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Orwell was a small town, barely more than a village, with less than two hundred inhabitants. They cultivated silkworms and produced textiles from the silk before exporting it to other towns. It also had a small Adventurers’ Guild managed by a governor who served the local lord.
Caim and his companions arrived at the outskirts of Orwell and concealed themselves in the woods nearby while they observed the town’s entrance.
“For a single assassin to take over a whole town, even a small one, so easily...” Caim muttered, staying alert. From what the boy had said, the town’s combatants—the adventurers and the militia—had numbered around fifty, but they had been defeated quickly by the skeletons. “Doing that by himself is impressive... Though I guess I could too if I wanted.”
“The Bone-Eating General has an army of skeletons, so it’s a simple matter for him,” Rozbeth replied. She, Millicia, and Lenka were also hiding in the woods. Lykos, however, had been left behind with the men.
“Just how many of them are there?” Lenka asked with a nervous scowl. Humanoid and animal skeletons were guarding the town’s entrance.
Tea sniffed the air and grimaced. “I can’t determine how many there are, but considering how much it smells of death and we can already see more than twenty, there must be a lot of them.”
“Their number doesn’t matter—they’re just small fry,” Caim scoffed as he manipulated the mana inside his body. He wasn’t being arrogant—the skeletons they could see were weak, and even if there were hundreds of them, Caim was certain he could easily deal with them all.
“Don’t lower your guard. There will likely be modified skeletons too,” Rozbeth warned. “The Bone-Eating General combines various bones to make special skeletons. I might be better at assassinations, but even I would have a difficult time fighting him head-on.”
“Huh... Well, at least this won’t be boring,” Caim commented.
“We must not forget about the hostages. He could use the women as shields,” Millicia whispered, frowning nervously. “We know the enemy is a villain without morals. He would not hesitate to use the hostages against us.” For Millicia, the most important thing wasn’t to defeat the assassin targeting her, but to rescue the captured women. If they tried to fight without figuring out a way to avoid putting the hostages at risk, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
“What do we do then? Should we charge in from the front?” Rozbeth asked, caressing the knives attached to her belt. Like Caim, Rozbeth wouldn’t have any problem dealing with the skeletons, but she didn’t have the means to rescue the hostages. “You’re a priestess, so can’t you purify the whole town?”
“...No, I cannot. My mana is insufficient.” Millicia bit her lip in vexation. While she was particularly effective against the undead, there was a limit to how much she could do. “I would need a special ritual item or a sacred relic to cover the entire town. Perhaps an archpriest could do it, but it is above my abilities.”
“I see... Guess there’s nothing we can do about it, then. In that case, I suppose we really will have to head straight in?” Rozbeth unsheathed her knives and twirled them in her hands, quiet hostility showing through her cold expression. “If we do, I’ll go first. As the newcomer, I need to show my capabilities.”
“I appreciate the idea, but I have a plan.” Millicia stayed silent for a moment before finally saying her suggestion. “I shall act as a decoy while you all sneak into the town and rescue the hostages.”
“Hold on, that’s...” Caim started to protest, but he stopped when confronted with Millicia’s gaze. She didn’t speak, but looking into her eyes was enough to understand the weight of her resolve. She was truly willing to use herself as bait to save the captured women. “Fine... But I won’t let you go alone. I’m coming with you.” Faced with her firm determination, Caim had no choice but to give in.
Their strategy meeting over and a decision made, all that was left was to enact the plan.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
Caim and Millicia ran toward the entrance to Orwell. Noticing them, the skeletons turned their animosity toward them and attacked.
“Get lost!” Caim punched the skeleton in front of him with his fist wrapped in condensed mana, smashing its skull into pieces.
Another one drew closer.
“I shall purify it!” Millicia shouted as she activated her Sacred Arts. She threw a ball of light at it, and the skeleton reverted to ordinary bones, falling to the ground.
“Don’t use too much mana! It’s gonna be a long fight!” Caim warned her.
“Understood!”
“And stay close to me!”
“No matter what happens, I will never leave your side!”
Caim kicked another skeleton as they passed through the town’s gate. Millicia closely followed behind him, true to her word.
While the two of them were breaking in through the front gate, Tea, Lenka, and Rozbeth were sneaking in on the opposite side of the town. They were hoping that since Millicia was the Bone-Eating General’s target, he would focus on her. While Caim and Millicia held his attention, the other three would stealthily infiltrate the town and rescue the women.
It helps that Millicia’s a priestess too. She’s a necromancer’s natural enemy, after all, so of course he’s gonna focus on his most direct threat, Caim thought as skeletons closed in on them, proving his prediction correct. They kept coming by the dozens, and there were already more than thirty skeletons surrounding them. It was quite the hellish sight—bones as far as the eye could see.