Chapter 40

“I think it’s a subspecies of Spotted Deer? They’re the same species, except for the color of their fur, right?”

Leon, Gazelle, and Ortolan looked at me in surprise. All three of them seemed to think that the red deer was just a variant of the blue deer. If I didn’t have knowledge of “Change the World,” I would have just thought it was a simple color variation and not paid any attention to it.

“While they have a similar appearance, they are not the same monster. The Spotted Deer can attack with magic through its antlers, while the Red Deer is known for its healing magic to heal its group members. That’s why Red Deers usually live within the protection of their group and rarely come down to human settlements.”

“Healing magic…! That’s troublesome,” Gazelle frowned at my words and spoke with disdain. Then, Ortolan, who stood beside me, had a surprised expression on his face. ” Come to think of it, one of our members also said something like that. No matter how much we attacked, there was a deer-like monster that healed its wounds….”

“That’s troublesome enough, but what’s even worse is that their antlers also serve as a radar.”

“Ra—dar…?”

Not understanding the meaning of “radar,” Leon tilted his head to the side, and I hurriedly explained, “Uh, well… It’s like ultrasonic waves… Just like how our knight order blows a whistle when giving orders to our comrades, the Red Deer emits a sound similar to that whistle from its antlers. Humans can’t hear it, but Spotted Deers, who are their comrades, can. If we compare it to our knights, Red Deer is like the commander, and the Spotted Deers is its subordinates. That’s why it’s possible that the monsters started moving immediately because of the Red Deer.”

“…”

“….”

“….”

‘Huh, everyone’s suddenly gone quiet!? Could it be that they’re thinking, “We already knew that basic knowledge, so we don’t need you to tell us”? Is this silence because of that?! No, that can’t be it, right?!’

“Well, I understand the situation now. This Red Deer is quite a troublesome enemy.”

“Yes. If it’s a monster with that kind of characteristic, it’s easy to understand its mysterious behavior. Commander Ortolan, I apologize for my thoughtless remark earlier.”

“Ah, no. I was at fault too. I didn’t have the composure because of the situation.”

I felt relieved watching the two of them apologize to each other. ‘Thank goodness, it seems like I didn’t interfere too much.’ However, when Ortolan and Leon turned to face me, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

“But where did you learn such knowledge, Takumi-kun?”

“Oh,” Ortolan said. “We’ve never heard of red deer or their characteristics ourselves.”

“Well…”

As I was sweating profusely, Gazelle interrupted me, “Both of you, let’s talk about that later. Right now, we need to focus on defending the city. Can the citizens evacuate?”

Upon hearing Gazelle’s words, Ortolan made a bitter expression. While Leon glanced at me from time to time, before eventually returning his gaze to Ortolan.

“…It’s impossible for all citizens to evacuate. Rather, now that the monsters have retreated, it’s more dangerous to take them outside the city.”

“By the way, where are the monsters now?”

“They seem to have retreated into the forest for now. If you guys didn’t encounter them on the road, they’re probably not heading to Wazlow. There’s high possibility that they’d come back to attack this city again,” Ortolan suddenly cut off his words. Then, with his eyes wide open, he slowly turned his face towards the south, which was the direction of the southern gate that was mentioned in the earlier conversation. “D-Did you hear that sound just now?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything…”

“Commander Ortolan!” Suddenly, a man rushed over with a terrified expression. Judging from his uniform and animal ears, he appeared to be a member of the Yellow-winged knights. “The monster horde has gathered at the southern gate again! There are probably 150 of them!”

Gazelle, Leon, and Ortolan quickly reacted to this news. They issued instructions to each member, stationed them at the southern gate, transported the injured, and evacuated the citizens.

They not only deployed swords and bows that they collected from all over the city, but also collected oil and stones. This was for the purpose of throwing stones or lighting the monsters on fire from the castle walls in case of emergency. For the citizens, oil was a valuable and expensive commodity. But they still offered it willingly to throw them at the monsters. In other words, everyone who lived in this city knew that if the knight order was defeated in this battle, they would have no future.

“What’s the situation?”

“There are over 150 Mad Bears, Skolls, Spotted Deers, and other monsters gathered at the southern gate. And strangely, there are about ten monsters that look like the Spotted Deers with red fur behind the horde.”

“Is it as Takumi said…?”

“What?”

“Nothing. How’s the southern gate holding up? How much longer can it’ll hold out?”

We rode our horses towards the southern gate. On the way, when Gazelle asked a question, a young beastman  from the Yellow Wing Knights furrowed his brow, “No matter how it looks, we won’t last more than thirty minutes…”

“…Is it really that bad?”

“Well, there are more numbers than the initial report. Did the horde of monsters not head towards Wazlow City?”

“No, according to the report, the defense battle is currently taking place in Wazlow City. So, they should have split up at some point.”

“Could there have been a mistake in the initial report? How is the southern gate now?”

“When we arrived, the southern gate was already on the verge of breaking. We were working on repairs while waiting for the monsters to retreat, but we couldn’t make it in time. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault. Anyone would have faced the same situation,” Gazelle patted Ortolan’s shoulder hard as he bit his lip in frustration. Then he smiled, showing his white teeth and continued, “Since we’ve arrived to see the monsters were already hunted down, we’re worried that we might end up working for nothing. It’s great that there’s still a hunting ground.”

“Hmph…that’s right. It’s a relief that our efforts haven’t been in vain.”

Surprisingly, Leon followed Gazelle’s joke, and even Gazelle and Ortolan seemed surprised, but soon they all smiled.

“What? You’re quite a talker, Leon-dono.”

“…Don’t say ‘quite’. Well, anyway…”

Then, for some reason, Leon glanced at me, who was running behind Gazelle. The ice blue eyes stared at me with a feverish gaze.

“….. A kind and sincere person like him said that the Black-winged knights are like family to him, so I thought I’d try to believe his words, as there seemed to be some misunderstanding on my part towards you all before..”

“I see. Is that the reason why you suggested that we go on the rescue mission together?”

“Of course, that’s not the only reason. This formation was the best for saving both cities, but if you ask whether he was the reason for it, I won’t deny it.”

“Hmm. Listini, it seems like you can’t let your guard down. It looks like a powerful opponent has appeared.”

‘Um, what’s going on?’

Gazelle and Leon were whispering to each other, with Ortolan looking at my way with an amused expression. However, I couldn’t hear anything about their conversations since they were talking while riding on horses!

‘I don’t really understand, but all three of them seem to be pretty relaxed in this situation! Honestly, I’m just trying to keep up with everyone!’

As we continued, we finally reached the southern gate. The moment we arrived, my skin trembled with a jolt, not out of fear, but because the monster’s roar echoed like a tsunami from beyond the gate, causing my skin to tremble simultaneously with the vibrations.

“Guu…this is…”

“Commander Ortolan, we can’t hold the southern gate any longer!”

“Damn it, we have no choice! Everyone, leave the barricades and grab your weapons! We’ll stop them here!”

The southern gate was the smallest door in the castle. As if the monsters knew that, the Spotted Deers launched magic attacks on the door, while the Mad Bears charged in between the magic attacks. With each charge, the wooden gate made an unpleasant creaking sound.