Fun Territory Defense Chapter 147 (Patreon)

[Another Viewpoint] Worms in A Lion's Body

[Ortho]

He dodged the giant boar's lunge and sliced the back of his knee. Suddenly losing one of its front legs, the boar plunged head first into the ground. It rolled with a ground shudder and swung its tusks. It was an agonizing action, but its figure and large tusks were powerful enough to easily reap trees.

"Mechanical bow!"

"Aiyo!"

He instructed, leaping backward one large step. Xsara responded lightly, firing three arrows in rapid succession from the tree tops. The arrows hit the boar in the head as if sucked in, and the giant body bounced once or twice then stopped moving.

"Yes! This one's good!"

"Thank goodness the portable food doesn't give us much strength."

The fellow who was covering him laughed and said something like that. But Pluriel, who had been hiding in the back, was not happy.

"We've been eating meat for a week now. It's time to pick some fruits and wild vegetables."

Pluriel, tired of meat, suggested, to which Xsara raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders.

"Even so, we can't leisurely pick wild vegetables with Magic Beast coming at us so frequently, can we?"

Xsara retorted, but it seemed that Pluriel had run out of patience.

"After all, Ortho is the vanguard and Xsara can hunt them just by shooting arrows at them, right? If you put an escort on me, I'll at least pick some wild vegetables while I'm at it."

"No, I don't think so."

I couldn't help but interject at Pluriel's logic. Then he turned his stern gaze on me. I'm not looking for a fight. I raise my hands to show that I'm not looking for a fight, and open my mouth.

"One or two of them are no problem, but if another Magic Beast appears in succession, it will be difficult for two people to handle it. Besides, our mission is to guide the way and assist in the march, and the worst thing we can do is to fail to kill the Magic Beast."

Pluriel's brow wrinkled as he looked behind him. There is a group of knights in armor walking along a steep mountain path.

"In the first place, I wonder if the knights can deal with anything other than a few Magic Beasts. Do we have to deal with all of it?"

I understand what she is trying to say. Pluriel mentioned it in a way that made me kind of understand. I sigh in return and wave one hand from side to side.

"No, it's impossible. If the knights had to fight them one at a time, not only would it affect the march, but there would probably be a fair number of casualties. We are not ready for that."

When Xsara told him this, he laughed and held out his hands. In his hands he held a knife and a mechanical bow made by Van-sama.

"The reason all the wars with Jiernetta were fought on the Scudetto side is because it was ridiculously difficult to get through these mountain roads. It's simply because Van-sama's weapons are unusually powerful, but if we had ordinary weapons and armor, we would have been dead long ago."

"...Especially this mechanical bow. Even without a magician, it can defeat Magic Beast from a long distance. Also, I know, I understand. I'm sorry. I was just a little irritated."

"Oh, I'm glad we didn't have to get into a fight."

I reply with a laugh, Pluriel is a smart person. I'm sure she'll come to terms with her feelings just from this exchange and get the job done right again.

"...But we're not even halfway there yet, and I'm worried about the future."

I let out a sigh and mutter quietly as I watch everyone's backs.

Each group of adventurers is helping the long, vertical march of the Kingdom Knights. We are the ones in charge of the front of the group, so we bear the heaviest burden, but the other groups must also be struggling because of the large area they have to cover.

The knights are carrying our luggage in containers on horse-drawn wagons, but there is not much time for rest, so we are very fatigued. During the knights' rest time, they are supposed to be on the lookout for other people around them. It is not a break like a break.

The group also has daily conversations with other groups to exchange information and confirm schedules, but like Pluriel, the other adventurers are also frustrated. After all, they are usually a small group of adventurers who are free to explore and defeat Magic Beasts at will. Being ordered around by the knights is also a source of frustration.

If possible, they would like to get to their destination as quickly as possible and return home with the mission accomplished. However, because of the large number of people, the march was slow.

Bases are being built as we receive instructions, but we don't rest there ourselves.

"...I hope it doesn't turn out to be a split amongst ourselves somewhere."

With that out of my mouth, I headed off to Xsara and the others.

The next day, something I had feared occurred. A party of adventurers who were in charge of the middle of the marching column clashed with the knights.

The march was hastily halted, and we headed for the scene of the trouble. When we arrived at the location where the report had come in, we found the knights yelling at us. I checked around and found the adventurers glaring at the angry knights a short distance away.

"What's going on?"

I approached and called out, and the adventurer man looked at me. Then he points at the knights and opens his mouth.

"They destroyed the stronghold we built. We were on the lookout around, cutting off a little rest time to build a base for them...what's wrong with the way they built it?"

"You really are arrogant, aren't you?"

Hearing those words, I involuntarily tilted my head.

"Crushing the base... that thing is pretty solid, isn't it? How did you...?"

I asked, and the man clicked his tongue and glared at the knights.

"They're saying the stronghold we built collapsed on its own. For those of us who built it, we know that once it's built, it can't be easily broken. You have to lift the ceiling from the inside to collapse it, and you can't even fold it up. If you use it normally, it will never break."

The man says this as if to throw up.

"...Wait a minute. Does that mean that the knights on our side deliberately made their own base unusable? For what purpose?"

"I don't know."

"Are the knights on the same side?"

"...I think it's more likely that the knights who don't like adventurers are harassing us."

When I asked these questions, the men speculated and talked with each other. Either way, we had to resolve this issue or it would surely affect our future.

As I was wondering what to do, Pluriel approached me from behind.

"Hey...is it possible that this is different from harassment between knights or adventurers?"

"Hmm?"

I turned around to see a strange-looking Pluriel standing there. The other adventurers are looking at Pluriel with tilted heads.

After confirming the gazes of those around him, Pluriel spoke.

"If you make this temporary base unusable, it won't be to the benefit of the Knights to fight with us as guides."

We look at each other as he says this.

"Well, that's right."

"Well, there are stupid bastards everywhere."

"That's too stupid."

We gather together to discuss such conversations. They speculated about whom, that, and the other, but no satisfactory answers were forthcoming.

Then Pluriel interjects again.

"...I have an idea, but I can't say anything yet. First, it's the way that stronghold collapsed."