Chapter 58

"Die, die, just die!" Yet, I was still holding on, barely evading capture while dragging out the time. "I'll help!" In that moment, Athena came to my aid, and just as Abinas's attention shifted towards her. With a single blow that he had been so wary of, I pierced his chest through. But during that time, the other mercenaries had succeeded in completely breaking down the gate. From afar, I could see about thirty cavalrymen attempting to rush into the interior of the frontier fortress. "Lord Jimnis!" From a distance, Muteur, with his cart loaded with something, rushed towards us. 'That is...' "Athena!" I immediately ran towards Muteur, took control of his cart, and pushed it towards the gate. Clattering sound! "…Stop! Halt! Redirect!" "Redirect!" The cavalries quickly turned their direction upon realizing what I had spread. 'Caltraps. So much prepared just for this?' Whether it was Muteur's own doing or the lord's command, I couldn’t tell. No, since Muteur was a non-human slave, it must have been the lord's command. After all, the lord had been the one to collect these. Ironically, the material for the caltrops was the carapace of the giant ent I had captured. Refined into massive quantities of caltrops, they were spread on the ground, making it impossible for the cavalry to advance. 'I thought it would be used for armor…' To horses, caltrops are a lethal weapon. 'It even worked against elephants.' I had made good use of them against orcs. And they were extremely effective against horses as well. The fact that the cavalries had to immediately change their direction upon recognizing them said it all. Clearly, they had prepared in advance, expecting cavalry from our previous encounters. This was possible thanks to Muteur's speed in production. "…Damn it!" The other mercenary leader, who had been urging his men from behind, looked over in annoyance. Their main force, the trio, had fallen by our hands. The mercenaries, looking at us three standing in the way of the entrance, couldn’t bring themselves to attack. I had to engage in a long staring contest with the mercenary leader, and eventually, he was the one who backed down. "…Don’t think this is over!" They wouldn’t give up just like that. As they retreated, the settlers of the frontier cheered like mad. 'What kind of preparation will they come back with next…' Whatever it was… it would be too late by then. "…I owe you my life, Master." "Don't call me that. You're no longer my pupil." It was Baldur. He had survived thanks to Kalia's help, expressing his gratitude. "Hahaha! I had faith, really did! Never thought we'd make them retreat in the end!" And then I saw the lord running over barefoot. But I had no intention to warmly welcome him. "There was a mana user among them." "Why didn’t you inform us?" "That is…" The lord had no answer. "Huh… I just want to rest." "Th-that may be so." My relationship with him had almost reversed at that moment. During their retreat, the lord had Muteur repair the gate. But they would never give up. And as I had expected, they prepared a new strategy. Only, it was quicker and more brutal than expected. Two days later. "Aaaaah!" "Please save us, save us!" "Those mad bastards!" The mercenaries who had withdrawn were now pillaging another village belonging to Owalan. Monster Wave "Please save us!" "Aaaaah!" "If you don't want all of them to die, surrender, Baron!" "…To go so far...!" Athena spoke with apparent disgust. As Tia's protector, she clearly found the act of taking hostages and threatening them distasteful. "Neilyn! No!" "Forden...? Why is Forden here...! My lord, my lord! That child is my son! Please save him!" Inside the fortress, there were young men who had survived the last attack and returned. They had been conscripted from various villages, including some from the village now pillaged by the mercenaries. 'We’ve been thoroughly prepared.' It wasn’t just the people from that village who were shaken. 'If they can raid there... it means other villages are also vulnerable.' Thus, the men from the frontier village were inevitably agitated. Being from the same domain, there might be people within the fortress who had ties or were kin to those from the frontier villages. Hence, the unrest could only spread further. The lord, however, just looked outside silently, saying nothing. "Open the gates and surrender! If not…" "Kyaaaak!" "No, no!" The breath of one of the hostages was cut short. "All of them will be killed if you think this is the end. There are still three villages left!" "My lord! My lord! Please, please!" The domain's people, with their lives at stake, pleaded with the lord. But the lord remained silent. "Opening the door… means death for all." "And you plan to abandon them all? They belong to Owalan!" "Then will you die instead?" "I will, I will die! Just please save my family!" "Do you think they will listen to that?" "Please!" "Begging won’t solve anything." The lord showed no signs of opening the gate. "There's no negotiating with thieves." "So, we just watch our families die slowly of starvation?" "Reinforcements have been called. They will come. Hold out until then." "But what about them! They are about to die!" "I'm not a god!" Finally, the lord exploded. "Insolence! I am your lord! Just because these thieves disrespect me, does that mean you should act this way too?" 'Unbelievable.' A lord is a lord because they guarantee the safety of their people against external threats. Yet, failing to fulfill that duty, he still expected to be rewarded. There, the safety of the palisade was mostly being maintained by the people themselves. Indeed, from the lord’s perspective, it was a situation of being caught between a rock and a hard place. They probably didn't want to go that far either. Seeing as they were targeting this frontier domain. They must have had confidence in their abilities, too. That is until their prior forces crumbled under our hands. 'This must have been their last resort.' But it wasn't a situation where they could afford not to use it. Instead of achieving multiple objectives at once, it seemed like they were focused on achieving their original, fundamental goal. 'Internal division, huh...' A desperate situation. This wasn't something I could do anything about. As the conflict between the lord and the people deepened, Baldur and a few mercenaries, barely clinging to life, appeared to protect the lord, blocking the people. The voices grew louder, and eventually, some of the citizens were beaten by Kumon's slaves and dragged away. That day, more than a hundred citizens were brutally murdered in front of the settlement, and their heads were thrown inside the frontier fortress. When day broke, half of the mercenary force from the merchant alliance had disappeared. They shouted that the remaining half had gone to raid other villages and that if we surrendered now, they would spare those left. "Give us the lord's head! Then the rest can live! We don’t just talk the talk!" The settlers of the frontier shivered at the enemies’ shouts. "Please, at least spare the village of Greenwood..." The man praying beside me must have been from Greenwood Village. I remembered the village chief’s wish for their safe return, but that wish had been dashed the moment the lord’s expedition failed. Now, ironically, a youth from Greenwood Village was praying for the safety of his own village. Two more days passed, and the enemies brought people from other villages, but the lord did not surrender until the end. Eventually, a second massacre occurred, completely shattering the morale of the citizens. Signs of organized rebellion began to emerge. The lord, realizing the situation, attempted to identify the instigators, but the deep rift between him and his people isolated and cornered him. People also began to distance themselves from me, probably because I often received tasks from the lord, so they could not quite trust me. Naturally, I had no intention of getting involved. 'If we let the next massacre happen, the citizens will drag me out with their own hands.' Maybe it's time to think about escaping. The mercenaries from the merchant alliance seemed to have sensed the atmosphere within the settlement too, displaying vile smiles. "Master. Perhaps, it's time we made our exit." "I agree with the master. There's no hope left." I nodded at their words. "I’ve been waiting. It seems they are... about to run away too." "Can’t we run first?" "We can’t run away empty-handed." "...It seems you’re waiting for the lord and Kumon to flee." They planned to plunder what they had. "...Well, for those guys... it doesn't really matter." It was almost like theft, but considering what we had been through, neither seemed to object. 'After all, we've been used quite a bit.' And Athena had a grudge against Kumon because of Tia's case, and Kalia was sold to me because of Kumon's greed. Kumon was an illegal slave trader, and the lord was someone who intended to abandon his people and flee. Neither seemed likely to feel guilty about taking from them. "Athena, have you packed everything?" "Yeah. I've already put everything in the cellar you made, and if a fight breaks out, I'll always hide there." "You're doing well." Neither found anything strange about my preparations. Being a dark mage and given the nature of the frontier, it wasn’t odd to prepare for any eventuality. 'First, we'll plunder the lord and Kumon... and then hold out in the cellar until the monster wave. With the excuse of the merchant alliance, convincing them wouldn’t be too hard.' Taking care of Muteur wouldn’t be difficult either.