Fun Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord (Novel) - Chapter 80 - They Just Happened to Be Weaklings

Chapter 80 – They Just Happened to Be Weaklings

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Watching from atop the wall, most people were simply astonished.

To begin with, the enemy had failed even to confirm the inside of the town, yet then circled around and appeared in front of the village.

Had it never occurred to them that if soldiers were lying in wait inside the town, they would be trapped in a pincer attack?

“Th-They’re here! Ready the ballistas!”

The villagers were panicking because a knight order was advancing on them, but the experienced men of war, such as the king, the chancellor, the viscount, and Dee, looked too exasperated even to speak.

“Look at them, just trudging right on over.”

The king muttered that, and Panamera let out a sigh.

“At this point, it is a matter of boiling them or roasting them. Shall I burn them, but only lightly enough not to kill them?”

Panamera said something outrageous while shrugging, but no one around her voiced any particular objection.

That said, it was still not entirely clear whether that sort of response would be appropriate for this opponent. Simply by trespassing into the territory without permission, they were undoubtedly engaging in hostile action, but perhaps they were truly just astonishingly stupid and in fact nothing more than messengers from the Kingdom of Yerinetta.

“For the moment, perhaps I’ll at least hear what they want. I’m also curious why they crossed the border with such a half-hearted number.”

When I said that, those around me fell silent. It seemed they were prepared to respect my opinion as the lord.

“All right then. Till, Kamushin. Prepare the anti-air weapon!”

“Lord Van. Is the ballista type fine?”

“Mm. In the end, the catapult type still isn’t stable. So for now, let’s prepare all of the ballista type ones. Get them ready to fire.”

“Yes!”

At my instructions, the two of them ran quickly to make preparations.

It did not seem the wyvern intended to attack just yet. However, the knight order down below drew their weapons, raised their shields, and began advancing.

“This is hard to judge. With the Four Elemental Magics, would that already be within attack range, Viscount Panamera?”

When I asked that, Panamera grunted.

“It can reach, but from chanting to manifestation to impact, it still takes a fair bit of time. Against human opponents, that amount of time gives them the chance to respond. And at long range, the number of times it can be used is limited. In actual battle, around a hundred meters or less would be the more effective distance.”

“Indeed. In war, one assumes the enemy will also have Four Elements mages. In order to avoid wasting mana, one must choose carefully when to use magic.”

King Dino added that supplementary explanation to Panamera’s words.

I see.

Then this idiotically straightforward advance isn’t quite the reckless blunder it first appeared to be?

While I was thinking that, Aperta let out a deep sigh.

“Well, that said, they are still idiots.”

“Mm.”

“It makes one want to kill their commander.”

At Aperta’s single remark, the other two gave equally harsh answers.

Well, I suppose that’s fair enough.

“And while we’re talking, they’ve gotten pretty close, haven’t they?”

With that said, I took in a deep breath.

“This is Baron Van’s territory, Seat Village! Please tell us your affiliation!”

As a test, I called that down to them.

At once, Panamera burst out laughing beside me.

“As lacking in tension as ever… Look, even they’re laughing.”

Laughing as she said that, Panamera glanced down at the enemy knight order laughing below. Mm. Definitely enemies. How rude of them. They deserve execution.

Just as I was thinking that, a reply came from the other side.

“We have come to investigate this village! This village was not supposed to have walls like these, so why has it become such a fortress city!?”

Hmm, they’re being vague. We asked for your affiliation.

“Nine times out of ten, they are a knight order belonging to some noble house of the Kingdom of Yerinetta. The fact that they crossed the border accompanied by a wyvern is troubling, but given how utterly foolish they are, it may simply be that they thought nothing of it.”

The king made that guess for me.

Using that as a guide, I responded vaguely and tried baiting them, and they promptly admitted they were from the Kingdom of Yerinetta.

An easy enemy to deal with.

As soon as I started having a little too much fun, though, they grew enraged. Even so, what they shouted was childish beyond belief.

“I-It’s an idiot! There’s an idiot there! Wahahaha! If every enemy were like this, war would be easy!”

“Quite so indeed.”

Even the king and the others started pointing and laughing. I understood the feeling, but wished they would not provoke the enemy too much.

That was what I thought as I continued the exchange in a suitably careless way, but the enemy did nothing but seethe with anger.

“A wyvern can attack from the air!”

I even heard that shouted up at us.

Wyverns do not breathe breath attacks. But if they come charging in, they are still more than enough of a threat.

“How are the preparations?”

When I called out, Till and Kamushin were just finishing their preparations for the anti-air ballistas.

They were large, and of an unusual design, with a cannon-like barrel at the center. There were long narrow slots on both sides, through which the string passed like a rail.

And the ammunition was a barrel.

The bottom portion touching the string was made of solid Wood Block, but everything else was made deliberately fragile.

When fired, the barrel broke apart as it passed over a step fitted at the end of the barrel. Then, the shuriken were scattered through the air at high speed.

With this, even magical beasts free to move through the sky should find evasion difficult.

So I decided to test it.

I had them adjust the angle toward the oncoming wyvern.

“All right, Kamushin! Fire!”

“Yes, sir!”

Wanting first to see how one shot would do, I gave Kamushin the order.

Kamushin activated the ballista, and just as planned, the barrel shattered apart as it was launched.

The black rain of countless shuriken spread all at once through the sky.

Since the ballista had been designed from the start as a single-shot weapon, everything about it had been tuned purely for power.

The rain of shuriken, launched at high speed, collided with the wyvern, which was itself flying at high speed.

The result was just as expected: the wyvern fell in a thoroughly miserable state.

And then, at that moment, I realized I had neglected to think of something.

“Ah, I didn’t think about where it would crash.”

The instant I muttered that, the descending wyvern disappeared from sight in front of me and then struck the wall a little below with a tremendous crash. A deafening sound rang out, and at the same time the ground under our feet shook as though in an earthquake.

“…It didn’t break? That was close. If it had been a dragon larger than a wyvern, the wall might really have broken.”

When I said that with a wry smile, the king and the others blinked and peered down at the fallen wyvern.

“…That wyvern’s body is riddled with holes…”

“…A ridiculous level of power. If such a thing were used outside of defense, it would become a threat comparable to the Four Elemental Magics. Depending on how long it takes to create…”

The two of them were discussing the anti-air ballista with grave expressions, but the situation on the ground was far beyond that.

Because the shuriken, powerful enough that some angles would let them pierce even a wyvern, had truly rained down over the field.

Outside the village was now a scene of hell, filled with screams.

“All right, I suppose I’ll go talk to them directly.”
Saying that, I looked over the enemy knight order, which seemed effectively annihilated.
“It would be wiser to disarm them first, would it not?”
“It’s all right, Your Majesty. I have excellent subordinates with me.”
When I answered the king’s concern that way, Dee, Espada, and the others stepped in front of me.
We went down from the wall, lowered the bridge, and had the gate opened.
My subordinates quickly took up positions so they could move at any moment, but being sent out while being guarded so heavily felt kind of embarrassing, so I had them split off to the left and right.
“Now then, let’s conduct some questioning. It’d be nice if they honestly confessed everything.”
Laughing, I muttered that and looked toward the man standing there stunned, a scattered shuriken in his hand.