Longsword in Hand, Dagger at the Heart
“A second raid? And in thirty minutes?! What the hell are you talking about? Just a moment ago, there wasn’t the slightest sign of anything like this!”
Dust clouds of raw earth were already rising over the once-quiet plain.
“Why are monsters suddenly pouring out of thin air? Don’t tell me that absurd difficulty modifier is actually being applied? This wasn’t even supposed to be a proper stage.”
「That is correct. Variable difficulty is also applied at major branching points. You, Guardian, repelled the Hogriffon assault with a most ingenious and splendid response. Because that outcome was beyond expectation, a second assault route was generated.」
“Beyond expectation? Expected by who…?”
「By the System.」
For an instant, everything froze. Even the dust drifting on the wind, even the gestures of the soldiers still cheering their victory.
“Daliha stopped time again. Like she did at the branching point earlier.”
Since he’d experienced it once already, Ho-yeong was less shocked than he had been before.
「Correct. However, unlike the decision at the branching point, this time there is no choice.」
“No choice? Dammit. A forced defense? And I’ve already used up all my traps.”
He clenched his fists. Even in a world halted in ashen gray, the veins in his hands throbbed blue.
「If you had chosen open-field battle instead of a siege, the losses to Tamer Territory, as predicted by the System, would have been as follows: over thirty dead, over forty seriously wounded, a major drop in Conversion rate, and further negative events caused by Shrakhim’s death, including discord with Kihara Barony.」
Even though time had stopped, cold sweat still ran down his back.
“Jesus. So Pier’s right—siege warfare was the proper choice after all?”
「According to the System’s predictions, if a siege had been chosen, it would inevitably have led to a street-fighting route. In that case, the number of casualties would have been far lower, but houses and various facilities would have been destroyed, greatly reducing the territory’s reconstruction rate. Rebuilding would have consumed resources and labor, which would also have caused severe losses.」
“...So either way it’s a hopeless ending?! Then this whole Hogriffon raid was a rigged event! Like a hacked game or something!”
「To the System, Lord Ho-yeong’s existence itself may be the hacked game. You overturned every prediction and turned misfortune into good fortune through splendid play.」
“Ahem. Well, that’s thanks to Daliha helping me out like this.”
Puffed up by the praise, Ho-yeong straightened a little.
「I trust that you will overcome this crisis as well. The heightened difficulty brought by variable settings does not have drawbacks alone. The greater the danger—」
“The greater the reward, right?”
「Exactly. If you repel the second Hogriffon assault, additional supplies can be obtained. The quantity and quality of those supplies increase in proportion to your quest-clear rating. If the rating is especially high, you may even obtain a Rare Item!」
“They’re giving supplies too? Well, that’s actually pretty generous. Yeah, it’s all about mindset. Let’s give it a shot!”
「As you say. Depending on one’s perspective, this can indeed be considered a fine event.」
Daliha encouraged the player as he shifted his attitude.
“So how many of them are coming in the second wave?”
「A total of thirty.」
“Oh, wow, the number dropped fast? Nice. I was worried they’d turn this into a double event and throw 120 at us.”
Ho-yeong was relieved to hear some good news.
「Compared with the first assault, their numbers have been reduced by roughly half, but their ferocity has increased by 50 percent. All of the second-wave Hogriffons are carnivorous, and Conversion is not very effective against them. Their combat power has also increased by an average of 30 percent.」
“Tsk. Did they just pick out the strongest ones?”
The bad news followed right behind.
“Hmm… If the minimum Hogriffon strength stat was around 45, then a 30 percent increase puts it at about 58.5. That’s pretty dangerous.”
「You do the math faster than expected. Among the current troops in Tamer Territory, excluding yourself, there are ten whose minimum combat stat is 60 or higher. If they face the Hogriffons in single combat, their average win rate is 67.8 percent.」
Ho-yeong studied the list Daliha had organized and sank into thought.
Against this second wave, the only ones who can win comfortably are probably Lilian and Wyatt. But that’s only in theory. This isn’t some game where they come at you one by one like in Beating Monsters. Once everything tangles together in a chaotic melee, individual strength doesn’t mean much. Damn it. It’d be easier if I could just wipe them out with traps like earlier.
The traps that had been so useful before were no longer easy to reuse, and there wasn’t enough time to prepare new ones.
At this point, is a full frontal battle our only choice? The goblins won’t be much help, but if I throw all the Mandragorani into the fray and stack them with the Scream debuff, maybe we can make this work? Still, we’d probably take losses. It’s unpleasant, but maybe there’s no helping it.
Ho-yeong thought this over while the dust hung motionless in the air.
After all, this was a world inside a game, and they were only characters. Once he returned to the world he’d come from, he would never need to see them again. Of course, he could still look at them through his phone screen if he started the game up again.
And if I just delete this miserable mobile game after grabbing the rewards, then I won’t even have that.
His eyes fell on the soldiers frozen in place.
So far, we’ve had zero deaths only because luck kept holding out, but that won’t last forever. I can’t afford to grieve each and every time that changes… Yeah. Don’t get too attached. No matter how real it feels, this is still a world inside a game. It’s not where I’m supposed to be.
「The time-line unfreezing in one minute.」
The gray that had colored the suspended world began to fade little by little.
But… who was it who became attached to those characters in the first place?
The memories of playing Reign of Dice grew more vivid.
The thrill every time he acquired a new character, the figures he had stood in line to buy at pop-up stores, the autograph he had received from the original board game’s developer and web novelist.
Ho-yeong’s gaze moved over the frozen characters.
Meyril and Rubia. I wonder what kind of illustrations they had in the game. And Peach—what skill does she even fight with?
Seeing the women he had first met after being possessed in this other world, he found himself suddenly curious.
Lilian, too… Even the first time I saw her, she felt familiar somehow, like family. Must be because I played this game way too much.
On the other hand, looking at Lilian—the character he had challenged again and again just to unlock—felt different.
J-just look at that dead-serious face. Does she think smiling just because everyone else is happy will kill her? She doesn’t even let me fall off a horse when I nod off against her back. What a hard-ass. Still, well, riding together wasn’t bad.
Watching the flesh-colored tones begin to return to her gray-covered face, Ho-yeong muttered under his breath.
“There’s definitely an achievement like that somewhere. Something like Make Lilian Laugh. Judging by the difficulty, that ought to be worth thirty—no, fifty EP at least. Ugh, the Hogriffons are about to attack and I’m standing here making useless comments. But I’m honestly curious now. Is there such an achievement or not? Daliha, please spare me the spoilers on this one.”
He snorted at his own pointless joke, amused despite himself.
“Right. I’ll do my best where I can. Back when this was a mobile game, I still tried hard to keep unit losses down. I can’t just throw away people who eat from the same pot as me.”
「The time-line resumes.」
3. 2. 1!
The sunlight that returned washed the gray air clean like a comb through hair.
* * *
“The Hogriffons are attacking again?! Out of nowhere? Are you saying they can teleport or something?”
“T-then what should we do, uu…? I’ve already used up most of my mana on the last trap…”
Shocked, Sicoop and Meyril were both flustered. Their mana still had not fully recovered.
“It may truly be teleportation. No, in this case it would be closer to a wormhole.”
Pierre, surprisingly calm, spoke up.
“W-what?! What does that even mean…?”
“I just felt an abnormal current in the mana. It’s similar to the feeling when you use spatial movement magic, but not quite the same. If I were to express it crudely, it feels as though someone tore space open and twisted it into a hole. I find it hard to believe the Hogriffons did that on their own, so perhaps someone moved them.”
A perceptiveness befitting a member of the Kayshika family, skilled in spatial magic.
“Who the hell would do something like that? And why?”
“Well… I couldn’t say.”
Ho-yeong admired him inwardly, but more than that, he focused on regaining control of the situation.
“Everyone, stay calm. The important thing right now isn’t why or how the Hogriffons suddenly appeared. The important thing is when and where. And we already know the answer. They’ll show up in front of us in about twenty-seven minutes. It’d be nice if we could use traps like last time, but—”
The explosive stones had already been used up, and the ironwood stakes would take far too long to clear away the Hogriffon carcasses. The invisible cliff walls, hastily made, didn’t last long and were already beginning to show themselves.
“Looks like that’s a no-go.”
“S-Your Excellency, I hate to bring this up now, but what about your promise to send us back…?”
The one who cut in was Shrakhim.
“Hey, Shrakhim! You damned idiot! The lord went through all that trouble to save your life, and you still don’t know gratitude—now you’re whining like a brat? One more word out of you and I’ll cram you into the Bakgyeokpo and fire you clear over to Kihara Barony or wherever the hell it is.”
The furious Berneval Luntin barked at him.
“We agreed that you’d return to your unit only after all the Hogriffons were dealt with. You’re nothing but a cowardly, dishonorable fool.”
“If you miss home that much, how about we send you back to the home of your heart? To Hariad’s side.”
Lilian’s icy stare and Rubia’s wry, faint smile.
“The warp gate is being created, so wait a little longer. Once it’s fully open, all you have to do is step inside. Summoning a dimensional gate consumes an enormous amount of mana. If it hadn’t been for Your Excellency’s request, I would never have wasted it on you. If I had saved that mana, I could have helped repel the Hogriffons instead.”
Pierre’s polite rebuke followed.
“Hey, wizard. Couldn’t you just point the gate exit at the Hogriffons instead of those folks’ territory?” Baunal added sharply.
“W-we’re not doing this because we’re afraid. It’s only that Kihara Barony is also in grave danger, so we’re concerned…”
“Cut the crap! Then what about our territory—don’t you care about us at all?!”
“Your precious uncle is a wizard too, isn’t he? Tell him to come get you himself!”
When everyone was united in scolding Shrakhim—
“I understand how you feel, but that’s enough. Wasn’t Your Excellency in the middle of saying something?”
Wyatt, the most composed of them all, stepped in and cooled the mood.
“My apologies. Please give your orders, Lord.”
“Warp gate. Once it’s fully open. Turn the gate exit. Kihara Barony’s in danger too.”
But Ho-yeong himself was deep in thought, repeating the others’ words to himself.
“My Lord?”
When Lilian approached him carefully—
“That’s it! I’ve got it! Sir Lilian, I’m leaving the rest to you! While I’m away in the capital, take good care of the territory for me. With the steward gone too, you’re the only one I can trust.”
“What?!”
Lilian was startled. The lord had suddenly seized her shoulders and was shouting something she couldn’t understand.
“Pierre! Can you make that dimensional door a little bigger? And delay opening it just a little longer!”
“Of course I can, but how much is ‘a little bigger’ and how much is ‘just a little longer,’ exactly?”
As expected of a magician, he wanted precise measurements.
“Height, this much! Width, this much! Time, twenty-two minutes from now!”
“Understood. You must have an idea in mind.”
Though Pierre was deeply puzzled by the sudden order from the Byeonbangbaek, he did not object. The way Ho-yeong was leaping about with his arms spread, trying to explain, looked positively desperate—and in the short time he had observed him, Pierre had come to believe this man would somehow make something happen.
“From this moment on! Everyone except the people I call out will fall back.”
Most of the names Ho-yeong called belonged to the dispatched guards.
“Get on your horses quickly. And line up neatly behind me.”
“B-but the promise—”
“Shut up and do as I say! We don’t have time. I’m doing this to send you back, so trust me and follow.”
“Understood!”
Even Shrakhim, whose debt of life had greatly increased his Conversion rate, no longer argued.
“Are you trying to use a decoy strategy again? But the traps are useless now. Would luring them even mean anything? Wouldn’t it be better to sweep the monsters away all at once with the Flames of Purification?”
Jea, who had been watching, was doubtful.
“Trust him, suspicious priestess. When our lord takes the lead, we just follow. No need to worry.”
“Sister, you sound exactly like the martyrs who followed Hariad’s final path.”
“Don’t compare us to those idiots who were told not to follow and then ran after her anyway just to die in a group. I, and these people, are following the lord because we want to live.”
“How can a priestess of the fourth rank speak such blasphemy…?”
“Saying it out loud is better than keeping it in your heart. Hariad herself said that a longsword in hand is less frightening than a dagger in the bosom.”
Rubia’s words, from that unreliable priestess who seemed to trust Hariad less than the Tamer Count, only deepened the doubt.
She seems to trust Count Tamer more than Hariad herself.
Meanwhile, Ho-yeong finished his preparations. He was mounted on Ma-yeong, the warhorse, instead of a Mandragorani.
“Now, come on!”
The dispatched guards, who had expected him to circle around in a decoy maneuver like before, blinked in confusion.
“Aren’t we supposed to go out and draw them in?”
“Huh? When did I ever say that? I only told you to line up behind me.”
“What?!”
Ho-yeong explained impatiently.
“Your job is incredibly simple. When I shout, turn around. And run. Then you’ll arrive soon enough.”
“Arrive where, exactly?!”
“Where else? Kihara Barony.”
Behind them, a dimensional gate was forming.
“Rubia, Jea, raise the flames!”
A wall of fire sprang up in front of the Hogriffons charging in a broad line.
- Hogrh! Hogrh!
Fierce though they were, none of them wanted to burn to death, and so they quickly changed formation into a single-file line, squeezing through the gap in the wall.
“Hmm? Wasn’t this the perfect chance to roast them? Even if the flames couldn’t kill them, they could have still inflicted a fair bit of damage. Why put up the fire wall again…?”
“Because killing them would be a problem, Wyatt. Your Excellency! Can we activate it now?”
Recognizing Ho-yeong’s intention, Pierre grinned and called out.
“Yes! Let’s open the dimensional gate.”
There was no time, so it had been crudely built from stone and mana soil. Because of that, it looked unremarkable, but—
“All right, now! Turn around and go through the dimensional gate!”
Not only the humans riding horses—
- Hogrh?!
—even the huge Hogriffons could pass through it.