Episode 350: An Enemy Incapable of Dialogue
The Ogre who attacked the advance party was defeated, and we were able to decorate the preliminary skirmish with victory.
Turning my gaze towards the fort, the Winged and Lizardfolk who were attacking it were also retreating. From the looks of it, the fort doesn’t seem to have sustained any significant damage.
“Well, it seems we’ve won for now… Should we pursue them or something?”
“That won’t be necessary, Count Clover.”
“Captain Bareya?”
Bareya Cattleya, who was commanding the unit, called out to me.
“If we recklessly pursue them, we’ll be surrounded by hidden ambushers and beaten to a pulp… It’s a common tactic they like to use.”
“Ambushers…?”
I activated 【Life Search】.
Instead of spreading the sensation evenly in all directions as usual, I focused it in one direction, searching the forest where the异民族 had fled.
“!”
Sure enough, I noticed several presences lurking there.
Very faint presences… They’re probably intentionally concealing their Magical Power.
Countless humanoids were hiding, holding their breath in the shadows of the trees and underground.
(What faint presences… Ordinary 【Life Search】 wouldn’t have been able to detect them.)
As my master Dibble does… The more skilled a Magician is, the more they activate 【Life Search】 on a daily basis to search their surroundings.
We would assume it’s safe because there are no signs of the enemy. However, these presences are so faint that they are difficult to detect even with magic.
If we were caught off guard by an attack, we would be killed without being able to do anything.
(Are they synchronizing their Magical Power with the aura of the trees in the forest, concealing themselves like camouflage…? I would have missed them if it weren’t for me.)
“You noticed? It’s the ‘Insectoids’.”
Bareya continued his explanation while glaring at the forest.
“Insectoids are skilled at hiding in trees and underground. If you carelessly enter the forest, your life will be reaped in an instant by their assassination techniques.”
“…So, it’s difficult to counterattack?”
“Yes. During the invasion a hundred years ago, they dug tunnels and infiltrated the fort from underground. It seems that we had to abandon the fort at one point.”
“…For example, what if we set fire to the forest? I think it would eliminate the terrain advantage for the enemy?”
I would feel sorry for the unrelated plants and animals… But if we didn’t have to worry about environmental issues, we could try that.
However, Bareya slowly shook his head, furrowing his brow and making a difficult face.
“That’s something we’ve done before. They’ve planted trees near the entrance of the forest that generate poisonous gas. If we set fire to it, our army will be immediately consumed by the vaporized poison.”
“Poison…”
“Besides… Not all 异民族 are hostile to the Aiwood Kingdom. If we resort to desperate measures like burning the forest, the 异民族 who are not participating in the war will also retaliate. It would only increase the number of enemies.”
“…It’s a dead end, isn’t it? Is there no path to reconciliation?”
“That’s like advising a wolf to eat vegetables instead of sheep. In other words, it’s a foolish question.”
Bareya turned on his heel, turning his back to me.
“We’re entering the fort now!”
The conversation ended there.
Bareya, as the commander, gave instructions to the soldiers.
“Recover the wounded. Provide first aid with Healing magic to the heavily injured soldiers! Set fire to the enemy’s corpses and carry the supplies into the fort!”
“…………”
I couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of emotions as I watched Bareya barking out orders.
I know I blew away a lot of Ogres with lightning, but… It’s sad that we can’t understand each other just because we’re different races.
Perhaps it’s because of my previous life, where racial discrimination was frowned upon, but is it okay to abandon the option of dialogue from the start?
(No… Not ‘from the start’. Maybe dialogue and persuasion have already been exhausted, and that’s why we’re here now. Let’s worry about my own life and the lives of my allies first, rather than the enemy.)
War is sad, but we must prioritize ourselves first.
If we don’t make it back alive, we won’t be able to reunite with our loved ones.
I couldn’t let Viola and Primula become widows before we even got married.
“I’ll help with the Healing.”
I shook off my sentimentality for the time being in order to treat the wounded soldiers.
――――――――――
April 1st: Book 1 will be released!
Each of the electronic version, Melonbooks, Gamers, and Animate purchases comes with a bonus SS.
This is all thanks to everyone who has supported me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for your continued support of this work.