The quiet East Gate. The North Gate, which makes an eerie rumbling sound. It’s obvious which live venue we’re heading to.
I’m worried about Orietta, but I can’t imagine her getting killed. Especially if Orietta in her armored suit goes berserk, the only thing that could stop her would be my love. Hmm, if I’m alone, no one points out my ridiculous statements…
I’m more worried about Christine. The rumbling reminds me of the Black Flame Dragon, but unfortunately, it seems to take a little time to stop the Black Flame Dragon’s heart. Besides, this rumbling feels much bigger.
“Orietta, you were here! I was worried.”
Orietta was repairing a ballista mounted on the North Gate’s castle wall. I’ve seen catapults before, but this is my first time seeing a ballista this up close. It’s probably a large crossbow, but it could pierce a Troll.
“Captain~, I’ve made the ballista usable~”
Orietta, who was likely repairing the ballista damaged by yesterday’s aerial bombardment by Harpies, is a truly thoughtful and kind girl. But Orietta, you didn’t have to fix it while wearing a school swimsuit. I’m concerned about the stares of the men around; scatter! I’ll gouge out your eyes!
“Orietta, please send out Doron. I want to know the source of this sound. And don’t appear in front of people in that outfit.”
The shape is a white school swimsuit, but the material is different. Is it because I’m sweating that it’s slightly see-through? Next time, I should have them make one with a darker color, navy blue.
“Yes, yes. I’ll change into my armored suit and send out Doron~”
Yeah, she’s cute after all.
That’s not the point. Outside the castle gate, darkness spread, and I could hear sounds but see nothing. Not a large army of Trolls or Orcs, but fewer than that. I found Christine, who had come to the North Gate, and asked her, but she didn’t know the source of the mysterious sound.
Originally, we mainly engage in combat against humans, so the largest monsters we encounter are Golems. Even Golems are rarely seen. What’s bigger than that…
“Captain~, I see it~. There’s only one heat signature reacting in front of the North Gate~”
This is bad news. Even a large army would be bad news, so it’s all the same. I ran up the castle wall and glared into the darkness, conveying to the commander that a single large enemy was approaching.
“I don’t know. I can’t see in the dark, and could a Dragon even be coming as a single large entity?”
I’m not knowledgeable about monsters, so I can’t judge what a “large single entity” is. I do know about arrogant single entities. Ones with large chests, though.
Only the rumbling made its presence known in the darkness. Those watching from the castle wall, those near the castle gate, everyone focused on a single sound when a light appeared.
Illuminated in the darkness, it appeared.
“Ah, it’s a big lizard.”
“It’s a Sand Dragon!”
Crap, embarrassing. What I blurted out was a dragon, a dragon without wings. Its silhouette, illuminated by the light, was imposing. Its brownish-tan skin gave the Sand Dragon an eerie appearance.
What the heck. Do they get a spotlight when the main character appears? I want to try that next time.
“Magic rocks are coming!”
A few seconds after the spotlighted protagonist disappeared into the darkness, several large rocks flew towards the castle gate. Wooden castle gates are easily torn apart like paper in front of large rocks.
What a flashy entrance! Is this a champion’s road?! Don’t underestimate me. Still, it’s not their fault if they are underestimated. Getting swallowed whole by such a big lizard would be the end of me.
“Here comes another one! Run!”
No need to be told. I jumped off the castle wall and dove into Orietta’s chest. But I shouldn’t dive into her armored suit. It’s surprisingly painful. Next time, I’ll do it when she’s not wearing it.
Large rocks pierced the castle wall with a loud sound, directly hitting the ballista and scattering it into pieces, leaving nothing behind. It was just repaired by Orietta, only to be reduced to splinters without even being used.
“Do you know its weakness!?”
“If you cut off its head, it dies~”
That’s not what you call a weakness. Only a certain Marquis or so doesn’t die when their head is cut off. But this is trouble. I can’t deal with artillery fire from that distance. If we keep getting shot, the castle walls won’t hold. While contemplating this, the commander announced the next strategy.
“Listen up! The Sand Dragon is firing magic rocks. We’ll strike when it comes within Koatotemites. Until then, hide.”
That’s a good idea, but there’s no guarantee the Sand Dragon will come inside Koatotemites. If I were a dragon, I’d finish it with long-range bombardment. With that massive body, it’s probably not good at close combat, so fighting nearby would be fine. If we’re going to fight, we have to weave through the magic rocks and engage in close combat.
“Orietta, do you see any Trolls or Orcs?”
“Not at all~”
If that’s the case, we can focus on just the Sand Dragon in close combat. I thought they might have guards for close combat. Now there are only two problems: can my Short Sword even scratch it? And how do we get close enough?
“Orietta, do you have any large weapons? My Short Sword probably won’t do any damage.”
“Do you want to use Ori’s Hammer~? Or Pre-chan’s spare Halberd~?”
The Hammer is impossible. You’re something else, able to wield a Hammer the size of a motorcycle without using your armored suit. You’re smaller and have thinner arms than me, so where does that power come from? I want to examine every inch of your body someday.
“Give me the Halberd. We are going to charge out. Christine, prepare horses for the brigade. Orietta, can you keep up with the horses’ speed?”
“I’ll go as fast as I can~”
“Understood. Orietta, please make sure the castle gate can be passed. I’ll pick up some ballista bolts and have the brigade bring them later.”
Ballista bolts. Though called bolts, they are like giant spears. They have magic attributes on their tips, so maybe they’ll have some effect on the Sand Dragon.
“Hey, what are you doing?! Hurry up and hide.”
I’m picking up bolts. From the commander’s perspective, it’s understandable that he’d be angry if I’m doing something on my own. But I think your strategy is wrong.
“White Lily Corps, Captain Baron Mikael Shin speaking. We are going to charge out, so anyone who can assist is welcome.”
“…Annihilation Brigade…”
It’s the White Lily Corps! For the record, we’re a mercenary group as lovely as lilies, at least in appearance. I explained a simple plan while picking up the bolts, but they still didn’t accept it.
“…Captain. Twenty horses have been prepared.”
Just in time. I had two people ride each horse and carry spears. We don’t have enough horses or spears for everyone, but I told those who couldn’t ride to quickly find spears and catch up. I rode with Christine.
I was given a Halberd. I’ve never used one before, and above all, it’s heavy. It has super vibration attached to it, so it probably has attack power, but can I swing it?
“Depart!”
Twenty cavalry, forty people, and fifteen ballista bolts left through the North Gate. Once the town’s lights faded, we turned west and galloped through the darkness. It’s scarier than I thought. I’ve seen the outside during the day, but riding in the dark was more frightening than I imagined.
Orietta, wearing her armored suit, is faster than a person running but can’t keep up with horses. We’ll need Orietta’s power for the Sand Dragon.
The Sand Dragon emerged in the light. It was firing magic rocks at Koatotemites City again. It hasn’t noticed us yet.
Twenty elite knights challenge the Sand Dragon.
