Water Magician - Chapter 421: Hafrena Defense (1)

Editor: Tseirp

“Hey, Scotty. Those patrol guys, they didn’t get hurt, right?”

“Yeah. Looks like they were saved just in time by Evans and his crew. Both the patrol team and the First Caravan seem to have no casualties… but they’ve lost a lot of blood. Everyone’s resting at the mansion. I heard Evans and the Third Caravan folks are helping with medical care.”

Conversation between the company commanders of the Royal Knights.

Both Zack and Scotty are official company commanders.

Above them, are only a few battalion commanders and the knight captain…

It can be said that they are in a high position even among the Royal Knights.

In the current Royal Knights, company commanders command fifty knights each.

Since knights usually have squires, they effectively lead fifty knights and fifty squires.

Here in Hafrena, there are two companies of the Royal Knights stationed.

Excluding large cities like Redpost, this can be considered the most well-defended area along the eastern border.

Conversely, if they can’t win with this, then it’s hopeless…

At such a time.

“Commander! There’s a signal fire coming from the north!”

Upon hearing the voice, the two hurried to the city wall and looked north.

“Is that… around Buso Village?”

“Probably. Looks like they’re attacking villages without walls.”

These past few days, villages without walls and traveling caravans have been under attack.

“Alright, let’s go. Zack, I’ll leave the place to you.”

“Scotty, are you really going? It’s almost night…”

Zack was a bit hesitant over Scotty’s words.

“Well, that’s what we agreed on. We take turns going out. And it’s our turn this time.”

Scotty said with a wry smile.

He too was responsible for his subordinates.

And didn’t want to needlessly endanger his subordinates… even if it was the duty of the knights.

However…

“The revival of the Royal Knights… we have to demonstrate it through our actions. As His Majesty Abel said.”

With those words, Scotty gathered his subordinates and set out from the city of Hafrena.

“Scotty-dono has departed, I see.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Viscountess of Hafrena, Mirabel Power spoke to Zack, who was watching Scotty’s squad head north from atop the city walls.

(Despite her last name, Power, she’s a beautiful woman…)

Zack thought.

But he quickly shook his head in his mind.

(No, my heart only belongs to Sera-san!)

The world is quite complicated…

“About fifty knights headed north.”

“Hmm. So they’ve split up their forces. For a strategy I wasn’t expecting much from, it’s not bad.”

Muttering upon receiving the report from his subordinate was Oranj, one of the four generals of the Djinn Garwin.

This place was deep within the forest, with a distant view of the city of Hafrena.

A unit of ‘physical soldiers’ led by Oranj was lurking there.

Unlike the ‘phantom soldiers’ created by Garwin, these ‘physical soldiers’ had clear physical forms.

In fact, they were humans.

However, they lacked individuality or will.

But there were exceptions.

It wasn’t practical for a single general to gather information, give instructions, and direct the entire army.

Therefore, Garwin could create high-ranking physical soldiers among the ‘physical soldiers’.

These high-ranking physical soldiers could serve as lieutenants or squad commanders.

Reporting to Oranj since earlier was Grüne, a lieutenant among the high-ranking physical soldiers who would later lead the unit on the frontline, and Blüne, who was slated to lead a squad as well.

Unlike other physical soldiers, Grüne and Blüne were hardly different from ordinary humans.

Grüne had green hair, while Blüne had blue.

Their appearances were those of young men in their mid-twenties, but they had not actually lived for over twenty years; they were essentially newborns, implanted with Garwin’s knowledge…

Experience-wise, they were extremely questionable.

Oranj secretly thought.

“Alright, as planned, we’ll launch a night raid. Prepare yourselves.”

It was soon after dark.

“Uuh…”

An arrow pierced the throat of a Hafrena guard stationed in the watchtower.

At that moment, multiple grappling hooks latched onto the city walls.

Shortly after, figures started ascending via those hooks.

A head emerged cautiously from atop the city wall.

Swish.

An arrow pierced the exposed face, causing it to fall outside without a sound.

A man clad in red armor.

“Damn, they actually came. Hurry! Royal Knights, get up on the city walls and stop their intrusion! Archers and squires, shoot down anyone attempting to climb up!”

Zack shouted loudly.

The men in red armor.

Even in the tumultuous regions of the Union where they’re active, attacking walled cities was unheard of… this understanding had spread widely, and indeed, there had never been an attack on a city within the Kingdom’s borders…

Zack, however, had been considering the possibility.

The timing of the smoke signals from the direction of Buso Village was just too perfect.

Nevertheless, his level of preparedness was merely to err on the side of caution.

Hence, the watchtower was compromised…

He never expected a direct attempt to scale the walls so suddenly.

“Ugh… geez! I really hate defensive battles… Scotty should’ve stayed, and I should’ve gone to the village instead.”

Zack muttered under his breath.

It was a voice soft enough that his subordinates wouldn’t hear.

He was in a position to command fifty knights and oversee a hundred squires, after all.

As a commander, he realized there were words he shouldn’t utter.

Thus, the curtain fell on the defense of Hafrena.

On the front lines, Blüne was issuing orders… but it was evident to everyone that the assault wasn’t going smoothly.

Especially to General Oranj.

“Isolda said to let them gain experience, but is it really possible…? If we want them to gain experience, shouldn’t we start with training? Certainly, real combat experience is the most valuable and can’t compare to training, but… ‘physical soldiers’ can die just like normal people.”

A surprisingly sensible comment from Oranj, whose appearance and demeanor made it hard to imagine such thoughts.

Nevertheless…

“I personally detest siege battles, so there’s not much I can do.”

Even the minions of Djinns had their strengths and weaknesses…

“Isolda said that the experiences Grüne and Blüne gain will become Garwin-sama’s experiences, but I find that hard to believe… If that were the case until now… Garwin-sama would be a bit wiser…”

At that moment, Oranj glanced back diagonally.

There stood his deputy, Grüne.

His expression remained unchanged.

But…

“Grüne, don’t mention what I just said to Garwin-sama.”

It was a gag order!

“…”

Grüne said nothing.

Silent and expressionless.

“Grüne, are you listening?”

“…Understood.”

Oranj spoke sternly, and Grüne bowed his head in response.

While harboring a slight unease… Oranj directed his gaze forward.

Around Oranj, there were only about twenty ‘physical soldiers’.

All other ‘physical soldiers’, numbering over three hundred, were deployed for the siege.

The command of this was undertaken by Blüne, a high-ranking minion.

The followers of the Djinn Garwin can roughly be divided into three types.

Firstly, there are the top-ranking followers, the Four Generals like Oranj.

They always serve Garwin, transcending eras.

Simply put, the Four Generals also revive with Garwin’s resurrection.

Next are the high-ranking followers like Grüne and Blüne.

These are newly created each time Garwin is resurrected.

As a result, memories are not inherited.

However, it seems that Garwin implants his own memories each time he creates them…

Lastly, there are the lesser entities.

Be it the ‘physical troops’ or ‘phantom troops’… and even small creatures like the djinn bugs.

To be frank, they are disposable.

Even the ‘physical troops’, which require considerable effort to create, are disposable from Garwin’s perspective.

All for the sake of Garwin’s complete awakening.

By extinguishing the lives of many humans from the eastern region of the Kingdom to the western region of the Union, Garwin draws closer to complete awakening.

…Apparently.

In truth, Oranj didn’t really understand it.

“Such a hassle.”

With that single phrase, everything was summed up…

An hour had passed since the defense of Hafrena began.

The defense led by the Hafrena garrison and the Royal Knights showed no major flaws.

Considering that each individual is facing off against the powerful ‘physical troops’ of the Djinn, this could be considered quite an impressive feat.

Of course, there are reasons for that.

“Do not let them onto the walls! The moment they climb up, it’s over!”

Zack Cooler, company commander of the Royal Knights, shouted.

On the walls, Royal Knights with spears lined up, pushed down the red-armored knights climbing the walls from above.

While they stand no chance in a fair one-on-one fight, they could manage somehow against the ‘physical troops’ climbing with both hands occupied!

Furthermore, from the watchtower, the Hafrena garrison were showering arrows and magic onto the red-armored soldiers who were trying to climb the walls or break through the gates.

The command of this was being conducted by Viscountess Mirabel Power of Hafrena herself.

The lord herself taking command of the defense.

That was inevitable.

Despite having arranged for the recruitment of talents for the revitalization of the territory through connections with the temple, personnel related to internal affairs inevitably took precedence.

If the territory doesn’t become prosperous, it won’t be able to sustain its defense, nor feed its army.

So, internal affairs come first.

It’s just the order of things.

Yes, even for territories close to the borders.

Furthermore, there was a more realistic reason.

Within the temple’s network, there’s inevitably a shortage of personnel capable of commanding the military…

It couldn’t be helped.

Due to various reasons like that, there was currently no one in Hafrena who could command the entire defense force…

Some can command patrols and squads, but that’s about it.

Mirabel hoped that eventually, those individuals would gain experience, and among them, talented individuals would emerge.

Mirabel herself, after becoming the lord, received some basic military command training… so she was somewhat better off than others…

Well, perhaps it was because the Royal Knights were taking care of the frontlines that things were somehow holding up.

The defense hadn’t collapsed and was proceeding smoothly.

“Ugh… such a hassle. It’s a total disaster… but if too many casualties occur, Garwin-sama will definitely be angry… and Isolda will look at me with cold eyes… Yeah, it’s probably best if I just handle it myself.”

Oranj grumbled.

Of course, no one responded to his complaint.

Even his adjutant, Grüne, remained expressionless, facing towards the city of Hafrena without turning his head.

Oranj let out a deep sigh and spoke up.

“Hey, Grüne.”

“Yes, Oranj-sama?”

“This is it for Blüne’s training.”

“…This is it?”

Seeming to not understand Oranj’s words, Grüne asked for clarification.

“I’ll go and open the gates myself.”

“Oh, I see…”

Grüne nodded, apparently understanding Oranj’s explanation.

There was no objection.

“You, too, lead this squad and join the siege. Let’s just get this over with quickly.”

“I understand.”

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