The Day the Star Fall 1
Countless torches sway in the darkness of the night.
The villagers' cheers never cease.
The pioneer village was enveloped in a strange feverish atmosphere at midnight, even though it had been attacked by a monster.
"Christo!"
A beautiful soprano-like voice echoes from behind him as he watches the villagers rejoicing in shoulder-to-shoulder embraces.
It is Patricia.
She was wearing a thick coat over her negligee and was bright red from the blood of monsters.
It smelled pretty bad when approached, but it was so exhilarating that it didn't bother him at all.
"Christo, it's a monster attack. Trolls and werewolves. We've killed a lot of wolves. They may still be lurking in the forest. Mel went to the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] camp to ask for reinforcements―― Christo?"
"Patricia, that's the humans."
Christo said so while staring at the village chief and the others without even blinking.
"It's this power. It's the reason mankind was able to conquer the continent."
"......?"
"And it's also the reason I left the old man behind to die."
The day the journey began.
The day the old man died.
Christo could have defeated Lancelot and the others if he had wanted to.
But Christo didn't.
If he fought, he might die from the [Holy Sword that Slays Devils].
Even if he had defeated Lancelot, there was no way out.
Considering all of this, he abandoned the old man.
He still doesn't think that decision was wrong, but that was the limit of the devil Christopher Soderholm.
Christo cannot be as stupid as the people in this village.
In situations where his life is at stake, he carefully weighs the risks and rewards.
He may be able to ignore some disadvantages, but he cannot force a decision if it would be fatal to himself.
Therefore, he cannot be the one to overturn fate and move forward.
"I am sorry, Christo. I understand that you have something to say, but now is not the time."
"Yeah... what about Melvina? I thought you were supposed to be her escort."
"She went to the camp of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] to ask for reinforcements."
"You let her go alone?"
Christo looked at Patricia, his brow furrowed.
"I couldn't let her see me tear off a troll's head. It was necessary to send word to the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] and Soderholm Castle to protect the village."
"But you were assigned to protect her. You shouldn't abandon your duty."
"Huh? You were not there, so don't talk to me like you were."
Patricia put her hands on her hips and continued.
"Two trolls, three werewolves, and many wolves. It's more dangerous to keep Mel, who can't fight, nearby. The Great Hawk's encampment is at most a kilometer east. I made the decision to leave her there because I thought she could safely run that far. If you have any complaints, write a report or whatever."
"...My rune stone reaction hasn't gone away. Melvina seems to be safe and your decision seems to be good. But next time, take her with you and run away. And don't send my princess out alone into the camp of those savage mercenaries."
"You think we should have abandoned the village? I discussed this with Mel, and that's what we decided to do."
"――――"
"Christo?"
"No, it's nothing. I think you made the right call on this one. Yes, it was wrong of me to speak as if I knew what was going on, since I wasn't there. I'm sorry."
"Eh... Christo, the self-reliant man in the world, apologized?"
"I apologize when I do wrong, too. What do you think I am?"
"I'm sorry."
Patricia takes the usual pose of grabbing her right elbow with her left hand and looks away.
"Ah, and this [I'm sorry] is for the harsh words I said to you earlier."
"You don't have to apologize. From now on, if you have any doubts about my judgment, please tell me more. I trust you."
"…………! Yes!"
"Why do you look so happy? This is not the time to be happy about it......"
"Christo, let's reinforce the village's defensive walls. Some of the fences have been destroyed. There are some sections that have no defensive walls at all."
"Understood. ――It seems that Melvina has contacted the Great Hawk. The camp is getting more noisy. Netzel will be coming soon. When they arrive, I will go to repair the defenses. I'll leave it to you to explain the situation."
"Yes!"
"And"
Christo looked away from Patricia's chest.
"Um, change out of that nightgown that's wide open at the chest part... I don't want others to see your skin."
"Eh? ... Oh my, ufufu"
"What?"
"No, nothing."
Patricia said this in an annoyed tone and buttoned up the thick coat she was wearing.
"It's a lot of blood, so it's better to cleanse yourself once."
"I understand. Christo, I did my best. Please give me a reward later, okay?"
Saying that, Patricia kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into the darkness.
When he went out for a night out with Gwendolyn, he wondered if the hero's bride was bound to have assassin skills as a compulsory.
Christo turned to face the villagers and clapped his hands loudly.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your joyous celebration, but let's take a roll call to confirm your safety. Village chief, would you mind?"
The village chief, who had been hugging Pontus, came to himself and stood up.
The people there suddenly began to rush to check for any villagers they could not find.
× × ×
Even if you build a wall around the village, werewolves and trolls will climb over it, and goblins and [wood women] will burrow into the ground and invade the village.
Considering this, it would be better to construct a defense line by scattering a sufficient amount of [Blue Ash] around the defense wall that Christo created in the forest the other day and have the members of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation] protect it.
Considering the fact that they would have to hunt the monsters that came out of the forest through the defense line, it would be better not to build walls badly, but if the villagers' minds are eased, building walls may not be a waste of time.
Some of the walls were built on top of farmland, so they will have to be put back up again once the situation is under control―― he returned to the village square with a melancholy feeling, where Netzel and his men had brought with him, dressed in aprons, were cooking up a meal.
Pontus' house was not the only one damaged in the village.
Pontus' house was the only one that had been hit so badly that the building collapsed, but several other houses had also suffered damage, including a warehouse and the slaughterhouse for goats, chickens, ducks, and other livestock.
"Christo-san!"
Melvina, who was feeding Pontus' grandfather porridge near the entrance to the square, looked up.
"Melvina, I’m sorry. We came here on vacation and this happened."
"No. I don't mind. If you had left me in the royal capital, I would be worried about Christo right now."
(If Melvina was in the royal capital, she would probably have helped Patricia's mansion repair work. In that case, I would have been more worried.)
Patricia, who was talking with Siegfried, the leader of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation], across the square in the corridor of the village, also noticed Christo, bowed gracefully to Siegfried, and walked over to us.
Walking with a steady stride in the morning glow, she was dressed in the women's military uniform of the Holy Sword Academy.
She was dressed in a black beret, blazer, skirt, underwear tights, and leather boots.
She is the same beautiful girl, but she seems to be showing her feminine charm more fully than Melvina, who is just wearing plain clothes and a coat. The men in the village were also looking at Patricia's beautiful face, shiny hair, and big breasts that were visible even through her blazer.
"Christo, I have a report. Three people were injured and zero people were killed. Five families were affected, one of them severely damaged, with their house completely destroyed."
Patricia continued.
"The Great Hawk have received food aid from Frontier Count Netzel and will be on defense duty in the village as of today. The Adventurers' Guild has informed us that they have temporarily evacuated the adventurers. Also...... Frontier Count Netzel is over there."
"What about the corpses of werewolves and trolls? If you leave them alone, wights may appear."
“If the carcasses are of trolls, werewolves, or other species higher up in the ecosystem, the wights won't be attracted to them. We should be more concerned about the [Blue Ghosts]. There is a communal cemetery to the west of the village. And the graves are quite shallow. The other day, the blue ashes were sprinkled there, so we need to be careful."
"...That seems to be the case. After this, the enclosure of the cemetery will also be repaired."
Although he had lived in this region for many years, he had not realized that the [Blue Ghosts] ――living dead people with [Blue Ashes] attached to the corpses ――could be a greater threat than the wights. This kind of awareness requires not only knowledge about monsters, but also knowledge and application of famous incidents involving monsters in the past.
Melvina and Patricia have been learning through education and studying for exams since they were small children, but Christo, who has been playing all his life, was in a state of worm-eaten knowledge. He has to make up for it.
"There is no problem with the corpses. The recovery team from the Adventurers' Guild headquarters will be here in a few minutes. Are you sure that you want to donate all of it to this village?"
"No problem. You mean that the guild will buy the materials for the werewolves and trolls?"
"Yes. What is the market price, Mel?"
"It depends on the condition and size, but one troll costs five gold coins, and one werewolf costs two gold coins."
"Eh. I'm sorry to say that it was like a rip-off. I was just being honest, though."
"No, it's definitely cheap. The reward is not commensurate with the risk. The Adventurers' Guild is a big business."
"Because there is no competition?"
"Yeah"
Melvina nodded, and Patricia made a look of relief.
Christo nodded with a sour face.
"Well, it will help the village's reconstruction. 16 gold coins is a lot of money in this frontier."
"Ah, now that you mention it, Christo, it seems that some adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild have been invited along with the recovery team. They will be arriving at noon, so you should come to the port as well, the Frontier Count said."
"Invited adventurer?"
"I mean adventurers invited from other cities. Many of them are called to defeat powerful monsters."
"Ah, the mage I asked Netzel for last night."
As one would expect from an official who reports directly to Netzel, he works quickly.
The guild may have originally terminated its personnel, but it is not easy to have them arrive yesterday.
He shouldn't say it, but he was sure the fired Blaise would not be able to push through such an unreasonable situation.
"Christopher!"
Speaking of the devil.
A fat frontier count, who had been serving food over there, came rushing toward them with a high-pitched voice.
Melvina stands up and bows, along with Patricia.
Netzel smiled and said, [Ah, it's okay. Sit down].
"Good morning, Netzel-sama."
"Good morning, Christo. How do you like it, would you like some porridge?"
"I was just getting hungry after working all night on the fortifications. I'll have it later. Thank you for your thoughtfulness."
"Hahaha, good good. Well, even so, it feels good to accumulate good deeds!"
(This is a well-spoken statement from a man who has been heavily taxing his people. But this man has a thick skin that I should learn from.)
Christo looked at Siegfried and Tiger Black coming toward them from the road and said to Netzel.
"I hear that the Adventurers' Guild recovery team will be here at noon?"
"Yeah. This monster parade is a very unusual phenomenon. The guild's ecological research institute has asked to examine the corpses. In addition, I've been asked to let them examine the body of Caspar-san and the previously defeated [Wood Woman] ――what did you call her, your childhood friend――"
"Yattrud. Yattrud Hoffsman."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going to have Yattrud's corpse investigated as well. It's not uncommon for humans to be infested by parasites and turn into monsters, but there have been no reported cases of a person becoming a dryad. That's what Laranoa told me."
"Your Excellency."
Siegfried, who came from the road, respectfully bowed.
The bones of his limbs are still bent and look painful.
It's insane to say that he kept flying through the sky (falling off cliffs) until his bones were so twisted. Whether he hit his head during the flying and went crazy, or whether he was always crazy, he does not know, but one thing he can say is that he is Christo's most difficult opponent, someone who does not understand common sense.
"Good morning, Siegfried-dono. Tiger-dono."
"Good morning, Your Excellency."
"Good morning, Frontier Count. It's a strange thing for me to greet you like this, since we've been here since last night."
(This tiger beast man can pay respects to his superiors. Come to think of it, he was originally in the army of the hero family. If so, he can at least respect his superiors.)
Netzel looked around and said.
"Dawn has come. Monsters won't attack in broad daylight either. A mage from the guild will arrive at noon, so please gather at the port. Until then, everyone should take a nap and try to recover their strength. I'll leave it to you."
[Understood], Christos replied in unison.
"Siegfried-dono, please tell the members who are in charge of security from this morning to scatter [Blue Ash]. I have ordered 20 additional bags."
"I understand. However, your Excellency, at the moment, we do not have enough. In the frozen plains, two hundred bags of [Blue Ash] were scattered before the battle."
"Before the battle, we took showers of [Blue Ashes] and so on, but we didn't have enough at all. There is not a single bag left in our storehouse."
"If you add the additional 20 bags, we have a total of 50 bags. The place where the battle will take place has not yet been decided, but at least a hundred bags are needed to suppress the power of the spirits. If possible, 200 bags. If we are going to fight the king-class individual, fifty bags would be dangerous."
"For reference, the area of the part of the north forest where the wood was cut is located is about 10,000 acres. The wilderness is several times that size."
When Christo interjected, Siegfried shook his head.
"If what Christophel-dono is saying is correct, it's not enough at all. It's still better to carry a bag of [Blue Ash] around your waist."
"The enemy is going to take the ashes of the holy tree, right? If you don't properly scatter the ashes, it will be the same as [Holy Milk].
"I know."
Netzel scratched his head.
"Um, dozens of them were added. Hey, Laranoa? …I left it in the castle. Oops. I'm sorry, but I forgot how many I added. The battle with the dragon race in the north is over, right? I bought as many as I could from the surplus over there, so I think I can probably manage."
"It would be nice if that was the case. We are the ones who are in danger, so please make sure to make arrangements."
“[Blue Ashes] is not cheap either. I'm ordering it out of my own pocket, so you'll have to pay for it."
Netzel said this with a smile, and pointed his index finger at Siegfried.
"If you let it out on the way, I'll set off the hunting dogs."
"A warrior of the sacred tree never fails. Even if I die, I will fight to the end."
"We are the strongest, Frontier Count. In the north, we were not far behind Setanta's squad. ――Isn't that true, Patricia."
"Black. I am not worried about your fighting ability. Unleash the violence in your body to your heart's content."
"Kukuku, even if you don't say so"
"I didn't expect to find Patricia-sama on your side."
Siegfried said with a smile.
He opened his eyes and gave Patricia a sharp look.
"If you are free, I would like to fight with you as a martial artist. I've always wanted to fight Lowell's daughter one-on-one."
"I've heard that line before... I understand. I don't want to fight because I don't have time, but if I change my mind, let's fight."
"Oh, are you scared?"
"I don't think so. I just don't want you to lose confidence before an important battle. Tiger, you're useless as a kitten, aren't you?"
"You're right, Kukku."
"Hey, wait a minute! Could you stop talking like a fighting maniac."
Netzel interrupts with a look of obvious dismay on his face.
"Please don't start a fistfight among allies before a fight! Neither Siegfried-dono nor Tiger-dono. Patricia can't use the holy arts right now, so don't provoke her!"
"Frontier Count, even if she can't use holy arts, Patricia-sama is a dangerous enough gorilla."
"Ah?"
Across from Patricia, who is pale with a wry smile, Siegfried takes over Tiger's words and smiles wryly.
"Yes. She is a person of terrible strength. In addition, she has a genius sense of combat. She has a steel spirit to kill her enemies no matter what. Even without the holy arts, she is a wonderful warrior of the holy tree. Of course, it would be a superb battle if she could use it. Fufufu......"
"Like I said! That's not the point!"
He looked bitterly at the commander and deputy commander of the [Band of the Great Hawk of Salvation], who were eager to fight, and whispered, [Give me a break].
After that, with a single word from Netzel, the group disbanded for the moment.
Christo, Melvina, and Patricia returned to the guesthouse in the village, cleaned themselves up, and took a nap. After watching them dive into their straw beds, he slipped out and returned to the village square.
There, he spent some time relaxing and slurping down porridge until noon.
× × ×
It was past noon, and the port in the former Soderholm territory was extremely crowded.
When the carriages started one after another and the port ran out of space, measures were taken such as cutting down some of the windbreaks to allow the wyverns to rest.
Most of what the carriages brought in were sandbags full of [Blue Ash].
Not dozens, but two or three hundred sandbags were piled up in the corner of the port.
It was amazing that this amount of [Blue Ash] had been added every week during the war with the dragon race. As Christo looked at the [Blue Ashes] being unloaded one after another from the carriage, he thought that the knight who had defeated the old man―― Lancelot and the others had been unlucky.
If they had waited another month, this amount of [Blue Ash] might have arrived on the battlefield.
Considering the authority of king-class demons, defeating them in large numbers would have been counterproductive, so Lancelot and his group would still have challenged them with a small elite force, but if these [Blue Ashes] had been scattered in the wilderness, the old man, a weak individual as a king-class demon, would not have even been able to fight properly.
He can understand that because it was Christo who exercised magic under the restrictions of the Holy Tree Mountain.
That [Blue Ash] was exactly what could be called the spirit's natural enemy.
After the arrival of [Blue Ash], a carriage with the Adventurer's Guild mark came down, and a total of 17 adventurers came out.
The level of equipment was far superior to that of the A-class adventurer party he had seen the other day.
They were wearing brand-new armor with brand-new bows and swords, as if they would never let their guard down at all.
They had also unloaded cages for trapping monsters and some sort of throwing device from the carriage.
Clearly, too much money was being spent.
Perhaps the Adventurers Guild is subsidizing their party.
As of yesterday, the Adventurers' Guild had lost nearly a hundred adventurers, including A and B class.
If the guild continues to lose adventurers, it will be branded as an incompetent organization that has simply wasted its resources.
The guild's strong determination to solve the Soderholm Incident was evident in their determination to put their reputation on the line.
"Class A party, [Flame of Black Darkness]."
"Class A party, [Evil Dragon True Destruction Crimson Claw Fang]. Here as well."
"Class S party [Blade of absolution dancing in jet black]. Nice to meet you."
"Welcome, adventurers! I've been waiting for you for a long time! Sorry for the short notice."
"No, we've been planning on heading this way from the beginning."
"Yeah, I can't wait to see you guys destroy those monsters!"
Netzel is in a very welcoming mode and the three parties of adventurers seem to have difficult personalities.
After exchanging greetings with the adventurers, Christo and the party of three, all of whom seemed to have strong personalities, moved off in droves to Soderholm Castle.
The castle was ten times more crowded than it had been when Baron Ixel was still alive and well, with staff from the local adventurers' guild branch.
The original plan was to hold the meeting in the main hall, but since the Great Hawk and Netzel's private army were all present, the square in front of the castle building had to be used due to space limitations.
Christo was worried about the toilets in the castle.
With such a large number of people, the toilets would fill up with excrement in an instant, and the place would be overrun. Once the commotion subsides, it is unlikely that they will be back here again, but that being said, he doesn't want the old man's castle to be covered in excrement.
For the time being, he thought he'd put a sign on the wall of the toilet saying [Please use it cleanly] later.
"As a matter of urgency, we need to defeat the elf known as [Mighty Star]. He is the real head of the swamp monsters that are instigating them, and he is the acting person of the god of the swamp. Without his defeat, the god of the swamp will not come to the surface."
Christo explains the situation in front of a group of adventurers standing in a row.
A large wall generated by the [Rock Spear] is set up in the square in front of the castle building. Using the wall as a blackboard, he used the paints Patricia had with her to draw a map of the surrounding terrain and Christo's ideas.
In making the new blackboard, the previous one was lowered so that it could be viewed at any time.
Christo wanted them to be able to focus on the story for now, since some of them were taking notes.
"I understand the tactics, but how do you choose who will fight the [Mighty Star]?"
A member of the S-class party raised his hand to speak.
He continued.
"He has the ability to slow down our sensory time, entangle swords, crossbows, and other civilized devices with plants to render them useless, attack directly with bone spears and tree-branch shaped hands, and various types of magic, am I correct?"
"Yeah"
Christo nodded.
"Even if we rely on the protection of the runes, if the magic is discovered, everyone in the place will die instantly, right?”
"Well, they wouldn't survive."
"And even if we were lucky enough to defeat him, all of our equipment would be ruined."
"I don't know if they will be ruined or not, but there is a possibility that they will be ruined. If he noticed the existence of the rune magic [Northern Flame Wall], he will probably use some kind of magic on the coordinates inside the protection."
"What a poor chance."
The S-class adventurer shrugged his shoulders.
"We want our party to play the role of destroying the [Wood Women]."
"Can't we at least borrow a mage? The vanguard ――Commander Siegfried here, Vice-Commander Tiger and their Holy Sword Maiden will be protected by magic."
"No, what kind of magic is the mage who protects them will be protected with?"
"If the number of personnel increases, it will be possible to protect them in the form of a bucket brigade, like a mage who protects a mage who protects with runes."
"The first guy in the bucket brigade has no protection. So if someone gets caught in the back and killed by someone who isn't protected, we're all going to die helplessly, right?"
"Before they notice us, we'll hit them with the [Holy Sword that Slays Fairies]. After that, we all run away. The chances of them noticing the formation are slim. It's just that if the battle drags on, there is a future of total annihilation."
"There are a total of five mages here."
The leader of the A-class [Evil Dragon] group mumbled from under the cloth covering his mouth.
"Three of us, and one in each of the other two parties. We are a group of deathless sword saints and good men, but we do not wish to die like dogs."
"Mages who specialize in combat are valuable, after all. They have a lot of work to do in a party of adventurers, and they cannot be replaced."
The leader of the last A-class party also spoke up.
"I don't want to send out a mage because I don't have any members who can use holy arts..."
"Are you guys still warriors of the holy tree?"
Siegfried said in a voice of suppressed anger, but one of the adventurers said, [We are professionals who kill monsters for money. I'm not like you guys]. Causing a wave of conformity to spread.
Netzel, who was listening to the story with a smile next to Christo, sent a glance at him.
He was going to do something about it even if Netzel didn't tell him.
(If I can't borrow a mage, I'll just have to do it myself, prepared to go all-out against Eltharion. But I won't be able to deal with any other irregularities. ――Or I could use the [wood woman] I captured earlier.)
However, he doesn't know the exact specs of the [Wood Woman].
It may not be able to withstand use.
Patricia glances at him, but she is a magic novice.
At this point in time, when she cannot even operate a rune stone properly, it is nearly impossible for her to apply the magic [Northern Flame Wall] to others or maintain deployment while calculating complicated coordinates.
At the very least, it is not stable unless the mage is doing coordinate calculations on a regular basis.
It takes at least two days just to stabilize the operation of the stone.
(However, if no one else will do it, then either I or Patricia will have to do it. Do I bet on Patricia or do I go directly out there and bet on no irregularities? Tough decision.)
If Christo leaves, he will give up the swamp equipment both if Eltharion does not die or if he does. But, since he will not give the [Primordial Elixir], there is no loss with zero added value.
Christo, after much thought and consideration, had no choice but to raise his hand.
"If no one wants to do it, it can't be helped. I'll go out. I'll protect Siegfried-san and the others even if it costs me my life."
"No, Christo, you can't do that."
Netzel suddenly turned serious and interrupted him.
"Why not? Because I am the [Hero of the North]?"
"That's right. I don't know what His Majesty the King will say if we lose you. Besides..."
Netzel whispered in his ear with a glare in his eyes.
"What about the development plans for Gwendolyn-san's family home? And the ridiculous amount of documents in the study. If you die, my plans will be disrupted and all the political and judicial know-how of the region will be lost. I will not allow that to happen."
"Even if you say that"
Out of the corner of his eye, Patricia raised her hand.
"Um, I――"
"I will do it"
A loud voice interrupted.
Christo and everyone else in the place looked in the direction of the bulletin board in the square.
There, a mage―― Laira, the female mage who had been assigned to protect the castle.
She said as she walked slowly toward them, expressionless as ever.
"I'll provide logistical support as a mage. Christopher, you don't have to go to your death."
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