Two days passed. With the soldiers in tow, we climbed a gentle hill. Beyond this point, we would be able to see the village in question.
As we climbed the slope and stood at the top of the hill, our vision widened to a sweeping view of golden fields and a fenced-in village that spread across the basin.
But the sight of the village sent shockwaves through the soldiers and me.
Fires were rising from all over the fields, and black beasts were running through the fields with torches. The villagers, pursued by the beasts, ran for their lives.
“Hey, over there!”
“The village is under attack!”
“It’s a monster!”
As one of the soldiers said, monsters were attacking the village.
Monsters swarmed the villagers who failed to escape, beating them with clubs and wielding flaming torches.
The monsters were called “monkey demons” because they looked like monkeys with unusually long arms.
Although they are re only about a meter long, they’re very strong, act in groups of up to several dozen, and are intelligent enough to use simple tools such as stones and sticks. But, I didn’t know they could use fire without fear.
“Let’s go! We must help them!”
When I sent out the instructions, the soldiers, who had forgotten themselves, were momentarily puzzled.
Not good.
Unprepared for the unscheduled encounter, I keenly felt that I had failed to ignite the passion in the soldiers’ hearts.
But suddenly there was a yell nearby.
“Whoooaaa, let’s go, you guys!”
It was Al who raised the flame. He was holding the reins of his horse with one hand and raising his spear high in the air with the other.
One man’s momentum ignited the other soldiers, who each let out a shout of their own.
It was a voice to cover up their fear, but it would do for now.
“Let’s go!”
I took the lead and galloped down the slope on my horse. Ray and Al followed.
“Miss, please step back!”
Ray shouted behind me, but there was no way I could do that.
We are a group of inexperienced recruits. You never know when one of them will get caught in the wind of cowardice and stop walking. If one person stops, three people will stop, and if three people stop, then ten people cannot move forward. But if someone moves ahead, they will follow. Then I must move forward anyway, into a position where I can see them.
Riding my horse, I headed straight for the village.
The monsters were pursuing a group of villagers, who are attempting to flee into the village and enter it as it is. If they enter the village, the damage will increase. That must be avoided.
Kicking the horse’s belly, we increase our speed and run through the village, slipping in between the monsters and the villagers.
The monkey demons were surprised by the cavalry jumping in from the side and stopping their advance.
The soldiers who had caught up with us approached with spears ready and stabbed them.
They were able to kill a few of them by striking them from the sides, but there were many monkey demons. Twenty-five, no, thirty. A lot more than I had heard.
The monkey demons use simple tools. They throw wooden sticks and stones, but the flaming torches in particular make the soldiers fearful.
They are also very nervous about their first battle.
“Calm down; don’t be afraid of the fire. If anything catches on fire, just put it out.”
There’s no oil on the ground. We just need to extinguish the fire before it escalates. They throw sticks and stones at us, but they are not fatal as long as they don’t hit us in the head.
“Rather than that, form a formation, remember your training, and cover each other.”
It is said that in a battle between a spear and a sword, the spear has a significant advantage because of the difference in range. But the advantage of the spear is not limited to its range. The true strength of the spear lies in group battles. If you help each other by sticking close while your opponent tries to dodge the spear, you can win without doing anything to your opponent.
It’s the basics of the basics, but the recruits are so flustered that they have forgotten even that.
“Al and Ray, meet here! Don’t fight there alone, stay close to your comrades! Get closer together.”
I called out to the isolated soldiers until Al and Ray, who had been scattered by the cavalry charge, came to their side, and managed to create a battle line.
However, the line that has been created is so precarious that it looks as if it will break off at any moment.
Furthermore, more of the gathered monkey demons moved to try to flank them.
Spears are weak when flanked. The monkey demons may not have known this, but if they flanked us, the line could collapse at once.
I thought about using the tiger bomb blast magic stone, but it would be ineffective in this situation. On the contrary, the sound and impact of the explosion might startle our allies. I have to do something.
“Ray, Al. I’m going, come on.”
I ran through, saw the dispersed Al and Ray returning, and called out to them.
“Wait a minute, miss.”
“What a self-indulgent young lady.”
The two men behind me were grumbling, but I couldn’t care less. I mounted my horse and charged forward.
The aim is to be behind the monsters that are gathering in front of the spearmen.
I pull out the slender sword I have chosen so that even I can handle it, and while controlling the reins with one hand, I run behind the monkey demons. In any case, I swung the sword around in a haphazard manner while raising my voice.
However, this sword-swinging was ineffective.
The monkey demons were one meter tall. Riding on a horse, the sword would not hit them nearly as hard. The sound of the horse’s footsteps would have been somewhat more effective.
My actions were not very effective, but Al, who was riding behind me, was remarkable.
While holding the reins, he swung his spear and knocked down several monkey demons. Halfway through the fight, his spear broke in half due to fatigue, but he still hit them with the broken spear.
Attacked by Al from behind, the monkey demons fall into chaos.
It is at times like this that my “Grace” is most effective.
Sensitive to the fact that the pressure from the monkey demons had dropped, the soldiers thrust out their spears and moved forward.
Several monkey demons were skewered, and the monsters collapsed all at once.
The soldiers gained momentum and advanced further. By the time the soldiers had advanced at least ten paces, the monkey demons had already lost their will to fight, and they began to flee, abandoning the stones and clubs in their hands.
