Chapter 31

The fortress built on the Solviant Plain was brightly lit by a large bonfire, despite the fact that it had been quite some time since the sun had set. Soldiers were running around in a hurry, and angry voices were flying back and forth everywhere. Among them, Makronis, the deputy commander of the company, was desperately trying to handle the subordinates who kept running to him for reports and orders.

“Deputy Commander! We don’t have enough places to lay the wounded soldiers!”

“Even the corridors will do! They’ve already lost so much strength; we can’t expose them to the night air. Check their injuries and prioritize those with severe wounds to be brought inside!”

“Deputy Commander! We’re running out of medicine and bandages!”

“Bring barrels of alcohol from the food storage. At least wash the wounds with alcohol! There should be spare clothes in the warehouse. Tear them up and use them as bandages!”

This chaos was caused by the wounded soldiers who had arrived at the fortress as the sun was setting. Over half a month ago, a battalion had set out to eliminate the Zoan's "Tooth Clan" who were hiding in the Hognairea Hills to the north of this fortress. The Zoan's elimination, which had lost its former momentum, was thought to be an easy mission by everyone.

However, three days after the battalion headed towards the hills, a large forest fire broke out near the Zoan village, visible even from the fortress. The large forest fire, which seemed to have burned the Zoan village, gave Makronis a bad feeling.

He found out that his premonition was correct three days later. The soldiers who had set out to eliminate the Zoan returned in a pitiful state. Their bodies were covered in soot and mud, and at first, they were mistaken for a group of vagrants. When they finally reached the fortress, most of them collapsed on the spot, so exhausted that they couldn’t move.

When asked what kind of natural disaster they had encountered, the soldiers reported that they had been attacked with fire by the Zoan, resulting in a devastating defeat that nearly wiped out the battalion. The battalion commander, Lugniatos, and all the company commanders and above had disappeared in the chaos, and the soldiers, driven by the fire, had fled without taking anything, walking for three days without food or water before finally returning to the fortress.

At first, Makronis couldn’t believe it. However, as more and more wounded soldiers kept arriving at the fortress, he had no choice but to accept the reality. Now, the fortress was filled with the wounded soldiers who were lying everywhere, and their groans could be heard continuously, creating a hellish scene.

After providing emergency treatment to the newly arrived wounded, the fortress finally calmed down when the moon, which had been high in the sky when the sun set, had already tilted towards the west.

“Deputy Commander Makronis, may I have a moment?”

A soldier with a plume on his helmet, indicating his rank as a squad leader, approached Makronis.

“What is it, Setius?”

“I have something to report.”

“What is it? Speak up.”

“Here... it’s a bit...”

He hesitated, glancing at the soldiers lying around and those tending to them.

“I understand. Follow me.”

Makronis headed towards the building. The corridors and stairs were also filled with wounded soldiers, and he had to be careful not to step on them. He finally reached the commander’s room in the fortress.

A large map hung on the back wall, and Makronis slumped into the desk chair in front of it.

“You look very tired, Deputy Commander.”

“Indeed, I am.”

Since the company commander, who was his superior, had died from the Zoan’s prince, the deputy commander, who was close to retirement, had been overwhelmed by a series of unexpected events.

“I never expected that wounded soldiers would keep arriving every day. And today, more than forty were brought in on wagons.”

“It’s as if the Zoan are attacking us.”

Makronis agreed with Setius. The wounded soldiers were from the same country, and they couldn’t be abandoned, but the number of wounded was more than the soldiers stationed at the fortress, and the fatigue of the fortress soldiers had already reached its limit due to the care and treatment of the wounded.

“Still, we can’t tell them not to send the wounded here. On the contrary, many soldiers have been saved thanks to the treatment they received. We should be grateful, not resentful.”

Since they had sent the battalion with the intention of wiping out the Zoan, they couldn’t complain if they were all killed. However, the Zoan had provided emergency treatment to the wounded and even made wagons for those who couldn’t walk on their own, which was unexpected.

In the military, the Zoan were taught to be savage beasts, but this made it unclear who the real savage beasts were.

“So, what do you want to report?”

“Actually, the soldiers who returned mentioned something concerning.”

“What is it?”

“Yes. A captured soldier reported seeing the figure of a human child among the Zoan. Moreover, the same report has come from multiple soldiers.”

“A human child? Was it kidnapped from a settlement?”

“No, it doesn’t seem to be that. It’s a hard-to-believe story, but the Zoan appeared to be following the child’s orders.”

Makronis thought this was impossible. The Zoan, who had been driven from their familiar plains by humans, must have a deep-seated grudge against them. It was inconceivable that the Zoan would follow the orders of a human they hated.

However, something nagged at Makronis’s mind.

“Have you forgotten, Deputy Commander? The prince who escaped from this fortress along with the one who disappeared?”

Makronis remembered. Not long ago, the Zoan prince who had killed the company commander had escaped, and the mysterious prince that Setius had brought from the heretical shrine had also vanished.

It was possible that the Zoan had taken the child, but it was unlikely that the Zoan, who hated humans, would risk their lives to take a child. It was thought that the child had escaped on his own, taking advantage of the Zoan’s escape.

The priest Milda, who had been in charge of putting the mysterious prince in the dungeon with the Zoan prince, had caused a commotion, and with the help of the battalion, they had searched for the child, but to no avail. Given the vastness of the plain, it was assumed that the child had died somewhere.

“Could it be that child? No, wait! The Zoan following a child? Could it be that the fire attack...!”

Makronis had found a clue to the questions that had been bothering him for the past few days. Initially, when he received the report that the battalion had been attacked with fire, he couldn’t believe it because it was so different from the Zoan’s known tactics.

However, if the soldiers’ reports were true and a human child was leading the Zoan, it was likely that the unusual tactics were the child’s idea.

“What is that child...?”

Makronis wanted to question the priest Milda, who seemed to know the identity of the prince, but he had already left the fortress. On the day the battalion’s search was called off, he had stormed out of the fortress in a fit of anger.

“Can you keep this from the soldiers?”

If the soldiers found out that a human had betrayed them and joined the Zoan, they would be shaken.

“Many soldiers have witnessed it, and the rumor has already spread among those who are tending to the wounded. It might be too late.”

“Damn! I should have interrogated that toad and made him talk.”

Regret came too late.

“Anyway, the Zoan might attack us now that they have the momentum. Everyone is exhausted, but increase the number of guards and shorten the shifts.”

This was to consider the soldiers’ fatigue and their inability to maintain concentration for long periods.

“Understood!”

After Setius saluted and left the room, Makronis slumped back in his chair.

“A human leading the Zoan? What is going on here?!”

There was no one in the room who could answer Makronis’s question.

◆◇◆◇◆

On the cold, windy wall, a soldier wrapped in a blanket, on guard duty, noticed something moving in the plain, which was just beginning to brighten in the east.

Looking closely, he saw two large wagons and the soldiers pushing them.

“More wounded, I see...”

Just the previous evening, over forty wounded had arrived, and this time, the number was even greater.

He didn’t want to go through another chaotic night, but he couldn’t abandon his comrades who had escaped with their lives. The guard soldier leaned out from the wall and shouted down.

“More wounded are here! This time, there are a lot of them!”

The area near the gate became bustling with activity.

“Open the gate!”

Several soldiers worked together to open the gate and welcome the wounded.

The wounded who entered the gate were in the worst condition yet. Everyone was wrapped in bandages, looking like a group of mummies from the distant southern desert, as rumored.

The soldiers who had greeted them, though they had become accustomed to seeing wounded over the past few days, were still moved by the sight.

“It’s okay now. Relax.”

As the soldier approached and called out, he felt a strange sense of unease that couldn’t be explained in words.

The soldiers pushing the wagons were covered in bandages, even their faces. Despite the severe burns, they seemed to exude vitality.

Meanwhile, another soldier ran to the wagons to lift the wounded for treatment and was startled.

The skin visible through the small gaps in the bandages was unusual. It didn’t look burned at all; rather, it was unusually hairy. The hairiness was excessive, as if they were wearing fur under the bandages.

At that moment, a growling sound, like that of a beast, was heard.

Turning cautiously, the soldier’s eyes met those of a bandaged wounded soldier. Upon closer inspection, something was off about the eyes. The large, round pupils were like those of a cat in the dark.

The fangs visible from the slightly open mouth were abnormally sharp and long, almost like fangs.

The soldier broke out in a cold sweat.

“Zoan! Zoan!”

The soldier’s throat was slit by a swung machete.

Taking this as a signal, the Zoan, disguised as wounded, discarded their armor and bandages, revealing their true identities.

“I am Garam, son of Garguz, of the Tooth Clan, one of the twelve Zoan clans! We will not kill those who do not resist! But those who resist will face our blades!”

Holding a machete in each hand, Garam stood on the wagon and shouted. He took a deep breath and let out a roar that shook the air.

In response, the sound of drums and numerous roars rose from outside the fortress.

“It’s a Zoan ambush!”

“The fortress is surrounded!”

The fortress was thrown into chaos.

“We are proud Zoan warriors! Show no mercy to those who resist! But do not harm those who surrender!”

With that, Garam ran off in search of enemies. The warriors of the Tooth Clan followed, chanting in unison.

“Show no mercy to those who resist! Do not harm those who surrender!”

As Garam and his men advanced, the soldiers raised their hands in surrender one after another.

Before attacking the fortress, Sōma had made the warriors of the Tooth Clan promise not to harm those who surrendered.

This was partly because Sōma still had reservations about killing people. Although he thought he had come to terms with it after the battle at Hognairea Hills, the resistance to killing, which he had developed living in peaceful Japan, was still strong. If possible, he wanted to avoid killing.

However, the main purpose was to break the fighting spirit of the fortress soldiers.

At the time, the number of soldiers in the fortress, excluding the severely wounded, was about three hundred. In terms of numbers, they could have fought the 63 warriors of the Tooth Clan.

However, of these three hundred, one hundred were originally stationed at the fortress, and the remaining two hundred were survivors from Hognairea Hills.

These two hundred were not severely wounded, but many of their fighting spirits had been broken by the fire attack.

Furthermore, many of these soldiers had been captured and then released by the Zoan. They knew that the Zoan did not mistreat their captives and kept their promise to release them later.

Would there be any among them who could muster the will to fight after being told by the Zoan that they would not be harmed if they surrendered?

If the Zoan had said to kill everyone, the soldiers might have gathered their remaining will and fought desperately.

But hearing that they would not be harmed if they surrendered, they chose to surrender without hesitation.

This affected the soldiers originally stationed at the fortress. Even though they had drawn their swords and mustered their will upon hearing about the Zoan ambush, they saw everyone around them quickly deciding to surrender. In such an environment, their will to fight quickly faded.

The soldiers who could have fought lost their will and surrendered one after another without even engaging in combat.

Thus, Garam and the warriors of the Tooth Clan subdued the fortress soldiers one by one with just words.

◆◇◆◇◆

Makronis, who had been taking a nap, was awakened by the commotion and the sound of drums in the fortress. As he was putting on his armor, a soldier rushed in.

“It’s bad, Deputy Commander! It’s a Zoan ambush!”

“Report the situation!”

“The Zoan have entered through the gate and are about to take over the fortress!”

“Through the gate! Were the guards asleep?!”

Since the Zoan had helped the prince escape with a small group, the fortress’s guard had been strengthened. In particular, the area near the gate had additional guards and a temporary shelter to ensure that at least ten soldiers were always on duty, to prevent the gate from being easily opened in case of an enemy intrusion.

“But... the Zoan were wrapped in bandages and disguised as wounded, so we opened the gate for them.”

“Idiots! You opened the gate without checking?!”

“S-Sorry, I...”

Makronis, about to yell again, stopped himself.

Over the past few days, the soldiers had become accustomed to the daily arrival of wounded. It was only natural to want to bring in their severely injured comrades as quickly as possible for treatment.

It was too harsh to blame them for this.

Then, he suddenly realized.

“Damn! We were set up! All of this was a setup!”

The wounded were sent in small groups to make the fortress personnel accustomed and complacent. The large group sent the previous day was to induce fatigue and dull judgment. The careful treatment and bandaging of the wounded were to create a situation where the Zoan, even if wrapped in bandages, would not seem out of place.

“The one who planned this is a rotten individual!”

After cursing inwardly, Makronis grabbed his sword and rushed out of the room. As he exited the building, he encountered the Zoan.

The black-haired Zoan at the front pointed a machete at him.

“That plume on your helmet! You must be the commander of this fortress!”

Makronis also recognized the black-haired Zoan’s impressive physique and deduced that he was the leader.

Without a word, Makronis lunged with his sword. Garam parried the thrust with his left machete and quickly stepped in, thrusting his right machete at Makronis’s side. Makronis, in a split second, released his left hand from the sword hilt and used his left elbow to block Garam’s right wrist.

However, this left him vulnerable, and Garam stepped in further, delivering a powerful headbutt to Makronis’s nose. Staggering back, Makronis was then tripped and fell to the ground on his back.

“Surrender! Or I’ll slit your throat!”

Pinned down with two machetes at his throat, Makronis clenched his teeth in frustration. When he saw his subordinates being restrained by other Zoan, he threw his sword far away and relaxed his body.

“I’ve lost. I surrender...”

“Unfortunately, I accept.”

True to his word, Garam, looking displeased, answered. Makronis, puzzled, asked:

“What do you mean by ‘unfortunately’?”

“I was told not to harm those who surrender.”

Makronis, who had killed many Zoan, was a hated enemy. Garam would have preferred to kill him.

“I see. That’s a bit of a relief.”

Garam’s frown slightly eased Makronis’s pride.

11/11 Correction