30 Years After Reincarnating, It Turns Out This World Was A Rofan?!-Chapter 291: A Knight’s Courage Knows No Recklessness (2)

The soldiers moved urgently, despite the fatigue and heat weighing heavily on their bodies in the aftermath of battle.

As if they had forgotten what exhaustion even was.

"Do we have enough ammunition?!"

"What's the amount of gunpowder?!"

"Potions! Count the potion stock first...!!"

Their frantic shouting and running about made the phrase chaos incarnate come to mind. That was just how desperate they were.

And amidst this scene of turmoil, there was one creature leisurely watching the commotion—a dog with a rather fortunate life.

"Yelp."

"Sniff?"

"Hiss."

Except, this dog was no ordinary canine.

A beast with two heads and a serpent for a tail could hardly be called normal.

Ortos.

A creature currently bound by a leash, observing the humans.

It seemed entirely harmless now, but many knights and soldiers who had encountered Ortos before instinctively furrowed their brows or trembled at the sight of him.

Though weakened now, Ortos had once been an infamous menace in the barracks.

No one had died because of him, but food supplies had frequently gone missing. The quartermaster, in particular, had longed to take a cleaver to the beast in retribution for past grievances—if only the benefactor who had caught Ortos hadn’t placed restrictions on harming the creature.

Thus, proving firsthand that a dog's life could be better than a soldier’s, Ortos lounged lazily, watching the frenzied humans with a smirk.

Possessing intelligence far beyond that of a mere beast, Ortos had a rough understanding of the situation unfolding before him.

"Yip."

That thing... finally broke its seal.

The very being that had summoned Ortos and countless other monsters into this world.

A creature that, though not a monster itself, possessed greater malice, hatred, and deathly energy than any monster ever could.

Now that it had finally been unleashed upon the world, the outcome was obvious.

"Yip, yap."

Ortos grinned from ear to ear.

With that creature on the loose, it was only a matter of «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» time before he, too, would be free.

No matter how strong that human was, he was still just human. And a human, no matter how exceptional, could never defeat that being.

Which meant...

"Why the hell are you grinning?"

"!!?"

"A monster having the luxury to laze around? The world really must be going insane."

"...Whimper...."

"I already saw you laughing, and now you’re suddenly playing the pitiful act? Hey, get up."

"?"

"Don't pretend you don't understand. Unless you want me to start by ripping off one of your heads."

With a jolt!

Ortos sprang to his feet, standing at attention as if he had never been lounging around in the first place.

He had every urge to resist, but that man—if he said something, he would do it.

Ortos's short, stubby legs trembled pitifully, but the human showed no mercy.

In fact—

"Lie down, roll over, stand up, roll over, stand up, jump in place."

"!!"

—he only made things worse.

Though Ortos hurried to obey each command, his body quickly reached its limit.

After all, he was still in the body of a young pup. There was only so much he could physically do.

And yet, the mere fact that he could understand and execute every command flawlessly demonstrated just how intelligent he was.

Watching this, the man murmured—

"Damn, you're actually pretty smart, huh?"

"Woof?"

"Ah, just talking to myself."

"......."

The ominous remark made Ortos's ears twitch uneasily.

...A cold chill ran down his spine. He had the distinct feeling that an axe might come flying at him at any moment.

From the way the man spoke, it was as if he was testing him.

Testing just how much Ortos could understand.

Both his intelligence and his monster-born instincts were screaming at him to run, his heart pounding in warning—

"Hey, mutt. How about working for me?"

"......."

"If you do a good job, I might even guarantee your freedom."

"Grroowl...."

At those honeyed words, Ortos instinctively took a step back, his body tensing.

Did this human think he was a fool?

"Grrrr!"

What kind of scam was this...?

It was obvious just from the look on his face—whatever task he had in mind was beyond dangerous. Ortos snarled, baring his fangs.

Sure, he might be in a situation where he could die tomorrow. But still, he was Ortos, a high-rank monster.

A monster, yes—but a monster with pride.

No way in hell was he going to help a human.

"As expected. Whether it's a beast or a monster, you guys just don't listen to reason, huh?"

Crack.

"!?!!"

"I'm kinda in a hurry right now, so let's speed things up a bit."

Crack.

"Hm, but now that I think about it... I've never really used bone-separating acupuncture on a monster before. Just humans and beasts. So I might not have full control over the pain levels. Try to bear with it."

"!!!!!"

"If you feel like cooperating, we can have a nice little chat."

"...!"

"You've got some pride, huh? Holding out pretty well."

"!!?"

—No, you demon...!

Ortos couldn't even scream.

With just a few taps, unbearable pain flooded through his entire body—something beyond this world's comprehension.

In that moment, he finally understood why people said death would be preferable.

With a desperate gaze, he pleaded.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

He didn't care about cooperating or anything else—just make it stop!

But...

"Damn, you're really stubborn. Haven't even nodded yet?"

The man simply watched with an easy smile, utterly unbothered.

And Ortos realized—

...He had made a grave mistake from the very beginning by defying this human.

***

If an army of 200,000 were to descend upon them, most people’s first instinct would be to run.

And this wasn’t just any army of 200,000—it was an army of monsters.

Not just goblins, either, but tens of thousands of mid-sized creatures like orcs and massive ones like ogres.

Even an entire kingdom going all out would struggle to hold them back. And yet, here they were—barely a thousand soldiers standing against such a force?

Even if the legendary King-General of Pendragon himself were resurrected, he would find such a situation utterly hopeless.

Running away would be the obvious choice.

And yet—

Boom!

“How’s the wall repair coming along?”

“We’ve patched up the most urgent sections for now. The knights helped, so it went faster.”

“Bring more gunpowder over here!” freewebnoveℓ.com

“Should we bring the collected mana stones now?”

“Are you even asking?! How do you expect to fire the [Flame Cannons] without them?!”

“All 10,341 reserve rifles have been delivered.”

“Hm... and the cannons?”

“There should be about twenty.”

“...Hah. This is insane.”

Not a single person here had chosen the option of running away.

Tired and frantic as they were, their eyes burned with unwavering determination.

And for good reason.

The warriors of Mordred had each survived over a thousand monster waves. There wasn’t a single unseasoned fighter among them.

They had seen far too much death to be afraid of it.

Behind them were things far more precious than their own lives—things they had to protect.

So no, they were not afraid.

The only thing they feared was dying meaninglessly, without accomplishing anything.

“That damned Archfiend, that miserable pest!”

“I swear, if my bullet doesn’t pierce that bug’s skull—”

“Stick to the order, stick to the damn order.”

And among the many reasons fueling their determination was the presence of the Archfiend.

For centuries, it had tormented their ancestors.

And now, after all this time, it finally revealed itself?

No battle could ever ignite their fighting spirit more than this one.

Even if they had no hope of surviving, they would carve their blades and bullets into the Archfiend’s cursed flesh before departing this world.

They had long since accepted their fate.

But—

“—Do not prepare to die. Prepare to survive.”

Their lord’s calm words made them blink in confusion.

He spoke as if he were stating the obvious, indifferent to their reactions.

“When did we ever come here to die? We are here to protect our families, to reclaim the peaceful lives we once had. We are not here to throw our lives away.”

“......”

“Yes, our enemy is strong. Strong enough that death seems inevitable. But do not resign yourselves to it before the battle has even begun. That would be to betray the hearts of those who love and wait for you.”

His words struck deep.

Yesterday—before they had received the letters—they might not have cared as much.

For five years, or perhaps even longer, they had fought on the front lines.

Their spirits were worn down like pencils shaved to the last stub, their minds frayed beyond repair.

But then the letters had come.

Not just letters, but the hearts of those they fought for.

Memories they had long forgotten resurfaced. They remembered why they were here.

And so, their lord’s words embedded themselves in their very souls.

More deeply than anything else.

“......”

Like warriors coming down from a berserker rage, their blazing eyes dimmed slightly.

But this did not mean their resolve had weakened.

If anything, recalling what they needed to protect only strengthened it.

“...Good. This is much better.”

Yes, this was better.

Berserkers might not feel fear, but their lack of reason could lead to recklessness.

For a short battle, that might be fine. But for an outnumbered force fighting against a legion, logic and strategy were paramount.

Without them, they wouldn’t last long.

At least the immediate fire has been put out.

Cain felt the urge to throw away all reason and fight like the soldiers.

But he did not forget the advice he had received.

— Remember, we’re not fighting to win. We’re fighting to survive. If we survive, we win.

...Survive. That’s all that matters.

For a Margrave to take advice from a mere knight—others might call him insane.

But he believed in that man.

That man never spoke empty words.

So—

I will focus only on survival.

Even if his men, even if his family perished... he would endure. He had to.

***

But then—

BOOOOOOM!

“?”

Cain blinked.

“What the...?”

Whoosh!

Something enormous flew over their heads.

Cain and his soldiers turned their gazes upward—

And saw it.

A massive boulder, easily weighing a ton, soaring through the sky like a cannonball.

And then—

BOOOOOOOM!

It came crashing down into the monster horde, flattening them into unrecognizable chunks of flesh.

It was such an absurd sight, so utterly surreal, that their minds struggled to process it.

But before they could even question whether this was a dream—

“Adjust your stance! You’re throwing it all wrong.”

“I-I am trying!”

“Damn it, you’ve got lungs for shouting, but where’s your strength?!”

“Grrrr...!!”

Cain watched as his nephew, gritting his teeth in frustration, picked up another boulder—

And then—

“Duck.”

BOOM!

Cain kicked the rock.

And once again, the sky-darkening boulder arced through the air before smashing into the monster army.

At this point, Cain and his soldiers all had the same thought:

...Are we even necessary?

Staring at him—the Human Catapult—they found themselves blinking in quiet disbelief.