NOVEL NEXT C8
Chapter 8: Vanadain (1)
Bottom line: Sir Willy is dead.
The vigilantes are also wiped out.
The majority of the 200+ villagers were also killed, leaving less than 30 people alive.
The only saving grace was that the village chief survived to lead the survivors.
The elderly chief, who had survived by hiding in the temple, was quick-thinking for a chief.
As soon as he emerged from the temple, he realized the situation and acted quickly after hearing Rene’s outline.
“Hurry up, everyone, we need to leave right now!”
We need to get out of town as soon as possible.
They had given up on collecting the bodies of the dead.
It was too much to dig them up and bury them, let alone gather them together and burn them.
There was barely enough time to gather food and property, so when would they collect the bodies?
At the urging of the village chief, the people prepared to leave in haste, and less than an hour later, they followed the Yoo-seong out of the village.
It was still the middle of the night.
Even though the moon was bright, they couldn’t get very far in the first place.
After a couple of hours and some distance from the village, Yoo-seong found a suitable spot and prepared to camp with the evacuees.
“It should only be a couple more days.”
Nodding at the chief’s words, Yoo-seong leaned against a rock and watched the evacuees.
A few carts, stacks of luggage, and the few livestock they could manage to drag along.
Huddled together, most of them had fallen into a deep sleep as soon as they settled down.
Aside from being surprised and saddened by the sudden attack in the middle of the night that had killed most of the villagers and forced them to flee from their home, they were exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Yoo-seong took a slow breath.
It had only been a day ago that he had first met Rene and fought the kobolds.
In other words, he hadn’t even been in this world for a day.
But so much had happened in the intervening time.
He couldn’t help but think about the vaguely remembered Era of the Ominous Star.
But this time, instead of getting lost in sentimentality, Yoo-seong followed reason.
Closing and opening his eyes, he immediately opened the status window.
—
[Achievement: Defeat an enemy general]
[Earned an additional 5 points]
[Legion Management]
Points: 12
Kate’s Serf Troop Lv2
Horsemen: Kate
Bugler: Jimmy
Members: 12+1 (max: 20+2)
[1 pt for 5 more serf troops.]
Horseman Champion: Kate
Level: 2
Armament: Banner of Camelot (+1 morale) / Mundane Longsword / Leather Armor / Warhorse (New!)
Chivalry: Glory of Camelot (Increases the will and combat power of allies within the area of influence and decreases the will of enemies.)
[5 additional points for Hans’ Serf Troop (5-man unit)]
[Add a rider to Hans’ serf army 1pt]
[Add a Bugler to Hans’ serf army 1pt]
New Classes.
[Archers (3-man unit) 5 pts]
[Light Cavalry (2-man unit) 5 pts]
Hero Management
The King’s Wizard: Rene Baltois
Level: 1
Armament: Oak Staff / Wizard’s Robe
Unique Skills: -.
Unique Spells: -.
—
Yoo-seong narrowed his eyes at the words that filled the status window.
The first thing he noticed was the change in the composition of the serf army.
‘From 15+1 to 12+1.’
The number of serfs killed in battle was three.
One soldier died from a spear, another soldier was watched over by Yoo-seong himself until his death, and he did not even get to see the last soldier die.
Even in Fantasy Monarch, the units that were consumed remained consumed until they were reorganized, so it was expected, but it was still disappointing.
I was reminded of the deaths of my serf troops again, despite the decrease in combat power.
But it was already past.
Yoo-seong focused on the status window again.
‘I have 12 points.’
But the number of things he could do had increased dramatically.
Of course, more options were a welcome thing, but what should he call it, choice paralysis?
‘Let’s prioritize.’
The first thing I needed to invest points in was Kate’s serf army.
They had a rider and a bugler, and they weren’t even leveled up yet.
‘If it’s the same as in Fantasy Monarch, then after reaching level 3, I can promote them to regular infantry.’
Regular infantry armed with swords and shields or spears.
So for now, I’ll need to build a serf army.
I invested 2 points to maximize their number, leaving two in reserve.
—
Kate’s Serf Troop Lv2
Horsemen: Kate
Bugler: Jimmy
Members: 20+1 (Max: 20+1) / Reserves: 2
—
‘Okay, with Kate’s abilities, this is at least twice as strong as the average serf army.’
That left 10pts.
The possibilities were
Add a new serf troop and invest points to improve it.
Add an archer unit and improve it.
Add a light cavalry unit and then improve it.
Forgo the upgrade and add both the archer and light cavalry.
‘I have 10pts, so it might be possible to complete a whole serf unit……’
Not bad, but Yoo-seong quickly dismissed option 1 from his mind.
Rather than going all-in on infantry, he decided it was better to have a variety of classes that could work synergistically.
‘I might as well make a proper army instead of a bunch of haphazard additions.’
I was tempted to add both archer and light cavalry, and there was a point to that, but it was a bit much.
Three archers and two light cavalry were just too few, no matter how I thought about it.
I needed to invest the points to make them a little more combat-oriented in order for them to synergize properly.
‘So it’s a choice between archers and light cavalry.’
Archers with ranged attacks or light cavalry with superior mobility.
In Fantasy Monarch, I would have been more concerned with the upgradable tier of each unit-i.e., the tech tree of the upgrades-but now I was more concerned with the power I could use right away.
After all, both the archer and light cavalry were classes that I would eventually have to recruit.
Closing his eyes and running the simulation a few times, Yoo-seong made up his mind.
‘I’m going with the archer troops.’
—
[Legion Management]
Archers Lv1
Members: 3 (Max: 10)
[Add 2 more members to the archer unit 1pt]
[Add a captain to the archer unit 3pts]
—
Unlike the serf troop, which added 5 members for 1 point, it only added 2 members.
‘Let’s add 4 more men and a captain.’
—
Vanadain’s Archers Lv1
Commander: Vanadain
Members: 7+1 (max: 10)
—
My 8-man archer unit is complete.
Eight archers in a unit of 21 melee infantry serfs isn’t too bad, I thought.
‘And it’s Vanadain…….’
Having already tasted Kate once (?), I was looking forward to the archer leader, Vanadain.
Wouldn’t a golden, SSR-ranked hero jump out at me again this time?
‘Why don’t I just call him now?’
I thought, casually lining up my troops.
‘Yeah, while I’m at it, let’s have a chat with Kate.’
I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her yet because she always disappeared right after the battle.
Besides, there were things I wanted to experiment with personally, like the resources needed for summoning.
‘But first.’
I hadn’t finished managing the status window yet.
I used up my commander points, but there were still heroes left.
‘Kate’s gotten stronger.’
As the serf troops leveled up, so did Kate.
Naturally, her overall stats increased as well, but when Yoo-seong looked at the status window, he noticed one item.
[The stronger the troop, the stronger the Hero’s combat power.]
In other words, the more powerful their troop is, the more the hero’s combat power is modified.
If Yoo-seong himself receives modifiers based on the increase in the combat power of the entire Legion, should we say that Heroes receive modifiers based on the increase in the combat power of their own units?
‘So the commander receives a modifier based on the combat power of his troops, and I, the commander-in-chief, receive a modifier based on the combat power of the entire army – the legion.’
It was an extreme example, but it meant that if one member of the serf army became more powerful, it would eventually increase Kate’s and Yoo-seong’s combat power.
‘I’ll be able to raise an army.’
With a small smile, Yoo-sung looked at Kate’s status window again.
‘If she continues to grow like this, she’ll be like a real holy knight.’
It was a bit of a strange combination to call her a saint knight, but it was true that Kate was something of a saint.
‘At level 2, they added a warhorse, which is kind of weird…….’
It was common for infantry units to have a foot hero – an infantry hero, that is.
But that’s just the general theory, and I’m rather grateful for the fact that a warhorse was added.
‘More combat power, more mobility, more survivability.’
And in an emergency, Yoo-seong himself could borrow and ride one.
No matter how he looked at it, it was a good thing.
‘Rene hasn’t leveled up yet, so she hasn’t changed much. She doesn’t have a separate troop like Kate, so she’s going to grow individually?’
It seemed likely given the circumstances, but I’d have to wait until she leveled up to find out.
Still, it was satisfying to know that I could grow them, regardless of the method.
‘Great.’
Closing the status window, Yoo-seong took a moment to look around.
Everyone in the group was fast asleep, thanks to Rene’s alarm spell.
‘I’ll try calling them over there.’
Yoo-seong carefully stood up.
“Uh…… heir……?”
Rene, who had been sleeping curled up in a ball right next to Yoo-seong, groggily sat up.
From the look on her face, it seemed she’d been awake all along.
“Weren’t you asleep?”
Rene’s lips curled up into a smile and her fingers twitched.
“That……got my heart pounding in more ways than one.”
The encounter with Yoo-seong, the miracles she’d witnessed since, the battles she’d fought, and so on.
It was certainly exciting for Rene, in both good and bad ways.
“Where are you going?”
“Just taking a quick look around.”
At Yoo-seong’s answer, Rene stood up and asked.
“Do you mind if I come with you?”
She had already gotten up, so there was no point in refusing her.
After all, she was the king’s mage.
“Sure, come with me.”
“Great.”
Rene smiled broadly at Yoo-seong’s permission and walked over to stand beside him.
Yoo-seong led her to a place slightly away from the campsite and took a deep breath before speaking.
“I’m going to call the troops now.”
“There are enemies around?!”
Rene looked around wide-eyed at Yoo-seong’s words, and Yoo-seong patted Rene’s shoulder as he struggled to suppress the laughter that threatened to break out.
“No, it’s just a unit inspection, so don’t be nervous.”
“What? Oh, yeah.”
Unit inspection.
Rene mumbled something and pursed her lips again in embarrassment.
It was a habit, apparently.
Anyway, back to the front.
Stretching his right hand out in front of him, Yoo-seong spoke in a low voice.
“Serf troops, archer troops, assemble.”
-Pow!
A blur of golden colors and blurry lights spread out in front of him.