Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Frontier Zone (2)
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The basin where pioneering was underway was surrounded by mountain ridges like a folding screen, so the entry path was only relatively less treacherous—it was still very much a mountain.
They had paved the road as best they could to allow carriages to pass, but it was far from a smooth highway like those on Earth. At best, it was a narrow, unpaved country lane.
In short, whether the regular convoys carried hundreds or thousands of people, they had no choice but to stretch out in a long single file when passing through the entryway.
With carriages and wagons mixed in, any given spot in the long procession would have at most a few dozen people.
In a frontier zone teeming with fiends, that kind of headcount wouldn't even make them hesitate. And that number included both combatants and non-combatants.
The result? Raids happening several times a day.
That was why a distance that could be covered on foot in three leisurely days—or even in one if pushing the horses hard—was scheduled for five days.
Of course, it wasn't like only the spot where Galen was kept getting attacked, but whenever any part of the convoy was hit, the entire line had to stop.
"Let's go, Brother Galen!"
"Ah, yeah......"
And Lilia had an incredibly diligent personality.
Every time the raid horn blared, she bolted straight toward it. She left Jenny and the other acolytes behind to wait, but Galen had no choice but to be dragged along.
"Make way! Coming through!"
In the overall procession, Lilia's group was near the center, and this horn had sounded from the rear. From the sound of it, they weren't far.
People who saw Lilia charging against the flow naturally stepped aside. Partly out of respect for a cleric, but mostly because even those who hadn't known her before had grown accustomed to it after three days of this routine.
'No wonder others gave up on this commission. And we haven't even properly started yet...'
Galen gave a wry smile as he spurred his horse behind Lilia, who was clearing the path ahead.
To be blunt, Lilia's actions were meddlesome. Everyone in this convoy had already prepared themselves—whether by hiring mercenaries or being mercenaries themselves. Unless they called for help first, there was no need to rush over and intervene.
Of course, Lilia, with her conviction to slay fiends and save lives, couldn't just sit by, but that was separate from the commission.
Mercenaries might not know much else, but they were ironclad when it came to money. They wouldn't do more than what they were paid for, and if pushed, they'd demand extra. Any other mage wouldn't have followed Lilia so obediently.
Galen tagged along for the modest experience points, but even for him—with his clear goals—the constant raids were a real hassle.
"Tuskboars! Eight of them!"
Lilia's shout as she rode ahead snapped Galen from his thoughts. Soon, the fiends came into his view as well.
Tuskboars. They resembled skinny brown wild boars with long, developed legs and tusks. Since there were no wild boars in this world, people just called them pig-like fiends.
Like Earth's wild boars, which were beasts of prey, tuskboars were no pushovers. Their thick hides resisted spears and swords, and their exceptionally long, sharp tusks could spell disaster if they pierced unprotected flesh.
"Gah, you pig bastards!"
"What are you doing? Block properly!"
The mercenaries seemed thrown into chaos. Tuskboars were already tough for a single Bronze-rank to handle alone, and with eight swarming one spot, they were all over the place. They looked like mercenaries short on fiend-hunting experience.
"Ah!"
"Tch."
One mercenary took a tusk to the thigh and toppled sideways. Lilia let out a short cry, and Galen clicked his tongue. Just hold on a few more seconds. They were almost there.
Galen released the reins and summoned a spirit. In the blink of an eye, a blob of water enveloped his outstretched left hand.
Splat!
The water blob shot forward like a cannonball, slamming into the side of a tuskboar that had been about to gore the fallen mercenary again. It burst with a drum-like thud, sending the beast tumbling aside.
"Brothers! Fall back and form a defensive line! Tend to the wounded!"
Lilia shouted. The anxious faces around her lit up at the sight of her. Even the flustered mercenaries pulled themselves together.
She arrived at the raid site and leaped from the saddle the moment her horse stopped.
"Take care of the horse for me!"
She called out to those nearby and charged forward.
Her light dismount and the speed at which she dashed after landing were far beyond any ordinary person's.
The reason Galen had been surprised when he first heard about it. Among priests, only a select few with experience could use the fifth miracle: a buff that explosively boosted all physical abilities.
Lilia, having cast the miracle of Rigid Body on herself, plunged into the fray.
"Oink!"
She barreled in like a bullet and kicked a tuskboar that had been facing off against the mercenaries. It screeched without even reacting properly.
"P-Priestess?!"
"Fall back!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
After sharply urging the stunned mercenaries, Lilia launched herself forward.
This time, the tuskboar reacted to its kin's cry. It ignored the mercenaries and swung its tusks precisely at Lilia, who was right in its face.
Thud!
Its elongated, intimidating tusks made them perfect for grabbing—and Lilia seized them outright. The beast shuddered and thrashed, but she didn't budge an inch.
"Raaah!"
The hefty bulk—enough to crush two grown men—lifted into the air. Holding both tusks, Lilia twisted her hips and pile-drove it into the ground.
Boom!
The fiend took its full weight on its back and rolled its eyes back in its head.
Lilia immediately shifted focus, turning to spot another mercenary in peril.
Before she could move, a torrent of water blasted out faster.
Whoosh!
The powerful jet shoved the tuskboar back. Even with its bulk, it couldn't withstand the pressure and tumbled away.
"The mercenaries have all pulled back."
Galen rode up beside her, speaking calmly.
"I'll clean up the rest."
"Please do!"
Lilia bowed her head and scurried off toward the others.
Galen turned to the battlefield and casually flicked his hand.
Splat! Splat!
He had already pulverized the tuskboars Lilia hadn't reached due to distance, and now he finished off the ones she had softened up.
They were tough, sure, but Galen had slain far tougher foes with regeneration long ago—like trolls. Eight little boar pups were now just post-meal snacks.
Still, among the fiends they'd encountered in the past three days, these were the strongest. The experience points were quite generous.
'Progress jumped over 50% in three days. If I'd just trained alone, it wouldn't have budged even 5%.'
A pain, but fiend hunting was the way.
It was practically established fact now that slaying one strong fiend beat ten weak ones for XP.
'If I took down a troll now... it'd give less than at Lv.39, but still way more than these. And it'd cost less mana than dozens of tuskboars.'
But challenging ones too strong could backfire on him.
Sticking to Silver-rank equivalents seemed most efficient.
Of course, like humans, Silver-rank fiends were treated as dangerous and rare. If trolls were common backyard encounters, humanity wouldn't dream of pioneering.
'Well, with this many fiends around, there have to be tons at Silver level proportionally. No way I'll run out of things to hunt and stall on leveling.'
Galen chuckled and closed his status window.
He recovered the scattered water and rode toward the gathered crowd, where thanks poured in from all sides.
"Thank you, mage!"
"You saved my life!"
"No problem. Glad there weren't any serious injuries."
He replied lightly and glanced at Lilia. She had the mercenary who'd been tusked propped up, repeatedly bending and straightening his leg.
"How's it feel? Any pulling?"
"Seems fine!"
"Now, stand up. How's walking?"
"Fine!"
"Really?"
"Really, priestess!"
The mercenary's attitude was like a lowly soldier before a general, which might suggest Lilia was tormenting the patient—but nothing could be further from the truth.
His thigh, pierced by the tusk, had only a hole in his pants left; no trace of the wound remained.
After finishing with the most severe case, Lilia selected other mercenaries needing care and bestowed miracles upon them.
Fwah!
The cleric's second miracle, Purification, swept over the wounds first. A warm light blending white and gold washed away dirt and bloodstains.
Fresh light settled into the exposed flesh. The prerequisite for priest ordination and the cleric's fourth miracle, Healing, took effect. Wounds closed visibly before their eyes.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
The healed mercenaries, those with minor scratches who didn't need treatment, and the onlookers all praised Lilia's mercy nonstop. She smiled brightly without a hint of shyness, responded graciously, then mounted her horse.
"Well, we'll head back now! Safe travels ahead!"
"Take care!"
"You too, mage!"
It felt a bit like an extra service, but whatever. Galen aligned his horse with Lilia's and headed back to the group. No rush now, so they took it easy.
"Aren't you tired?"
Galen suddenly asked, curiosity piqued.
His mana wasn't strained by this, and Lilia surely had plenty of holy power left, but handling combat and support every time couldn't be easy.
"Not at all!"
Lilia replied with a completely unclouded expression.
"The miracle of Vitality always gives me strength!"
"Ah."
He'd half-expected something heartwarming like "Seeing people's smiles gives me power," but her answer was surprisingly pragmatic.
Not wrong, though. The third miracle granted near-infinite stamina as long as holy power held out.
Lilia beamed at Galen's amused chuckle.
"That's the question I wanted to ask you, Brother Galen. Aren't you tired?"
"What's to be tired about?"
Galen shrugged it off.
"Riding back and forth along the convoy, casting a few spells. That's it."
"Everyone else seems worn out."
"They're just unskilled. Or making excuses because it's a hassle."
"But you're not even hassled, Brother Galen?"
"Nah, it is a hassle."
"Huh?!"
"Can't lie and say a hassle isn't one. But... I accepted this commission knowing that. It was what I wanted, too. So of course I have to deal with it."
Lilia blinked at him for a moment, then put on what she thought was a serious face. It didn't look serious to a third party.
"So if I say let's work a bit harder, you'll go along?"
"You're already working incredibly hard."
"Not quantity—quality. Like... challenging slightly stronger fiends?"
"Sounds good."
"For real?!"
"Said I came for training. Big fish beat small fry, obviously. As long as they don't swallow me."
Galen shrugged. Lilia's eyes sparkled like it was too much.
"This commission is really... really to my liking!"
"Same here."
Different goals, but so what? They wanted the same thing.
The two shared a mirror-image smile.