CH 117

Chapter 117 – A Flock of Hound

I carried Myrril in my arms and teleported out of the fort.

When we returned to where the truck was parked, the winged girls were already waiting for us, ready to go.

“Is everyone on board already?”

“Yes. We confirmed that a signal of some kind of magic tool was launched from the place where Your Majesty was headed, so we’ve already made preparations to leave the area.”

“Thank you, Luvia-san. A group of magical beasts is coming this way. I’ll be driving the truck from here too. Owe-san, take your M4 equipment and go to the passenger seat of truck No. 1.”

“Understood.”

The winged tribe ladies are already carrying assault rifles and spare magazines. The two of them will be in the rear of the first truck, and Myrril and I will be in the second truck, the big trailer, to take care of the debris.

“Lionora-san and Lumier-san will also move to the box in the back, just in case. Once we get through the pack of monsters, I may ask you to be our communicator again.”

The two nodded in agreement, but Lumier-san’s fine features turned slightly pale.

“Is the swarm… a runaway of a herd of magical beasts?”

“Not sure. It looks like it was artificial, but now we can’t afford to be involved in the source of the problem. We’re going to kick them out and head to Casemaian.”

“I understand.”

Myrril is settled in the passenger seat of the second truck, with the UZI a step ahead of the others. The truck’s height probably makes it easier for her to be alert to her surroundings.

“Luvia-san, Owe-san. We’ll go ahead of you in the second truck. Use your guns to take down only the big ones and break through, and don’t hesitate to run over anything that stands in your way. Do not stop until we stop. If you get stuck, please let us know with the horn.”

“Yes, sir. Have a safe drive.”

“Thank you. You too.”

I go around to the rear of the second truck, open the container door, and tell the refugees inside that it might be a little bumpy.”

“I-is everything alright?”

“No, don’t worry about it. The demon king’s army is invincible.”

I smiled and waved at the little beastman and closed the door.

“Yoshua, they are coming!”

“Let’s go!”

I climbed into the driver’s seat of the Ural, which was about the size of the top of a jungle gym, and started the engine.

It’s still as big as ever. The steering wheel looks like a simple hula hoop. The hood, as big as a double bed, spread out in front of me. The bodies of the two cars are basically the same model, although the interior of the civilian version is slightly more colorful, with shiny objects and less claustrophobic.

The previous owner may have changed the mascot hanging from the rearview mirror.

Oh well. I let Myrril hold the communicator and shift into gear by operating the shift lever, which is about the size of a mage’s wand.

“Ignore the magical beasts of human size or smaller. Run them down or hit them. Anything but orcs, we can let them go.”

“Understood.”

“Mm, run them over to your heart’s content!”

I connect the clutch and start the car, honking the horn and threateningly ramming into the horde of goblins approaching in front of me, running them down and turning them into filthy minced meat, just as I said.

Perhaps because the mass of the vehicle is too great, not much shock is felt in the driver’s seat. The engine’s output itself may be sufficient, but the response is terribly sluggish because of the huge container it is pulling. It seems to delay the driver’s operation by more than one tempo. It must have been a difficult task for Owe-san, who is a novice driver.

The UZI’s started to fire, covering fire from the passenger window.

With each shot, an orc or an ogre is pierced through the eyeball and falls down. It seems that the orcs are being shot with clipped bullets, but I can’t see them while I’m driving. I just looked forward and concentrated on driving the car.

“There is nothing we can do on the left side.”

“If we can get through, that’s all that matters. We don’t need to wipe them out.”

“That’s true.”

Most of the packs that filled the road were a new type of beast that I didn’t even know the names of.

The variety is great, from dog-like wolves to humanoid ones whose heads resemble cows to giant beetles or cockroaches.

The most numerous are goblins and a rabbit the size of a medium-sized dog with a horn like a unicorn.

“Wow, what’s that?”

“A horned rabbit. They are dangerous in their own way, but their meat is quite tasty.”

They came charging boldly at us in packs, bouncing off the bumpers and crushing them under the car body. Naturally, I had no appetite for this.

“Keep going straight. Yoshua, roll down your window and bend your head a little bit. There’s a one-eyed giant coming from the left.”

When the window opened, the UZI fired two short bursts, and a huge body of about 2.5 meters came tumbling down the incline from the slightly elevated forest. A huge, over 6-foot tall monster with a huge spear! With a massive spear more than its height in its hand, the naked giant fell to the ground on its back, not even twitching.

“Good work, Myril. The container won’t be safe if it gets hit by a projectile like that.”

“What, it’s not as strong as it looks. At best, it’s just like a bear-type beastman.”

“That’s enough of a threat. We’ll have to rely on your firepower, Myrril.”

“Leave it to me.”

It seems that Owe-san, who is in charge of covering fire in the following first truck, is taking care of the omitted magical beasts and newly emerged herds.

The M4’s light firing sounded, and in the rearview mirror and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the fallen magical beasts.

“Keep it up. If we keep pulling the herd apart at this rate, they won’t be able to catch up with us.”

“Not really. Myrril.”

As soon as we passed the blind corner, we saw a group of soldiers aiming at us from a high embankment. The distance was about 200 meters. The black-colored cloak suggests that they are the imperial army, but the difference in elevation makes it difficult to tell with my eyesight.

“Yoshua, you should keep on driving as it is. They are my targets.”

Was it attack magic or a volley from a longbow? Whatever it was, they thought they had the upper hand. The soldiers made no sign of hiding behind a shield.

“If they can’t learn from their own defeats… it’s only a matter of time before they follow in the footsteps of the kingdom.”

After replacing the magazine, Myrril scatters bullets in a fully automatic burst. With a slight time lag, the soldiers on the high ground began to fall to the ground.

Some survived, either missing the vital spot slightly or escaping the difficulty, but were killed by 5.56mm rounds fired from M4s as they tried to flee.

Myrril, who had been looking out the window and waving to the first car following us, looked back at me.

“Uh, looks like Owe is asking permission for an air watch.”

“It’s okay. It looks like we’re out of the thick of the enemy.”

Myrril slung the UZI over her shoulder and spoke into the communicator.

“I’ll leave it to you. But go with caution.”

“Yes, sir.”

Owe-san dexterously jumped up from the seat of a running truck and ran alongside us for a few moments before gaining altitude rapidly.

As someone who cannot fly, I was somewhat envious.

“Ten miles in front of us, a large force is fighting against the magical beasts. The equipment is a mixed unit of the southern noble territory army. They are mainly heavily armed infantry, and their number is about a thousand.”

“Do you know the battle situation?”

“There are no large magical beasts, so they seem to be coping without danger. I think they have commanders who are used to warfare.”

Perhaps it is Duke Lemore himself, who seems to be a very old and powerful man. Either way, I wish them the best of luck.

“We’ll continue on our way, but if you think they’re in danger, please cover them from out of range. If it’s not necessary, just stay on guard.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a flap of her wings, Owe-san flew away and then returned in a few minutes.

“The battle was almost over. Just in case, I shot and killed a large rock bear that was mimicking the giant ogre that was pretending to be dead. I guess I’ll continue to be on airborne watch at this point.”

“Thank you, and be well.”

Well, we got interrupted early on, but it’s a 700-km journey from here all the way to Casemaian.