CHAPTER 8 - I - HOW TO FIGHT A RUNNING ZOMBIE
Speaking of Natasha, I haven’t had contact with that black-haired saint for a while now. I wonder if she’s still alive…
“…”
I guess this wasn’t the time to think about some random things. We still have problems to solve, like the situation of our allies in the besieged town of Huirot, and the influx of refugees arriving from the west of Chersea.
“…”
In their desire to escape the undead, the people from various cities to the west of Holy Palatial Gardens evacuated and went to our territories. Of course, it brought unintended chaos to us, since their arrival might cause security issues.
However, Maddie accepted them, using the few available resources in her land and part of Eris’ money to accommodate the refugees.
“Lily, please try to sell this furniture so that we could buy additional food for the people.” I would often hear her say.
“But this is the 15th furniture we sold today!” Lily would protest from time to time, but Maddie would always have her way. In a while, the opulent furnishings of the Saint’s Chambers palace slowly vanished, while the refugees kept on arriving.
Sometimes, I would see Maddie healing some children or old people with her magic. I’d get her to stop, for the more she used her spells, the greater the chance she could not maintain the barrier.
“Just allow the other nuns and templars to heal the injured.” I would tell her, “You’ve been sacrificing a lot, without regard for your own.”
“Haa…if only I could do even more…” she would then mutter.
“Well, we could take care of ourselves, Maddie. It’s just that, if we lost you, we’ll be without direction, right Kuro?”
“Yes, Lily’s right. Don’t do everything; some of those will eventually fall into place.”
It’s a good thing that Maddie would listen to us now. Before she would be stubborn and would argue. But now, at least, she could see the wisdom behind our pleas for her to stop. I mean, it’s not that we don’t care for the people, but Maddie was needed for something more important, and losing her abilities could spell disaster for all humanity than now.
A week after our negotiation and releasing the Emperor from captivity, the first of the soldiers coming in to reinforce our battered coalition army arrived at the Holy Palatial Gardens. They were a contingent of Gryphon Knights led by the chancellor of the King of Calabria, Sir Dane Bellingstein.
Next that came were a group of student-swordsmen from the school Lily founded in Hagena Village, headed by their master, Anton Trevor. I think they were skilled in Lily’s sword-art, the Mahan Swordsmanship Style.
“…”
Another army of men also turned up in the Holy Palatial Gardens, this one was commanded by, uh…
“So! I see my son-in-law once again!” the Duke of Rubinforth greeted me with a strong slap at my back, “I heard your heroics in the three Imperial defeats in Devyere, Bere River, and Dawson Valley!”
“Haha…welcome Your Excellency…”
“Enough of that!” he gave me another slap, “Call me Daddy!”
A mixed feeling of disgust and awkwardness quickly took over me. Uh…did this guy have a father-fetish?
Anyway, soon after their arrivals, the other groups of men and nobles showed for duty. The legions that the Emperor promised to send also came along with their auxiliaries. While we expected that many may answer the call to arms, we didn’t expect that they were this many…
“Uh…Lily…don’t you think this is way too many?” I whispered to her while we survey the number of men.
“Well, I think a lot of them were seeking adventure, other than to sit idly waiting for the undead to come to them.”
This was nice in its own way. The magicians we so direly needed before increased a hundredfold, and the warriors were also plenty. So, immediately, we got down on teaching them how to fight the undead.
Soon enough, on April 22nd, our huge host of armed men was now moving towards the frontlines. By then, Maddie’s barrier was getting progressively weaker, and we encamped outside the Savoian capital of Jeveneria just in case it totally fell apart.
“…”
The border between ‘night’ and ‘day’ in this part of Chersea sure was strange. I mean, as I looked into the sky, the boundaries of dark and light were clearly defined. Think of standing under the day, and the moment you stepped one foot forward, you’re already at night.
That’s how strange it was.
Since the Cherseans did not know ‘night’, they were unnerved by the sight of it. Plus, the appearance of the rotting bodies of the dead was unsightly. From time to time, some hordes would come and attack the holy barrier Maddie put up, and the zombies would suddenly light aflame upon contact.
So that’s how it weakens, huh?
The horrible sight, terrifying sounds and burning smell of those undead sure unnerved the soldiers who had no prior experience with them, and even scared those who fought it before.
Good thing Lily drilled our men to calm their nerves when confronting those zombies. She was relentless in training them; those who showed cowardice would be left near the barrier so they would be accustomed to the undead. Once they were fine, they would be distributed to the other groups so they could share their experiences.
By the time we were about to launch our offensive, the men were more than excited to test their mettle against the undead.
Eris’ fortune also helped us in that one week that we stayed in Jeveneria. We used those for keeping our logistics up and running—mostly about food and equipment. I also requested that the men who would be in the frontlines be re-equipped with the rectangular shield, similar to the ones being used by the legionnaires.
The Braunhauer finances answered for all of those expenses…and still have some money left.
As for the morale problem, Maddie was taking care of it. Her mere appearance on the battlefield was enough to raise the spirits of the men who knew they were fighting for their beloved saint. Not only that, but Maddie also took care of the coordination between our sector and of Nerfes, because once she lifts the barrier, Nerfes would be virtually defenseless lest they prepare their own positions.
Besides that, the sight of the ladies of the Paladin Corps was another assurance for the men that everything’s going to be alright.
The only thing that’s left is for me to deliver.
On the War Council we held on April 28, we already arranged our responsibilities according to the plan I presented before on fighting the undead hordes.
Lily, since she was core to this plan, was put in reserve, together with the students of the Mahan School of Swordsmanship. They would be the ones to lead the melee counterattack on the undead, so we gave them the best armors available, and the late time to join us on the battlefield.
The Duchess of Henristone was put in-charge of the magicians, positioned just behind the shield-wall line so they could bombard the undead with their ‘Incinerate’ spell. They were reorganized into three groups; the first and second lines of magicians would alternately attack (so that they wouldn’t tire themselves quickly), and the third line would put up the magical barrier while we advance slowly.
The Prince of Stadtsberg was the one who requested to command the warriors who would form the shield-wall. They were also to deploy our traps (the earth spikes and slashing wind spells) to the front, using their limited magic skills. Hopefully, the undead would have difficulty in breaking that defense once we removed the magic barriers to attack.
Oh, and the overall command of the operation was put on my shoulders since they told me I was the one who knew how to defeat those zombies.
However, not everything went smoothly for our newly formed army…
Though the finances, men, and matters about morale were fixed by the contributions of Eris, Lily, and Maddie, there was that issue of pride among the members of the nobility that eventually came to fight with us.
“Sir Hermon, why are your men still out in training when it was already the time for sleep?” the Duchess of Henristone witnessed a unit of soldiers under the Count of Hermon of the Kingdom of Galad, still out in their tents training.
“My apologies, Milady!” the Count of Hermon replied, “It’s just that I have to drill my men well so that we don’t embarrass ourselves in the upcoming battle.”
“Hmm…how admirable, Your Grace.” the Duchess told him, “But Sir Kuro never wanted the men to be extremely tired.”
“That’s the point of this training, Your Excellency!” the Count countered, “I’m not really confident about that meddling commoner’s abilities to command.”
“What do you mean? Surely you have heard how he defeated the disciplined Imperial legionnaires, not only once but thrice!”
“Aren’t there were nobles with him helping him to command?” the Count defended his point, “It was the story among the other nobilities. Surely he can’t command a competent army enough to defeat the legionnaires without the skills of a noble helping him! Isn’t it that the Iron Princess was with him at the Battle of Dawson Valley?”
“While it’s true that I’m not there to witness it, but I assure you that Sir Kuro is a strange and intelligent commoner!” an indignant Duchess of Henristone reiterated, “Don’t be so blind to the fact that there may be others of humble birth that can fight properly, Your Grace.”
“M-My apologies, Milady!” the Count of Hermon was quick to take back what he said, “However, I don’t think all the nobles share your sentiments. We’re only here to support our beloved Saint, that’s all.”
“Alright then, Sir Hermon. I won’t speak with you about this matter anymore.” the Duchess decided not to follow-up on the topic, “However, we won’t tolerate any talk of dissent about the command of this army. If you so wish not to be under the command of someone of lowly birth, you are free to leave anytime. However, should we win, then you also won’t share the glory that comes with it.”
“…” The Count of Hermon was silent. Between following a commoner to battle and seeking battlefield glory from their beloved Saint, he knew where he would stand.
