300 – 『The Starved Hunters』

…The number I’m sensing with [Presence Perception]… As my best estimate, there are fifty. In reality, there are slightly more, I expect.

The ones the Lithovars captured to sacrifice to the manticore were mainly adventurers. In other words, the number of people that have suffered at their hand shouldn’t be too many. They live in the forest and avoid contact as much as possible thanks to their strange customs, so compared to bandits, the damage they cause should be much less, I expect. It won’t be to the scale where they’re regarded as dangerous by some lord, and I think it’s unlikely that they could have incurred the wrath of some powerful person.

So this fifty… They’re probably the main body, not decoys. It’s hard to imagine that more than this were mobilised.

“The enemy is coming! There’s over forty of them! The difference in strength is too much! Let’s hurry back to the village before we’re surrounded! As for the truga… Please wait until you can see them! They seem to have noticed us, but they shouldn’t know our exact location!”

Bella informs the others. The man who brought the truga to his lips panics and stops.

“N-no way!”
“That’s too many, weren’t there only supposed to be about thirty?!”

The Lithovars are bewildered.

…It’s not just forty, there’s at least fifty of them though. Also their speed… It’s clear they’re up to something. It looks like they’ve also noticed us, so maybe they want to cut off our escape.

I’m glad it was us that found them. I’d never have thought there would be over fifty of them. If a different group had found them, the most they could do would be to use their terrain advantage to reduce the number of casualties as they flee. If we hadn’t dealt with the river and prepared for an attack in the early morning, the village could have really been destroyed.

“Dragon-god-sama, let’s hurry and escape! We need to report to the other teams who are on patrol…”

“GuoOOOO…”

I shake my head and stand facing the enemy. I don’t know their strength, but… I’m an ouroboros with an inexhaustible supply of stamina. As a rear guard, no one could be more suited than me.

“Dr-dragon-god-sama has chosen to fight!”
“In that case, I shall fight too! I will fight with all my strength!”

Even though the other Lithovar warriors were ready to flee a moment ago, they ready their spears… U-umm, I… If it came down to it, I could flee by flying. 

“Fruga, you’re youngest. Take Bella-sama and return!”

“B-but…”

“Hurry up and go you idiot! If you fail I’ll beat you to death!”

“…Y-yes! Bella-sama, this way!”

…I-it’s as though they already think we’re going to lose. Since we set out to do scouting only, being targeted by a large group that can somehow sense us would make them think that, yeah. I thought it was rare among humans, so I’m surprised there are apparently so many with [Presence Perception]. I guess that, since they’re fighting in the forest, they might bring someone along for it.

This team was ten Lithovars, Bella excluded, so with one headed back to relay the message we have nine… They’ve got more than five times our numbers.

Suddenly I pick up on some presences spreading out horizontally. Hmm? Do they plan on ignoring us and crushing the messengers behind us? No… That’s not the impression I get. They’re spreading out on both sides to encircle us.

Do they mean to surround and massacre us so none can get away? Because I can’t see them, I feel even more pressure.

There’s no doubt… They’re used to fighting. They’re also accustomed to working in groups rather than individually. I’d thought it was a collection of enemies that had assembled in a hurry, but… It doesn’t look like that’s the case.

Dadada. Dadada. The sound of horse hooves stir the surroundings, making the forest noisy.

“GuoOOH!”

I growl and run diagonally back. If I charge to the front, we’d be surrounded for sure. Destroying the incomplete edge of their encirclement is the safest option.

The nine Lithovar warriors chase after me.

Eight cavalrymen appear. Like Derek, they’re wearing tight-fitting, navy blue military clothes. I spot iron breastplates on each of them.

These guys really are quite disciplined. There’s something strange about that.

“The dragon-god has shown up already!”

“Ah, don’t approach the dragon carelessly. Contain it while keeping your distance. If you get hit and are sent flying now before the other units get here, it’ll be a problem later. We might not have enough firepower, so we’ll leave killing the big one to the magic attack units. Make sure to crush the small fries.”

At a glance, the small moustached man in the back is the leader of the other eight.

It seems the Lithovar’s dragon-god culture is known to other places. If they think I’m an amphis, that could make things easier, so it’s not necessarily a minus.

“Captain, it’s been a while since we killed people, so can’t you raise our morale a bit more?”

“Personally I don’t like this sort of thing. I want to hurry up and attack the village… Why are there scouts out this far…? Weren’t they meant to be all collapsed from poison?”

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The captain yawns as he glares at me clearly thinking I’m a bother.

A while since they killed people…?

I’d thought it was strange. It would be weird for an adventurer whose family was killed to be able to mobilise fifty people, and it’s clear they’re used to fighting as a group. I’d thought the poison curse was used to overturn the difference in numbers, but… It seems that wasn’t the case.

“We need to hurry up and crush these guys so we don’t fall behind. If Tolman-sama gets to all of them before we get a chance, I won’t be able to have any fun. Hurry up and do as instructed then recover.”

The captain claps his hands together. As I hear the sound, something snaps inside me.

The seven cavalrymen arranged in front of him draw their swords and charge towards me.

“The captain’s lack of motivation can’t be helped.”
“We’re excellent so if he’d just try a bit harder we could raise our unit’s rank…”
“Idiot, it’s the clever ones who cut corners where it doesn’t matter.”

Even though they’re here to kill, they’re awfully talkative. More are on their way, so they might be making light of us thinking it’ll be fine one way or the other.

“They’re coming!”
“Dragon-god-samah! Leave them to us and be wary of the other…!”

I kick off the ground and launch myself to the oncoming cavalry at full speed.

“What speed…gh!”

The horse and rider separate in the air, tumbling across the ground while covered in blood. I bite the belly of the captain who was staring dumbfounded and raise him high in the air.

“C-captain Barres!”

“Gah, gaa… [Rest]… [Rest]…”

The captain called Barres mutters a spell. It’s not like I don’t feel anything for his pitiful state, but I slam him against the ground all the same.

The shock runs through my face. I think I took a little damage from that. I might have been a bit too forceful because I wanted to shake off my hesitation.

Captain Barres’s body goes limp as blood bursts from his crushed head. It’s a taste I haven’t experienced since becoming a dragon, an unpleasant sensation.

It’s my first experience killing humans with hostility.

【192 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the Title Skill [Walking Egg: Lv -], an additional 192 experience points have been acquired.】

…He gave a bit more than an abyss. From his reaction when I jumped at him, I thought his status would be around that level.

The enemy cavalry are frozen, staring at my mouth. I open my mouth, and captain Barres tumbles out.

It’s not a nice feeling… Killing a lower rank, and a human at that.

【Title Skill [Path of Evil] has risen from level 8 to 9.】

Say what you will. Today only, I won’t hold back.

『…Don’t do something you’re not used to. It’s okay to leave it to me.』

I can’t just leave it all on you. Besides… If anything, I’m grateful to our enemies now. I don’t know what their ultimate objective is, but… They’re so easy to understand that I can take them down without having to think about it.

“Ch-charge!”
“We have dragon-god-sama with us!”

The Lithovar warriors charge towards the cavalry with their spears out. Still in shock from the death of their captain, they hastily flee. One man tumbles from his horse.

I hear the sound of footsteps approaching, and look around with my partner.

Finally… The other guys have caught up. Moving to surround us, they’ve cut off three sides.

Their numbers… There’s a little over seventy of them. Together with the unit whose captain I destroyed, there’s more than eighty.

Eighty… Could there be even more moving separately…? At this rate, I can’t afford to take them on properly. From what they said, there should already be other units headed to the Lithovar village.

“We guessed right. Look, a big catch.”

The one-eyed man in the lead says as he laughs.

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