Arc 25: The Wall (4)

The fine horse Saibel had ridden here, a Cassian, was tethered in the stable beside our lodgings. Saibel and Aten had stayed in the clearing to train.

Whatever the reason, it was a good thing I had come alone.

SNORT

The Cassian made a soft noise at the sight of me. It seemed to be studying me, which was a little unnerving.

According to the game’s lore, Cassians were among the finest horses in the central region. Few horses in the entire world could match them.

Their greatest distinction was their exceptional intelligence. Where other horses boasted maneuverability, acceleration, or top speed, Cassians boasted their keen minds. Of course, they were perfectly capable in those other areas, too.

“Hello.”

I raised a hand in greeting.

Fine horses were particular about their riders, and the intelligent Cassians had far stricter standards.

They had allowed Aster, the protagonist of this game, and Saibel, beloved by fate, onto their backs. But would this one accept me?

‘I heard it’s important to make eye contact and approach a horse before reaching out.’

Reaching out to touch it right away would put it on guard. It would also get frightened if you disappeared from its field of vision. So first, I needed to meet its eyes and walk up slowly—

SNORT

The Cassian turned its gaze away.

“...”

It was an unmistakable snub. A clear message: I’ve seen enough. Get out of my sight.

Hmm. Coming alone really had been the right choice. If Saibel had seen this, she would have teased me for days. Then again, Aten’s pitying gaze might have hurt even more. Anyway.

“Hmm, but I really do need you.”

My plan was only feasible because I had access to a Cassian. If Saibel hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t even have thought of it.

I used Analysis on the Cassian.

[Cassian]

- A fine breed of horse from the central region. Its largest population is found in Haold.

- Capable of performing every maneuver required in modern horsemanship.

- If its rider loses consciousness, it exercises its own judgment to ensure the rider’s safety.

As expected, it was all information I already knew.

The only new detail was that Haold had the largest population. Haold was where I had attended the nobles’ council over the fake Mistilteinn.

Haold. Haold, huh...?

I studied the Cassian. It wore basic tack and a saddle, but nothing else.

Whoever had lent it to Saibel surely hadn’t expected her to bring it all the way to Teibeon.

“Are you cold, by any chance?”

The instant I spoke, the Cassian whipped its head back toward me. That was an emphatic yes.

A horse understood what I was saying. The realization felt rather strange, but that could wait.

I undid the tie around my neck.

Penelope’s Cloth kept its wearer warm, so simply draping it over the horse should make it fairly comfortable.

SNORT, SNORT

When I laid the cloth over its back, the horse rubbed its head against me. It certainly seemed to work.

“Well, this isn’t what I brought it for.”

But one night should be fine.

I patted the Cassian’s neck and turned to leave.

It was a clever horse. It wouldn’t lose the cloth.

... More importantly.

“Teibeon is really cold.”

I hunched my shoulders against a chill I had never felt here before, then continued on my way.

* * *

The bell announcing another monster attack rang out noisily.

Only a single day had passed since the last battle.

As before, I swept away the monsters with the bow Chryselakatos and the arrow Iocheira.

The look in the knights’ eyes changed as they watched. The first time I had used Fireworks, they had simply looked dumbstruck. Now they looked at me as though I were a monster.

‘... This is bad.’

I might have looked as though I was handling the monsters with ease, but I had a problem.

Weaving wasn’t leveling up.

Ever since the number of simultaneous creations had increased to ten, it hadn’t leveled up at all.

I had assumed I simply needed more time and practice, but with matters having reached this point, that assumption was meaningless.

‘Leveling up isn’t what matters. What matters is Restoration.’

I was leveling up to unlock Weaving’s Restoration function.

It would let me rebuild this decrepit wall right now, and it would prove useful in all sorts of ways in the future.

“Frondier.”

Sanders approached me.

“However frequent these attacks may be, wouldn’t you say this one came far too soon?”

“... Yes, sir.”

As expected, Sanders had noticed.

All the knights probably had. Another attack after an interval of just one day was anything but normal.

“They may have figured it out.”

“Figured it out...? You don’t mean...”

Sanders’s face went pale.

I felt much the same.

“They may have realized that the wall is in a precarious state, and that it’s why I used Fireworks.”

Of course, the enemy commander couldn’t have discovered the true nature of Fireworks.

But the battle had abruptly changed. A weapon was preventing the monsters from even approaching. With such a sudden shift in the situation, the enemy could infer that something had happened on our side.

“... Then their commander will...”

“Probably launch an all-out offensive.”

Fireworks had its limits. There was a limit to how many times the arrow could split, and although it targeted vital points, sufficiently tough monsters could survive it. Some might even be able to react and knock the arrows aside.

Until now, the enemy had only sent foot soldiers to prevent repairs to the wall. The fact that a single use of Fireworks swept them all away proved that.

But if the monsters attacked in full force, it would be a different story.

For a start, we would be outnumbered, and some enemies would be impervious to the arrows. Fireworks would only make a small dent in their numbers.

And once they reached the wall, it would soon collapse. The moment they had multiple points of entry, it would be over.

‘These may be divine weapons, but I’m no god.’

For truly powerful people, aura was what determined their real strength. Aura also allowed them to draw out a weapon’s true power.

I was still nothing more than a pig wearing an absurdly expensive pearl necklace. No, not a pig—the Human Sloth.

“Then how are things coming along with the wall? What about that girl, Saibel?”

“Saibel will be ready in time. Even an all-out offensive won’t begin immediately. The plan to cover the wall with ice will work.”

Sanders looked relieved at my explanation.

Seeing that, I swallowed the rest of what I had intended to say.

A wall reinforced with ice was naturally weaker than the original wall. Regardless of whether Aten and Saibel could keep it in place, they couldn’t stop external attacks from breaking it.

Then Aten would have to cast the spell again, reducing the time they could hold out below our original estimate.

‘And tying up two important fighters like Aten and Saibel at the wall is bad, too.’

Aten was a valuable ice mage, and Saibel was a powerful swordswoman capable of using aura at her young age.

Every fighter would count when the monsters launched their all-out offensive, yet the wall would keep those two from fighting.

“By the way...”

“Yes?”

“You’re dressed differently.”

Sanders looked me over as he spoke.

I had piled on layers of thick clothing against the cold and pulled a deep hood over my face to protect it. The hood was so deep that my face was invisible unless you looked at me head-on.

In fact, this was normal attire. Most people wore something similar. Until now, I had been dressed far too lightly.

“The longer I stay, the colder it feels.”

Penelope’s Cloth had protected me until now. After leaving it with the Cassian for a while, I had discovered that Teibeon’s cold was harsher than I’d imagined.

“True, you have been wearing rather thin clothes.”

Sanders smiled and patted my shoulder.

There was warmth in the way he looked at me.

I had no idea why he hadn’t been like this before.

* * *

Then came the long-awaited fifth day.

The deadline for Saibel to complete her mana-infusion training. The morning of the day we could finally make temporary repairs to the wall.

“...”

Hugo, Teibeon’s lookout, froze at the sight before him.

He didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow or take a breath.

Teibeon always had an assigned lookout to monitor the monsters’ movements and ring the bell in an emergency.

Hugo had held that post without interruption for the past several years because his eyesight was the best.

‘What... is that...?’

Today, Hugo cursed his exceptionally sharp vision.

Monsters were coming. An army of monsters was coming. Shadowy shapes filled his entire field of vision from left to right, overlapping and swelling in size.

He had never seen anything on this scale. No, he could scarcely have imagined such a sight. And it wasn’t just their numbers. The monsters themselves were on an entirely different level from those that had come before.

Upon spotting monsters, the lookout was supposed to descend immediately and ring the bell inside the square tower.

But for several seconds, Hugo couldn’t move.

It felt as though ringing that bell would sound the death knell for his own life.

“... Ngh!”

Hugo forced his body into motion and ran for the bell. He shook it over and over. There were prescribed numbers and intervals of tolls for different situations, but none of that mattered. The frenzied ringing would make the situation clear enough.

He practically vomited out the words.

“Massive monster force sighted! Unable to estimate its size!!”

The knights had already rushed outside. Even without Hugo’s shout, the sound of the bell told them what was happening.

They took their assigned positions. This time, Aten and Saibel were there as well.

“Please stay well away from the wall. Some monsters can fly, and others throw projectiles. A stray attack could hit you.”

Sanders addressed Aten, who nodded. Insisting on staying would only hinder the other knights and soldiers.

“Yes. I will judge the danger for myself. Please focus on commanding the battle.”

“Yes, Your Highness. And...”

Sanders bowed deeply.

“If the wall falls, flee without looking back. Take all your escort knights and retreat.”

“...”

Aten had come here to inspect the state of Teibeon and its wall.

It would be unthinkable for either her or the knights escorting her to be injured in this battle.

“The same goes for you. Saibel, was it? Stay somewhere safe. The escorts will be there, so you should be all right.”

“Ah, wait—”

Sanders climbed onto the wall without waiting for her reply. Whatever she might say, his decision was already made.

‘... This is horrific.’

The monsters’ all-out offensive that Frondier had predicted. Facing it in person, Sanders could see nothing but darkness ahead. Worse than darkness—he could smell death.

A crumbling wall. Exhausted soldiers and knights. Depleted ranks of prisoners. A capable enemy commander who could read their tactics.

All of it pronounced the same grim sentence upon him: defeat.

‘... Heh. Fine, then.’

Sanders smiled. He felt a kind of detachment.

Why had he gone out of his way to leave Shroud and come here? To reclaim his pride as a knight. He would be different from those who had hidden from monsters and fled.

Today, here, he would end his life as a true knight.

“Prepare to fire!”

Sanders shouted as loudly as ever. Wood and metal clattered against each other as the archers in formation aimed their arrows at the approaching army.

Without realizing it, Sanders looked toward Frondier. He stood quietly in his usual spot, his hood pulled over his head.

How many lives had that figure saved already? Even in this desperate situation, Sanders was relieved to have something to cling to.

The other knights felt the same. Frondier had already become their lifeline. Even if that rope was rotten, having it still mattered now.

‘... Hmm?’

But something was strange about Frondier. Normally, he raised his bow in time for the order to fire. Now he simply stood there.

Sanders wondered whether he had summoned those peculiar weapons around him again, but there was no sign of them.

Frondier just stood there, motionless.

Sanders looked forward again. He couldn’t devote all his attention to Frondier. The monsters were already nearing firing range.

“... Fire!!!”

At his shout, the archers’ arrows sliced through the air. With a large-scale attack expected, he had deployed more archers than usual. Their arrows were numerous enough to blacken the sky for an instant.

But that was all.

There were no streaks of light, no spears or other weapons flying through the air.

“...?”

Only then did some of the others look toward Frondier. Sanders looked at him again, too.

Frondier had done nothing.

It was so strange that Sanders examined him more closely. Something felt wrong. An eerie sensation crawled down his spine.

His trained eyes studied the figure. Frondier’s fingertips were trembling faintly. Sanders’s eyes widened.

The shoulders beneath the hood, the length of his arms and legs, his apparent height—all were different. He even seemed heavier than Frondier.

Sanders’s mouth fell open. The worst scenario he could imagine—no, one he had never even imagined—unfolded before his eyes.

‘Th-that’s not Frondier...!’

Frondier had left a stand-in and bolted.