We quickly finished our preparations, and everybody had already assembled when we met up.
At first glance, we were all in uniform, but aside from Epona, our equipment were slightly different since we were going to take part in a real battle.
For example, Neusch had two swords hanging on his waist and a dagger hidden inside his chest.
One of his swords was the one he used on a daily basis, and the second one was easily identifiable as a magic sword, probably his trump card.
Losing your weapons on the battlefield would lead to your death.
So he had a powerful magic sword that he normally didn’t use as his main weapon, a spare sword that he was accustomed to using every day, and even a dagger in case the worst happened.
One point worth noting was that both the first and second sword had practically the same center of gravity and weight.
The more skilled the swordsman, the more he was concerned about minor changes in weight and center of gravity.
So he made sure not to feel off when he changes weapons.
I thought he wouldn’t know about real battles, but his equipment indicated the opposite after all.
[You’re like a full-fledged warrior. Have you already been on a battlefield?] (Lugh)
[You could say that, there’s no better training ground than an actual battlefield after all. No way you don’t gain experience from that. I see you guys are raring to go too.] (Neusch)
[So you can tell?] (Lugh)
[Of course. Say, would you be willing to sell me that stuff you’re wearing if I was ready to pay for it? I kind of wish I had it.] (Neusch)
[Sorry, that’s top secret. I can’t give it up.] (Lugh)
Although the three of us from Tuatha Dé still looked the same form the outside, we were different on the inner side.
My predecessors from two generations ago in Tuatha Dé had assassinated a demon beast that had destroyed one entire city, then they butchered its body and brought it back home to leave it under the care of Tuatha Dé.
This inner wear was made by making full use of the beast’s skin and the secret arts of Tuatha Dé.
It was an exceptional item that provided protection against magic, heat, ice, sword slashes and blunt attacks, and it was so elastic it didn’t hinder my movements at all.
This was used in Tuatha Dé during battes.
[This is too tight around my chest…!] (Talt)
[…Please bear with it.] (Lugh)
However, it seemed that the secret arts of Tuatha Dé didn’t take Talt’s plump chest into account when making that inner wear.
It was made of stretchable material, but even that had its limits.
I felt sorry for her, but she would have to put up with it. Even if it was a bit hard to breathe in, its benefits outweighed its disadvantages.
[Wow, holy co- Wait, I know…! Lugh, I think it’s too tight for me as well.] (Dia)
[I-Is that so?] (Lugh)
Dia said in a whisper, but that was definitely a lie. Suffice to say that the fabric was elastic enough for her to handle it.
However, I was a gentleman, so I refrained from such remarks.
In the meantime, the time for departure had come, and everyone boarded the carriage and proceeded.
Normally, fighting a horde of orcs was within our capabilities. Here’s hoping that the military intel was correct.
_______________________________________
We reached the canyon where we would ambush the orcs.
Soldiers were there.
Every one of them were magicless.
During battles against monsters, magicless people lacked the ability to fight back, but they could play an active role in other areas such as guarding and scouting, stalling, creating positions, evacuating villagers, resupplying and contacting the headquarters.
Those who had magic possessed overwhelming power, but they couldn’t fight with that alone.
The magicless people were the reason why the magicians could focus on the battle.
The scouts had returned.
They seemed to be reporting to Rachel, who had the most authority here.
Rachel nodded and seemed to be thinking about what to tell us.
After a while, she came in our direction.
[The horde of orcs will be here in another four hours or so. For some reason, their numbers have increased. We expected 100 of them, but now they have increased to 150.] (Rachel)
She said so in a dignified tone.
A number that was 1.5 times larger was no laughing matter.
If there was such a margin of error, we should normally abort the operation and withdraw.
We waited for Rachel’s next words, but she didn’t say anything else.
In the midst of all this, Talt timidly raised her hand.
[Um, is there any strategy you might suggest?] (Talt)
[Our strategy is simple: we slaughter all the orcs in this canyon. If I had to say something, the melee combat specialists should actively fight in the front lines, and the magic specialists should fight from the back lines.] (Rachel)
This was too poorly executed to be called a strategy.
But then again, it was impossible for us, who hadn’t properly been trained to collaborate, to follow a complex strategy.
[Rachel-dono, I have a suggestion. This canyon may be perfect for intercepting the pack of orcs, but even so, the path is still too wide. Fighting 150 orcs head on would be paramount to suicide.] (Lugh)
The path was roughly 7 or 8 meters large, and even with their giant bodies, this was enough for 5 or 6 orcs to line up.
If as many as 6 orcs marched on, they would break through the vanguard, surround and attack them from all directions, and the rearguard wouldn’t have the time to cast magic.
We, who were already outnumbered, would end up at a disadvantage.
[But there’s no better location than here.] (Rachel)
[As far as what the map can show us, that’s right. In that case, we can change the terrain. Dia and I can use earth magic to narrow the path’s width. If we build earthen walls that gently declines like this, we can make it so that only about two orcs can get through.] (Lugh)
I drew a simple picture on a piece of paper.
As I said orally, the earthen walls were arranged diagonally so as to connect to the walls of the canyon, reshaping the terrain into an increasingly declining landscape.
The advantage in doing this was that it would reduce the number of orcs we’d have to deal with at once.
Moreover, the earthen walls would also serve as protection. The rearguards would be able to safely fire magic from behind the walls in a parabolic trajectory.
I wish I could close up the walls completely, but since it could dissuade the orcs from marching on and convince them to take a detour, I prepared a gap that was barely large enough for three of them to pass through.
[That’s an interesting idea. But do you have enough mana to build those earthen walls?] (Rachel)
[It won’t be a problem for me and Dia. If we’re going to engage the enemy in four hours, then we’ll have the time to quickly build the walls, and if we take the time to rest, we will recover a considerable portion of our mana.] (Lugh)
[I’m in favor. What about you?] (Rachel)
Rachel asked our instructor.
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