WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle
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◈ The Wandering Knight and the Moving Castle ◈
Chapter 70: Northern Debut (2)
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Baron Est was not the only lord facing an urgent crisis. Whether it worked or not, many others had sent pleas for help in every direction.
Countless people hoped to profit from the chaos in the north, by fair means or foul.
It was inevitable that Eugene's army would encounter other mercenary companies while marching.
Unlike Bonyard City on the border, this was the heart of a troubled land. Even the smallest groups had forty or fifty members, while some numbered over a hundred.
“Dark Elves?”
“Hey, don't stare. You might pick a fight for no reason.”
Even mercenaries who roamed dangerous lands like wild dogs lowered their eyes and behaved themselves.
A skirmishing force armed entirely with composite bows was among the few forces that even knights hesitated to charge.
Furthermore, many of the tribal warriors accompanying Eugene were mounted archers suited to the Roman plains.
“Rex, may I take a look at your bow for a moment?”
“Of course.”
Rex handed Eugene his bow. The stave was thick, with many crooked sections that looked unfinished at first glance.
“Merely looking at it would have been enough.”
“To properly understand a bow, you need to hold it yourself and twang the string.”
“Thank you.”
To a Dark Elf, a bow meant even more than a knight's sword. It was a symbol of a warrior's pride and could also be used to court a lover.
The same was true when the head of a house passed leadership to a successor. Humans symbolically handed over a sword, while Dark Elves gave a bow.
“I didn't know you were interested in bows, Sir Knight. Don't most knights dislike them as cowardly weapons?”
Knights hated ranged weapons. It was tragic for a noble knight, who had trained through blood and sweat, to die to the bolt of a lowly mercenary.
That was why mercenaries threw away their crossbows first when surrendering on the battlefield. Even knights who showed mercy to ordinary soldiers often killed crossbowmen without hesitation.
“I've always been interested in bows. When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a hunter.”
Twitch.
Varda, who was nearby, pricked up her long ears.
Haind and the mercenary captain also stopped chatting and listened. Eugene rarely spoke about his past.
Only Homi stroked her warhorse Sandy as if she had no interest. Having spent so much time with him, she already knew the story.
“What? Do you think being a hunter wouldn't suit me?”
“Of course not. A brave knight like you, hunting?”
“It's true. If I hadn't met my master and become a knight... I probably would've lived in the mountains near the border with Homi, catching rabbits and pheasants. We would've gathered herbs and mushrooms to sell too.”
Rex and everyone nearby looked as if they couldn't believe it.
It was not the sort of thing one would expect from someone who had slain magical beasts, destroyed a golem with a single blunt weapon, and smashed through a city gate to capture a fortress.
“Anyway, I'm still interested in bows, even now that I'm a knight. The mercenaries we pass are scared because of the bows you carry, aren't they?”
“If anyone touches us, we chase them to the ends of Hell and put arrows in them.”
“When I visited the camps of several houses during the festival, I couldn't help but think more highly of bows.”
“Ah! So you saw that.”
Just as Eugene had displayed his Wendigo trophy, each tribe had hung up trophies from the monsters they had hunted during the festival.
Even small tribes possessed trophies that far surpassed those of most human noble houses.
The blood shed while hunting them must have been far less than what human knights and soldiers would have spilled.
“Come to think of it, I've never seen you neglect your bows. I heard composite bows were difficult to maintain.”
“Our bows are special. Touch the green leaves attached to them.”
Rex pointed to several green leaves fixed to the bow.
“So they weren't just decorations.”
They felt springy under Eugene's fingertips, as if they were alive and breathing.
“Yes. Our bows are closer to half-living creatures. Minor damage repairs itself, and even if they get wet, they regain their original elasticity once dry.”
“That truly is remarkable.”
Eugene was sincerely impressed.
Composite bows, made by gluing elastic materials together, could maintain immense power while remaining compact.
They were ideal weapons for mounted archers, but they were naturally vulnerable to moisture and had poor durability.
Yet the Dark Elves' composite bows were treasures that overcame those weaknesses. Of course, they were not without flaws.
“In terms of pure power, they are slightly weaker than human composite bows.”
“That is a minor drawback.”
The fact that a composite bow could retain its durability without being affected by the environment was an enormous advantage.
Archers could grow accustomed to consistent trajectories and range. The more skilled they became, the more precise their aim would be.
“Is making living bows a kind of magic?”
“We consider it a craft. Still, only a race that has received the blessing of the forest can handle this secret art, so I suppose it could be called magic.”
Eugene returned the bow to Rex.
“If you wish, I can make one for you. With your strength, it would have to be specially made.”
“Please do. If possible, make one for Homi as well.”
“Leave it to me.”
Rex smiled with satisfaction, perhaps pleased that Eugene would carry the same weapon as them.
Their relationship was already bound by an alliance between their houses, but Rex hoped to share even more with this great knight.
* * *
When they were not far from Baron Est's fief, a tribal scout reported in.
“There is a battlefield and corpses ahead. Judging by their condition, it has been less than an hour.”
“Who were they?”
“They appear to be pirates. The corpses have the muscles of both oarsmen and warriors. Those are the traits of Inland Sea raiders.”
When tribal scouts found corpses, they stripped them naked and examined every detail.
Their people had traveled throughout the continent, gathering knowledge and expertise for centuries. The warriors who inherited that legacy gathered information of a different quality and quantity from even a simple investigation.
“Judging from the tracks, there is likely a large battle happening somewhere nearby. Shall we send out fresh scouts?”
“No. I'll check it myself. We may have to fight immediately, depending on the situation. Homi!”
At times like this, her unmatched hearing and sense of smell were reassuring.
“What is her secret?”
“No beastkin, no, not even a hunting dog could do that.”
The Dark Elves valued victory as much as strength. A talent that made victory easier always earned deep respect.
Eugene and the swift mounted archers rode after Homi as she took the lead.
The riders wore light leather armor. Their warhorses, bred for speed and endurance, displayed astonishing mobility.
It did not take long before faint sounds reached them. The clashing of iron, shouts, screams, curses, and insults began crashing over them like waves.
“It is a noble army and pirates.”
“It seems they were attacked while coming to support a nearby fief.”
A large battle was taking place in an open area. Pirates had half-surrounded troops carrying a noble banner and were attacking fiercely.
The noble army was not fully encircled, but it appeared to have been caught from behind while trying to retreat, forcing them to fight.
There were nearly three hundred people in total. Though outnumbered, the noble army had held on by putting heavily armored soldiers and knights at the front, but they were slowly being pushed back.
“We will join them.”
Eugene drew his long-handled flail. The more breakwaters there were before Northfork, and the fewer pests, the better.
The pirates, on the other hand, were thrilled by their approaching victory.
“Not much longer! Keep pressing them!”
“Don't kill the noble! That bastard's ransom is worth more than a hundred of your lives!”
They had desperately chased down and barely cut off the noble trying to escape. The pirates were blinded by greed.
This was not just any noble. The lord had personally taken the field. If they captured the lord, they would make a fortune overnight.
Their vigilance in all directions had weakened, so only a few pirates in the rear noticed the cavalry approaching from behind.
“W-wait! Cavalry behind us... Urk!”
The pirates who tried to warn the others collapsed after being struck by arrows.
* * *
There were two main ways to quickly identify an army on the battlefield.
The first was to look at its banners. Even illiterate mercenary captains desperately memorized the symbols of noble houses and mercenary companies.
That seemingly trivial knowledge could decide whether they walked into a lion's mouth or grasped a rope of salvation.
Mercenary companies numbering in the hundreds sometimes even traveled with scholars who specialized in memorizing heraldry.
The second method was the sound of horns.
Unlike banners, which could be difficult to make out depending on the distance or wind, horns were much more direct.
Still, one had to hear a horn on the battlefield before recognizing it, making it difficult to identify an enemy army that way.
Bwoo!
“Damn it! It's the pointy-eared bastards!”
“Aaah! Shields! Shields!”
The fact that the horn call was known meant the army's danger was beyond imagination.
Mounted archers fully clad in leather armor and wearing black cloaks approached with their bows drawn.
The pirates screamed as if they had encountered a storm at sea.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Thunk!
The sound of arrows cutting through the air and piercing flesh rang out at once.
As the rear ranks clutched their vital points and fell in heaps, the mood of the battlefield changed at once.
“Reinforcements!”
The noble army, which had been fighting desperately, roared as its morale surged.
“My lord! It is dangerous! Please fall back!”
“I won't! Now is the time to give everything we have!”
Despite the escort knight's attempts to stop the lord, the lord swung a sword and stepped forward.
“Heavily armored soldiers, forward! The pirates are the ones surrounded now! Do not leave our righteous rescuers to fight alone!”
To protect the lord leading the charge, the knights and heavily armored soldiers of the house rushed forward with fierce momentum.
The pirates, who had already broken formation while rushing in, fell into confusion as they were suddenly attacked from both front and rear.
Eugene realized that the tribal mounted archers were not simply focused on killing as many people as possible.
‘They fight with incredible intelligence.’
Like a potter shaping clay, they used arrows to sculpt the battlefield. They spent more time watching the enemy's formation as a whole than looking at individual targets.
“Spearmen! Shieldmen! Get out there at on...”
Swish, swish, swish.
“Urgh!”
“Captain!”
The pirate issuing orders collapsed after being hit by nearly ten arrows.
Whenever they spotted a veteran who looked like a unit commander issuing orders, they immediately concentrated their fire on them.
As this happened again and again, only ordinary soldiers remained in the rear, stumbling about in chaos.
Even when pirates carrying shields reached the rear, it did little good.
“Aaaagh!”
Arrows struck precisely at exposed areas such as ankles and shoulders. Not a single arrow lodged in a shield.
“Come at us, you bastards!”
The spear-wielding pirates glared with venom in their eyes, but the mounted archers turned their horses around from ten meters away.
“Ghk!”
“Argh!”
Even as they wheeled around, they twisted their waists with ease and stubbornly loosed arrows. The pirates ground their teeth at their viciousness.
If they broke formation to chase them, even more people would die. Infantry could not catch cavalry in the first place.
“Don't panic!”
“There aren't many of them!”
The pirates realized that there were only dozens of attackers.
“Would you be saying that if you were at the front?”
“They're coming again!”
The pirates in the front were driven mad by their comrades shouting from behind.
Once more, black-cloaked reapers charged toward them to claim dozens of lives, and the pirates trembled.
This time, though, something was different.
Flutter!
At their head was a huge knight wearing a cloak incomparably more splendid than theirs.
“W-what is that?”
As the knight swung an enormous, strangely shaped long-handled flail in circles, a black vortex formed in the air and seized everyone's attention.
Splat!
An unlucky pirate made a dreadful sound as the contents of their head scattered in every direction.
Eugene did not stop there and continued smashing in pirate skulls.
Each time the mass of iron, made from three maces, struck with a horrifying sound, fountains erupted from the bodies.
Crunch!
Blocking with shields was useless. The three chained mace heads whipped over the shields and crushed the backs of heads, necks, and shoulders.
Arrows pierced the exposed abdomens left open when the shields were raised. The pirates' poor armor made it all the more lethal.
Thunk!
The pirates screamed at the sight of arrowheads protruding from their comrades' backs, with intestines caught on them.
Crunch!
Splaash!
The contents of shattered heads rained down over them.
“Eek!”
“It is over! We have to run!”
Some collapsed and wet themselves, while others clutched their heads and hid behind their comrades.
Clench.
Eugene tightened his grip on the long-handled flail.
‘I’ve got to smash more heads!’
It was not because he was sadistic or cruel. It was a performance meant to shatter the enemy's will to fight.
The spear-wielders pointed their weapons with trembling hands, but Eugene's reach was longer.
To avoid the risk of the chain catching, he swung the long-handled flail low, crushing the spearmen's ankles and shins.
“My leg!”
“L-let go, you idiot!”
Crippled pirates clung to the trouser legs of nearby comrades.
Neither Eugene nor the Dark Elves paid them any attention. Those infected by pain and fear only made things easier for their attackers.
They had to spread an unfamiliar experience and the fear of death like a plague.
Soon, Eugene's main force arrived, and additional mounted archers and heavily armored cavalry charged in.
Bwoo!
Horses' hooves shook the ground alongside the horns.
The pirates threw down their weapons, weeping and shoving aside their comrades as they began to flee.
Footnotes:
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