Episode 261: This number should be enough. (2)
As the number of hunters following her grew too large, Kaor asked Giselle.
“It’s good to have more subordinates, but is it okay? They’re all rough, so it’ll be hard to handle them.”
“Are you scared again?”
“I wasn’t scared!”
“The more people who can fight, the better. That way, the leather can be obtained quickly, and it can be used for other purposes later. When I return, you need to handle it well. Can you handle that much?”
If it had been something else, Jisel would never have entrusted it to Kaor. However, Kaor had experience leading a small mercenary group, so he trusted that experience.
Hunters are similar to mercenaries. Rather, they tend to obey the strong more easily than mercenaries.
If it’s Kaor with a bad temper, he could easily lead hundreds of hunters. He’s already shown his skills and gained fame by defeating Donkad.
Indeed, Kaor snorted and made a confident expression.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to catch you even if I have to beat you every day.”
“Yes, such people resist small fears, but submit to great ones. Don’t forget that.”
Kaor nodded slightly nervously at those words. It seemed like she understood the meaning a little.
Aren’t you also being dragged around, struggling in front of the great violence called Yeongju?
‘Ah! My pride is hurt! I will definitely get revenge someday.’
Kaor was suddenly fired up with motivation. Not only Gillian, but Giselle also wanted to surpass him someday.
Isn’t that the way of a man?
Jiselle didn’t care whether Kaor was fired up or not. She had a lot of work to do before the monster wave came.
He went to find the Turian knight who was in charge of the fortress.
“The monster wave is about to start, so you’d better get ready.”
“… … There are still more than 6 months left until it starts?”
The Turian knight did not hide his twisted attitude.
They know the cycle of monster waves better than anyone else. It was funny to hear Jiselle, who had only been here for a short time, say something like that.
Either way, Jiselle said what she wanted to say and went back.
“Don’t regret it and prepare well. There are many people who regretted not listening to me.”
After Giselle left, the Turian knight was troubled.
If the knight had been from another kingdom, he would have ignored Giselle’s words. It would have ended with, ‘Where did that crazy guy come from again, talking nonsense?’
But the Turians are different. They are so vigilant that they even built fortresses to keep monsters at bay.
Grant, a Turian knight and fortress commander, was troubled.
‘He hasn’t been here for long. He must be talking nonsense because he overheard it somewhere.’
‘But his performance so far has been extraordinary. He is much more professional than the hunters who have been here for a long time.’
‘Do you know something?’
Preparing for a monster wave isn’t just about raising your alert level. Fortresses are sealed off and all logistics are blocked.
In the fortress, economic activities are carried out by inviting outside traders using the byproducts of monsters as bait. If the movement of goods is blocked, it will be difficult to last long.
Secondly, we must notify the royal family and the nearby fortresses that we are entering a state of war, so that they can prepare in case the fortresses are breached.
That is, not only here but also everywhere else, they are starting to prepare for the exhibition system.
Thanks to this thorough system, the Turian Kingdom was able to repel the attacks of the formidable monsters of the Shadow Mountains.
‘If it was bullshit, it would have caused huge financial losses.’
The cycle of monster waves was almost constant, so each fortress planned and prepared according to that cycle.
There has never been a case of going into wartime mode so suddenly since the fortresses were built.
It was too much of a burden to listen to that crazy guy and make a decision on my own.
Grant, who had been up all night worrying, spoke to his subordinate knights as soon as the next day dawned.
“… … Prepare for the monster wave.”
It wasn’t that he completely believed Giselle’s words. His obsessive caution prevented him from letting even nonsense slip by.
“Also, keep an eye on Earl Fenris at the same time. If the monster wave doesn’t occur within a month, he will be held liable.”
I don’t know how much money that is, but to make up for the loss, I’d have to spend the rest of my life hunting monsters here.
As soon as Grant gave the order, the fort was put on high alert. The entrances to the fort were sealed and hunters were forbidden to hunt.
The knights and soldiers began to move busily, preparing to fight the monsters.
“Move quickly!”
“Check the quantity of arrows and stones!”
“Starting today, we will double the number of guards!”
Large ballistae and catapults were inspected, and strategic materials were piled densely around the walls.
As a result, roads and various places within the fortress began to be controlled. Economic activity shrank, life became difficult, and people’s tensions increased.
Naturally, some people were dissatisfied with the sudden, unexpected change.
“No, why are you suddenly doing this? The monster wave is still far away, isn’t it?”
“I heard that new guy, Giselle or something, is coming soon?”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about? How does he know that?”
Since they can’t go hunting, they can’t make money. Naturally, the hunters blamed Jisel for this.
However, those who were preparing to question Giselle turned back without even going to see him. This was because the monsters really did come a few days later.
Koooooooo!
A large number of monsters, regardless of species, came rushing toward the fortress. No one knew how these monsters, who usually preyed on each other, came down to the fortress as if they were planning something.
All of Turian’s knights and soldiers rushed to the fortress’ walls. So did the Hunters.
These people and the fortress were like a community of shared destiny. And once the monster wave started, there was no way to escape.
The number of monsters seemed to exceed ten thousand at first glance. The hunters were dumbfounded at the sight.
“What, what is it? Why are you coming all of a sudden?”
“For years, the cycle has rarely been wrong. The margin of error has been about one or two months.”
“How on earth does he know this?”
Not only the hunters, but also the commander Grant was equally shocked. I prepared just in case, but I never thought it would really happen.
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I was secretly relieved, but that didn’t mean the danger was gone.
“Prepare for battle! Hunters, prepare for battle too!”
Squeak!
As Grant, who had quickly come to his senses, shouted, the soldiers began to load their large ballistae and catapults. The hunters also all took up their weapons.
Since there are monsters that fly in the sky, we had to prepare for air combat as well as ground combat.
Jisel also stood on the wall, looking at the monsters rushing in. Behind him were the knights of Fenris and the 300 hunters he had recently recruited.
The other hunters glanced at Jiselle as they prepared for battle.
“Kaor is over there.”
“Isn’t that the guy who won the money card? He’d have a better chance of survival if he was over there.”
“Let’s go a little closer over there.”
The hunters slowly moved towards Jisel. Grant, the fort commander, saw them and shouted.
“Stay where you are, you idiots! Stay where you are!”
Monsters don’t use ladders, but there are countless monsters that can easily climb walls.
Those with excellent athletic ability can easily jump over even a small pile of corpses. That’s why hunters also had to keep their positions.
However, the hunters ignored Grant’s words and moved towards Jiselle and her group. For now, sticking close to the strong was the priority.
Donkad used to be the strongest here. I don’t know about PvP, but he was the best at hunting monsters, and he always performed the best.
Kaoru won that money card. The closer you are to it, the higher your chances of survival.
Kaoru shook his head and made an arrogant expression.
“Ha, kids. You know who’s the strongest. This is difficult, really.”
Even though monsters were rushing in, I wasn’t nervous. I just wanted to be looked down on like I was now.
The hunters who had already signed a contract with Jiselle had proud expressions on their faces. I could feel that they were all envious.
‘This is why people have to move quickly!’
‘Are you jealous? That’s right, who told you to be proud?’
Jiselle looked around at the hunters who had approached her and said.
“Hey, you guys want to fight with us too?”
The hunters all nodded. They wanted to fight while hiding in the surrounding area.
Jiselle readily granted their request.
“Okay, since we’re busy, let’s just make it a verbal contract for now. Everyone, just fight hard with us. Don’t worry, Kaor, who beat Donkad, is here too.”
“Wow!”
The hunters’ morale was greatly boosted.
In the past, it was quite difficult to get next to the Doncard. This was because the Doncard party, which was trying to monopolize the monster’s corpse, did not forgive sneaking in.
But the newcomers, whether they were generous or stupid, accepted everything they asked for. For the Hunters, it couldn’t get any better than that.
After seeing Giselle accept the hunters, Grant gave up trying to control them.
Hunters aren’t soldiers anyway. Telling them to move here by force will only increase their resistance and won’t work.
‘Damn, something feels wrong since that guy came.’
The unexpected monster waves and the gathering of hunters were all the same. It felt like the entire fortress was being dragged around by that guy.
Kaaaaaaah!
I couldn’t think any more. The monsters had come within firing range of the catapults and ballistas.
“Attack!”
Grant’s shout signaled the start of the ballista and catapult attack.
Paaaaang!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kaaaaaaah!
Monsters were blown up and torn apart. The ballista was particularly effective against large monsters.
However, it was not possible to block all of those monsters with just a few attacks. In the meantime, the monsters had moved beyond the range of the large weapons, and no longer had any effect on the attacks.
“Archers! Attack!”
The attack of archers, who were relatively easy to control compared to siege weapons, began.
Swaaaaaaah!
A rain of arrows poured down, some of which were directed at the flying monsters.
It didn’t have much of an effect on monsters with thick hide, but it dealt a fairly big blow to many small monsters.
“Shoot! Keep shooting!”
You have to keep attacking with arrows until you reach the wall. The few magicians who came here for some reason also used all their strength to pour out long-range magic.
Kuoooooo!
The sound of the ground shaking grew louder and louder. The monsters’ roars grew closer and closer, almost deafening.
Jiselle, who had roughly estimated the number of monsters and the distance from them on the wall, nodded and said.
“Okay, let’s jump down now. Everyone, prepare for the ‘One Arm Fall Survival Technique’.”
At those words, the hunters around them looked puzzled, and the knights of Fenris looked gloomy.
‘I knew this would happen.’
‘Then that’s right, there’s no way they could just fight normally.’
‘I don’t know anymore. I don’t even want to think about it.’
Whether monsters came or not, the knights had already given up on everything.
They didn’t even object and just took out the rope from their waists. Giselle laughed when she saw them.
“Are you ready now?”
“Yes, yes. I just don’t want to jump. My shoulder hurts.”
The knights who answered without a soul hastily put ropes on the wall and quickly climbed down while holding onto them. They were all carrying huge wooden boxes on their backs.
The hunters who saw that sight cried out in shock.
“Hey, what are those guys doing?”
“Are you crazy? Why are you going down?”
“No, you really are going to go down when I tell you to? Aren’t you crazy?”
Who would actually die if their leader told them to? If they were going to go down and die anyway, wouldn’t it be common sense to kill the guy who gave the order first?
Grant saw the sight and screamed again.
“You crazy bastards! What are you doing! Come up! Come up! If you don’t want to get killed by friendly fire!”
Even if a monster comes into close range, the arrow attacks will continue, as the arrows can shoot directly downwards.
But you can’t do that if you have allies.
Even though Grant was going crazy, Giselle didn’t even pretend to hear him. She just looked at the hunters who were panicking next to her and decided to follow her.
“What are you doing? You guys, hold on and go down.”
“… …Why does it have to be like that?”
“It’s not always advantageous to fight on the walls. That’s only advantageous when the opponent is a human. When fighting monsters, it’s better to form a formation in a wide open space and fight properly. There are many monsters for whom the walls are meaningless anyway.”
“But the walls are not safe… … .”
“Since this is your first time, I’ll explain it to you again kindly. When fighting monsters of that level, it’s better to go down and fight. And there’s a more important reason.”
“That… … . What is it?”
“If we go down and catch a lot, it’ll all be ours, right? Okay, that’s all for the explanation. Go down quickly.”
“… … .”
The hunters were speechless. No matter how much they thought about it, it sounded like a joke, but there were already some who had gone down after hearing that.
I couldn’t figure out what was going on.
As the hunters were dumbfounded and unable to come to their senses, Jiselle looked down and shouted.
“I don’t think you guys understand the situation, so I’m just going to throw it to you, so catch it well!”
A loud shout was also heard from below.
“Monsters are coming! Hurry up and throw!”
“Okay, let’s get started.”
With those words, Jiselle grabbed the hunter next to her and threw him down.
