A huge army of demonic beasts, like dense clouds and haze, was rushing in front of us. A red-haired female knight, who appeared to be in her mid-20s, perched on top of the wall protecting the town, undaunted by the situation, brandished her sword and gave orders.
“Archers, FIRE!”
A large number of arrows were shot from the top of the wall in time with the order. They pierced the herd of monsters, killing hundreds of them in the process, but such obstacles were not enough to stop the movement of the herd. Trampling down their dead …. or dying comrades, the demonic beasts approached the town.
“Next! Mages, FIRE!”
Following the order, the swarms of demonic beasts were covered with fire, lightning, wind, ice, and other offensive magic. The loud explosions and blood splashed everywhere, and finally the momentum of the demonic beasts waned.
But they did not stop just because they waned. The first to arrive at the defense wall side ahead of the others were four-legged demonic beasts of the Wolf and Boar type, which were quick enough to evade bows and magic.
The stone defense wall was five meters high, and a human could not climb it without a ladder, but a demonic beast’s physical ability would be a different story. It climbed up rather easily by hooking its claws into the slightest gap, not to mention by leaping in one go.
What then? It’s obvious. That’s what …… we’re here to prevent.
“ORAA!”
I swung my sword in a spirited attack, and the head of the grey wolf that had leapt at me to bite off my throat flew off. The head, with its foul-smelling mouth still open, flew across my face, but I didn’t have the time to worry about that.
“Suuu….HAH!”
While Inhaling, I readied my sword once again, and as I exhaled, I swung my sword at the same time. By synchronizing my breathing with sword blows and swinging the sword in an arc, I continued to cut down enemies without rest, which was an essential skill for a swordsman who deals with a large number of enemies on his own.
“Oh, you’re on a roll, rookie! You didn’t volunteer for the death line just for show, did you?”
“Well, yeah!”
I answered with a wicked smile to the lighthearted words of my senpai, who was fighting about 10 meters away from me. Dozens of other warriors have been stationed at this place called the ……”death line” because it had the highest risk of death and crossing it allowed attackers to climb the barricade and harm the rear guard and townspeople. However, every one of them was adapting to the situation and continuing to fight.
In fact, this was the everyday life of this town. The swarms of demonic beasts that come in from the “Black Forest” to the west, and the town’s raison d’etre was to keep fighting them off, and it is precisely because it has succeeded in doing all of these things that this town exists.
The Walled city of Drasdon. This was one of the seven forts that separated mankind from the demonic beasts in this world.
******
“Here’s to today’s victory!”
“”CHEERS!””
Back in town after a hard-fought battle, I joined my colleagues in a bar for a pint of ale. It’s a light ale, but it was luxuriously chilled, and it tasted so good that it seeped into the body heated up from the battle.
“Arrgh! This is irresistible. I live for this one drink!”
“Heh, Gastor, you always say that.”
“Of course! I’m not like you, I don’t cheat around. You’re saying you’re messing around with another girl?”
“Uwaa, Thomason, Again!? Who is it this time!?”
“The waitress from the bar three tables away. Look, that one with the big tits. ….”
“Oh, I see! So that’s why we’re having the party here today. Why do we have to be dragged into Thomason’s affairs though? Their stew was so delicious over there…”
“Shut up! A huge chest is needed to hold my holy sword!”
“You must be mistaken about the sex sword.”
Foolish talk trickled out of the mouths of the men sitting at the table. It was to heal the wounds of the mind and body, to wipe away the fear, to be grateful to be alive, and to gain the energy …. to fight tomorrow, in other words, it was absolutely necessary.
I would like to be a part of it, but there is a reason why I can’t. And that reason was coming up behind me right now.
“Ara, everyone seems to be having fun, huh?”
“Oh, Jou-chan! Hey fellas, the Elven Princess has come to congratulate us on our victory!”
“Your Magic was amazing today, Tia-chan! Come on over and have a drink with us!”
“Tia-chan! Don’t always hang out with Ed, spend some time with me too! I’ll buy you anything you want.”
“You’ll have to pay off all your debts to prostitutes before you can talk like that, you idiot! How about me? If you shake that cute little butt of yours on top of me, I’ll do anything for you… Urghh?!”
“Keep that shitty mouth shut until you die!”
I hit the head of my colleague who was talking nonsense a little harder than usual. The guy who was hit looked at me with resentment while holding his head, but I didn’t care about that.
Tia only smiled bitterly in the face of this series of exchanges. At first, she was puzzled by the unreserved and idiotic remarks, but after three days, she probably got used to it, for better or for worse.
“So, what’s up, Tia? Something up?”
“Yeah, I need to talk to you about something ……”
“Okay, let’s go back to the inn.”
In response to Tia, I gulped down the contents of my mug and stood up. I briskly ignored the cheering voices behind me, purchased a few dishes along the way, and we made our way back to our room at the inn.
“Fuu~, Are you all right, Tia? They’re not bad guys themselves, but no matter how many times I tell them, they just can’t help their foul mouths.”
“Fufu, I don’t mind. I’m used to it now and actually don’t feel bad about it. Ah, but I kicked the person who secretly tried to touch my butt.”
“Scary”
Tia laughed mischievously and I gave her an exaggerated scared look. We then looked at each other and laughed, and once again began talking over the food we had laid out on the table.
“Nevertheless, the demonic beasts really have been attacking us the whole time.”
“That’s right.”
This fortress was attacked by demonic beasts every day. Sometimes once a day, sometimes two or three times a day, and depending on the type of beast, the next attack may come before we can fully defeat the previous one, so there was never a moment when we could relax.
It seemed that some people tried to find out where in the world all these magical beasts were coming from, but no one ever heard of an answer to that question. But …
“This is the Demon King’s fault, isn’t it?”
“Well, I think so.”
I could only assume that such an abnormal phenomenon was a result of the power of the Demon King. However, since the existence of the Demon King was not recognized in this world, no one had been able to reach that answer. There must be some cause for this, or at least some talk about it, but conversely, this was also the limit of the current situation.
“If that’s the case, if we defeat the Demon King, will the attacks stop?”
“Maybe.”
Unlike the Kuronuri in the Waffer’s world, the demonic beasts in this world looked familiar, even to us. In other words, rather than the Demon King creating the demonic beasts themselves, it would appear that he was interfering with the beasts in some way, causing them to multiply abnormally.
In that case, the only thing that would be prevented by defeating the Demon King would be the abnormal multiplication of Demon Beasts, not the disappearance of the Demon Beasts themselves. Even so, attacks of this magnitude should cease to occur frequently, and it will certainly be much safer than it is now.
“In other words, the problem is…”
“Yeah, How to defeat the Demon King.”
I said with a sullen look on my face as I boldly bite into the meat skewer in my hand and down it with a mug of ale …. unfortunately this time it’s not cold …..
We had to plow through the seemingly inexhaustible number of Demon Beasts and defeat the Demon King, who might be hidden in the depths of the forest. It was a simple yet difficult problem, and even today I was unable to find the answer.
(T/N: Need Tia X Ed romantic moments….)