“How long will the evacuation take?” I asked.
“An hour! We’re prioritizing the north, but because we moved their valuables beforehand, it should be coming to an end soon.”
Time, time, time... I didn’t have enough of it! No, I thought, I should be grateful. I’d put people with good night vision up on the watchtower, so the situation wasn’t as bad as it could have been. If we’d only noticed them once they were right on top of us we’d practically be dead already.
In all honesty, I would have preferred to abandon the outer edges of the canton and get everyone to hole up in the center, but that was impossible without all the residents of Mottenheim already being gathered there. Considering the leadership of this affair and whatever was to come afterward, losing so much as a single civilian would result in our loss. Fortunately, the people of Mottenheim were understanding, and I was sure they wouldn’t rebuke us should a member of the Watch or one of the willing men lose their lives in the fray. All the same, I couldn’t dare let someone who couldn’t fight die, especially the children and the elderly. If we abandoned people to barricade ourselves into a fort, their plummeting morale would mean we wouldn’t last long.
Why did my luck have to hose me at every turn?
“All right, then let’s fi—”
No, wait a second.
“What?!” Sieg said.
“Please! Give me just a second! Just a second to think!”
Why were they coming from the north?
Our enemy knew that we had terrifying mines in place on the northern side of Mottenheim. And while we hadn’t dug them all around, we had dug trenches around the openings of the canton. So why did they still choose to come from the north?
At the beginning, we chose this defensive formation because the enemy was lurking in the forest to the north and were poking at us. In truth, the enemies stationed there had begun a quick assault, evidently not wanting us to develop any more defenses than we already had.
But was there a reason for them to come from the north now? Normally you would learn from a painful mistake and avoid that place a second time. Our trenches weren’t even perfect elsewhere; they had gaps all over. If it were me, I would’ve avoided the north and attacked from the west, where there were few buildings and lots of space created by ample farmland. No, that wasn’t quite right. Even if I had few soldiers, I would attack from all four sides to eventually crush the target within. If the zombies were capable of working as a group, then they could do the job of a force five times their size. We only had just over fifty people here in fighting shape, so there was no reason for the enemy to only attack on one front!
I needed time! More time to think! Stop distracting me, idle thoughts! I couldn’t help but imagine that devilish GM who’d prepared hourglasses to make sure we didn’t go over our allotted thinking time!
My decision was half based on instinct and half on conjecture. But the strategy I’d thought up was something I would do and something I wouldn’t want done to myself.
At this point, I didn’t think our enemy was an idiot. They had managed to reform their army in a short period of time and picked the moment to strike that would cause us the most agony. If it turned out that the enemy actually didn’t have any other zombies to divvy up on multiple fronts, then I’d end up looking like an idiot who’d just reduced our manpower for no reason. All the same...
“Siegfried!”
“Yeah?! What?”
“Can you win this?”
My comrade didn’t question me at all.
“Listen up, you bastards! Goldilocks here is worryin’ that you’re all too lily-livered to make it on the battlefield without his help! Whaddya have to say to that?!” Sieg roared.
“Screw that! We’ll cut ’em all down!”
“Don’t underestimate us, Goldilocks! You trained us up, so trust us, dammit!”
“Your Fellows ain’t some snot-nosed kids at private school!”
In response, my Fellows responded with coarse shouts fully worthy of true adventurers. Some even made terribly rude gestures at me, while others raised their spears into the air with a rallying cry. Siegfried looked at the encouraging sight and huffed. It wasn’t his usual huff of disapproval, but one of satisfaction and pride.
Siegfried too raised his spear into the air and yelled.
“You heard ’em, Goldilocks, ya snob. Hurry up and do whatever you need to do; just don’t get cocky. We ain’t just here to make you look pretty by comparison. We’ll hold this spot for an hour if we gotta!”
It was a real encouraging speech. It was enough for me to know that Siegfried, these eleven Fellows, the archers in the watchtower, and Kaya, who I was sure would turn up soon enough, would be able to fend off the enemy for an hour at least.
Our cavalry were on standby in the center of Mottenheim to save energy. They had high mobility, so I wanted them ready in case significant reinforcements came from an angle that I wasn’t expecting. Dietrich had wanted to be on the front line, but I had talked her down; I imagined she was helping everyone get their horses ready right now.
“I want you to hold on for as long as you can, but if things go to shit, call for the cavalry! The signal is—”
“The red tube, I know, I know!”
Unlike last time, the enemy was sending out sacrifices to clear the way for them. I hadn’t been able to tweak the mines so that they only exploded once enough people entered their range, but nothing could be done about that now. We could pare down their number, but only by a few skirmishers at best. The dozens of zombies behind would make their way to us before long. We could funnel them thanks to the trenches, but a difficult battle lay ahead. But I gathered my crew was up to the challenge.
They weren’t cheap murderhobos hired for a measly fifty assarii day wage. They weren’t goldfish poop, clinging to the might of Goldilocks. They were honorable adventurers of the Fellowship of the Blade.