Chapter 78 - No Hesitation

Elius managed to organize the recruits as he wanted. Still, the mercenaries had far more experience, so Zaos didn't have any chance to attack. Every minute, one of the recruits was shot down by an arrow, while several others would get hit and unable to fight. There was only a squad waiting to be called, and, in the end, Elius made up his mind.

"Riders! It is time!" Elius said.

Zaos had no idea what time it was, but in the end, he soon realized what Elius wanted to do. If he couldn't use Zaos's magic to destroy the ladders, there was another way to stop the mercenaries from climbing… they began to throw corpses at the enemies. At first, they threw the enemy's body, which managed to make several mercenaries fall from their death. Still, soon, they began to throw the corpses of their dead allies.

"Sir?" Zaos opened his eyes widely.

"Don't question me, boy," Elius said. "We are not here to offer only our lives to save the city, but our bodies as well."

In the end, Zaos couldn't even say much since the plan was working, and it was better than letting the pile of corpses on their side increase. Still, that made Zaos feel a terrible taste in his mouth. That was probably the veterans who were doing that instead of the rookies.

The riders threw some corpses on the mercenaries that were throwing spears as well. Thanks to that, Zaos had the chance to use Fire Sword. All that training really paid off since Zaos managed to destroy eleven of the fifteen ladders… maybe the fact that they were moving was contributing as well. Regardless, once again, the mercenaries were forced to retreat. However, as expected, they took with themselves the ladders that could still be repaired.

The soldiers and even the rookies celebrated for quite a while, but in the end, the harsh reality of the battle made them stop. While they killed around one hundred mercenaries in a couple of minutes, some veterans and fifty rookies ended up losing their lives. Not a single one was from Zaos's squad since they focused on covering for him, but that didn't make things any easier. While clenching his fist and teeth, Zaos began to ask himself what the hell nine years old kids were dying.

"… The battle isn't over yet," Elius said after he tapped on Zaos's shoulder. "Go recover your mana, your skills might prevent more deaths, so just focus on doing what you can."

It has been a while since Zaos felt like telling Elius to go and eat shit, but he prevented himself from doing that. He couldn't let his anger control his actions like that… that was the kind of thing he had to get used to as a soldier. After moving away from the walls, Zaos began to meditate, and he couldn't help but wonder why he was so mad. Sure, fellow recruits' death was sad, but it wasn't like he didn't imagine something like that could happen. He was warned on the same day he enlisted by Elius, after all.

"Maybe things in the other world weren't like that," Zaos thought. "While I can't remember many things, it looked like I lived a peaceful life before coming to this world."

While Zaos was recovering his mana, he also noticed that the people of the town finally showed up to help with some tasks like carrying weapons and cleaning the aftermath of the battle. They also were tending the wounds of the soldiers and recruits. It was a pity that a city like that didn't have a single decent mage. If they had, they would have used it in the fight… probably.

Zaos learned later that aside from fifty dead, the recruits' squads also had at least one hundred wounded. Without experience and while hurt, there was no way that they would return to the fight. So, the number of combatants was rapidly decreasing.

"So, this is what a real battlefield looks like…" Zaos muttered. "Do I have to endure this until the day I die again? Seeing people dying before me one after the other until my turn comes?"

In a sense, Zaos was amazed that he was born in a family that endured that kind of thing for generations. Zaos didn't want to live like that forever, but then again… not fighting was really an option? The kingdom still will be attacked, and the kingdom will have to rely on soldiers to repel them. Other people will die, others who didn't have the mentality and the chance Zaos had to become strong…

Before Zaos could sort out his feelings, he noticed things getting tense in the walls again. When he approached, Elius blocked his way.

"They are going to do things properly this time, you don't have to participate," Elius said.

"What do you mean?" Zaos frowned.

"They will send small groups of soldiers at each time and they will try to slowly wear down our forces," Elius replied. "They will probably do that many times along the day, until they launch an all-out attack and invade the town before the others come to help us."

That was really bad, but then Zaos noticed that he wasn't the only one who had been put away from the fight for the time being. The other recruits were also away from the walls. At least until the whole army of mercenaries comes, they are supposed to rest.

That was easier said than done, though. The squads that lost some members were a mess. Unlike Zaos, most of the kids had already become friends with one another… it was hard to see a new friend dying in front of themselves. Thanks to that, they couldn't rest, much less forget what just happened for a few seconds…

"I guess I am not the only one who is considering changing my profession…" Zaos muttered and then sighed. "Hopefully, this is a common thing for recruits."