Chieftain Kakula
Chieftain Kakula
Since we had to match pace with those moving on the ground, our travel speed wasn't particularly fast even though we rode wyverns.
If it were up to me, I would've wanted to just bolt ahead and do some reconnaissance, but needlessly provoking the orcs before we were as prepared as we'd aimed for would only throw off the plan without any benefit, so I moved cautiously, keeping an eye out with perimeter scouting to ensure our path didn't cross any orcs looking to ambush us.
And that process continued through a much longer flight than I'd expected. I swear, without the spirit's blessing I would've just jumped off the wyvern myself.
But I had the blessing with me now, didn't I? The ride was already crazy comfortable since there was none of the usual swaying or jolting you'd get on a horse, and with Gies taking the brunt of the headwind for me, there was no easier journey in the world. It was a win-win, really—Gies, who would normally have had to keep warm solely with his own clothes, got to ride with his back toasty thanks to me.
About half a day passed as we circled high above the ground forces like crows eyeing a corpse. When we spotted a decent-looking clearing in the forest, we decided to stop briefly for a meal and some rest.
Of course, 'rest' was just a word. Those with command authority gathered once more for yet another meeting without a break. I'd lucked out and wasn't particularly worn out, but the other four looked a bit fatigued, probably from the cold. Bisquente and Yekaterina, who had been mounted, were in decent shape, but Kal Guls had started thawing out his hands and feet the moment he got near the fire.
Heiri? She kept it together better on the surface, but she was just as glued to the campfire as Kal Guls, melting off the chill. Even if her armor was custom-made for a wyvern knight, it seemed it couldn't fully block that murderous cold.
Bisquente waited quietly until the two of them had regained some composure and their shivering had subsided, then he looked around casually and spoke to Heiri.
"The mercenaries at least have experience with battlefields and marching, so they move cohesively, but the adventurers are struggling to keep up. It seems more a matter of experience than a lack of ability."
"Mm... Adventurers used to marching are rare. Besides, from what I saw surveying the terrain above, a resting spot this good won't appear again for quite some time. It feels a bit early, but I think it's best we fortify camp here today and send only the wyvern knights out for perimeter reconnaissance."
Even as her fingertips trembled faintly from the cold, Heiri's voice remained calm, and her judgment was sharp as a razor. With two properly level-headed knights holding command, things were running so smoothly I couldn't help but marvel.
There had been no signs of trouble on the way here, and with no changes to the plan going forward, the meeting ended there. With a final word about gathering again after the meal to set the night watch, we dispersed on our own. After relaying the meeting's outcome to the adventurers, I gathered Asilie, Gies, and Yekaterina, picked a suitable spot, and pitched a tent.
Fortunately, we all had at least a passing acquaintance with each other, so the atmosphere wasn't awkward from the start.
That was because the moment Yekaterina heard that my connection with Gies went all the way back to Ogwen, she started actively grilling him about whether he knew anything about my eccentric exploits.
"Truth is, I don't know that much either, but I did share in some feats you could proudly call certifiably insane anywhere you go!"
Of course, the only story that could come up was the sky diving. Sure, there was also the bit about me butchering Delt's men during my first encounter with Gies, but what drew a dramatic reaction from Yekaterina was the time I'd jumped from wyvern to wyvern without any safety gear just to take Delt's head.
"Wh-what kind of lunatic mindset...?"
Even as she ate the meal Asilie and I had prepared together, Yekaterina kept reacting with sheer disbelief, and the more she did, the higher Gies's nose rose into the air.
Since it was an event I considered one of my life's achievements, I didn't mind it up to that point. The problem was what came next.
"As if anyone would argue with that. I'm at the point where I'd believe the world's dangers come looking for Eldmia all on their own."
"Saying he saved the princess in the Empire..."
"...Everyone was shocked, since it looked like he'd been mentally dominated by the Demon Sword. But then suddenly, right on the face of that beast-shaped Demon Sword..."
Suddenly, the topic flipped to 'An Assessment of Eldmia's Reckless Stunts Due to a Total Loss of Sanity,' and then Asilie joined in and started roasting me to a crisp.
Finding myself abruptly in the same position as Siegfried had been back in the Empire—a sacrificial lamb in the name of fostering friendship between me and Esmue—I couldn't even muster a rebuttal because Asilie was there. I just sat hunched over as a shrunken Eldmia for a while, stroking Laika.
That eternity of being tag-teamed came to an end only after Yekaterina's expression suddenly turned grave and Asilie's ears flicked.
"Wait, I feel a strange tremor."
"I hear... something running, too."
I'd seen this more than once or twice, but it was still damn impressive. How the hell were her senses as sensitive to ground vibrations as an elf's hearing? No one else had even noticed anything strange yet... Ah, no, that wasn't true. The wyverns were suddenly shifting restlessly, as if they sensed something wrong.
"Something's running this way... not horses... boars?"
"For that, there's an awful lot..."
Since both of their senses were unconditionally trustworthy, the others kept fleshing out the description as I got up and started gearing up. This time, I was the one who reacted.
To be precise, the thousand and one Eldmias inside me woke up my fantasy brain and all reacted in simultaneous alarm.
"Oh shit, everyone draw swords! Take cover behind barriers! It's orc cavalry!"
We were on our way to meet some orc bastards, and suddenly we heard a pounding like boars stampeding—what the hell else could possibly follow?
Even if I'd never seen what orcs rode around on in this other world, I sure as hell wasn't about to believe those bastards screaming about the great grasslands would just charge around on their own two legs with no mounts at all.
"Orc cavalry? What are you suddenly talking about..."
It was too much to hope that no one would say something that stupid. But since the overwhelming majority reacted almost reflexively to my shout and moved to find cover, there was no reason for my temper to boil over. Most importantly, the wyvern knights and Gies scrambled onto their wyverns in an instant and prepared to take off, while the mercenaries moved with disciplined precision and began forming a defensive line.
Watching the ones who'd just stood there slack-jawed at my shout suddenly scramble in a panic as the mood around them turned urgent, I asked Asilie and Yekaterina.
"Direction?"
"Straight ahead on our path. But orc cavalry? This?"
Asilie flicked her ears in puzzlement. I was agonizing over how to explain it to her when Yekaterina, who had re-gripped her war hammer, answered for me.
"Not horses. Wolves. I don't know if they should even be called wolves, but I've seen them a few times in the western territories."
"Are you saying the orcs breed magic beasts?"
"I've heard that the place beyond, the great grasslands, is so vast that even those ignorant orcs have their limits on foot. Now that I hear Eldmia say it, I remember. This pounding is just like when those oversized wolves run with orcs on their backs."
Yekaterina didn't stop at just explaining. She moved swiftly and started hammering at suitable trees nearby. With every swing of a strike that could shatter even a castle's iron gates, the smaller trees splintered and crashed down, and just by dashing around for a moment, she created a makeshift barricade.
"This is so reassuring it almost brings tears to my eyes."
"An amusing turn of phrase. More importantly, Eldmia, how did you even know? These shouldn't be creatures you'd see around here."
To her, it was probably just a question thrown to satisfy some curiosity, but to me, it was the evidence that sealed my conviction—those orc bastards really were the ones who'd gated here, jumping a distance that should've taken months.
Even among humans, cavalry was an expensive troop type. No matter how disorganized the orcs were, they'd need significant resources to breed those things. Naturally, as Yekaterina said, those bastards didn't exist anywhere in this vicinity.
"Let's just say it's knowledge I obtained from someone else."
I couldn't exactly say I read it in a novel, could I? By the time the ground trembling grew strong enough to feel through the soles of my feet, the fully-prepared wyvern knights took off one after another. Everyone in the camp was tense. Along with the growing tremor, the unmistakably bestial sounds of rough breathing and snarling faintly resonated. Just from the sound alone, it was clear they were barreling in at incredible speed. No horse could ever sprint through this forest like that.
"Cavalry sighted...! All... fire...!"
At the faint shout echoing from the sky, everyone looked up as one. The flames soaring from the four wyverns rained down into the forest like meteors—a sight that could be called majestic in its own right. But unfortunately, there was no leisure to appreciate it now.
Even the massive flames streaking across the sky and crashing down weren't enough to drive away the unease I felt beneath my feet.
The magic struck at some distance away, detonating with an even greater tremor and scorching the forest, raising the temperature around us in an instant. What followed were the familiar cries of orcs and the howls of beasts, and then...
"It's war!!"
...countless orc cavalry charging on without stopping until they burst through the flames and came into view.