It was time… Time for the actual fight… The actual battle… against the worshippers…

“Okay, Yumi, you’ll stay right next to me. Karen and the Elder, you two stay behind us. Ria, you come too. Just in case.”
“Nn, got it.”
“Yes, Mr Captain.”
“Yes, Mr Korwen.”
“Mm…”

Korwen gave us some last-minute instructions. The banner was up and ready, only waiting to be lighted up by the Elder. The other mercenaries had stopped firing their crossbows at the village, so I could clearly see what was happening. Several worshippers had taken control of the situation, coordinating the others so that they could kill the ogres. Much to my surprise, the worshippers hadn’t lost many people except for the initial few deaths.

“Miss Elder, at my signal you’ll light it up..”
“Understood.”

I could hear someone gulping, close to me. I didn’t know who but… at least I wasn’t the only one nervous.

“... They’ve about cleaned now, huh. Quicker than expected.”
“... Is that bad?”
“Not really. We still outnumber them two to one at the very least. Maybe even three to one. Yumelia still isn’t in sight. The ogres are dead. No traps or dolls in sight. I doubt they’ll be able to put up much of a resistance, but…”

Korwen scratched his chin as he stared at the village and the worshippers.

“I don’t like this. Where is Yumelia? And the other magician? Haa… Stay on alert all the time, got it?”
“Nn…”

Unfortunately, I didn’t know either where Yumelia and the other magician were…

“... Merim.”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Take a few men and scout the surroundings. If you find anything, immediately come back.”
“... Captain?”
“Do it.”
“... Understood.”

Merim saluted, and turned around, calling out to a few men close-by and preparing a scout team.

“Yumi, keep an eye out on whatever is in your field of vision. Don’t look around too much when the light is up.”
“... Nn.”

He was worried about the people that were missing… Well, I was curious as well as to where Yumelia was… Although, I wouldn’t complain if she wasn’t going to show up.

“It’s nearly time.”
“... Nn.”

The last ogre fell down to the ground with a roar. All the ogres had been killed by the worshippers… And that meant, their attention was going to turn to us now. A few worshippers instantly turned their sights on us and were up and about to rush towards us, only to be held back by some others. One of them shouted a few words and then… They all took cover behind the buildings?

“Hmm… Not rushing towards us, huh… Seems they got at least one or two people with a working head. Too bad. Miss Elder, light it up.”
“In just a moment, Mr Korwen.”

Behind me, the Elder crouched down and grabbed a vine that was lying on the ground. A few seconds later, the flowers hanging from the banner opened up and emitted a small glow. Ever so slowly, the light’s intensity grew, until they illuminated us well enough.

They’re looking...

The worshippers noticed and peeked their heads out from behind the cover, watching us. I could spot a few of them pointing in our direction and saying something. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what.

“Ria, if you could…”
“Mm…”

Next to me, the two exchanged a glance and Ria began to cast some magic. Korwen cleared his throat as if to confirm something. After a nod to himself, he took a deep breath and stepped forward, facing the village and the worshippers.

“We are the Lomerian Dragon Knights! Worshippers of the Witch! Surrender and we will spare your lives! Resist and we will slay each and every one of you!”

A voice much louder than I had expected came from Korwen. My ears felt like they’d burst. It took me a moment to recover from the unexpected noise…

Nn? Something’s happening over there…

A few robe-clad worshippers, around five of them, walked out of cover and shouted in our direction…

“Faithless dog! The Grand Witch will protect us! We do not fear you!”
“Take that unsightly impostor and leave!”
“The Grand Witch shall show no mercy!”
“Go all to hell!”

Their voices were barely audible but a few things could be understood. They were throwing insults at us… Like, really? They just lost some people, got shot at us by crossbows and… they were throwing insults? Were these people children? Did they have no sense of danger?

“How convenient,” muttered Korwen with a hushed voice.
“Nn?”

He raised his arm… and threw it forward, pointing at the insult-throwing worshippers.

“Fire!”

A cacophony of strings snapping back into position, crossbows launching their arrows and sending them straight to the men.

“Wahh!”
“Cover! Cover!”
“The Grand Witch will prote— Grhg!”
“Gyaahh!”
“Hii!”

No, the witch wasn’t protecting him. An arrow pierced right into his throat. He clawed at the arrow, desperate to get it out. It seemed like he was trying to gasp for air…
The others were luckier, mostly, and came away with superficial wounds. Now, they were behind cover again, watching their comrade suffocating and dying a painful death...

“Well, only one of them actually had enough faith to keep standing. So much to that.”

And now that one was dead… Yeah…
Korwen took another deep breath, preparing to call out to them, but before he could, some worshippers took out bows and shot in our direction.

“Ca— Captain?!”
“Don’t move. They won’t reach.”

And true to his words, most of the arrows fell short by a long shot… The majority barely reached half the distance, only two arrows actually landed relatively close to us. Nonetheless, it was pretty scary seeing arrows flying at you… A few worshippers attempted another shot but the result was the same.

“That… That was scary…”
“Don’t let it show. Stand firm.”
“O— Okay…”

I took a few breaths to calm my nerves and faced forward again.

“Ria is behind us protecting us. You can trust in her. She won’t let an arrow hit us.”
“Nn…”
“Don’t let them startle you. Look at their weapons. How do they look to you?”
“Uhm… Like bows?”

They sure looked like bows to me, at least.

“Simple bows? Recurve bows? Composite bows? Both?”
“Eh? Uh… Simple? I think? They don’t look all that well-made.”

Rather, some of them were pretty crude but I spotted bows that had a pretty sleek and neat appearance. Only two, though. Maybe it had been those archers that shot the furthest.

“Then they won’t reach us. A skilled archer might reach us with a good bow but actually hitting us is another question altogether. 

Safe… Huh… Considering we were still being shot at, that felt a little weird. But true to his words, none of the arrows even got close to our position. The archers that had shot the furthest didn’t seem to attempt another shot either.

“Most of them are probably entirely unskilled with a bow and with weapons in general. But since they managed to fight the ogres, there are some among them with combat experience. They will be the biggest issue.”
“I see…”

So we had to be careful of them.

“But I’m surprised they’re still keeping at it. They should’ve realised they are wasting arrows.”
“Nn… The ones still shooting seem pretty mad…”
“Mhm… Mad, huh… That only serves us. Well, let’s bring it up a notch, shall we? Ria, another time, if you could.”
”Will… do…”

The lethargic voice behind us cast another spell. This was likely to make Korwen’s voice louder, so they’d actually understand him. That reminded me… I couldn’t cover my ears… Even though I knew what was coming now…

Ahh, here we go again…
“Worshippers! No witch will come to save you! No witch will come and mete out punishment. Surrender now and you can keep your lives!”

His shout continued to echo in my hurting ears for a few seconds… Next time I’d ask for ear plugs.

“Mhm… Didn’t work, did it?” commented Korwen, once again in a hushed voice.

The worshippers didn’t come rushing at us or anything. They actually even stopped shooting arrows at us. Instead, they were… continuing to stare at us.

“Yumi, can you see anything of note?”
“No.”
“Well… Guess this is about it, then.”
“Nn?”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Korwen gesturing with his arm.

“Everyone with a shield to the front! Spears behind the shields.”

From behind us, dozens of mercenaries emerged, weapons drawn and wide grins on their faces. Some of them walked up in front of us, carrying large shields.

“Yumi, we’re moving. Keep the banner up high. If you have trouble, let Karen help you.”
“Ah, yes, Captain.”

It took me a moment to realise what was actually happening. What Korwen meant with ‘this was it.’ It was simple. The bait tactic didn’t work that well, and so we’d assault them. From the front.

“Oh, and, keep yourself behind the shields and the other mercenaries. You don’t want a stray arrow to hit you.”
“... Nn.”

Yes, I didn’t want that. I definitely didn’t want that.

“Well, looks good. Then, Yumi, want to do the honours?”
“The honours?”
“Yes. Just shout what I’m about to tell you.”

Korwen bowed down to me and whispered something in my ear.

“You good?”
“... Nn, I think so.”
“Then, do it.”
“Nn.”

Bracing myself, I opened my mouth and inhaled the air.

“Lomerian Dragon Knights! The enemy is before us! Show them no mercy! March and fight!”
“””OOOHHHH!!!”””

The mercenaries all roared in unison. And with the roar, they took their first step forward. With us right in the middle, I was obviously also forced to lift the banner and move.

“Ah, ah, ah!”
“Yumi!”
“Ah! Ahh… Sis, thank you.”

Karen caught the banner before I accidentally let it drop to the ground, holding it up with me. She probably heard that Korwen said she could help me.

“Should I carry it?”
“... No, I’ll do it.”
“... Okay.”
“But your help is welcome.”

Karen regarded me with a wry smile and kept her left hand on the banner to keep it stable, helping me carry it.
We faced forward, the direction we were slowly walking to. Or rather, marching to. The mercenaries walked in practised unison and it wasn’t hard to find the rhythm and speed to match them. Two rows of mercenaries stood right in front of us, with the front row holding up shields and the row behind carrying spears.

“Crossbowmen! Prepare to fire!” shouted Korwen.

He raised his arm again, so that he could signal them.

“Fire!”

A moment later, a volley of arrows flew over our heads, straight at the village. Unfortunately, I couldn’t confirm what was happening there, with all the mercenaries blocking my view now.

“Prepare for a second volley!”

Behind me, I could hear the mercenaries getting the crossbows ready to fire once more. Korwen hadn’t raised his arm this time so the reload would probably take a short while. In the meantime, we continued to march forwards. I wondered if we’d just continue to approach like this, until a high-pitched sound came from my right.

“Captain!”
“Ria! Do it!”
“Mhm… May the… blessing of the spirits… grant us fortune… May the winds… protect us…”

 A soft breeze caressed my cheeks as it rose upwards. The next moment, something flew over my head and past me, disappearing out of my sight.

Was that… an arrow?

It was too fast for me to recognise it but… There wasn’t much else it could have been. In that case, the loud noise before… Had that been an arrow as well?

So, they can reach us already… Then, Ria is protecting us, right now?

The soft breeze I felt was probably protection against the arrows. I could still see the mana doing its work above me. It looked a little like a soft and fluffy cloud, stretching all over our heads. Another arrow flew past us, riding the soft mana clouds and disappearing behind us. As we continued to march, the number of arrows increased ever so slowly. And once in a while, a loud-pitched sound came from the front row, as some arrows hit the shields. 

Some of the arrows… They actually pierce through.

A few shields were damaged with arrows sticking in them. Only a few but it still gave me cause to worry. To think that an arrow had so much force behind it.

“Crossbowmen, prepare to fire!”

Once more, Korwen raised his arm.

“Fire!”

Another volley of crossbow arrows flew above my head at the worshippers.

“Lomerian Dragon Knights! Show them worshippers what you are made of! March and fight!”
“””March and fight! March and fight! March and fight!”””

With Korwen’s instigation, the mercenaries started chanting those words like a spell. More and more joined until it drowned out all other sounds.

“””March and fight! March and fight! March and fight!”””

They continued chanting, loud and full of vigor. And we were right in the middle of it. 

“””March and fight! March and fight! March and fight!”””

It grew louder and louder as more mercenaries joined the chant. The force, the vigor… Something about it made me want to join in… Join these mercenaries… Join the rhythm of their chant.

“””March and fight! March and fight! March and fight!”””

Before I knew it, Karen and I were shouting too. Something inside me just… compelled me to. I didn’t think all too deeply about it, I just shouted together with them. The only thing on my mind at this moment was to move forward and to shout.

“””March and fight! March and fight! March and fight!”””

Before long, we had covered most of the way to the village. The number of arrows shot at us had decreased but maybe I just couldn’t hear them over the deafening noise. From the corner of my eye, I saw Korwen watching what was happening, his expression stern. Then, he raised something. Not his arm, but his weapon, his axe.

“Lomerian Dragon Knights! Attack the worshippers! Charge!” he shouted, barely audible over the noise.
“”“OOOHHHHHH!”””

The mercenaries raised their weapons and roared, the formation loosened up and they picked up the pace, starting to run. Karen and I followed, as best as we could but the trained mercenaries quickly left us behind. Only now I realised how close we really were to the village. Maybe a few dozen steps away from the first building.

“Yumi! Karen!”
“Eh? Captain?”
“Mr Captain?”

As we ran after the mercenaries, Korwen stopped us at the entrance.

“Come with me.”
“... Ah. Yes.”

It took me a moment to process what Korwen wanted. The other mercenaries were already inside the village, fighting the worshippers.

No, that’s not a fight…

They were running, trying to flee, only to be cut down by the mercenaries chasing them. This wasn’t a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter.

“Then, don’t stand there in a daze and come.”
“... Nn.”

I clutched the banner a little harder. This was… This was our job…
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I tried to focus on what was going on before me. Seeing that we were ready to move, Korwen turned around and led us into the village. Not running, just… casually strolling in.

“Tha… That’s…”

Karen suddenly stopped next to me, staring at something in the village… In the village centre…

“...”

It… was a horrible sight… Dead men and women of various ages… piled up, fixed in place by stakes… They all had horrible wounds… Some missed even their limbs or… other parts of their bodies…

“...”

Neither of us knew what to say… After a few seconds, Karen averted her gaze, her expression pale.

“... Let’s go, Sis.”
“... Yes.”

If I had a hand free, I would’ve tried to take hers and comfort her a little… but I couldn’t, right now. We both directed our gaze to Korwen, who was patiently waiting for us.

“Let’s go.”
“Nn.”
“Yes, Mr Captain.”

He led us through the village, towards a large building.

“Mhm, this should be it…”
“... Captain?”
“Yumi, plant that banner here.”
“Eh? Uhm… here?”

I walked to the spot he pointed at and let down the banner. Since he said to ‘plant’ it there, I tried to push it into the ground but… Well, no comment.

“Sis… Could you?”
“Of course.”

Karen took hold of the banner and pushed it into the ground, fixing it in place.

“So, uhm… Captain? What’s the point of that?”
“It’s to show that we have taken over.”
“Haa…”

Taken over, huh… He didn’t even question what the result would be… I turned around and watched what was happening in the village. Most of the worshippers had already been killed…  This wasn’t a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter. Within a few minutes, there was only a single group left that put up resistance, including the giant woman and the magician. Everyone else had already been killed… It happened in the blink of an eye.

“The only ones who didn’t lose their nerves.”
“Lose their nerves?”
“Yes. Do you remember what I told you back in Arkesta? Fear is a very effective tool. And a coordinated group of heavily armed men three times your numbers, marching straight at you, shouting and roaring. Not many people can keep their nerves.”

Then, the other worshippers were trying to run… because they were scared?

“Then, that chanting…”
“Scare the enemy and motivate your allies. Simple, but effective. As you surely noticed yourself. You were quite into it.”

That… was true… It just felt like… I had to join them…

“Well, we’ll talk about that another time. Taddick and Ria can deal with the few ones that remain. Come, let’s take a look at this house for now.”

With those words, Korwen opened the door and stepped into the building. We followed behind him, entering a large room that… desperately needed a clean-up. A few lamps barely illuminated the inside.

“Looks like a robber went through this place…” I commented.
“The worshippers are basically like robbers, so that’s not too wrong.”

Furniture was destroyed, damaged or flipped over. Scraps of wood and food were one the floor and clothes were lying around on the floor.

“If you see anything of note, tell me.”
“Nn, got it.”
“Understood.”

It felt a little anticlimactic, how we went from charging into the village straight to searching the building… With that said, Korwen seemed to have a reason to do so.

“Nn… Can’t see anything notable…”
“It’s just a regular home… isn’t it?”
“Nn.”

There was a space in the middle of the room where blankets were covering the ground. Probably their sleeping place. But that was about the only thing noteworthy.

“Huh... Yumi, look at this.”
“Nn?”

I walked over to Karen to look at what she had found. In her hands was a small bag, filled with a glistening grey powder.

“What’s that?”
“I don’t know. At least, I don’t think it’s salt.”
“Let’s ask the captain.”

Taking the bag with us, we went to Korwen who was looking around the other side of the room.

“Captain, we found something.”
“Oh?”

He stopped and turned around to look at us. Karen presented him the bag with the powder, which he promptly took.

“We don’t know what it is, though…”
“...”
“Captain?”

He didn’t answer, just staring at the bag. A moment of silence later, he looked up from the bag again.

“Was this the only one you found?”
“Eh? I think so?”
“... I see.”
“Captain, what is that?”
“... Crushed Crystal Flowers.”
“Eh?”

Crushed Crystal Flowers? Those things they were growing on the dead bodies?

“Then… those are drugs?”
“Yes. They’re drugs.”

I stared at the bag that was now in Korwen’s hands.

“Then, those are… from outside?”
“... Maybe. But maybe not. If they’re from here there should be a place where they processed this.”
“A place where they processed this… Wouldn’t a mortar and pestle be enough?”
“Then find me that mortar and pestle.”

How demanding…

“Maybe it’s in one of the other buildings? Might be.”
“We can take a look around those afterwards.”
Great…

At that moment, the door opened and a mercenary man entered.

“Captain! The worshippers have been subjugated!”
“Mh, good. Any casualties? Prisoners?”
“No casualties, sir! Only minor injuries. A few worshippers have been taken captive!”
“Good. Have Taddick get two teams together and search the other intact buildings.”
“Understood, sir!”

The man saluted and left as quickly as he had come.

“So… the job is over?” asked Karen, turning to Korwen.
“... I wonder about that.”

He furrowed his brows in response to her question.

“We are still missing the other magician and Yumelia. To add on that, there were too few worshippers.”
“Mhm… Maybe they fled?”
“That magician maybe but what about Yumelia?”
“Ah… Mm…”

Good question… If I recalled correctly, Will said that the biggest problem of this job would be a particularly dangerous magician. We assumed that this was likely Yumelia. But neither was Yumelia here nor was there any other notable magician. It might have been the one who fled or the one who died immediately but…

“I doubt this is over yet…”

Korwen stared at the powder in his hands again.

“... Let’s go outside and take a look at the situation for now.”
“Nn.”
“Okay.”

Outside, the mercenaries were already beginning to clean up, collecting the bodies of the dead worshippers. Barely two minutes ago they had killed these people and now…

“Captain.”
“Taddick. Did you already get those teams ready?”
“Yes. There are only two other buildings standing, so it shouldn’t take too long for them to search it. Was there anything in that building?”
“This.”

Korwen handed over the bag with the powder to Taddick, who inspected it.

“This is…”
“Crystal Flowers.”
“...”

Taddick’s eyes narrowed at those words. Then, he silently returned the bag to Korwen.

“Where’s Ria?”
“Over there. She’s inspecting the… err…  pillar…”
“... I see.”
“Then, I’ll get back to work.”

Taddick saluted and left. Maybe it was just my imagination but he looked a little paler suddenly. Korwen watched after him for a bit, until he let out a sigh and walked off towards Ria. She was standing near the… pile of corpses and inspecting the flowers growing on them. Nearby were Wenners and Krutz, taking notes and discussing something. I tried not to look at their subject of study as much as I could… It was hard to deal with...

“Ria!”
“Mh… Captain? Is something… the matter?”
“There is. Take a look at this.”
“Mm…”

Just like Taddick before, Ria received the bag from Korwen and took a look.

“Crystal Flowers… Crushed… Mm…”
“That much we thought as well. Can you tell us anything else?”
“Mm… Wenners… might…”
“Wenners?”
“Eh?”

Korwen raised his eyebrows at the unexpected name that came up. The person himself was raising his voice in surprise at the mention of his name.

“Captain… Do… Do you need me?”
“Wenners, what can you tell me about that powder here?”
“That… powder?”

Wenners received the bag from Ria, his hands shaking. Not quite sure if it was because he wasn’t comfortable or because he received it from Ria.

“Crystal Flower drugs… They’re already processed.”
“Yes, what else can you tell us?”
“... They’re not from this village.”
“... They aren’t?”

Not from this village… Then…

“Crystal Flowers need to… well… dry after they are picked. They don’t really dry in the sense that flowers do but rather, the mana composition has to settle down. That can take several days. Crystal Flowers also take many days to grow in the first place… And this village wasn’t destroyed that long ago.”
“Then, they’re from another village… Guess they really were behind the disappearances of the other villages then. But why do they even need this stuff...”

Wenners shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

“There are many reasons they could use it… Maybe they’re after the strengthening effect of it?”
“The strengthening… Mhm… How strong is that effect?”
“Not… that much… It depends on the person but usually it’s only a very small increase in physical strength.”
“But is that not simply because they lose all restraint?”
“Well… Maybe… It’s not really a common research topic… considering the origin of the drug...”

All restraint, huh… A person with no restraint could be quite strong, to my knowledge. So that was the most plausible explanation. But that still wouldn’t answer why they were growing this drug.

“Mhm… In any case, we’ll confiscate this stuff and hand it over to Will and Ruben. They can deal with the aftermath. Good work, Wenners.”
“Ye— Yes, Captain!”

His eyes lit up at the praise from Korwen. He looked like a happy child that got praised for helping their parents out.

“Now then, the only thing left for us to do is to clean up and wait for Merim to return…”

Right, he sent Merim out to scout the surroundings. But rather than that…

“Captain, are you not going to interrogate those prisoners?”
“Taddick will take care of that. Though, now that you mention it, I am a little interested in who they caught. Let’s see…”

Korwen surveyed the surroundings until he spotted the group of worshippers that had been caught. Surrounding them were several mercenaries, including Taddick. They were standing very close to the prisoners, their arms crossed and an expression on their faces that made me think they’d murder those worshippers any second now…

“Oh, that giant woman was caught too.”

Among the three or four prisoners was one woman. A woman so large she was still at eye height with the men surrounding them, even though she was sitting on the ground.

“Seems like Taddick got that under control, though. Mhm, Yumi, is the magician among those?”
“Eh, one moment… No, he isn’t.”
“Good. They’re a pain to deal with. Can’t really keep them captive.”

In other words, it was good that he was dead.

“So, changing the topic a little. What was your impression so far? Regarding all of this?”
“Eh, my impression?”
“Yes.”
“Well…”

I thought for a moment, pondered over what I had experienced just now.

“It ended quickly. Or more like, one moment we were running to the village and the next it was already over… I don’t know… I feel a little...”
“... Unsatisfied?”
“Err, I don’t know if I would call it that… It bothers me, though…”

It was like an itch you couldn’t scratch… If this was me feeling unsatisfied… Then what was it that I had been expecting? A grand melee, mercenaries fighting, combat to the death… And me standing in the back having to watch it… Such things?

“I think I just expected something a little different…”
“Is that so. Well, that’s what happens when you overwhelmingly beat down the other party. How about you, Karen? Feeling the same?”

I glanced at Karen next to me and saw her nodding to his question.

“I thought I’d have to do my best protecting Yumi and possibly fighting those worshippers… In the end, I haven’t… done a single thing.”
“Mh… But isn’t that a good thing?”
“A good thing?”

She tilted her head at Korwen’s question.

“If you don’t have to step in, that means things went well up to that point. I mean, think about it. You two are both still completely green behind the ears. If we needed you two to fight at all costs, then we clearly failed at our job.”

That… was one way to look at it.

“Of course, I do intend to make use of you all the same. And we’ll get you trained up to the point that you two as well can at least shoot a crossbow.”

Hopefully, well enough that I could actually hit something too…

“And with that out of the way… Yumi, I want you to do something.”
“Nn? What is it?”
“Those tentacles growing from your mana crystals. I want you to cover each entrance of the village.”
“Eh?”

He wanted me to make the tentacle growth grow here?

“According to what Fenna told me, they can attack and fight to a degree, right?”
“Uhm, they did kill the ropers in the pitfall but…”
“That’s already good enough. If you can get some pitfalls set up as well, that’d be even better.”
“Okay… But, may I ask why?”
“... Because we might need them in the worst case. This job isn’t over yet.”

In the worst case…

“Mr Captain... What do you mean with that?”
“The same as before, Karen. Where is Yumelia? Where is that other magician? Where are the other worshippers? The ones we fought here are not even remotely as many as Will told us.”
“You think they might come back here?”
“... They might.”

Then, this really wasn’t over yet…

“Nn, understood. Uhm… But, the other mercenaries will definitely notice them…”
“Just say it’s your kind of magic. We already discussed our plans, didn’t we? The more of my men already know in advance and can get used to it, the less they will complain afterwards.”
“Got it.”

If that’s what he had decided. Good thing I had brought along my mana crystals for such a case.

“Ah, and… if you see the Elder, have her help you out.”
“Nn?”

The… elder? Speaking of which… where was she? When did she disappear?

“Will do… When we see her.”
“Good. Get to it.”
“Understood, Captain!”
“Yes, Mr Captain!”