CH 71

(Ryo POV)

“Izumi squad, fall back! And Mugi squad, open fire!”

I lift my voice and issue the instruction. Then Izumi and the others, who had been stalling the opponents with a few young men from the village and several fellow mercenaries, slowly retreat to avoid any openings while Mugi and the others with marksmanship skills unilaterally launch attacks against the enemies once the foes are within the attack range.

Among the marksmanship group, Mugi stands out in particular. Her ≪Fire Swirl≫, which has been enhanced by ≪Fire Magic Proficiency I≫, scorches many enemies.

The adversaries try to flee in the face of the one-sided attack, but this is too naive.

“Mugi Squad, abort the attack! Izumi squad! Houki Squad! Pincer attack!”

When Mugi and the others cease their attacks, Izumi, who has become exceptionally powerful due to ≪Muscular Strength Enhancement≫ leads the assault on the opponents in the rear of the fleeing antagonists. Needless to say, there are counterattacks from some of the enemies, but for Izumi, who possesses ≪Unbloody≫ and ≪Self-Regeneration (Weak)≫, it appears that no amount of graze injuries will be enough to stop her.

Then, Houki, who had been hidden by ≪Covert≫, strikes at the foes who are endeavoring to escape indiscreetly.

Naturally, the opponents, who seek to flee, are powerless to resist.

“Phew. I guess we made it through the opening phase of the battle.”

Now, since you probably don’t have a grasp of what’s happening out of the blue, let me start by outlining the current scenario.

Although I said that, there is nothing much to say. Following the request from the village chief, while the entire village was in the process of carrying out a retreat operation, the assailants approached them, so we simply counterattacked and annihilated them.

Incidentally, the itinerary has been scheduled for about 3 days, and right now we are only around half a day out of the village.

All that remains to be done is…

“Those who are injured, head to us, the Ryo Squad, first! As for the rest, please fall back and catch your rest after receiving food supplies from the Une Squad! Regarding the monster carcasses, each of you is allowed to remove them within 5 minutes, provided that it does not hinder your mobility!”

[[[Yes!]]]

We need to tend to the wounded, distribute food, and strip the carcasses. These are all essential for the immediate future. Even so… this job is going to be a lot less lucrative than I expected.

(Izumi POV)

“There are all kinds of monsters, including Jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampire), and even zombified dogs and rats,” Houki onee-chan, who is inspecting the corpses of the monsters, remarks while holding the stripped ones in her hands.

“According to what I’ve heard, the master of this place can produce monsters out of the humans he kills, and can even resurrect dead monsters under certain conditions. That’s the most sickening thing I’ve ever heard,” Mugi onee-chan replies while keeping vigilance on the surroundings.

“As for the hostiles that assaulted us earlier, we’ve already destroyed its core, which is the condition for reviving it, so there’s no problem.”

“Dealing with the aftermath is important, you know.”

Ryo onee-chan and Une onee-chan are bringing the food for today. However, the quantity of food is less than that of the others.

“(Meal?)”

“Yes, that’s right. We have requested for a decreased quantity for those of us who simply take it as a personal delight in order to maintain the food supply.”

“Well, that’s understandable under the current circumstances.”

“The quantity doesn’t matter much to us.”

“Instead, we are interested in the taste.”

Ryo onee-chan and Une onee-chan serve the meal to me and the others and we start to enjoy the meal together.

“Right. I just received a report from one of the humans we sent out on a reconnaissance earlier.”

Ryo onee-chan starts discussing while taking her meal.

“By reconnaissance, do you mean from the front or from the back?”

“The back side.”

“Lady Ryo. Then, has the army of the Demon King and his troops been discovered?”

“That’s part of it, but in addition to that, I heard there were intruders.”

“Intruders… you mean there are people who entered the dungeon at this time?”

“Yes. According to our reconnaissance, about ten people entered the dungeon just as a mass of monsters were leaving the dungeon.”

“(Munch munch.)”

I am not sure I agree with holding a briefing over a meal, but we’re running out of time, so I guess it can’t be helped.

“So, how long will it take for the crucial adversaries to reach here?”

Mugi onee-chan inquires to Ryo onee-chan.

“From what the reconnaissance said, we may be attacked two days from now, just before we reach the city.”

“Then, perhaps if we hasten somewhat, we can avoid the assault.”

Une onee-chan proposes in response to Ryo onee-chan’s words.

“That is certainly true. But we need to determine how far the humans can travel with their physical strength.”

“Well then, I’ll go and confirm whether they can do it in haste or not.”

Following Ryo onee-chan’s words, Houki onee-chan goes to check with the village chief.

“(I hope we can make it in time.)”

“Yeah.”

I involuntarily write that to Mugi onee-chan.

And two days later.

The others and I…