The Old Knight of a Frontier District

1

Fifteen days have passed since the beginning of the year in January.

The reconnaissance I sent out the furthest away came home today.

After all, neither Warcraft nor Manuno could find it.

Manuno is such a strange subhuman that the lower body of a woman of man has become a snake.

Although Bardo has never seen you in real life.

I can't stay away from water-rich places for so long.

He was originally a sub living in wetlands and dense forests upstream of Ova.

However, during rainy seasons and so on, we may temporarily live downstream of Ova.

I have information that around October of last year, I was creating a settlement on the banks of the River Ova, just east of Rhode Van Castle.

That's why he started there and let his reconnaissance go somewhere along the Ova coast.

Aside from whether or not the information that Manuno is manipulating the Warcraft is correct, I'm pretty sure there are still fewer Warcraft out there.

However, the area to be targeted is too large to be searched for spotting.

That's when an expedition arrived from the north.

2.

Now in the room are Bardo, Zaifert, Arflaburn, Jog, and each of the deputies.

Bardo's deputy is served by a knight nut lent to him by Chantillion.

He is a treasure because he is familiar with the military and national situations and has high secretarial skills.

It goes without saying that Cars serves as an escort and Jurchaga refrains from serving as a squire.

Near the door stands the Knight Nid and Knight Husband of the House of Toad.

The two of them handled Baldo's side by side, doing missionary and other chores, and sold their faces a lot to knights from all over the country.

Nido got the nickname (Nose Bend) because Baldo beat him up and his nose was distressed.

Fusban always gets the nickname "Hikari" because he keeps it clean.

"Nose bending" is a bit of a terrible nickname, but the person at the time seems to like it, and I heard General Bardo bragged about this for some reason.

"Earlier, an expedition arrived from Mailao Castle.

It is Lord Tazlow, an obedient knight belonging to the Knights of the Goriola Border.

Lord Tazlow scouted and reported to Tri that he was ordered to convey the contents to General Bardo immediately.

From here, you will report to Lord Tazlow. "

After a knight nut nod, a young squire looking quite tired began to speak.

Instead of being a youth, he still has a face he wants to call a boy.

"Since last October, traffic near the eastern border has been restricted and the movement of merchants from Tri to Castle Mairao will only take place once a month with a Knights escort.

Ten days ago, our own Knights took a few merchants to Tri.

The tries had been wiped out.

All humans were feeding on warcraft and dying. "

Tazlow, the squire knight, stuffed the words here once and drank the water carried by Jurchaga before continuing to report.

"The Troop Commander decided it was dangerous to stay on the spot for a long time, and we returned to Castle Mayrao.

It was four days ago.

His Excellency the Knights Commander decided that he should tell General Bardo immediately, and he sent himself immediately. "

Mayrao Castle is the southernmost stronghold of the Goriola Empire and the home of the Goriola Border Knights.

Tri's Tsu (Minato) was used when he crossed Bardo's own Ova.

It was a small village, but it was a vibrant place, giving a sense of a feeling of what was about to develop.

Bardo called out and asked questions after he had worked so hard that the people of Tri felt sorry for him.

I wondered how many were dead in the Tri and if that was definitely due to the Warcraft.

"Ha, ha.

There were about one hundred and fifty people living in the Tri, and they also packed about twenty soldiers of the escort.

In addition to the merchants and spouses who were temporarily staying, it is likely that approximately one hundred and eighty to one hundred and ninety people.

It was the opinion of the Troop Commander that there were no swords or spear wounds on the body, that there were traces of beast claws or fangs, and that the walls and walls of the house were broken down, so it was judged to be a warcraft raid, not a human raid. "

Bardo asked how the horses and cows were.

"Ha.

Horses and cows were all killed. "

Baldo asked her if she had been eaten.

The obedient knight Tazlow seemed to stay on this question, but the astute Earl of Arflaburn seemed to have discredited Bardo's intentions and took over the question.

"Subordinate Knight Tazlow.

Did you come this far from Castle Mairao in four days, without taking a night off?

That's brilliant horsemanship.

Hello, Quint family. "

"Ha.

My Lord Count.

It is.

I am the eldest son of the Quint family, the Barcloud family. "

"Uhm.

I've seen your father's brilliant horse judgment.

I'm sorry you forced your precious horse to.

But the speed of this information could save many lives.

I want you to remember me well and answer your questions, Your Excellency.

Firstly, how many horses and cows were in the try "

"Ha.

It's an honor.

Probably about twenty horses.

I think there were about four or five cows. "

"Was there any flesh left in the body of the ox and the horse?"

"No.

He was eaten all over the bones. "

"Right.

So what about humans? "

"Ha.

And all the meat, meat, was eaten. "

Here the squire Tazlow started whimpering (snapping).

Finally, Arflaburn asked if there were any bodies of the beasts that had attacked him, but the answer was that they had not been found.

Bardo asked there what had happened to food such as wheat and vegetables.

It was all eaten up, the answer was.

I don't have any more questions for now.

When we lowered Tazlow to a separate room, we started discussing it.

It was Zaifert who first expressed his opinion on Baldo's question as to what he thought.

"It looks like some soldiers were unilaterally ravaged.

You should think of it as a warcraft.

And whether it's a warcraft or not, it seems like a terrible number.

I've had time to escape, and I'll be in touch soon, because they're killing us all. "

Arflaburn also agreed to this.

Jog was sleeping with his chair pulled between the walls, so Colin agreed instead.

Whatever it was, it turns out that the enemy existed and that ten days ago he was in the Tri.

As a result of the consultation, it was decided to dispatch a scouting of a narrowed range from the following day.

The next day, on the sixteenth of January, a hurry from Castel Mayrao arrived again.

The news is that the castle is being attacked by a warcraft.

3

After hearing the report of the conductor with the same facial rash as the previous day, we discussed the response.

Thirty Warcraft of the Ear Long Wolf have attacked me.

It attacked me on the night of the twelfth.

Fortunately, the main entrance was closed, but I allowed two people to break in through the side gate.

For this reason he sent out three dead and about ten wounded, but the invading warcraft took it away.

Then the Warcraft stood barking in front of the main gate and the side gate, but eventually wandered a little further away.

If you try to open the gate at all, you try to attack me.

He said he escaped at the speed of the horse where he had sent his commander out of another gate but was noticed and caught up in danger.

Mailao Castle is a majestic fortress known only as the Castle.

But the construction is robust and the walls are high.

It is a fort that cannot be entered by large numbers of humans, but will not fall so far as it is withdrawn to defense.

The Border Knights are smaller in size than Parzam, but now they say they've stopped patrolling and everyone's stuck inside.

The power of war is thirty knights and fifteen obedient knights, plus about ten obedient men.

The Knights of the Borders leader is Tide Norwinge.

The deputy commander is Caba Kohou.

They say they are knights who are not flashy, but who fight a solid and inexorable battle.

"I don't think it's all enemy power, but with some reinforcements, you'll be able to defeat it from the inside and from the outside.

You may want to sharpen it when you can. "

In response to Zaifert that Arflaburn,

"The food stockpiles are all over the place, too, so the castle won't fall without so much.

We don't have poison stockpiles, and we don't have bows, so we won't be able to destroy the Warcraft immediately.

I thought if we were going to crusade, we should do it all at once with great force.

The dispersal of forces is not good. "

That was the opinion.

Jog is still on the wall.

But I'm not asleep today, I'm pretending to be asleep.

I'm not in a good mood.

Colin spoke for him.

"My knights, they're a little attached.

I thought we were here to fight. "

That's right.

Maintaining morale is also an issue that cannot be ridiculed.

But the knight who wants to fight just now doesn't know how dangerous this coalition is.

I don't know how horrible the power of five hundred Warcraft, including medium-sized ones, is.

This is one hundred and eighty-six knights and one hundred and thirty-one squire knights.

In other words, the horseback riding power is combined with 300 people there.

Not even a decent battle in encounters can be ravaged.

They are supposed to fight five or at least three times more than their enemies.

If there is one that fills that difference in power, it is the walls and the poison.

If the opponent is a normal warcraft, he can pull in and fight for extermination.

Bardo is familiar with Warcraft.

But this time the enemy behaves like a warcraft, even though it is supposed to be a warcraft.

That confuses Bardo's thinking.

Bardo sorted out his mind and decided to think this way.

The enemy is a warcraft in ability.

But not in behavior.

It suppresses instincts and behaves like an army according to its commander.

So the Mairao Castle raid should not be considered the action of the Warcraft.

Think of it as an operation.

If so, what do you see?

Bardo didn't know, and when it came to maneuvering, he almost doubted the Yang Dynasty.

I looked at Bardo more like he was upset with me.

"Yang Dynamic.

You want to scare me and go somewhere else, for example?

I see.

I was suspicious because I thought it was a warcraft, but if someone was manipulating it, you should think about it. "

"But where?

It's a manoeuvre to attack where. "

That's what Arflaburn and Zaifert said.

Bardo turned to Arflaburn and said that the squire Tazlow might have given him an important clue.

Arflaburn said after thinking about it for a while.

"Right.

Where the bait is. "

In that spicy way, Zaifert opened his eyes and looked at Arflaburn.

"Huh?

What? I'm sorry.

Why don't you tell me? "

"Knight Colin.

Here's the thing.

Because the number of warcraft is so high, naturally a lot of food is needed.

Therefore, it strikes a place where there is a lot of food. "

Then Arflaburn explained, slightly shattered.

When a beast strikes a human, it does not kill more than that if its belly is swollen.

Conversely, when a warcraft strikes a human, it kills even if he is not hungry.

But the warcraft that attacked Tri devoured men, horses, and cattle.

Why.

Don't eat.

The food that fills the bellies of as many as five hundred warcraft is not everywhere.

Along the riverside of Ova there are many grasses, growing animals and all sorts of food, but once we leave, that's not the case.

"General Bardo.

Do beasts that eat grass and trees eat grass and trees, even when they become warcraft? "

And it was the knight nuts who asked the question.

Bardo replied.

Well, don't suddenly eat humans because you've become a warcraft.

I'll bite you to death.

And if the warcraft of Shilozno and the owl were eaten, I know that wheat and vegetables were eaten from the roots.

Arflaburn, who nodded, pointed over the map.

It was eleven days before Tri was discovered to have been attacked.

The raid itself would have been twelve to fourteen days old because some blood had not dried up.

Some of the Warcraft are fast legged or not.

Over a dozen days, it also probably goes through a relatively grassy area, reachable, somewhere with five hundred pieces of food.

Right here.

Arflaburn's finger was pointing straight at Rhode Van Castle.

Bardo glanced at the map.

There are more than five hundred human beings in Roadvan Castle alone who are non-combatants.

Nearly nine hundred if you let the Knights and their entourage in.

More abundance of water, numerous horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, cereals, vegetables, etc.

It's the best feeding ground for a bunch of warcraft.

And if you hold this place down, on its western side are the cities and villages of Gainelia.

No, the distance from here to the capital of Gainelia is roughly equal to the distance from Tri to here.

In other words, if you can reach this point by plunging your stomach with a try, it is also possible to plunge your stomach here and strike directly at the capital of Gainelia.

The distance from the capital of Gainelia to the capital of Teula and Seion is much shorter than that.

If anything were to be pulled out of this place, the rich countries of Nakahara would become their feeding grounds as they were.

There is an area on the straight line connecting Try and Rhodvan Castle where humans do not step in.

Naturally, the reconnaissance isn't in there either.

This is a scattered area of Gerkast residence.

There are grasses, trees, water, and beasts.

Jameen's brave Yemite said that warcraft only becomes fierce against humans, and submen do not strike.

Wouldn't it be a dispute with Gerkast if a bunch of warcraft passed through here?

I had no idea that Rhode Van Castle might be attacked here because it is the most defensive military facility on the eastern side of the Middle Plains.

But if we're going to attack the nations of man, it's most sensible to drop this place first.

I can even say that there is no other option.

Bardo blushed his teeth and then uttered words.

Manuno says he can sense signs of creatures from farther afield than people can imagine.

This castle looks like the best feeding ground for them.

We should assume that Tsukuba is on its way here now, beyond finding out that a large number of Warcraft are acting together.

Earlier, I rescind what I said about the Mailao Castle raid being a positive move.

It would be better to keep the bait in one place, but it would be more convenient for them.

Let's just say Mailao Castle is one of the leading feeding grounds.

If this place falls into their hands, the cities and villages of Nakahara will be ravaged.

Get ready for interception now!

4.

The scouts promptly made him call back.

In front of the North Gate, he spread the stones.

And before the south gate, and before the east and west gate, he put a stop.

Poison pots, oil pots and bow baskets were raised to the walls, and the archers in charge were decided to apply them thoroughly, except for arrows with fixed marks.

He rested alternately so that he could be attacked at night, so that he could move into a combat posture at any time.

Nothing happened that night.

The following day, that is, the day of January 17th.

About five hundred warcraft struck the castle of Rhodvan, where the sun was shaded and the cold wind breezed.