Chapter 92. Territorial War (3)
The eastern sky was beginning to turn bluish with dawn.
At this rate, when are we ever going to arrive?
I sat on the back of a slowly running Brown Bear with my arms crossed, thinking.
Should we just abandon the bears and go ahead?
If I had not heard Raul’s voice, I might really have told them, “We’re going on ahead.”
“My lord, I can see the Rhone River!”
Fortunately, we soon reached the river.
If we went just a little farther, the canal cargo vessels should be waiting for us.
Once we got aboard, it was game over.
No matter how fast the lizardmen were, could they really outrun a ship?
We had enough time to shake off the pursuit,
ROOOAR!
At that moment, a Brown Bear roared.
I was near the front of the group, so even when I spread my senses, I could not clearly tell what was happening at the rear.
I had no choice but to look back.
What entered my vision was enough to send chills down my spine.
Hundreds of lizardmen were charging after us like mad.
Their sinister yellow eyes glowed in the darkness.
That’s fucking terrifying. Damn it, if we keep running like this, the bears will start dropping out one by one. In that case...
I immediately shouted to the leader of the Brown Bears.
“The lizardmen have caught up to the rear! I’ll use the Wood Golems as bait, so run faster!”
We are already running at full speed!
I jumped off the Brown Bear and sent the Wood Golems toward the rear.
“Golems, stop those lizardmen.”
Kuoo, kuoo.
I sent one ghoul with them.
It was a ghoul I had hurriedly created from the corpse of an executed criminal.
They would not last long, but I planned to keep creating Wood Golems as long as I had mana.
Kerererek!
The lizardman warriors swarmed the golems and ghoul like ants, destroying them one after another.
While running beside the Brown Bears, I touched every tree I passed and turned it into a Wood Golem.
“Golem Creation!”
“Golem Creation!”
“Golem Creation!”
It felt like I was creating them at almost exactly the same speed they were being destroyed.
My mana was not infinite.
Eventually, I reached the point where I could no longer make more golems.
It was time to use the Winnie’s Fire I had been saving.
The wind was blowing from the north, so it should slow the pursuit.
“Winnie, prepare your magic! Ramita, throw the Winnie’s Fire!”
The two coordinated smoothly.
Ramita threw the jar, and Winnie fired magic at it.
“[Chain Lightning].”
Crack, crack, crack!
The jar exploded apart as if it had detonated, and flames erupted.
Soon, fiercely burning fire and toxic smoke poured out.
The pursuing lizardmen had no time to avoid it.
Some were struck by the flames.
Others stepped into them.
And then they experienced hell.
Kiriririk! Aaaagh! Hot! The fire won’t go out!
Even rolling on the ground could not extinguish that hellish flame.
Because more lizardmen kept pouring in from behind, those in front could not even stop.
Many had no choice but to jump into the Rhone River.
Even then, the flames did not go out quickly, causing severe damage.
Those who inhaled the smoke screamed as though their lungs were cooking from the inside.
Kegh, kegh, save me...
We bought a little time.
The fire would not burn forever.
Soon, some lizardmen began circling around the flames to continue the pursuit.
At that moment, the Brown Bear leader roared.
Warriors must sacrifice themselves, ROOOAR!
At his roar, Brown Bears at the rear began leaving the formation one at a time.
They were destined to be surrounded and killed almost immediately.
But with their immense fighting power, each one bought us precious time.
Even so, by the time we reached our destination, more than half of the Brown Bears had been sacrificed.
I was beginning to wonder whether there would even be any bears left to board the cargo vessels.
“My lord, I can see the ships!”
Thank goodness.
The Brown Bears’ sacrifices had bought enough time for us to board.
Four cargo vessels were waiting.
Together, they could carry nine Brown Bears.
The others had either been sacrificed or fallen behind.
I immediately ordered departure.
Apparently terrified of dying, the magic item operators activated the acceleration magic items at full output.
Wooooong.
The bottoms of the vessels vibrated as they slowly began moving.
We would sail upstream along the Rhone River, then unload the bears somewhere safe.
Raul pointed behind us.
“Isn’t it cheating for those bastards to swim that well?”
What was he talking about?
I turned around.
Hundreds of lizardmen had jumped into the Rhone River and were swimming after the ships.
They were surprisingly fast.
Our ships had only just started moving and were still accelerating, so they looked like they might catch up quickly.
“This is insane. Why are they so damn fast?”
“It’s terrifying. Can’t we throw those bombs?”
“We don’t have a choice. Let’s use them.”
These were bombs made from ammonium nitrate mixed with distilled oil.
Normally, they required detonators.
Witch Winnie could replace a detonator by applying strong heat and impact with magic.
The problem was that Winnie was bad at hitting small bombs accurately.
So instead, we had attached magic items that exploded after a delay, like timed fuses.
Their drawback was that explosive magic items were extremely expensive.
Their original purpose was fireworks for royal and noble banquets.
Tch. I hoped we wouldn’t have to use them.
I opened the pack Lorian was carrying and took out a bundle of bombs.
I nearly cried from the waste of money.
Raul could manipulate mana, so I handed one to him.
“Put mana into the yellow part and throw it. It explodes after three seconds, so judge the timing so it hits the water just before detonation.”
“What if I put mana into the red part?”
“Do you want to die?”
“...No. I’ll throw it.”
Ziiing, whoosh.
The bomb Raul threw exploded just above the surface.
BOOM! SPLAAASH!
Flames erupted together with a huge wave.
A column of water shot into the air.
It was spectacular.
“Oh! We flipped those bastards upside down! Hahaha!”
Just as Raul said, the sudden flames and shockwave killed or stunned the nearby lizardmen.
As a bonus, a huge number of fish floated to the surface.
My condolences to the fishermen of the Rhone.
A single bomb was enough to shake off the pursuit.
By then, the cargo vessels had finished accelerating.
No matter how hard the lizardmen swam, they were only about as fast as crocodiles.
They could not possibly swim upstream like salmon...
Wait.
“Damn it, those bastards climbed onto land and started running.”
“They aren’t complete idiots, apparently.”
“Don’t they get tired? Ah. Thank goodness. They’re getting tired.”
Fortunately, the lizardmen had been running without rest and could no longer maintain their speed.
Martin pointed even farther behind them.
“But it looks like they intend to keep following us. They’re reorganizing their formation.”
Far in the distance, the lizardmen were climbing onto land and forming ranks.
They seemed to be preparing to march along the river.
They plan to keep following us.
A good idea occurred to me.
“Let’s drag the lizardmen all the way to Ronalp.”
“What? You mean all the way inside the lord’s city? The territorial residents could suffer serious casualties.”
Martin was horrified for a reason.
Ronalp’s lord’s castle had been built along a bend in the river for easier defense.
Two sides had walls.
The other two directly bordered the river without walls.
If we went straight into the city and hid, ordinary territorial residents trapped in the enclosed area could be massacred.
“I apologize, but I oppose it. Territorial war is a fight between nobles, knights, and soldiers.”
That was exactly what I would expect from the upright Martin.
His argument was also orthodox.
If I caused massive civilian casualties during a territorial war, I would be heavily criticized.
I would lose both honor and justification.
“What do you think, Raul?”
“I oppose it too. A fight should be between people carrying weapons.”
That made sense.
Still, what should I do?
I had already caused severe economic harm to the people of Ronalp.
Surely these two were not criticizing me for that too?
I decided to pretend I had not thought of it and changed the objective.
“How about this? We lead them toward the front where Ronalp is fighting the trolls.”
Martin and Raul looked at each other.
Neither objected.
Reinforcements from other territories might be there, but most would be knights from Ronalp, Dijon, and Ferrand.
“But we cannot let anyone identify us. Gather cloth from the cargo vessels and make robes.”
Raul grinned excitedly.
“Heh heh. If we show up riding bears while dragging lizardmen behind us, it’ll be chaos.”
“My lord, we will probably be wanted nationwide as evil shamans.”
Martin sounded serious, but he was smiling too.
After the cargo vessels entered Ronalp Territory, we disembarked somewhere not too far from the lord’s castle.
The terrain blocked visibility, so we were not noticed.
More importantly, Ronalp was busy fighting trolls.
There were no knights or soldiers standing guard.
The cargo vessels traveled up a tributary of the Rhone and hid there.
We wanted to prevent angry lizardmen from destroying them.
We found a place to rest and ate.
“We wait here. When the lizardmen catch up, we run.”
Raul kept glancing behind us.
“But will they really keep following us? Do lizardmen have tracking skills?”
“No idea.”
I looked at the white one we had kidnapped, High Priest Adder.
She was lying there pretending to sleep peacefully.
Did she not want to speak to us?
“Slap the white one and wake her up.”
Adder immediately sat upright.
Eek! I’m awake!
“You heard us talking, didn’t you? How good are lizardmen at tracking?”
I’m a priest, so I don’t really know.
As she spoke, she fiddled with her necklace.
Adder truly was a monster with excellent body language.
Suppressing my laughter, I used [Convenient Lesser Appraisal].
[Necklace-type magic item. Contains the magic [Bond of the Unseen], which allows paired necklaces to determine each other’s locations. Supplying mana causes it to shine toward the matching necklace. Created by Aspit, shaman of the Camargue Lizardmen.]
“Give me the necklace.”
This belonged to my late mother...
“Stop fucking around. A shaman made it. Give it.”
...You have to return it.
Was she stupid?
Anyway, I took the necklace and fed a little mana into it.
A thin ray of light extended outward, pointing downstream along the Rhone.
“They’ll be coming from that direction.”
Raul was impressed and started joking.
“Oh! Your interrogation skills are pretty good, my lord. You made her confess information that quickly.”
Urgh, Naga, please send divine punishment upon these wicked humans.
“Raul, knock the white one out.”
W, wait, I’m sorry! I’ll stay quiet...
High Priest Adder quietly retreated into a corner.
Until we completely escaped the lizardman pursuit, I intended to keep her as a hostage.
After fighting Knight Commander Cain, I had resolved not to act recklessly anymore.
Now that we had time, I decided to appraise the sacred relic.
It had nothing to do with me, but I was still curious whether it really belonged to Naga or Ursus.
Appraisal.
[Blessed Stone. A stone blessed by Toad, God of Toads. Applies the permanent buff [Blessing of Fertility] within a 500-meter radius. Formed through long-term geological activity.]
“These primitive bastards...”
Both the bears and the lizards had been praying to the wrong god.
It was ridiculous.
Still, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Nothing good would come from telling either side.
So that’s why the King of the Brown Bears only recently asked me for help. He has only one son, born when he was ninety-eight, and something must be wrong with that son. He must be trying to have more children.
If something like this had existed in South Korea in my previous life, it might have been useful.
No.
First, people would need someone to marry...
Anyway, a promise was a promise.
I would deliver it to the King of the Brown Bears.
After another day of waiting, the beam from the necklace began shifting slightly from side to side.
The paired necklace was drawing closer, so changes in our own position produced larger differences in angle.
Could this be used for surveying?
After entertaining the useless thought for a moment, I placed the necklace back around the sleeping Adder’s neck.
Then I woke everyone who was sprawled out resting.
“Everyone get ready. They’re close. We move slowly, and once they enter visual range, we run.”
“Yes, my lord.”
ROOOAR!
