chatting curiously asked Allen, who was boarding the carriage, what had happened.

“We’re heading to a village. Even if it’s late, we’ll arrive by today.”

“…Are we going to wait for them in advance?”

“Yes. …So, everyone should try to get some sleep now. We’re also going to cut down on rest time as much as possible. There won’t be much time to sleep once we get there.”

As soon as they heard that, everyone roughly settled into a position to sleep. The halted carriage started moving again.

True to their nature as mercenaries who could sleep anywhere as soon as their heads hit something, the members quickly fell asleep, snoring loudly.

Allen, hit by a wave of drowsiness as if it were an infectious disease, yawned several times until he began to nod off.

Then, he leaned his head against the shoulder of the milk-jug mage next to him and fell asleep.

The milk-jug mage glanced around to make sure everyone was asleep and then lightly kissed the head resting against her.

‘……Good night, Group Leader.’

Soon, she, too, fell asleep leaning on his head.

The group arrived near the village around the time the evening sun was setting. The village, surrounded by a not-so-high stone wall meticulously stacked with rocks, was quite large, more than expected. There were roughly a hundred households. Considering there were usually around five to eight people per household, the population was roughly seven to eight hundred.

There was an odd tension flowing through the village, perhaps because they had heard that the surrounding villages had been attacked. Men capable of fighting were carrying whatever they could swing, be it farming tools or something else, and were taking turns standing guard.

The village chief, full of worries and concerns, welcomed the band of mercenaries as if they were saviors. The group leaders told their mercenaries to take a brief rest and gathered in the living room of the chief’s house. There were also a few survivors who had fled from neighboring villages.

“It was a sudden night attack, so I didn’t see much. But I could feel that there were many of them. …We were powerless, and there was nothing we could do but run.”

There was a soft sob. It was the guilt and sorrow of a survivor who had lost not only their family but also most of the people in their village, barely keeping their own life.

The elderly village chief asked Rudra with a worried expression.

“…Will they really come here?”

“If it were any other dark magic, I wouldn’t know, but they are evil necromancers. Corpses soon become their strength, so they won’t just pass by this place. …It could be as soon as today, or at the latest, by tomorrow night.”

With a certainty that bordered on determination, the chief let out a deep sigh.

“Still, don’t worry too much. We are here.”

They weren’t hastily gathered peasants but nearly a hundred professional fighters who had been practicing swordsmanship for over a decade. Even a necromancer couldn’t possibly take them on with mere moving corpses… Group Leader Rudra, was confident of that.

She asked the village chief to draw something like a map of the village, and then, based on that, she assigned each group leader to a different area. Allen was assigned near the east gate.

“As I said earlier, they might launch a surprise attack as early as tonight. So, never let your guard down.”

“Yes.”

“Aim for the head if possible. If the head is destroyed, the corpse won’t move. And burn the corpses. Necromancers are weak without corpses. So, let’s finish this here before they grow any bigger.”

Rudra looked into necromancy, reciting ways to deal with ghouls.

Smashing their heads and burning them were all correct, but the notion that they were weaker without a corpse was a misconception. Necromancy, although a dark magic that uses corpses as a medium, certainly had spells that didn’t require one. …Of course, the effectiveness greatly depended on the necromancer’s skill level.

Anyway, after the meeting adjourned, Allen returned to where his teammates were. They were casually sitting on the ground, eating food provided by the villagers, waiting for the group leaders to return.

“Our assigned area has been decided. Let’s move.”

The ten people, including Group Leader Allen, packed their belongings and headed towards the east gate. Though grandly called the East Gate, it was merely a shabby door made by nailing together a few wooden planks. Even the outhouse door of a noble family seemed sturdier than it.

In truth, since the stone wall barely reached the chin of an adult man, whether the door was sturdy or not wasn’t really an important issue. Even a weak ghoul could easily leap over a wall of this height.

“Shit… I’ve never even played patty cakes with a corpse before. Will we be okay?”

Even the experienced Kalisman had never faced a necromancer, so he seemed at a loss for words.

Of course, it was Allen, who suspiciously knew too much, who opened his mouth instead.

“Don’t underestimate the dead too much. Depending on the necromancer’s skill, they can be much more agile than you think. They can easily jump over a stone wall like the one you see in front of you.”

“…Then, is there any weakness? Other than smashing their heads. …Since they’re corpses, I doubt bursting their testicles would kill them.”

Allen nodded and tapped his head and waist twice, each with his hand.

“As I’ve said before, the most effective way is to smash their heads. Next is the waist. If you break their spine, they can’t move. Completely crushing their chest is also a method, but it’s too inefficient, so I don’t recommend it. …There are many enemies. So, you must fight as efficiently as possible to conserve your strength.”

“Yes, Group Leader.”

“Do you remember the formation we often practiced? No matter what happens, never fall behind alone. At least two or three should back each other up in a fight. Humans don’t have eyes on the back of their heads. An attack from behind is invisible; that’s what I mean. Do you understand?”

He spoke as if he had been in battles for a long time.

“The more enemies there are, the more important it is to protect your back. Whether we can overcome being outnumbered depends on how well we guard our backs. We are not fighting alone. We are fighting with our comrades. One and one are just two when separate, but together, they can produce the efficiency of three or more. That’s what tactics and combat are all about. Got it?”

“Yes—.”

“…Alright, take turns resting. Those who are tired can take a nap. But do not take off your gear. You never know when the fight might suddenly start.”

With the dark night falling, the mercenary group and the villagers lit fires on the stone walls to keep watch in all directions.

‘…The dark mage must already know that the mercenaries have joined the village. He wouldn’t be unaware that tonight is the best time to attack. He will definitely come. He will surely come…’

However, they did not appear deep into the night. Allen wondered if these creatures were planning to bypass the village. Even a necromancer might feel burdened facing this not-insignificant number of mercenaries…

Allen, slightly relaxed, began to feel sleepy. He sat leaning against the building wall, resting his arms on his raised knees, and carefully placed his head there.

He closed his eyes, intending to sleep for just a moment.

…And in that state, he fell deeply asleep.

Suddenly, the Blind Saintess jerked her up from her praying-like sleep. Something ominous pricked her skin, causing her to awaken.

As Ordnung stood up, the night watchman, Kalisman, who was standing in front of the stone wall, glanced at her. He thought it was nothing serious, that she probably just needed to pee—but instead of heading to the outhouse, she walked towards the stone wall.

“There’s still some time left. And isn’t it not your turn yet?”

“…No, just for a moment….”

The Blind Saintess stared into the pitch-black darkness. Kalisman also looked in that direction, wondering if something had come, but he saw nothing. The sand plains, illuminated by the moonlight, were very peaceful, so much so that one might wonder if the dark wizard would really come.

“…I can’t see anything. There’s nothing there.”

“No. There is. Something is definitely there….”

What is that? There’s definitely an energy…!

Black energy was creeping in from all directions. It had almost reached the stone wall in front of them.

“……Ah……!”

Only then did the Blind Saintess realize the situation and run as fast as she could towards the bell, ringing it loudly.

The creatures were not coming from above,

But were crawling out from beneath the sand.