It took about a day and a half for the advance party of King Ferrum's army to reach the village.

　Surrender the village and give them enough food for two hundred men! And give them enough food for two hundred men!　Save your life if you do.
　Two hundred people?　Is that really all you're going to do? Aren't you going to take it all away after you take over the village?
　No. We just want to make sure we have enough food to feed our people. We don't want more than that.
　It's true.
　However, he didn't say how much is enough food for two hundred soldiers.
　

　Almus thinks about it for a moment.
　Negotiation is something that takes place between equals, or under the watchful eye of a larger force.
　Will it really be implemented? If you don't have that proof, you can't drink the conditions.

　Besides, the commander said it was food for the army.
　That means the enemy's goal is King Losais' palace.

　Normally, they would not march through the forest for fear of the Gryphon, but by using this village as a base of operations, they will take him by surprise. That is the enemy's goal.
　If this is the case, then surrendering the village would mean that Julia and, at the same time, King Lossies would come under fire.
　I have no idea.

　"What proof do you have?
　"In the name of King Ferm, I swear it.
　Then I don't think so.

　Negotiations break down.
　Both sides thought a battle was going to happen from the beginning, so the negotiations ended easily.

　What can we do with just forty or fifty soldiers? What can you do with a mere forty or fifty men? This is two hundred. Drop them by force!

　The commander often observes the village.
　Deep dugouts and high wooden fences.

　There is only one gate.
　The village is of a reasonable size, so it is difficult to surround it with two hundred men.

　Since the objective is to fight a short battle, it would be better to concentrate your forces on the gate and break it.
　There are forty or fifty enemy soldiers, but if you count the residents of the village, there are more than a hundred.

　Nevertheless, the primary goal this time is to secure food and a base of operations.
　There's no need to kill them all.
　After dropping the heads of the enemy's generals, they will kneel immediately if you recommend surrender.

　There may be many casualties, but their role is to expose themselves.
　The important thing is to drop them before the main force arrives, and even if they can't, weaken them.

　This time, unlike last time, we have a breakthrough hammer and many archers ready to go.

The first thing to do is to secure the perimeter of the gate. Put the Hammer in there!

　The battle-hardened soldiers rushed to the gate, forming a line.

　But all of a sudden, the ranks began to break up.

　'The pit ... or something troublesome ... bypass it.

　The spear seemed to be buried upward under the pit, and twenty people died, but it was only the first to be caught in the pit.
　A pitfall can be identified by looking carefully at the ground.

　They are easy to avoid.

　But a detour would take a long time to reach the gate.

　'Shit. I never heard of this kind of defensive equipment.
　The commander complains.
　We still have to be prepared to make a certain amount of sacrifice.

　Nevertheless, the pitfalls are the basic equipment of defense.
　I'm not surprised.

　But if we occupy this village, we'll be able to secure our food supply. We must secure our base of operations before the main force arrives.
　Yes. That dori..........dangerous!

　The second-in-command pushed the commander off his horse.
　The commander rolled on the ground.

　'You!　What the hell are you...
　The deputy was dead.
　He had an arrow in his head.

　The commander looked around.

　'Shit!　This arrow went through my armor!
　It's custom bronze...　
　Is it made out of steel?

　One after another, soldiers are shot with arrows.

　'What's going on!　What are the archers over here doing?
　'The arrows won't reach us from this distance!

　The captain of the archers replies.

　They have no way of knowing, but the bows used by Almus and the others are longbows purchased from Cilicia merchants.
　Their range is different from the bows of King Ferm's country.

　Also, the arrowhead is also made of iron, unlike King Ferm's army which uses a stone arrowhead.
　By shooting it from a high tower, they could attack from outside the range of King Ferm's archers.

　'Raise your shields!　In front of you while preventing arrows...
　The captain is shot in the head with his bronze shield.
　There was a sense of turmoil among the soldiers as the shields they were relying on didn't work.

　''Hey, are you okay?''
　I'm fine. It's just a scratch through my armor. I'll just put a spit on it and it'll be fine.

　The soldiers who had been hit by the arrows began to sprawl on the ground.
　Some of them were deeply stabbed, of course, and others were just grazed.

　'Poisoned arrows!　Cowards!
　The commander shouts.
　A poisoned arrow pierces the commander's feet in response.

　''Heehee!''
　Commander, please fall back to the rear!

　The commander dropped backwards as his men protected him.




　'Can we win?'
　Yeah. We've already outnumbered them by fifty or so.

　There are one hundred and fifty men left.
　If there are fifty more men down, they will retreat.

　The enemy's equipment is a bronze spear.
　And most of it is wooden armor, some of it is made of leather. And the captain's class is bronze armor, and finally iron after about the commander's level.
　The bow here is a long bow that was purchased from the Cilician for a large sum (paper) of money.
　And an iron arrowhead with aconite poison on it.

　It's funny to lose.

　It's time for the enemy's arrows to come within range. Be careful, Mr. Almus.
　Gram shouted from the top of the arrow tower.

　The enemy was confused at first, but they were steadily approaching the village, raising their shields to prevent the arrows.

　'You guys take care of yourselves. Just think about not dying.'
　I know, sir.

　Gram replies with a grin.
　'I'm worried, but I'll have to leave it to you.

　'Ron, it's time for you to get back to your post. When the enemy reaches the gate you know what to do.
　Yes, sir. I'll show you.
　With that, Ron returns to his post.

　Now, I should probably be heading back too.
　If I stay here, I will be shot by arrows.


　You can hear the sound of the enemy's footsteps and the sound of arrows piercing the buildings in the village.
　The enemy's archers are about forty.
　Since they outnumber us, the fiercer the enemy's attacks become, the less room for us to shoot.
　Gram and his teammates found an opening and shot through the archers preferentially, hiding behind a large iron shield.

　The battle situation is leaning towards the enemy.　
　........for now.

　''Leader!　The enemy has taken over the gate area!
　Ron reported happily.
　'Okay, do it!'

　When I say this, Ron grins and nods.

　He holds a spear-like object in his hand.
　Ron calls out to his nine men.

　'You guys!　You've got an explosive spear, right?　Just as I trained you. Don't ever let them hit the fence, okay?　Anyone who fails to do so is castrated!
　Calling out that, Ron holds up an explosive spear a spear with black gunpowder strapped to the tip.

　As Ron readies the spear, it begins to glow faintly.
　The magic has been activated.

　"One, two, three, ha!
　At the same time as Ron called out, ten spears jumped over the gate and fell among the soldiers rushing around the gate.

　As they fell, they ignited at the same time.
　The black powder caused a huge explosion.

　Instantly, the arrows from the enemy stopped.
　Screams could be heard from outside the gates, and white smoke billowed up.


　Okay, we did it. Second shot, stand by!
　Ten spears land on the enemy again.

　A scream goes up.

　'Enough is enough. Let's stop. Let's go, Rosward.
　Yes, sir. Brother.

　I stepped astride the horse Rosward had brought with him.
　I was alongside Rosward.

　There were six cavalrymen, including me and Rosward.

　'Open the gate!　As I charge in, Gram and his men will stop firing arrows at the same time!　Ron, you guys should follow suit!

　The gates open.
　And we charge in.




　"Wow, that's bad.

　The situation outside the gate was worse than I thought it would be.
　Corpses scattered around the area that looked like smashed tomatoes.

　Some of the corpses were so miserable that I wondered if they were human.

　I realized once again the horror of what I had created.
　It gives me chills to think about what would happen if my enemies used black powder.
　The formulation must be kept under wraps.

　The enemy had been thrown into chaos by the sound, the white smoke, and the sudden death of his companions.
　Looks like we won't have to do anything else.

　Let's go get the general!
　I call out and charge into the enemy in the midst of the chaos.

　There's no need to swing my spear.
　Because when the enemy sees me, they open the way for me as if they've given up.

　I'm as good as won already.

　We'll be through the enemy's army in a flash.
　We'll have to charge again.

　As the white smoke clears a bit, we can see how the enemy is dressed.
　Most soldiers wear leather or wooden armor, some in bronze.

　'That guy over there wearing iron armor and riding a horse!　You're the enemy general!
　Rosward kicked his horse in the gut and approached the human he thought was the enemy general.

　The enemy general began to flee as if he was frightened.
　''Let him go!
　He threw the spear in his hand at Rosward.

　The spear arced out and pierced the enemy general's back.

　''Rosward has taken out the enemy general!
　When I shouted that, my allies cheered.

　At the same time, the enemy sits down on the ground as if they've given up.

　Victory for the moment. So that's it.