Veight’s First Defensive Battle

I returned to my village for the first time in a while. Fahn spotted me as I walked through the entrance and hurried over, dragging a dead bear behind her. She’d gotten even more skilled at hunting while I’d been gone.

“Ah, Veight!”

The bear dug furrows into the ground as she ran.

“Fahn... it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, like half a year? You look well. Did you grow taller?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m too old to grow anymore...”

I looked down at the bear Fahn was holding and cast body strengthening magic on myself. If I was being honest, I wanted to show off the results of my training to her. Once my arms had been sufficiently boosted, I lifted the bear’s carcass.

“Wow, you’ve gotten really strong Veight!”

“Nah, this is all thanks to the magic. Anyway, I’ll help you carry the bear. Where were you taking it?”

“Just to the town square.”

As we walked, we swapped stories about what we’d been up to these past six months.

“How’s the demon army? Is it fun? Do you get to kill lots of humans?”

“Uhh, not really...”

I’d initially joined the demon army to help Master out with her work. But before I knew it, I’d become a combat mage and started fighting all kinds of battles.

“The other day we found some humans trying to mine in one of the dragonkin tribe’s mountains, so I chased them away.”

“Wouldn’t it have been faster to just kill them all?”

“I don’t think it’d be right to kill a bunch of unarmed miners...”

I’d scared them witless, so I doubted they’d return anytime soon. Plus I’d gotten some interesting information regarding Meraldia from them, so I had something worthwhile to report to Master as well. Fahn examined my expression, then chuckled.

“Thank God.”

For what? Before I could ask, she answered my question.

“Even after you joined the demon army, you’re still you, Veight. I’m relieved.”

“Well, yeah.”

It wasn’t like I’d sworn fealty to the Demon Lord or anything. In the end, I was just helping Master because I owed her for everything she’d done, and because helping the demon army would secure a better future for werewolves.

On our way to the square, I spotted a man I didn’t recognize. He was wearing the traditional garb of the desert nomads. As we passed he gave me a nod, and I nodded back.

“Who’s that guy?”

“He’s a werewolf from outside the forest. Apparently he lost his old home, so he drifted here.”

Werewolves had a hard time fitting in in human villages, which was probably why he’d been living as a nomad until now.

“This forest is basically the only place left where werewolves can live in peace. It’s teeming with monsters, so humans won’t set foot in it at least.” Fahn sighed, “It’s great that humans won’t disturb us and all, but that means we have to deal with all the monsters.”

“What’s wrong?”

It was rare to see Fahn this depressed.

“Veight, do you know anything about a monster that looks like a lizard and has huge teeth?”

“Hmm... I wonder.”

I pulled a book out of my rucksack. It was a monster encyclopedia I’d received from Master.

“If it’s living in the forest it’s probably... this one, right?”

I flipped through the pages until I found the one I wanted.

—Fang Lizard—

A carnivorous lizard that inhabits the forests of Meraldia. Most are as large as ogres. («- Aka around 3 meters.)

They live and hunt in packs ranging from a few to a few hundred. («- I guess they’re social creatures?)

Their fangs are coated with a slow-acting poison, and anyone injured by them will die over the course of a few days. Detoxification magic is reported to have little effect on their poison. («- Maybe it’s not actually poison then?)

The annotations in parenthesis were all my own observations. Fahn looked down at the passage and tilted her head.

“What’s all this?”

Crap, I totally forgot people don’t measure things in meters in this world. However, that wasn’t what Fahn was confused about.

“I can’t read all that.”

Oh yeah... I’d grown so used to living with Master’s disciples, who could all read, that I’d forgotten most werewolves didn’t bother to learn. At most, they learned how to read and write numbers and the few basic phrases they needed in day to day life. The only things Fahn could read was the names of vegetables and animals. Relieved, I pointed to the picture on the next page, then to the tree behind me.

“Do they look like this, are about that big, and move around in groups?”

“Oh yeah, that’s them for sure.” Fahn looked down at the picture and nodded emphatically. “They’ve been causing us no end of trouble recently. Plus they stink, so they make everything worse. Oh, just leave the bear there. I’ll cut it up here.”

I dumped the carcass onto the ground and looked around. It felt as though the village had declined in the half-year I’d be gone. Fahn unsheathed a ridiculously long knife and started cutting up the bear with practiced movements. She’d already drained the blood beforehand it seemed, and she got right to skinning it.

“Those, uh... What did you say those monsters were called?”

“The fang lizards?”

“Yeah, those things. A herd of them moved in next to the village, and they’re hunting all the deer and rabbits in the area.”

“What about the wildeboars?”

“They’ve all been wiped out.”

To think they were strong enough to kill even those crazed wildeboars. No wonder they’d become a problem. As she skinned the bear, Fahn sighed again.

“The only things left to hunt around here are hibernating bears, but even those are nearly gone...”

The bears around here were tough, plus their meat stank and tasted gamey. But werewolves needed meat to survive, so if that was all there was left to eat, we’d still eat it gladly.

“It won’t be long before we run out of bears too, though. Since both us and those fang lizards are hunting them down.”

That sounded like a pretty desperate situation.

“There’s too many carnivores at the top of the food chain...”

“Food chain?”

“Basically, there’s too many meat-eaters living in this forest now.”

I gave Fahn a rough explanation, then ducked inside the town hall. It was the village’s only government building, and one of the elders was always on duty there. It appeared today it was Vodd’s turn to hold down the fort. Since he was a former mercenary, he was also in charge of the village’s security.

“Good afternoon, Vodd.”

“Is that you, Veight? Welcome back. Hmm? Did you grow taller?”

Why is everyone asking that? I sat down in an open chair and told Vodd everything I’d been up to while I was gone.

“I’ve been working as a mage in the demon army’s third regiment. This is the pay I got for that.”

I unwrapped a bundle full of monster fangs, pelts, a few lumps of iron, and some silver coins. Vodd’s wrinkly face lit up.

“That’s quite the haul you brought in, young man. However, these are riches you earned. It wouldn’t sit right with me to take ‘em. It’d feel like I was taking from my own grandson.”

Vodd was a bachelor, but he’d treated all of the village’s children like his grandchildren. It was a custom among werewolves to raise children as a pack. Still, it was a little embarrassing to be told that to my face.

“I’m working for the Demon Lord as a representative of this village, on behalf of all werewolves. So this belongs to all of us. Besides, you all protected my mom while I was gone.”

“If anything, Vanessa protected us. She’s always had a fiery spirit, she has.”

Vodd made no move to take the treasures I’d put out in front of him, but I continued pushing them on him anyway. Considering the state the village was in, I knew this was no time to be hoarding money.

“I have a few silver coins I stole from humans as well. Couldn’t we use them to buy up the supplies we need from human villages?”

“Hmm... Well, if you insist on giving us this money, then I suppose we could. There’s a lot we need, so we’ll have to decide as a village what to buy.” Vodd grinned at me as he swept up the money. “Everyone will be relieved to hear you’re back, kid.”

Relieved, huh? Those fang lizards must really be weighing on everyone’s minds.

“I heard from Fahn. A group of fang lizards have made their nest around here, right?”

“That they have... And they’re a right pain in the arse.” Vodd’s voice lowered in pitch by a few octaves. “Twenty years ago we had the same problem. They killed ten of our people before we were able to get rid of them. We don’t got many fighters left in the village, so I’m glad to have you back.”

Twenty years ago... I thought back to my first memory after being reincarnated. A funeral service for my dead father.

“Vodd, was that when...”

The old man nodded silently. I knew it.

There was a lot more I wanted to talk to him about, but I decided to go back home first. I wanted to see how my eternally 27 (according to her) mother was holding up.

“I’m home, mom! Have you finally turned twenty-eight?”

“Did you forget again, Veight? I’m turning twenty-six next year.”

Since when did you start aging backwards? My mother was my only living relative, so I was glad to see she was doing well.

“I heard about the fang lizards, mom. They’re the ones who killed dad, aren’t they?”

“That’s right...”

Her usually cheery expression clouded over as she thought back to her dead husband.

“Your dad was the strongest fighter in the village. But after the fighting was over he suddenly grew sick. None of the antidotes we tried worked, and he died a few days later.”

So their poison really was difficult to purge. What a troublesome monster. I pulled out Master’s encyclopedia again and explained their traits to my mom.

“Since they form packs, I’m guessing they’re smarter than your average lizard. Whatever ones escaped twenty years ago probably bred and multiplied before coming back here. There’s a lot of animals here so it’s a good feeding ground.”

“Oh my... you sure learned a lot.”

“Well, I am studying under the Great Sage Gomoviroa,” I said with a hint of pride.

From the looks of it, this fang lizard infestation was a serious problem. They were voracious enough to attack anything, and big eaters to boot. Almost all the nearby animals had been hunted to extinction by them. Once the bears were gone, the only other large animals left would be us and them. As I considered how to deal with them, I went to Jerrick’s place to give him the iron I’d been paid.

“Yo, boss, thanks for the metal.”

Jerrick looked up from the hoe he was repairing and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“There’s nowhere to mine metal around here, so I can’t smith new things. Fortunately, this should keep me set for a while.”

As I handed Jerrick the chunks of ore, I asked him about the fang lizard infestation.

“How well is the village protected against the fang lizards?”

“We’re doing fine for now. One wandered into the village a few days back, but we ganged up on it and killed it. Haven’t seen any of them come near the village since.”

“Well, that’s good, at least.”

Werewolves weren’t much stronger than regular humans in their human form, but they couldn’t stay transformed all the time. In that respect, they were pretty weak when it came to fighting on the defensive. We were hunters after all. Jerrick adjusted the heat coming from the bellows and muttered, “If we were just up against a single enemy like that Golden Brute you killed years ago, we could hunt it as a pack. But there’s more of them than there is us. If we try to hunt them down we’d probably get mobbed.”

Group combat was a specialty of fang lizards as well. It was one thing if we were out on an open plain, but in a dense forest like this, there was no telling who’d come out ahead in an all-out melee. Within the village, there were maybe 60 werewolves capable of fighting against monsters as powerful as fang lizards. The rest were either too young or too old to fight. Worse, we needed to dedicate some of our already small force to protecting them.

“If we split everyone into two squads of thirty, maybe we could... No, that won’t work.”

“What won’t work, boss?”

“If fifty of those lizards attacked the village, half our fighters wouldn’t be able to protect them. And if all fifty of them were gathered in one place, half our fighters wouldn’t be able to hunt them all down without casualties. Unless we fight them where we hold the advantage, we can’t win.”

“I see. So this is what they call tactics.”

I felt like what I was saying was a bit too fundamental to be really called tactics.

“I wish I knew more about their habits, but the encyclopedia doesn’t have anything about them.”

According to Master, fang lizard hordes had attacked human villages before, but there were never any survivors to tell others about their traits. Now, most human villages had walls to prevent fang lizard invasions, so the monsters avoided populated areas. I wish we had walls. As I was agonizing over what to do, Vodd walked into Jerrick’s smithy.

“Veight, could you come with me for a bit? The elders want to talk to you.”

Is this gonna be about the fang lizards?

As I expected, the elders wanted my help in dealing with the fang lizards. One of the elders ran his finger through his white hair and asked, “Veight, could you ask the demon army to send us reinforcements?”

I considered the possibility, and made sure to choose my words before replying.

“If we were to ask them for help, they would probably impose some conditions on us.”

“Such as?”

“Swearing fealty to the demon army.”

“I see...”

The village’s elders were all renowned hunters and respected by the rest of the town.

“If we were to ask for aid, it would be admitting we’re weak. And it’s the law of nature that the weak obey the strong.”

That was indeed an ironclad rule among demons. The elder’s face fell and he said, “The demon army would ask for troops or resources if we swore fealty to them. However, we have nothing to spare. Our hands are full just protecting this village.”

“Don’t worry. If they want troops, I’ll just formally join the demon army.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of person the new Demon Lord—Friedensrichter—was, but according to Master he was “a true hero,” and “a man among men.” Considering the fact that he’d paid me though I’d only temporarily been lending him my services, I assumed he was a magnanimous ruler. Granted, he’d paid me more in stuff than in money.

“But even if they agree to help, it’ll take the demon army a few days to reach here. Right now they’re advancing toward the humans’ cities, so they have no squads stationed in the area.”

As the Demon Lord was a dragonkin, most of his army was comprised of dragonkin as well. Their territory was in the mountains far from here, so none of his troops were close. On top of that, the demon army was quite small.

The elder nodded and said, “Understood. We will try and hold our own during those few days. Please send the demon army a request for aid, Veight.”

“Understood. I’ll send it right... Oh, wait, I just thought of something.”

I grinned.

“Master, could you please deliver this letter to the Demon Lord?”

I handed the elder’s letter to Master, who’d teleported in. She’d been teleporting everywhere recently as a way to practice. Master flailed her limbs above me, attempting to extricate herself from the branches she’d gotten stuck in.

“Is that really the only thing you have to say to me after seeing me like this?”

“I’m sure someone of your skill can get down by herself.”

As I said that, the branch supporting her weight bent down. She slid down it, landing safely on the ground.

“Fufu, what do you think of my plant manipulation magic?”

It appeared she’d learned some new spells in the short time I hadn’t seen her. She was as enthusiastic about her research as ever.

“See, I knew you could do it, Master... I’m sure you’ll figure out teleportation magic eventually too.”

“How many times must I tell you? Teleportation magic is far more complex than the other branches.”

“It looks like you got the location right this time, just misjudged the height.”

“Indeed it appears my precision is lacking when it comes to vertical coordinates.”

Master brushed the leaves off her dress and looked up at me.

“So, what happened to your village?”

“Well, you see...”

I summarized everything I’d learned so far. Master took off her hat and brushed some leaves off of it as she nodded.

“I suspect it is the same horde that had inhabited the woods at the foot of the mountains earlier. The demon army chased them away not long ago, so it is no surprise they wandered here.”

So first the werewolves had driven them out of here, then the dragonkin drove them away from their home and they came back here. The timing fit, at least.

“This is a serious problem, Master. If they end up destroying my village, then what point was there in me helping the demon army?”

“I know, I know. Disrupting the ecosystem is a matter of great concern.”

Master had done some studies on the food chain in her spare time, and she had a deep understanding of how ecosystems worked.

“Vice-Commander Baltze has just returned to Grenschtat with four hundred of his Azure Knights. I will request that he send them to your aid. If they leave now, they should arrive the day after tomorrow.”

The army’s most elite unit shouldn’t have any trouble taking care of a group of fang lizards.

“The situation seems urgent, so I shall return to the castle right away. If the Azure Knights are occupied, I have eight hundred skeleton soldiers I can lend to you. You still remember how to control them, right?”

“Yes, Master. Thank you very much.”

Master took the elder’s letter from me and carefully placed it into her pouch. She then started scratching a magic circle in the dirt with her staff. For teleportation, her circle also needed to incorporate geometric formulas.

“I need to go northeast... no, north by northeast... So these will be the variables I need for direction, and then this will be for... No, wait, if I do that, I’ll seal off my exit and be crushed between dimensions...”

“Master, are you sure you’ll be alright?”

I knew she was a genius when it came to magic, but I couldn’t help but worry when she started saying stuff like that. She scratched out a few more calculations next to the magic circle, then nodded to herself. Even for a genius, it took some time to incorporate the complex calculations needed for teleportation magic.

“Perfect,” she exclaimed after a few minutes, and puffed out her tiny chest, which had remained unchanged for centuries.

“I should most likely be fine.”

“You’re not exactly inspiring confidence here.”

“I trust things shall sort themselves out somehow. At any rate, I’ll be going now.”

Is she really going to be okay? I watched with a mild sense of foreboding as Master vanished in a whirlpool of light. The fate of my village depended on her having calculated her coordinates correctly.

While we waited for reinforcements to come, Monza and the other hunters went out to scout the forest.

“There’s around a hundred fang lizards. They’ve made their nest around the watering hole. Also, there’s bear corpses everywhere.”

As they were reptiles, fang lizards didn’t need to feed more than once every few weeks. Cold-blooded creatures like them had slow metabolisms. If they’d killed and eaten all the hibernating bears, then they’d likely stay put until they got hungry again. This was a good opportunity to strike a preemptive blow against them, but I’d rather not attack them at the watering hole. Fang lizards were good swimmers, and if they dragged us into the water, we’d be at a disadvantage.

Monza shrugged and asked, “What should we do?”

“Now that all the bears are gone, we’re going to be their next prey.”

We were the only decently large-sized animals left in the area. Most creatures were too terrified of werewolves to attack us, but fang lizards possessed their deadly poison. All they had to do was injure most of us, then retreat until the poison had killed us.

“Fang lizard poison’s deadly even to us, isn’t it? I heard there’s no antidote...” Monza muttered worriedly.

I gave her a smile and said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure my magic can heal it.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot we’ll be fine as long as you’re here. Ehehe.”

My chest swelled with pride. It felt like all the effort I’d put into studying magic had been worth it.

However, that didn’t change the fact that we didn’t have enough fighting power. Sure, I could heal anyone who got hurt during the battle, but that was only if we survived the battle in the first place.

“I went around the village, and it looks like we only got fifty-six people fit enough to fight in the village.” Scratching the back of his head apologetically, Vodd walked over to me. “Slipped my mind that Vosco died last year. Can’t believe he kicked the bucket already when he’s three years younger than me.”

“You’re the weird one for lasting this long, old man.”

He handed me a list of names, with his at the top. How long does this guy plan to keep fighting?

“Stelina’s pregnant, and Weshka’s got a newborn babe, so they’re off the list.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want them fighting.”

In a remote village like this, babies were important not just for ethical reasons, but practical ones too. We couldn’t have the whole village dying out. So we’ve only got 56 to work with... As I mulled that over, one of the other elders walked over.

“We need two werewolves to safely take down one fang lizard,” he added calmly.

“Last time, we split people up into pairs, with one responsible for chasing down the lizard and the other finishing it off. Fang lizards are strong enough that they might be able to kill us unless we outnumber them.”

All the cop movies I’d watched in my past life had had cops paired up in two-man groups too. If we formed pairs though, we’d have only 28 pairs to face 100 fang lizards. The last thing we wanted in this situation was a head-on confrontation.

“Elder, how exactly were you planning on fighting them?”

He pulled a face and replied, “We’re hunters, not warriors. The knowledge our forefathers passed down to us is of no use in a defensive battle. All I can think of is to hole up in the village and protect our weaker family members.”

“I see...”

“Incidentally, Veight. I have a request for you.” The elder bowed his head. “I have heard that within the demon army, you are especially respected for your tactical insight. Furthermore, you have more combat experience than any of us. Would you be willing to lead the village in my place for this battle?”

“You want me to be the commander?”

It was true I’d helped out the demon army, but that had mostly been with odd jobs. Besides, I was a mage, not a strategist. Most of the battles I’d participated in, I’d just been casting support magic from the rear... Though, I’d occasionally charged the enemy lines to protect my comrades... Okay, maybe a bit more than occasionally. Misinterpreting my silence, the elder quickly added, “I know it’s customary for werewolves to obey the strong, but I believe you’ve grown quite powerful these past few years. I’ve heard much of your achievements from Lady Gomoviroa. I hear the other demons are calling you a werewolf Champion.”

I have no idea what Master told you, but it’s probably exaggerated. Master was always humble when it came to herself, but she praised her disciples to no end. She was like an overly doting mother.

“I’ll make sure the other werewolves agree, so please, Veight, won’t you use the strategies you’ve learned in the demon army to protect our village?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to help...”

I’m just an amateur at tactics. At best, I had the superficial knowledge I’d learned from strategy games. Seeing my hesitation, the other elderly people of the village voiced their support.

“Veight, we know you dislike being the center of attention. But our village’s existence is at stake.”

“You only have to take charge until the demon army gets here. Everyone else will be relieved to have a veteran mage commanding them.”

If everyone wants me that badly, I guess I have no choice. I gathered my resolve and agreed to take over command.

“Understood. I’m still inexperienced, but I’ll do my best to lead us well.”

The elders sighed in relief.

“Thank you... Without you, we might be doomed.”

Now you’re just making me blush.

Now that I’d accepted command, I had a responsibility to keep everyone alive. Using the knowledge I’d gained from my short time in the demon army, I reorganized our battle formation.

“I feel like two-man teams are too small, so we’re going to combine teams into four-man squads instead.”

“Won’t that slow us down?” The younger Garney brother spoke up. His older brother turned to him and tilted his head.

“So it’s gonna be me, you, and two others?”

“There’s twice as many lizards as us. The fighting’s going to be all over the place.”

It was probably a little harsh to say this, but I wasn’t expecting anything sophisticated out of these guys.

“You can fight in groups of two if you want to still. Just think of it as having another team with you at all times. That way if any of you get injured, the rest of you will be there to cover for each other. If there’s three of you left instead of one, it’s easier to guard the one injured guy, right?”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

Werewolves were melee fighters through and through, so making the squads any bigger than four would just make it hard for them to maneuver. Besides, four to a group was how many there were in tank squads too. With that, the werewolves split themselves up into 14 squads.

“Alright, these fourteen squads are going to be in charge of protecting the village. Make sure you always move in a group, whether you’re retreating or attacking, never do it alone. Understood?”

The younger Garney brother smiled and flexed his biceps.

“Don’t worry, whatever I do, my brother does too!”

Aren’t you forgetting about the other half of your squad?

After making some adjustments to the squad members, I had everybody start fortifying the village’s defenses. That being said, it wasn’t like we had walls or anything. Our village was a tiny one, surrounded by nothing more than a fence.

“Hey, boss.”

“Yeah, Jerrick?”

“You think this fence is gonna be any help?”

I looked at the moss-covered stake in front of me and gave it a slight push. There was a dry crack, and it toppled to the ground.

“Looks like a no.”

Fang lizards weren’t too different from the alligators or Komodo dragons that had existed back on Earth. Though they looked slow, they could put out short bursts of speed. A paltry fence like this wouldn’t even slow them down. Besides, they were dextrous enough to slip between the smallest of cracks.

“We don’t have the time to cut down trees and remake it, either. The demon army or the lizards will reach us by then.”

However, I had a different plan in mind for this fence.

“Let’s make a moat.”

“A moat, huh? That’s not a bad idea, but we don’t have any water.”

“A dry moat’s fine. We’re up against a bunch of huge lizards, they’ll have a hard time climbing slopes.”

“Really?”

“...Probably?”

There was a lot about monster biology I still didn’t know. Jerrick folded his arms and cocked his head.

“Isn’t it basically anything goes with monsters? Considering werewolves like us exist, there’s no telling what crazy abilities they have. You sure we’ll be fine?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s anything goes.”

I tried visualizing how to construct the moat as I gave Jerrick my reply.

“Fang lizards are big and strong, but they’re still lizards. They can’t breathe fire, and they can’t fly. Plus they can’t talk or use tools either.”

They had a set physiology, and they had to follow the laws of physics. They just happened to be a mutated version of normal lizards. But even those mutations were still something that had to have followed the theory of evolution.

“Honestly, the weirdest thing about them is that they’re social. Reptiles are practically never social creatures. Even though they lack intelligence, they still hunt in packs. It’s strange.”

“I-I see... So this is what studying under a Great Sage teaches you.”

Actually, this is all stuff I learned in my past life.

However, even if a moat would be effective, we lacked the time and manpower to build one around the whole village. Instead, I had everyone dig one around the town hall and the village square. The rest of the village we’d abandon until the lizards had been dealt with. The younger Garney brother grumbled as he dug up the earth, his shirt tied around his waist.

“Our house is gonna get busted up again, isn’t it...”

The Garney Brothers’ house was pretty far from the town hall, so it wasn’t protected by the moat. Their house was the only one that had been destroyed by the Golden Brute incident almost a decade back, so I understood his frustration. However, I had both limited resources and time, so I had no choice but to abandon his house. Sorry, man.

“Jerrick, did you finish what I requested?”

I walked into Jerrick’s workshop and found him sweating at his forge. He looked up and held out a sharpened iron rod. He’d used the iron I’d gotten from the demon army to make it.

“This good enough, Boss?”

“Yeah... this looks plenty sharp.”

“Course it’s sharp, I forged it! It’s sharp enough to cut through anything!”

There was no water to fill the moat with, so I’d decided to fill it with sharpened spikes instead. Fang lizard underbellies were soft, so their weight alone would impale them on these.

“The more we can kill with traps like these, the less casualties we’ll have. We need to try anything that might raise our chances of victory.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll protect this village with my skills!”

Our village had a carpenter and stonemason as well, and I’d thrown them all together in the same squad. They were serving as my makeshift combat engineers.

“We can jump over the moat in our werewolf forms easily enough, so there’s no reason to build a bridge. Instead, take all the spare lumber we have and build up a barricade around the square. It’ll serve to buy time.”

The older Garney brother dismantled an abandoned house and carried over one of its supporting pillars.

“What good’s buying time? If we don’t kill them, what’s the point?”

“There’s way more enemies than there are squads. If the lizards attack us all at once, we won’t be able to protect everyone.”

I wanted to funnel the fang lizards as much as possible so that each werewolf squad would only have to take on one or two at a time.

“Leave a few gaps between the walls. That’ll lure the fang lizards to those spots. They won’t be able to maneuver when they’re squeezing through the holes, so attack them when they’re pushing through.”

The villagers exchanged glances, then nodded to each other.

“That makes sense... So this is what they teach in the demon army.”

Actually, that’s also knowledge I picked up in my past life... I’d gone on a field trip to a nearby castle in middle school, and the tour guide had explained that to me. The demon army was more a ragtag band of guerilla fighters than anything, and none of them had experienced a siege before. Though at some point, one of the demon army’s commanders would be tasked with sieging a city.

Hunting was werewolves’ forte, so I focused my defensive measures more on luring lizards into traps than into holding them off. That way, everyone would have an easier time understanding and incorporating my strategies.

“Focus building up the wall around the open square. The town hall’s sturdy enough to take their tackles, and they’re not limber enough to climb up to the roof. Worst comes to worst, we’ll hole up in the hall ourselves as a final line of defense.”

“Gotcha!”

Assuming fang lizards were like most large reptiles, they relied on their sense of smell like us. Meaning they’d make a beeline for the square, where all of us were gathered.

“If I know where they’re coming from, guarding against them won’t be too hard. At the very least, this is a lot easier than dealing with human armies.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, they won’t try and pull any fancy tactics. See, that’s why humans are scary. They’re masters of strategy.”

As a former human, I felt a strange sense of obligation to emphasize their good points. I grinned and added, “So compared to them, these fang lizards are nothing. We just have to hold on till the demon army gets here.”

The werewolves exchanged another glance.

“If you say so...”

“If that’s what you say, I guess that’s how it is, Veight.”

I wasn’t completely confident about that, but if I looked worried it’d just lower morale.

A few days later.

“The horde’s on the move!”

One of the scouts yelled as he dashed toward the village square.

“They’re all coming at us at once!”

Everyone’s expressions grew nervous. They took off their shirts in preparation to transform.

“Veight, you’re in charge,” one of the elders said as he finished herding the last of the sick and elderly into the town hall.

“We’ll guard the young’uns, so don’t worry about them. We might be old, but we can still fight for a little bit. So don’t keep fretting about how to keep ‘em safe.”

“Understood.”

Alright, time to see how well I can lead.

“Monza, your squad’s in charge of the western side. Keep a lookout from the rooftops and tell me if the lizards come from there!”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

Monza’s squad leapt across the rooftops and headed west. We’d be in trouble if we were expecting only 20 coming from that side and they all came instead.

“Jerrick, how’re the crossbows looking?”

“They’re in perfect shape, boss. All working like a charm.”

Jerrick grinned and held up his handmade crossbow. However, he and his squad then added, “I’m not much of a shot though.”

“Yeah, we haven’t really practiced archery. Sorry if we miss.”

Well yeah, normally you guys would be better off just biting your enemies to death rather than using things like these... As I’d feared, human tactics couldn’t just be copied wholesale for demon forces. Demons’ fighting styles and physiques were just too different. Guess it won’t be that easy to come up with strategies. As I was mulling over my tactics, the Garney Brothers transformed early and started hyping themselves up.

“Let’s do this, Nibert!”

“You got it, brother!”

I’d put them in Fahn’s squad specifically because I knew how rowdy they were. Seconds after they transformed, Fahn came running over.

“Stop right there, you two! Your posts are on the east side!”

“But the enemy’s coming from the west...”

Fahn grabbed the two brothers by the ears and dragged them away. Looks like I picked all the right people to be squad captains. As I was patting myself on the back, I heard Monza’s howl from afar.

“Enemy, coming.”

“Lure them in.”

Perfect, everything’s going according to plan. The werewolves I’d posted on our makeshift walls turned back to me. They were waiting for my orders. A little nervous, I gave out my first order.

“All squads, to your posts! Defend your designated areas for as long as you can! If you’re struggling, ask for help from other squads who’re free!”

I’d created five openings in the walls to funnel the fang lizards through. Meanwhile, we had 14 squads, so I was able to allot 2 per opening. The extra 4 squads I’d kept as a reserve, and to serve as the rearguard.

“Aha, watch out guys, they’re coming!”

Monza yelled as she and her squad ran back to the safety of the village square. Right after they cleared the moat, the first of the fang lizards appeared from behind a nearby building. The stench of raw garbage filled the air. Ah, so this is the smell Fahn was talking about. I wanted to shoot down the lizards right away, but because of how low it was to the ground it’d be hard to hit from this distance.

“Hold your fire! Wait until they’re trapped in the ditch before shooting! It’ll be easier to hit them when they’re right below you!”

“You got it, boss!”

The fang lizard in the lead avoided the spikes I’d planted as it navigated the moat. However the ones behind it weren’t as careful, and they found themselves impaled. They writhed in pain as Jerrick’s iron spikes stopped them in their tracks. It would’ve been great if they’d all just been impaled and killed there, but soon enough the spikes stopped being effective. The three-meter lizards were large enough that they could force their way past them. On top of that, I’d underestimated their agility.

“Here they come! All squads, stay at your posts! Intercept only those that come your way!”

After making their way past the moat, the fang lizards quickly spotted the holes in our makeshift barricade. They slithered forward and wriggled their way through the openings.

“Attack now!”

“UOOOOOOH!”

The werewolves loosed a battle cry and started beating down on the lizards. Werewolf blows were powerful enough to destroy most creatures in a single hit, and these fang lizards were no exception. Trapped in the narrow passages I’d made, they were unable to dodge the deadly blows raining down on them.

“We can do this!”

“Don’t let them bite you!”

“They might be trapped, but don’t let your guard down!”

The werewolves fought ferociously, but carefully, so as to avoid being bitten. Natural hunters that we were, werewolves didn’t let their guards down even when we had an overwhelming advantage. Unfortunately, our walls weren’t sturdy enough for this strategy to work forever. Fahn’s side was the first to crack.

“Veight, the wall’s starting to creak!”

Since the barricade was made of scrap lumber it wasn’t very sturdy.

“Hold on as long as you can! If they make it past the walls the fight’s going to get a lot harder!”

Their coordination ability made fighting a group of fang lizards exponentially more dangerous than fighting a single one. I confirmed the situation from my post on the roof, and ordered the crossbow squad to attack.

“Jerrick squad, provide covering fire for the western wall!”

“Gotcha!”

Crossbows twanged, and heavy quarrels embedded themselves into the lizards in the distance. Anxious, I checked to see how the other sides were doing. To my surprise, the fang lizards had stopped their assault.

“Hm?”

They abandoned their wounded comrades and beat a hasty retreat. They scaled the moat again with even more speed than when they’d been attacking, and vanished. The rotten stench that had filled the air began to lessen. At first I’d thought they smelled of raw garbage, but now that I was able to analyze the stench with a calm mind, I realized they smelled more like rotten oil. Either way, it was an unpleasant odor.

Twenty-odd corpses littered the area around the town hall. I thought we’d gotten more, but it turned out they were so large killing them took some time.

“They sure gave up easy,” the elder Garney brother spat as he kicked a corpse out of the way. I just shrugged in response.

“They’re probably just trying to hunt carefully.”

Carnivores like fang lizards preferred to hunt prey that didn’t pose much of a threat to them. Since if they were injured, they’d be unable to hunt and thus starve. Herbivores, on the other hand, just needed to survive so they fought without holding anything back.

“All squads, report any casualties or damage to the wall that you’ve found! If you’re injured, come to me right away!”

A few werewolves ambled over to my rooftop. Their wounds were light, but even light wounds were deadly when poison became involved.

“Sorry, I got bit while I was kicking one.”

“Yeah, one got my fist when I was punching it...”

If you’re fighting barehanded, it’s bound to happen. I smiled at the wounded werewolves and opened up my spell book.

“Don’t worry. Healing magic’s my specialty.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of poison the fang lizards possessed, but my guess was it was either a neurotoxin or a blood-infecting poison.

“Alright, let’s get you all treated before the poison’s had a chance to spread. Line up, all of you.”

I cast a purification spell on each of them in turn. It’d be nice if the fang lizards gave up after this, but...

That night, the werewolf on watch came to me just as I was about to doze off.

“Veight, get up!”

“Hwuh?”

I lifted myself off the town hall’s wooden floor, where I’d been sleeping. Unlike most werewolves, who were instantly alert after waking up, it took me a while to become fully conscious. I wonder if that’s because I was a human before? I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and lumbered to my feet. The werewolf pushed me along in a hurry.

“Sorry, but there’s no time. Monza and the others aren’t doing well.”

“What!?”

That jolted me awake. I sprinted over to the corner of the town hall where Monza and a few others were groaning in pain. Sweat drenched their clothes.

“Monza, Justin, Yuuzu...”

All three of them were werewolves I’d treated this afternoon. Don’t tell me even magic can’t cure this poison? What kind of poison is this effective even against werewolves anyway!? I shook my head. This wasn’t the time to be shocked.

“Oi, get a hold of yourself!”

I knelt next to Monza and placed a hand on her sweaty forehead. As I’d feared, she was burning up.

“This is strange... it’s not poison.”

In fact, it looked more like a bacterial infection. Maybe this has nothing to do with the fang lizard’s poison. But just then, I remembered something. Back on earth, I’d read about how the Komodo dragon had been thought for a long time to be non-poisonous. Those bit by the Komodo dragon weakened and died, but people had thought that was because the bites caused bacterial infections. They’d discovered the truth later, of course, but it was possible that really was the case with these fang lizards.

“Wait just one minute!”

I ran outside to where we’d stacked the lizard corpses and pulled one out. I held a torch close to its face, examining its fangs.

“Oi, Veight! Hurry up and heal them!”

“I need to investigate these fangs to find out how!”

I examined the lizard’s fangs from every angle, but I couldn’t find any venom glands. These fang lizards were nontoxic.

“I know what’s causing this!”

I hurried back inside and flipped through my spell book. Purification magic wouldn’t help here. What I needed was magic to cure diseases.

“Veight, how much longer is this gonna take!?”

“I’m ready now! Shut up so I can concentrate!”

I fixed a mental image of calm waves in my mind to help me control the flow of my mana. Then I touched the nape of Monza’s neck and chanted, “Guardian within, grant this soul the strength to resist this unseen rot.”

I then touched her armpit and repeated the procedure, and again on her stomach. I was pouring my mana into her lymph nodes basically. I did the same for the other two werewolves, and after a while, their breathing steadied. Their temperature dropped as well, and they stopped sweating as much.

“They should be fine now.”

The gathered werewolves breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at me.

“Thank you so much, Veight!”

“You’re amazing, you know that!”

“No wonder the Great Sage made you her disciple!”

Embarrassed, I shook my head and quieted everyone down.

“Shh. We need to let Monza and the others rest until morning.”

“Oh yeah...”

They nodded, but I could tell my earlier display of magic had them excited still. It did feel good to be praised, but honestly, I’d only been able to do it because I had knowledge from my past life. It wasn’t really my achievement. That aside, using so much magic had tired me out.

“I’m going back to sleep. If anything else happens, wake me up.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks again.”

“You can leave lookout duty to me.”

I nodded my comrades, then nodded off.

I was woken early the next morning when someone raised the alarm.

“The lizards are back!”

I figured as much. I stepped outside and spotted fang lizards skulking in the shadows of nearby buildings. Damn, they’re persistent. They’d probably pulled back to wait for their infections to kill Monza and the others. Considering how fast the infection had spread, they probably would have died already if not for my healing. If that was the case though, it meant these guys were spiteful.

In an attempt to raise morale, I shouted, “They lost a fifth of their number after yesterday’s fight! But we’re all just fine!”

We weren’t exactly fine though. Yesterday’s fight had tired us out, and we didn’t have enough food or water. I thought it would have been fine if we just held out until the demon army arrived, but it turned out werewolves weren’t suited to siege defense. That being said, there were too many lizards for us to fight them in a direct battle.

This time, none of the lizards got caught on the spikes when they charged. They were learning.

“Man, these fuckers stink!”

The younger Garney brother frowned as he transformed.

“Let’s end it today, Veight! I’m tired of holding up in this building!”

“You know we can’t do that...”

However, it was true this style of combat didn’t suit us werewolves at all. We were aggressors, not defenders. Ah well, guess we’ll just have to go on the offensive today.

“Jerrick, you and your squad fire as many bolts as you can into the lizards in the back! Aim for the ones who aren’t moving!”

“You got it, boss! Let’s get ‘em, guys!”

“Yeah!”

“I’m gonna shoot down ten today!”

Ten, huh... You guys haven’t been hitting that often, plus it’s hard to land a fatal blow with arrows. I guess archery’s only effective en masse. Still, if Jerrick and his men were able to get 10 with their crossbows, and we’d already killed 20 yesterday, that left about 70. Meaning that if each squad was able to kill around 5, we’d be able to mop them all up. I knew how to heal their bites now too, so it was possible we could win this.

“All squads, make sure you stay in formation! Protect your squadmates!”

“Yes, sir!”

Since werewolves hunted in packs to begin with, figuring out this new squad formation hadn’t been hard for them. We definitely had a good chance to win this now. Just as I thought that, I heard a scream from Fahn’s squad.

“The wall!”

“Veight, the wall’s breaking!”

What!? The moment I turned around, the barricade gave an ominous creak.

“Wha— Uwaaah!”

The werewolves on that section of the wall jumped back. One of the planks I’d used to board up the space between pillars caved inward, and a few fang lizards spilled into the gap. Jerrick looked grim as he loaded another bolt.

“If only we had sturdier walls...”

I wished we had them too, but complaining about it wasn’t going to get us anywhere.

“Slaine, Vodd, take your squads and back up opening number four! Someone close the town hall’s doors!”

As I barked out orders, I desperately tried to think of a spell that could turn this situation around. However, all I could cast was buff spells. I had nothing which could slow enemies down, or defeat them outright. I debated jumping off the roof and joining the fray myself, but Jerrick stopped me before I could take a single step.

“Don’t you dare leap off, boss. There’s no one else who can heal except you.”

“...Alright.”

Now that the lizards had made it into the barricade, the stench of garbage was overwhelming. Hmm, yeah. On second thought, it does smell more like garbage than oil. Though I was certain it smelled like oil yesterday when they started to retreat... Whatever, now’s not the time to be worrying about how they smell. I need to figure out how to kill them.

Fortunately, they’d only broken one section of the wall so far. The reserve squads were reinforcing that side now, so they were holding up for the moment.

“Bring it, you scaled freaks!”

“I won’t lose to you, brother!”

It certainly helped that those two moronic brothers had strength to spare. However, the situation quickly took another turn for the worse.

“Veight, they’re about to break through this wall, too!”

“We need backup!”

Another section of the wall shattered and the fang lizards tried pushed their way in. I hurriedly sent a reserve squad to their assistance as well.

“Monza, can you handle it!?”

“Yeah, just leave it to me!”

She’d only just recovered from her infection, but I was so low on spare troops that I had no choice but to send her. If it was just us fighters I could have ordered a retreat to give us time to regroup, but there were kids and old people here too. We’d struggled together to survive in this harsh forest devoid of amenities like convenience stores and internet. Like hell I was going to let any of them die here.

“All squads, retreat to the town hall! Abandon your posts!”

At that, the werewolves fighting on the walls that hadn’t been breached shouted, “Are you sure, Veight!?”

“We’re still good here!”

I responded immediately, “Yes, if you keep fighting you’ll be surrounded by the lizards invading from the other sides! Get back here now!”

There was only value in protecting the barricade if it was intact. We’d already shaved the lizards down to half their original number. On top of that, we still had no casualties. These walls had served their purpose.

“We’ll have our final showdown in front of the town hall! Kill them all there!”

“Understood!”

The moment the werewolves abandoned their posts, the fang lizards started flooding in. Because of how big each one was, it was quite an intimidating sight to see 50 of them in one place. As they fought, old man Vodd shouted, “Don’t grapple with them! They’ll tear your arms off!”

Fang lizards had formidable biting power. A transformed werewolf could shrug off hits from a human sword or spear, but a fang lizard’s bite was another matter altogether. And if someone got their arm ripped off, that wasn’t something I could heal. Maybe Master could, though.

“Don’t panic, just focus on protecting your squadmates!”

Since fang lizards had as much destructive power as we did, we needed to be careful. One of the werewolves leapt back and growled, “Goddamn, this is getting tough...”

Because of how low to the ground the lizards were, we could only really hit them with kicks. But if they managed to wrap their jaws around someone’s foot, they could drag one of us to the ground easily. However, if we wanted to get them with a punch we needed to crouch down. And that carried its own risks. The fang lizards’ body type made them hard to deal with. The older Garney brother glanced back at me.

“It’s hard to punch and kick these guys... Oi, Veight, are you sure we can’t wrestle these scaled bastards?”

“Try it if you want. You’ll die.”

I could tell the lizards were just waiting for an opening. The moment one werewolf slipped up, I knew the whole horde would gang up on them. If Garney or anyone else tried to wrestle with one, the others would swarm him right away.

“Yeah, this really is annoying...”

Even Fahn was getting irritated. Werewolves specialized in hunting human-sized prey, so they didn’t have as many options when it came to attacking creatures that stayed low to the ground. It hadn’t been much of a problem when they’d been ganging up on trapped lizards, but now they were having trouble landing hits. Slowly but surely, the fang lizards began to constrict their encirclement.

It was hard to believe they were just dumb reptiles. At the very least, I was certain their movements were being coordinated by a single leader. Similar to how an ant colony moved with one will. To make matters worse, the stench was becoming unbearable. It was doubly painful because of how acute our sense of smell was.

Wait. That smell is laced with mana... Most monsters could use mana in some way or another, usually in relation to their unique characteristics. And it appeared these lizards diffused mana through scent. Wouldn’t they normally imbue their fangs with mana? They’re called fang lizards and all. My musings were interrupted by Fahn’s warning shout.

“Here they come!”

Crap, I don’t have enough time to think.

“All squads, get into defensive formation!”

Each squad put two people forward, and two people in the back. Those in the front were meant to handle offense, while the back row kept the front safe.

“Take them down!”

Until I could come up with a plan, all I could do was order everyone to fight. What can I do to help? There’s gotta be something. As I was now, I didn’t have the mana to cast strengthening magic on everyone. Even if I did, it wouldn’t be very effective with this many people, and it’d take too long.

God, that stench though. Why would they bother to lace it with mana? There’s no point... Wait. If there’s no point, then they wouldn’t be doing it. Meaning there is a reason. And that reason is most likely...

“I’ve got it!” I turned to my men and shouted, “I’ll handle this!”

“Veight!?” Fahn, who was in the middle of a duel with a lizard, looked up at me in shock. “What are you saying!?”

“She’s right, Veight. If you die here...”

I ignored everyone’s complaints.

“The moment I give the signal, I want all of you to charge, got it!?”

Without waiting for a reply, I leapt into the crowd of fang lizards. This was our only chance. Victory or defeat would be decided in a single moment. The moment I landed, I unleashed a howl with all my strength.

Soul Shaker: It was a spell I’d created, and one only a werewolf mage could use.

Mana-filled shock waves of sound thundered across the battlefield. Most humans would faint just from hearing the sound alone. However, I wasn’t even sure these lizards had ears. The auditory component of my spell may not have been much use against the lizards, but that wasn’t where Soul Shaker’s true worth lay anyway.

Monza, who’d lowered herself into a stance seconds before, just stood there dumbly.

“H-Huh?”

I waved to her from my spot within the fang lizard horde.

“Now it’s over.”

The fang lizards had been gripped by fear. On top of that, the odor they’d been emitting had disappeared. To be more accurate, I’d blown it away. I picked up a nearby lizard by the tail and swung it down like a living club. Its skull slammed into that of another, and both died instantly. I kicked their corpses away and grinned.

“These bastards had laced that stench with mana to communicate. Kind of like how we use our howls. That’s how they were able to coordinate so well.”

“Uhh... okay?”

Monza blinked a few times, still clearly confused.

These lizards weren’t truly social creatures, but eusocial creatures like ants or bees. I’d read about how there were mammals like naked mole rats that happened to be eusocial, so I supposed it wasn’t that surprising to find reptiles like that as well. After all, this was a totally different world. And just as how ants and bees used pheromones to communicate, these lizards used those disgusting smells to relay commands. At least that was what I had assumed when I’d noticed the smell was purposely pungent and had mana mixed into it. Seeing as I was still alive, my guess had been accurate.

In retrospect, if I’d been wrong I would probably be dead by now. I should be more careful in the future. As I heaved a sigh of relief I picked up another lizard and smashed it against the ground.

“My howl has the power to override any mana floating nearby and control it freely. That’s why these guys’ smell vanished, and they can’t exchange information anymore. Even though their comrades are all right next to each other, they can’t communicate, and it’s confusing them.”

“...I see.” Monza finally understood what was going on, and nodded. She then smiled and made a fist. “Aha, in that case, we can slaughter them all we want! Follow me, guys!”

“Yeaaaah!”

“We’re getting on the action too!”

“Kill those scaled freaks!”

All 56 werewolves charged at once. In minutes, the remaining fang lizards had been wiped out.

“What did he say after that?”

The Demon Lord Friedensrichter asked the Great Sage Gomoviroa with a smile.

“He said that what he did could hardly be called a great achievement.”

“What a fascinating young man.”

The Demon Lord picked up the report Veight had sent him.

“Their fangs aren’t poisoned, but they cause disease instead. On top of that, they mix mana into the odor they emit, which is what allows them to communicate information, much like ants or bees...”

Gomoviroa peeked at the report and muttered, “My disciple writes some strange things, does he not?”

“Certainly, it’s odd that he brought up ants and bees as an example here.”

“Indeed. Though now that I think about it, it is true that such insects often seem to be working under a single will. I haven’t taught him anything about insects yet, so it’s quite impressive that he made such an observation on his own.”

“Hmm...” Friedensrichter scanned the report’s contents one more time, then put it back down on his desk. “What is this werewolf doing now?”

“Helping his village dry fang lizard meat. He said it would help them last while meat was still sparse.”

The Demon Lord tapped his chin thoughtfully, then asked his longtime friend, “Is he not going to ask for a reward? Were it not for his efforts, we would have been hard-pressed to earn the werewolves’ support.”

“He won’t. To him, this isn’t even deserving of a reward. Though he did mention that he would like to have some more building materials.”

“Building materials, you say?”

“To repair the village and make its fence sturdier. He truly has no wants of his own.”

Gomoviroa smiled proudly, but Friedensrichter looked pensive.

“He rallied the werewolves, defended his village, and even discovered the unique traits of one of the most troublesome breed of monsters while he was at it; and yet he claims it’s not an achievement worth mentioning.”

“That’s right.”

Gomoviroa looked up at her friend with a smile. Though it was difficult to read the expressions on a dragonkin’s face, she knew her friend well enough to know what he was thinking.

“What do you think? He might be the Champion you have spent so long searching for.”

“Perhaps.”

He tried to sound disinterested, but Gomoviroa could hear the curiosity in his voice.

“That man... you said his name was Wight, correct? Does he have any interest in formally joining the demon army?”

“I’m unsure of that myself. Like I said, he has no ambition.” Gomoviroa smiled wryly. “Among my disciples, he is one of my brightest. If he were to join the army, he would no doubt distinguish himself.”

“I see you’ve grown even more skilled at flattering your disciples, Gomoviroa.”

Gomoviroa puffed her chest out proudly and retorted, “Only because all of my disciples are such excellent students. That being said, Veight is special. This isn’t simply my bias toward my disciples talking, I truly do believe he has the qualifications to be a regiment commander.”

“I see...”

The Demon Lord folded his arms and lapsed into thought. After a few minutes he said, “I would like to meet this Wight. Could you persuade him to officially join my army?”

Gomoviroa smiled and bowed reverently.

“Gladly, my lord.”

I trembled nervously in front of the audience chamber of Grenschtat Castle—the Demon Lord’s home. After we’d defeated the fang lizards, we’d started smoking their meat. In the middle of that, messengers from the demon army had come bearing lumber and stone, along with a vast quantity of dried and pickled meat. They’d also brought a letter which had turned out to be a summoning from Master.

One thing had led to another, and I’d ended up formally joining the Demon Lord’s army. And not as a foot soldier either. No, I’d been given the title of Weremage, and made one of Master’s vice-commanders. On top of that, I was to be in command of the werewolf platoon the Demon Lord was planning on organizing. At first, I’d tried to insist that Vodd or one of the elders lead the werewolves since they were the heads of our village, but even they’d wanted me to take command, so I’d been forced to accept the position. And now I was here.

I turned to Master, who was floating beside me, and asked, “Why me?”

“Who knows.” Smiling, Master poked me in the back. “Now then, hurry it up. You don’t want to keep His Highness the Demon Lord waiting.”

“O-Okay...”

I nodded and walked up to the large double doors. The two dragonkin guards exchanged a glance, then tapped the butts of their spears against the stone floor. At the same time, the doors swung inward. Beyond them lay the Demon Lord.

I wonder what kind of human... I mean, demon he is. Cold sweat poured down my back as I took my first step into the room.