Chapter 4 - Saving Konan Village (2)

Hana:

It’s been a few hours since Princess Lucy and her group has left the village. Honestly I didn’t think they’d leave so easily, maybe she isn’t Princess Lucy as she said? Or maybe she had some other plan for us? Uh, just thinking about it makes me shudder.

“Hana, help me hand out the meal for everyone!” Mom’s shout snapped me out of my thought.

“Ah, okay mom.” By now it was noon, so everyone is back for lunch.

Originally there were about 300 people in this village but after all the adult men were taken by the Princess, only 186 people were left. Only about 80 of them were adult, the rest were children. Still, with no one else, some of us older kids had to help out.

“Thank you, Hana.”

“No problem.” I gave a smile to the grandma.

“Anyone else hadn’t gotten a meal!?” Another helper shouted.

“Yeah, over here. My son too.”

“Alright.” There were many kids aged 11 and up handing out food.

Finally lunch was over and everyone prepared to go back to work. Most went to the field while others went to take care of other things that needed to be done. Only I was left with nothing to do.

“Will you be heading out today Hana?” Mom asked me as she was washing the dishes.

“No… I don’t think I will. There’s nothing out there anymore for some reason. The Gale Wolves are also very alert these past days, something must be going on in the forest… Actually I think I’ll do a quick check around the village at least. Bye mom.”

“Alright, be careful out there then, and Hana… sorry for making you do the hunting yourself when you’re only 11…”

“Don’t worry mom, I’m both you and dad’s daughter, of course I’ll be alright. Hehe, and I have my Gale Wolves to protect me, anyways I’m the only one who can do this at the moment. So I’ll do my very best.” Saying so I left the village.

Although there was a large plain in front of the village entrance, surrounding it from the side and behind was a small forest. Usually that’s where the hunting happens but with nothing in there for some time now, the hunters in our village began to hunt in the big forest beyond the end of the plain. The men also used horses that we spent a lot to get from a merchant to make traveling shorter, but even those were taken by the Princess. Well, I just ride my Gale Wolves anyways, since my Misty is faster than most horses it wasn’t a problem.

“Huff, although there aren’t any animals left, there are still the occasional demons that pop up. At least they don’t appear as often now either, I hope I don’t run into one today.”

At that time I entered the eerily quiet forest, noting but the rustling leaves could be heard. Suddenly a bunch of little green men with distorted faces that had loincloth as their only clothes appeared. They were goblins and even though weren’t that strong, they are dangerous in a group, even grown men can have trouble.

“Ah, I just had to open my big mouth. Misty, Lexi, Wolfy, Ari, Meeka, Aki, Onyx, and Breeze, attack!” With my order, they quickly went to work, slashing the goblins into mince meat.

I remember the first time I came hunting with dad after they found out I had the class Monster Tamer, back then I only had Misty with me. I can still remember my trembling hands as I killed my first prey, I couldn’t dismantle it properly then. I still have trouble with it now, but it’s a big improvement compared to last year.

“Hmm, this is pretty good I guess. If the merchant returns we can sell these Goblin core for some money, It won't be much but at least we can buy some food with it.” The fight didn’t last very long, Misty and the others quickly killed the group of six goblins.

I quickly put the cores into a bag I brought and ignored the rest. I did pick up some of their weapons though, like a rusty sword, a low quality axe, and a sickle. They’ll be used by the villagers to help with lumbering and farming. The sword doesn’t have much use but can be melted down for iron.

“Hmm, maybe I should go kill off the Goblin den again? It might be a bit harder without dad and the others but it shouldn’t be that big yet… ah, yeah let’s do it. Better now than before their number gets too big. Misty, [Track].” With a command, Misty led the others back to the Goblin den.

It was still only a bit after noon so there’s still some light. I should finish soon and go home before it gets dark. With just 6 warriors, 7 no class, and 1 chief, it shouldn’t take too long.

“Phew, looks like it’s still a new den. Their number are low, okay, Misty [Howl]. Breeze, use [Wind Cutter], Aki and Ari [Forest Claw]. Everyone else attack!”

[Howl] boosts the attack and magic attack of its pack, [Wind Cutter] is a low level spell that sends a powerful blade of wind to slash its enemies in half, while [Forest Claw] strengthens the user's physical damage. Misty has all three but Breeze only has [Wind Cutter] with Aki and Ari only having [Forest Claw], the others don’t have any spells, skills, or ability yet.

With just [Wind Cutter], 1 of the warriors and 4 of the no class died. Following this [Forest Claw] from Aki and Ari kills the remaining no class and another warrior. The others worked together and managed to kill 2 more warriors. Only three goblins left. Suddenly a red aura surrounds the Goblin chief as well as the remaining 2 warriors.

“I-it’s a mage!? Misty quickly, kill it!” I hasten Misty on the offensive.

Goblin mages were rare and can use mid level spells if high enough level, which makes them extremely dangerous. Dad said that he’s only encountered one his whole life and it had killed two other hunters before it was killed.

“$#@$@!” The goblin chief shouted something I couldn’t understand and then a magic circle appeared. It was an ominous blackish purple color.

“Ah, dodge! Dodge the attack!” I was a bit late on my command.

Wolfy was hit by a black ball on his front paw and whimpered in pain as he fell down. The black ball ‘ate’ his whole left arm. I wanted to go in and save him but the Chief began chanting again. Wolfy was also surrounded by the warriors and was being bashed by a club and slashed by a short sword.

“Wolfy, noo! Y-you goblins! Misty, [Wind Cutter]! Kill that goblin!!” I screamed out in anger.

Since Misty was higher level, the spell was faster and stronger, easily killing the remaining goblins. Afterwards, I jumped off Misty and ran towards Wolfy, he was a new member to the pack and was the lowest level. I had wanted to level them up so I didn’t let Misty in on the fight, but I was stupid.

“Wolfy… no… I-I’m soo sorry! I’m sorry Wolfy!” I held the bloody corpse of Wolfy for a long time.

I was so stupid, even though dad already told me that a goblin mage was really dangerous, I wasn’t careful enough. Because of me, Wolfy died. I was disheartened but I couldn’t stay very long. I didn’t want to worry mom either, so after I buried Wolfy and dismantled the goblins, I quickly returned with tears in my eyes. I didn’t look back to see the Goblin chief burning in a golden flame.

For the rest of the way back, I didn’t even pay much attention. I had told Misty and them that if they saw anymore goblins on the way back, to kill them. As for me, I was still crying on Misty’s back.

“Oh, Hana your bac- what happened!? Why are you covered in blood and crying?”

“Mom… *sniff* Wolfy… he’s dead! Wahh! I-I… *sniff* it was my fault. I was too careless when I fought the Goblin chief!”

“G-goblin chief!? Why are you doing such dangerous things! Didn’t your dad tell you to never do that alone!? Ah… it’s going to be alright Hana. I’m sorry I yelled at you, here eat this.”

I took the piece of bread from mom and ate it as mom cradled my head and stroke my hair. After a while I calmed down and handed mom the goblin cores I had collected. Afterwards I went to the field and picked a few vegetables and fruits for Misty and her pack. Luckily, Gale Wolves are omnivores, though they prefer meat over vegetables.

“Ah, I brought over too much… Wolfy…”

***

Back in the forest, a group of people were hidden by a concealment spell. There were 100 people in total with a few beasts. A majority of them looked like knights with their full armor while 10 of them were wearing robes. They all had one thing in common, a crest with a roaring lion and two crossing swords below flaming wings of flames. The Holy Leon Kingdom’s 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company.

“C-captain Lee, The Shadow Saber has been slain.”

“What! How could something kill it? Even if it is still young, it’s a demon beast, normal animals can’t kill it! Tch, damn now how are we going to supply ourselves? Where’s it’s choker?”

“Uh… it didn’t teleport back…”

“It didn’t what!? It has a spell on it to transfer itself back to its owner after it burns the corpse right!? So how is it not back!?”

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“I-it seems someone got their hand son it. It’s the only reason why…”

“Get out of here! Why are you guys so useless!”

“R-right away sir!”

After the soldier left, Captain Lee was left alone in his tent again. He was rubbing his temples as he now had a new problem to think about, getting food to supply his company. They were ordered to infiltrate the southeast border of the White Empire, and go far into enemy lines before attacking the empire from within. They had been given 5 Monster Tamer masters along with 10 demon beasts, all of which are the Shadow type. And now one of them was dead, the one responsible for getting them their meals. Not that long after, another soldier came in.

“Captain Lee… the Goblin mage we captured a few days ago… it has been defeated.”

“Say what now!? God! First the Shadow Saber now this?! I was planning on using it to kill those villagers to level it up, but now it’s dead!?”

“...” The soldier remained quiet.

“Who killed it? I thought all the men were taken away to join the army? How can those village women be able to kill it?”

“A-according to Lieutenant Dan’s choker, it was a girl. Apparently she has a pack of Gale Wolves following her. One of them died in the fight.”

“A Monster Tamer!? Such a rare find! At least this is something good, heh. Prepare everyone, we’re going to go get this Monster Tamer! We’re going to need the food from them anyways.”

With that order, all the men began cleaning up their camp as they prepared to raid a village. A Monster Tamer was a rare find, and it wasn’t just this that made them highly sought after. With enough level, even a Dragon can be controlled, a Dragon! It is a being that can rival the gods, though it hadn’t been accomplished in the past 2 century. After all the Dragons had their own country now, and it hardly ever intrudes in outside conflict. Still, wyverns work pretty well as a replacement.

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Lily:

We rushed back as soon as we could, but it was getting dark. Luckily, we made it back before anything happened, but as we fly over, Armon caught glimpse of a company treading the forest. They were headed for Konan village, but we can’t just show up on Armon as a dragon, that’ll frighten them.

“Armon quickly, we have to get there soon and warn them!” After landing where we had taken off earlier, Armon began transforming back.

“I’m coming I’m coming!”

“Ken?” I called out to Ken who was still sitting on the ground.

“I’m fine… let’s go.”

With all of us ready, we sprinted off towards Konan village. It didn’t seem that far now that adrenaline was pumping through our body. We got there in about 25 minutes. By now everyone was already inside the village, leaving the farm empty.

“Everyone run! It’s not safe here!” Armon shouted as soon as we got there.

Apparently everyone was eating dinner, makes me hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. Anyways, they were surprised but after seeing who we were, unpleasant glares were pointed at us.

“What are you three doing back here?” Hana’s mom was the first to speak.

“Not safe? What are they talking about?”

“What, are you suddenly here to draft us women too?” A aunty behind said jokingly, but quickly covered her mouth.

“No, seriously. There’s an company approaching.” Ken tried to explain.

“...” The villagers suddenly became quiet.

“You’re going to use your army to kick us out of the village after we kicked you out!? I knew it! Damned Whitefalls.” Hana’s mother sure isn’t afraid of royalty, usually this is considered blasphemy, but she has no fear at all.

“What’s going on mom? Ah, P-princess…” Hana finally made an appearance.

“Hana, listen. You got to tell your mom and everyone that the Goldcrest are attacking. Didn’t you say that the Whitefall and Goldcrest are having at each other?” Ken said in a caring voice, but this only scared Hana.

I feel quite bad for Ken, he’s the oldest in his family and has a lot of younger siblings so he’s naturally great with kids. His reputation as a babysitter is not too bad either. He must feel bad that a kid isn’t listening to him and is actually scared of him. Me and Armon are only child so we don’t really have any experience with children. Looking at his sad state, I tried to help persuade them.

“It’s true. Please listen to us, if we don’t hurry and leave soon they will get here soon. Maybe another hour a most, and that’s stretching it.”

“We are way behind the front line, how are there Goldcrest soldiers here already?”

“They’re probably here for reconnaissance, or something similar.” Armon replied to Hana’s mother.

“But why should we trust your Princess Lucy? You nobles see us commoners as nothing more than trash and toys. This is probably a joke for you people. We are nowhere near the battlefield even if we’re closer to the border than most villages and cities.”

“I already said I’m not Lucy, I’m Lux! Even if it was Lucy, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want her people to die to enemy hands.”

“We’re not nobles, we’re actually poorer than a beggar at the moment.” I casually said.

“Yes, yes. Nothing is ever enough for you nobles.” Hana’s mother retorted.

“Ugh…”

No matter what we said, it was useless, they didn’t listen at all especially not Hana’s mother. She probably has more balls than a man, I mean she’s openly disdaining nobility and the royal family. With her attitude she might as well lead a rebellion.

“Tsk. Speakings not going to help Ken, let’s go do something that’ll actually be helpful. Like prepare our defenses for the fight that’s sure to ensure.” Armon convinced Keen to leave the village.

Outside we began to ponder how to set up defense. Well, actually it would be hard to set up any good defense with the little amount of time we have left. Reinforcing the walls? That’ll take too long and the villagers probably wouldn’’t let us do it. Digging pits? Well, none of us has Earth magic or a shovel, actually even with shovels, we’ll need more than less an hour.

“So, any idea guys?”

“I don’t know what you expected Armon, none of us has any experience in this field, nor do we have the time.” I said so to Armon.

“Come on.”

“Huff, fine fine. I don’t know set landmines?” I randomly suggested.

“Ah! That’s genius Lily!” Ken suddenly jumped up.

“Huh? How, I just said whatever was on my mind.”

“Because, can’t we enchant weapons to have magic attribute?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Ah! I get it!” Armon suddenly shouted too.

“Huh?”

“Well, why can’t we just place spells onto rocks and such and make them activate upon feeling some pressure. It’ll be like a one time use magic scroll, didn’t you write about something like this in one of your previous work?” Ken explained.

“Oh, yeah I did! But wouldn’t it be hard to place a powerful spell onto a small object? It’ll burst because it can’t handle the overload of mana. Wait, we could use weak spells like your [Elluminate], or [Light Singularity] to blind, bind, and damage them. I can use [Weak Explosion] and [Flame Burst]. And Armon, well, he doesn’t really have weak spells.”

“Hey, I do have one! Actually a few and even some status spells. On the weak side I suppose [Electric Shock] and [Paralysis].” Armon pitched in some of his suggestion.

“Alright, this works. Now let's hurry and go set them up using rocks or anything compatible.”

With time ticking against us, we hurried to work. There were obviously many failures but with our character’s natural talent, we soon learned to control our mana properly. In about 30 minutes we set up a few ‘traps’ inside the forest in disguise as simple rocks, pebbles, or even twigs. Still there weren’t that many since we are low level and have limited mana. Still it was enough to spread around the village excluding the front.

“Okay, judging from their position earlier, they’ll most likely attack from the back and soon too.”

“Yeah, I can hear footsteps in the distance, they’ll be here soon.”

“Same.” Both Ken and Armon said with much confidence. I wish I could hear as well as them.

“Huff, welp. Okay, let’s get ready then. To position.”

“Careful guys.” Ken said before heading into the forest.

“This is our first fight against other humans, but don’t falter… actually I’m quite scared and nervous…” Armon also said as he left, Ken didn’t hear it though.

With that we all headed to our designated guardpost, me on the back right side, from the village’s point of view. Armon is responsible for the left and Ken the center. In any case, it didn’t take long before the bombing and explosions from inside the forest could be heard. It also caused quite a ruckus in the village as everyone woke to a fright.

“AHH!”

“Guah!!”

“Ah, my eyes!”

“My legs!”

Countless screams could be heard, along with the roars of monsters in pain.

“Tch, I felt something was off. But who’da thought we’d fall into a trap! Men calm down, use [Shadow Stride], clear the forest carefully! Avoid anything with a trace of magic lingering, even the slightest hint!” From inside, I could hear a booming voice, it was probably amplified by magic.

Under the moonlit sky, an army of people stepped out of the dark forest. Most of them in full body armor. Pretty much all of them were on foot with two on a mount, well, more like demon beasts. Their armor weren’t like those of heavy knights and they seem to have quite the mobility, but the Shadow Beasts are what really caught my attention. Though not as strong as a Shadow Saber, the Shadow Wolf and Mantis are still fearsome, especially for a mage like me.

“So it was you who set up the trap? I thought Captain said you were a Monster Tamer… hmm, no you’re not the one. You’re too old.” The oldman sitting on the mantis said.

“O-old!? Well, it’s true that Renna is older than me, but 19 is still considered young! And look at yourself first oldman!”

“Heh, such a shame I have to kill you. Or maybe I’ll have some ‘fun’ with you first. Heh.” The oldman lick his lips as he said so, sending shivers down my spine.

“Eww, you disgusting swine!”

“What!? Tch, fine. I’ll toy with you for a bit, men attack!” The 40 or so people behind him suddenly charged.

“Tch, not likely. All those within my sight, burst and burn, [Combustion]!” It was a pretty high level spell, but it’s max target is only 30 with my remaining mana and it doesn’t affect those with resistances that are higher rank than it is since it’s a one hit kill move.

Judging by the looks of the two on the demon beasts, they probably won’t die to it so I chose the 40 or so men charging at the village. In an instant, those I targeted had a magic circle shown on them before they lit up in flames. After which they immediately explode into smithereens.

“Argh!!”

“Ahh!!”

“W-what’s going on!?”

“An archmage!? What’s an archmage doing here!?” The enemies began to tremble, even the two on their mounts.

Wait what, casting Rank B spells makes you can archmage? I thought I put it as Rank A spells at least. In anycase, it’s not like I can cast any more spells beyond Rank C. My remaining mana may only be able to summon Rank D fireballs.

“W-why is an archmage like you here instead of the frontlines? Were you stationed here? Don’t tell me you knew-!”

“Dan! Shut it, we might not be Archmages, but Monster Tamers are strong too! Blade, attack!” After jumping off his giant Ghost Mantis, it disappeared.

“Tch, not good. [Ignite]!” I instantly jumped off the ground, and shouted out the spell name. I wasn't sure if it’ll actually work since Renna didn’t actually know quickcast, but somehow it worked.

In a short radius around me, small fire light up the ground with no shadow. This was to prevent the Ghost Mantis from attacking in all direction. The greatest strength of a Ghost Mantis are its strikes that can come out of any shadow, so I had to remove mine. As I did, the mantis screeched in front of the fire.

“Tch, she knows about the Ghost Mantis ability!?” The oldman exclaimed in surprise.

“Of course, I created it. Now, since I can quickcast apparently, [Fireball x5] I’ll try multicast too!” Instead of a single magic circle, this time five appeared.

“Hmph, Fireball? And here I thought you were strong. Looks like that Combustion, drained your mana, a newbie Archmage is just that-” As he was talking one of my fireball made contact with his mantis and it erupted into flames. It died instantly, almost too easy.

“Hah, you talk too much oldman! Even the weakest spell when used by an expert can be quite lethal.” I lightly tapped my staff on the ground and my spell [Ignite] flared up into a vortex of flame.

“I better end it here, Ken has less AoE than me and Armon, he might need a bit of help. The fire that’ll consume this earth, [Crimson Flare Storm]!” Using the fire I already created, I lowered my mana cost, and dropped it even more by chanting.

I use a lot more mana when I quick cast and multicast, so this left me with barely any mana left. Luckily, my staff [Ignis] is helping me recover my mana at a faster rate. In the scene before my eyes, a hurricane of fire consumed the entire clearing. Everything inside was burnt to a crisp, but I managed to not burn the forest. Somehow I didn’t really feel anything from killing these 40 or so people.

“Let’s go see if Ken needs help first.” I thought it was strange but decided to check up on Ken first and placed the thought to the corner of my mind for now.