Defense of Hamster Wheel Village (2)
At the entrance to Hamster Wheel Village.
From the dense darkness of the forest, the irregular thud of heavy boots crushing fallen leaves rang out.
"Damn it, why hasn't the scouting party we sent ahead come back? Are those rat bastards just cleaning up droppings?"
One of the low-life adventurers snapped a branch and flung it aside with a rough grunt.
A faint metallic clink reached Horned Rat ears through the leaves—chainmail worn under their clothes.
"Maybe they just took the advance pay and bolted? Typical alley trash."
"Quit bitching and watch your step."
The man at the head of the group snapped coldly. His face was a map of scars, and even in the dark the long, gleaming ears marked him as an elf without question.
"Doesn't matter either way. It's just a backwater where a hundred rat-spawn live. Kick the door in with a boot and stuff them into sacks—that's pure profit."
Beside him walked a black-robed mage whose staff tapped the ground with every step, radiating a murky aura.
"Exactly. Heh heh... the Baron is waiting. We fill the quota tonight and deliver them to the island."
Arrogance dripped from every word. The group strolled down the approach road without a shred of tension, chatting as if they were on a picnic.
Bold or simply full of themselves—either way, they kept to the shadows yet walked straight down the middle of the road leading into the village entrance.
Come on in. Just a little farther...
I lay flat behind the barricade, barely breathing, waiting for the moment their silhouettes crossed the invisible line I had drawn across the road.
Numbers... roughly thirty.
They had come prepared to strip the entire settlement bare. A brand-new frontier village on the fringe—money and power could easily paper over a mass disappearance, or so they must have calculated.
Not happening.
This village was about to become their grave.
"Now! Drop it!"
My sharp cry ripped through the night's silence.
Clack!
Temi and the Rat Rangers waiting behind the barricade threw their full weight onto the wooden levers in perfect unison.
A heartbeat of stillness.
Then—
KABOOOM! KA-BOOM!
The dirt road at the village entrance heaved as if an earthquake had struck and erupted. Mining explosives we had buried deep beneath the approach during the day chain-detonated all at once!
"Gyaaaaaah!"
"M-my leg!"
The improvised minefield tore open; earth and smoke rocketed skyward with the roar.
"Aaaargh!"
Countless stones and shards lashed the mercenaries without mercy.
"Get down!"
They scrambled flat into the brush and dirt.
Good thing I packed the shrapnel!
Pebbles and jagged iron scraps I had carefully layered around the charges for maximum effect now sprayed outward like giant buckshot, turning the lead mercenaries into bloody rags.
"Throw!"
While they reeled and screamed, the perfect opening arrived. Rangers hidden in the watchtowers and surrounding cover rose as one.
Whoosh!
Flaming bottles arced through the air and crashed down over the mercenaries' heads. Crimson fire swallowed the roadside.
"Fire! For the Goddess!"
Dozens of bolts spat from Ratpid Bowguns. A razor rain of steel sliced the darkness.
The mercenaries staggered in confusion.
"Shit! The rat bastards planted mines—gah!"
Bolts punched mercilessly into the chests and throats of those still scrambling to escape the flames. In moments the approach road became a hellscape reeking of blood and burning flesh.
But—
"Don't panic! Form up! Raise shields now!"
The elf mercenary captain's freezing roar cut through the chaos. Veterans tempered in back alleys, they shook off the brief panic and melted into the dark and brush for cover in the blink of an eye.
"Veil of Darkness!"
The black-robed dark mage snapped his staff upward. A murky, sticky violet mana shield curved over the heads of the survivors.
Ting! Clang!
The storm of bolts slammed into the magical barrier and bounced away uselessly.
"Counterattack! Punch through that scrap-wood wall!"
The instant the order fell, the mercenaries who had taken cover drew the long metal tubes from their belts—Adlerheim-made muskets and heavy air guns.
Bang!
Pssshk!
Gunpowder thunder and the scream of compressed air filled the clearing. Muzzle flashes in the dark chewed into our palisade and watchtowers like saw teeth, punching holes.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Splinters of shattered timber sprayed in every direction.
"Kyaaah!"
"Ugh...! Village Chief!"
Pain-filled cries erupted from the Rangers under the hail of fire.
"Temi! You okay?!"
"Nnngh—i-it grazed me! My shoulder..."
A long, shallow gash scored Temi's shoulder. Beside me a second-class Ranger firing her bowgun bled from the cheek. No one had taken a fatal hit, yet the sheer difference in firepower was stacking casualties fast. The coppery stink of blood stabbed my nose.
"Heads down! Sena, cover the kids with your shield!"
"O Goddess of the Hearth!"
Sena heaved her massive holy-powered shield upward, sweat flying. A faint light bloomed across its surface and knocked the incoming rounds aside or stopped them dead in the air.
Hilde and I stayed flat behind the palisade, pouring return fire so the enemy could not simply rush us.
"Hilde! I'm lighting the smoke—use wind to blot out their vision completely!"
"I'm already on it!"
I set fire to the prepared woodpile. Special logs soaked with moisture and packed with sugar and assorted additives. The instant flame touched them, thick black acrid smoke billowed out like mad.
Hilde bit her lip and called the wind spirit.
"Sylph! Push it!"
A sudden gale seized the dense smoke and swallowed the enemy lines whole. The mercenaries who had been tightening the encirclement froze. They could not see; they dared not advance.
But I shared vision with the Horned Rats.
"Rangers! Two o'clock! Shoot!"
"Yes, sir!"
Every time a bowgun spat in answer to my hand signal, a scream tore out of the smoke on the far side. Even if they could not see, when a piercing eye called the shots and they fired flat-out, the bolts still found flesh.
As the advance stalled, the elf captain barked in irritation.
"Rats dare stall for time? Blow the lot of them away!"
The black-robed mage immediately wrenched murky mana to its limit. At the tip of his staff a sinister, enormous crimson sphere swelled.
"Down!"
My frantic shout and—
KABOOOOOM!
A house-sized magical blast smashed the front barricade. The outer wall of woven timber screamed and exploded into splinters. Burning wooden shards rained down on our heads.
"Cough, cough...!"
When the choking dust cleared, the mercenaries' gleaming eyes and raised weapons showed through the ruined wall.
"We're through! Push in!"
"Rat bastards! Bag every last one of them!"
Triumphant howls of bloodlust. The elf captain and his men surged through the shattered gap in the palisade.
To them the village center beyond the breached wall must have looked like an open hunting ground.
"Fall back to the square! Scatter!"
I shouted urgently and stumbled backward as if terrified. The Rat Rangers likewise screamed in feigned panic and scrambled toward the central plaza.
"Squeak! Retreat!"
"Run!"
Tails tucked, the Rangers fled deeper into the village at full speed.
"Hahaha! Run all you like—you're still rats in a jar!"
The elf captain raised his bloodied sword and strode boldly toward the village center. His arrogant gaze locked onto my retreating face. He must have expected the twisted despair of a cornered mouse.
The moment our eyes met, the lips that should have been trembling in misery curved upward into a thin, crooked smile. The round ears that had been folded beneath my red beret flicked upright.
I stared straight at them and laughed, cold and quiet.
Stupid bastards.
I had already accounted for the outer defense line being breached. If something that simple could rattle us, we would have collapsed long ago. Stopping them outside would have been ideal—but even if we could not hold the approach, it did not matter.
The real show is inside the village!
Thud-thud-thud!
The Rangers vanished into the streets. A few seconds later the mercenaries themselves came charging into the heart of the settlement.
An empty central square. All around it, dark roofs and building gaps. Fully loaded repeating ballistae waited in silence.
"W-what the hell is this?!"
They finally sensed the killing intent pouring from every direction and cried out in panic.
Too late to run. The mercenaries had walked of their own free will into the center of a perfect crossfire formation and stopped dead.
Only one goal remained: grind these pieces of trash into nothing.
"The Lord of the Hamster Wheel watches over us!"
I roared toward the sky until my throat tore.
"In the name of Lady Rodentia! Kill them all!"
"Squeak! Fire!"
Clank-clunk!
Handles spun; the thick bowstrings of the repeating ballistae released.
Crunch!
An absurdly massive bolt split the air and skewered a mercenary like a log. That impact became the signal; insane gunpowder detonations erupted from every side.
Bang! Bang-bang!
"Uwaaaaagh!"
The second counterattack had begun.