The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations Chapter 316

Episode 316 You’ll have to stop us. (2)

Everyone was fired up by Giselle’s declaration, but there were those who did not.

Skoban saluted with a solemn expression.

“I hope you return safely!”

Following his powerful voice, the forest guards including Ricardo also saluted.

They all thought the same thing.

‘We just have to not go.’

‘Why do you keep poking around in this dangerous place?’

‘He’s the Grand Duke, so he’ll do something.’

They have no interest in taking risks. The incidents they have experienced so far are enough to be bragged about from generation to generation.

This is enough. Now I want to live the rest of my life in comfort.

But then Giselle looked at Skoban and said.

“What are you talking about? You all have to follow me.”

“Yes? Why?”

“The more hands the better.”

“Shouldn’t we stay here?”

“I’m going to sweep away everything in front, so what are you going to protect?”

“… … Do I have to go?”

“no.”

Skoban crossed his arms for a moment and pondered. After thinking it over, he soon came up with an excuse.

“I belong to Ferdium. I cannot move without your permission, my lord.”

It’s a protest that says not to treat him rudely because they belong to different affiliations. However, Jiselle is a man who doesn’t care about such things.

“Since my father is no longer here, I am the successor and the Lord’s representative.”

“… … The general is the representative of the lord?”

“Wow… Don’t you want to retire later?”

If you inherit the territory, Ferdium will also become Giselle’s. You can use Skoban until he dies.

Skoban spoke directly to Ricardo.

“Hey… … Get ready… … Gather the kids… … .”

“Hey, we didn’t receive any formal orders, did we?”

“If you’re confident, then hold on. Don’t you know that the Archduke who’s close by is more frightening than the General who’s far away?”

“…….”

“Since it’s come to this, let’s go and take a look around. Let’s think positively.”

The Forest Guard of the Demon’s Forest may not have many members, but it’s better to have more hands.

Giselle gave further orders to Skoban.

“Leave only the minimum security force in the territory and bring all the standby troops. I will also recruit laborers, so tell anyone who wants to come. The pay will be generous.”

Skoban moved obediently. Since the main force was already in the northern fortress, there was no one who could stop this scoundrel.

Of course, Jiselle had no intention of waiting for additional troops and workers to arrive. She needed to build a base camp as quickly as possible.

“Okay, let’s go in now!”

Jisel and Fenris entered the Forest of Demons through the path they had previously created.

The forest was still quiet. Even though there was a path, it was not used except to dig for runestones, so there was no major change in the forest.

It was hard to say that the forest had been properly cleared, as a high wall had been built around the road. However, Jiselle was now determined to secure this territory.

“Tear it all down!”

Boom! Kwung!

As the three thousand soldiers and knights moved, the tall and sturdy palisades that had been protecting the road collapsed in an instant.

A wide open space was created and a command tent was erected. Now, real development will begin around this area.

“There aren’t many monsters at the entrance. Just push them away as quickly as possible.”

There is still a long way to go to the realm of Dirus Ent, which can be said to be the true beginning of the forest. And the area around this path has already been swept away long ago.

Without having to worry about monster attacks, Jisel moved his soldiers boldly. Before three days had passed, an area large enough to fit two villages was secured at the entrance to the forest.

Of course, it’s not like there were no monster attacks at all.

“Kuaaaah!”

Something of enormous size leapt forward in front of the logging soldiers.

The soldiers were startled when they saw it and screamed.

“Whoaaaaah! What is that!”

“Bear? Is that a bear?”

“What kind of thing is that big?”

What appeared before the soldiers was a grizzly bear, nearly twice the size of a normal bear and covered in rough, gray fur.

At this size, it’s no longer a beast, but rather a monster.

It seems that he has really lived a hard life in this harsh forest, as one of his eyes was sunken in and his whole body was covered in wounds.

Although he has been driven to the outskirts of the forest by stronger beings, he still has the strength to tear apart most humans in one go.

As soon as the bear appeared, it roared as if claiming this area as its territory.

“Kuaaaaaaaaa… … ?”

The bear, who was about to run briskly after the roar, paused for a moment. There was too much food. At this point, it couldn’t even be called food.

The bear stopped and rolled its eyes. Even an animal that lived by instinct could at least understand the situation.

“Groep, grop.”

The bear, having made his decision, nodded his head several times as if telling him to finish his work, and then turned around. However, Lord Fenris did not let the bear go easily.

They were quite nervous about the dangerous rumors about the Forest of Demons, and that tension led to an overreaction.

“Shoot!”

Phaaaat!

With a shout from the nearest infantry commander, hundreds of arrows flew at the bear. It was an attack that could hardly be called unfair.

“Ku …

The bear, who had turned into a hedgehog in an instant, let out a final scream and fell down.

Kaoru saw that and ran over in a panic, shouting.

“Hey hey! How dare you attack a guy like that! He looks like he can’t wear leather!”

The skin of such a huge bear would certainly be sold at a high price. But with so many holes in it that it was now as good as trash.

The infantry commander said in confusion.

“No, that… … Still, it’s a scary-looking monster… … .”

“Ha, this is frustrating! What kind of monster is that? It’s just a deformed bear! Don’t be scared, it’s nothing special here.”

“…….”

The infantry commander had no answer. How could he say that such a monster was nothing?

Kaoru gave a haughty warning.

“This isn’t my first time here, is it? I know you very well, so don’t worry and call me first if something like that comes up. Got it?”

Kaor had been working all day long, skinning monsters and sending them to the territory. He had become a man who was serious about leather, and he had changed all the parts of his clothes that contained leather to the highest quality.

He immediately summoned the hunters.

“If anyone can skin me, I’ll be the first to take the lead and stick to them! Got it?”

“yes!”

This is an order from the ‘Leather King’ of Ironcliff. The hunters answered proudly.

When a monster or beast whose skin could be skinned appeared, Kaor and the hunters would deal with it. They obtained the skin cleanly with excellent skill.

Obtaining leather here and there was also an advantage. Of course, there were more monsters with strange appearances than those with leather.

Since it was still the beginning, the monsters that were encountered here and there were not very threatening. However, people could not completely relax.

It was because of the rumors I had heard about the Demon Forest and the dark atmosphere within the forest that kept irritating my nerves.

In particular, the emotions felt by the forest guards of the Demon’s Forest were much more complex than those of other people.

“As expected, numbers are the enemy. I never thought the day would come when this forest would be cleared away like this.”

“Surely a really dangerous monster won’t show up? It’s okay to continue, right?”

“The Archduke swept through the entrance once before, so it should be safe. It should be safe.”

The Forest of Demons has long been a source of fear for the people of Ferdium. Even though Giselle succeeded in developing the Forest of Demons once, that fear did not go away.

Entry was still prohibited except for the path to mine the runestones, and the entrance had to be guarded in case monsters burst out.

So even as Giselle led an overwhelming force and pushed through the forest, the guards could not relax.

The same was true for those who came here for the first time. Although the frequency of appearance was much lower than rumored, the size and appearance of the monsters were quite threatening.

If many of these monsters had appeared at once, it would have been clearly dangerous.

Only Kaor and the hunters were excited. They gradually relaxed and began to look at the forest of demons with amusement.

“Oh, what is this? There are fewer monsters than in the Shadow Mountains. I can’t even get word to the liver.”

“Isn’t it just a rumor? Are you saying that you’re afraid of places like this and don’t even try to develop them?”

“No matter how long ago I swept it away, it’s not fun if there’s this little left.”

In Shadow Mountains, even if you wipe out the monsters, they refill quickly because there are so many of them.

The strength of each individual may be high here, but their numbers are too small. This makes hunting less enjoyable.

While they were babbling like that, monsters that could finally pose a threat appeared.

Swish… … .

The first to discover it were soldiers standing guard on the outskirts.

The soldier shouted in horror as he saw the monster appearing between the trees.

“Mom, it’s a monster! Another monster has appeared!”

The soldiers, who had not yet relaxed their guard, immediately got into battle readiness as soon as they heard the guard’s shout.

They were shocked when they saw the monster that soon appeared.

“Eww, what is that! Why is it so big?”

“Get back! Get into formation quickly!”

“Wizard! Call the wizards!”

The monster that appeared was a giant mantis that resembled a locust.

The Giant Mantis is larger than a human, and its forelimbs are strong enough to tear steel as if it were a sheet of paper.

The monster that could tear dozens of soldiers to pieces with just one was the Giant Mantis.

A whopping 50 monsters appeared. This number could kill hundreds of well-armed soldiers at once.

“Gather! Gather quickly!”

“Raise your shields and form up!”

“Workers, evacuate quickly!”

The place became noisy and soldiers gathered in a crowd. It was different from the monsters that appeared one or two at a time. Finally, dozens of real monsters appeared.

The workers also stopped their work and stepped back. The soldiers looked at the giant mantises nervously.

“There are no little ones here, there are no little ones.”

When someone muttered, those around them nodded slightly.

Normally, giant mantises are only slightly larger than a human, but the ones living here appear to be twice their normal size, as if they had eaten something.

Even a normal-sized one can easily cut through the shield of a medium infantryman by swinging its front legs, so how strong would one that size be?

Everyone couldn’t help but be frightened by the enemy’s overwhelming size.

Swish… … .

The giant mantises also looked around very cautiously, perhaps feeling threatened by the large number of opponents.

They didn’t just turn around like bears. Giant mantises are known for being fearless in the first place.

Although the other side was larger in number, they were much smaller than them, so they seemed to have gained confidence and began to approach little by little, lifting their front paws.

The soldiers all raised their shields with tense expressions. Not only the soldiers. The knights, hunters, elves, and wizards were the same.

No one thought that those here would be able to handle such numbers. However, they could not help but feel nervous, having never experienced how strong the Giant Mantis was.

Because the monsters living in the Demon Forest are known to be much stronger than those outside the forest.

If we were not careful, we could suffer great losses. We could not afford to lose soldiers here, which was still the initial stage.

Vanessa approached the soldiers and spoke while gathering her magic power.

“Everyone, get ready.”

The Giant Mantis is a monster known for its speed. Since it is impossible to know how fast it is, she prepared a preemptive strike.

The idea was to attack first before the soldiers were attacked, thus reducing the enemy’s numbers by one.

As the wizards were about to attack, each reciting a spell, Giselle spoke.

“Oh, they’re still here? This area used to be their territory. I thought we wiped them all out back then, but it looks like the ones that were left have started breeding again.”

Gillian stepped forward, holding an axe.

“I’ll come back and sweep it away again.”

“Hey, old man. This time I’m going to catch more. Don’t show off.”

Kaoru walked out, his muscles twitching. Gordon followed him, his muscles twitching.

“A lot of my friends died at that time because of those guys. I also had a hard time at that time and lost a lot of muscle mass.”

Several knights followed behind them, holding weapons. The knights muttered something as if they were reminded of old times.

“It’s all just a memory now.”

“Those guys were really scary back then.”

“Everyone, just go about your business. We’ll handle it.”

It’s not like everyone in the party hasn’t faced those monsters before. There were some here who had dealt with them to the point where they were sick and tired of it.

The knights who came forward, led by Gillian and Kaor.

These were about 50 mercenaries who had all experienced the Forest of Demons and returned alive from fierce battles.