Chapter 75 - Surprise

Zaos couldn't believe his ears, and he blinked several times. Maybe that was all just a dream since that was way too weird. First, he had to fight and kill some creepy guys last night who used the bones of his fallen comrades to craft weapons. Now he had to protect and fight for a city under siege? That was insane…

"Sir, did I hear wrong?" Zaos asked.

"... Go to the armory and stop wasting time," Elius furrowed his eyebrows.

The soldiers were quickly entering the armory, getting what they wanted and leaving, so Zaos squad's turn quickly came, so they did the same, and after that, they headed to the southern entrance. Upon reaching there, Zaos found most of all other squads of rookies. Meanwhile, the few veterans that still were on the base were heading West with horses. After ten minutes, all the new squads were there. So, Elius decided to give a proper explanation.

"I don't have time to give all the details and I won't waste time talking during the trip, so open your ears and pay attention," Elius said. "Some of you already know that some villages had been attacked, they were located on our Eastside and we sent our soldiers to hunt the criminals. The truth is, we fell for a trap, the attacks were just a diversion to lure out our troops. The real target is the town of Krisaldia. The place is being sieged by a band of mercenaries, and we are going to head there and prevent the fall of the city. Our job is to endure until our real troops return and head there. Don't slow down your pace, or you will get lost in the middle of the night."

Without wasting any more time, Elius began to walk toward the West, one after the other. The squads formed a line and began to march behind him. In the end, there was no time to question their job. Although they didn't hesitate in following Elius, Zaos noticed that a lot of them were trembling… they felt like they had been fairly unlucky to enlist at a time where the northern military base was having such a hard time.

"I guess that is one of the reasons my father and some others don't talk about the military bases they graduated from," Zaos's thought. "This kind of place probably would be the least chosen place by new recruits."

"Squad leader… Do you think that we are ready to fight in a siege battle?"

Zaos turned around and saw his squad members making expressions as if they were worried about that as well. It was obvious that they weren't ready. Not even Zaos, who has been training with the sword for the last six years, was ready for that. Instead of answering that, Zaos decided to see things from another perspective.

"Our job is to do the same we did in that village," Zaos replied. "Put the people there at peace, but this time we will do something more. We will put some pressure on the mercenaries that are attacking the city. We are newbies when it comes to warfare, but we have the numbers. As far as I am concerned, we aren't going to fight alone and we don't have to solve the entire situation by ourselves. We just have to endure until the veterans return from the East side of this region."

Zaos's words put his squad members at peace, to some extent. Other squads also heard him and also noticed since it made sense. While it was weird that kids of that age would accept the logic that easily, in the end, it was kind of natural. After all, most boys who wanted to join the army were simple-minded and straightforward kids.

"All right… I guess it isn't a coincidence that I was born in this world and thrown into this mess of a situation," Zaos furrowed his eyebrows while he was thinking about that. "Still, if I fight in this kind of situation, I am destined by fate… I would have been screwed if I hadn't learned magic."

Zaos had no idea how the demon god's followers could brainwash someone. Still, a melee fight against them probably wasn't the best option. However, the enemies this time were mercenaries… probably from an enemy nation, so magic wasn't the only option. That being said, Zaos probably wasn't skilled enough to fight even against an ordinary mercenary. Not without using a few tricks…

The trip to the northern base, in the end, helped the recruit build up some stamina. They managed to march at an accelerated pace for six hours without stopping. Thanks to it, they reached their destination one hour after sunrise. In front of the recruits, they could see a medium-sized walled town, surrounded by all sides for numerous mercenaries. At least that was the case on the South and East side of the town. The other two sides hadn't a single mercenary nearby because in those places, not only could they see the walls blocking their paths, but also a steep slope. Still, Zaos and the others didn't have time to contemplate the terrain… the gates of the city were already being shattered, and the archers above the walls couldn't prevent the fall.

"We are too late, sir," Zaos said.

"Not at all, we arrived just in time," Elius said. "Everyone, nock your arrows and prepare to shot."

Zaos couldn't understand the meaning of that, while he could see that seven five hundred archers would cause a lot of damage, even if they are newbies, the very moment the mercenaries turn around and begin to run toward them, everything will collapse.

The mercenaries were too busy since they were almost destroying the city's gate. Thanks to that, they didn't notice the recruits' arrival. In the end, Elius had plenty of time to show everyone the angle they should fire. When he gave the sign, hundreds of arrows fell right above the group that was attacking the gate.