“Bored of resting. Want to move, my body.”
‘Indeed. Perhaps we should end this…?’
Salia’s voice trailed off.
‘What?’
“What is it?”
‘There are riders waiting up ahead! …Over a thousand of them. They are knights in full heavy armor!’
If Salia was able to see them now, that meant they were very close.
‘Their numbers are increasing…there are likely over two thousand!’
“An ambush… The Hero, called his other army!”
He must have purposely allowed his scouts to be discovered then. Just for this surprise pincer attack.
‘This is bad… A chaotic battle is one thing. But if they are taken by surprise, they might be wiped out. No…perhaps he means to defeat us along with the demon general.’
“What should I do? …Run?”
‘No, wait… I’ll think.’
The goddess went silent again. In the meantime, the army continued its march, through the forest. Sheto noticed that moer rocks and boulders were becoming visible.
‘Sheto. Send one of them out and call the demon general.’
“You, going to tell him?”
‘We need it to be a fair fight, or we will be defeated too. If they know the situation, there will be more opportunities to escape!’
“Okay.”
Sheto looked around and then called the closest goblin.
“Hey, you! Go and call that cow!”
“Eh? The hell you talking to? No kobold gives me orders.”
“Get on with it! There are enemies up ahead! If you don’t want to die, tell him!”
While furious, the goblin moved away and ran towards the back of the line in search of the general. The others looked at Sheto in shock and disbelief.
“Hey, what do you mean!? How do you now!”
‘Tell it to them. It will make things easier. There are knights waiting on top of the hill up ahead.’
“The goddess is watching us, from above. There are riders, armored knights. Waiting on the hill up ahead.”
“What!? What’s this about an ambush!”
The minotaur came running with a nervous expression.
“There are many knights, up ahead. Waiting for you. A pincer attack.”
“I see. So that is why. Comos! Stop the march! Hurry!”
The minotaur was surprisingly quick to give out orders.
The soldiers had clearly undergone a lot of training. Sheto recalled how organized the monsters had also been in Lindle.
“Do you know about their equipment? Saddlebags? Baggage trains?”
“All in heavy armor. Large spears, horses, chain mail. Yes…all with saddlebags. She says.”
“I see. They must have traveled all night from a different town… And after camping close by yesterday, decided to show themselves when we were close.”
The general began to draw the terrain on the ground and add the enemy positions.
“You, believe?”
“Believe what?”
“What, I said.”
“Of course.”
Berganda answered as if it was nothing. He then noticed Sheto was staring, and so he smiled.
“It would be unthinkable for you to trick us now. If anything, surely you want it to be an even battle?”
“…You, quite smart.”
“Keep your compliments. Even a child would have guessed that. You are fighting as a god’s Hero, but you are still a monster. The Hero is your enemy too. He will surely kill you with the rest of us.”
Berganda said as he took out a key and unblocked the cage.
“Get out.”
“Are you sure?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted? I would rather have you close by, and avoid you trying anything amidst the chaos.”