Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Star Festival (5)
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There was no time to get sentimental.
The chimeras were approaching.
Twenty-two in total, exactly double our number.
There was no hesitation in their sauntering steps.
Even though they had just seen their comrade fall by my hand.
They seemed to have incredible faith in their own bodies.
“Hoo.”
I steadied my breathing.
My eyes quickly scanned the targets as I calculated the time in my head.
Assuming I could reload at maximum speed without fumbling, I could fire three shots a minute, tops.
In my past life, I could have managed six, but with this body, that was the limit.
Besides, this wasn't a situation where I could shoot carelessly.
I didn't have many arrows to spare.
It meant I had to aim properly and take them down one by one with a single shot.
I looked at the men blocking my path.
Could they really hold out until then?
“Looks like we don't inspire much confidence.”
“Can you blame him? Look at us. Not a single one of us is properly armed.”
“It's a miracle we even grabbed our swords and shields in this mess. Hahaha.”
They seemed to have keenly sensed my distrust and spoke up as if for my benefit.
“Young squire. Don't you worry. We might not be the best at charging forward, but when it comes to holding our ground, we're all experts.”
I nodded at their confident words.
Right now, I had no choice but to trust them.
“Capture the kid alive. Kill the rest.”
“Would it be okay to lop off an arm or a leg?”
“Don't. If he suddenly dies, we'll never satisfy our curiosity.”
“Treat him with care.”
Meanwhile, the chimeras, having formed an encirclement, snickered.
It was as if the ten men and women blocking their path didn't even register.
My eyes darted around.
The moment I pulled the trigger, the battle would begin.
“That little brat. I'm curious what's inside that pea-sized body of his.”
“You can find out after we're done. So impatient.”
I spotted a chimera that had half-turned its body to banter with its comrade.
“Then…”
I aimed for the side of its completely unguarded head.
“I'm counting on you.”
I held my breath.
And pulled the trigger at the same time.
*Thwang.*
The fully drawn bowstring was released.
*Thwack.*
The sound of something hard shattering pierced my ears.
“Gurgle.”
Followed by a death rattle.
“Attack!”
“Kill them all!”
The chimeras charged all at once.
Whew.
My hands moved more busily than ever before.
It was necessary to minimize the casualties.
While I was desperately working to nock a second arrow…
“All of you, sheathe your swords!!”
“Hah!”
The people surrounding me suddenly slid their swords into their scabbards.
With the enemy right upon them.
With resolute movements, devoid of any hesitation.
“Defensive stance!”
“Hah!”
Having sheathed their swords, they gripped their shields with both hands and lowered their stances.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Immediately after, the chimeras' attacks hammered against the wall of shields.
“Ugh?”
“Hut!”
Bewildered groans escaped the chimeras' lips.
Those who had attacked were all staggering, having lost their balance.
“Ah?”
I forgot to reload, staring at the scene.
“Hahaha. I haven't lost my touch!”
“I've been holding a shield for over ten years. If I can't even do this much, I've wasted my life!”
“Stop talking and focus! Here they come again!”
The chatter of the middle-aged men and women filled my ears.
“Ah.”
Only then did I understand the reason for their confidence.
They were all professional shield bearers.
Meaning.
“You're my seniors?”
They were all former squires.
“Seniors? It's been ages since we retired.”
“Which means…”
“We're all Jongsa of the Giftrang family.”
And not just retired squires, but Jongsa.
“Jongsa. That's too grand a title for a bunch of washouts.”
“‘Dropouts’ is the word that fits us best.”
The Jongsa replied with a chuckle.
Dropouts.
There are certainly those who would call them that.
Since they were individuals who had aged out of their station without becoming knights, it wasn't entirely wrong.
But that was only when judged by the standards of a knight.
Fifteen years at the shortest, twenty-five at the longest.
That's how long they had spent honing their martial skills day and night under a knight.
More than enough time to forge even a complete nobody into a fine warrior.
Just because they hadn't become knights didn't mean the skills and experience they had polished their entire lives simply vanished.
The proof was right before my eyes.
“Parry!”
“Repel!”
“Bash! Ack! My hand!”
“You idiot! Why would you strike something so hard!”
The Jongsa deflected or parried the chimeras' attacks with their shields, shouting bizarre interjections.
One even twisted an attack aimed at him, redirecting it toward a chimera beside him.
It was a rare sight, something impossible to imitate without having mastered shield arts to the absolute limit.
The off-balance chimeras got their movements tangled, bumping into each other, falling, and creating a commotion.
*Click. Thwang.*
I didn't miss the openings they created for me.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Guaaaah!”
The chimeras, struck in their vital spots while defenseless, died on the spot.
“He has a relic-class weapon!”
“What kind of madman would give an artifact like that to a pint-sized squire!”
It seemed the chimeras were finally getting desperate.
Their attacks grew more ferocious.
But the Jongsa stood firm even before the fierce onslaught.
“I didn't notice before, but these things are only tough on the outside. In every other respect, they're amateurs.”
“Heavy infantrymen are trickier. Their weight is their weapon.”
“But against regular soldiers, these things would still be a serious threat.”
“We'll be in danger too, once our stamina runs out.”
Their constant chatter made them seem almost distracted.
But.
“It's actually better this way.”
To my eyes, they seemed all the more reliable.
My comrades from my past life, with whom I fought shoulder to shoulder, were just like them.
Cheerful people who never stopped talking, even in the heat of battle.
But the Great War had eventually silenced even them.
The dead are naturally silent, after all.
“Nine.”
I counted the number of chimeras I'd felled as I continued to snipe them.
With the Jongsa setting up the chimeras in perfect sniping positions and creating openings, I was confident I wouldn't miss.
The chimeras fell helplessly.
Watching a scene that belied their infamous reputation from my past life, I came to a private understanding.
No wonder they'd shown up so much earlier than I remembered.
The skills honed by the Jongsa were certainly not to be trifled with, but they shouldn't have been enough to handle chimeras this easily.
And the way the Knight Slayer's bolts pierced their bodies so easily…
If they had been properly made, it wouldn't have been this easy, even with the power of the Knight Slayer.
I was certain.
These things are still incomplete.
*Click. Thwang.*
I hastened my reloading even more.
This was no time to be held up by half-finished chimeras.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
The explosions echoing from the distance were ominous.
The fluctuating auras of Gunther and Grita were also concerning.
Above all.
*Whoooooosh!*
The enemy's aura, which showed no sign of diminishing, was far too sinister.
“Nineteen.”
Now, only three chimeras remained.
“Twenty.”
Then two.
“Twenty-one.”
And one.
*Thunk.*
I pressed the crossbow to the forehead of the struggling chimera pinned under the Jongsa's shields and pulled the trigger.
“S-save… Gack.”
With a ridiculous final scream, all the chimeras fell.
“Is that all of them?”
“The ones that came this way seem to be taken care of. I wonder about the others.”
One of the Jongsa, after exchanging a brief glance with the others, held something out to me.
“I salvaged what I could, but only five are still usable.”
They were the specially crafted bolts for the Knight Slayer.
Talk about being on the same wavelength.
It seemed they had collected the bolts while I was dealing with the chimeras.
“Thank you.”
“We should be the ones thanking you.”
If I hadn't come, they would have been stuck grappling with creatures their swords couldn't even pierce. The Jongsa offered their thanks.
“Let's save the pleasantries for when this is all over. We each have our own tasks right now.”
“Then…”
I gave a quick bow and immediately ran in the direction of Gunther's aura.
The number of corpses increased as I neared the mansion.
The only difference was that while the bodies I saw before were mostly Komlat's soldiers and citizens, these were now predominantly bandits.
It seemed the Giftrang family hadn't been completely on the defensive.
“…!”
I had reached the main gate of the Giftrang estate.
Pools of blood were everywhere.
But strangely, there were no bodies.
“The Yuhyeolmogi Knights.”
The knights of the Giftrang family had clearly fought here.
The title ‘Venomous Giftrang’ didn't just refer to their poisonous personalities; battlefields swept by the Venomous Knights in my past life had looked exactly like this.
The pools of blood scattered about must be the remains of their enemies, melted away.
“Ugh.”
As I approached the pools of blood, a nauseating stench assaulted my nose.
It was the lingering scent of their potent venom.
I took out a piece of cloth to cover my nose and mouth and quickly left the area.
A building, collapsed into a mess.
Finding my way wasn't difficult.
*Boom! Boom!*
The direction from which the explosions endlessly roared.
The place where three different auras clashed without rest.
That was my destination.
The Faceless Witch tilted her head.
It was as if she were asking what I could possibly do on a battlefield where knights and mages were clashing.
“We'll see.”
Instead of answering, I took out an arrow.
The Faceless Witch scoffed.
The witch's thoughts continued to bore into my mind.
Essentially, they conveyed the question of what use such a thing would be against a madosa.
The Faceless Witch asked.
A more blatant thought pierced my mind.
No. It was closer to her will itself, not just a thought.
That if I wished, she would lend me her power right here and now.
That with her authority added, I could deliver a blow threatening even to a madosa.
“You won't say you'll give me the power to defeat a madosa, though. Not confident, are you?”
At my words, she hastily conveyed her thoughts.
The Faceless Witch corrected herself.
“Yeah. Changing your tune now isn't very convincing.”
Another flood of thoughts.
“Enough. I have no intention of becoming a mage, so give it up.”
I replied curtly and unwrapped the cloth from my mouth and nose.
Then I started sniffing around the pools of blood.
The Faceless Witch waited for an explanation for my incomprehensible behavior.
I casually ignored the witch's will echoing in my head.
I simply went from one pool to the next, sniffing.
“Ugh!”
And finally, I found it.
One particularly viscous pool of blood.
A venomous scent so potent that a mere whiff was enough to make me dizzy.
It was undoubtedly the trace left by Grita.
I dipped the tip of the arrow I had prepared into the pool of blood.
The Faceless Witch looked at me in disbelief.
“Yeah. It's exactly what you're thinking.”
The Faceless Witch was startled.
The Faceless Witch screamed and pointed accusingly.
It seemed even the witch was quite shocked this time.
Where did your chivalry go?
A vivid voice, unlike the thoughts she had been conveying until now.
Is a squire allowed to do that?
I replied nonchalantly to her fuss.
“Yes.”
In the Great War, this kind of thing was nothing.