Chapter 10

Chapter 10

OUR PRESENTATION was successful.

The Calbanera Knights decided they would dedicate their entire force to finding and destroying the daemon nest. No one mentioned anything about the budget any longer. The treasurer looked as if he might faint after the decision, but most of the knights in the order were gunning to fight.

Once the decision had been made, the knights quickly set to work planning the details of the operation, and by the end of the day, only a few specifics were left undecided. Incidentally, Sedam received a formal request from the order to participate in the operation, and Clara also agreed to come along, as a representative of the Relis Sorcerers’ Guild.

“Not that it’s a problem, but they’ve formally designated you as their ‘ally’ now. That captain really is a sly one,” Sedam remarked to me privately, after the day’s meetings were over.

“Ah…” I had not thought much of it at the time, but Sedam was right. As allies, we would be expected to help each other out. While I had gained the help and support of the Calbanera Knights, I now had a responsibility to support them as well. If Amrand had this all thought out before he spoke to me, he is certainly worthy of his title, I thought.

“Be careful not to create too many alliances, or you won’t be able to do anything,” Clara added, with a hint of snark.

Definitely something to keep in mind…

“Ugh,” I grumbled to myself, savoring a few more lingering seconds of rest. But soon I left the grandiose room I had been re-assigned to and made my way out into the courtyard.

I was tired, but Alnogia had called for me, and I knew I couldn’t refuse.

“I apologize for calling you so late, Lord Wizard,” said Alnogia. For some reason, he was in full armor, and his company of knights, twenty in number, stood behind him.

“I do not mind, but…what is it you want with me?”

“I wanted to see if you could help with our training.”

“Your training?”

“I heard you were able to create monsters akin to daemons…”

He must be talking about Create Ogre Platoon, I thought. That was not a spell I showed them, but I imagine Mora told Sedam, and Alnogia heard it from him.

Nevertheless, this was an opportunity for me to measure the ability of the knights and get a general grasp on the balance of power in Sedia. Based on what I’d learned from Sedam’s history lesson, the order had experience fighting undead and daemons. How would they fare against six ogres?

“I myself have not fought a real daemon before,” Alnogia continued. “The same is true for half the knights in the order. I’ve brought a good number of the men under my command, in the hope that you could provide us with an experience similar to the fight we will face against the daemons. In this way, we hope that we may grow more prepared.”

Alnogia’s request was more well thought out than I’d first assumed. It really is easy to like him, for how earnest he is… The twinkle in his eyes is far too pure and bright to suit a cynical adult like myself…

“I will not ask you to do it for free!” Alnogia said, bowing his head and taking out a leather bag of gold coins, which he reverently presented before me.

“No, no… You don’t have to do that. I couldn’t possibly take anything for such a simple request. Use that money to the benefit of the order.”

“Th-thank you!” said Alnogia, bowing his head again, and all of the knights in his company followed suit. Alnogia was visibly relieved.

I’ve already heard from Igould how tight you all are on money. Don’t be so quick to spend that…

***

“As a consequence of this spell, a platoon of six ogres will be created out of nothing, and for three days will act on my command. Create Ogre Platoon.”

“Grrr!!!”

“Whoa…”

“He really summoned daemons…”

“But the color’s different.”

“He can even do stuff like this?”

Murmurs ran through the ranks of Alnogia’s company, and even his own face was pale.

My spell created six large, red-skinned ogres in the courtyard. As this was only for training, I didn’t have the ogres equipped with any weapons. However, any of those three-meter giants’ rock-hard fists could easily kill a human. Based on my impressions of both, ogres were roughly equivalent to the second type of daemon, the fiend.

Admittedly, a fiend’s skin was pitch black, while an ogre’s was brownish red, and the ogres lacked the searing hatred of a daemon. While I noticed a few of the knights in the company pointing the differences out, most were overreacting.

“W-well then,” said Alnogia, “I think we should split up into two groups.” He turned to me. “Is it okay for us to fell them?”

“Sure,” I replied. “Have at it.”

“Wait! Wait one goddamned minute!” It was Gillion, leaping and hollering, with Leoria and the rest of his company in tow.

“Al! What are you doing, trying to get a leg up on me?!” he yelled.

“P-please stop, Gillion,” said Alnogia.

“Brother, give it a rest! You’re being rude!” said Leoria, catching up.

It was clear Gillion hadn’t a shred of respect for Alnogia, menacing him with his girth, despite Leoria’s protests. Alnogia kept a strained smile on his face, but the ranks of both companies glared at each other with blatant animosity. Even so, as I looked around at how others in the courtyard reacted to the confrontation, it was clear that the only ones on Gillion’s side in this were the knights of his own company.

“Lord Wizard! Let me fight those monsters first! I deserve to go first!”

“B-but I asked first…”

Alnogia clearly didn’t like dealing with Gillion (admittedly, it would be strange if he did), and it didn’t help that Alnogia seemed weak-willed in general. Although the fact he did not give in right away was proof that he wasn’t completely overpowered by Gillion.

“Gillion.” I said.

“Yes, Lord Wizard.”

Back when I was in Japan, I didn’t like dealing with people like Gillion either, and if I’d had a subordinate like Alnogia, I’d probably be annoyed by him, too. However, with a change in status comes a change in perspective. As I looked at these immature, boisterous youngsters, I took a liking to them both.

“Alnogia beat you to the punch this time, but there’s no need to worry. I can make more ogres, if need be. Can I get you to wait until Alnogia has had his turn?”

“F…fine,” Gillion grunted.

“I am so sorry to have troubled you, my lord! Thank you for your kindness and consideration!” added Leoria, her eyes sparkling.

After witnessing my Meteor spell, even Gillion now seemed inclined to hold his tongue. In fact, he seemed caught between mixed feelings of fear and awe. Leoria, on the other hand, appeared to view me as some sort of embodiment of justice, worthy of her complete trust—which I was definitely not, unfortunately. Sorry.

“Well then, my good knights. Take your positions,” I said, eager to change the subject, raising my staff into the air.

“Understood.” Alnogia nodded.

“Everyone! Prepare for battle! Platoons one and two, form a defensive line! Platoon three, prepare to flank the enemy! Platoon four, stand by in reserve!”

“Yes, sir!”

Alnogia’s voice was unexpectedly sharp and clear while giving orders, and his twenty knights quickly got into formation. Ten knights formed a line in the front, five clustered on the right end of the line, and five took positions in the rear, Alnogia among them.

“Ogres, attack the knights. However, you must not, under any circumstances, kill them,” I commanded, surprising myself by how in-character the tone of my voice was. (Not that it mattered. The ogres would obey me whether I was convincing or not.)

“Gruooow!”

“Graah!”

The ogres rushed headlong into the knights’ defensive line.

“Ready your shields!”

At Alnogia’s command, the front line raised up their shields, each one emblazoned with the order’s insignia. Every shield was raised level with their faces. Alnogia’s knights were well-disciplined. They acted in chorus, a synchronized machine that formed an impenetrable iron wall…or so it seemed.

“Grrooo!”

With the very first swing of the ogres’ fists, the knights’ wall of flesh, armor, and shields nearly faltered. No one was sent flying or anything, but several stumbled and were forced to step back. The line was losing its order.

“Don’t give up,” yelled one of the knights from the center of the line. “Stand your ground!”

“Grroow! Graah!”

But under the force of the six ogres’ fists, the line seemed ready to break at any moment.

Alnogia opened his mouth as if to order another command, but he must have been at a loss, for nothing came.

“Grraah!!!”

But the ogres would not wait. A few seconds later, the first knight was sent flying—then the second, and the third. None could withstand the force of the constant barrage, and those who were not sent flying fell to their knees.

“Platoon four, forward! Platoon three, flank them now!” Alnogia finally found his voice. Though he was struggling, he had not given up yet.

“Gyah!!!”

“Uwah?!”

But despite their best efforts, the ogres’ strength was too much for the knights to handle. Even as the fourth platoon rushed to fill the gaps in the front line, another hole was made in the wall.

“Take that!”

“Graahhh!”

The flanking platoon attacked, slicing their swords into the sides and backs of the ogres. Though they were finally able to deal damage to the ogres, they could not withstand the monsters’ retaliatory punches.

“Regroup! Form a circle! Victory to the white blade!” Alnogia cried, gathering the remaining able knights together, in an outward-facing ring.

“Oh, look at them go,” I said, impressed.

“Al! Don’t you give up! Aim for the eyes!” Leoria yelled, cheering them on.

“What the hell is he doing? If it were me…” Gillion, on the other hand, seemed incapable of showing others support.

Still, even Gillion’s reaction was better than the rest of the staring onlookers, silent and frozen.

Well, I suppose I can’t blame them. The ogres are stand-ins for daemons, after all… I thought, then paused as I realized the more obvious problem. What’s going to happen when they have to fight the real thing?

“That’s enough!” I yelled.

Alnogia fought well, and dodged the ogres’ fists several times, but his sword was knocked away by one of the ogre’s muscular arms. I commanded them to stop just as that ogre was about to make contact with Alnogia’s head.

The obedient ogres immediately froze.

That did not stop Alnogia from whimpering, his face ashen white, but it also didn’t take long for him to regain his composure.

“Everyone, you did well!” he declared. “Please rest for the remainder of the day. We still have time to rework our strategies before the operation commences. Remember, this is only training. You will have plenty of opportunities to show your strength and bravery when the real battle comes!”

I was impressed at Alnogia’s quick rebound and his dedication to his company. I watched him go around, helping other knights to their feet. It was especially impressive, because I knew from the look on his face that he did not believe his own words. He knew how important it was to act the part of a strong leader.

“F-forgive us for our failings…”

“Next time will be different…”

Even as the individual knights fought against shame and despair, their respect for Alnogia held them all together.

“I can’t believe you all!” Gillion spat. “I’ll show you how it’s done!”

Gillion, tactless as ever, invited a volley of cold glares upon himself.

They say Gillion and Alnogia are both candidates to be the next captain, but is it really a contest at all? In terms of popularity at least, there’s no way Gillion could beat Alnogia.

***

“Take that! And that! Now how about this?!”

The fighting style of Gillion’s company was the absolute opposite of Alnogia’s. As soon as the training began, Gillion rushed forward and abandoned his knights without any orders.

As it turned out, Gillion’s confidence was not for nothing. He fought well, receiving the ogres’ blows with his shield and pushing them back, hitting weak points accurately with his sword on the return. Despite his enormous size, he was very agile, and on close examination it was clear his agility was the product of carefully calculated actions, rather than quick reaction times.

“Hiyah! Yah!”

Leoria was fighting in a circle around Gillion, and she raced back and forth so fast it was as if she wasn’t wearing armor at all. With her speed, she was able to confuse the ogres with feints, and she used the openings she created to target the ogres’ legs.

“Yeah!”

A cheer swept through the crowd of onlookers. One of the ogres Leoria attacked had fallen to its knees. After seeing the performance of the knights in the previous matchup, it was hard to believe Leoria was human. If she were matched against an ogre, one on one, I thought, I would be hard pressed to say who was stronger.

So, this is the true face of Sedia, I thought. In this world, humans with different aptitudes and experiences can exhibit such a broad range of skills and abilities, so much so that I’m made to question whether they’re really ‘human’ anymore. This truly is a fantasy world of swords and sorcery—a world of heroes.

“Good going, Leo! Hrrngh?!”

“Hey! Let me go!!!”

However, unfortunately, these two heroes hit their ceiling.

Gillion was kicked by an ogre approaching from behind, and Leoria, out of breath, was grabbed by another and dropped her sword. Maybe this goes without saying, but I should also point out that the rest of the second company had already been defeated.

“Stop! That’s it!” I said, hurriedly commanding the ogres to stop.

“Damn it!” Gillion cursed from the ground, covered in sand. “Let me have one more go at it, Lord Wizard!”

“You…you brute! Let go!” said Leoria, as she continued to struggle, punching the ogre that still had her arm with her other fist.

I was impressed with both of them, though for very different reasons than I had been impressed with Alnogia. However…

“What are you doing, ruining morale before the operation even starts?!” Clara said, incredulously. I hadn’t noticed, but apparently, she had come to watch.

Can’t you spin that a little better? I silently protested. At least now I have a better idea of what they’re capable of… As an ally, it’s my responsibility to know these things. I nodded, hoping to convince myself this wasn’t a disaster.

***

Back in the guest room…

“No, I agree. That was completely your fault.”

Sedam took Clara’s side.

“I can’t believe you disgraced Alnogia in front of all those people,” Clara charged.

“But you told me that fighting daemons was this order’s main objective, so I thought—”

Sedam clenched a fist. “If your plan was to simulate real combat, you should have paired two against twenty, not six!”

Hmm… I thought. So that’s the power dynamic between humans and daemons in Sedia. Between what he’d said and what I’d seen with my own eyes, I pegged the equivalent D&B character of an average knight at Level 3, give or take.

“If you matched six knights against twenty imps,” Sedam continued, “those knights would probably emerge victorious. However, that’s not how this is done. The extermination of daemons should be done with strength in numbers. Daemon hunts demand the coordination of a full-scale army, not the strength of a few heroic individuals!”

In fact, the two companies being deployed for the current threat numbered over four hundred knights in total.

“I…I hear you.” I rubbed at my temples. “But while we’re on this topic, what would you say is the average strength of adventurers like yourselves? Is your party stronger than average?”

“Our strength…” Sedam paused, a troubled expression on his face. “If we include Clara in our party, we are probably one of the strongest bands in all Ryuse. However, without her, we are only average, I would say.”

“I can use high-ranked sorcery, after all,” Clara said with pride, thrusting out her chest.

So, sorcerers do play an important role in the power dynamics in Sedia. It didn’t surprise me one bit.

“However,” Sedam continued, “there are not many adventuring parties out there that can take on a fiend. There are probably only three in Relis that can manage that feat, and that’s including ours.”

Among all known daemons, weighing their aptitude for battle against their rarity, fiends reigned as the most threatening. While imps were common, individually, they could not overwhelm a common soldier. In other words, a swarm of them was manageable as long as you had the advantage in numbers. Of course, “manageable” here meant just that. An advantage in numbers didn’t guarantee that you wouldn’t suffer massive casualties, especially with the wrong kind of luck.

However, if a swarm of imps had even one fiend among them, you could expect your casualties to skyrocket. According to Sedam, a group of twenty heavily armed soldiers was required to take down a single fiend, and even with that, if you were unlucky, your entire team could be wiped out.

“However,” Sedam said stubbornly, “I think it important to add that an adventurer’s worth is measured by far more than his strength at arms alone.”

Unlike an army, a party of adventurers could specialize in several fields, including tracking, defense, and battle. It would be wrong to focus only on a party’s strength in battle. Sedam’s complaint was absolutely a valid one.

However, that did not change the simple fact that humans in Sedia had a clear disadvantage when it came to fighting daemons.

“What about those you might call heroes?” I asked.

“If you mean heroes involved in the extermination of daemons, there’s a warrior known as Lade the Daemon Killer. He could probably take down five or six fiends, and maybe even a gigant, on his own,” said Sedam.

“Among sorcerers,” added Clara, “the first seat of the Ryushuk Guild, Pelishra, can face a gigant alone. Rumor has it he is able to use one of the highest ranked incantations, Icia Hels.

“In addition to him, the strongest party in Sedia is led by a sorcerer known as ‘Hellfire’ Calbaran. Someone like him could probably take on several gigants at once.

“However, they are based in the capital of the Shrendal Kingdom, so we cannot count on them for help this time,” said Clara.

Daemon Killer, the first seat of the Sorcerers’ Guild, and Hellfire, huh? I thought. If this were an RPG and they were NPCs, I could expect to run into them later in the campaign…

I paused, slapped both my cheeks, and drove that inane thought away. These are real people, not characters in some game.

“Well, you look like you’re raring to go,” quipped Sedam. “Ready to join the ranks of our heroes?”

“No, that’s not what I… Practical issues aside, I’m not suited to filling that kind of role.” There’s a huge difference between fighting and wanting to fight.

Both Sedam and Clara just shrugged their shoulders at me.

“Damn you! Take this!”

“Brother! Behind you!”

We could still hear the shouts of the two Calbanera siblings—they’d asked for overtime—training in the courtyard.

***

“Take that!”

“Ga-gyaah!”

Astonishingly, after two days of relentless practice, Leoria managed to take down an ogre, largely by herself. She did have Gillion and her knights assisting her, and the ogres were weaponless besides, but that didn’t make her fast improvement any less amazing.

“Thank you, Lord Magician! This is all thanks to you! Thank you so much!” Leoria was covered with dirt and blood from the ogre, but seeing her pure smile, I couldn’t help but think she was beautiful.

“Damn it, Leo! Don’t get too full of yourself, you hear? I’ll surpass you soon enough!”

Alnogia stood by, long-suffering. “Sir Gillion, you should probably focus more on giving orders to the knights under your command…”

Gillion had certainly improved, and Alnogia didn’t hesitate as often in giving directions to his knights, either. All of them had what it took to one day be heroes.

I really don’t want to see any of these young people die before their time.

***

The first and second companies of the Calbanera Knights assembled at the Castle of the White Blade for departure, a combined force of 430 knights and twenty attendants.

The captain saw us off, alongside the residents of Yulei, who’d come out en masse after hearing rumors of our expedition.

“I pray for your success,” Amrand cried. “Victory to the white blade! Death to the daemons!”

“Victory to the white blade! Death to the daemons!”

“Good luck!”

Though we departed with much fanfare, we did not set out directly for the daemons’ nest. We didn’t even know where it was located. Therefore, our first destination was Jargle’s fortress in the mountains. We planned to use it as a base of operations as we set up our defensive line. We’d encircle the daemons and make sure none escaped after we destroyed their nest.

We made our way up the narrow, winding mountain path with our forces in tow. For better or worse, we didn’t encounter any daemons or bandits along the way. When the fortress finally came into view, I was overcome with nostalgia. It was my starting point in this world, after all.

“What the hell?”

“That cliff wasn’t here before!”

“How is there a fortress up there?”

Of course, that nostalgia was quickly pushed aside by the commotion from the knights when they saw what I had done to the fortress with my Structural Renovation spell.

After I returned the fortress to its original position, the knights began hauling in supplies. With nearly five hundred people in our ranks, not everyone could stay inside, but the knights set up camps around the fortress yard.

It bears mentioning that I’d separated Ild’s goods from the rest of what the bandits had stolen. I let the knights confiscate the remainder. I figured they would take and use what they could, as a way of softening the effect of the operation on the order’s finances. I shed a mental tear for the treasurer.

“Now, let us confirm the details of the operation,” said the strategist, Espine.

All vital personnel and ranking officers gathered in the commander’s office in the tower.

“The first company will head out east, and the second company south, to form a defensive line. The current plan is to hold this line for a period of three days, after which the operation will conclude. However, please keep in mind this duration is tentative and may be revised if the operation is extended. Remember, there are villages to the west of our line and the Lawful Way to the north. Do not, under any circumstances, let the daemons break through. Once our defensive lines have been established, Sedam, Clara, and Lord Margilus will accompany an elite force to the valley where the legion was last sighted. There, they will identify and eradicate the daemons’ nest. After the nest is destroyed, this elite force will rejoin our defensive forces to assist in the extermination of any remaining daemons.”

In short, the success of the operation depended one hundred percent on Sedam’s tracking abilities and my magical power.

At the first meeting, when the operation was still coming together, I’d planned only to provide support. However, after seeing how the knights performed in training, I’d forced the decision makers to give me a more active role. At first, Alnogia and Gillion protested, but by reminding them of how they’d fared against the ogres, I was able to shut them up.

Maybe I was acting a little overprotective, but who could blame me? I felt bad for damaging their pride, and was anxious for my own sake, but I was ready to shoulder more responsibility if it meant saving lives.

“Now, allow me to share some lesser-known details about the daemon nest we seek to destroy,” said Gunnar, a middle-aged knight who was the lieutenant commander of the first company. He had participated in the extermination of a daemon nest ten years earlier.

“A daemon nest is unlike the nest of any other creature or monster. What we call a ‘nest’ colloquially often takes on the appearance of a black sphere, but not always. It can change. Indeed, it is thought to have no set shape or form.”

Hmm… While it had been hinted at during previous meetings, Gunnar made it clear that a daemon nest was far more than a nest in the traditional sense of the word.

“The nest I encountered ten years ago was roughly the size of a bull, and I witnessed daemons being spawned, dripping, from its core.”

The more I hear about them, the more disgusting they turn out to be. The daemons of Sedia were completely different from the monsters I was familiar with in novels and games.

“Just to confirm,” I began. “You were able to destroy this nest with swords or sorcery?”

“Correct, Lord Wizard.”

Well, if it can be destroyed through spells and physical trauma, I should have no problem destroying it with my magic, I thought.

“You said we will accompany an elite team… Is that team not just the three of us?” Sedam asked, suddenly.

“Please take me with you!”

“Don’t be stupid! I’m the one that should go with them!”

“I want to go, too!”

Alnogia, Gillion, and Leoria all immediately spoke up. I knew this would happen, I thought. If we only knew where the nest was, I would have asked to go alone.

Alnogia and Gillion were so enthusiastic to join that it struck me as suspicious. I wondered if they were doing it to score points with the other knights in the order. They were both vying to be successors of the captain, after all.

“Leoria aside, you two are commanders! Think about your duties!” barked Gunnar. His reprimand seemed pretty effective to me; it didn’t hurt that he had a scar across his face. But the protests continued.

“B-but… We can’t just let Lord Margilus do all the work,” Alnogia insisted.

“No! Do not speak to me of duty! I’m a Calbanera! My duty is to be the one who slays the daemons!”

“Shut up, brother! I’m a Calbanera, too!”

One look at their earnest faces and my suspicions about ulterior motives faded. For better or worse, they were driven by a sense of mission, not political calculus.

Regardless of their motives, I thought, it would make no sense to have both of your candidates for the next captain participate in the most dangerous part of the mission. But I kept my opinion to myself, not wanting to get involved in the order’s politics.

“In my opinion,” said Espine, “I think it best if Gillion, Leoria, and Gunnar accompany Lord Margilus, Sedam, and Clara to the nest. I will take command of the second company.”

“Oh! You do have some good ideas after all, strategist!” said Gillion.

“Thank you!” said Leoria.

The Calbanera siblings were ecstatic, and Alnogia bit his lip in silence. Is he trying to get these two killed so they’ll be out of the way? I thought, exasperated. Well, at least they’re happy, I guess.

“Well then. May our efforts bring us total victory.”

“All right! Leave it to me, Lord Wizard! We’ll get this done!”

“I swear this: I shall protect you!”

Thanks for your enthusiasm, I thought, but if all goes as planned, there may not be much for you to do…