Chapter 36
I’m translating the chapter into polished HTML-formatted English and preserving the in-universe status windows as styled blocks. I’m also checking the paragraphing so the narration reads naturally rather than as a line-by-line gloss.CHAPTER_TITLE: Open Field Defense
Jea ★★☆
Background
Seventh-rank priestess. She regards the purification of dungeons tainted by malice as her sacred duty.
Because she is serious about purification, she is always worrying about the party’s hygiene, but that leaves the others exhausted.
Wyatt ★★★
Background
A strong and sturdy warrior.
His aura control and swordsmanship are not exceptional, but he has long experience as an adventurer and a broad knowledge of monsters.
Pierre Keysika ★★★
Background
The third child of the Keysika marquis family, a renowned house of mages.
He is often compared to his older sister Mitua, who has brilliant talent and the status of heir, but Pierre does not mind.
Jea, Wyatt, and Pierre. Those are names I’ve never seen in the game. If I just take the first letter of each one, I end up with an initial set that sounds strangely familiar... Anyway, perfect!
Ho-yeong was very pleased to have gained three three-star talents.
The more mages and priests, the better! And the warrior looks like he was born for grunt work, so that’s good too. I’m going to wring every bit of value out of him while he’s in the territory! Wait, wait, if I look too obvious, that’s no good.
Ho-yeong unconsciously turned the sly grin on his face into a benevolent smile.
“You are the first guests of Tamer Territory since its founding. Please stay comfortably for the time being. If you need anything, do not hesitate to speak with my maid Peach. Now then, I have military affairs to attend to, so I’ll be going—”
“Count of the Border Region. Please, let us lend you a hand as well. Those Hogriffons came after us, so we cannot simply lie still and do nothing. We wish to repay your kindness by driving those brutes off.”
As Ho-yeong turned away, Wyatt grabbed him and made a forceful plea.
“No. Your injuries have not even fully healed yet. You should focus on recovery.”
Ho-yeong politely refused, wanting to keep the Jea-Wyatt-Pierre trio around for as long as possible.
These guys, once this is over, they aren’t going to take one look at me and bolt like Guan Yu leaving Cao Cao, are they? Like, ‘We’ve repaid our debt by cutting down the Hogriffons, so we’ll take our leave now.’
Jea also eagerly backed up Wyatt.
“Though the cause is unclear, those Hogriffons are filled with malice. They must be purified.”
“I truly appreciate the sentiment. Still, if you insist, how about simply observing? It seems we should have more than enough without your direct involvement. I’ve already prepared plenty of traps.”
“Traps?”
“Hey there, Shrakhim, or should I say Chief. Working hard, are you?”
Ho-yeong had come to encourage the dispatched guard unit as they busily shoveled away.
After Lulaghim’s desertion, Lilian had suggested placing Shrakhim under a surveillance spell. Sicoop even chimed in that it would be easy if they used a Mana Soil bead, though a crystal orb was normally required. But Ho-yeong refused.
“Why?”
“For the protection of human rights.”
“Human rights for someone like that?! That’s ridiculous!”
“Agreed. I’m not talking about the rights of that guy who skimmed money off the territory under the pretense of being a border lord’s subordinate. Don’t misunderstand. The human rights I mean are Sicoop’s, or the watcher’s.”
“My rights? What do you mean by that?”
“Surveillance means twenty-four-hour monitoring. Sicoop, would you really be fine with having to watch some hairy pig bastard taking a bath or picking his nose? That sounds terrible for your mental health.”
“Ah.”
Lilian’s face, which usually showed little change, was now twisted into a deep frown.
“And I have no desire to waste precious mana soldiers on a bastard like that.”
“But, my lord, wouldn’t assigning a watcher around the clock also consume manpower? That said, it is a little improper for me to mention this after losing Lulaghim.”
“Good point, Lilian. I’ve already thought of a way around it, so don’t worry.”
The lord’s countermeasure was this:
- Gob? Gop gop gop! (Working hard? Not really. He’s just holding the shovel and barely digging at all.)
- Laaahni! Lani-lani! (That guy is completely halfhearted, and he even bullied us! We saw it with our own eyes!)
Use monsters as living CCTV.
Since the number of monsters had increased a great deal in the meantime, there was no concern over labor. He had converted many wild goblins while out hunting, and the Mandragoranis had been breeding in abundance as well.
“Is that so? Just as I thought. Good work, everyone. You kept a close eye on things.”
Ho-yeong patted Goblin No. 2 on the back of the neck and activated Communion. In the footage relayed through the goblin’s eyes, he could clearly see Shrakhim slacking off and No. 2’s complaints.
“Gop gop! (Work, human!)”
“You little black goblin bastard, I’ll hack you to pieces right now!”
“Gop-goop! (Go ahead, try! If I die, you’ll be in trouble! The lord will know immediately!)”
“Lani, laaani! (And if you run, I’ll chase you down and ram you with my horns!)”
“Y-you little...”
“It’s a tough job, supervising someone worse than a monster. As compensation for the surveillance, I’ll give you one extra day off. That’s not all. Goblin No. 2 will get Hogriffon heads as a special meal, and Mandragorani No. 9 will get first taste of fresh shoots whenever new leaves sprout on the Do-dom tree!”
“Gop-gop. Gop gop! (Hehe, thank you!)”
“Lani-lani! (Thank you very much!)”
Ability level increased! The level of the passive skill Communion has risen sharply from level 1 to level 3. You can now perceive monsters’ locations and conditions in far greater detail, and communication with the other party has become much smoother.
Ho-yeong gave Shrakhim a stern warning.
“Remember this well. These monsters are assets of the territory. Far more important than a man like you. So if you so much as hurt a single hair on them, I’ll set fire to that pig-bristle beard of yours from end to end.”
“...Hmph. Count of the Border Region, you really are impressive. Well, before long you’ll be surrendering that ridiculous title and leaving this backwater behind.”
“What?”
Shrakhim let a thin, crooked smile curl at the corner of his mouth and picked up his shovel.
“Soon enough, word will come from the capital, and you’ll understand. Or maybe it already has. Heh heh. So you’ve received a revelation from Hariad, have you? Didn’t see this one coming, did you?”
“A revelation?”
Ho-yeong remembered what Daliha had said earlier.
The reason you were summoned to the capital and Lulaghim’s military desertion are deeply connected to the reputation the Guardian has recently gained.
In an instant, Ho-yeong understood everything.
Lulaghim didn’t go to the Kihara Barony just to complain to his uncle. He went to deliver more important news to the baron. And the baron immediately took that news to the capital. That news is... probably connected to what that bastard just blurted out. Some revelation, some prophecy, or whatever.
A clue gleaned from Shrakhim’s sneering.
The same kind of message appeared when I achieved the feat [Weather Alert-Level]. “The Guardian is now known as one who has received a revelation from the angel Hariad.”
The Hariad Church was the state religion of the Kain Kingdom. The church’s standing was so great that even the king could not handle it lightly.
Right now, the capital probably thinks I’m some kind of cult leader. A guy who commands monsters, controls the weather, makes mana springs burst up, and even drops Dandanum meteorites... At this rate I’m going to get hauled before a religious tribunal and burned at the stake. Damn it!
Having grasped the cause of the situation, Ho-yeong kept his composure and stepped toward Shrakhim.
“Even if you’re leaving, you still have to deal with the monsters first! While you are under my command, obey without fail.”
“Didn’t you hear me?! Pretty soon you’ll lose that flimsy command authority and your territory too...”
“Fine. If I’ve got nothing left to lose, then I’ve got nothing to regret. But what about you? You still have something you can’t afford to lose, don’t you? A hometown you need to return to.”
“Something I can’t afford to lose? What are you talking abo—”
“Your life.”
When Ho-yeong clamped a hand down on Shrakhim’s shoulder, the shovel in his grip sank into the ground on its own.
“So if you want to disobey, go ahead and try.”
“I-I’ll follow orders.”
Seeing the man’s edification rise slightly, Ho-yeong let go of his shoulder and snorted softly.
“Ah, and I need to correct something I said earlier. Your hometown that you’re going back to may not even exist soon.”
“What?! What’s that supposed to mean...?”
“You’ll find out soon enough when news comes from Kihara Territory. Or maybe the monster already came.”
“A m-monster?!”
He parroted Shrakhim’s earlier words back at him.
The trap installation to welcome the Hogriffons was in its final stages.
“Um, Count of the Border Region.”
Pierre, who had accompanied Ho-yeong, spoke up carefully.
This one, his name was Pierre Keysika, right? A three-star spatial mage.
“What is it, Young Lord Keysika?”
“Please, call me Pierre. Hmm, I hesitate to sound like I’m meddling after you saved my life from such a disgraceful retreat, but...”
“If you have an opinion, feel free to speak.”
The third son of the mage house stared out over the broad plain, lost in worry.
“The terrain is open ground. And the Hogriffons are charging in a straight line. I fear the traps won’t have much effect. Wouldn’t it be wiser to wage a siege battle by the walls?”
“That’s a fair point.”
Ho-yeong had not failed to consider it either. Unlike Stage 1, where the enemy’s advance route had been narrow, this battlefield was far too vast, and with no time to block the road with obstacles as before.
“But if we try to wage a siege right now, the risk is too high. Repairs to the southern fortress are still underway. If those brutes ram the walls with those massive bodies, I can’t say what will happen.”
“Ah. Yes, the Hogriffons’ body slams are certainly dangerous.”
“Besides, Hogriffons are still griffons at the end of the day. They’ve got boar bodies, yes, but they also have wings. What if they take to the air? What if they storm inside the walls? The whole territory would be reduced to wreckage. I can’t lose my precious labor force... I mean, my territory citizens.”
Of course, since this attack was not an official stage, even if the Hogriffons infiltrated the territory it would not directly affect the game clear condition.
“Then perhaps you should issue an evacuation order, empty the territory, and fight using the buildings as cover? They wouldn’t be familiar with city terrain, so they’d scatter like they were wandering a maze, and you could defeat them one by one. Ah, though perhaps there isn’t enough time for that?”
“That’s not wrong. However, those ‘covers’ are the new homes of the displaced, completed just today. This is a defensive battle to protect our living ground, and destroying that ground would be absurd.”
The lord’s expression was very firm.
“Besides, if we draw the Hogriffons inside the territory, their dense formation will break apart, but our own forces will also be scattered, making it harder to use our numerical advantage. We could even end up being picked off one by one in reverse. There’s a large gap in individual combat strength.”
Lilian added her own tactical concern.
“Count of the Border Region and Lady Lilian are right, Pierre. If we can lure them, then handling them through traps is best.”
Wyatt agreed with Tamer Territory’s plan.
“Don’t worry. We’ve already prepared ways to lure them into the traps. Now then, first among them—”
Ho-yeong drew his sword and shouted,
“Dispatched guard unit, move out!”
The dispatched guards from the Kihara Barony, including Shrakhim with a deathly grim face, came walking forward on horseback.