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TL: ALT
Chapter 46 – Day 45 of Living in the Demonic Land
I heard a loud explosion.
It was before dawn.
I went out of the cave to see what was going on and saw smoke rising in the western sky.
“Is that a magic circle on the hill?”
“P-p-probably.”
Sylvia, who had been watching the campfire last night, replied.
The others were waking up as well.
I decided to check it out with Sylvia.
Fugogogo!
It was just a huge boar lying there with its front legs blown off. Green Tigers, Lamia, and other monsters had already gathered around. The dying boar looked in pain, so I didn’t hesitate to cut off its head.
When I dismembered it and collected the magic stone and the flesh, the monsters naturally gathered around. Even though I had set the trap, it would have been useless if it had been destroyed. I avoided the trap as much as possible and went south, scattering the blood and oversized skin in the demonic land.
“Won’t the forest be overrun with monsters?”
Sylvia muttered, looking worried.
“There’s nothing we can do about that, is there? It’s only temporary. If there are too many, we can hunt them, and it should also be useful for making weapons for the demonic land.”
At the sound of my voice, Sylvia took a deep breath and nodded.
As I was about to go back and set up the magic circle again, I saw that Cher and the others had also come to the top of the hill.
“They’re here.”
Cher pointed to the entrance.
Across the stream, a group of men who looked like adventurers were cutting down trees and clearing the forest. The monsters made a racket.
“It looks like they’re going to build a bridge and cross over here.”
Jennifer ate smoked meat as she spoke. “They say you can’t fight on an empty stomach,” she said, handing out smoked meat and cam fruit to everyone. When you have something in your stomach, you naturally feel calmer.
“Wasn’t that forest over there a military area? Are they allowed to cut down the trees?”
“I don’t think so. Well, they could probably come up with some reason, like it was necessary to eliminate the threat.”
Hel replied calmly.
“What should we do, Makyo?”
“We’ll wait and see. If something happens, we’ll get the monsters to help us. We can just prepare for the barbecue.”
“Barbecue?”
Cher seemed to understand, but the other three tilted their heads and said, “Barbecue at a time like this?”
“We will use the smell of the barbecue to attract the monsters.”
“””Aah!”””
Cher explained it to them, and they finally seemed to understand. This is strange. Yesterday, Sylvia said we should use the monster, so why didn’t even Sylvia understand? Do I have no credibility?
“Well, never mind! Let’s redraw the magic circle.”
I drew the exploding magic circle on the ground and waited.
On the other side of the stream, the soldiers from East Kenya who had cut down the trees began to build a bridge with logs.
“All right! Let’s charge in!”
As soon as the wide bridge was completed, the soldiers began to enter the demonic land one by one at the command of the mage I had seen earlier. The number of soldiers had already decreased a bit.
“Gyaaa!”
The soldiers were teased by the emerald monkey and the imp, and they screamed in terror as they fell into the pit. Some of them came back to the riverbank early, having one of their feet bitten off by the bendgrass, while others rolled around in the sand after having their faces covered by the sap of the palm tree.
“Stop! I will burn you with magic!”
At the mage’s command, the soldiers halted for a moment. The mage began to recite a spell.
“If we could just kill this mage, wouldn’t that be the end of the invasion?”
Hel suggested.
“Shall we try?”
I said, and Hel took aim with her bow and arrow. The arrow flew through the air with a whizzing sound and hit the mage in the chest.
“Gugahh!”
The arrow stopped mid-shot because he wore iron armor, but the mage crouched and clutched his chest.
“That was good.”
“I missed.”
Hel seemed more frustrated that she hadn’t been able to kill the mage than that she had hit him.
“Enemy! Protect Mage-sama!”
The soldiers surrounded the mage and retreated across the bridge.
The only ones left in front of the stream were the men who looked like adventurers. They had been chopping down trees with axes just a moment ago, but even though the mage was now incapacitated, they didn’t seem particularly bothered.
“Oh, that’s the main force! They’re the ones who captured me!”
Sylvia told us. I remember now that she was captured and made a slave.
“Well, let’s barbecue upwind.”
We went upstream to the stream and tried to cook some meat, but the men in the adventurer-like outfits started acting strangely.
They sprayed the fleeing soldiers with the blood of the monsters and then made them run toward the demonic land.
“Gyaaaa!”
“I’m going to die!”
As you’d expect, the blood-covered soldiers were easily attacked by the plants and monsters and died. The men, who looked like adventurers, watched the scene in silence, seemingly checking out the route they were going to take.
“Their heads are crazy…”
Cher muttered.
“S-s-so cruel…”
“I guess that means the losers have no right to live.”
Sylvia and Hel also frowned.
Eventually, the monsters they just chased away will return, attracted by the smell of blood. There’s no point in having a barbecue now.
“No, it’s effective.”
It’s probably one of the tactics to discourage the enemy’s fighting spirit.
The men in adventurer-style clothing also threatened the soldiers on the mage’s side, splashing them with blood. Perhaps they had given up on the mage’s ability. It was as if they were saying that they had no use for a mage who couldn’t use magic.
The bloodied soldiers all entered the demonic land forest at once.
BOOM!
The magic circle set up on the hill activated, causing an explosion, and those who fell into the pit fell asleep in a daze.
Pushed by their numbers, they will eventually reach the hill where we are. The war is not going as planned, is it?
“Change of plan. Let’s do what we can.”
Amidst the sound of explosions, we ran south through the demonic land forest. As the monsters gathered, we prepared.
I raised the terrain to create a U-shaped dead end and then made the ground in the dead end sink slightly. If I could raise the ground, then there was no problem with lowering it. I spread the meat I had prepared for the barbecue and the blood and fat of the monsters I had prepared over the sunken ground.
Soon, the smell of the meat attracted more monsters. Green tigers, lamias, haze turtles, golden bats, and even king anacondas arrived.
“Now it’s just a matter of timing.”
I climbed the hill and looked at the forest.
As usual, the bloodied soldiers were running around the forest, and there were frequent explosions.
“The magic circles may have been erased. Let’s draw magic circles for the explosions in groups. We’ll drive the enemy into the maze!”
“Understood!”
I ask Cher and the others to draw magic circles. For now, I don’t think about what will happen after the war is over.
There were several explosions, but it seemed that they gradually realized that the top of the hill was dangerous, and they were now advancing through the valley. The final destination is the garden of sleeping flowers, so those who ran early might be asleep by now.
When the pits were filled with soldiers and the explosions on the hill stopped, the men who looked like adventurers started to move. They entered, cutting through the forest with machetes. They seemed to be cautious, cutting down the bendgrass and palm leaves and advancing while observing the characteristics of the plants.
“Not yet?”
“Not yet.”
Cher waited, building her magic, wondering when the time would come.
When the sunlight faded, and the figures of the men in adventurer’s outfits disappeared from view, we put our plan into action.
“Let’s go now.”
“Got it!”
First, I will raise the riverbank near the entrance and block the entrance to the maze. Cher and the others will go south into the forest and start a fire behind the monsters in the valley. The monsters that have been eating the meat will be confused and excited by the fire and smoke.
All I have to do is flatten the hill that has become a dead end.
“Gwaaahhh!!!”
“Fugogogo!!!”
“Giyagyagya!!!”
“Kyaaahhh!!!”
The monsters all rushed out of the maze at once. They trampled the soldiers in the pits, bit the bloodied soldiers, and began to advance further into the depths.
The men who looked like adventurers also noticed the strange phenomenon and tried to go back the way they came, but the path was already blocked, so they tried to climb the hill. They heard a man’s voice saying, “Stop! It’s going to explode!”
It seems that they were completely convinced that the hill in the demonic land would explode.
The men who looked like adventurers had only two options: fight the monster horde or run away. There were six men who looked like adventurers, while the monster horde alone had at least 30 large monsters. This time, they were outnumbered. They had no choice but to run, and the men who looked like adventurers ran into the sleeping flower field.
When we went to take a look, the flower garden was full of soldiers and men, as well as the fallen and sleeping monsters.
“It was a sudden change of plan, but I didn’t think it would work out so well.”
“Only Makyo-san, who controls the terrain, could do such a thing.”
Hel and Jennifer said as they looked at the fallen men.
“Why?”
“It’s a waste of your comrades’ lives. It’s not like you get a hit every time you shoot. In the demonic land, only caution and perseverance are enough to survive.”
You should follow the rules of the demonic land.
“W-w-what are we going to do with these guys?”
Sylvia looked at the guys who had fallen asleep.
If they continue to sleep like this, they will be sucked dry by the sleeping flowers and rot away.
“Hey, won’t they turn into ghosts? Let’s quickly use the palm sap to solidify the sleeping flowers!”
I gave everyone an order without asking their opinion. We solidified the sleeping flowers by dripping palm sap on them and collected the men for the time being. We left the monsters alone.
“Should we take the ones in the pit as well?”
“Yes, let’s get the bodies as well. Hel and Jennifer can use any method to help the dead rest in peace. I’ll even lower the rent if you want.”
Hel can become a spirit, and Jennifer is a priest. They should be able to do something about the ghosts…
“We’ll deal with the ghosts when they appear, but for now, it’s still okay, right? There are even some that exploded and scattered, so we can’t collect them all.”
“Makyo-san is too scared. Let’s collect them quickly.”
The two of them didn’t take me seriously.
They put on masks, stuck the smelling salts in their noses, and picked up the sleeping, bloodied soldiers and corpses from the pit and laid them out by the river. They tied the arms and legs of the sleeping ones with vines and let the slime bite them to make their magic run out.
We collected about 50 survivors and about 100 corpses. The rest were either blown up or eaten by plants and monsters, so we couldn’t find them. It seems that many of them didn’t even enter the demonic land.
Since I was here, I crossed the bridge built by the East Kenyan soldiers and headed for the remaining mage and the others.
The mage, who was suffering with a bandage around his chest, saw my face, and his blood ran cold. The soldiers around him were also frightened when they saw me.
“Are you still going to do this?”
The mage shook his head.
“I will give you back the wounded and the dead. In return, don’t come back to the demonic land. Understood?”
Everyone shook their heads.
This was the end of the war between the demonic land and East Kenya.
“I will inform you of the details of the reparations later.”
With these words, I returned to the demonic land.
The sun was setting.
I ate smoked meat for dinner while watching the wounded and dead being carried away from the riverbank by the surviving soldiers.
Tomorrow, I will report to the captain of the training facility. I’m tired today.
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