Episode 209: Second Frontier Village
“The aerial escort ship, Kreios, is engaging the Mountain Boar. Complete subjugation may be difficult, but we should be able to at least drive it away.”
“T-to put something like that in the sky…”
Something enormous passed overhead.
The girl dispatched from ＜Paraiso＞ casually told them its name.
“Additional forces have been deployed. We can ensure your safety.”
As the girl said, something began to descend from the sky.
With a thunderous roar, they landed one after another on the main street.
“O-oh… Golems from the sky…”
Four Golems joined the caravan evacuating from the frontier village of Lalan.
Originally, the caravan had five escort Golems that moved on wheels, and two more came from the village. A total of eleven Golems were now escorting this caravan.
“…”
That being said.
The Golems that fell from the sky had come from the massive ship that had just passed overhead.
It had appeared to drop something small from its belly, but who would have thought it would be the same as the six-legged Golem guardian?
In other words, that ship called Kreios was unbelievably huge.
“Additional forces will also be deployed to the western frontier village, Klavin. After that, we plan to attack the Mountain Boar. If we can successfully repel it, the village should be saved.”
“I-I see…”
They had somehow managed to survive.
That’s what they thought, but perhaps the village could also be saved.
Hearing this, the defense officer and the village chief nodded blankly.
They didn’t understand what was being said.
Well, there was nothing more they could do.
They just had to be taken by this caravan and reach a safe city in the rear.
“Speaking of which… is Eighteen-san alright?”
“She has been placed in a medical pod. She sustained injuries, but she should be able to move by tomorrow. I apologize for the worry.”
“No, no, not at all! No, I’m relieved to hear that… I was really worried about what might have happened. Again, I thank you for protecting us.”
He and the village chief bowed deeply.
Five Dissector only gave a slight nod in response.
“We are simply doing what we must do. When that Hidden Player appeared, frankly, I didn’t think we could protect everything. With your cooperation, we were able to drive it away faster than expected.”
The girl replied calmly. Neither boasting nor regretting, she probably meant it literally.
The defense officer and the village chief bowed again, then sat back down in their chairs.
Currently, they were riding in a transport Golem with many wheels, owned by the caravan. It was a massive Golem with many sturdy chairs, enough for all the villagers to sit comfortably, despite being called “simple.”
Light meals were also distributed, and many villagers closed their eyes while sitting.
They were, as expected, utterly exhausted.
“It may get a little dark, but we will reach the city by nightfall. Please leave the escort to us.”
◇◇◇◇
Muscle Apes are monsters that live in groups.
Normally, they would never leave their territory, but due to the stampede, they had moved to such a shallow part of the forest.
However, they were not particularly strong monsters.
No, they were by no means weak, but other than their abnormally developed arms, they lacked any magical (fantasy) elements, and were treated as easy targets by the hunters of the Forest Country (Lebresta).
“Fire.”
Two Gracilis=Cosmos sprayed bullets with her assault rifle.
The Muscle Ape, using its arms as shields, charged towards Two Gracilis.
“Straight!”
The Muscle Ape’s head was blown off from the side.
It was a hunter from the frontier village of Klavin.
The Communicator drew attention with its assault rifle, and the hunter shot from the side.
Creating such teamwork on the spot, they took down Muscle Apes one after another.
“Thanks, Two-chan!”
“It’s nothing. More are coming.”
She exchanged the magazine and loaded it with a click. With the power of the assist suit, she moved smoothly through the rough forest terrain.
Such scenes were unfolding all over the forest.
The Muscle Ape horde was a threat, but ＜Paraiso＞’s forces were completely protecting the village, allowing the hunters to actively engage.
In this situation, the Muscle Apes, with their high attack power but weak defense, were not so fearsome.
“If it’s just this, we can probably defend it…”
“We received a message from Lalan next door. Do you know about a monster called Mountain Boar?”
“Mountain Boar? That bedtime story?”
The Mountain Boar was moving towards Lalan, and as a result, they were attacked by many mantis monsters. They had repelled them, but they could not stop the Mountain Boar, so they were evacuating.
“It shouldn’t come here since it’s far away, but more monsters may come as the Mountain Boar moves.”
“If the stories are true, it’s as big as a small mountain…”
If such a huge monster was rampaging, naturally, smaller monsters and animals would flee.
“Our additional forces will arrive in about two hours. Can you hold out until then?”
“We can hold out for hours at this rate. You have a way to communicate with distant places?”
The hunters were beginning to understand the unique abilities of the mercenary girls from ＜Paraiso＞ as they fought alongside them.
Without even speaking, the girls were coordinating.
They also seemed to be able to coordinate with the main force, the multi-legged tanks (Golems), and were sometimes suddenly supported by their main guns.
Furthermore, from their words, it was clear that they were communicating with other frontier villages or even the home country.
However, the fact was that they were risking their lives to protect the village.
Sometimes, they even acted as decoys, stepping in front of the hunters.
Therefore, their reliability outweighed any sense of threat.
“Two ahead. Observation… Support fire.”
“I’ll go to the left.”
“Roger. 3, 2, 1.”
The multi-legged tank’s main gun fired at the Muscle Ape.
This was precision shelling made possible by the presence of a Communicator on the front line.
Shelling was possible even in the forest, but it was difficult to hit the target because of the trees.
The Communicator’s sensors measured the distance, allowing for indirect aiming.
The shell, flying at a speed of over 2,000 m/s, blew away the trees and directly hit both of the Muscle Ape’s arms.
It would have been different if there was a magic barrier.
The Muscle Ape was a monster that did not have a magic barrier.
The hardness and strength of its arms defied the laws of physics, but they were not enough to repel a railgun shell.
The arm guards were blown away like curtains, and the Muscle Ape was sent flying. The scary thing about this monster was that its arms still retained their original shape even after that.
The second one was distracted by the sudden explosion of its companion, and was shot by an arrow from the side.
The hunters of the frontier village were generally good at stealth.
Therefore, they were compatible with the relentlessly noisy ＜Paraiso＞ personnel.
“Clear. Next, target 300m ahead. Number is 3 or 4.”
“Leave it to me.”
◇◇◇◇
The defense force of the frontier village of Klavin received additional multi-legged tanks via aerial drop from ＜Kreios＞, and built an impregnable defense.
The villagers were stunned by the giant ship flying in the sky, but their anxiety seemed to be dispelled by receiving the multi-legged tanks and supplies.
In the end, there were no major problems, and the Muscle Ape attack subsided.
It was fortunate that they did not have to evacuate the entire village like Lalan next door.
The Soul Butterflies continued to fly, but the great migration of monsters seemed to have subsided.
However, the distribution of monsters and animals within the Demon Forest had probably changed significantly.
It would be a long time before they could return to their former daily lives.