Chapter 320: 320

“……”

I am anxious all the while as I escape with the fourth battalion. I worry if Azalea can truly subjugate the ouroboros. Were he to be defeated, all I would have done was earn laughter from my surroundings as one who led their private army to pointless deaths.

Based on the principle of might makes right, I have invested a not insubstantial sum into my 『Starved Hunters』. I used money to not only to gather the strong from Ardesia, but also from the neighbouring countries. I had confidence that the power of my army was comparable even to the kingdom’s order of knights. I have devoted half my lifetime to the 『Starved Hunters』, and it is my purpose in life. You could say it is my most valuable possession. I have boasted of it on countless occasions to other nobles.

For my 『Starved Hunters』 to be obstructed by a dragon and forced to retreat before mere barbarians, without having even completed their objective. I would be a rendered a complete laughingstock. Were to happen now while the throne is vacant, my family name would be forever disgraced. I have entrusted my everything to Azalea now.

Were he to win, then all would be good. Good. However, what can Azalea achieve with just a few soldiers against the dragon that defeated countless other soldiers so easily? I was seized by fear at the prospect of facing it myself and so leapt on Azalea’s convenient suggestion and escaped, but… Is this really for the best? Everything I have hangs now on such a thin rope. My circumstances are terrible. Now that I have calmed down, these worries repeatedly turn over in my head.

As I worry, Grodel speeds up his horse and approaches me.

“What is it, Grodel?”

“…Tolman-sama, I think we can’t leave everything to Azalea, after all. Do you not think so too?”

“Well… That is true, but… Regardless, with our current military strength there is nothing…”

“Have you forgotten? I already got information about the carbuncle from those barbarian brats.”

“…Tell me.”

I reply after a moment of deliberation. The information about the carbuncle had slipped my mind as a result of Azalea’s interruption. But to be honest, I don’t think it’s a path with a very high chance of success. I may have the fourth battalion with me now, but Azalea has taken the commander, Nowell, with him, as well as other strong individuals. Were we to fight the barbarians, there is a chance they could overwhelm us with their numbers and terrain advantage.

“It seems the 『glittering beast』 appeared during a great fire in the past. So if we were to light fires in this area, it might come to us. With the mythical beast, the carbuncle, in our hands, all our losses up to now would be overturned.”

“It will come to us if we light a great fire? Why?”

“Who knows…? Eyewitness accounts of it are extremely rare. It might have many behaviours that we know little about. What should we do? Tolman-sama?”

“Hrm…… It might be worth trying. Should nothing come of it, it’s fine if we escape after setting the fire.”

I reply, and Grodel grins.

“As expected of Tolman-sama. Hehe, letting it all end by running away would be boring after all. This is how we need to be.”

I stop the others and gather those who can use fire magic and instruct them to set fires all together. I talk with Grodel about the details of our escape, including the escape route and who can use water magic.

“So, we could reorganise the units like this. How about it, Azale-…”

As I say that, I remember that Azalea is not here and breathe a sigh. He is clever, so I have always allowed him to perform the final check, so his absence is quite vexing. He would always grasp my intention and sing high praises for me, all while expanding on the details in unexpected ways or setting up insurances in case things turn sour…. Without him to check my ideas, I feel anxious about whether or not this truly is okay.

“Grodel, how about it?”

“Eh? Ah, well, isn’t it fine?”

“……”

There’s no helping the fact that he’s not here. I breathe a second sigh.

I suddenly look up to see children-like figures sitting on tree branches, faintly shining. They’re not wearing any clothes, and their unshapen heads and bodies look as though they’re made of clay.

“Those are creepy… What are they?”

“Were they called rarans? We saw them on the way here.”

“What are they?”

“Eh? Well, they shouldn’t be a threat. Though it seems there’s quite a lot of them in this forest.”

Azalea would surely have known more… There’s no helping it. It’s good that they’re not a threat, but just looking at them is unpleasant.

“Oi, someone drive them away. They’re disgusting.”

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“Hah!”

But as a soldier draws his sword and approaches one, it disappears as it moves away. Even when shot with magic, they disappear. And for some reason, their number appears to increase each time. There were ten at most at the start, but now there are close to fifty scattered on nearby branches, as though monitoring us.

“What are you doing!? Hurry up and drive them away!”

“My apologies, Tolman-sama! I’ll make sure it’s done right away!”

“Honestly…”

After a few minutes, a raran is finally hit by an arrow. Its body snaps back as it’s hit, scattering a green liquid. The other rarans disappear one after the other. Just as I think I will finally be rid of them, more appear to fill in the spaces. Nearly a hundred reproachful eyes look down on us from nearby branches.

“Kill them! Shoot them with arrows! With so many gathered, you should hit even with your eyes closed!”

As before, most of the arrows are avoided, but gradually more and more of them hit their mark. But in the time ten rarans are killed, their number increases to around five hundred.

“Wh-what!? What are they!?”

“I-it’s okay. They should be harmless…”

“They’re clearly hostile!”

“…Let’s change location. I feel a bit unwell looking at them, too.”

We move, but… As before, the rarans continue to increase in number, spreading out into the surrounding area. I would never have thought this forest could hold so many. It’s already difficult to estimate their number. Wherever we go, there are more rarans packed on tree branches a short distance away. We have already killed close to a hundred, but it doesn’t have the slightest effect on them.

“G-great, that hit three of them. But it doesn’t matter how many we kill…”

A soldier shooting arrows mumbles a complaint. The next moment, about a hundred rarans pop up in a circle around him.

“Eh…? Eh…?”

They jump towards him in quick succession. He screams, and the surrounding soldiers also cry out in horror. Staffs and bows point towards the scream.

“D-don’t shoot! Stop!”

The surrounding soldiers unleash a volley of magic and arrows. A portion of the rarans burst open, but the majority disappear as they escape. The soldier in the middle dies as he is riddled with arrows, but his body also appears slightly withered and shrunken.

Rarans appear surrounding another soldier. Shouting, he tries to escape, but trips over in the blink of an eye as they pile onto him. A second volley kills many, but the soldier in the middle also becomes a corpse.

I feel dread as I imagine them surrounding me.

“Wh-what is this, Grodel!? Weren’t they meant to be harmless!?”

“I-I don’t understand, why are they…”

“B-burn the forest! Start quickly! If there’s a fire, they shouldn’t be able to get close!”

“Y-yes!” “Understood!”

The mages start sending repeated blasts of fire towards the trees, even though their units had yet to finish being reorganised. In a hurry, everyone starts to secure the escape route and the water mages. I decide to leave the area, too.

As I flee, I feel that they continue to increase in the surrounding area. I feel a sense of foreboding as they accumulate, and the colour fades from the thick foliage of the surrounding trees. Before long, brown leaves fall to the ground. It doesn’t end with that, as the withered trees topple over and block our path. The horses panic and stop.

“Don’t stop! Jump over… Huh?”

A huge number of rarans cling to my horse’s leg.

“Uooooh!”

I hurriedly jump off, distancing myself as I draw my sword. Rarans rain down from the surrounding branches. Flowers and vegetation wither where they walk, their shine growing ever brighter. It’s such a repulsive sight that it’s hard to imagine they could ever be evaluated as harmless forest children.

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