Chapter 29

"......What time is it now?"

A plain a little distance from the village of Abatox.

In one corner of the plain where Mau and Meala once discovered Mako, the Antimishka royal army had set up camp.

Inside the halted carriage—Antimishka asked the commander standing beside her.

"It's almost five in the evening, I believe."

"How long is this going to take?!"

Antimishka roughly grabbed a cushion beside her and threw it at the commander.

The cushion hit the armor and fell to the floor.

Of course, the commander did not flinch.

"Where are the reinforcements? When will my army, which I sent to deliver the message, arrive here?!"

"Please calm down, Princess Antimishka."

The commander, while straightening the fallen cushion, spoke to Antimishka, who was breathing heavily.

"A village like this can be easily subdued by the people here. However, this time, things are a bit different. The other side possesses unexpected elements beyond our expectations, and Prince Iksa is also involved. Therefore, we are reinforcing our forces to ensure everything goes smoothly."

"Huff... huff..."

"Something like this has never happened before. Princess, it's just a series of unforeseen circumstances that have disturbed your mind. The situation is under control; there's no need to worry."

"......I'll crush them."

Biting her nails, Antimishka growled.

"How dare they defy me, a royal, defy me... That Abazure woman... She hit my stomach, and this time, I'll stomp on her stomach until she vomits her guts out... And Iksa... Just because his bratty, impolite attitude has somehow won my father's favor, he's gotten the wrong idea. That brat... This is a good opportunity to make him a mess so he can't be insolent again..."

At this point, Antimishka's purpose had shifted entirely to revenge against those who had shaken her pride.

Suddenly, she stopped biting her nails.

"......You seemed to know a lot about that Garai guy. An old acquaintance or something?"

"No, he doesn't even know who I am."

The commander, without meeting Antimishka's eyes, stared straight ahead.

"However, before I came to serve Princess Antimishka, I was somewhat involved in the underworld. I had heard of his skills and even thought about competing with him someday."

He looked at his clenched fist and said,

"I have confidence... even if he is a legendary figure in the underworld, I believe I am superior."

"Is that so? Well, I won't stop you this time. Do as you please."

Antimishka said indifferently.

"The reinforcements will arrive soon. As soon as they do, we'll start the invasion immediately."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait for that moment to come."

The sun began to set behind the mountains, and night began to cover the world.

"They won't run away, will they?"

"Currently, I've sent scouts to the surrounding areas to observe the village. If they do, we'll receive an immediate report."

* * * * *

"......"

In the forest, now completely dark after the sun had set, the scouts sent out were advancing.

They were the ones tasked with lurking around the village of Abatox and observing the situation.

"How is it?"

"They don't seem to be running. What fools."

Inside the village, the scouts saw torches lined up and the Beowulfs moving around, and they chuckled.

"Well, even if they did run, there's nowhere for them to go. What do you think, should we launch a night raid ourselves? Even as scouts, we have nearly twenty of us spread out. We can easily subdue that number."

"If you don't mind being executed by Princess Antimishka, go ahead... Hey, what's that? Something strange is happening, isn't it?"

One of the scouts noticed something odd in the village.

At the same time,

"......Shh!"

Another scout reacted, looking back in the direction of the forest they had come from.

"What is it?"

"Can't you hear something?"

"Sound?"

"Something is coming this way..."

Just as he said that, the scouts saw "it" appear before their eyes.

"What! --"

* * * * *

--- A little earlier.

I was riding on Entia's back, running around the mountains outside the village.

The sun was about to set, and the dark forest was losing its light.

Moreover, the enemy's invasion was about to begin.

There was something I had to do before that.

"There they are..."

Entia ran through the trees with agile movements.

From her back, I confirmed the target.

"Sis, we're getting close."

Entia whispered and quickly closed the distance to the target.

What we were looking for was—

"!"

A wild animal.

A ferocious wild animal that lived in these mountains.

With brown and white striped fur and a round body—it was a wild boar.

The wild boar immediately went into a defensive stance as we approached.

However, upon realizing it was Entia, it instantly sensed the difference in strength and tried to run away with its tail between its legs.

I caught up and reached out to touch the wild boar's back.

This should activate my Pet Master skill, "Communication."

"Come when I call you later! I'll tell the others too!"

"!"

As the wild boar, surprised by my voice, reacted, it showed that it understood my words—proof that the "Communication" had worked.

Entia and I ran around the forest, calling out to every wild animal we found.

Then—

"......That's enough."

After chasing and touching all the wild animals Entia could sense with her nose and activating "Communication," we stood at the top of the mountain.

"Entia, call them all."

"Alright."

Entia took a deep breath.

"Everyone! Sis is calling you! Gather here!"

The wolf's howl echoed through the mountain.

The howl, which would sound like just a noise to ordinary humans, was understood by the animals, who soon began to gather at the mountaintop.

There were dozens of wild boars.

All of them were on guard, keeping their distance from us and growling lowly.

"Thank you for responding to our call."

"What's up, you?!"

One of the smaller wild boars spoke up boldly.

"Are you one of those village people, huh?!"

"Are you challenging us?!"

"Are you thinking we'll be scared because you're with that wolf?!"

"Don't underestimate us!"

They were all confrontational.

Well, considering their past, it was understandable.

They were wild animals that had become aggressive from eating plants similar to poison in these mountains.

Their temperaments were likely rough.

Moreover, they were generally in conflict with the beastmen in the village and Entia, who protected them.

"Is it okay, Sis? Letting them talk like that?"

"It's fine, Entia."

In fact, I needed them to be like this.

I spoke to the noisy group of wild boars.

"Sorry, I've been scaring you all lately."

The wild boars stopped their noise at my words.

"We've been attacking you recklessly, saying it's dangerous. The villagers are really sorry. I came here today to apologize on their behalf. I'm really sorry."

"Alright, I get it."

"It's not like we were scared, but we were surprised when attacked suddenly."

The wild boars became distant at my apology.

They might have been taken aback by the sincere apology.

"So, today, I want to treat you all as an apology."

At my words, the wild boars' eyes changed.

"Treat?!"

"Where, where? Where is it?!"

"Wait! Calm down! It's probably a lie, right?!"

"No, it's not a lie. As proof—"

I pointed to the village at the foot of the mountain.

From the mountaintop, we could see the central square of the village—where a large pile of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, which the village had prepared for this purpose, was stacked. These were the leftovers from the recent delivery from the Weeble family.

"Wow! It looks delicious!"

"Can we really eat it?!"

"Yes, but you have to wait a bit. I'll explain the rules."

I explained the rules to the wild boars.

"Stay here until I give the signal. When everything is ready, Entia will call out, and then you can all run to the village at once. It's a race, and the first one there wins. And, absolutely no destroying village property or hurting the villagers. If you do, the feast is over, and you'll have to go back to the mountains."

"Got it!"

The wild boars started to get excited.

Good, the first part of the plan is complete.

"Can we go yet?!"

"Hurry up, hurry up!"

"I'm looking forward to it!"

By the way, why do you all talk like delinquents?

Because you're aggressive wild animals?

* * * * *

--- And now, back to the present.

"What, what are these things! ...Gah!"

The wild boars charged down the mountain slope with great momentum.

The scouts were blown away one by one by the wave, like a landslide.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

"I'm the first one there!"

"Did I just blow someone away? But it wasn't one of the villagers, right?!"

The wild boars ignored the scouts and rushed to the center of the village—where the fruit tower (a tower of fruits, vegetables, and nuts) was set up.

On the other hand, the scouts, who had been blown away and tumbled down the slope, were—

"Ugh... What the...?"

"Got them!"

"Pour it on them!"

As they rolled to the edge of the village, the waiting Beowulfs poured the liquid from their buckets onto them.

"What... is this...?"

"It's hard... and heavy..."

The gray liquid stuck to the scouts' bodies, seeping into the gaps in their armor and equipment, and began to harden.

The Beowulfs had mixed volcanic ash with water.

When Mau mentioned that the grassland beyond the village was a volcano, the Beowulfs had thought it might be useful as a weapon.

They collected the volcanic ash, ground it into powder, and stored it—ready to mix with water and use when needed.

Volcanic ash was once used as a component in concrete.

They thought that mixing it with water would create something like mortar.

It seems that a few of the Beowulfs had been interested in the idea and had gone to collect the volcanic ash, which proved useful today.

"Ugh..."

"It worked."

The scouts, immobilized, were approached by me on Entia's back.

The Beowulfs bound them with the "Wire" I had pre-crafted.

Bound with a metal rope capable of supporting 120 kg, the scouts were now helpless.

"Alright, then."

I headed to the village square where the wild boars were enjoying the feast.

The square was packed with the round bodies of the wild boars.

Wow, this is amazing. A carpet of wild boars.

I wonder if it would feel good to lie down on this.

"Hey! You're here!"

"Thanks, human! It's been a while since I had such a delicious meal!"

"You're a good one, human!"

"Of course, she's Sis."

Entia said proudly from behind.

"Sis? Is that your name?"

"Then we'll call you Sis too!"

"Sis, by the way, on the way here, we blew away some strange people."

"Oh, those are the scouts."

I explained to the wild boars, who had noticed the scouts bound by the Beowulfs.

"Actually, our village is being targeted by some bad people right now."

I spoke to the wild boars.

"They heard that this village produces delicious vegetables and beautiful flowers and came to take the profits. We want to keep providing food to everyone, but if the village is taken over, we might not be able to do that anymore."

"What! That's unacceptable!"

"We hate such cowardly acts the most!"

"Leave it to us!"

"We'll beat them up!"

The wild boars were riled up.

Great! Thank you, everyone!

"Thank you! By the way, the enemy is... on the plain beyond this mountain."

"Alright! We'll do it!"

"We'll also invite the others still in the forest!"

And so, with an incredible force of reinforcements, our counterattack began.