Chapter 37
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The next day was peaceful as well. No zombies or even any kind of animals in sight. Supply caravans were sent from other cities to us every day.
“Is she that new tailfolk lord?”
“How diligent that she went around the wall every day.”
“She just promoted because she had a blessing? Sure we were short-handed, but I think we sell our noble title a little too cheap.”
A lot of whispers were heard. Most of them were positive, but some whispers were inserted with a slight tinge of jealousy. Lily paid them no attention as she watched the wasteland with a bored look.
“They aren’t coming!” She almost shouted as she seemed vexed. She already shouted to me in her mind, though.
“This is just day two. There is no way we would survive if we were attacked every day….” I answered. Though I found the lull discomforting, we have not received any order except to be on standby in our respective position.
“Hmm… should we ask Lhorne to scout around?” I offered my suggestion.
“Good idea!”
Then we come to Lhorne and Joseph while asking about the battlefield. Joseph was eager, but Rhander rejected them. Lily thus ordered Rhander to be our temporary leader of the company while we scouted around. It was fairly easy to borrow six horses for our scouting party.
“A lord will be personally leading the scouts?” The stablemaster was weirded out, but he gave us the horse regardless.
“Please stay safe. Return back to the fort as soon as possible. The elf country will be in disaster if we lose any more lords.” He replied.
“I must say you are quite perceptive despite your lack of education, Lord Lily. You were one step ahead of our commands.” Joseph laughed as we rode out from the fort.
“What do you mean, Joseph?”
“The command was assembling a scouting party too. They planned to send out scout about a week from now.” He said
“A week?” Lily said, astonished.
“Yes. Our greatest concern is about our injuries and feystone supplies. A curse from the undead took a long time to heal. But with Madam Edelweiss, The fort will be able to spare some men to do scouting.”
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“I recall the command doesn’t actually want us to go, though,” Lhorne muttered.
“Yeah, they preferred to have Lord Lily fill feystones instead,” Joseph answered. “But with Lord Lily on our side, This scouting mission will be no trouble at all!”
“Yeah, She had the tale of fire! When I mentioned this, the command relented, and we were given permission immediately.” Joseph continued.
“Only a few of us apply, though,” Lily commented. Apart from Lhorne and Joseph, only several tailfolk volunteered.
“Scouting mission is the most dangerous mission. The fact that somebody volunteered at all shows how popular you are, Lily.” Lhorne commented.
“Lily is the hero of Tailfolk. The first Tailfolk nobles!” A mercenary wolfkin tailfolk shouted. He had a fluffy tail and ears, but the scar on his face made him look menacing. His getup really screamed that he was a merc. “Other tailfolk merely refused because they were not confident with their abilities! I am Horn, by the way.”
“I am Sisca. We are friends. I can do some archery.” Another replied.
“I am Mark. His rival!”
“I am Rick!”
“Well, we can forget the mannerism for now. But remember that Lily is a noble. I must advise all of you to be seriously watched our surrounding starting from this point onward. The miasma is getting thicker. The border between the undeath and the living is nigh.” Joseph said. The sky has turned darker, and the land started to get a black tint to its soil.
“Should we rest around here? I recall that our surveillance mission would be complete with just running around the miasma borders and reporting how far it is from Fort Soleil. But what shall we do, Lord Lily?” Joseph asked.
“We charge in!!” Lily shouted. “But if we happen upon a strong enemy, we run at once, okay?”
It is good that Lily was enthused, but I need to take precautions. We were marching inside enemy territory here. Undead were famous for their flanking ability. We need to ensure our escape route. Fortunately, we had a horse, so I would not worry about that too much about our mobility.
“There! A vargmuth!” Joseph spoke.
Not long after we entered the field, we were met with a vargmuth. This one, however, is unlike a gorilla but a tiger. A bat-faced tiger with flesh-colored skin and sharp tusks were chasing us. I immediately summoned two fire arrows and killed it. It was fast, but these monsters ran straight to us, which made them easy to target.
“Let us return!” Joseph said.
“But we barely entered.” Lily protested.
“If we linger too long, we might get the curse.” He replied.
“Okay…” Lily said as we went out.
“Watch out!” Lhorne shouted. An arrow whizzed past us and hit Rick on the shoulder. As we turned our heads, we saw something in the distance, and another arrow flew toward me. Lily quickly blocked it with her saber, and Lhorne fired another arrow at the attacker. We did not confirm if the arrow hit them as we sped our horses to run with all their might.
“Run!” Joseph said as we ran for our lives. Another arrow flew to us, but it missed. Then wave of skeleton horses charged toward us.
“Skeleton horses?” Lily muttered as they looked through the skeleton riding skeleton horses. The black miasma surrounding them made them more eerie than comical as flesh was hanging from their decomposing bodies.
“Those are undeath knights! Watch out. They are faster than ordinary horses! Race with all of your might. Once we reach the border, we will be saved!” Joseph shouted. “ If they catch us, we are dead! The rest of their troops will be all over us!”
I then began to form fireballs and barrage them with them. Flames started to burn through the skeleton riders. These skeletons were more intelligent than the vargmuths. They dodged some of my fireballs, but nevertheless, it hindered them, and they soon dispersed as we were nearing the border. After a certain point, the sky turned brighter, and we were back at the fort in the evening.