The Necromancer Who Was Despised - The Necromancer Who Was Despised chapter 55

“Our war preparations are almost complete. Now that the food has arrived, I plan to clash with them. Thanks to you, we have some clothes. You’ve worked hard.”

If we are victorious in battle, we will reap a rich harvest, said the lord.

Well, if we are truly victorious, he will give us a fair share. The Merchant Alliance will be scattered, and the amount of spoils we get will be extraordinary.

Furthermore, this side will inevitably suffer losses, and in such a situation, I would be indispensable.

It’s like a dream that I don’t really want and that has no chance of coming true, though.

‘Well, it’s better to play with monsters than to get involved in that.’

Even Rikkenlia, who has a good eye for the situation as a budding knight, said that our chances of winning are only 30% at best.

It’s more comfortable to just leave.

“Oh, don’t worry about the transportation. “I will select people from Kaitei Territory and assign them to you.”

I was very grateful.

Of course, it was nominally a request but effectively an order, so I had no right to refuse.

If I refused, it seemed like he would drag me to the battlefield.

It seems that he thinks time is on his side.

I forgot what I was going to say when I saw him looking at the beasts I had hunted separately with the biggest smile on his face.

The lord accepted my request with the intention of killing me, and after a day of rest, he started moving again.

Tia’s face turned gloomy when she heard that we were leaving again after only one day, and Athena was sweating as she tried to calm Tia down.

Of course, Tia didn’t throw a tantrum or anything. She’s not a child, and she’s not so unaware of her own position. She had virtually no say in the group, so she was just expressing her regret.

Maybe it’s a buildup to secure military power.’

It seemed plausible considering that her complaints were directed solely at Athena.

In fact, Tia was very obedient and respectful towards me, and she even called Kayla “sister” and acted very politely towards her.

Leaving Tia behind as she expressed her regret, we started to distribute food around the village and spent our time dealing with the monsters in the vicinity.

Thanks to that, we received a lot of praise, but I didn’t feel anything in particular.

‘I guess we were treated as saviors?’

There was even a village chief who tried to send his daughter to me to create a connection, but Kayla dealt with it.

While we were traveling outside of Kaitei Territory, a rumor spread that the lord himself had led an army to subjugate the bandits.

Since there were people who had seen the departure ceremony, it wasn’t a false rumor, and no news came in for several days after they left.

The news of the lord’s army, which had been cut off for a while, came in ten days later.

“I heard they were completely defeated.”

It was an expected outcome.

“At first… we won.”

I had been summoned by the lord and returned to Kaitei Territory, and I was listening to his story in silence in front of him.

He didn’t seem to have any major injuries, but he looked visibly upset.

“We got the news late, so the bastards hadn’t fully regrouped yet. That’s why we were able to wipe out two mercenary groups without much difficulty, and we were confident of victory.”

Wiping out two mercenary groups is definitely a great achievement.

In fact, the Baron’s family had only hired one mercenary group, and they had gone to war with only two mercenary groups in total, including the ones hired by Kumain.

Of course, since it was a matter of the territory’s survival, they had conscripted soldiers, including Knight Langbank and his budding knight, Rikkenlia, but the two mercenary groups were still the ones that could be considered elite.

“But… The number of enemies was beyond imagination. There were more than ten mercenary groups hired to isolate the territory. Even though we managed to take down two mercenary groups with a preemptive strike, it wasn’t enough. Some of them even operated cavalry separately.”

Although we succeeded in taking down three more mercenary groups through repeated battles, half of the conscripted soldiers died in the process, the mercenary group was destroyed, and Rikinli also died.

Some of the mercenary group members who died were familiar to me.

‘… I heard that only Disan survived.’

Among the Pipis Mercenary Group, only Pipis himself and Disan survived.

Half of the lower-ranking mercenaries who used to drink with me in the past were dead.

They were going to die in the monster wave in the future anyway.

Even so, it was true that I felt a little bitter.

‘Rikinli… He couldn’t come back alive this time.’

Ida, who had always looked grim because he said that there was little chance of winning until the end.

Even so, he said that he would do whatever he could… .

“Still, thanks to Rikinli’s sacrifice, I and Lord Rainbank were able to survive.”

“That’s fortunate. He devoted himself to the territory until the end.”

“Lord Rainbank seems to be in pain. After all, the serf who saved him twice died… .”

“How is Lord Rainbank’s condition?”

“It’s not good.”

He said that he couldn’t use mana.

He said that he had pushed himself too hard.

“So, may I ask why you called me?”

“There’s something they shouted at us when we were running away.

-It’s no use running away! We’ll turn your fancy territory into ruins!

It was practically a declaration of war.

“They’ll probably target this pioneer territory first. Please join us in the defense.”

“There’s nowhere to run anyway.”

“We’re not going to defend forever. “I’ve requested reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements?”

“Yes. The path to Earl Sigren’s territory is completely blocked… but they seem to have let their guard down a little.”

“I sent people to other pioneer territories. Since the mercenaries under Venter are all trustworthy, they won’t run away. It’ll take some time, but if we stay alive, we’ll be able to reach the other pioneer territories. They’re nobles too, so they won’t ignore my crisis.”

They asked me to inform the Sigren Earldom about the situation if they couldn’t come to our aid.

It’s not like they can’t help me… .

‘Well, can they do it as they please?’

It’s hard enough to get there while avoiding the pursuit of the Merchant Alliance, but even if we manage to get there on foot… .

‘It’ll be too late.’

I found out recently while investigating the villages protecting the front lines separately.

‘They’re not that far away.’

A month at the latest. Two weeks at the earliest.

The monster wave is expected to occur within that time.

Just as the Lord told me, they came straight to the pioneer territory.

There were over 200 mercenaries at a rough glance, and their armament was incomparable to ours.

The hastily mobilized townspeople trembled in fear as they looked at them.

The numbers might be on our side, but most of us are civilians, so if we engage, we’ll be slaughtered.

If there weren’t any palisades, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything.

“The situation… isn’t good. We might need to reveal our identities….”

“If that’s not an option, then fleeing might be acceptable.”

Even Kayla and Athena were voicing their negativity.

Kayla had grown remarkably, but even she couldn’t wipe them all out on her own.

They weren’t mindless monsters.

They were mercenaries with tons of experience fighting humans, so even if their specs were lower than monsters, they could more than make up for it with their equipment, experience, and knowledge.

It’s not like there were many people who could support Kayla, and there was no one who had fought alongside her for a long time.

After all, the only time she had fought alongside the awakened Kayla was in the ant cave.

“Let’s try to hold out for now. In the worst case scenario… we’ll have to flee.”

I instructed Athena to return home and secure Tia if I gave the order.

It was just to reassure the party, but they seemed satisfied with that.

“Hahaha. So this shabby castle was your safe haven after all? What a disgrace to the name of nobility!”

A rather large man stepped forward and spoke.

Then the lord himself stepped forward and opened his mouth.

“Do you not fear the law? You’re just bandits attacking a noble family of the kingdom? If this becomes known, you, your family, your relatives, and your friends will all be tortured and beheaded! Disarm yourselves and kneel right now !”

“Kukuku. You nobles still don’t understand the situation. Your precious knight ran away with his tail between his legs after being defeated, and your incompetent soldiers were trampled by us. That seed was the only one who fought to the end, but “You and that knight ran away, didn’t you? Or maybe that guy who fought to the end was the knight?”

The mercenary captain continued, mocking the lord.

“You’re the one who should surrender. If you offer your neck obediently, I’ll let you die without any pain.”

“Insolence! How dare you, a mere bandit, speak of killing a noble of the kingdom!”

“Hoo… What a fool. I suppose nobles value their honor, but you’ve already thrown away your honor and fled shamefully.”

The mercenary captain laughed and spoke to the lord as if he pitied him.

“So, are you going to surrender?”

“The Ovalan Barony will never surrender to the likes of bandits!”

“Oh dear. Is that so? Then prepare to die.”

The mercenary captain dismissed the Ovalan Baron, who refused to give up his tough stance.

“Listen up, townspeople! If you open the gates yourselves and bring us the neck of that cripple, we will spare you!”

“Lies! They will defile and kill you as soon as you surrender!”

“But if you resist to the end, you will not escape death!”

“Do not listen! Everyone, stay at your posts and prepare for their attack!”

The townspeople began to waver as the mercenary captain’s persuasion and threats were followed by the lord’s orders.

However, no one actually moved.

They were indeed afraid, but at the same time, they had no reason to believe their words.

They hadn’t revealed that they were mercenaries or that they belonged to the Merchant Alliance. They couldn’t reveal it in the first place.

Therefore, it was difficult for the townspeople, who knew they were bandits, to choose the option of surrender.

Furthermore, as people who lived in a pioneering territory on the frontier, they were a little more resistant to threats than those who lived in peaceful territories.

‘They say they’re brave.’

But that was only in relative terms.

‘The people who live on the border of the Great Forest or near the union of the demi-humans are the ones who are truly brave.’

Ultimately, there was no major change in the situation as they talked to each other.

“But why did Youngju go out and do it himself? Doesn’t he usually send someone else?”

“Well, there’s hardly anyone he could send. And he’s trying to somehow boost morale.”

In fact, the fact that he went out to battle himself was probably to boost morale.

At the time of the attack, the majority were conscripted.

Therefore, they couldn’t help but be greatly influenced by morale, and in that situation, the best way to boost morale would have been for the lord himself to participate in the war with excellent supplies.

As for supplies, I don’t know about equipment, but I brought them food, so that was somewhat resolved, and in the latter case, it could be said that he showed courage.

‘But he lost.’

If he had barricaded himself in the mansion for safety in that situation, the colony would have fallen long before, so he must have had no choice but to go out despite the humiliation.

It could be said that he wasn’t a complete fool as the lord of a pioneering territory.

‘The result was a mess, though.’

As I explained the situation to Athena, the conversation was eventually cut off, and they began preparing for the attack.

The first thing they took out was flaming arrows.

This was an obvious choice, given that our side was made of wooden palisades.

From noble mtl dot com

However, our side wasn’t stupid either.

As the flaming arrows rained down, the lord immediately gave the order.

“Throw dirt and pour water!”

We had already poured some dirt and water on the palisades in advance, but it wasn’t enough to completely block the flaming arrows.

Fortunately, the ones on the other side weren’t skilled either.

“Dammit, I said shoot properly!”

Half of the arrows landed in the wrong places, and even those that hit properly quickly went out, failing to meet their full effect.

If only they had an overwhelming number of bows, but that wasn’t the case either.

‘That’s fortunate, at least.’

As the first attack ended in near failure, the lord similarly mocked them as good-for-nothing bandits, and the enraged mercenary captain gave up on the fire attack and began giving instructions.

“Raise your shields! We’re breaking through head-on! Grimink and Avinas, follow me, and the rest of you attack the ramparts!”

It seemed that the difference in power was so great that they didn’t even bother to hide how they were going to move.

“… Shouldn’t we also go to the gate?”

“We’ll go if it gets dangerous.”

Funnily enough, the place we were guarding was behind the palisade near the gate.

Venter and Pipis, who had been hired by the lord and Kuman, were stationed on top of the gate.

Pipis seemed to be taking orders from Venter, as he was the only one left of his mercenaries.

‘The Venter Mercenary Group isn’t anything special, either.’

It was clear that their numbers had also been greatly reduced.

From what I could see, I could tell that there were only about fifteen people guarding the gate.

Even then, several of them were visibly injured.

‘It was big enough to guard four villages… .’

We were on the verge of falling into the abyss because of a single bad contract.

“… They’re armed with hammers and axes.”

“The hot water?”

“It’s ready.”

“We should be able to hold them off for now. But we don’t know how long our supplies will last… For now, we defend as best we can.”

“What if they break through?”

“Damn it, if they break through… We’ll have to hold them off from behind the door as best we can.”