Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, as a member of a society that seems obsessed with work--you work to live, and live to work; so it’s not exactly like I can’t understand why people liken hard workers to ants, and I don’t majorly dislike them--but I do dislike dog-sized ants apparently.”

The radar shows that there is one Flying Ant coming in this direction--since it is considerably faster than us, and we are moving towards each other, we will contact it soon.

“Arisa, are you confident with your aim when using the stun Magic that you mentioned earlier?”

“As long as we are within twenty meters, then yes.”

I take a staff out from my storage and pass it back to Arisa, since the other girls aren’t looking over, it’s fine to do.

I can’t remember if I ever mentioned my storage when I told Arisa about my Menu skill, but either way, I will trust her with this. You can’t live with distrust for everyone--and Arisa already knows that I’m more powerful than the Yamato Stone says.

“Eh, it’s plain--but it seems to be quite a good staff.”

She says that, but I won’t tell her that it’s actually more expensive than she was.

“Each of you, shoot twice, then fall back even if you miss, switching out with Liza. Tama and Pochi will cover Lulu.”

“Kay.” Arisa nods, her reply flippant, but a serious glint in her eyes.

“I understand, master.” Liza sounds a little excited for the upcoming fight

However, Pochi and Tama’s answers are a little late.

 

“Nyu?”

“Is it okay to not throw stones?”

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about the throwing stones--since I want to see how useful Arisa’s Stun Magic is, let’s keep them in reserve.

“This time it’s fine not to throw the stones. I want you to concentrate on any Flying Ants that may make it to the wagon.”

 

“Aye, Aye sir!”

“Roger.”

 

The Flying Ant is now under one hundred meters away.

The other Flying Ants are chasing after the Rat Cavalry who are going down the hill across from us.

 

50 meters

 

Lulu probably feels uneasy, because she subtly moves her hand and grabs mine. She seems a little embarrassed, but her shoulders are trembling and her palms freezing; her fear overwriting her embarrassment, but she relaxes at my touch.

 

30 meters.

 

I can hear the sound of wings.

 

20 meters.

 

Arisa points her hand out of the gap, next to her face, “Mind Shockwave!”

I see Tama and Pochi’s heads peek out either side of the wagon.

 

“It falls?”

“Arisa is amazing.”

 

The Flying Ant, which got hit by Arisa’s attack, falls to the ground and slides along. However, according to the Map, it’s still alive; as expected of insects with exoskeletons, they’re not so soft as to die from crashing into the ground.

“The Magic knocked it down, but it’s not defeated yet. Though, it’s fine if we could just kill it before it wakes up--”

“Ants, lots of them!” Pochi’s voice is a bit late compared to the radar--which shows red dots beginning to swarm in this direction.

They begin forming groups of eight Monsters each, so far, there are only four groups.

“It’s a bit too many.” I muttered as I looked at the incoming Monsters--of course, I could fight if I wanted, but I would only do so if the girls were in serious danger. It may sound strange, but I wanted them to level up as well--I didn’t want my life to be like those stupid books where the girls all abandon the guy because they think they are weak and need to train alone--I don’t care how weak you are, stay with me.

“Yeah, even if I were to successfully use Shockwave, it’ll probably only affect some of them; between 3 - 5, depending on how well I time it.” Arisa frowned, leaning over the wooden barrier and leaning her arms on my head--her chest was strangely squished against the top of the wood--it looked uncomfortable to say the least.

I cleared my throat before asking her a question, “Can you fire it continuously?”

“I can’t, the chants could make it in time--but I need to factor in the time for the gathering and release of Magic Power--No matter how fast you can chant, there is a limit to casting speed, without specialized skills; reminds me of the Global Cooldown from games.” Arisa sounded a little annoyed--she probably tried to find a speed-casting cheat.

“Pochi, Tama, restrain the enemies by throwing stones at both sides. If they come within Arisa’s range, switch with her.”

I could also shoot, but the way Lulu’s clutching my hand, I would have to put in a lot of effort to remove it from her grip. She is so scared, I feel a strong protective urge rise in me; shifting my arm, I wrap place it over her shoulder, while still holding her hand. It takes a little bit of effort and maneuvering, but I succeed, and our clasped hands are pressed against her chest--her fear seems to have faded, been replaced by embarrassment, but she is also smiling.

 

“It’s Tama’s turn!”

“I won’t lose.”

 

Tama and Pochi lean out of the sides of the wagon, throwing stones.

 

“Did it hit?”

“They’re falling.”

 

“Yeah, you did great! Shockwave!” Arisa’s pleased voice rings out as she sounds proud of the two.

It seems that they’ve managed to take down the first four enemies to arrive, the radar shows that they Flying Ants are alive, but incapacitated. There are two enemies that managed to make it past the girls and went for the side of the wagon, but one of them is stabbed as Liza’s spear tears through the cloth side with unerring accuracy, the other managed to make it in but is killed quickly by Tama and Pochi.

I can see the one that died from Liza’s spear, but the other I can only infer through my senses and the radar.

I can’t afford to stand up and look back, I’m comforting Lulu.

The Flying Ants begin swarming up both sides of the wagon, any of the Flying Ants which come to the front of the wagon trying to attack the horses are shot by the Magic Gun that I take from storage. Any that attack from the sides, I either shoot or kick, depending what side they come from.

When I kick one, it flies off as its body shatters.

***

The second wave of Flying Ants is disposed of in the same way, with no difficulty.

But it seems that the Flying Ants have at least a modicum of intelligence, the third and fourth waves are deliberately slowing their speeds and flying parallel to us just behind the thickets.

Their range is too far for me to easily kill them with the Magic Pistol.

Since we can’t outrun them, I slow the wagon and pass the reins to Lulu--who makes a disappointed noise as I release her; I stand up and grab Arisa under her arms and carefully pull her over the barrier, ending up holding her in a princess carry, before lowering her into the seat.

 

“Protect Lulu, it’s time I join in.” I say to her, smiling as I stroke her hair.

 

“Will do, cap’n!” She salutes and looks around.

 

I had prepared a crossbow and leaned it against the stand before the combat, so it was easy enough to put a bold on the bowstring. I see a Flying Ant from a gap in the trees; and aim for the one at the back of the queue.

Tensing, I aim for it’s future position--

 

Shoot!

 

A luminous dot disappears from the radar and a corpse makes a thud on the ground.

 

“Did you hit it at that range and speed?!” Arisa seems surprised.

 

“Yep.” I can’t help but smile a little proudly.

 

While answering the question, I move very quickly, pulling back the string and loading the bolt in one movement--I think the Bow skill covers crossbows as well, since I am moving instinctively and in ways that I didn’t know how to before coming here.

With the bolt loaded, I aim and fire, aiming using a mixture of the Radar and my senses. I find that I move, aiming and firing, much faster and more accurately if I use the Skill by clearing my mind--I think of nothing and my body moves; two seconds to nock a bolt and shoot, every shot hitting its target without fail.

Arisa is stunned, her eyes and mouth open wide--Lulu’s brain seems to overload , she is just driving with glassy eyes and automatic movements; I hope she hasn’t gone into shock.

By the time we leave the forested area, every Flying Ant has been shot down.

 

***

“Lulu, it’s okay to lower the speed now.”

“Y-Yes.” She stutters, seeming to recover when she hears my words.

I put the crossbow down under the bench, sitting down and gently prying Lulu’s hands, which seem frozen, off the reins. Because of this, I have to gently take her fingers off the reins one by one, and found myself distracted looking at her graceful hands--so small, so smooth, so warm.

She is trembling slightly, and a pink glow rising in her cheeks, but she is also smiling slightly.

I manage to draw my attention back, releasing her hands, ignoring Arisa’s giggling next to me--I must tell everyone that the battle is complete.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work, we have managed to successfully repel the Flying Ants, it seems.”

“What about the ones that went further into the forest area?” Arisa asks.

“It seems that they’ve given up and returned.”

Turning around, I look at the Beastkin girls, and give them words of gratitude--Pochi and Tama seem to be quietly arguing about who defeated the most enemies, but they agree when Arisa says I was the best--though the two of them didn’t see anything.

Liza, why are you nodding too?

I hold the reins in my hands and open the map, checking on the state of the Ratman Cavalry.

This is bad.

There are only three Ratmen left; but they’re still going strong.

While bringing along the remains of the Flying Ants, they detour around the hill in a big arc--with their current course, they will intercept the wagon.

“The other Ratmen Cavalry seem to be coming here, and they are bringing Flying Ants with them. I’m sorry, but it seems we won’t get a chance to rest before the next fight.”

“How many are there?” Arisa looks over at me, strangely she doesn’t seem upset.

“Fifty-two.”

It seems that the Rat Cavalry managed to defeat five.

The Rats show up, their boar mounts are visible, standing imposingly on the top of the small hill, their forms silhouetted by the setting sun.

I have the feeling that the Ratman, who is wearing a red helmet, meets my eyes.

The guy’s Dash Boar is larger than the others--big enough to let two people ride.

With a thundering noise, the red helmeted Ratman rushes down the hill, approaching our wagon, and beginning to run parallel to it. The other two slow down, seeming to try to attract the attention of the Flying Ants.

When he arrives beside the wagon, the Ratman raises the visor of his helmet and reveals his face--somehow, even though he has a face similar to a rat, with a few Human-ish features, he is handsome.

It looks like he is saying something, “*****! <><><>! ^^^^!”

 

>>Skill: Ash-Mouse race Language Acquired.

>>Skill: Green-Scale race Language Acquired.

>>Skill: Elven Language Acquired.

 

He seems to be saying the same thing in three different languages--I thought that his words seemed to sound slightly different each time; but other than Elven, the other two sound similar. The Green-Scale language having more clicks, while the Ash-Rat uses squeaks--in similar places.

I apply ten points to each of the three languages, but I end up selecting to activate Elven.

“Human, words, don’t you understand?!”

Oh, even though I put points into the previous languages--this time he speaks the Shiga Kingdom Language.

“I do. What do you want?” I know I sounded rude, I was a little stressed after the fight--I was careful make sure none of the girls were in danger.

“Please, take care of the Princess--if possible, until she gets home; but if you can’t, they until you give her to others of her race.” As he says that, he throws someone, who is wrapped in a thick coat, to me. He had been carrying them the entire time.

I move quickly, shifting position and catch her.

It seems that she has fainted.

When I sit back, still supporting the girl, I look over and see that the Ratman with the red helmet has gone back to help the other two with fighting the Flying Ants.

I carefully pass the girl over the barrier to Liza, who had walked up and was standing there the entire conversation. Liza receives her, laying her carefully on the wagon bed.

Even without seeing the battle, I can see that the three Ratmen’s dots have disappeared from the radar.

The Ratman with the red helmet seems to have chosen to die an honourable death, the wrapped up girl seems to be very important.

However, reality tramples on such a self-sacrificing intention.

Jumping from the trees a Flying Ant jumps towards us from the right, and another jumps from behind the wagon.

Liza quickly dispatches the one coming from the back, and I kick the one from the right--but I can see that the Flying Ants are starting to gather again, we need to prepare for another battle.