Chapter 70

Chapter 70 - Northern Debut (2)

Besides Baron Est who requested help, there are many lords whose feet are on fire. They are also in a situation where they asked for salvation all over the place regardless of whether it works or not.

There overflowed those who tried to gain profit by intervening in the North's chaos, whether through righteous methods or evil methods.

It was inevitable for Eugene's army to encounter other mercenary groups while marching.

Unlike the frontier Bonyard, because it's the middle of troubled times, the minimum was 40~50 people, and groups exceeding 100 people were also seen.

"Dark Elves?"

"Hey, hey, don't stare. We might get into a fight for no reason."

Even mercenaries who wander the dangerous lands like wild dogs lowered their eyes and acted quietly.

Because rangers, all armed with composite bows, are one of the few existences even knights are reluctant to charge at.

Moreover, the tribe warriors accompanying Eugene right now were mostly horse archers tailored to the Roman plains.

"Rex. Could I take a look at your bow for a moment?"

"Of course."

Rex handed over his bow to Eugene. The bowstave was thick, and there were many crooked places as if it were less processed at first glance.

"Just looking was enough, though."

"With a bow, you have to directly hold it in your hand and pluck the bowstring to properly know it."

"Thank you."

To Dark Elves, a bow has a greater meaning than a knight's sword. It is not only a symbol of pride as a warrior, but also used as a means of courtship between lovers.

It is the same when a family head passes the position to a successor. Humans symbolically pass down a sword, but Dark Elves give a bow.

"I didn't know you would be interested in bows, Sir Knight. Aren't they usually disliked as cowardly weapons?"

Knights detested ranged weapons. Because a noble knight who trained shedding blood and sweat dying to a lowly mercenary's bolt is a tragedy.

That is why when mercenaries surrender on the battlefield, they throw away their crossbows first. Even a knight generous to miscellaneous soldiers would ruthlessly kill crossbowmen.

"I had a lot of interest in bows. In the first place, my dream when I was young was to become a hunter."

Prick up.

Valda, who was nearby, inclined her long ears.

Hind and the mercenary captain also stopped their chitchat and focused. Because cases where Eugene talked about his past were rare.

Only Homi stroked her warhorse Sandy as if she wasn't interested. For her who has stayed together with him all along, it's a story she already knows.

"Why? Do you think I wouldn't suit being a hunter?"

"Isn't it obvious? What kind of hunter would such a brave knight be."

"It's true. If I hadn't met my master and become a knight... I would probably be living catching rabbits or pheasants in the frontier mountains with Homi. Digging up medicinal herbs and mushrooms to sell too."

Rex and everyone around had expressions of disbelief.

Because it was not something a person who executed demonic beasts, destroyed a Golem with a single blunt weapon, and smashed down and captured a castle gate would say.

"Anyway, even now that I've become a knight, I have a lot of interest in bows. Isn't the reason the mercenaries we encountered were frightened all because of the bows you guys are wearing?"

"That's because if they mess with us, we will chase them to the end of hell and plant arrows in them."

"When I looked around the camps of some families during the festival, my evaluation of bows couldn't help but go up as expected."

"Ah! So you saw that."

Just like Eugene decorated the Wendigo trophy, each tribe hung tokens of hunting monsters to show off during the festival.

Even small tribes possessed spoils at a level far surpassing fairly decent human noble families.

The blood shed in the process of catching them would have been incomparably less than what human knights and soldiers shed.

"Come to think of it, I've never not seen you guys maintaining your bows. I heard composite bows are tricky to manage."

"Our bows are special. Please touch the leaves over there."

Rex pointed to the green leaves stuck on a few places of the bow.

"Weren't they just decorations."

The sensation felt from his fingertips had elasticity as if it were breathing alive.

"Yes. Our bows are close to being half-living organisms. Minor damage self-restores, and even if they get wet, they recover their original elasticity when they dry."

"It's truly amazing."

Eugene sincerely admired it.

A composite bow, which attaches elastic materials with glue, maintains powerful might and can be miniaturized.

They are the best weapons for horse archers, but they are inherently vulnerable to moisture and have low durability.

However, the Dark Elves' composite bows are treasures that overcame those disadvantages. Of course, it's not without regrettable points.

"Looking purely at the might alone, they are on the slightly weaker side compared to human composite bows."

"It's a trivial disadvantage."

The composite bow maintaining its durability without the influence of the environment was a tremendous advantage.

The fact that shooters always get used to a constant trajectory and flight distance. That means their accuracy rate becomes rapidly precise as they get skilled.

"Is making a living bow also a kind of magic?"

"We recognize it as a technique. Well, it's a secret art that only the race that received the blessing of the forest can handle, so it could also be seen as magic."

Eugene returned the bow to Rex.

"If you want, I will make one for you. Since your strength is so good, as a special custom-made product tailored to that."

"I ask of you. If possible, Homi's too."

"Leave it to me."

Rex smiled brightly whether he was anticipating Eugene carrying the same weapon as them on his back.

They are a relationship already tied by a covenant of family to family, but Rex hoped to share more things with this great knight.

* * *

When not much distance was left to Baron Est's territory, a tribe scout reported.

"There is a battle scene and corpses ahead. Judging by the state, it shouldn't have been even an hour."

"Bastards from where?"

"It seems they are pirates. Because muscles of oarsmen and warriors were discovered together on the corpses. It is a characteristic of inland sea plunderers."

When tribe scouts discover corpses, they strip them naked and check everything down to the detailed parts.

Knowledge and know-how accumulated for over hundreds of years traveling all over the continent. The warriors who inherited this had a different quality and quantity of information brought back from a simple investigation.

"Judging from the traces on the road, there is a high probability they are fighting on a large scale somewhere. Shall we send new scouts?"

"No. I will check it personally. Because if push comes to shove, we might have to fight as is. Homi!"

At times like this, her existence, unrivaled in both hearing and smell, was reliable.

"Just what on earth is her secret?"

"No beastman, no, not even a hunting dog can ever reach that level."

What Dark Elves follow no less than strength is victory. Talents that make that victory easy always received deep respect.

Eugene and the nimble horse archers pushed their horses following Homi in the lead.

Riders wearing light leather armor. Warhorses improved centering on speed and endurance displayed surprising mobility.

It didn't take long for faint noises to be heard. The sound of iron clashing against iron, roars, screams, curses, and swear words began to surge in like waves.

"It's a noble army and pirates."

"It seems they were ambushed while coming from a neighboring territory to support."

A large battle was taking place in a wide area. Surrounded by pirates halfway, the troops holding noble flags are being fiercely attacked.

They weren't surrounded, but it's a shape where they are fighting inevitably after having their rears caught while trying to retreat.

The numbers were close to 300 combining both sides. Even in numerical inferiority, the noble army held out putting heavy infantry and knights at the front, but they are gradually being pushed back.

"We will also join."

Eugene drew his flail. The more breakwaters and the fewer pests up to Northfork, the better.

Meanwhile, the pirates heavily excited ahead of victory were in high spirits.

"Not much left! We keep driving them in like this!"

"Don't kill the noble! That guy's ransom is more important than 100 of your lives!"

A situation where they urgently chased and barely tied down the noble desperately trying to escape. All the pirates' eyes were blinded by gold.

Because it wasn't just a noble, but a situation where the lord directly went to battle, so if they just caught him, they could grasp a sudden fortune.

Thanks to that, their perimeter vigilance weakened, and the ones who noticed the cavalry appearing behind them were only a few pirates in the rear guard.

"W-Wait! Calvary in the rear... Keok!"

Those who turned pale with fright and tried to warn fell after being hit by arrows.

* * *

There are broadly two ways to quickly grasp the identity of an army on the battlefield.

First is looking at the flags. Even illiterate mercenary captains desperately memorized the crests of noble families and mercenary groups.

Because that insignificant knowledge decided whether they were thrusting their heads into a lion's mouth or grabbing a rope of salvation.

Mercenary groups on a scale of hundreds of units even carried around scholars who specialized in memorizing crests.

The second method is the sound of the horn.

Unlike flags which are hard to distinguish depending on the distance or wind, horns were much more intuitive.

Instead, because one can only be familiar with it by hearing it once on the battlefield, grasping the identity of the enemy army by the horn is on the difficult side.

Ppubu-!

"Damn it! It's the pointy-eared bastards!"

"Uwaaah! Shields! Shieeelds!"

Put differently, an army to the extent that its horn sound is known means its danger transcends imagination.

The appearance of horse archers flawlessly wearing leather armor, fluttering black cloaks, and approaching while aiming their arrows.

The pirates screamed like they encountered a storm during a voyage.

Swoosh!

Thwack!

Thump!

The sound of cutting through the wind and the sound of arrowheads digging into flesh resonated simultaneously.

As the rear guard troops tumbled down in droves while clutching their vital spots, the atmosphere of the battlefield changed rapidly.

"It's reinforcements!"

The noble's army, which had been fighting strenuously, rapidly had their morale rise and let out a roar.

"My Lord! It is dangerous! Please step back!"

"I will not listen! Now is the time to give our all!"

Despite the escort knight's dissuasion, the lord stepped forward swinging his sword.

"Heavy infantrymen forward! The ones surrounded now are those pirate bastards! Do not let the righteous relief army fight alone!"

To protect the lord stepping up to the front, the knights and family heavy infantrymen also charged with fierce momentum.

The pirates, who had already come running breaking their formation, fell into chaos as they were suddenly surrounded from front and back and received intense attacks.

Meanwhile, Eugene realized that the tribe horse archers did not place their emphasis on just killing a lot.

'They fight incredibly intelligently.'

Like a potter shaping ceramics, they carved the battlefield environment with arrows. Because the time they spent looking at the overall enemy formation was longer than the time they spent looking at the targets.

"Spearmen! Shield bearers! Bounce out right n..."

Shushushuk.

"Keoheok!"

"Captain!"

The pirate giving orders fell after being hit by nearly 10 arrows.

If a vice-captain-level veteran who seemed to be giving orders around him was seen, concentrated fire poured down immediately.

As this repeated, only the miscellaneous soldiers were left in the rear, and chaos of running this way and that occurred.

Moreover, even if pirates holding shields arrived at the rear guard, it was of no use.

"Aaaagh!"

Arrows precisely flew into unprotectable spots like ankles and shoulders. Not a single arrow stuck in the shields.

"Come in! You sons of bitches!"

Pirates holding spears glared with eyes full of malice, but the horse archers turned their horse heads at a 10-meter distance.

"Kueuk!"

"Eoeok!"

Even while turning, the pirates shuddered at the viciousness of flexibly turning their waists and eventually shooting arrows.

However, if they broke formation and chased them, more deaths would occur. Because infantry cannot catch up with cavalry in the first place.

"Do not panic!"

"Their numbers are not much!"

The pirates realized that the number of attackers was only a few dozen.

"Would you say that if you were at the front?!"

"They're coming again!"

However, the pirates standing at the very front were going crazy at the shouts of their comrades in the back.

The pirates trembled in fear at the appearance of the reapers running to take dozens of lives again while fluttering black cloaks.

However, something was different this time.

Flutter!

At their vanguard was a giant knight fluttering a wonderfully unmatched cloak.

"W-What is that?"

As the knight swung a freakishly shaped large flail around, a black whirlwind was created in the sky, stealing everyone's gaze.

Smash!

An unlucky pirate scattered the contents inside his head in all directions making a terrifying sound.

Eugene didn't stop there and continuously smashed the pirates' skulls.

Every time the iron lump combining 3 maces struck down making a brutal sound, a fountain surged from the corpses.

Crunch!

Blocking with a shield is also useless. The 3 maces sectioned by chains rode over the shield and crushed the back of the head, neck, or shoulders.

Arrows unerringly penetrated the abdomen left empty because the shield went up. It was even more fatal because they were pirates with lacking armor.

Puuk!

Pirates screamed at the sight of the arrowhead protruding from their comrade's back biting into intestines.

Crunch!

Swaaaah!

From above them, the contents that surged from the smashed skulls poured down like rain.

"Hiiik!"

"It's all over! We have to run away!"

There appeared those who sat down and peed themselves, or clutched their heads and hid behind comrades.

Clench.

At that sight, Eugene gave more strength to the hand holding the flail.

'I must smash more heads!'

It wasn't particularly because he was sadistic or cruel. It was a performance to destroy the enemies' will to fight.

Those holding spears aimed with trembling hands, but the range was rather longer on Eugene's side.

The flail, swung low to avoid the danger of the chain getting caught, smashed the spearmen's ankles and shins.

"My leg!"

"L-Let go of this, you cripple!"

Crippled pirates hung on by grabbing the trouser legs of surrounding comrades.

Eugene and the Dark Elves also just left such guys alone. Bastards infected with pain and fear inherently making the attackers advantageous.

Unfamiliar experiences and the fear of death. He had to make the two spread like a plague.

Soon Eugene's main force arrived, and additional horse archers and heavy cavalry charged.

Ppubu-!

The sounds of horse hooves shaking the ground blended with the horn.

The pirates who abandoned their weapons pushed their comrades' shoulders crying and screaming, and started to run away.