[MC POV]
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"Get in quick! Millitas equip yourselves and group up behind me right this instant!" (Andrzej)
Middle aged, bearded and having a stout body, this guy is the perfect enbodiment of a grunt. Clad in the same equipment similar as mine, the only difference is that he holds a halberd instead, supporting himself with it by leaning up against it as it's held straight up. A long wooden pole sizing up to an entire height, fitted with an iron maceball size of a palm as it's counterbalance and an arched blade on top. A long pike sprawls out of the main blade in addition, turning the entire weapon into a decent piece we call a heavy iron halberd. It's an overkill indeed lifting this thing and dropping it full force on any goblin or warthogs, the sheer weight of this thing could cleave them apart and crush any armour.
This old brat is also the vice captain of the village guards, directing orders to the common folk, trying to keep everything together so that it won't fall apart.
Though ridiculous, panic among inner forces is often more deadly than damage done by the opposing. Panic brews weakness and invites trouble, so on and so forth.
Meanwhile, villagers are moving into their respective posts in an orderly manner. Living in such dangerous conditions and having their share in experiencing catastrophe has taught them to quickly react to any oncoming crisis. This old fart lifting the halberd on his right arm, tapping it into the ground repeatedly to produce noise while his left literally shoving children to fasten the process of evacuation.
"Geez.. never a gentle soul are you.."
He instinctively glanced to his side to the source of noise in response, and gives out a weird stare towards me, which I've never seen before surprisingly.
"What"
"Kid! How did you get your hands on that stuff? Who gave you the captain's longsword?!" (Andrzej)
"..."
"ANSWER ME!! YOU THINK ACTING HEROIC IS GLORIOUS? THERES NO GLORY IN BATTLE, NOR PRIDE IN DEATH!" (Andrzej)
"..."
"RETURN THE GEAR AND FALL INTO THE MILLITA YOU FUCKEN BRAT!" (Andrzej)
Drawn in by the commotion, villagers around all stared into my direction, some directed glances of anger while some surprised towards me. As if the entire place stopped and time stood still, no one dared to move an inch of muscle in response of such an oddity appearing before their eyes.
"YOU FUCKING IMBECILE!"
"wot" (Andrzej)
"IT'S ME YOU BLIND FUCK!"
"ca..ca..captain?!" (Andrzej)
"Oh dearest Andrzej, who else would it be.." I asked in a sarcastic tone
Seeing the guy that I've known for years unable to recognize me because I've just shaved my beard, it's heart breaking. How could you forsake my trust and friendship?? How dare you say I look like a kid?! Do I really look like a fucking kid?! I had 23 winters behind my back, I'm in the prime of my age.. How dare you.. Why.. How could this happen to me...
Ahhh... Had I not supressed it, I would've cried right there on the spot, I made the worst decision ever by shaving my beard...
"Apologies captain, you really look different without that mane of yours. Had I not heard your voice, I won't have recg.." (Andrzej)
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND FUCK OFF!"
The villagers surrounding us at this point is laughing silently and pointing fingers at my direction. Some of the few ladies had even started gossiping around, completely unaware of the fact that their lives are in danger. Damn, there goes my reputation, it'll surely go downhill if the village survived this disaster.. Fuck me.
"I SAID FUCK OFFFF! ALL OF YOU!"
Whilst yelling, my voice started to slightly shiver. My eyes clouded and a shiver of silver can be seen in my eyes. Having endured such humiliation it would be hard to not break down and cry.. First time in my life had I encountered this, my pride surely can't take this anymore... AAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGH~ *screams internally*
Luckily, seemed like no one saw me losing my grace once again, as they hurriedly scrambled off to the distance and resumed the evacuation.
"Captain.. I.." (Andrzej)
Turning my back on Andrzej to not show him my disgraceful look, I took deep breaths to quickly regain my composure.
"I.. uh.." (Andrzej)
"It's alright comrade, report on the situation."
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"Uh.. Thanks captain. it seems we are under attack a goblin tribe.." (Andrzej)
Oh you piece of shit, I may look fine on the surface, but oh boy am I fucking pissed. I'll never forgive you! NEVAH! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER I WILL! YOU FU..
Ahem, forget about that, that was disgraceful of me.
"Reports indicate that a raiding party could be spotted, counting at least 10, and not more than 20, are moving to our village from half a league away" (Andrzej)
"Composition?"
"The standard kind, goblins with buckler and blades, all light armoured. Few bowmen but it seems they only possess self made bows and arrows" (Andrzej)
Oh good. Any ranged units would wreck our unarmoured village millita, luckily they have only few at this occasion. Plus goblin innovation is next to a steaming pile of shit as useless as our village chief, the bows they fashioned are off centre and shoddy by any means, and arrows unbalanced. Meaning those little trash can't aim for shit, our guys could easily dodge them if they paid attention since goblin archers have weak strength and weak equipment. Their projectiles are bloody crawling at snail's pace and inaccurate, reducing their worth to zero if numbers are minimal. If they can't volley arrows, they can't even suppress the enemy.
I could never understand their logic, with their puny tribes and all. Strong goblins are assigned for melee while weak ones are on support or ranged units. Archers need strong arms for god's sake. Much like the women archers in our millita, boy they could fucking nock that arrow tight. Much like Basia or Daria, those sweet ladies and their impressive, strong and tender arms could shoot some thunderbolts. Gives me the blood rush whenever I see them train.. Much better if they would nock my ammo holding my shaft.. heheheheh
Ahem, lust should come second for now as survival is my priority for now...
"Andrzej, how about the leader?"
"None spotted so far, I've expected it to join the vanguard, but it seems to not be so" (Andrzej)
"Alright then, I'll see for myself once I reach the front. Now, where's that dainty cunt?"
"...Jarek is on sentry duty, standing guard 2 fields away from the village while keeping track of the enemy" (Andrzej)
"Assemble the millita quickly then position them along the Obronna line, the natural slope will slow down the raiders while making full use of our shieldwalls and archers. I will head to Jarek to access the situation"
"Aye Captain!" (Andrzej)
Without another word, I left Andrzej and the village quickly. Striding on my feet, I can faintly hear the commotions and chatterings among the villagers as they converge to the centre. Thank god the bell stopped ringing once all the people are up and awake. As I approached the south-east outskirts of my village, numerous farm plots sprawled up from around my surroundings, various crops such as beetroot, sprouts and cabbages are growing in those plots. The semi-fertile lands among these areas are a godsend for us as supply trading are hard to come by. Our village is currently considered prosperous and well fed considering the dangers surrounding us.
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Soon after the end of the minature farmlands, I reach our fabled place, our geographical advantage, the Obronna line. It's a slow declining slope slowly reaching down to the light marshes below, It's a long line covering most of our south-eastern flanks while ending with insurmountable cliff edges on both ends. Our village is literally surrounded by rocky terrains while being on flat highlands itself, with the exception of the Obronna line here and winding yet flat trail on the north-western side. The relatively gentle slope is obviously easy to scale, but obviously difficult when theres an assault force holding the upper terrain.
Mantaining the higher ground whilst being able to retain mobility is definitely helpful for us by forming an elastic defense, various skirmishes ranging from a few straggling freaks to raiding parties, we held our ground here and had never once lost. "Never lost" as in defending the village property, leaving it unscathed, but a couple lifes here and there had definitely be lost before. It's hard to not take any losses if we are not well stocked in equipment. We are peasants for god's sake, the fucking good for nothing lords would raze us to the ground by the reason of peasant revolt if all men in this place had chainmails and blades.
Not like the lords would ever visit our frontier village, us being prosperous or getting raped by various monsters won't mean a rat's piss to them. They have their hands tied by the civil war and such. The previous lord governing us got his useless arse excecute and his lordship removed, though our gorvernance was never transferred before the war broke out, but then they start killing each other. Sooooo we could be considered a free village state and do whatever the fuck we want. FIRST! We torture and excecute the useless old fuck villlage chief, then install me as the king of these lands, I shall rule over it and strive for greatness myself in these war torn lands! HUEHUEHUEHUEH!!!
Ahem, best not to get any ideas.. Peasant kings would be considered bandits and get. fucking. wiped. I never recalled having any royal fathers or mothers...
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Making my way down, all that entered my visage is a lightly expansive field. Would be considered a field if it weren't for the various water ponds covering most of the surface. Many kinds of shrubbery are growing in this area, with a couple of massive trees sprawling in here and there. This area is perfect for hiding or various guerilla warfare, if not for it's natural inhabitants.
Natural inhabitants of these marshes? Yep, 90% FUCKING BUGS, and the rest small animals and the pain in the arse warthogs. Those territorial fucks would impale any large beings near their territories, they have various dens set up in this place, raising new generations of impalers in order to give our hunters a hard time. Though they are completely herbivorous, they skewer humans or wild dog packs (subspecies of coyotes). Occasionally some divine beasts like sabretooths can be seen here too, hailing all the way from the Southern wilderness, they really are on a different level compared to us humans. Thunder reflexes, thick skin, lightning fast strikes, metal crushing jaws and claws, what a cheat..
On the other end of the marshes, are the wide and expansive forests leading to God knows where. That place holds an ecosystem for various kinds of beings, giant elks, hellhound packs, goblin tribes and occasionally orcs. This is just a small fragment of what's to be known, explorers venturing deep never returned once they left. Rumours of undead armies, Liches or even ruins of fallen beings are common occurence. Never will I know the truth nor will I ever want to find out.
Moving into an open area near the marshes, I saw the a little silhouetto of a man sneaking around the bushes, keeping watch. Scaramouch, scaramouch, will he do the fandango? (lol sorry I had to add that there)
"Psst.. hey Jarek" Walking near Jarek, I lightly called out to him
"Oh hey pretty boy~, never seen you before" (Jarek)
A feminine voice replied, with a tone resembling a drunk lad trying to court a racoon. Such a voice spurted out from a young, strong lad with muscular body and a manly look always gave me quite the surprise.
Chills ran down my body as he called out to me, I simultaneously felt the urge to backhand slap him and also to puke on his masculine face disproportionate to his feminine being.
"I swear to god, you man-loving fucking sissy.." I gently muttered under my breath