I climbed a high hill for a moment to survey the surroundings. This area was a mix of fields and forest, so it was good for hiding too. And at last the Commander Scouter spotted the enemy’s raiding party.
They numbered about twenty riders. As expected, it was a small squad, a horse archer squad from the Hungarian mercenary company, with high morale and combat power. We’d be facing horse archers from the very start, but the terrain was on our side.
"Enemy spotted! Everyone, mount up!"
"Squad, mount up! Hurry!"
"Aack! I haven’t even finished eating!"
"You grooms-to-be with weddings ahead, don’t die!"
"Don’t jinx it!"
At my sudden order, the members who’d hurriedly stuffed their faces mounted up. Stumbling onto the enemy out of nowhere like this had happened more than once or twice, so by now my subordinates took it as a matter of course.
[Runaways of Hungary I Quest]
[Defeat the Hungarian mercenary horse archers]
[Raiding parties 0/5]
[Reward - 10,000 points, 10 gold coins]
[Item Reward - Cavalry Breakthrough 200% Increase]
[Danger Rating ★★★☆☆]
A quest had been generated.
But the quest name was telling. Runaways of Hungary? Was there some story behind cavalry from a country far to the east drifting all the way here? It was intriguing, but right now was the time to fight.
We hid ourselves among the brush and waited as the enemy raiding party drew steadily closer. Using the optimal route, one of the Commander Scouter’s functions, I devised a way to drive the enemy into a corner.
By the nature of horse archers, if we attacked, they’d surely flee.
So to herd them into a forest that hampered horse archer activity, I split the unit into three. As a single unit we were fewer than the enemy, but horse archers generally prefer firing after evasive maneuvers over charging.
If they didn’t flee and instead aimed to pick us off one by one, we’d surround them in an instant. Their not fleeing was actually the best outcome for us. I don’t enjoy hunting, but I’d defined the enemy as prey.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
When the enemy raiding party in distinctive nomadic garb had drawn close enough to see with the naked eye, the waiting herding unit attacked first. The enemy was thrown off by the sudden appearance of cavalry.
Despite outnumbering the herding unit, the enemy began to flee, evading the charge as it came in tight formation. They were showing the nature of horse archers in full.
I immediately sent a signal to Anton. When Anton waved a flag, the second herding unit set off. Seeing enemy cavalry attacking from another direction, the enemy raiding party fled in the only open direction.
"Anton, we go too! Hyah!"
It was the first real battle for Chrysos, whose golden mane was so beautiful. As the last herding unit charged, the enemy horse archers came under pressure from three sides. They couldn’t have imagined we’d deliberately cast a net like this.
There was only one direction they could flee.
The Hungarian mercenary company had no choice but to flee that way.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
As expected, it became a game of tag. The Gale Knights were light cavalry, but the Hungarian mercenary company was even more lightly armed, and being lighter, they inevitably had the edge in speed.
That was why I’d attempted the herding.
Whizz!
"Ngh!"
But suddenly a horse archer at the very rear turned to look back and loosed an arrow at me. Startled, I barely dodged the arrow flying straight at me by ducking my head.
Good heavens! Was that the technique called the Parthian shot? Experiencing it firsthand, it was far more threatening than I’d imagined.
An arrow couldn’t pierce my sturdy armor, but if I had the bad luck of getting hit in a gap in my helmet, I could be done for. A few of the rear horse archers unleashed the high-difficulty technique to slow our pursuit.
Aack!
Damn it!
A scream rang out.
A few of my subordinates were struck by arrows and fell from their horses.
But without even a moment to tend to them, we doggedly chased the fleeing horse archers. And in the end we herded them into the forest. Beyond this forest was a valley. The perfect assault that the optimal route had shown me!
We could run faster in the forest, but the movements of the Hungarian mercenary company, unaccustomed to forests, grew steadily more sluggish. Their bows even caught on trees, leaving them unable to display the marksmanship they prided themselves on.
"Fasz! A völgy előtt áll!"
"A fenébe, csábítottam ilyen módon!"
I couldn’t understand Hungarian, but that was definitely cursing. Which was proof of just how flustered the enemy was. We drew our cavalry swords in unison.
"Gale Knights, cut down the enemy!"
Roaaaar!
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The Hungarian mercenary company, cornered, had to take the charge of the Gale Knights head-on as they wove through the trees. All they could do was resist or scatter in all directions.
It had been a while since I’d been soaked in blood.
Light cavalry’s greatest weakness is close combat. Optimized as they were for swarm tactics, their excessively light gear was no match for an order armed with cavalry armor.
"Feladom! Feladom! Aack!"
Suffering devastating losses in an instant, only a few survived and fled. They seemed to be shouting something in the middle of it, but unfortunately no one could understand Hungarian, so in the end we killed them all.
Fortunately, there were only minor injuries, with no one killed or seriously wounded. I was truly relieved no one had the bad luck to die and leave a bride-to-be behind. I designated the grooms-to-be as soldiers requiring special attention.
We weren’t in a position comfortable enough to drag prisoners around. The Commander Scouter detected another raiding party. With this tactic, I was able to hunt a total of five raiding parties.
[Runaways of Hungary I Quest complete]
[10,000 points, 10 gold coins awarded]
[Item Cavalry Breakthrough 200% Increase awarded]
The quest was complete.
With this, I think I broke 40,000 points for the first time. Since there were endless places to use points, I intended to gather even more. By the time the war ended, wouldn’t it exceed one hundred thousand?
Even so, the reality was that they vanished in an instant once spent. Anyway, becoming point-rich would probably make me happy, if only for a moment. The pressure was so severe that I could never stay happy for long.
In any case, it was a truly dazzling achievement. There were only seven prisoners, most of them taken in the final battle. And the word "Feladom" meant "I surrender" (give up).
Because they threw down their weapons and all shouted that.
"But where in the world are we?"
"...I’m not really sure?"
All we could see was dense forest and the corpses of the Hungarian mercenary company. The members hadn’t realized it either, busy collecting spoils, but we were now lost. I had no idea where we were.
"You, do you know what region this is?"
"Nem értem, mit jelent."
"Damn it, is there no one who knows French?!"
It seemed no one did.
Was there no captain leading these men either?
They didn’t even know southern German, yet somehow they’d managed to sign a mercenary contract in a foreign land.
After darkness fell, we had no choice but to spend a night in the forest. Lighting a fire in the forest was dangerous, but it was so cold there was nothing for it. I figured I could just detect the enemy with the Commander Scouter.
[Purchasing the detection alarm function.]
[5,000 points deducted]
It’s normal to post sentries and spend the night, but this time we’d lit a fire in the middle of enemy territory, so the enemy could attempt a surprise attack while I slept. So I added the alarm function.
It’s a function that automatically wakes me if the enemy approaches within the Scouter’s range. So I could sleep to my heart’s content. Though I had to roll myself up in my red cloak like a caterpillar.
There might be an uproar over the patrol unit failing to return, but more than that, I had to worry about finding our way. But then the Commander Scouter found a new enemy.
And in very large numbers, at that.
It was a large-scale force from Radensdorf.
They were clearly heading south to attack the Western Lords’ Army that had captured Kellerheim. Which meant I could infer that Kellerheim lay in the direction they were heading.
But before that, I needed to scout how strong the enemy’s forces were. Drawing relatively close, I detected them in detail and grasped the composition of the enemy force.
"...Don’t tell me, this is?"
Among their forces, I spotted something astonishing.
It was the Radensdorf artillery corps.
The enemy had cannons too.