At a Checkpoint in the Earldom of Erce
A hundred cavalrymen arrived.
“Halt! Identify yourselves!”
One of them approached the soldier manning the checkpoint.
“I didn’t hear there was a checkpoint here.”
“That’s none of your business. Identify yourselves!”
“We’re mercenaries.”
“What business do mercenaries have in this village?”
“We heard about the monster rampage in the Schrantz Earldom. We’re passing through.”
“Wow, there really are mercenaries heading to Schrantz?”
One of the soldiers at the checkpoint chuckled.
The mercenary captain frowned, and the soldier smirked.
“No offense, but Schrantz is such a poor territory.”
“We’ve already heard it’s a poor territory.”
“It’s worse than you think. They probably don’t even have the money to hire you. You’d be better off turning back.”
“If they’re desperate, they’ll borrow money if they have to.”
The soldier shrugged and handed back their identification.
“Do as you please. Watch out for trouble.”
“Thanks for the advice, but we don’t go down easily. Let’s go, men!”
The mercenary captain led the way, and the mercenaries followed.
As the dust settled behind them, one soldier turned to his companion.
“Did you see that?”
“What?”
“There was a woman in the mercenary group.”
“It’s not like this is the first time you’ve seen mercenaries. What’s so surprising about a woman being there?”
While women weren’t common in mercenary groups, it wasn’t exactly rare either.
“No, I mean, she was stunning. Her skin was like white jade.”
“A mercenary with skin like white jade? That doesn’t make sense. You must’ve mistaken her armor’s shine for her skin.”
Given the rough, outdoor lifestyle of mercenaries, having skin like white jade was absurd.
“That’s what I’m saying.”
“Come on. Did you drink too much last night? Are you still drunk?”
“If I could meet a beauty like that just once…”
“With your luck, you’d never meet a woman like that. And mercenaries are rough. Haven’t you heard about the guy who got his balls crushed after hitting on a female mercenary?”
“Ugh! Now that you mention it, I did hear about that at the tavern.”
The soldier flinched, crossing his legs.
“Oh, was that you who told that story?”
“But if it’s the woman I just saw… I might risk getting my balls crushed for a chance with her.”
“You’re completely out of it.”
The soldier guarding the checkpoint shook his head in disbelief.
“This is the third mercenary group to pass through since the last shift, right?”
“Probably.”
“Mercenaries sure are quick to catch wind of things. I wonder how they heard about this backwater place.”
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“We’re supposed to stop soldiers from other territories, but letting mercenaries through should be fine, right?”
“Well, there were no orders about mercenaries, so it should be okay.”
Though the earl had ordered them to guard the checkpoint, they couldn’t help but feel sorry for Schrantz.
Given that Schrantz was on bad terms with all its neighbouring territories, the order was likely meant to block any reinforcements.
Even though they worked for one of Schrantz’s enemy families, the political tensions didn’t concern them personally.
So, all they could do was sympathize with Schrantz.
At the West Gate
“Hold the line! We must hold out!”
“Kyaaak!”
The militia at the west gate was locked in a desperate struggle against the goblins scaling the walls.
But the problem was that they were just a militia, poorly equipped.
Despite supplying as much as they could, there wasn’t enough to fully arm everyone in the village.
The only silver lining was their determination to protect their home, refusing to back down.
“If this gate falls, the village is in danger! We’ve sent for reinforcements! Hold out until they arrive!”
Their desperate struggle bore fruit.
The sound of hooves pounding the muddy ground grew louder, approaching rapidly.
“Goblins ahead! Charge straight in!”
Crash!
A youthful voice shouted.
It was Ian and the knights following him.
Three heavily armored cavalrymen, including Ian, crashed into the side of the goblins engaged with the militia.
The sudden cavalry charge shattered the goblins’ formation.
Trampled under hooves and cut down by spears and swords, the goblins fell one after another.
“Now’s our chance! Push them back!”
“Waaaah!”
The defenders, who had been barely holding on, seized the opportunity and launched a counterattack.
The goblins, disoriented by the sudden cavalry charge, were quickly overwhelmed by the militia’s spears and swords.
As the last of the goblins inside the walls were dealt with, those still outside noticed their comrades falling and fled on their wolves.
“Shoot them! Take down as many as you can!”
The defenders climbed back onto the walls and rained arrows on the retreating goblins.
With the goblins retreating, Ian finally allowed himself a moment of relief.
‘Thankfully, it was just a group of goblin riders.’
If more had come, it would’ve been a headache.
The Greenskins must have been too focused on the north and east gates to spare more forces.
Ian turned to the knight who had been commanding the west gate.
“Are you the knight in charge of the west gate?”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
“Casualties?”
“Five dead, twenty wounded. We took heavy losses from the sudden ambush.”
Ian clicked his tongue and dismounted, climbing the wall to survey the outside.
‘The fog has lifted a bit, but visibility is still poor.’
It wasn’t the fault of the defenders.
It was the natural disadvantage of the fog.
‘And there are too many areas to watch.’
Even if the soldiers did their best, their small numbers meant they could only spread out so much.
Gaps in their surveillance were inevitable.
The goblin riders had exploited one such gap to sneak up on them.
‘But pulling troops from the north or east gates to fill the gaps here is out of the question.’
“The situation doesn’t allow us to send reinforcements. Tend to the dead and wounded, and quickly re-establish the defenses.”
“…Yes, Young Lord.”
The knight’s expression was grim.
He agreed, but his eyes pleaded for any possible solution.
‘I wish I could help.’
But the north and east gates, where the Greenskins were concentrated, were barely holding on.
If anything, they needed to pull troops from the west and south gates.
But they couldn’t, for fear of another flanking attack.
‘At least they don’t have siege weapons.’
The best the Greenskins could do was ladders and wooden planks.
“Young Lord!”
At that moment, someone came running from the east gate.
It was a messenger from the east gate. He stopped in front of Ian, panting.
“What’s happening at the east gate?”
“Nothing. The enemy’s attack has stopped. Before I left, I heard the north gate’s messenger say the same.”
“Really?”
But Ian couldn’t relax completely.
“They haven’t fully retreated, have they?”
“No. They’re still stationed outside the north and west gates.”
They had only pulled back to regroup. They would surely attack again.
‘The problem is not knowing when that will be.’
But it wouldn’t be long.
‘This was just a probing attack.’
The terrifying thing about such a large force is their persistence and tenacity.
‘If they think a half-hearted attack won’t work, they’ll launch a full-scale assault.’
And that would likely be the end of this war.
‘So please, come quickly.’
In this situation, Duke Endran’s reinforcements were the only hope.
As Ian surveyed the surroundings, he noticed something unusual.
He found something strange in the goblin corpses both inside and outside the walls.
‘Arrows embedded in their vital points?’
Between the eyes, the top of the head, the heart, and so on.
If it were just one or two, he might have dismissed it.
But with about ten monsters lying like this, it was clear someone had been targeting them deliberately.
“Do you know who did this?”
At Ian’s question, the knight’s gaze shifted to the watchtower behind Ian.
Dwayne was up there.
Even though the battle was over, he remained vigilant, keeping watch in case the enemy returned.
“He did it?”
Ian blinked in surprise.
“Yes. Honestly, I was shocked too. I heard he used to be a hunter and even boasted about shooting birds out of the sky, but… I thought it was all exaggeration…”
‘Wow…!’
Ian was genuinely amazed
This wasn’t just some ordinary talent.
In terms of archery, Dwayne was on par with Sera.
And he had shown such remarkable skill right from the start.
Who would have thought he had such exceptional archery skills?
‘What a stroke of luck!’
Ian’s face lit up with excitement.
Since Dwayne wasn’t officially Ian’s vassal like Sera, Ian hadn’t been able to see his skills.
‘With this level of skill, his archery skill level must be incredibly high!’
Dwayne was exactly the kind of talent Schrantz needed.
And he was needed right now.
“Dwayne!”
“Yes, Young Lord!”
Ian gestured silently, and Dwayne hurriedly climbed down from the watchtower to stand before him.
“From now on, you and I are going to do one thing together.”
“A task, you mean?”
“Yes, a task.”
Ian suddenly slung an arm around Dwayne’s shoulders, leaving him more uneasy than flustered.
“W-what is it?”
“I’ll tell you when we get there.”
Perhaps it was a hunter’s instinct.
Dwayne’s instincts were screaming at him to avoid this at all costs.
“First, get on my horse. We’re going together.”
“H-how can I ride with you, Young Lord?!”
“Don’t worry about the small stuff. Come on, we’re in a hurry.”
But no matter how much his instincts warned him, it was useless.
Dwayne was in no position to refuse Ian’s orders.
“Oh, and you, take Dwayne’s place.”
Ian pointed to one of the knights who had followed him and left him behind.
Dwayne was practically dragged onto Ian’s horse like a lamb to the slaughter.
The Battle at the East Gate
The battle that began at dawn.
And now, before the sun set, they were defending again.
This time, the enemy’s assault began at the east gate.
The monsters, just like in the morning, swarmed in, building bridges and setting ladders against the walls.
Then it happened.
An arrow flew toward a goblin making noise near the bridge over the ditch.
Thud!
“Gurgle!”
It struck the goblin’s neck with perfect precision.
The goblin let out a gurgling sound and collapsed.
The arrow had slipped through the gaps in its armor, taking it down in one shot.
Even the goblins carrying ladder wasn’t spared.
The unit, having lost its commanders on the field, was gripped by fear.
The moment a gap appeared, an arrow would fly in and take out another commander.
It was Dwayne’s work.
Ian, who had stationed him at the east gate, watched his divine archery with admiration.
“How do you hit every shot so perfectly?”
Dwayne released another arrow as he answered.
“I’ve been hunting with my father since I was young. It’s second nature to me.”
Most NPCs skilled with bows were either hunters or had trained with bows for a long time.
But even among them, those with talent like Dwayne’s were exceedingly rare.
“At this level, you could probably go toe-to-toe with the Elf King.”
“How could someone like me compare to the Elf King?”
The Elf King was the ruler of the island of Tevria, far to the southwest across the sea from the Fried Empire.
Known as the king of all elves, he was a legendary NPC famed for his divine archery.
In the West, he was likened to Robin Hood, and in Korea, he was compared to the legendary archer Jumong. That said it all.
Among the game’s NPCs, the Elf King was an untouchable figure when it came to archery.
“It’s just a figure of speech.”
In reality, Dwayne was still far from matching the Elf King.
‘The Elf King is in a league of his own.’
Using wind spirit magic to extend his range, he could shoot enemies from a kilometer away and pierce through boulders to hit those hiding behind them.
But Dwayne’s archery was still overwhelmingly superior to any other NPC who claimed to be skilled with a bow.
If there was anyone who embodied the phrase “a hundred shots, a hundred hits,” it was Dwayne.
“So, the task you mentioned is targeting the enemy commanders?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were going to order me to go outside and launch a surprise attack.”
“I did consider that, but you can’t ride a horse.”
“……”
If Dwayne had been able to ride properly, Ian would have launched a surprise attack immediately.
‘Should I be relieved?’
It was a blessing that the task wasn’t something more dangerous.
Of course, staying here wasn’t exactly safe either.
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