CH 22

Ace attacks continued to occur frequently.

Most of them were only on a relatively small scale and easily defended by the villagers themselves. Because of Sheila’s healing potions, there were also no casualties.

A somewhat relaxed atmosphere prevails in the village. The frequency of attacks is increasing, but the initial realization that the enemy has been defeated relieves the villagers of their sense of danger.

I look over and see a Beastman on top of a watchtower, sneezing. He isn’t holding a bow and seems relaxed in the sunlight.

“Sirius, everyone is letting their guard down. Is this really okay?”

“No, it’s not. But… just as a taut thread can be easily cut, warriors also need to relax. But why doesn’t Ace attack us with everything at once? What is he trying to do?”

Sirius narrows his brows.

He can’t seem to stop worrying about the situation, so he instructs the villagers to build an abatis. The undeads of Ace are mainly skeletons, and the crude wooden fences around the village are easily destroyed.

I placed logs around the thinly defended areas to prevent the enemy from rushing in. Skeletons with little intelligence will slow down if there are obstacles in their way, so we can poke them with spears.

In the corner of the village, smoke rises from a kitchen. Since it’s an emergency, it isn’t possible for every family to have a meal, so the food is provided mostly by a soup kitchen.

Thor and Sheila are working hard alongside the Beastman women. While Sheila is chopping herbs, Thor is mimicking Sheila with her sloppy hands.

“She’s been skipping out on helping his mother……”

I’ve heard that Thor is a genius, but she’s not very good at housework. I think she’s just an eater at home.

The two of them are wearing the same clothes as the women in this village, not the slave clothes they wore before but long jackets with slits at the feet and form fitting pants underneath. I guess she’s dressed in a way that emphasizes mobility. The patterns carved in various places are very ethnic.

“Sirius? Did someone in the village provide the clothes for those two?”

“The ladies were all over them, getting them dressed up. Maybe it was because elves were rare, but they were really excited.”

It seems that they were surrounded by Beastman ladies and used as dress-up dolls.

“How peaceful…….”

If you look up at the sky, you will see white clouds slowly drifting by, and birds flying past it.

If you listen carefully, you can hear the sounds of laughter coming from all over the village. An ordinary day in a peaceful village. If my family didn’t exist, this would be a scene that would continue forever.

◇◇◇

It’s midnight, and I’m resting my tired body at Sirius’s house.

I’m exhausted from the work I had done during the day, building the logs and repairing the earthen mounds and wooden fences. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that I’m not used to this kind of work.

“Hmm, Gabriel, what’s wrong?”

Gabriel, who was lying down beside me, suddenly stands up. She’s groaning and tugging on my sleeve, wanting to tell me something.

“No way, a night attack!? Hey, Sirius!”

“There’s no report from the warriors on guard!”

I hurry to get out of the house. The surrounding area is shrouded in darkness, and I couldn’t see more than ten steps ahead. If the enemy is attacking, will the guards be able to detect it?

“Light the bonfires! Men, get ready for battle, come on out!”

Sirius’s angry voice echoes through the village. The Beastmen come out of their houses, clothed in their clothes, and proceed to prepare bonfires and weapons.

“Hurry up! The enemy won’t wait for us!”

I climb up the watchtower with Sirius. The lights from the bonfires begin to flicker, but we couldn’t see very far.

In the silence, I hear someone spitting.

I’ve never seen Gabriel so flustered before. I have a bad feeling about this.

I wait for about ten minutes. No movement.

“Hey, Chief! I’ll take a look, give me permission!”

Fayne comes running through the crowd. Sirius nods to him, even though scouting alone was extremely dangerous.

“Permission granted. But if you’re not back in 10 minutes, you will be treated as dead. I’ll close the gates of the village.”

“Ok, please leave it to me!!”

Fayne replies vigorously and runs off into the darkness.

◇◇◇

“Chief! It’s a big problem!”

Fayne comes back to the village gasping for air. The villagers begin to gather around him to listen to his report.

“Undeads… there were a lot of skeletons, chief!”

“I don’t understand what you mean by a lot. Give me the exact number!”

“They’re coming from all directions! I’ve counted a thousand of them!”

The villagers gasp at the large number.

The skeletons are among the weakest of the undead, and even the villagers are capable of dealing with them. But if there are a thousand of them, it would be difficult for this village of less than a hundred people to stop them.

“Sirius, do you think we should abandon the village?”

“No. Some of the old people can’t move.”

It’s impossible to escape when you’re surrounded by them. Then we need to fight a defensive battle.

“Then let’s just reduce the number of skeletons! And then we’ll have to find and kill Ace.”

“All right. Okay… warriors, listen up!”

Sirius shouts out to get the attention of the others. In the darkness, the warrior’s eyes are fixed on Sirius alone.

“The defensive battle is about to begin. Warriors, defend your assigned positions to the death! We will endure until morning to find and defeat Ace! Do you understand?”

The warriors respond by raising their arms. The overlapping loud voices echo through the village, making my eardrums tremble. Thanks to Sirius, morale is high. The relaxed atmosphere tightens at once.

“Sirius. I’ll be in charge of the raid and protecting the thinly defended areas. I want you to take overall command.”

“I understand. I swear to the ancestral spirits that I won’t let my disgrace show. I’ll leave that to you.”

We nod to each other and move to our respective posts. On the way, I find Sheila preparing a healing potion.

She seems to be dividing them into small portions with different concentrations, one for serious injuries, one for minor injuries, and one for applying to weapons. Thor’s distributing them to the warriors.

I can hear the skeleton’s footsteps in the distance.

I guess that Ace is hiding somewhere.

By the way, I heard that Ace has a boy on a leash, but I wonder who he is.