Chapter 55

The queen seems to be the only target they're avoiding. Honestly, we could retreat at this point. Just guarding this area to prevent them from escaping and collecting everything secured from above would fulfill our mission. Whether they breed again and rebuild their nest has nothing to do with me. 'Still, it's better to be sure.' After all, Kaila has awakened and secured a high level of martial prowess. The creatures guarding the door seemed strong, and those inside were probably not ordinary, but there wasn't much worry. "There's no need to hold back on power since it's the last room." At my command, she enveloped her sword in aura. It was not the faint aura of before, but a form with a rich color and quite visible shape, though it did not seem to be of a high level. 'Do you think it's still too much to handle?' She might have thought it was sufficient. The guards seemed to sense our determination to fight to the end and started making eerie noises. Growl. However, Kaila didn't wait for them. Swoosh, swoosh. With one swift motion, she dashed across the floor at high speed, reaching the enemy's nose and severing the connection between their head and chest before they had a chance to react. Crack, thud. The creatures that looked similar to the guards, perhaps worker ants, swarmed out from the inside, but Kaila, taking control of the passage, decapitated them as they appeared. The quality seemed high, but the number did not seem substantial, and Kaila appeared more efficient than before, perhaps finding it more manageable. It wasn't long before no more creatures emerged from inside. "All cleared." After praising Kaila, we entered the queen ant's chamber, where we saw something quite surprising. "Wow…" The room we had seen before seemed like child's play compared to this space, which was at least three times bigger, and inside, there was the queen with an incredibly large abdomen, surrounded by about a dozen workers tending to her. "She's... laying eggs?" The workers attending the queen seemed to be threatening us, but naturally, none of us were scared. "Shall we take care of it?" Kaila asked calmly. "No, wait." I stopped her. Athena asked, puzzled, "Why wait?" "It seems like someone else wants that," I speculated. Pointing into the air, I indicated a Specter looking greedily at the queen as if desiring her. The queen, true to her purpose of increasing her offspring, seemed brimming with life, attracting the Specter's unwavering gaze. "Looks like she has no attack capability anyway." Well, even if she did, these creatures without mana wouldn't be able to damage the Specter. Having fed on lower monsters until now, the queen's life force was of a level hard to consider low, so it seemed best to offer it to the Specter. "Eat." -Kiiiiaaaa! At my command, the Specter charged towards the queen. Snap! Snap! The queen, realizing the leakage of vitality due to her role in egg-laying, twisted her body trying to shake off the Specter, and other giant ents, recognizing our attack, rushed towards us. Athena leapt forward in place of Kaila, slicing the ents, and with the queen left alone, the Specter began to joyfully extract her energy more aggressively. I allowed Kaila and Athena to rest, observing the situation until the queen turned into a mummy. Defense Mission "What in the world…" "Horrible. The knight certainly is different." "Isn't that… Carthson? My goodness, he was reported missing...to think he died at the hands of giant ents." "Terrible... He must have suffered a lot…" "But the knight avenged him, at least." After turning the queen ant into a mummy, we returned to the village of Greenwood Forest and mobilized the villagers. Excluding only children and the elderly, we involved every village member along with carts and various tools, making us appear as a sizeable group. Along the way, monsters whose territories were invaded showed tension and we encountered a few skirmishes. They weren't very strong, so we were capable of handling them. However, Kaila and I found these situations quite bothersome since I couldn't use magic or undead in front of the villagers, and Kaila had to pretend to be disabled. Thus, we arrived at the anthill together and instructed people to clean up the giant ent corpses. Kaila, Athena, and I kept watch around the perimeter and entered inside to assess the situation if necessary. "It's a shame there's no useful equipment." "It can't be helped. And even if there were, they would have been used by those creatures. You saw the queen's guards, right?" "They were indeed unique. Their exoskeleton seemed to be mixed with metal." "They might have consumed all the gear to that end." "You said the exoskeletons would be taken by the baron's family, right?" "They say they'll pay, but it's almost like credit. If we can't get through the merchant coalition, consider it unpaid." "That's quite unfair. Mercenaries' earnings shouldn't be taken lightly." "We're not officially mercenaries, and we've been cornered, so what can't they do?" Officially, I'm just a civilian with an honorary soldier title. I receive several privileges, but from the baron's perspective, I'm someone easily exploitable. Of course, I intentionally put myself in that position. I've also taken advantage of it. I just didn't anticipate the territory would end up like this. 'I didn't know the butterfly effect would be so strong.' Yet, I've never really suffered a great loss, so it's almost amusing. "Do we have to move all these to the colonial cities?" "Probably? It will be unfair for the people of Greenwood Forest, but if the lord commands, there's no choice. Though, I plan to feed some in advance." I plan to distribute food to the people of Greenwood Forest on my own accord. If the lord tries to find fault with this, I'll simply argue that the condition was so dire that people had to be fed before they could work. The lord has no right to speak to me in such manners in the first place. It will be known that we risked our lives to bring back these supplies, and considering the abundance we've secured, no one in their right mind would quibble over it. Doing so could risk losing public support, especially with a war looming. It took two days to transfer all remnants of the giant ents. Naturally, we completely erased any trace of the queen ant. Despite our reluctance, we also hunted some beasts specifically for the lord's provision. Thanks to our thorough vigilance and my instruction to the villagers to work with utmost caution, there were no further clashes with the monsters, preventing any casualties. The villagers strictly followed our orders, seemingly more out of fear from witnessing the dreadful state inside the ant hill we had caused than from gratitude for the food we provided. The gap in both status and strength left them no choice but to comply. I delayed the report to the pioneering city by one day, and in the meantime, I released some of the food to the villagers, effectively causing a small festival to erupt. The villagers weren't fools; they knew if they didn't consume it now, most of it would be taken away, resulting in a situation more akin to an outdoor buffet than a true celebration. Of course, there were those among them secretly stashing away some of the food. Actually, it's likely that most were engaged in such activities, albeit discreetly. However, I had no intention of stopping them. "Thank you for keeping your promise, Sir Knight." "...You've earned the right to eat through your hard work." Although there were no fatalities, the situation could have easily turned for the worse. ‘There are orc tribes around here, after all.’ Had they attacked, we wouldn't have been able to protect everyone in the village. Moreover, with almost no young men in the village, our numerical advantage was essentially weak in terms of combat power. Even if there were, they wouldn't stand a chance against orcs, but the damage might have been minimized. "Thanks to you, the village feels lively for the first time in a long while." The village chief commented, looking at the people joyfully eating and drinking. "Hopefully, the bandits have been completely eradicated, and the young ones who left will return safely." The mercenaries were introduced as bandits due to the complexity of explaining the real situation, and it was the lord who first treated them as such. "I hope so." I half-heartedly responded. Upon daybreak, the lord sent for me. "All of this…" The people sent by the lord were those I was familiar with. "Disan, Danian. Fancy seeing you here." "As expected, it's you, Jimnis. To think you've dealt with all these in such a short time… With this amount, we shouldn't worry about food for a while." From their conversation, it seemed they too would be participating in the upcoming war. "Well, hearing that, it appears Kuman is heavily involved… After all, it was no secret that Kuman had a close relationship with the Baron of Owalan. It was to be expected." They seemed to have a rough understanding of the circumstances. Apparently, all mercenaries I'm connected with, including battle slaves meant to be sold and even Physis, whom I wasn't close with, are to be mobilized for this war by Kuman. The only exception might be Baldur? Being primarily responsible for the slaves' management and Kuman's escort, he was the sole exception. For context, Baldur was one of Kaila’s trained disciples. Though it was a relationship forged out of necessity rather than choice. While discussing various matters, we transported most of the food gathered by the people of Greenwood Forest to the lord's domain. Then, I heard something absurd. "…Are you saying to distribute all of this to the other villages as well?" "Exactly. The defense forces have dwindled, causing chaos with the monsters. I'd appreciate it if you could handle those monsters as well." The audacity was almost of adamantium level. "The war preparations are nearly complete. With the influx of these supplies, we can afford to take on the challenge. Your efforts have provided us with some leeway." The lord mentioned that victory in battle would yield a bountiful harvest. Well, if we really win, a significant share would likely be distributed. The merchant guild could be shattered, and the spoils wouldn’t be minor. Additionally, we can't avoid sustaining some losses on our side, thereby necessitating my significant involvement. It was more of a pipe dream than something I earnestly wished for or deemed likely to happen. 'After all, dealing with monsters seems better than getting involved in that mess.' Given that even Rickinry, who had a decent understanding of the situation, estimated our chances of winning at best three out of ten, withdrawing seemed the wisest choice. "Ah, don't worry about transportation. The pioneering city will appoint some men to assist you." How very gracious. Of course, it was essentially a command under the guise of a request, leaving me with no right to refuse. Refusing would likely mean being dragged into the battleground. The lord seems to think the situation is increasingly turning in his favor. Seeing the lord smiling at the beasts I had specifically hunted for him, I was lost for words. Resolved to deal with the lord eventually, I accepted his request and prepared to move again after a day's rest. At the news of our imminent departure, Tia's face fell, and Athena had a hard time comforting her. Naturally, Tia didn't throw a fit. She wasn't a child and knew her place well enough. Essentially, she had no say within the group and merely expressed her regret. ‘Perhaps this is a buildup for future strength.’ Considering that her complaints were directed solely at Athena, it seemed plausible. In reality, Tia was always well-behaved and obedient towards me, and she treated Kaila with respect, addressing her as "sister". Leaving the regretful Tia behind, we began distributing food throughout the village and spent our time dealing with the surrounding monsters. Though we received much praise from many people, it left me feeling rather indifferent. 'I was treated as a savior, wasn't I?' Among the village chiefs, there was even one who attempted to forge a connection with me by sending over his daughter, but Kaila swiftly dealt with that situation. While we were making our rounds outside the pioneering city, rumors spread that the lord himself had led his troops on a bandit subjugation mission. The rumor was not unfounded, as there were eyewitnesses of the departure ceremony, but for a few days after their departure, there was no news. Then, ten days later, news finally came. “We were utterly defeated.” The outcome was as expected. “At first… we were winning.” Having been summoned by the lord back to the pioneering city, I quietly listened to his story in his presence. He seemed to have sustained no major injuries, but it was clear by his demeanor that he was in a foul mood. “The enemy hadn’t fully assembled by the time we received the news. Thus, we were able to easily defeat two mercenary bands, and we were confident of our victory.” Defeating two mercenary bands indeed marked a significant achievement. In reality, the barony had hired only one mercenary band, and together with the mercenaries hired by Kuman, they had gone to war leading only those two bands. Of course, given the situation where the domain's survival was at stake, conscripted soldiers and knights, including the likes of Rickinry, were included, but the only ones considered elite were those two mercenary bands. "However... the number of enemies was beyond imagination. There were over ten bands hired just to isolate our domain. Despite our preemptive strike taking down two bands, we were no match for them. Some even had separate cavalry." Despite the fierce battle leading to the downfall of mercenary forces equating to three bands, the cost was significant: the majority of the conscripts were killed, the mercenary forces were halved, and Rickinry was also among the dead. Among the fallen mercenaries, there were those familiar to me.