CH 120

Chapter 120 – Reunion With Calamity

“Yoshua, I think the enemy has made a move.”

I was napping in the driver’s seat of the bear-faced bus when Myrril rushed in and woke me up.

“An attack?”

“No, they saw a magical light moving along the eastern road. Owe has gone up to monitor the sky.”

“Roger that. Myrril, you take the gun position on the roof.”

I immediately get out of the car, make sure there are no unusual circumstances, and give instructions to the standing patrols waiting around the perimeter.

“All aboard, move out!”

I have all but the patrol men resting in the car, so I ask Lumiere-san and Lionora-san to take roll calls and check only to see if there are any vacancies among the refugees.

Since this was an emergency situation, I stowed away the large military tents. Everything will be put away, even the things placed inside, except for the living creatures, so I will tidy things up later.

“Myrril, do you know the location and composition of the enemy forces?”

“Owe just sent me a message. There are twenty cavalrymen and four wagons. They appear to be Imperial troops, but they are moving strangely. They are moving away to the north using the eastern road.”

Northward by the eastern route? Are they going back to the empire? At this hour?

“Beware of the magical beast herd running amok. I think I better stow the bear-faced bus and move the refugees to the Ural.”

“No, well, I hear the “Doraiba” will be arriving from Casemaian soon.” [T/n: Driver.]

Are you saying that they have been traveling through the night? I don’t think it’s a good idea to pull out our forces over here right now…

“Yoshua!”

“Just in time!”

A familiar voice came with a light exhaust sound, and a Honda XR came running in.

Riding two abreast with weapons on their backs are the muscle-brain girls, Yadar and Minya.

“What’s up? Has something happened to Casemaian?”

“No, the old men are all worked up and ready to go over here, so it doesn’t matter what comes. I heard you were being chased by the Imperial Army, so I thought you might need a driver.”

“Yes, I thought you might need a gunner to escort you.”

When it comes to the need for a driver, yes, we do need a driver.

At the training session, which was mainly for the beastman, Yadar was able to operate a manual transmission.

“I was praised for how quickly I got the feel for it. Maybe it’s because I was used to working with “Kuracchi” in “Ekusaru.”

Now that they were here, there was nothing I could do about it. It’s a very reassuring reinforcement. I entrusted Yadar with driving the bear-face bus. With Minya in the gun position on the roof, I asked her to use the spare RPK.

Lumiere-san will be attached to the passenger seat of the truck as the escort shooter.

While I am in the driver’s seat preparing to depart, I receive a message from Owe-san, who has been sent up to monitor the skies.

“Your Majesty the Demon King, Your Majesty the Queen.”

“Owe, what’s going on?”

“The cavalry and wagons are moving further north on the eastern road and are now 120 miles (about 200km) of your position in the forest, but just before that, in the forest about four miles northeast of Your Majesty’s position, I can see a magical light in the midst of a battle.

“Fighting? Which force is the one that is clashing?”

“There are a large number of mages, so it seems to be the Imperial Army. The exact number of soldiers is unknown due to the trees hiding them, but from the scale of deployment, I estimate about five hundred. As far as I could see from the sky above, the target of the battle was not likely to be humans. Perhaps a herd of magical beasts.”

“A herd? A herd of magical beasts gone berserk? Are they releasing the monsters without ensuring the safety of their own troops? What a bunch of idiots…”

“We will return to Casemaian by the western road. Owe-san, please return this way as well.”

“Roger… no, please wait. Something is coming from the southwest, from the Dead Forest!”

“Southwest? Is that an enemy too? Don’t tell me that even the tribal unions have joined forces in earnest…”

“It doesn’t look human. The treetops are shaking violently, so it is quite huge…”

In the still-darkness of the night, an explosion-like cloud of smoke rises in the distance behind us. What looked like the wreckage of a tree could be seen twirling and flying in the air.

“It’s an earth dragon. It’s almost 80 feet long.”

“I wonder if I can shake it off.”

“There is distance and no hostile intent toward us. As long as we don’t provoke it, we should have no problem.”

For a moment, Myrril was on alert, as if she had lost interest in the vehicle, but then she looked backward and tilted her head.

“Oh… wait a minute, I’ve seen that one’s messy, distorted magic waveforms before.”

From the communicator came Owe-san’s voice, slightly strained.

“Yes. I have a hunch that this is the individual who was lured by Your Majesty the Queen in Yerkel before.”

“Oh, is this another fate?”

No, of course not. I don’t need such a connection.

I think the earth dragon is a character that should rather appear as the demon king’s familiar or something. But I don’t remember calling it…

“But the position of the army on the eastern road is strange. Why did they put the soldiers in that place? If they failed to control the outburst of the magical beasts, wouldn’t it be natural for them to retreat instead of staying?”

“…..!”

I had a bad feeling.

“Owe-san, please check the other side of the forward-deployed troops. What are the wagons carrying heading north?”

“A cloth-covered cage, a convoy wagon. And inside it, a magical beast… I will descend a bit to check it out.”

“Oh, shit!”

“Yoshua, what’s going on?”

“They’re trying to do the same thing we did. Maybe there’s some bait in the back of the wagon to lure the earth dragon.”

“Your Majesty is right. In the cage, I see bloody monsters. Goblins, giant ogres, and orcs.”

The purpose of the troops who stayed behind was not to check on the monsters but to stall the “Demon King” on his way back. No, it is to block the return of the “Demon King,” who is on his way back from the rescue mission.

The Imperial Army is planning to draw the earth dragon to annihilate the Casemaian in the meantime.

“Owe-san, I’d like to ask your opinion.”

I talk on the communicator to the winged lady on airborne alert, Owe-san of Belisho.

“At your service.”

“The wagon is loaded with dying orcs. The Imperial Army is trying to use it to incite the earth dragon against the Casemaian. What is the fastest and best way to stop them?”

“Destroy all four carriages, I guess. If it’s just the occupants and the magical beast, I can take care of it with my M4.”

“There’s still one RPG left in the Ural military truck.”

Owe-san’s suggestion is followed up by Luvia-san. If we can get both of them to fly, we can hold the wagons before they reach Casemaian.

“I understand what you are trying to do, but even if we kill the orcs now, the “smell of fear” will still be there. Shouldn’t we slaughter the earth dragon first?”

“If we stop the wagons from going to Casemaian, there will be no direct damage to us. The smell that calls for earth dragon and other large magical beasts is now heading to Casemaian while being dispersed. For example, I could go ahead and store it.”

“It’s pointless. The earth dragon has already caught on to the scent. If it loses sight of its target on the way, it is only a matter of time before it comes to the nearest populated area, Casemaian.”

What are we going to do? I know I have to kill them all, but I can’t decide in which order. I don’t have enough time. I don’t have enough cards in my hand. I can’t think straight.

“Hey, hey, what’s the matter? There’s nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario, the old man and the others can kill at least an earth dragon. Let’s just do what we can and what we have to do here.”

At Yadar’s openly candid suggestion, Myrril and I turned to each other and relaxed our shoulders.

“…The top priority for us is to get the refugees back to our homes safely.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I was out of control.”

That’s what happens when you get tired. I was trying to do everything myself. There was no way I could do it.

“Yadar, that’s rare for you to say such a good thing.”

“…Rare for me, you say?”

“He was right. Yadar’s role is usually to run and lose control.”

“Even you, Minya?”

“Yes, we lost our cool enough for Yadar to point it out to us.”

“You guys, I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re being rude!”

“No, no, I appreciate it. Thanks, Yadar!”

“Hey, don’t pat me on the head!”

“Your Majesty the Demon King. About 500 separate units of the Imperial Army are deployed on the western road. They are attempting to block our path.”

“As expected. They let the luring force rush into Casemaian, and they themselves are here to stop us in our tracks.”

“They’re not going to stall the Demon King for a mere five hundred, are they?”

Yeah, I thought so too. They’re completely numb to it. We only have seven men on our side, including the driver.

“Yadar and Minya will protect the refugees in the bear-face bus. Luvia-san, please proceed behind the bus. Owe-san, please continue to monitor the skies above.”

“”Roger that.””

“Alright.”

“Hey, what about Yoshua and the others?”

“Of course, I will lead them into the enemy position. This may happen. I’ve prepared something for them.”

I had not thought about the situation up to this point, but I hid that fact and launched the Tiran armored personnel carriers.

No matter if it is an earth dragon or a human, I will turn them all into minced meat no matter what kind of equipment they are equipped with. Whether it’s to stall them or not, if it can be done, then do it!

“Is that a … “Sensha”?

“Yeah, right, the T-55 meth, right?”

Yeah, that’s close. That’s about right, though.

Anyway, you, the muscle-brained tiger girl there, will you please stop calling my trump card as if it were a beetle?