Although the region of Tale was one of the most dangerous places, just looking at its size, it wasn’t that big.
Even with the farthest place, that was Poskein lake that was at the south, it took a quarter of a day to reach it.
Because of that, if they could only grasp the appearance and movement of the monsters quickly, they could subjugate them perfectly without suffering that many losses.
That’s why the beacon was made.
With the HQ at the center, the beacons were lined up in a long fashion to the four cardinal points, and thanks to that, they could quickly realize that monsters had appeared.
‘Not the east, west, and south but the north?’
Roan kicked his horse and frowned.
The north was the region where people resided.
Because of that, it was the place where they had to subjugate more perfectly than other places.
And actually during the past five months, monsters appeared only three times in the north.
But even so, they were perfectly annihilated before they reached near the village.
Dudududu.
The sound of horse steps was heard clearly.
You could see the HQ from far away.
The entrance, that was closed stiff, opened up as if they were waiting for them.
The guard had discovered Roan coming closer.
“What happened?!”
Roan yelled with all of his strength as soon as he entered the camp.
One of the centurions, Ant, came running quickly.
“Looking at the order the beacons were fired off, it seems like monsters are moving from the southeast to the northwest.”
He replied with an urgent voice and expression.
‘Monsters from the south going to the north?’
Roan frowned.
There was no reason for the monsters to move to the north, that was well guarded.
‘Has it already started?’
Roan could think of a reason for it.
He put more strength in his hands that were grabbing the reins.
“And the centurions?”
“Just like we trained recently, Semi, Tane, and Pete each lead their companies and marched! Even centurion Harrison, who was patrolling in the north, would have moved after seeing the beacon.”
“Good. Then, I’m entrusting the HQ to you!”
“Yes. Don’t worry!”
Ant made a short salute.
Roan hurriedly turned the head of his horse.
And soon, the cavalry appeared.
Their numbers were merely 50.
However, they were the best among the best in Amaranth troop.
“We are moving quickly towards the village in the north! Don’t fall behind!”
“Yes! Understood!”
At Roan’s orders, the cavalrymen replied in one voice and kicked their horses.
The chest that moved closely to the saddle.
The fifty cavalrymen ran while splitting the air with Roan at the front.
Their destination was the village in the north.
It was the place that still hadn’t fired up the beacon.
*****
Hans, who was exactly 60 this year, lived a life filled with despair.
The stories tell that he was born as a vassal of a wicked and stupid noble family, lived on while being pressured, and exploited and became a vagabond at the age of 49.
He was wandering in the eastern region of Rinse kingdom and then became a vassal of the Lancephil family thanks to Io’s consideration.
He was placed in a barren land in the northern region with people with similar circumstances as him, but he couldn’t live calmly at all because the people of Byron kingdom invaded without stop.
Then, he heard the notices that the Lancephil family was selecting people to immigrate to the region of Tale.
On top of that, he even heard that they were going to exempt them from taxes and provide them some money for the settlement.
The foreigner Hans, who didn’t even know what kind of place the region of Tale was, applied for it, and got elected.
That was when he was 53 years old.
Hans migrated to the northern region of Tale along with 3,000 people.
Only then did he realize that the region of Tale was heaven for monsters, but he believed in the territory guards that were settled in together with them.
But merely after two years that they settled in, thousands of residents and most of the guards lost their lives.
The region of Tale was really heaven for monsters and hell for humans.
Most of the surviving people trembled in fear and left the region of Tale.
However, Hans stayed in place until the end.
This was because the support and the tax exemption was too sweet.
‘Even if I return to where I originally lived, it’s obvious that I will die at the hands of the Byron bastards.’
If he was going to die like this and like that, it was more profitable to stay in the region of Tale.
Fortunately, the Lancephil family provided soldiers consistently.
They even sent knights and soldiers to the north of Tale and subjugated the monsters.
Seven years has passed like that.
The number of the residents repeatedly increased and decreased and now they maintained a number of 2,000.
Although the number of the guards that first amounted to 3,000 was now 800, the north of Tale was quite the safe place.
Monsters didn’t appear that often and even if they did, they were close to the troop’s HQ so it didn’t turn into become a dangerous situation.
Thanks to that, three big and small villages set place following the boundary of the north.
And the village that was created first and had the most number of people was this place, the place was called the village of the north.
Hans was now enjoying his old and stable life as the chief of the village.
“Huh?”
Hans, who was taking some air at the high watchtower, frowned.
A middle aged man was running towards him in an urgent manner.
‘Liss the herbman?’
Liss was someone that wandered around the safe places of the village and harvested good quality herbs.
He shook his arms with an urgent expression and movements.
‘What’s happening?’
As he paid more attention, he thought that he was yelling something. However, he couldn’t hear well because of the distance.
Only after the distance was closed did Liss’s words become clearly heard.
“Monster group! Monsters have appeared!”
At that moment, Hans’s expression stiffened.
‘Monster?! Why monsters so suddenly…….’
He almost hadn’t seen any monsters recently.
He first calmed down his surprised heart and then yelled towards the guards that were at the watch tower.
“Ring the bell! There are monsters!”
“Ye, yes! Understood!”
The guards nodded with a surprised expression.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Soon, the sounds of the bell were heard clearly.
As Liss entered the village, the gates that were open, closed quickly.
Soon, Hans got down the watchtower asked with an urgent expression.
“You said monsters? Is that true?”
“Pant. Pant. It’s true. It is.”
Liss calmed down his breath and barely started talking.
“I was harvesting some herbs near the village and then saw a dust cloud surging up.”
His voice trembled.
“I wondered what was happening and climbed to the peak of a mountain and then saw a group of monsters that were approaching with a black color.”
“Black?”
Hans asked back after he dry gulped.
Liss just nodded several times instead of replying.
Meanwhile, the villages people gathered around.
“Wh, what’s happening?”
“Chief. Did something happen?”
Everyone had expressions filled with worry.
Hans frowned.
‘Monsters are coming in a black group?’
His sight moved over to the high fences covering the village.
‘They were called Amaranth troop.’
This was the troop that was working instead of the Sollum troop to guard the region and subjugate the monsters.
Five months ago, the members of Amaranth troop sought the village and built an even higher fence and a watch tower inside of it.
‘Will we be able to hold on?’
There were about 100 guards inside the village.
‘No. It’s impossible.’
Although they had the newly build fence and the watch tower, it was impossible to handle the black group of monsters approaching them.
‘To the south, it’s better to escape to the south.’
When he thought up to there.
“Chief!”
The guards in the watchtower yelled in one voice.
A yell closer to despair.
Hans frowned and then moved up to the watchtower.
“Ah…….”
A low exclamation came out of his lips.
And that was an exclamation mixed with fear and discouragement.
“What happened?”
“What is happening!”
The villages people yelled.
Hans looked outside the village while gritting his teeth.
‘There’s at least 2,000 of them.’
Just like Liss’s words, the group was pitch black.
And moved faster than thought.
White dust surged over them.
‘It’s impossible to escape.’
Going out of the village now was tantamount to suicide.
‘A fortress!’
They could only face the monsters inside the village.
He remembered the young troop commander of Amaranth troop he had met quite some time ago.
‘Was he called Roan.’
He was a really well mannered and confident youth.
‘Did he say that the defensive system of the north was perfect…..’
Expression and attitude filled with confidence.
That look was still fresh.
‘In the end, we can only wait and believe in the Amaranth troop.’
They could only hope for that perfect defense system to be of great strength for them.
Hans yelled below the watchtower.
“Prepare for battle! Move the women and children to the inner parts of the village and the guards and men all come up to the watchtower!”
He took in a breath for a moment and then continued saying.
“Monsters are charging in.”
At that moment, a heavy silence fell onto the villagemen.
An unexpected thing came out of his mouth.
They were kind of relaxed because monsters hadn’t appeared until now.
Then.
“Kyaa!”
The yell of a young girl broke the silence.
“Ah! Hu, hurry!”
“Quickly!”
That was the start.
The residents moved quickly.
Although there was no control, they were residents of Tale.
Hans also hurriedly sent the order.
“Gather rocks and prepare hot water.”
“Yes? Ah, yes!”
The vice chief and the head of the guards, Carl, replied with an urgent expression and got down the watchtower.
Hans just stood still and watched the monsters.
The bastards were just lining up without any formations.
Kuang!
A cry was heard following the wind.
Although he tried to forcefully act calm, dry saliva was gulped down unconsciously.
Meanwhile, the guards and the men took place in the watch tower.
They raised the bows and arrows Amaranth troop provided them with and aimed at the monsters.
Gulp.
Their adam’s apples shook severely.
Although they did stand up on the watchtower to protect their families, they couldn’t do anything about feeling nervous.
As they saw the 2,000 monsters, their knees shook and became short of breath.
But even so, they couldn’t escape.
‘We protect our village ourselves.’
Everyone ground their teeth.
Then.
Wooooo!
The monsters let out cries and started to charge.
As 2,000 monsters kicked the ground at the same time, white dust rose up.
They closed the distance in an instant.
At that moment, several arrows were poured down from the watchtower.
Sweeeee!
A sharp sound rang out.
But they, who didn’t have proper training in the bow, couldn’t put strength behind it.
Pubububuk.
Most of the arrows were stuck in the ground.
Kieek!
Monsters charged to the fences along with their cries.
“Fire arrows! Throw the rocks!”
Hans yelled with all his strength.
The guards used all their strength to throw rocks and fire arrows.
However, they couldn’t stop the advance of the monsters.
They soon moved closer to the fences.
‘Ca, can’t we block them?’
‘Is it the end?’
Everyone was thinking with expressions full of despair.
“Huh?”
“Uh?”
Sweeeeee!
Sharp sounds were heard.
At the same time, a dense shadow appeared before their eyes.
It was a darkness that seemed to cover the clouds.
Hans and the villagers raised their heads to look at the sky.
“Ah!”
A low exclamation came out of everyone’s mouths.
‘Arrows!’
At that moment.
Pubububuk.
A rain of arrows poured over the monsters.
“Kieeeeek!”
“Kuek!”
The monsters, who were running towards the village with good spirit, started to fall.
They started to become porcupines one by one.
At the same time, the sound of the horn trumpet was heard beyond the monsters.
Puuuuuuu!
It was a sound that made their chests boil.
White dust rose up.
A troop flag surged up from the back of the monsters.
<Amaranth.>
Hans saw that and said with a moved expression.
“It’s Amaranth! The Amaranth troop appeared!”
Despair filled with joy.
The villagers that were half absent-minded at the sudden situation yelled only then.
“Waaaaaaa!”
“Amaranth troop! Hooray!”
An amazing shout exploded out from them.
Hans took in a deep breath and covered his face with his two hands.
As his nervousness disappeared, his two legs trembled and tears started to pour out.
‘Ho, how could they come this fast?’
The herbman Liss had discovered the monsters and came running just now.
But Amaranth troop, who should be at the HQ, had already appeared.
Hans wiped off his tears with the back of his hand and looked at the troop flag.
‘There really was the perfect defense system troop commander Roan talked about.’
He became excited for nothing.
Then, a group in the rear started charging in while pushing back the monsters.
It was a really fierce charge.
It was Roan and the 50 cavalrymen.
Behind him, the infantry company followed him.
Tung! Tudung! Tung!
“Kuek!”
“Kek!”
At the charge of the warhorses, the small sized monsters were bounced off to the sides.
The cavalrymen and infantry took that opportunity and they made their spears dance.
Slash! Spat!
Horrible sounds were heard with the heads of the monsters falling to the ground.
Paat!
Finally, Roan and the troop members perfectly pierced through the monsters and stood at the entrance of the village.
Roan was fully covered with the blood of the monsters.
He raised his head for a moment and looked at the people on the watch tower.
“Ah……”
The villagers let out a low exclamation.
They saw the faint smile on Roan’s mouth.
The uneasiness that remained in a corner of their hearts completely disappeared.
Roan turned the head of the horse again and looked at the monsters.
He had a scary look.
His lips were shut.
Behind him, the soldiers took formation and organized themselves.
Roan took in a deep breath.
The smell of the fierce battlefield entered deep into the lungs.
The lips that were tightly shut started to move.
Soon, a rather low and strong order fell out.
“Annihilate.”
< Establishing a base (3) > End
Notes: Sponsored chapter!
Translator : Subak
Proofreader: st8_lupe.