A Greatsword Female Knight Is Romance and Dream
A female knight with a greatsword is the very essence of romance and dreams. We set up camp in an area some distance from Belkan, where the undead swarmed like locusts, and formed a defensive line with a makeshift wooden palisade.
"Sir Yan, the situation is more serious than I thought."
"Indeed, Bishop Prest. It looks like Belkan has been completely destroyed. We cannot even confirm whether any survivors remain."
"How in the world are we supposed to resolve this crisis..."
"You can say that again."
Only heavy silence filled the makeshift conference space created from tents. After all, an entire city had been wiped out. And it had happened in a single day.
"Does anyone have an opinion? Anyone at all, speak freely. I want to hear every idea."
The conference room sank back into silence.
"No one? Well, that figures. You're all the sort who are good with your bodies, so this kind of thing must be your poison."
Knight Yan spoke indifferently, as if he had expected nothing. It made sense. The people gathered here were priests who sought God, soldiers who only followed orders, and a handful of commanders. They might excel at physical labor, but using their heads was another matter.
"Go call the mercenaries."
"...All of them, sir?"
"No, bring a few of the group leaders."
"Understood."
A short distance from the barracks serving as the conference room, the mercenaries had gathered in small groups, chatting away.
"I still can't believe it. An entire city destroyed just like that."
"How many decades has it been since a city fell because of monsters?"
"It's been more than decades. The last time was one hundred twenty years ago."
"A new record, then. Damn it all."
"I... I have family in Belkan. They'll be all right, won't they?"
"...My condolences."
The mood was overwhelmingly bleak. Just then, a soldier emerged from the conference tent and began looking for the mercenary leaders.
"What could this be about?"
"Have they reached a conclusion? I hope it's nothing too unreasonable."
When I saw Marco being called forward as well, I followed along. One or two extra people slipping in shouldn't matter.
"Good of you to come."
Sir Yan greeted us warmly.
"Having carried out all kinds of requests, you must have plenty of experience."
He explained the current situation to us.
"That is why I would like to hear your opinions."
At Sir Yan's question, several people offered their thoughts.
"What if we dig traps and lure them in gradually?"
"That won't work. We don't have the numbers for it. We'd exhaust ourselves just digging the traps. Besides, our mission is investigation, not extermination."
"How about calling for reinforcements from Dorua?"
"The round trip alone could take more than a week. And we have no guarantee those damned undead won't start moving in the meantime."
No suitable countermeasures emerged.
Hmm?
Watching them exchange opinions, one clever idea occurred to me.
"May I offer a suggestion?"
"Hm? Who are you?"
"A mercenary from the Night Mercenary Group."
"Why is someone who isn't even a leader... Ah, never mind. Speak your mind freely."
With everyone's eyes on me, I began to explain.
"Recently a Goblin Lord appeared in the western forests of Dorua. I was the one who reported that information."
"I've heard about it. A mercenary who rescued others and brought back intelligence on the Goblin Lord. So that was you. But what does that have to do with our current... Wait, you can't possibly mean...?"
"We lure the undead and set them against the Goblin Lord."
Normally the same green-skinned monsters wouldn't fight each other, but this time was different. The undead didn't distinguish between friend and foe.
"Meanwhile, a small elite team infiltrates Belkan to search for survivors and investigate the cause of this incident."
"A truly good—no, an excellent plan. Using the undead to eliminate the monsters... This is the very meaning of 'the enemy of my enemy.'"
Even I had to admit it was a brilliant strategy. We could get rid of the troublesome undead, eliminate the potential threat of the Goblin Lord, and it was a win-win situation all around.
With the objective decided, Sir Yan, who had accepted my suggestion, quickly began selecting people with strong stamina.
"Stamina is critical for this operation. Therefore, I will choose those among you with experience in forced marches."
It would take at least two full days and half a day to reach the Goblin Lord's location from here. The undead might be slow, but they had no limit to their endurance, so we had to be careful in our selection.
"I'll take volunteers. Is there anyone who can keep moving for three days straight?"
No matter how fit the mercenaries were, few could move for three days without sleep. It was a harsh condition that was difficult for anyone who wasn't a knight.
"This is a bit short on numbers."
Not good. The volunteers were too few. At this rate we might not manage a proper lure.
In the end, I guess I have to step up? There should be bonus pay, right?
Since I was the one who had suggested the plan, I decided to see it through to the end myself.
Or who knows—this might actually be an opportunity?
The Goblin Lord's forces and the undead. Me, rampaging between them and sucking up all the experience points. I could picture it. I could totally picture it!
After this I'll probably end up a short, chubby level-up master! Tuta! I feel like I should shout something like that.
Anyway, I volunteered for the luring role as well.
"Hm? You're participating too? Are you sure? This is difficult even for veteran mercenaries."
"My stamina is one of my strong points. Strong enough that I handled the Goblin Lord's vanguard army alone."
It was a fact guaranteed by the Mercenary Guild.
"Is that so? Then I'll trust you."
I successfully joined the luring team.
"This will be tough, Nix."
"You don't have to worry about me. Marco, you'll fall over in shock when you see how strong I've become."
"Yeah. Falling over from shock would be better."
I accepted Marco's concern with gratitude.
"Then prepare yourselves!"
With Sir Yan's support, those assigned to luring mounted their horses.
"If it looks like you're about to be caught, sacrifice the horse."
"I-is that really allowed? Don't horses cost quite a bit?"
"That's for warhorses. These pack horses are a dime a dozen. They don't cost much, so discard them without hesitation."
It was true—warhorses were expensive while pack horses were cheap.
"I wonder when the day will come that I get to ride a warhorse."
Just imagining it made my heart swell. A beautiful female knight wearing Black Shadow Armor, mounted on a warhorse and swinging a greatsword—how could anyone resist that!
"I'll break the gate, so everyone get ready!"
Aura gathered on Sir Yan's sword and flew toward Belkan's castle gate.
Boom—!
The gate struck directly by the aura shook violently before collapsing completely. It must have already been on the verge of falling apart, allowing him to destroy it without much effort.
"You cursed bastards! Come this way! There are delicious people here!"
At the sound of the breaking gate and the aggro-drawing taunt, the undead began charging madly.
"Groooooaaan—!"
"Uwoooooaaan—!"
The undead let out grotesque roars. Unfortunately, it seemed their vocal cords were still intact.
"They're slower than I expected."
They were charging like mad, but their speed wasn't particularly fast. These undead were rampaging because their autonomic nervous systems still functioned, but their muscles and bones were already rotting away.
"At this speed, we should be able to finish this without too much trouble."
"Don't judge too hastily! We don't know yet whether our stamina will last three days!"
"Time to split up."
With so many undead approaching, we decided to scatter and lure them separately. Even if the path was a little longer, we just needed to arrive.
"Yah!"
I kicked the horse's flank and picked up speed.
"The wind feels nice."
The horse cutting through the refreshing breeze—if only the undead weren't chasing behind us, it would have been perfect.
The mood's ruined.
Keeping an eye on the distance between us and the undead, I ran and ran and kept running.
"The sun's setting."
After galloping for several hours, the sun was sinking in the west. Half a day had already passed.
I wonder if the others are all right?
Since we'd split up, our paths didn't overlap, so there was no way to check on each other's survival. I hoped we could all meet again alive.
On the wooden walls of the fortress where the Goblin Lord resided, the goblins standing guard stared out over the plains with sleepy eyes.
"Tired. Krrk."
"Bored. Krrk."
The pathetic goblins couldn't endure even a moment without complaining.
"Huh? What's that? Krrk."
"This idiot's seeing things again. Krrk."
"No! Look over there! Krrk!"
The goblin who had suddenly been labeled as the one seeing things shouted angrily and pointed at a spot.
"W-what the hell is that?! Krrk!"
"A human carrying a horse! Krrk!"
"It's a crazy human! Krrk!"
It wasn't a horse carrying a human, but a human carrying a horse and running. Straight toward this wooden fortress, with a dark greenish-red wave surging behind like a tidal wave.
"S-sound the bell! Krrk!"
"Hurry and sound the bell! Krrk!"
The goblins, thrown into panic by the sudden anomaly, rang the bell to alert the fortress. Well-trained elite goblin warriors then climbed the walls in perfect order.
"Is that the anomaly?"
"Yes! Krrk!"
The vocabulary used by the goblin warrior wasn't much different from a human's. All thanks to the 'education' they had received from their Lord.
"Just what is that insane human?"
Not riding the horse but carrying it while running—a truly mad human. The goblin warrior had a feeling today was going to be exhausting.
***
"Delivery Nation! Order up!"
I am the rider who runs while carrying a horse, a delivery person whose motto is fast delivery.
"You ordered the orc undead, right?! Your delivery has arrived!"
Seeing the goblins getting all excited and making a fuss with joy at the quick and speedy delivery made even me feel good.
"Sorry for the delay! The horse got tired on the way here!"
So the delivery fee is on the house! Enjoy your meal!