The Two Leaders

As she drew close she could scent a stink on the air, which clued Enri in to the fact that there were ogres present. The ogres clutched their new clubs, which looked spiky and menacing.

Along with Enri, a panting Nfirea and the members of the self-defence force led by Brita gathered at the main gate. Agu and some of his fellow goblins, the ones who had recovered enough from their ordeal to fight, stood with them as well.

“Is that everyone? How about Madam Lizzie? Did something keep her?”

Nfirea’s grandmother Lizzie was a notable magic caster in her own right. It wouldn’t have been out of place for her to take part in the village’s defense.

“No, Obaa-chan’s not coming here. She’s at the rendezvous point. That place is important too.”

The villagers nodded as they heard Nfirea’s words. Since their family members had fled to the rendezvous point, they had to keep it secure too.

“All those who can’t use bows are already over there. Since you guys are strong, would it be all right for one of you to go over there?”

“We can’t do that.”

Jugem flatly refused Brita’s request.

He hadn’t done this out of malice toward the villagers whom he had lived and worked with. As the surging tension made Enri gulp, Jugem explained his position.

“There’s a lot of monsters. And there are others, in addition to the ogres. Splitting up would be very dangerous.”

“Do you have a clear picture of their numbers?”

“Brita-san, the enemy was lurking in the forest. There’s no way to accurately judge their numbers.

However, we did manage to get an estimate… seven ogres, several giant snakes, several wargs, several somethings we think might be barghests and something big following behind them.”

“Wargs, giant snakes and ogres? Is there a druid behind them?”

Wargs were monsters that looked like wolves, but bigger. They were smarter than wolves and bad news if you encountered them in the forest.

“It’s very likely. Things will be really bad if they have a magic caster on their side. We can probably assume that they also have ranged attackers. So it would be better to marshal all our fighting power here, right? Should I call Obaa-chan over?”

“That… is hard to say, Ani-san. The rendezvous point is one of the strongest buildings in the village. If anything happens, it’ll be the final defensive line or in other words, the village’s keep. We can’t let anyone protecting that place leave.”

“…So we’ll be falling back as we fight, then? Where should I go?”

“Brita-san will direct the defense force. I hope you can relay my orders to them so they can understand. Then, act as the situation requires.”

“So we’ll use the second strategy against invaders, then? After feathering them with arrows, we’ll use barricades to keep them at bay while we stab them through the gaps with spears. Doesn’t matter how skilled our people are once they’re that close.”

“Ah, then I’ll leave that to you. However, wargs and barghests are very agile, and if left alone, they’ll cause a lot of damage. Target them first. Also, when their druid shows up, would you mind having the defense force go to the back line?”

“I’m not opposed to that, but will you have enough people on the front without us?”

“…If we’re lucky, we’ll be enough.”

“If it’s like that… as I thought, I’d better tell everyone here to be ready to die. At least, if we’re in the back we won’t be attacked, so we can concentrate fire on the druid. You know, I’ve been an adventurer, but this is the first time I’ve seen such brave villagers… at least, I thought that much when I watched them train with bows.”

“In the past, the village was attacked… and we hated how useless we were.”

Enri, who had been silent up till now, cut in with the sentiments of every member of the defense forces.

Amazingly, there was nobody here who wanted to flee. There was no way around this fight, no way they wouldn’t protect their village for the loved ones hiding behind them.

“Speaking of which, such a large force must have taken some time to assemble. Does this mean they’ve been sent by the Giant of the East or the Serpent of the West?”

“That’s not impossible.”

Jugem softly confirmed Brita’s suspicions.

If that was the case, it would mean Agu had drawn the monsters here. That was why Jugem had lowered his voice, so the defense force wouldn’t pick up on it and direct their aggression at Agu.

The existence of monsters like the Giant of the East, the Serpent of the West and their mutual enemy, the Beast of the South, had already been made known among the villagers.

Although the Beast had been tamed by the Dark Hero, the mighty monster’s form and presence had been etched indelibly on the villagers’ hearts. Fear was the appropriate response to the thought of fighting something on the same level as that.

“So what kind of magic does the Serpent of the West use? Damn, what a pain.”

Jugem nodded to Brita’s mumbling.