by Dojyomaru
There were also countless chimeras lurking around near the lizardmen.
The number of these monsters was more than the Kingdom of Lastania could handle alone, but both the Union of Eastern Nations they belonged to and the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom they were allied with were being affected by the demon wave and were too busy attending to their own problems to be able to send help.
So, in response to this situation, the Kingdom of Lastania gathered the people who had been unable to escape southward in time to the country’s sole walled city, Lasta, and settled in for a siege.
Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Lastania only had a regular army of around 500 men, and even with another fifty volunteer soldiers, they still had fewer than 600 men in total. These weren’t numbers that could repel over 5,000 monsters.
To make up for that, they conscripted 3,000 combat-capable men from the 10,000 citizens they had taken in and assigned them to guard the castle walls. This brought the number of defenders up to 3,500, but most of them were ordinary people. A common person couldn’t take on even a weak monster alone, so it was fair to call their situation desperate.
But the Kingdom of Lastania was still doing a good job of holding out.
—Noon of the 15th day, 10th month, 1,547th year, Continental Calendar—On the walls of Lasta—
“Archers, take aim! There’s no need to target distant enemies on the ground! Focus fire on those climbing the walls and be sure to hit them!”
Julius was giving commands at the southern gate of the walls as they were attacked by lizardmen.
Julius was a visiting general in this country, but no one in this land was a more experienced commander than him, so he had temporarily been given total control over the forces of Lastania.
Before Julius’s eyes, he could see soldiers focused on the enemies that had approached the gate. They had arrows nocked and turned toward the gate that must not fall.
Julius hurriedly shouted at them. “You fools! Focus on the enemy in front of you!”
“No, but if the gate were to fall...” one of the soldiers began objecting. “Uwah?!”
His legs gave out as a lizardman poked its head through the arrow slit in front of him. It had climbed up the wall.
The lizardman stood before the soldier, who was too shocked to regain his footing. It flicked its lizard tongue and opened its mouth wide to feed on the soldier.
“Eek!” The soldier raised his arms to cover his face in abject terror.
In the next instant, the dull sound of something piercing flesh reached the soldier’s ears. However, the man didn’t feel any pain, so he hesitantly dropped his arms.
There was a single saber piercing the lizardman through the mouth.
“...I warned you,” Julius said.
It was his saber piercing the lizardman.
Julius pushed the lizardman against the edge of the wall along with his saber. Then, kicking it in the torso, he sent it over while tearing his saber free. The dead lizardman’s body fell straight down the outside of the wall.
Eventually, realizing he had been saved, the soldier looked up to Julius. “Th-Thank you so much!”
“...Hmph.” Julius swung his saber, flinging the lizardman’s blood from it, then raised his voice once more. “Listen! The enemy is not fighting a siege! The ones surrounding this castle don’t have the intellect to enter a house through the front door to begin with! They try to climb both the walls and the gate! That’s why you should all focus on the enemy in front of you!”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Impressed by their commander’s show of bravery, the soldiers’ morale went up just a little.
The soldiers fired on the lizardmen as they tried climbing the walls and knocked them down with thrusts of their spears. The sight gave Julius a moment of relief, but he continued shouting.
“That’s the way! Don’t let up on guarding the anti-air repeating bolt throwers on the corners of the walls! If they’re destroyed, fliers will be able to cross the walls and attack those behind us!”
He was referring to those warped chimera monsters that wandered around within the pack of lizardmen. These monsters were a mishmash of different animal features, and it was not possible to describe them uniformly. Some crawled on the ground, while others flew, making it more difficult to respond to them.
It wasn’t that the lizardmen and chimera monsters were working together. The chimeras were scavengers. When the lizardmen attacked the soldiers, the chimeras stalked the area, looking to claim the dead soldiers and lizardmen’s meat for themselves.
They were nothing but scavengers so long as those around them were dangerous to them, such as the soldiers and lizardmen. But if the chimeras encountered weaker prey, they would attack fiercely.
If the anti-air repeating bolt throwers were destroyed, the winged monsters would attack the non-combatants hiding behind the walls. That had to be prevented at all costs.
One of the experienced soldiers rushed over to Julius. “Sir Julius, do you think the other walls are safe?”
“Madam Lauren is defending the east gate, and Jirukoma is protecting the west gate. We have positioned many of the regular forces on the north side, where there is no gate. If I am being honest, the defenses are weakest here. So long as there is no breach here, I doubt they will get through anywhere else.”
“I see...” The experienced soldier nodded in satisfaction, then returned to his post.
Julius continued directing the troops as he watched him go. “Listen! Those behind us cannot fight! To defend them, we must not let the enemy get past us here! If we fight hard and buy time, I am sure reinforcements from another country will eventually arrive! We must be patient until then! Everyone, be brave, and fight!”
“““Yeahhhhhh!””” the soldiers cried out in response.
Maybe the soldiers on the east and west walls heard, because a cheer went up from both of their groups as well.
Even surrounded by the heated atmosphere of a battle to the death, Julius was maintaining his natural coolness, and he had a firm grasp of the current situation.
I know I said that to the soldiers, but...I have no idea when support will arrive, he reflected grimly. I cannot be sure that it will. We’re managing to hold them off for now, but if they continue to wear us down, then eventually...
Julius shook his head. If their commander was overcome by negative thinking, the men would panic. He had to stay cool and composed.
Julius glanced north toward the royal manor. Behind him there was someone he wanted to, had to, protect, no matter what happened.
I won’t let these things eat Tia!
Clinging to the innocent smile of the girl who had saved his heart, Julius continued giving orders.
Eventually the sun went down, and night fell on Lasta.
Maybe the lizardmen had poor night vision, because they didn’t attack at night. In their place, the chimera monsters grew more active, and while none tried crossing the walls, they feasted on the corpses of soldiers and lizardmen that were scattered outside the walls.
They couldn’t lower their guards, but for the soldiers who had fought through the day, night was an important time of rest.
Julius, who had been commanding from atop the wall for the entire time, went on break too, and he sat around a campfire with Jirukoma and Lauren. They had both fought hard at their own positions, and the signs of exhaustion were visible on each of their faces.
Julius asked Lauren a question. “This makes five days now, doesn’t it? How many have we lost?”
Lauren bit her lip. “Another hundred today... If we were to tally up all the dead and heavily wounded, it would be around 600.”
That meant almost a sixth of the roughly 3,500 defending soldiers had been rendered unfit for combat.
Jirukoma sighed as he maintained his kukri blades. “We’re at less than 3,000 defenders... Meanwhile, the enemy doesn’t seem to have dropped from 5,000. Even though I’m sure we killed a fair number of them today.”
The terror of the demon wave was that monsters would be replenished, with one group following another like waves. It was exhausting to think that, no matter how many they defeated, the number of enemies would never go down.
Admittedly, these were unintelligent monsters, so if too many were in an area, not all of them could participate in battle. That meant they would go past this city and move further south. In other words, while their numbers wouldn’t decrease, they would never build up too much either.
“Do you think the lands to the south are all right?” Lauren pondered.
“We’re in no position to be worrying about others.” Julius completely rejected her concern. “For as long as we hold out here, the number of monsters going south will be kept lower. From the point of view of the countries in the south, even if our country is ultimately destroyed, I’m sure they want us to hold out as long as possible and slay as many monsters as we can.”
“While they have their own countries and families to think of, that does feel a little heartless,” Lauren admitted.
“That’s just how things are. If you haven’t first taken care of yourself, you can’t extend a helping hand to others.”
“I suppose you’re right... I’m sorry, Sir Julius, Sir Jirukoma.” Lauren bowed deeply to the two of them. “I’m sorry for getting foreigners like yourselves caught up in a battle like this. I even have Sir Julius taking full command of our forces... I feel pathetic.”
Though Lauren clenched her fists and bowed her head with a pained look on her face, Jirukoma laughed heartily and put his arm around Julius’s shoulder.
“Raise your head, please, Madam Lauren. We are fonder of this kingdom than you may think. Right, Sir Julius?”
“Get away from me. This is suffocating.” Julius brushed the other man’s arm away, then loudly cleared his throat. “Well...I had no time to escape south after all. As for commanding the troops, there was no one more capable than me, so this was the inevitable result. I’d rather not die under the command of some incompetent fool after all.”
“Hahaha! You say that, but you didn’t have the slightest intent of fleeing without Princess Tia.”
“...You talk too much.”
The awkward frown on Julius’s face made Jirukoma and Lauren burst out laughing.
Light footsteps approached near the three of them. When the three looked up, a petite figure was bringing something large toward them. When that person approached the campfire, Julius’s eyes went wide as he realized who it was.
“Princess, why have you left the royal manor?!”
It was the princess of this country, Tia Lastania. She was wearing her usual Tyrolean-style dirndl with an apron over the top, and she held an earthenware pot in her mittened hands.
When Tia saw Julius, her face burst into a smile.
“I was helping the ladies in town hand out food,” she explained as she offered the pot to the three of them. “Lord Julius, Lauren, Sir Jirukoma. It’s bread porridge with pumpkin and milk. I’m sorry this is all we have for you after you’ve fought so hard...”
“D-Don’t be ridiculous, princess! We gratefully accept it!” Lauren sputtered.
She saluted as she accepted the pot, and Jirukoma patted his belly with a laugh.
“We’re hungry from fighting after all. I’m sure anything will feel satisfying at this point.”
“That’s a rude way to put it...” Julius shook his head in exasperation, but his expression had softened slightly from before.
Then the three of them sat around Tia’s pot of bread porridge to eat.
Tia shrewdly sat herself down in a position where her shoulders would be touching Julius’s. That put a wry smile on Lauren’s face, but she suddenly returned to a more serious expression and asked Julius a question.
“Ultimately, is holing up here our only option?”
“Now that we’re surrounded, escape is impossible,” Julius answered in a calm tone between sips of porridge. “If the enemy were sentient, we could negotiate, but they have nothing in their minds beyond eating the prey in front of them. They just repeatedly attempt to rush the walls. That’s why we’re barely able to fend them off. But...if this is a battle of attrition, it’s going to be difficult.”
“Lord Julius...” Tia grasped his sleeve, her eyes wavering with uncertainty.
Julius put his own hand atop hers as he said, “Whatever the case, we must hold out for now, whatever it takes. We will hold the city while waiting for reinforcements to come from somewhere. That is all we can do now.”
“Will reinforcements...really come?” Tia asked hesitantly. “Father was saying he’s asked the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom and Union of Eastern Nations to send help.”
Julius shook his head. “They may come, but as the other countries of the union and the Dragon Knight Kingdom are also affected by the demon wave, their arrival will be delayed. They all have to prioritize their own countries after all.”
“Oh...” Tia’s shoulders slumped.
Feeling bad for her, Jirukoma asked Julius, “You sent out a request for reinforcements using your own connections, didn’t you? Do we have any hope of them showing up?”
“You did?!” Tia’s face shot up and she looked at Julius.
Unable to meet her pleading eyes, Julius turned away as he answered. “I give us fifty-fifty odds. In the end, it’s a matter of if that man will send troops or not.”
Julius’s connections. That meant relying on his little sister Roroa, who was now the candidate to become third primary queen to the provisional king, Souma Kazuya of the Kingdom of Friedonia. It meant having Roroa put in a word with Souma to have him dispatch troops.
For Julius, they were both people he had been antagonistic toward, but he could in no way afford to be fixated on that now. To protect the darling girl who was beside him, Julius was prepared to bow his head to those he was at odds with.
However, on hearing him say the odds were fifty-fifty, Jirukoma tilted his head to the side questioningly. “Is it really fifty-fifty? I understand there are two options for Souma, to send troops or not, but isn’t there the question of whether your sister passes the request along or not too?”
“No, Roroa will definitely pass it along.”
“You sound certain.”
“My sister is calculating, but once emotions get involved, she’s indecisive. If the brother she exiled comes to her for help, she won’t be able to decide what to do on her own. She will leave the decision up to Souma.”
“So that’s why it’s King Souma’s decision, huh...” Jirukoma shrugged, showing a hint of exasperation. If Julius had asked his sister for help knowing that personality of hers, he was one devious fellow.
Julius laughed derisively at himself before looking at Tia. “Princess. This is the kind of man I am. I’ll even take advantage of my own family if necessary. The blood of the venomous snake of the Princely House of Amidonia still runs in my veins. So...”
“But you’re doing it for us, right?” Tia interrupted Julius’s self-rejecting words. She enveloped his left hand with her own and gave him a warm smile. “It’s okay if you’re a venomous snake. When I see you doing whatever it takes to defend us, Lord Julius...you’re so reliable, and lovable. If the reinforcements come, and you feel bad for what you’ve put your sister through, I will bow my head down alongside you. Because I want your sister to understand that you did it for us.”
“Princess...”
When he was touched by Tia’s smile, Julius could feel the old obsessions inside him melting away.
Julius naturally put his right hand atop Tia’s hands, which were wrapped around his left hand.
They sat together in silence.
Sensing the atmosphere between the two of them, Jirukoma and Lauren quietly slipped away.
The next day, the lizardmen began attacking the walls
of Lasta at daybreak.
Their numbers still didn’t appear to have dropped from 5,000 so it was clear another pack of lizardmen had joined up with them.
After days of continuous battle, the defenders’ exhaustion was building.
If this had been an ordinary siege, the attackers would have avoided pressing the attack in a way that only increased losses, seeking instead to find an opening in the defense. They would have desisted immediately when it became clear the defenders wouldn’t break, trying instead to limit the damage to their own forces.
The lizardmen, however, tried scaling the walls no matter how many of their fellows fell, charging in to eat the people inside. The death of their comrades and the exhaustion of their forces meant nothing to them.
Because of that, the defenders had almost no time to relax, and they had been pushed to the edge both mentally and physically.
Even so, the soldiers of Lastania up on the walls fought their hardest to prevent a break in their defenses.
When Jirukoma was giving commands near the west gate, one of the volunteer soldiers, who were made up of refugees, came to ask him a question.
“What do you think those things are thinking about when they attack?”
“What do you mean...‘what are they thinking about’?”
“It feels like, rather than trying to take the city, they’re only trying to eat us,” the soldier said. “If they’re that hungry, surely they could just eat the monsters that are lurking around. I mean, they don’t seem to be buddies, as far as I can tell.”
Jirukoma was silent, nodding. That was certainly something he had sensed too.
The first thing the lizardmen did after scaling the walls was try to bite the soldiers. He’d seen that action as a sign of intense hunger.
Looking at the way they continued to rush the walls in search of food, no matter how many of their kind fell, they seemed to have hardly any intelligence. However, if that were true, then why didn’t they try to sate their hunger on the chimera monsters that were nearby? The chimera monsters were feeding on their corpses after all.