SML Ch 6

Chapter 6

On top of the castle wall, brightly lit by torches, numerous people were engaged in a battle against the wyverns. While it was described as “fighting,” to speak truthfully, it was more accurate to say they were merely enduring the assault, trying not to be overwhelmed.

The wyverns attacked people with their sharp claws and fangs. The town watch knights, at least, were armed with proper swords and could somewhat handle the wyverns, but most of the villagers were wielding picks or rakes, which were of little use. No matter how hard they swung those farming tools, there was no way they could pierce the wyverns’ tough hide.

Given the circumstances, their strategy was inevitably chaotic. While the villagers tried to fend off the wyverns by swinging their farming tools, the knights struggled to shoot anti-monster crossbows to wound the beasts.

But it was absurd to think that mere farm tools would pose any threat to a wyvern. As a result, the attacks increasingly focused on the rear, where the crossbowmen were positioned, disrupting their efforts time and again. Anyone could see that the wyverns had the upper hand.

‘Why are they fighting so haphazardly?! Then again, I suppose expecting a proper formation from a countryside village like this is wishful thinking…!’

Reynald ground his teeth in frustration. The situation was far more chaotic than he had expected.

Fine, being ambushed without time to form a proper line—he could accept that much. But for only thirty or so people to be spread out and fighting in such scattered positions was far too dangerous.

Even if they all fought together, a moment’s lapse in focus could result in someone being snatched up and dragged into the sky by a wyvern. For such a small group to line up thinly along the ramparts was simply too inefficient.

To make matters worse, the castle wall had specific defensive facilities designed to protect crossbowmen during attacks by flying monsters. So why were the young men with crossbows mixed in with the frontliners wielding farm tools? If they had at least entered those facilities, they would be far less hindered.

It was absurd, especially considering that the basic nighttime monster defense strategy was for the front line to form a tight formation with shields to hold off attacks while waving torches to distract, and for the crossbowmen to strike safely from behind.

Whether he knew how Reynald felt or not, Volant—who had been fighting nearby—spotted him and shouted in surprise.

“M-My lord! What are you doing up here…? There are too many wyverns! It’s dangerous—please go back inside!”

“Go inside? Why would I? Of course I should fight too! Where are the anti-monster shields? Are they fighting with those things because they don’t have proper shields?!”

“W-We do have a few of those shields, but… they’re so heavy, I don’t think anyone can carry them alone!”

“They’re not meant to be carried alone! They’re designed to be held by two or more people using handles on both sides! You can’t last long with farming tools—go get the shields!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“And why are you all firing crossbows from there? At least go into those defensive structures and shoot from there! At this rate, you won’t hit anything properly, and you might even hit your own men if a shot goes wide!”

“You want us to go inside and shoot? …Oh, uh, were those for that? We thought they were storage areas!”

So this is what happens when a domain is left unattended by its lord for over twenty years and neglected by the state. No matter how sturdy a fortress may be, it’s useless if there’s no one who knows how to make use of it. Reynald wanted to clutch the back of his neck in disbelief, but there was no time to express such frustration now.

He immediately swung his sword at the wyverns to create an opening for the villagers to retreat. His finely honed longsword sliced through the wyverns’ necks without a moment’s hesitation, and the creatures let out shrill screeches at the sudden arrival of reinforcements.

Taking advantage of the confusion, several villagers dashed down the castle wall, and the young men with crossbows staggered back.

It would have been ideal if everyone could retreat in this moment, but unfortunately, that seemed unlikely. A few wyverns were now charging at Reynald with unnatural ferocity.

“W-Why are they suddenly like this?! My lord, did you do something to them?”

“You saw it yourself—how I fought them earlier in the day!”

Reynald had a good idea why these wyverns were targeting him. Most of them had one eye torn out—clearly the same ones he had shot earlier that day.

Thanks to the monsters’ natural regeneration abilities, the wounds had mostly healed, and no blood flowed, but the one-eyed wyverns were now unbalanced, their movements unstable. Because of that, Reynald found it easier to strike them down.

‘At least there’s that. If enough of them are injured, we might just be able to turn this around!’

With that thought, Reynald felt a small sense of relief. While he and the town watch knights held the line, the villagers returned, struggling to carry the anti-monster shields. These were sturdy shields made from thick wood reinforced with leather and edged with metal.

Why they hadn’t used them before and instead swung those shabby tools, Reynald couldn’t fathom—but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. What mattered was that they could finally make proper use of defensive gear.

However, the state of the defensive crossbow stations was deplorable. While the structures were fine for protection, the real issue was that they were packed full of random supplies.

Apparently, the residents of the castle had been using them as extra storage. Reynald managed to find two of the structures that still had space for people to enter and immediately shouted:

“Volant, take that station over there! I’ll go into this one and fire the crossbow! The rest of you focus on defense! Ditch the farm tools—use torches instead!”

After handing the shields to the villagers, Reynald and Volant entered the defensive structures and began firing crossbows. Once a formation began to take shape, the situation began to stabilize.

The shields and torches wielded by the villagers were much more helpful than the rickety farming tools that looked ready to break at any moment. Some villagers even tried to shove their torches into the wyverns’ eyes. Having already been injured in the eyes during the day, the wyverns recoiled and hastily took to the sky.

While chaos unfolded in the well-lit areas, Reynald, positioned in the relative darkness, began targeting the uninjured wyverns with his crossbow. With such a powerful weapon, even a single hit to the head could bring down a beast—injured or not. The weapon didn’t have much range, but with the monsters so densely packed, it wasn’t an issue.

While Reynald focused on landing headshots, Volant fired more cautiously, aiming for the wyverns’ wings. Reynald found this strategy acceptable and didn’t bother nagging him to aim for the head.

If someone wasn’t confident in landing precise shots, going for the wings was the better option. Crossbows took a long time to reload, so every missed shot was a costly delay.

Most of the wyverns had their attention fixed on the villagers who clustered behind the shields and swung torches. They were so distracted that they were taken down by crossbow bolts flying in from behind. Some wyverns did notice the crossbowmen and tried to attack them, but the defensive structures had been designed to prevent wyvern claws from reaching inside, so their efforts were repeatedly thwarted.

“Screeeech!”

Fortunately, they didn’t need to kill every wyvern. Once about a third of the creatures that had filled the sky were slain, the remaining ones grew confused, and in the end, flapped their wings noisily and fled. They had enough intelligence to recognize that continuing the fight would only tire them out further.

As the wyverns retreated, the people embraced one another and cried out in joy. Volant emerged from the defensive structure, his expression brightening when he saw Reynald was safe, and then ran toward the others.

‘Looks like no one’s seriously hurt.’

Reynald let out a shallow breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. Despite being outnumbered, they had managed to drive off the wyverns with minimal casualties. This was thanks in part to Reynald’s precise marksmanship, but also because the townspeople and young guards had fought bravely atop the walls.

‘They may not have been trained properly, but not a single one panicked or ran. I suppose this sort of thing isn’t new to them…’

What a remarkable territory in so many ways. Reynald looked up at the sky where the wyverns had vanished, a wry smile on his face. The noisy first night had finally passed, and the light of dawn was beginning to rise beyond the horizon.