Chapter 12
Seeing the fleeing monkey ogres, I nodded.
Victory was certain now. But it wasn't over. The real battle was only beginning. We needed to annihilate them all here and now.
If they scattered and escaped into the mountains, exterminating them would take time.
If we had archers, we could easily shoot them in the back, but we had none, and there was nothing to be done about it.
Without even having time to catch my breath, I turned my horse around.
"Ray, Al, once more."
I called out again to Al, who happened to be nearby, and Ray, who was a little farther away.
With the two of them following me, I pursued the fleeing monkey ogres.
This time, my job was to act as a sheepdog. As the monkey ogres fled in every direction, I ran in a wide arc, guiding those trying to escape outward back toward the center. There was no need to swing my sword. I merely had to gallop past and intimidate them to keep them from escaping, and perhaps thanks to 'Grace,' it worked exceptionally well.
The soldiers impaled the monkey ogres we had herded into the center.
"Al, Ray, are you all right?"
I hadn't had time to look behind me, so when I checked, I found Ray right beside me, his face pale. He was breathing heavily and looked as though he had desperately struggled to keep up.
Looking farther behind me, I saw Al. He had no spear in his hands; instead, he had drawn his sword and was leaning out from horseback to slash at the monkey ogres.
He must have discarded his broken spear and decided to fight with a sword. The sight of him swinging his bloodied blade was quite gallant.
Looking around, I saw that we had defeated almost all the monkey ogres, but one we had failed to finish off was fleeing.
"Ray, come here!"
Now that it had come to this, I would not let even one escape.
I spurred my horse after the fleeing monkey ogre.
I lacked the strength to kill monsters myself, but I did not need it in this situation. I drove my horse straight ahead and trampled the fleeing monkey ogre beneath its hooves.
I heard a scream below me and felt the impact as my horse crushed it beneath its hooves. A twinge of guilt crossed my mind, but I immediately shook it off. This was a battle. It was no time to be softhearted.
I stopped my horse and turned around to find a monkey ogre crouched on the ground.
It was not dead, however. Its leg had been crushed, and its right thigh was deeply caved in, but it was still alive.
"My lady."
Ray had caught up with me and was looking down at the writhing monkey ogre, his face pale.
"Ray, finish it."
"Huh?"
Ray looked at me in surprise, but I met his gaze head-on.
Ray had not killed a single monster yet. His spear was still pristine, and he had not even been splashed with blood.
I had no intention of calling him a coward, but I couldn't bring along a soldier who had never killed an enemy—not like this.
The fighting would only grow more intense from here on. I needed him to lose his virginity quickly. Such opportunities rarely came along, so I wanted to make the most of this one.
"Hurry up. Isn't that a soldier's duty?"
"Y-Yes."
Ordered to do so, Ray raised his spear, obeying without thinking. The monkey ogre struggled desperately and cried out.
Intimidated by the desperate look on the monkey ogre's face, Ray could not thrust with his spear.
"Hurry!"
When I shouted, Ray reflexively thrust with his spear. But he missed, driving it into the ground.
"Aim properly."
Reprimanded, Ray thrust his spear repeatedly. After several attempts, he finally struck the monkey ogre, but he had pierced its shoulder, which was nowhere near a fatal wound.
"Kill it with one blow. Your opponent will fight back with everything it has."
Ray continued thrusting his spear, but he could not strike a vital spot, and he was forced to stab it over and over.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
Ray kept thrusting his spear into it. The monkey ogre was already dead, but Ray, too excited to notice, continued stabbing.
At last, when the monkey ogre no longer resembled what it had been, Ray realized it was dead and raised his head.
"I did it."
His blood-spattered face, with its dilated pupils and triumphant grin, looked familiar.
The prince had worn the same expression when he defeated a monster for the first time after we set out on our journey. Back then, I had embraced him and wanted to support him. But that was in the past now.
"Well done. Let's return to the main force."
When I praised him briefly, Ray answered in a remarkably loud voice.
His loud reply amused me, and I laughed as we returned to the main force. The extermination of the monkey ogres was already complete, and here and there I saw new recruits repeatedly putting down monkey ogres, just as Ray had moments before.
I took a quick look around, but saw no one seriously wounded.
The soldiers were drunk on the excitement of defeating the enemy and their victory, but it was not over yet.
"Ray, gather the wounded and tend to them. Al, take five uninjured men and go around finishing off the monkey ogres. They may be pretending to be dead, so be careful."
I went around issuing orders to Ray and Al.
"Yes, yes. You really work us hard."
Al, covered in blood, complained aloud but obeyed with a grin. He was probably still excited from defeating the monsters.
"Anyone else with their hands free, put out the fires and rescue the wounded villagers."
After giving quick instructions, I headed toward the settlement myself.
In the settlement, villagers were peering out through gaps in the crude fence.
"Everyone in the village, I'm with the Kashu garrison. We've come to rescue you."
After briefly introducing myself and explaining that we had come to subjugate the monsters in the area, I heard cries of joy and relief from the villagers listening inside the settlement. They had probably been worried that we were soldiers from an enemy country.
The gate in the fence around the village opened, and an old man emerged. He was probably the village headman or something of the sort.
"Thank you for coming to our aid. On behalf of the village, I offer you our thanks. If you hadn't come, we would truly have been in danger."
"No, we only did what was our duty."
Protecting the safety of the people in one's domain was a lord's duty.
Once their safety had been confirmed, the villagers came out of the village and set about rescuing the wounded and putting out the fires that had caught in the fields.
Because we had been delayed in coming to their aid, about three villagers had been killed, and there were also several seriously wounded.
I regretted that we had not arrived a little sooner, but there was nothing to be done except accept that it had happened.
"It's not much of a thank-you, but I would like to hold a small feast. We don't have much, but we can prepare some meat and liquor."
Needless to say, the soldiers cheered at the headman's offer.
The feast the headman prepared was modest in scale, but it grew lively, and the soldiers laughed together, saying they had never had so much fun.
Even though the liquor was weak, the soldiers reveled in the fine drink of victory, raising cheers here and there.
They were getting a little carried away, but this was their first battle and a great victory. It would be churlish to dampen their spirits. Rather, I wanted to use this as momentum for the next battle.
The soldiers' joy came from more than just the liquor. Several of them kept gazing at the silver coins clutched in their hands.
Those were the silver coins I had given them as a reward for this battle. A single one was enough to buy a sheep. It was a little generous as a reward for defeating monkey ogres, but this was their first battle, and I needed to be generous to encourage them to do even better next time.
Everyone was thrilled by the first substantial sum of money they had ever received. They were probably excited by the thought that becoming rich was not just a dream.
Al was the loudest person at the feast. He was biting into a huge piece of meat with a drinking cup in one hand.
Since he had distinguished himself above everyone else in this battle, I had given Al two silver coins. Thrilled to have his merit recognized and to hold a large sum of money for the first time, Al was celebrating exuberantly. He had immediately spent the money, buying a sheep from a villager and roasting it whole before devouring it with gusto.
Of course, he could not eat it all by himself, so he shared it with everyone.
I wanted to tell him to spend it more carefully, but his tendency to squander money was convenient. When the soldiers saw him spend his reward lavishly, they would want to be like him next time, which would motivate them. And since spending money naturally made it disappear, they would have to earn more to indulge again, seeking out battlefields and fighting bravely in hopes of winning more merit. It was all to the good.
"Everyone, you fought well today."
As the feast drew to a close, I decided to address them one last time.
"Tomorrow, we will leave this village and head for the next one. Apparently, monsters have been appearing there as well."
Even hearing about a new enemy and battlefield did not frighten the soldiers. Some even whistled with delight. They saw it as a chance to distinguish themselves and earn money.
"At this rate, let's exterminate every monster in the domain. We can do it."
When I egged the soldiers on, a cheer rose from them all at once. It was dangerous to let them get too carried away, but I needed them to keep fighting hard.