ILIAS VAN PAYNE

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After some much-needed rest, we awoke the next morning with the objective of scouting around the village to plan our defences. To make use of our numbers, we decided to split up—with each group having a specific job in mind.

The twins, with Toshi tagging along, took it upon themselves to interview the villagers about things in the village that could aid us in defence. Hopefully, they could squeeze out information the farmers were trying to hide. There was no doubt that they were keeping something from us.

Tony and Mondatta would be heading up to high ground with Hanzo to get an understanding of how the bandits might attack. Their jobs were to see the weak points of the village and how they would exploit it to raid this place.

Ritsu would be accompanying Askeladd, Jaime, and I in the outskirts of the village coming up with defence tactics.

The first place we went to was the forest. When this was mentioned back at Shoya, we discussed the possibility of the bandits attacking from the east using the forest as cover.

It made sense in theory. It was a natural chokepoint with good cover. If we were able to fight them back and decided to chase them into the forest, they could easily pick us off.

The forest was covered with thick foliage and the uneven floor was littered with rocks, fallen trees, and branches. If the bandits went with a mounted attack from here, they’d risk the chances of their horses tripping and breaking their legs. If they wanted to attack from the East, they’d have to leave their horses behind. That would mean giving up one of their major advantages which they would never do.

To the West were the fields that were yet to bear wheat. The fields were like rice fields I saw diagrams of in books. Back in Gilead, we grew our produce on flat plowed ground. Here, the fields were in ditches about a foot deeper than the ground. Each field was about half an acre and there were twenty in total growing on the land. There was also only about a metre of space in between each field.

If the bandits were to attack through the fields, they’d have to make sure they were harvested. It was easy to get their horses to climb up and down the ditches, but it would slow them down severely. And the space between each field was too small for one horse to balance through, let alone fifty of them.

It would be difficult, but the bandits could still attack through here. We had the answer to lower that probability to near zero towards the north.

If we dug trenches and flooded the fields with water from the lake, it would make the fields impractical to attack through.

That would leave us open to an attack from two directions. North and South. The lake labyrinth and the twin hills.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t do much to make the north side difficult to pass. The ground was made up of metamorphic rock covered by a light layer of dirt. Digging holes to dissuade their horses from travelling through would be impossible. We could leave obstacles behind, but that would mean spending time collecting more materials and spending time to set them up.

The South, however, was where they would be attacking. If I had to bet my life on it, I would bet it there. The road slithered up on the hill, giving them a perfect vantage point. The dirt road would be comfortable for the horses. The bandits would also trap us as there was no way out of this valley except the road.

We gathered back in the common lodge to plan out the defence. The rest of the village was already there, waiting to hear how we would be defending their precious homes.

“The bandits will attack from one of three places,” Mondatta said. “The main road from the hill, the fields, and the lake.”

“What about the forest?” Roxy asked.

“I doubt it. We checked it and the foliage was too thick, not to mention there were a lot of broken branches that their horses would find difficult to navigate through. The only way we see them attacking from there is if they leave their horses behind and attack on foot.”

“Which they won’t do because it’s stupid,” Tony finished, “Their most efficient way of taking this village down is a mounted attack. They’re not going to give that up. So they won’t be attacking from the forest.”

“If we were the bandits looking at this village now.” Mondatta pointed at the main road on the village map. “Tony and I agreed that this is the best place to attack from. It’s open, we’ve got the high ground, and we cut off the escape route for most of the village.”

“Roxy and I talked with the villagers and they told us of three paths they use,” Roxanne said, pointing to each of them on the map. “A path to the forest, the fields, and the lake. We could use those as chokepoints or escape routes.”

“The problem I see with this village is that it is too open.” Askeladd nodded. “We are in the lowest part of the valley. If we want to increase our chances of survival, we need to build walls.”

“That’ll take a lot of time,” Mondatta said. “We’d be investing a lot of our time, energy, and material into it.”

The villagers agreed with Mondatta. Arguing about how a wall sounded great in theory, but would be difficult to execute.

Aksleadd pointed his head at me. “We’ve got Ilias. He can help out.”

I nodded. “I can summon earth walls. They’re only temporary, but it’ll make building walls around them easier. I can also transport material using a spell a friend taught me—Stone Free.”

“Roxy, Roxanne, you said there were three paths? Unfortunately, that’s way too many weak points.” He rubbed his chin. “We’ll block all of them, but we’re not going to wall off the main road.”

The villagers murmured amongst themselves.

“Huh?” Tony said. “You do realize that’s where the bandits will put their entire force? The main road is where we should be building the thickest walls.”

“The best defence is a good offence, Tony. We’re going to leave the main road open because we’ll use it as a chokepoint.”

The gunslinger nodded in wonder. “And how will that work?”

“We’ll let bandits in, but only one at a time—two at most. Once a few are in, we’ll have villagers carrying spears and barricades led by Mondatta to block the rest off. Once we’ve trapped a few in, we’ll finish them off. That’s our offence.”

I stood up to protest the plan. I was still technically an astounded commander. “They’ll fall for it, four maybe five times? We’ll only take out ten at most. What’ll most likely happen after is they’ll sneak in.”

“That’s very much true, but this is our best way of attack. Or would you rather meet them in the open field?”

The farmers shook their heads, begging for his rhetorical suggestion not to fall through.

“But, they’ll just wait us out,” Jaime said. “I’ve read it. The bandits will prepare for a siege. And Ilias is right about them attacking us by sneaking in.”

Oh, not only did she read, but she also remembered what she read about?!

I found myself grinning at Jaime, who squinted her eyes at me. “What?”

“I think I may have found a solution to dissuade them from sneaking in.” I grabbed sticks and arranged them on the map to play as the walls. “The problem with the walls is that if the bandits press up against it, it’s their cover. Not to mention, they could easily climb up.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem right now.”

“But if we dig a trench around the wall and fill it with water, we can make our own moat. Now, the bandits can’t ride their horses up to it and they’ll have to sneak in during the night if they don’t want to be seen.”

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Are we going to fill it with water?” Toshi questioned.

“Of course. A dry moat is useless. Thankfully, a lake is nearby. It’ll be easy to diverge a makeshift river to fill it.” I sighed. “The problem is how we’ll diverge it. The path of least resistance is through the north, but the ground there is made entirely out of metamorphic rock.”

Jaime spoke out, “And if none of you know, there are three types of rocks: igneous, metamorphic, and…”

“Sedimentary,” I whispered.

“Selementary.”

“Sedim—whatever.” I went back to my point. “Out of those three, metamorphic rock is the hardest. Diverging the river through the ground will take six hundred years.”

“So what’s our next best course of action?”

“To cut right through the fields. We diverge the river through the fields to fill the trench with water.”

Murmurs spread around the room.

“But our harvest,” Toshi mentioned.

I shook my head. “Of course we’re only going to flood the fields once the crops have been harvested. Also, Tony and Mondatta mentioned that this place is open to an attack on three sides. If we keep the fields flooded, the knocks it down to two.”

“But you said you were a State Jynxist, can’t you just—”

“An earth mage could do it in a month. However, I am a wind mage. It’ll be much harder for me to do so.”

“We’ll can’t you cut through the rock with wind?”

“I commemorate your imagination, Toshi, but it makes much more sense to flood the fields than to use up a lot of my mana to cut through rock. It’ll be faster and my wind spells can cut through the soft earth more easily.”

“But our fields… And did you just say you’ll keep it flooded?”

Askeladd cleared his throat. “Once we plug off the lake, your fields will dry in a fortnight. Besides, it’ll bring in nutrients to replenish the ground. Do any of you want to leave this place and go settle somewhere else?”

No answers.

“Then a wall must be built. Building one takes out that possibility.”

“Chief,” one of the villagers argued. “That’s too much. They want us to build the walls, collect material for it, dig trenches, and diverge the lake to flood our fields?”

Those points started a protest, and soon the whole lodge struck a chant.

“Silence!” Akira banged a cup on the table. The farmers that stood up sat back down. “Stop your nonsense. Don’t you see what these people are trying to do? You’re only thinking of the present. Once we defeat these bandits, what happens when more attack? These seven won’t be around and I doubt you can find another seven just like them. They’re thinking ahead and making sure this place is protected even after they leave. Why would we hire them if we were just going to ignore their advice? This is why people make fun of us farmers. Our heads are on the chopping block, but we’re only worried about our whiskers.”

Askeladd chuckled. “The chief is right. Remember. We’re in charge while we’re here.” The knight inspected the room and pointed to a broad-shouldered man. “You there. What’s your name and trade, good sir?”

The broad-shouldered man stood up. “Kikori, Ser. I’m the woodsman.”

“Perfect. How many of you work on cutting wood?”

“There’s only four of us, Ser. Including myself.”

“We need enough timber to surround the perimeter of the village in a wall.”

“It’s impossible. We don’t have enough time or men.”

“That’s why starting now, all able-bodied men and women will carry an axe. Kikori, you will lead them and gather wood from the forest. But you must collect the wood in a way that makes the forest still thick with foliage. If we keep it that way, the bandits won’t attack from there.”

“If everyone is cutting down wood, who’ll tend to the crops?”

The knight patted me. “You see this kid? He’s good at water jynx. He can easily water your crops for you.”

The lodge was now in silence as the seven of us glanced at each other.

Askeladd turned to us. “Anything else you guys want to add?”

I stood up. “I want every book in the village by tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what they are, I just want to borrow them.”

Once everything was settled, the twins helped me calculate the borders of the village and choose what areas we would be putting behind walls. Jaime accompanied us but left when we started doing arithmetic.

The perimeter was roughly eight hundred feet if we wanted the bare minimum. If each piece of timber was a foot long, we would need roughly the same number of logs to feet. But if we chopped each timber down the middle, we would need only roughly half that amount.

It was evening the next time I saw Jaime. She was back at the inn cooking a stew in a pot.

“Uhh, what are you doing?” I asked, hanging my things inside our room.

“Everyone in the group has been doing something, but I haven’t been able to do much yet. So, I decided to make everyone dinner.”

“Have you cooked before?”

“Nope.”

How can she say that so confidently?

“Here. It’s almost done.” She scooped me a bowl. “Try it.”

Reluctantly, I tried the stew and tasted the most putrid dish I’ve ever put in my mouth. The stew somehow contained every flavour, but not in a good way.

What the hell did she put in this thing?

“What’s in this?”

“Potatoes, carrots, the water was too runny so I added flour, yeast, and three quails with their eggs—I found a nest.”

Did she just say she added yeast? And why would she add raw flour? If it’s too runny, she should’ve just let it boil until the extra moisture evaporates.

“Oh, and I know herbs are good for dishes, so I grabbed a handful from the woods.”

“D-did you just say you grabbed a handful of herbs from the woods? What type of herbs did you add?!”

“Your mom made food with dandelions she picked around the village while you were away for the exam. So I added dandelions too.”

Trisha made dandelion salad, she never put them in a stew! What the hell is this girl thinking?

“Is it good?” she asked.

“Y-yeah. It just needs a pinch of salt.”

She grabbed a handful and chucked it in.

I have to get rid of this before…

“The trees in the forest are quite strong. The three of us can help with chopping wood, the kids and the twins can stay in the village,” Tony said as he entered with Mondatta and Askeladd. “Oh, dinner is ready?”

“Oh,” I chuckled nervously. “You guys are back…”

“Yeah. The forest looks good, we need to make sure we don’t clear out too much of it.”

“And there’s a good chance the bandits will scout, so we have to pretend to be farmers.” Mondatta pointed to her bowl. “I’ll take mine with extra potatoes, thanks.”

Askeladd touched his pointed ears. “I guess I can wear a hood to hide my ears. Jaime, that also means you should stay hidden until the walls are built.”

“Aww, I want to train in the three sword styles,” she complained. “By the way, Ilias didn’t help. This is all my creation.” She pinched her fingers and kissed them as she eagerly handed them bowls. “Try it, you’re going to die.”

Sadly, I can’t prevent a tragedy.

The three of them took a bite and gagged as if only realizing that they were poisoned. Jaime made herself a bowl and ate spoon after spoon without so much a reaction.

Does she not have any taste buds or is she biased towards her own terrible cooking?

“So, Ilias,” Askeladd swallowed bitterly. “Where are the twins?”

“They’ll be here soon. They’re just going around marking the borders we agreed on.”

“Have you figured out how many logs we need?”

“There are two answers: we either need eight hundred logs or we only need four hundred, but chop them down the middle to ration it to eight hundred.”

“That’ll be weaker. If they decided to shoot flaming arrows, the wall could catch fire more easily. It’ll also be easier to batter down.”

“Ilias can deal with that,” Jaime said. “His main spell is Water Cannon and there’s a lake nearby.”

“Or we can just mix mud and sand and apply it as a protective coating,” I suggested. “And we can use whole logs at the chokepoint to make sure they can’t batter that part of the wall down.”

“Yeah, or that.”

“Okay, that’s the plan then,” Askeladd said.

Mondatta reluctantly ate her meal. “Why did you ask for all the books, Ilias?”

“There might be something useful in them. We won’t start making the walls until we have all the timber we need. Dividing up our manpower is a dumb move. My estimate is that gathering timber will take at least a week. So I want to spend most of that time reading and perhaps learning something we can use to our advantage.”

“By the way, Tony,” Jaime added suddenly. “What do I call you? Bullet? Tooth? Bullet-Tooth? Or the full Bullet-Tooth Tony?”

“You can call me Susan if you want.”

“Will do.” Jaime eagerly turned to Askeladd. “So… Uncle—”

The elf knight chuckled. “Jaime, you don’t have to call me uncle.”

“Okay, that’s good. It sounded awkward in my head. But when can you start teaching me the three sword styles?”

“Not soon. I’ll be spending most of the time chopping down trees in the forest. There won’t be enough time for me to train you. There’s also the possibility of us being watched by bandits. It’s okay if the other sentinels are seen because it’s easy to blend them in with the villagers. But we’re elves and it’s obvious that we don’t belong here.”

“So when?”

“The wall will hide us, so once it’s built. By that time, the seven of us will start training the farmers how to fight. That’s when I’ll start training you in the three sword styles.”