After that, everything happened so fast. Our team of 450 (+2) decimated the monster army of eight thousand in a single blow, literally. I doubted that there were more than a thousand monsters left. Having given up on the battle, they began to flee. While they still had the earl’s army beat by numbers, they were losing by every other standard.
“We won, Lord Eiji.”
“...Yeah, we did.”
The city was already in party mode. Victory had come in one glorious swoop from a hopeless situation. Who among them could contain themselves now? Still, I couldn’t help but withhold my reply to Hieronymus for a moment. Not because I was suddenly scared of the massacre I helped orchestrate or anything.
“Is something the matter, Lord Eiji? It seems to me that something is troubling your thoughts.”
“Lord Hieronymus. Is it in a monster’s nature to retreat so cleanly?”
“Hrm?”
Hieronymus gazed toward the distance, following my line of sight. The monsters were retreating as they gathered each other from every corner of the battlefield, keeping the injured in the center of their horde, and watching their backs.
“...No, that does not seem right. No sense that goblins and orcs can execute those strategic movements.”
“Indeed.”
Tiamat, transformed back into her dragon form, landed on the wall with a few flutters of her wings.
“Tia. You’re all right.”
I sighed in relief. I knew that she was stupidly powerful, but that still didn’t make me eager to send her out onto the battlefield.
“A piece of cake! ...Is what I want to call it, but it became a little too difficult for my human form, so I turned back. Same with Baze, I assume.”
Hm. Did that mean she actually had a tough fight on her hands, despite the nonchalant attitude?
“None of us fear a horde of a hundred goblins, but Lord Syfer’s team would. Is that what you mean, Lady Tiamat?”
“Mm-hm.”
I understood what he meant, too. The most definitive difference between an army of monsters and an army of humans is order. Humans are much weaker than monsters, and that’s a fact. We don’t have the body of an elephant, the fangs of a lion, the speed of a cheetah, or anything like that. While there were a few warriors who could handle several ogres in this world, they were unmistakably the exception.
At our core, humans are weak. For our weight class, we are the weakest in the animal kingdom. Yet, humans rule the world. Even in my homeland of Hokkaido, it wasn’t the Hokkaido wolf or the brown bear that was crowned champion, but humans. For simple reasons, too. Humans fight together. Humans implement strategies. Humans think ahead about what needs to be done to secure that victory. These things are huge, you know.
Monsters, though, don’t do any of that. They attack on instinct and flee when they fear for their lives. Or else they fight to their deaths without any forethought. A monster could defeat a human, but monsters could never defeat humans.
“They began to retreat, seeing that they didn’t stand a chance after our attack,” Tiamat said.
“They lost almost nine-tenths of their army.”
“That’s the thing, Hieronymus. Losing 90% is a miserable defeat, but what does nine thousand mean to orcs and goblins.”
“...Indeed, not much.”
Goblins and orcs, apparently, rapidly multiplied. I believe this is the case in most fantasy pieces too. I’ve never heard of an endangered goblin species.
“Perhaps their commander is even content to have a thousand left.”
“So you think the monster army has a brain, Lord Hieronymus?”
“Indeed,” the handsome gentleman confirmed. It was fishy that an army of monsters was after a crucial trading port to begin with. Their attack was clearly strategic.
“Monsters waging war...”
I pondered that with my arms crossed. I couldn’t help but imagine the worst. That being said, Earl Agamemnon’s men moved too well to be afflicted by beriberi. With war, people can’t afford white rice and start to mix in other grains. I had heard of that scenario. By this point, it had been almost two months since I first heard it. Was it all a coincidence?
“What’s wrong, Eiji? You don’t look too good.”
Showing concern, Tiamat came at me with the tried-and-true.
“You don’t mind if your boyfriend doesn’t look good, Tia?”
“Not that I fell for your face to begin with. I was after that sweet, sweet bod.”
She was grinning. What a lousy fiancée she was. Just watch the tears form a river down my cheeks.
In any case, we had won. The city of Mostail erupted, and the earl’s soldiers returned to be greeted with a storm of hugs and kisses from the girls of the city.
The one most adored, though, was Earl Agamemnon, who had fought valiantly on Baze’s back. He looked as glorious as a legendary hero... before rushing towards me and kneeling before me, in a sign of swearing his loyalty. This happened just as I had climbed down from the city wall. I didn’t really need that kind of thing, though. I would only make more unnecessary enemies now.
“Sir Eiji. Master Hermit. My words fail me to thank you for saving our city.”
“The credit belongs to you, Earl Agamemnon. We only lent a small helping hand.”
I took the earl’s hand to stand him up.
“And so the hero earns the Hermit’s trust,” the storyteller proclaimed, as loud as he could.
Someone stop that old man.
Why did he have to narrate that kind of thing, just at the right moment? No one’s tossing you coins, you know?
“Sir Eiji...”
“It’s not a show of humility. There would have been no victory without you and your army holding them off until now.”
If they had been defeated before we arrived, we naturally would have had no way to help them. Guerrilla warfare was the right choice, too. In order to combat that, the monsters formed an attack on the city while expecting to suffer casualties. It was indisputable that Tiamat and Baze could fully utilize their strengths only because the monsters were attacking through the front door.
If their method of attack was sneakier like monsters usually were, even Tiamat would have had a hard time dealing with them. It wasn’t amiss of me to say that most of the credit was due to Earl Agamemnon. We just happened to be here at the right time and took advantage of the situation.
“That being said, we did put some work in. I don’t think anyone would criticize you for buying us dinner.”
I winked. Maybe that was too much showboating. But asking for a meal wasn’t just to look cool; I wanted to know what they ate. The earl brightened his expression. We weren’t asking for money or titles nor making unreasonable requests like meeting the king. Our demand was the best-case scenario for the lord of Mostail.
“Mm. Not that you put any work in, Eiji. It was mostly Baze and I who put in the work.”
Tiamat tossed in this jest at the perfect time. Thanks, partner.
“You didn’t have to tell them that, Tia.”
Of course, I jumped on it, and the crowd laughed. It was a pretty good icebreaker. Of course, Tiamat and I didn’t want to make a living as a comedy duo... just in case that was unclear.
“If we were not at war, we could do so much more...” the earl said.
“Please. We’re travelers. We would almost feel uncomfortable with an excessive celebration.”
“You are too kind.”
“At war, you said?”
“Yes...”
The earl lowered his voice, somewhat.
A month ago, the monsters suddenly became much more threatening. They were no longer creatures that adventurers could hunt down. They were organized and efficient.
“As if a king has appeared and began ruling over them...”
I felt a chill as the distinguished earl whispered this.