Knight’s & Magic: Volume 1, page 18
★★★
Let us rewind time to a little after the knight department students of Laihiala Knight Runner Academy had departed Jantunen for Croquet Forest.
Like ships passing in the night, a single silhouette knight arrived in Jantunen from the eastern gate. The knight runner must have been in a great hurry, as he was haggard and exhausted—but as he approached, the knight who was guarding the gate walked toward him nevertheless. The knight was surprised at this sudden event, but as he listened to what the knight runner had to say, his face turned pale and he ran off at full speed to make a report.
“Is that... Is that true?!”
After hearing the report from his subordinate, the face of the captain of the guardian knight order of Jantunen, Phillip Halhaagen, changed color. His vice-captain Gottfried Hyvärinen, who had been with him in his captain’s office, kept his stoic look, but his face had also turned pale. This was a testament to the impact of what had been reported to them.
“It is, sir! Owing to an attack from a division-class monster, a behemoth, Fort Balguerie has fallen. The garrison there is also most likely decimated. The behemoth then continued into the country, and is heading west. It’s expected that eventually, it will approach Jantunen!”
A sudden invasion by a division-class monster. This situation, which could only be described as a nightmare, threatened to give Phillip a headache. However, this was no time for the leader of a knight order to have his head in the clouds. The silver lining was that because of the efforts of the knight runner who had reported to them, they had some time before the behemoth would appear. In situations like this, time was of the utmost importance.
“Gaghh... Hurry, recall all the knights who are currently deployed near Jantunen! It’s an emergency. This takes priority over any and all ongoing missions!”
The subordinate who had reported to him repeated the order to show that he had understood it before snapping a salute and running back the way he came. After that, Phillip and Gottfried left the captain’s office and hastened for the meeting room.
“A behemoth... No matter how well equipped Jantunen is, it can’t stand up to the power of a division-class. Only the capital has the strength to do that.”
“The distinction between classes is only for reference. All it says is that it’s a monster that can easily be defeated with a division’s worth of silhouette knights. With our current complement, we should be able to kill it as long as we’re prepared for some losses.”
While walking quickly, Phillip clenched his fists. “I know. Of course I know! The problem is the scope of those losses! There’s no point in victory if all one hundred of our proud knights fall while trying to achieve it! Who will protect Jantunen then?!”
Gottfried fell silent at that. Of course he didn’t wish for the knight order to collapse or be destroyed. However, the behemoth had already taken down one fort. If it were to continue on to Jantunen, it would result in massive tragedy, and the flow of goods within the country would also take a huge hit. If the flow of supplies to the country’s borders were to stop, then most likely some more forts would fall as a result of this chain reaction. It wouldn’t be too far to say that the fate of the nation was at stake. There was a need to take down the behemoth as early as possible, even if it meant having to trade in an entire knight order for it. And advising their captain on anything when he was in need was the perennial duty of all vice-captains.
Phillip paused for a moment before continuing, “No, I suppose now isn’t the time to be saying that anymore, is it? If we don’t stop it here then in the worst case the entire country could fall. We need to send a messenger to the capital. Jantunen will need replacements for us after we’re destroyed...”
Phillip’s face was twisted with irritation at the situation, but all Gottfried could do was nod.
By the time Phillip and Gottfried entered the meeting room, the other knights who were at headquarters had already gathered. None of them could hide their nervousness over this sudden situation.
The knights who were deployed had received their orders to convene, but while that was happening, those already present needed to understand the current situation. A map was quickly brought over, and they got started plotting out the behemoth’s route. The knight runner who had brought them the report didn’t know the behemoth’s exact location. Given the behemoth’s speed and the terrain, they were able to approximate a land route and figure out where it should be generally. But, they still needed to decide on a spot for the knights to intercept it.
“The way it came...considering the geographical factors around Fort Balguerie, we believe its most likely route from there was to circle around Degbell Mountain and go through the forested area at its foot.”
“There’s no way it doesn’t go through Jantunen with this route... Where do you predict it is currently?”
At that question, the knight pointed to the map. “It’s most likely past the Crepel Plains and is somewhere near Croquet Forest.”
“Croquet Forest? Grr, it’s closer than I expected. At this rate we’ll have to intercept it right next to Jantunen...”
At that moment, a single knight in the back raised his voice with a panicked tone. “Did you say...Croquet Forest?!”
“What’s wrong? Did something happen there?”
No one there wanted to hear any more bad news, but they needed to understand every point of possible concern. With everyone’s eyes on him, the knight continued, his face pale.
“Right now, students from Laihiala are having a field exercise there!”
“Wha—?!”
The other knights were all lost for words. It wasn’t just Jantunen that was in danger, but the treasure of the nation: its people. And children at that. There were even people present that had family in Laihiala’s knight department. A portion of them, panicking, ran up to Phillip.
“We need to head to Croquet Forest immediately!”
“Our first priority needs to be rescuing the children, no matter what!”
With his problems piling up, Phillip was at his wit’s end. However, he only worried for a moment. There was a duty he needed to prioritize. Phillip responded, “We’ll send a messenger. However, we can’t afford to deploy the knight order yet. It will have to wait until we’ve gathered the numbers.”
“Captain! I can’t believe you! You can’t seriously be planning to let those children die, can you?!”
“Of course not!” Phillip gave the knight a sharp rebuke after he had approached, the color on his face changing. Phillip couldn’t stop the frustration from welling up in his voice.
“Of course I want to go help them, but we’re already at our limit just dealing with the behemoth!” He took a deep breath before continuing, “We can’t hope for more. If we panic and deploy recklessly without gathering enough forces first, then we’ll simply exhaust our resources for nothing. In the worst case, it might make us unable to deal with the behemoth itself. Don’t mistake our priorities! Our goal is only to kill the behemoth. By doing that, we protect Jantunen, and thus the kingdom of Fremmevilla!”
The knights, who had been whipped up into an excited chatter, fell silent. They knew what their captain said was right. They had always known they didn’t have a choice.
Phillip gave them a moment before he continued, “Right now, the only thing we can do is hope their luck and wits carry them through...” He looked off into the distance, toward the seemingly endlessly expanding Croquet Forest, so dark the trees seemed almost black.
★★★
Back at the base camp of the students from Laihiala Knight Runner Academy’s knight department, near the entrance of Croquet Forest...
Now that the middle school upperclassmen had all completed their retreat, the high school knight runners reinforced the simple pickets set up at the perimeter of the camp in their silhouette knights, creating a defensive line.
Most of the monsters coming from the forest were only about a meter in size, with the largest being up to three meters. Their power level was completely different from a silhouette knight that was ten meters tall. The swarming monsters were easily swept away by single swings of a silhouette knight’s sword. However, because silhouette knights were so much larger, they couldn’t help but let some stragglers through. Because such stragglers were able to approach and push against the fence, students were still tasked with the defense alongside the silhouette knights to plug up the holes.
From the monsters’ perspective, the silhouette knights were a threat, and they were hard to avoid. Not wanting to clash with them head-on, at some point the flow of monsters started to split, weaving around the base camp. Because many of the middle school section’s upperclassmen were wounded and their combat strength was stretched thin, this was a stroke of luck to the knight department students.
The sun passed its zenith and as it set in between the mountains, its crimson glow dyeing the sky red, the onslaught of monsters finally ended. The students initially maintained their vigilance even after the flow of monsters stopped, but soon enough they felt the danger had passed and released the tension in their bodies.
“Finally, there don’t seem to be any more monsters...”
Stefania Serrati was bone-tired, and the sigh she let out showed it. In the end, she had safely led the other students all the way through this incident. When they regrouped in camp, the teachers were around to help, but they had decided that things would be less confusing if she continued acting as commander since she had done so from the beginning. Part of the reason she had accepted was because she was also the type to not be able to sit still.
“Kid, Addy...Ernie.”
With their alert status winding down, Stefania went around the camp expressing her appreciation to the students who were now resting. In the middle of this, she found some people she knew well, and she called out to them as she let out another sigh of relief.
“Ah, big sis...are you hurt? I heard you guys had it rough out there!” responded Addy.
Stefania shook her head. “As you can see, I’m fine. More importantly, I saw you all being so reckless out there.” Her expression was somewhat exasperated as she said that.
As they retreated to base camp, the upperclassmen’s strength had fallen quite a lot due to injury and exhaustion. In their state, it would have been difficult to defend against the monsters that had slipped past the silhouette knights, but they had managed to hold on thanks to Ernie and his friends buying time.
“You say that, but we were the only ones able to fight at that time,” Kid defended. “Being a little reckless is only natural.”
Stefania paused for a moment, but she countered by saying, “I’m pretty sure three people doing the work of an entire squadron is pushing it more than just ‘a little,’ but...well, whatever. More importantly...Ernie!”
Stefania approached Ernie, who was behind the other two, and wrapped him up in a huge hug. He didn’t even have the chance to resist, and as he reacted in surprise, Stefania nuzzled his soft and fluffy hair with great delight.
“Aaaaahhh, thiiis is so sooooothing! With you here, Ernie, I can still fight!”
Stefania... Ernie thought to say something, but then decided, Oh fine, whatever. Things were really hard for her this time, so I guess I can put up with it as a favor. If I’m the only sacrifice needed for her to cheer up then I guess it’s a cheap price to pay.
While Stefania did as she pleased, messing with his hair and poking his cheeks and the like, Ernie made sure to go with the flow, not putting up more of a fight than was necessary. From behind them, Addy seemed to writhe in dissatisfaction, but didn’t actually try to stop what was happening.
★★★
After Stefania spent some time enjoying Ernie like that, a voice came hesitantly from behind them.
“U-Ummm...Student Council President...”
Another student, who seemed to be here to retrieve Stefania, seemed more than a little creeped out by her actions and her wide grin. While she had just been commanding the upperclassmen with a dignified air, she was now attached to a first-year underclassman with a sloppy expression on her face. It was only natural for him to react that way.
“What is it?”
“We need to plan our next steps, so the teachers wanted me to get you...”
“I understand. Sorry, you three. Let’s talk again later. I need to go.”
While it was too late now for a multitude of things, Stefania didn’t seem to mind what had happened as she quickly slipped into student council president mode. Feeling somewhat astounded at that sight, the trio saw her off while waving goodbye.
Now then, Ernie thought, it seems we’ve gotten through the danger for the foreseeable future, so I wonder what happens next?
They had gotten through the attack by the swarm of monsters. However, Ernie could not bring himself to consider the matter settled. He looked back toward Croquet Forest. It was getting darker as the sun set, rejecting his observation.
Ernie did not know what was still lurking in its depths.
★★★
“So? Are we seriously not moving until tomorrow?”
After that, the teachers proposed several plans of action, and it seemed they spent a long time arguing about it. This was only natural, as none of them had access to the entire picture. By the time supper rolled around, they had decided to communicate their plans to everyone for the moment. Dinner was a combination of rations and a simple soup made from wild plants. While sipping on the soup, Ernie and the others reviewed their situation.
“Yes, many of us received wounds, but luckily none were fatal,” Ernie explained. “At worst, it’s some broken bones. More important are the number of students who are suffering from mana exhaustion. There are a lot of them, and it hurts to lose combatants, meager though they may be. Apparently the teachers decided that it’s too dangerous for us to force a march.”
“But isn’t it dangerous to be resting here too?” Addy asked.
“We can’t use the horses since they can’t see in the dark. It seems the teachers judged that rather than pushing everyone through their exhaustion and going for a dangerous carriage ride where we might be attacked, it’s safer to remain here in camp where there’s light and the area is defensible. Also, it’s hard to imagine that another horde of monsters of the same size will come at us again.”
“I see...that’s pretty optimistic of them!” Addy responded once again.
Now it was Kid’s turn to speak. “Rather than optimistic, it’s more like since every option’s gonna be a gamble, they just picked the one that seems least dangerous, right? Even if something comes in the night, it’ll be easier for us to deal with it here since we’re defended by silhouette knights.”
All they could do right now was get enough rest so that they would be able to respond appropriately if danger were to come. In the end, they themselves were the only things they could rely on. After dinner, they somehow managed to rest even though they couldn’t quite rid themselves of their tension. Once dawn was upon them, they would be able to head to Jantunen. That was what gave them hope.
★★★
However, the teachers and students alike had failed to explore an avenue of thought. What was the reason all those monsters went berserk?
Similarly, they failed to notice just how desperate all the monsters coming their way seemed to be. The creatures were being chased by something, and were all headed west as fast as possible.
Not until just after sunrise did the group have their first chance to regret this mistake made in the dead of night, just after sunrise.
★★★
Dawn broke, and red sunlight was slowly creeping over the mountains. A student who was on last watch bit back the yawn associated with the sleepiness assaulting him. The surroundings were quiet. Since there were so many monsters in yesterday’s great migration, there might not have been many left in Croquet Forest. Things were so quiet it was almost as if the forest were dead.
Suddenly, that quiet was broken. The sentries could hear a strange sound coming from the forest. It was the sound of trees snapping and falling. Another sound, of something heavy falling, repeated at even intervals. It didn’t take long for the sentries to realize what it meant. Immediately, they rang the alarm bell with all their might.
“This is bad! It’s a big one! A big one is coming!”
The sudden clangorous ringing of the bell roused everyone from their sleep, regardless of whether they were teacher or student. It was already tough for them to truly relax, so everyone got up and was able to act quickly. The high school knight runners, who had pushed aside their weariness to stay on standby this entire time, quickly jumped into their silhouette knights. They had been kept warmed up so they would be able to immediately reinforce the line at the forest’s entrance.
Steadily, the sound of falling trees and footsteps that shook the ground got clearer. It was clear something extremely large was coming their way.
“Hey now, isn’t whatever that is clearly bad news?”
It needn’t have been said that everyone was feeling a clear sense of danger—more danger than they had ever felt before. In this mood, stretched taut with tension, everyone’s gaze was drawn to the entrance of the forest.
Up until now, no monster larger than duel-class had ever been found in Croquet Forest. It was because the forest only hosted small monsters that it had been chosen as the location for the field exercise. However, the footsteps that reverberated through the area told of something much, much bigger.
A large monster—something that shouldn’t have existed in Croquet Forest. A sudden attack by a swarm of small monsters yesterday at noon. So numerous that it might have contained all the monsters in the forest. If the invasion of the large monster was the cause...
Finally, trees near the entrance of the forest fell, and in the dim light of dawn, the group finally laid eyes on the monster. It had a body wrapped completely in a shell so spiky it was like a mound of needles. It was so large it made silhouette knights, humanity’s strongest weapons, look like children’s toys. They could have mistaken it for a small mountain. Its eyes, so surprisingly small compared to its gigantic body, glared contemptuously at the scene before it.
