Chapter 261

Chapter 261: This Should Be Enough (2)

As the number of hunters following them increased, Kaor turned to Ghislain and asked,

“Having so many subordinates is nice, but are you sure about this? They’re all rough types, so handling them won’t be easy.”

“Are you scared?”

“I’m not scared!”

“The more people we have for the monster battles, the better. It’ll speed up leather procurement and they will be useful later on. When I leave, you’ll need to handle them properly. Can you manage that?”

If it were any other task, Ghislain would never have entrusted it to Kaor. However, Kaor had experience leading a small mercenary corps, and Ghislain decided to trust that experience.

Hunters are similar to mercenaries—if anything, they tend to obey the strong even more readily than mercenaries.

With Kaor’s foul temper, he should be more than capable of managing a few hundred hunters. He had already gained fame by defeating Doncard and had proven his skills.

Kaor snorted and flashed a confident smirk.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep them in line, even if I have to beat them up every day.”

“Good. People like them resist small fears but submit before overwhelming terror. Don’t forget that.”

Hearing those words, Kaor nodded, his expression tense. He felt like he was beginning to understand.

After all, wasn’t he himself currently being dragged around under the overwhelming force of the lord’s authority?

‘Damn it! This hurts my pride! Someday, I’ll definitely have my rematch.’

Fueled by his wounded pride, Kaor fumed and renewed his determination. It wasn’t just Gillian he wanted to surpass—one day, he would surpass Ghislain too.

‘That’s the way of a man, is it not?’

Whether Kaor was brimming with resolve or not, Ghislain didn’t care. He had plenty of matters to handle before the monster wave arrived.

He sought out a knight of Turian who was in charge of the fortress.

“The monster wave is coming soon. You’d better start preparing.”

“...It’s still more than six months away, though,” the knight replied, his tone dripping with skepticism.

The knight’s dismissive attitude was unmistakable. He found it amusing that Ghislain, who had only recently arrived, dared to make such declarations about the monster wave’s timing.

Ignoring the knight’s reaction, Ghislain simply delivered his message and left.

“Just prepare properly and don’t regret it later. Plenty of people have regretted ignoring my advice.”

After Ghislain departed, the Turian knight was left deep in thought.

If the knight had been from another kingdom, he would have dismissed Ghislain’s words outright, thinking, “Another lunatic spouting some nonsense again.”

But the people of Turian were different. They were a cautious bunch who had even built fortresses to fend off monsters.

Grant, the Turian knight and commander of the fortress, wrestled with the situation.

“He hasn’t been here long. He’s probably repeating nonsense he overheard somewhere.”

“But his previous accomplishments aren’t ordinary. He’s more professional than hunters who’ve been here for ages.”

“Could he actually know something?”

Preparing for a monster wave wasn’t as simple as tightening defenses. It meant locking down the fortress and halting all trade and supply routes.

Normally, the fortress relied on monster byproducts to attract merchant guilds for economic activity. If trade stopped, the fortress would struggle to endure for long.

Additionally, they would need to notify the royal court and nearby fortresses to initiate wartime protocols. This would prepare them in case the fortress fell.

In short, not just this fortress, but the entire region would have to brace for war.

It was thanks to such rigorous systems that the Kingdom of Turian had been able to withstand the overwhelming monster attacks from the Shadow Mountains.

“If this is a false alarm, the financial loss will be immense.”

The monster wave’s cycle was almost predictable, allowing the fortresses to plan accordingly.

Since the fortresses had been established, there had never been a case where they entered wartime protocols prematurely due to a sudden warning.

It was too risky to act on the words of a lunatic.

After a sleepless night of deliberation, Grant spoke to his subordinate knights at dawn.

“Prepare for the monster wave.”

It wasn’t that he fully trusted Ghislain’s warning. It was Grant’s compulsive caution that prevented him from dismissing even the wildest claims outright.

“Also, keep an eye on Count Fenris. If no monster wave occurs within a month, we’ll hold him accountable for the loss.”

I couldn’t be sure how much money it was, but to make up for the losses, one would have to hunt monsters here for a lifetime.

The moment Grant issued the order, the fortress entered a state of high alert. The entrance was sealed off, and hunters were prohibited from going out on hunts.

Knights and soldiers moved busily, preparing for battle with the monsters.

“Hurry up and move those supplies!”

“Check the quantity of arrows and stones!”

“From today on, double the number of guards!”

Large ballistae and catapults were inspected, and strategic supplies were stacked densely around the fortress walls.

As a result, roads and several areas within the fortress were blocked off. Economic activities ground to a halt, making life difficult, and tensions among the people rose.

“Attack!” Grant shouted.

At his signal, the ballistae and catapults unleashed their first volley.

Thwaang!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Screeeech!

Monsters exploded and were torn apart. The ballistae, in particular, proved highly effective against the larger monsters.

However, a few volleys weren’t enough to stop the overwhelming number of monsters. Soon, they pushed past the range of the siege weapons, rendering them ineffective.

“Archers! Take aim... loose!”

The archers, easier to maneuver than siege weapons, began their assault.

Whooosh!

A rain of arrows poured down, some targeting the flying monsters.

While the thick hides of larger monsters lessened the damage, the smaller ones were significantly affected.

“Keep shooting! Don’t stop!”

Until the monsters reached the walls, they had to keep up the arrow barrage. Even the few mages, who had wandered here for their own reasons, expended every ounce of strength to cast long-range spells.

Rooooar!

The ground-shaking noise grew louder, and the deafening cries of the monsters drew closer.

Standing atop the wall, Ghislain assessed the monsters’ numbers and their proximity before nodding and saying:

“Alright, it’s about time to jump down. Everyone, prepare for the ‘Survival Roll with Only One Broken Arm.’”

The nearby hunters looked puzzled, while the knights of Fenris wore gloomy expressions.

‘I knew this would happen.’

‘Of course, he wouldn’t fight in a normal way.’

‘I give up. I don’t even want to think about it anymore.’

The knights, indifferent to the incoming horde, had already resigned themselves. Without complaint, they pulled ropes from their belts.

Seeing this, Ghislain grinned.

“You guys are getting better at preparing to jump.”

“Yes, yes. It’s just that we don’t want to jump directly. It hurts our shoulders,” some of the knights replied lifelessly.

Attaching ropes haphazardly to the walls, they descended quickly, each carrying massive wooden crates on their backs.

The sight left the hunters in shock.

“What... what are they doing?”

“Are they crazy? Why are they going down?”

“They actually followed the order to jump down? Are they brainless?”

What kind of idiot willingly follows a command to die? If you’re going to die anyway, wouldn’t it make sense to kill the one giving the orders first?

Grant, seeing this madness, shouted again.

“You lunatics! What are you doing?! Get back up here! Back up now! Unless you want to die from friendly fire!”

Even as monsters approached, the archers could keep firing, even at targets directly below. But with allies down there, that wasn’t an option.

No matter how much Grant raged, Ghislain ignored him. Instead, he turned to the bewildered hunters who had chosen to follow him and said:

“What are you waiting for? Grab a rope and climb down.”

“...Why should we?”

“Fighting from the wall isn’t always the best strategy. That works against humans, but it’s different against monsters. It’s better to form a proper formation and fight in open ground. Besides, many of these monsters can scale walls anyway.”

“But the walls are safer...”

“This is your first time, so I’ll explain nicely. Against this many monsters, fighting on the ground is better. And there’s an even more important reason.”

“What’s that...?”

“If we fight down there and kill more monsters, we get to keep all the loot, don’t we? Alright, the explanation’s over. Get moving!”

“...”

The hunters were speechless. No matter how they thought about it, it sounded like a joke. Yet there were already people who had obeyed.

They couldn’t make sense of the situation.

While the hunters stood in stunned silence, Ghislain glanced down and shouted:

“They seem confused, so let’s just toss them down! Catch them properly!”

A booming voice replied from below:

“The monsters are closing in! Quickly toss them down!”

“Alright, let’s get started,” Ghislain said.

Without another word, he grabbed a hunter standing next to him and threw him over the wall.