“That group, who are they?”
Walm, who was sending enemy soldiers without any discrimination to the Netherworld, noticed that a new group was approaching the next corner tower. They didn’t look like Meisenav soldiers. The ragged spear, no, in overall, the armor and weapon weren’t the same, and the seeming intimacy between the people, Walm’s experience tickled his mind.
“Doesn’t seem like an amateur. Same as me?”
The equipment selected was according to what skill each person had cultivated on the battlefield, and the spears of irregular lengths were also adjusted by skillful soldiers to suit their tastes. If it wasn’t the name of a group of soldiers and elite groups of the Archipelago, it must be a mercenary group whose livelihood was on the battlefield, the option was just that limited. Rumor had it that they were a bunch of battle-maniacs who love the battlefield and moneymaking.
“Sh*t”
When the mercenaries took an arrowhead-shaped formation, Walm felt that the leading group was working on their mana all at once. It was easy to think about what the precious magic users were aiming for in a dense formation.
“Oi, it’s the enemy’s mercenary unit. Magic incomiiIIIINGG!!!!”
Walm raised his voice and alerted the others, but realized that it was too late. This was because the mana had increased from a part of the group, and various magics that had manifested, had fallen onto the corner tower. Those illogical things pierced the earth, leaving destruction. The wreckage of the barrier was scattered around while flying in the sky, and the flesh of the soldier who got hit directly turned into a thick mist of red and dyed the surroundings.
“Friendly fire?”
About a platoon size of the Meisenav soldiers clinging to the slope was hurt, and the soldiers who couldn’t react in time were begging and buried alive due to the continuous earth magic.
“…Crazy mercenaries”
Sacrifice was an integral part of a war. Acting gracefully and properly wouldn’t bring victory. Even if the strategy had to discard allies, it was acceptable if the overall result of the battle greatly exceeded the loss. Of course, it didn’t matter either whether the morale was low or if the victims gave their consent beforehand. Walm also had experience in operations where he was nothing more than a ready-to-abandon piece.
As a human being bought by the nation, he had thrown himself into a deadly place and killed people for the prosperity and maintenance of the community. He could feel that the previous attack, must be a part of a strategy to gain an ambush. As a former soldier dyed with rationality and totalitarianism, he acknowledged a certain degree of the effectiveness, but his slightly remaining muddy morality hated it.
“T-the wall has…!?”
“Uh, aaaah, they’re rushing in.”
Mercenaries rushed in the formed breakthrough. Soldiers hoped to block the hole in the defense, but the opponent was a hired soldier who routinely went to a battlefield. The movement was too fast. Even from the point of view of favor, it was no longer possible to recapture the bridgehead because it was full.
Due to the movement of the reserves and enemy soldiers in the base, even the enemy soldiers under the eyes, who had been suppressed until now, were gaining momentum.
“Don’t lag behind the mercenaries, break through the waaaAAAALLLLL!”
The main unit, which had been waiting in the rear, was about to move forward. Walm realized that it was a strategy of crushing with a difference in number and speed. A simple but powerful tactic if the conditions were met. In such a situation, even if it were to be done poorly, the enemy would be swallowed.
“Hold the front!! Don’t be afraid!!”
A regular soldier shouted not to lose to the invading army.
Walm agreed. Now that this had happened, there was no choice but to steadily wear out every one of them, one by one.
The fireball that was shot bloomed prettily like a blue-colored flower. The enemy was pushed by the momentum and the surrounding soldiers, but didn’t stop
Baron Josh’s retainer was still alive, but the figure couldn’t be seen in the wall yet.
Kalim and Kuwen were distracted by the surroundings, but still swung down the long spear, as they were devoting themselves to interfering with the Meisenav soldiers.
“Kalim, Kuwen, never look bellow. Poke and hit only the creeping up soldiers!!”
Without waiting for a reply, Walm switched his consciousness from following them to the enemy in front of him. He hooked the ladder on which could be hung with the tip of the halberd and pushed it down, cutting off the soldier who was climbing up the wall. Cut the wrist that barely managed to hold onto the ramparts.
A fireball shot at close range. The flame swayed his own skin.
The demon mask, which by now should be better called one of the few acquaintances of the old times, an old friend that had been pushed into his waist, woke up from dormancy and began to tremble.
“Trembling as usual huh. Learn to self-control already.”
There were a few strange people who dared to lean out from the walls, and among them, Walm who just shot a fireball, received a generous welcome. The coming enemy thrust a short spear from below, but Walm twisted the orbit with the halberd, and scraped the throat with the axe blade of the halberd.
Not long after, a longsword pushed up from directly below. It was received by the halberd. When Walm hit the enemy’s temporal region with the tip of the halberd, the enemy slid down, involving the other in the surroundings. He had no time to rest. His busy moving eyes caught multiple arrows approaching. The halberd was immediately used to deflect the arrow that could leave a fatal wound. The angle of the back of the hand and the breastplate was adjusted, and the other arrows were deflected by the armor covered with a magical barrier.
“What are you doing! Shoot him dead already!!”
“I hit him, but it somehow failed?”
Although the archer wasn’t bad at shooting arrows, the arrows, which were shot without any “Skill”, ended without giving a wound to Walm, who was protected by armor and a magical barrier.
If it properly hit, definitely would be hurt, and if it pierced the vital point such as the eyes, it wouldn’t be a joke. So as to respond to the archer, Walm presented a fireball.
“Aaah!! Run――”
The ball of flame exploded, and the archer who was trying to shoot another arrow was engulfed in fire, together with the surroundings. However, the vacant ground was soon filled with another soldier.
With a little extra time to spare, Walm turned his thoughts.
Baron Josh’s retainers haven’t yet appeared. If they don’t appear even after this much damage on the front line, it should be something like a sortie from the castle gate and turn into a counterattack, then join the main force――
There’s no way to worry about each of the lower soldiers during a war. If I misunderstand the aim, getting left behind in an abandoned branch castle would be my end.
Walm, who intended to work appropriate for his salary, had no intention of dying in vain. He decided to follow Baron Josh’s movement.
Done with summarizing his thoughts. He wanted to proceed to the next course of action,
However,
The price to pay for drinking a whole year wasn’t that cheap.
A precursor to an attack that wouldn’t be missed when he was an active soldier, was overlooked.
“To the ground――”
Walm reflexively threw his body to the ground. The magic users of the enemy mercenary unit, who were approaching the range, attacked the corner tower from the inside of the fort before the alert voice from Walm reached the young soldiers.
The shock patted his back and rubbles were falling. Walm tried to check the situation, but dust drifted and the unclear view obstructed his search for the enemy. Only a large number of groans and angry voices were flying around.
Walm, who got up in a crawling posture, escaped from the dust as it was.
The corner tower withstood an onslaught against attacks from the outside, but from the inside, it also collapsed fragilely due to multiple magic attacks. Fortunately, it didn’t become the underlay of the building and the magic itself didn’t hit Walm directly. Mild dizziness and tinnitus go away quickly.
“Hah, letting the magic users rush into the castle that hasn’t been completely suppressed? Really?”
Rare magic users were treated like their first grandchildren. Under circumstances where there was more than enough chance of a turbulent battle or a sudden counterattack, the Highserk Empire wouldn’t advance the magic users. It took time to educate, and the few magic users were a type of soldier that shouldn’t be worn out.
However, the opponent were mercenaries. Those who couldn’t care about the common sense of normal people in the Archipelago Countries and the Northern countries.
If they’re accustomed to the war, perhaps they’re a bunch of arrogance people?
Walm, who was looking around without clearing the surroundings, clenched his teeth.
Kalim was screaming. Kuwen, who had been hit by a Meisenav soldier with a long spear, was lying behind him, on the ground.
“Blood doesn’t stop!!”
Walm ran up and checked for the wound.
An ice lance, about the size of an adult man’s arm, pierced Kuwen’s thigh, and blood was spilling out.
“Urrgh!?”
Cold sweat flowed out due to the seriousness of the wound.
Walm had seen various ways of dying. Bleeding in the limbs, and even in the thighs, was often thought of as nothing much, but the young soldier who cheerfully exchanged words with him for the past few days, didn’t breathe steadily. Although it avoided the arteries, blood flowed out of Kuwen’s body, which couldn’t be covered with a magical barrier. If left unattended, in a short time, Kuwen might die.
“Kuwen, stay strong.”
Based on the personality Walm had shown, he couldn’t vomit sweet words.
Kuwen’s childhood friend Kalim was the better, the right person to encourage him.
Walm could only tell facts.
“If left untreated, you will die of bleeding.”
Arrows and swords could be carried out as they were, but the troublesome part of the ice lance was that it took away the body temperature and would melt after exerting an external effect on the human body. By the time the injured was shown to a healing magician, the melted ice had exposed the wound and caused major bleeding, and the melted water also inhibited blood coagulation and the development of the magical barrier.
“Ah, aaaah, Walm-san, I, don’t want, to die, I don’t want to die…”
The corner tower, which had lost its function as a defensive facility, was infiltrated by enemies.
“Hear me. Listen carefully”
The enemy Viscount Barnes was approaching from outside the front wall, and the mercenary unit was approaching from the side. Walm was the only one the boys could rely on now, and the annoying magic users were rushing them to dig his grave. There was no grace left.
“I’m going to pull out the ice lance… Kuwen, soon, I’m going to burn you.”
Kuwen, who had a pale face, understood the situation and nodded when he held back Walm’s hand with his cold fingers. Even a tough soldier could die by shock.
Could he tolerate the pain?
Walm’s hand trembled under heavy pressure, but he tried to stop it as he couldn’t let the boy be doubtful.
At this moment, a girl who died in a battle in Dandurg Castle came to mind. Walm was going to save another person, a boy. But, just hiding his agitation was hard enough. How good was the girl who healed everyone in the rush of the outbreak where the war situation changed confusingly? Walm didn’t know the exact answer.
What’s good in thinking only of those who you’ve lost?!
Walm scolded himself.
The boy believed him. Walm must believe that he himself could also save people, otherwise, nothing would be rewarded.
“You can endure it. Be strong.”
Walm repeatedly spilled therapeutic distilled liquor that had seduced him during the march into the wounds. Due to the stimulation of alcohol, Kuwen’s legs bounced slightly. Walm hugged the dead soldier nearby, cut the cloak with a dagger that he pulled out, and pushed half of it into Kuwen’s mouth.
“Ready, now!”
When the ice lance was pulled out, blood overflowed from the wound that lost the blockage.
The blue flame touched the wound, Kuwen’s body leaned back and cramped violently. Walm’s own weight and Kalim were holding down his upper body, so he couldn’t move and leaked any groans. He smelled like a burned person that Walm was used to, but Walm felt sour in his mouth because he was disgusted with himself.
He felt pathetic.
Even though Walm had burned hundreds or more people, but just burning a boy, his stomach wanted to vomit the reality out.
“Uh, uuUUHH, ah, UUUUGGGHHHH!!”
Blood instantly boiled and the wound was burned along with the surrounding tissue. The nasal cavity smelled the burned flesh, and the ears clearly captured the boy’s anguish voice and the popping sound of water.
Walm clasped the hand of the boy who sought air and was breathing in slight hyperventilation.
“Endure it. Please endure it!”
It was Walm’s heart’s desire.
Kuwen was stunned, but he hadn’t stopped breathing.
Walm applied an ointment mixed with herbs and covered the surface with a cloth soaked in alcohol.
After all, he was only good at killing. This much was all the first aid that Walm could do.
Next, Kuwen must rest, get suppuration prevention, and see a healing magician.
But there were those who get in the way. Walm climbed over the walls and glared at the influx of soldiers. It was a group that got drunk on the blood and a small victory.
The corner tower killed the enemy too much. And now, it wanted a lot of rewards. The rumbling could only be calmed down by the blessing of blood.
“Kalim, listen carefully, take Kuwen to the back of the fort. There, still safe, and Baron Josh’s retainers are still around.”
“Uh, what about Walm-san?”
“They’re looking for a playmate. Don’t worry. I’m used to playing with those kinds.”
“Let’s run away together. If it’s now…”
Sweet words.
A tempting invitation.
Sure, it might be better, perhaps the best, to think about the survival of his own and the boys. But Walm wasn’t the type to give up in the middle of his work. Foolishly, in the previous life, after endless hard-working, fatigue and exhaustion wore him out, to the point where myocardial infarction came to get him. His idiotic workaholic mind didn’t heal when he died. Besides, if he escaped now, he would betray his compatriots who were still struggling to live, desperately trying to make a comeback. Walm wouldn’t allow himself to continue living if he could easily do such an unreasonable thing.
The situation didn’t allow Walm to leave. After all, there was no one who wouldn’t want to touch the easy-to-play opponents who were solidified in asking for rescue.
One of the enemy soldiers thrust a short spear.
When Walm grabbed the halberd that had been thrown to the ground, he deflected the spear while wrapping it with the axe blade of the halberd, pushing in as it was and digging the eyeball with the tip. The enemy soldiers collapsed without screaming.
Walm glared at the next in line while shouting at the boy.
“GooOOO!!!”
There were no more words. Walm opened his eyes and said so with pressure saying that he wouldn’t bend his decision.
“Uuuh, may fortune be with you!!”
The screaming boy dragged his companion and retreated.
Walm saw off the back of the immature boy who was about to become a soldier, then turned his exposed canines at the intruder.
