“Really, you kobolds wear those gloomy faces too well. We’re about to go off and die, so don’t go looking at me like that.”
“You say that Captain, but you haven’t even beaten him once.”
“Captain looked much more gloomy when he came back crying.”
“Sh-shut up! This is no time for saying such things!”
They all laughed and then became serious again. Sheto could hear the faint sound of a horse’s neigh in the distance.
“Listen up! Whether your feet break or your lungs burst, reach that village no matter what! Do what you have to do before dying! Got it!”
‘Aye!’
“Now let’s go, you bastards!”
He gave the order, and the horde began to move at once.
Some carried torches while others carried the sealed boxes of mountain urchins as they rushed towards the village.
“You can stop right here! After you watch what we have achieved, return to the chief and make a report!”
“…Very well.”
Said the hob goblin, and then his surroundings suddenly became quiet.
The desperate fire‑raid force was about two hundred. And though they might be able to handle the troops stationed in the village, the relief cavalry would crush them without breaking a sweat.
However, the main force that Berganda had gathered was far behind the Hero’s army. If they did not strike here and slow them down a little, they would reach Gai Straum without being able to fight them properly.
‘Your lives, give them to me.’
When recruiting for the assault team, nearly all of the monster had stepped forward and volunteered.
No one hesitated when it came to becoming a disposable pawn. Even though they knew it was certain death. Sheto had felt a chill down his spine at the absolute unity.
“War, is scary.”
He could feel the fundamental difference between an army and a pack of hunters.
Even if they had similar purposes, life was cheaper within an army.
‘However, they are only willing to throw away their lives like that, because it is the Demon King.’
Salia said.
“I…think that…I can understand.”
He had never had an interest in war or the Demon King. But there was something oddly comforting about being close to the demon general.
When Sheto had been invited to stay, something had shifted a little in his heart.
Something had made him want to use all of his power and grasp victory.
“To me, he is scary.”
‘Not in terms of military power?’
“Not… I feel, that I will, not be me.”
He recalled the fire wine he had drunk on the first night in the fortress.
“I will be, drunk. The strong wine. Drink too much. Become strange.”
‘He has the power to make people excited to fight. And he shows them the dream of victory. He is what a general should be, that Berganda.’
He watched the monsters running, oblivious to the sigh of the goddess. In order to see the results of the operation, Sheto had to follow them from a distance.
‘Sheto, you’re too fast! You will catch up to them!’
“I-I know!”
He said, but his feet continued to move quickly.
He could not forget the faces of those who passed him. It wasn’t related to him. He shouldn’t care. It didn’t matter if they died.
“…What…is this.”
It was only two months. He was with the monsters to use them. And yet he was being pulled in.
As Sheto thought such things, Salia’s shout brought further chaos.
‘This is bad. The cavalry will pass through the forest first. This…is the ambush unit wiped out?’
The harsh clatter of hooves rang through the trees, and just beside the goblins about to emerge from the forest, a knight’s silhouette bearing a flag came into view.
“Shit!”
‘F-fool! What can you do if you go alone! Come back!’
He knew. and yet his legs would not stop.
Up ahead, the knight unsheathed his sword and swung down at the hob goblin.
In that moment…