Read Novel Full Chapter 285
Chapter 285
TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!
Sponsored chapter by Patreon. Enjoy~
Chapter 285 – Western Territory Keol
While I was storing the corpses we saw in the snowfield, I checked our surroundings for hidden enemies. Flame bombs fired in the battle with Hjelmar had set the forest’s edge ablaze, but it was just raw wood, after all. There was a lot of smoke, but it was quickly extinguished by the snow and wind.
“No sign of the enemy. The only ones left here seemed to be either the tropps who had gone to the territory capital, or ambush soldiers.”
“It was a bit much, though.”
“Maybe they saw a battle with the wooden golem and decided to hold back. In any case, we won’t know what they’re after until we find the main group.”
After launching the Griffon, we headed east. Since I didn’t know where the western territory was, I relied on Rinko’s aerial map and Myrril’s navigation.
“Hjelmar, Ecla-san told you. You should go back to the magic cave.”
“That can’t be true. If Keol is being attacked by the imperial army, I’m going…”
“I’m sorry to say this, but in your current state you’re not much help. If they were infantry, but there are nearly a hundred mages left, even the most troublesome ones, we cannot fight while protecting the weak.”
The child elf looks at me with a little frown, but I imagine Nojaloli-san is taking care of the situation in her own way.
“…You guys, too, huh?”
“Hmm?”
“The Witch of Sarz is like that. Always. She said, ‘You should be aware that you’re half human, don’t work on your own, gain experience, and make friends you can trust.'”
“That makes sense. You are so talented and capable for your age, and in five years you can become a full-fledged man. But as with all living things, many of the strong are crushed at a young age, because they are an obstacle to the weak. The weak are a hindrance to the strong.”
“But…”
“I don’t know how you feel, but I just wanted to say that I think our battles are always two against one. It’s a very distorted force, isn’t it? While we can play around with speed and firepower, if we don’t support and protect each other, we are incredibly fragile. If we lose our agility, we will be the ones who die.”
Myrril takes the spare ammunition box from me and returns to the gun emplacement.
“…I understand.”
Hjelmar steps out onto the side deck with a downcast look on his face, waves his magic wand and takes off into the snowfield.
“…That fool. He’s thinking of something else.”
“How do you know?”
“Of course I know. I was such a depressed brat before I met… Yoshua.”
“Oh, really?”
I look up at the gun emplacement, but all I can see from the cockpit is her legs, swaying in a grumpy manner.
“We all have our moments, you know. You’ve got that uncontrollable squishy feeling in your gut, and you’re snarling at the walls you’ve built around yourself.”
Oh, yes. That’s right. I’ve had that too, I guess. It was so long ago that I don’t remember.
“Only time will tell if you make it over the wall, but… now is not a good time.”
After about an hour, traces of the battle began to appear on the open plain. More precisely, the remains of refugees caught up in the battle, the wreckage of horse-drawn sleighs, and the corpses of horses and guards. I really hope they died trying to protect the refugees, but I have to say that I don’t have much good to say about the guards of the western territories. I can’t help but think that some of them might have been decent soldiers, so I will at least pray for their souls.
“Do you know what killed them?”
“Wind magic. The soldiers were decapitated. As for the people, some were burned by magic, some were mutilated, and the big man there was hit in the back with a blunt object.”
“I knew it. The mage must have passed through.”
“Some of them are unhurt, but I think they froze to death from exhaustion… Yoshua!”
Before I could stop the Griffon, Myrril jumped down from the roof and ran over to the bodies of the refugees.
“They are still breathing. Hey, get a hold of yourself!”
“How many?”
“There are two children. And a mother… Oh, no, I can’t stop the blood.”
“Oh, shit, I should have learned some healing magic. If only we had a saint or an elf.”
“Yes.”
Hjelmar emerges from behind a horse-drawn sleigh with a look of horror on his face. It’s not like he was hiding, waiting for us. From the looks of it, he was treating the wounded. The child elf had another exhausted refugee with him.
“I’ll take care of the injured. You guys do what you can.”
“All right, get in the back.”
After that, we slowed down and proceeded, stopping several times in Myrril’s direction. The survivors we found among the bodies scattered on the spot numbered eleven. There were five toddlers, two middle-aged women, and two boys and girls each. The high percentage of children was simply the result of their parents sacrificing themselves to protect them. The poor survivors were still unconscious, but thankfully, the child elf’s healing magic had saved their lives. I quickly gathered up all the blankets, bandages, and antiseptic spirits I could find and turned up the heat on the interior of the Griffon.
I really don’t want to take them with me to Keol, which has become a battlefield, but I can’t leave them here either. When the treatment is over, I launch the Griffon.
“…Hjelmar.”
“Hmm?”
“Well done. I was wrong. You are a grown man now.”
The child elf’s face twisted for a moment as Myrril praised him from the gun emplacement, then immediately returned to a faithless expression. It seems to be a complicated age in many ways.
After crossing a gently sloping ridge, Keol comes into view. Or rather, what was left of it. The city must have been home to several hundred people, for it is called a territory, but the walls have collapsed, and the buildings in sight are half destroyed and billowing smoke. Somewhere in the distance, the sounds of battle could be heard, angry shouts and metallic clanging, but there was no sign of life.
Are most of the people already dead? I don’t think it’s been that long since the battle began, but isn’t it too soon?
Myrril was not firing at the gun emplacement either, which meant the enemy must be out of sight. It was strange. When we stopped half a mile from the ramparts, I teleported to Keol. I asked Myrril to escort the Griffon, saying that I would return as soon as things got dangerous.
“Don’t do anything rash.”
“Understood.”
It had been a long time since I had stepped onto the battlefield alone, and I felt as uncomfortable as if I had stepped outside with no clothes on. I thought I had lived alone for a long time, but it seems that I have changed a lot over time.
Standing on the half-collapsed walls, I could see the almost ruined city. The sounds of battle still echoed in the distance, but I could not see anyone moving.
“…Demon king, this way!”
I heard a muffled voice calling to me. I was in the shadow of a building that looked like a guard station burning nearby. There, I saw an unexpected figure of a familiar person.
In the midst of a crowd of men dressed in black, the Witch of Sarz Ecla-san was lying in a pool of blood.