Chapter 63 - Chapter 62: VS Bandits ①
Having finished their preparations for battle, Noein and the others took turns sleeping, and by the time the sky began to brighten, everyone was awake.
"Noein-sama, please give these men some words of encouragement."
Nodding to Yuri, who had said this, Noein stood on the scaffolding in front of the wooden fence and looked down at the attendants and the residents.
The faces staring up at Noein varied from expressions of grim determination to looks of anxiety.
"...Everyone, please look behind you,"
Noein spoke first.
The residents looked back as told, though their faces held a hint of confusion. There stood the houses of the capital, Noeina.
"Our homes are here. Our land is here."
Hearing Noein's following words, the residents turned forward again and looked up at him.
"Many of you likely had no place to belong in the past. Some of you may have been in despair, having lost everything. But it is different now. This is our place, we have precious things to protect, and we have precious people to protect."
He paused there and took a breath.
"...That is why we fight here. We will protect this place and continue to live here. For that sake, let us survive today!"
"Uoooooooooh!"
The attendants and residents responded in kind to Noein, who had raised his voice.
The color of anxiety was no longer in their eyes.
.....
"...A road's definitely been made. Seems it's true that a territory's been established up ahead."
At the entrance to the Bezel Great Forest, Gosling muttered this while standing at the head of the bandit column.
"Rumor has it the population of the Arqvist territory's capital is less than 200. It's the same number as us, but their count likely includes the girls,"
A scrawny man, his adjutant since his mercenary days, muttered beside him, and Gosling snorted with a look of distaste.
"Hmph, laughable that a mere tiny village calls itself a 'capital.' Nobles sure are skilled at nothing but putting on airs."
"Shall we proceed as we are?"
"Yeah, we'll attack all at once and crush them. Then we'll seize the jewels and gold and say goodbye to this country."
No matter how large a bandit group of 200 people was, they couldn't run wild forever. Eventually, they would be subjugated by a noble's territorial army or the royal army.
Thinking this, Gosling intended to steal the wealth the Arqvist territory was said to be hoarding, split it among his comrades, and disband the group.
If they had sufficient money, scattered and escaped to reach a foreign country, he believed he could restart this life he had spent as a fallen bandit.
"Let's go, you bastards! Follow me!"
"Ohhh!"
With the spirited shouts of his subordinates hitting his back, Gosling urged his horse forward.
.....
Shortly after entering the forest, Gosling changed the formation.
The highway was well-maintained and offered good visibility, whereas the forests to the left and right had plenty of places to hide. As it was, those of them proceeding along the highway were easy targets.
He didn't think the Arqvist territory had noticed their approach, and it was unlikely the opponent would come out to attack, but as a precaution just in case, he had the cavalry, including himself, dismount and advance with some caution.
"...About how much longer until we reach the village?"
"Who knows. But it shouldn't be that far. There's no way they'd bother placing their first base in the dangerous depths just to develop a forest like this."
The highway was constructed with slight curves to the right and left, and its end was not visible.
If it was intentionally made this way to prepare for attacks, the lord might be a reasonably sharp fellow... Gosling thought this and tightened his focus.
In that instant.
A loud sound of something colliding, "Dogaaa," echoed, and Gosling instinctively crouched and looked back.
"W-what the hell is that!"
The adjutant, who had also crouched and turned around, shouted as if involuntarily.
Gosling felt the same.
"Impossible..."
What had charged from the forest into the flank of the column was a Wood Golem. However, its movements were extraordinary.
Golems were generally known among warriors as useless lumps that were merely large and slow. At best, their only use was as shields or luggage carriers. That was the common knowledge.
However, the golem that had charged in was different. Its movements were as fast and smooth as those of a veteran warrior.
Furthermore, several swords and axes were tied to the golem's arms, and every time the golem swung its arms, they sliced through the flesh and split the heads of the surrounding bandits.
Some bravely struck the golem with their swords, but they were easily repelled and instead knocked away by the blade-covered arms, falling silent in a mangled state.
A golem made of the sturdy wood called Semirawood could not be dealt significant damage with ordinary weapons.
Gosling shouted at his subordinates, who had suddenly become flighty.
"Calm down, you lot! Don't try to fight it head-on! Light fires! If you burn it, you can take it down!"
Among the bandits, there were a few with a talent for fire magic capable of "Ignition," and some possessed magic tools. If it was a wooden golem, it would be finished if they unleashed fire.
Just as the bandits were regaining their composure at Gosling's words,
"Gyaaa! One came from this way toooo!"
"A-a second one! What the hell is going on!"
From Gosling's perspective, another similar golem charged in at a position further ahead than where the first golem was.
Despite Gosling's efforts, the bandits fell into panic once again.
"Are there two puppet mages who can handle golems like this? What on earth..."
The subordinates were in a state of panic. They didn't seem likely to calm down easily. Even as this happened, the damage expanded with tremendous momentum.
"Boss! What do we do!"
"...The ones controlling them must be nearby. Find the main bodies, the puppet mages, and kill them! They must be in the forest!"
At Gosling's instruction, the adjutant and the elite subordinates from his mercenary days who were around him first scattered.
By conveying instructions in loud voices, the other bandits also entered the forest.
Gosling himself stepped into the forest and looked around carefully. He searched for the enemy's presence using not just his eyes, but all five senses.
They were likely positioned in a place slightly higher than the surroundings, where they could overlook this side.
"...Found you! Over there!"
Eventually, he noticed a man on the right flank from the bandit column's perspective, where the ground swelled and was slightly high.
In terms of build and features, he was still a child, or at most, just barely an adult. Seeing him pointing his hand as if sending consciousness to the golem, there was no mistake that this guy was the golem user.
Intending to finish him instantly, Gosling threw the sword he held toward the man who appeared to be a mage.
He thought the sword would hit the mage directly, but a woman holding a round shield stood in the way to protect him, and furthermore, a man who looked like a guard leaped out in front of her and knocked the sword away.
Almost simultaneously, a man who had been right beside the mage threw a spear toward Gosling.
It was a sharp throw, but Gosling dodged it by a hair's breadth and shouted, pointing toward them.
"Chase them! Capture them! Kill them!"
Hearing Gosling's instructions, the bandits rushed toward where the puppet mage was.
.....
"Fueh?"
"Noein-sama!"
"Dangerous!"
As Noein let out a clumsy sound, unable to react to the sword that suddenly flew toward him, Matilda stood in front of him with her shield raised, and further in front of that, Pence swung his own sword and knocked the enemy's sword down.
Without a moment's delay, Radley threw a spear at the enemy, but the enemy dodged it at the very last second.
"Tch, he looked like the boss, so I thought the command would fall into chaos if we took him down."
"A-amazing, Radley. And Matilda and Pence are amazing too, I can't believe you could react to such a surprise attack."
"This is no time for talking. Now that we've been found, we're retreating to the gate!"
Looking where Pence pointed, the bandits were surging forward following the instructions of the enemy who had thrown the sword.
"U-understood!"
Noein hurriedly retreated the golems while running, pulled by the hand by Matilda.
Pence and Radley followed behind to protect his back, and the golems who had caught up followed behind them.
"Yuri! We're retreating to the capital, Noeina, now!"
'Understood, we'll prepare to intercept them here.'
Having conveyed this through the "Far-Talk" he kept connected with Yuri, Noein ran desperately. He ran desperately, but his legs were slow.
"Noein-sama! Please run faster!"
"At this rate, we'll be caught!"
"I-I know, but!"
He was urged by Radley and Pence, but Noein, who had no physical strength, could barely run without falling.
This situation occurred because the man who seemed to be the bandit leader had sharp instincts, and they were found sooner than Noein and the others had thought.
"Noein-sama, excuse me."
Matilda threw away her shield and hoisted Noein up onto her back.
Thanks to Matilda, who as a rabbit-person possessed legs far superior to those of an ordinary person, Noein's ambush party reached a speed sufficient to put plenty of distance between them and the bandits.
Shortly thereafter, Noein and the others exited the forest and entered the farmland spreading around the capital, Noeina.
Matilda, carrying Noein, ran along the farm roads constructed to weave between the fields. Then Pence and Radley, and the two golems.
Behind them, the bandits also exited the forest one after another and chased after them. Perhaps because many of their comrades had been killed, their voices were fraught with strong anger.
"Yu-Yuriiiii! Get ready!"
'Yeah, I can see you. We're already in position. Keep running... wait, you're not running yourself!'
"M-my legs are too slow..."
While having such a tensionless exchange, Noein safely reached the vicinity of the gate thanks to Matilda.
Behind them, Gosling led the bandits in pursuit of Noein and the others.
While running, Gosling had shouted instructions to let it be known that "even if there are two golems, they are not opponents to be feared if you set them on fire," so the other bandits had already regained their composure.
About three-quarters of the bandit group were still intact. With this, they could do it. Just as Gosling was convinced of this,
"Gugyaaa!"
"Uwaah! What is it!?"
Suddenly, a massive amount of arrows flew from atop the wooden fence surrounding the village and pierced the bandits.