Chapter 49
(Kyle Calendar
Year 505: Age 12)
The Teigun Disturbance:
Raid
Translator : PolterGlast
Summer passed, and a
fruitful autumn arrived in the town of Teigun.
Although there were
still many vacant lots and places under construction, the town was gradually
taking shape.
Unlike before, there
was a considerable harvest from the experimental farm and the farmland
utilizing vacant lots, so a harvest festival was held in the town of Teigun.
Today was the eve of
the festival, and the town was filled with a slightly festive mood.
"The town of
Teigun is in a festive uproar right now. Even if our comrades mingle in the
town, no one will notice," muttered a particularly burly man with fierce
eyes among a suspicious group disguised as porters, having crossed the
checkpoint.
"Now is the
perfect time to strike, with most of the toughest mercenary group out in the
Demon Realm," said the man next to him, licking his lips as he gazed at
the town entrance that was gradually coming into view.
"Apparently, on
the final day of the festival, they offer up monsters hunted in the Demon Realm
to show that this place will remain safe in the future. Those guys are probably
engrossed in fighting monsters in the Demon Realm right now," reported
someone who had infiltrated the town ahead of them, joining the group.
"It's the most
prosperous town around here. It's bound to be a treasure trove," the
leader-like man who had spoken first encouraged them.
While Bart was away,
there were sufficient reserves, but food and a large amount of alcohol to be used
for the hastily decided harvest festival were procured from the town of Fran.
As a result, a line of
carts and pack animals was steadily making its way to the town of Teigun.
The proportion of
temporary workers was very high, and many of them were strong construction
laborers, so even if such dangerous individuals mingled in the town of Teigun,
they wouldn't stand out.
The hunters who
entered the Demon Realm were also different from ordinary hunters. They were
the kind of people who would risk their lives to hunt. Their appearance was not
much different from roughnecks, and there were many such people in Teigun.
Therefore, this group
pushing the pack animals was able to pass through the town's main gate after a
simple check and infiltrate inside without incident.
"Still, they
didn't even notice that some of these sake barrels contain weapons," one
of them said.
"Those guys are
getting carried away with the festival. A festival isn't lively without
sake," another replied.
"Right now, there
are at most about 50 soldiers, guards, and mercenaries in the town. We
outnumber them two to one. It's bound to be an easy job," one of them
confidently stated before they even started.
They were convinced of
the success of this raid even before starting.
"Hmm, it's still
under construction, but it looks quite prosperous," one observed.
"There's so much
to loot, it's the best!" another exclaimed.
"Once night
falls, people will gather for the eve of the festival, and the residents will
be in high spirits."
"If people gather
for the festival, other places will be deserted."
"It's going to be
an easy job."
"The target is
first the lord's mansion. We'll raid it first, get a ton of gold coins, and set
it on fire."
"While they're
panicking, we'll raid the poorly guarded commodity exchange."
"Once we've taken
what we can, we'll quickly enter the Hiyorimi territory and say goodbye to this
place."
"We're about to
get so many gold coins that all of us won't be able to spend them all in
years!"
"Ah! I can't wait
until night. Shall we go to a brothel?"
"You idiot! What
if they trace us?"
"We can just
snatch up some women as a bonus on the way back."
The suspicious group,
having this dangerous conversation, searched the town with greedy eyes, their
figures disappearing into the pre-festival bustle.
And then night fell.
In the central plaza
of the town, the eve of the festival had just begun, and the lively din reached
even the lord's mansion branch.
Under the cover of
that noise and the darkness, a group stealthily approached the garrison.
"This place is
too conspicuous. Let's proceed from the vacant lot in the back on the
right."
As they advanced along
the main street, the garrison was on the left, with the training grounds behind
it. On the right were the soldiers' accommodations, and further to the right
was a vacant lot, currently an undeveloped space for future expansion.
The vacant lot was one
level above the town's main area, with a temporary earthen wall built up. They
climbed this earthen wall and continued further, up to the agricultural
experiment field one level above.
"What is
this!"
At the boundary
between the agricultural experiment field and the lord's mansion branch, there
was a deep, dry moat, 10 m wide. The surroundings were shrouded in darkness,
and their depth was completely unknown.
"Lower the rope
ladder! They built something so troublesome!"
Having finally descended
the dry moat, they now faced not only climbing out but also a magnificent stone
castle wall towering above them.
Looking up from the
bottom of the moat, the castle wall, which was 15 m high, including the depth
of the moat, seemed endlessly tall.
"From down here,
neither ropes nor ladders will reach the top."
"We'll move along
this moat to the front gate. If we climb up the bridge from there, we can get
out on top."
The group moved
through the dry moat, weaving through the darkness, and when they reached the
foot of the bridge at the main gate, they climbed up the bridge and hid near
the main gate.
Afterwards, slipping
through the gaps in the patrolling guards, they began to climb the wall from
the side of the main gate using the ladders and ropes they had brought.
Normally, there would
always be guards in front of the main gate.
However, tonight, as
many people as possible were allowed to participate in the festival, and
manpower was diverted for festival security, so there were no permanently
stationed guards. Only security soldiers patrolled regularly.
The moment one of the
thieves, climbing the wall at the front, reached the top of the castle wall...
"Uwaaaaaah!"
He fell with a loud
scream and the booming sound of collapsing stones.
It was the beginning
of their misfortune.
In fact, at the very
top of the castle wall, on the outermost part of the wall, there was a trap set
up as a countermeasure against thieves.
It was designed so
that only that part would easily collapse if a large force equivalent to a
person's weight was applied.
The unfortunate first
climber had perfectly triggered that trap.
"Enemy
attack!"
A loud shout and the
piercing sound of a whistle echoed. Soldiers and mages rushed out from the
lord's mansion branch, the patrolling guards hurriedly gathered, and people
began to run from the garrison.
"Damn it! Even if
they noticed us, we still have the numbers! Let's slaughter them and take our
sweet time getting the treasure!"
With a roar from the
apparent leader, the thieves regained their senses and began to attack the
soldiers en masse.
In the initial stage,
only about 15 soldiers were able to rush from the garrison. Only five guards
gathered at the main gate of the lord's mansion branch.
"Don't let them
whittle us down! Coordinate with those on the left and right, defend, and
deflect!"
Realizing they were
outnumbered, the commander slowly retreated while having everyone focus on
defense.
They concentrated on
buying time for the other garrison soldiers and the mercenary corps to arrive.
However, with the
thieves surrounding them, it seemed only a matter of time before they were
annihilated.
"Insolent fools!
We will not allow any violence in the town of Teigun governed by
Takuhir-sama!"
A clear, young woman's
voice rang out from above the castle wall.
"Flame
Barrier!"
The fire mage
(Claire), having honed her skills in mage combat training, deployed a barrier
of flames between the guards and the thieves.
The aim was to protect
the guards, but some unlucky thieves were engulfed by the wall of fire that
appeared from their feet, screaming and rolling around as human torches.
Others, carried by
their momentum, crashed into the flame barrier, suffering severe burns and
becoming incapacitated.
Claire's furious rage
was extraordinary.
The deployed wall of
fire showed no mercy whatsoever.
"Fire magic? Why
are there mages in a place like this..."
The thieves were
bewildered by the sudden appearance of the mages.
They had no way of
knowing that the mages held by the Solis Baronial family, other than earth and
wind mages, were naturally kept secret.
"We are the
guardians of the town of Teigun. This is not a place for the likes of you to
tread upon with your muddy boots!"
With the surroundings
illuminated by the wall of fire, accurate shots flew in without the slightest
deviation.
With the downward
angle from the castle wall, there was no way to escape Christoph's arrows at
this distance.
At the lord's mansion
branch, six people, excluding Bart, Kran, Rosa, and Mia, were taking turns
staying behind for security.
Still... to attack
when the two with the highest firepower were present... they were truly
unlucky.
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