Episode 348: Border Fortress
An unexpected harvest during the advance… After replenishing their strength with Giant Buffalo Steak, the advance party resumed their march towards the northern fortress.
The large amount of leftover meat was frozen with magic and packed into the carriages along with other supplies.
The portions that couldn’t fit in the carriages were smoked for preservation and distributed to the soldiers to serve as their rations.
And after a journey of several days, they arrived at the fortress on the border.
A river flowed to the north of the fortress, and beyond that, a densely overgrown forest stretched out.
“That forest is the home of the subhumans. In this country, it is called the ‘Ogre’s Nest’,” Dibble explained, pointing to their destination.
“There are many tribes of subhumans. The Ogre Clan, Winged Folk, Lizardfolk, and Insectoids are particularly belligerent, and have invaded the Aiwood Kingdom many times in the past.”
“It feels a bit late to ask, but what is their objective in attacking us?”
“Their main goal is plunder. They raid villages and towns, stealing food and valuables. They also kidnap young women and children.”
“Like bandits… So, even if the races are different, the things that outlaws do are pretty much the same.”
Rest frowned unhappily.
What are they doing with the women and children they kidnap… Just imagining it made him angry.
“It seems that not all subhumans are hostile… The Forest Folk and Horse Folk are said to be gentle and do not like to fight with us.”
“Forest Folk and Horse Folk…”
Elves and Centaurs, perhaps?
Come to think of it, even though this was a fantasy world, he had never seen any subhumans or races different from humans.
If they weren’t going to be fighting each other, he might have been a little more excited about meeting subhumans.
(If we weren’t going to kill each other, I’d like to talk to them…)
“Do we ever attack the subhumans?”
“It seems that we have launched counter-invasions several times in the past, but all have failed. It seems difficult to fight in the enemy’s home territory.”
“Well, they have the home-field advantage. I suppose that’s true.”
Even without that, it was impossible to take advantage of numerical superiority in the forest.
If the enemy were to launch guerrilla warfare, hiding in the trees of the forest, they would only suffer unnecessary damage.
“I heard that the fortress was under attack… But it doesn’t look like it, does it?”
There were no enemies to be seen around the fortress.
There was nothing unusual about the forest where the subhumans lived… or so it seemed.
“「「「「「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!」」」」」”
“!”
A roar like an earthquake echoed from the forest.
Immediately after, a large number of figures jumped out from between the trees of the forest.
What appeared were humanoid figures with red skin. All of them were large, nearly two meters tall.
Judging from the horns growing from their heads, those were probably the subhumans called the ‘Ogre Clan’.
“Fireeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“「「「「「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!」」」」」”
The Ogre Clan threw the axes and spears they were holding towards the fortress.
The distance from the forest to the fortress was nearly two hundred meters across the river. It wasn’t a distance that weapons could reach when thrown, but the thrown weapons closed that distance to zero in an instant.
“What a throwing range. Amazing power…!”
Rest gasped.
In his previous world, the world record for javelin throwing was about 98 meters.
Spears and axes easily flew over twice that distance, striking the fortress without losing momentum.
“Defend! Unleash magic!”
Someone shouted from the fortress walls.
Fire and Wind Magic were unleashed, shooting down the thrown weapons.
“More are coming! All hands, intercept!”
Then, further pursuit.
Several figures jumped out from the clouds floating overhead.
Charging from the sky with spears in hand were humanoids with spread wings… the ‘Winged Folk’.
More than a hundred winged enemy soldiers attacked the allied soldiers guarding the castle walls.
“Knock those birds down! Be wary, they’re coming from below too!”
“「「「「「GYAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!」」」」」”
Furthermore, enemy reinforcements.
A line of eerie shadows appeared from the river, rushing towards the fortress.
They were humanoid, but their entire bodies were covered in bluish-green scales, and they had long tails… They looked more monstrous than the Ogres or Winged Folk, but those were probably the ‘Lizardfolk’.
“Cross the river!”
“We’ll follow tooooooooooooooooo!”
The Ogres who had been throwing weapons from the opposite bank of the river also jumped into the water, trying to reach the fortress.
So, it seemed they were at war after all.
As if the silence from just now had been a lie, a fierce battle erupted.
“This is…!”
“Our allies are under attack. We’ll fight too!”
It was Bareya Cattleya, the commander of the advance party, who gave the order.
“Swordsmen and warriors, move forward and block the enemy’s advance! Magicians, fire magic from the rear to provide support!”
“「「「「「Hah!」」」」」”
In response to Bareya’s instructions, the advance party acted quickly.
Soldiers with spears, swords, large shields, and other weapons spread out to the left and right, forming a formation to meet the enemy.
Rest and the others were positioned in the rear, protected by the soldiers lined up in front.
“There are humans over there too!”
“Kill! Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill!”
Perhaps they had noticed the presence of the advance party, as some of the Ogres who had crossed the river were heading towards them.
The battle began as soon as they arrived.
Without even having time to rest their bodies, which were fatigued from the journey, the battle with the subhumans had begun.
――――――――――
April 1st: Book 1 will be released!
The electronic version, Melonbooks, Gamers, and Animate each come with bonus short stories!
In light of the book adaptation, the main title of this work has been changed to “Infinite Magician”. Thank you for your continued support.