The subjugation of the Dark Wolf pack began at precisely 7 p.m. when the soldiers forming the encirclement hoisted up their torches in unison.
The net was spread as wide as 50 kilometers, though it was also due to the huge distance that it was impossible for them to surround and eliminate all the Dark Wolves with the people present.
Fortunately, the 6th legion had already scouted the packâs movement, though it was a challenging task with the Dark Wolves digging their dens at different places at a specific distance away from each other, while making sure to avoid alerting them.
The scouts of the Knight Order werenât some soft persimmons and could confront them, however the task at hand was to eliminate all of them. Alerting them would just give them a chance to run away, pouring water on their efforts so far.
Well, it was primarily the team Rosetta-san led that not only managed to grasp the Dark Wolvesâ location without alerting them, and they even got the details like where they could be found, the terrain of the area, and the difference in battle power in just 2 to 3 days of exploration.
âIâm just following what Iâve been taught, thereâs still a long road ahead for me,â was the reply I got from the person herself when I made an amazed âWoah, thatâs incredible!â remark. Her desire to improve herself is quite admirable, eh?
âHowwwwwwl,â the howling of Dark Wolves reverberated in the air as they came out of the mountain at the same time as the encirclement group hoisted their torches.
Dante-san, while carrying a two-handed great sword on his shoulder, much like an exemplary knight, saidâ
âSo it has begun, huh? We should also get going. Dark Wolves abhor flames and light, so they should be moving in the direction of Clover Valley instead of confronting the torches, but the intelligent specimen might prove troublesome. Our task is to lure out such Wolves hiding in the pack!â
The knights were divided into three teams, with the following tasksâ
The subjugation squad of Captain Suzunami who'd reap the soul of every Dark Wolf once they appeared in Clover Valley.
The hunting squad who took care of the intelligent wolves trying to escape the encirclement.
Our raid squad who acted inside the encirclement.
According to Rosetta-san, the Dark Wolves who were ranked last in the hierarchy would try to escape into Clover Valley while the smarter ones would try to cooperate and see if they could break through the siege.
So it was our 3rd legion's role to chase them into the direction of Clover Valley before they could consider fleeing, and the situation fell into a stalemate.
âââ
Rosetta was panicking.
It had been 30 minutes since the start of their operation to drive the Dark Wolf pack toward Clover Valley, however they didnât even have 10 of the Dark Wolves heading their wayâ less than a third of the number that she had expected.
Yet, the strange part was she also didnât hear any whistle to call the nearby knights in case the Dark Wolves were trying to sneak out of the encirclement.
Then what had baffled her even more was the lack of presence of the Dark Wolves appearing in the valley. There was only deafening silence surrounding the valley after whatever drizzle of Dark Wolves had appeared within the starting 30 minutes.
Did they make a mistake in the area and left the majority of the Dark Wolves outside the siege? Or maybe something had happened inside the siege?
Just as all sorts of thoughts were running amok inside Rosetta's head as she contemplated the possibilities, Suzunami crossed her arms and called out to her.
âWell, then. Our opponent is an irregular variant, so itâs to be expected for the development to take a different route. What we need to focus on is how to deal with that irregularity, Rose. Hmm, should we charge in with everyone present here?â
There was clearly a lapse in their judgement. Or perhaps not? They were certainly not wrong in deploying their manpower in the valley, where they had expected for the enemies to be cornered to.
Rosetta shook her head with a vexed expression.
âI canât apologize enough, Captain. I made a blunder in my judgement. Romambo-san and the two others should be sufficient to hold the fort here. Captain, and I should charge into the siege.â
Suzunami chuckled hearing Rosettaâs words.
âThereâs nothing to apologize for, Rose. Naturally, we accept nothing less than a sort of flawless plan as we bear the safety of the kingdom and its citizens on our shoulders.
At the very least, I believe deployment of forces was correct. Well, there was a mishap in the conclusion, but the opening act of the operation made it clear that our strategy wasnât entirely wrong. However, what matters now is, as I said earlier, how do we deal with that irregularity? Alright, letâs go. Romambo, take care of things here.â
âYes, Maâam!â
Romambo, an old knight, promptly replied. He must have figured that this was bound to happen when the enemies stopped showing up following Rosettaâs lax deployment.
âTake a slanted formation from the left in the order of Fuga, Washi and Sekumoto!â Romambo swiftly gave his orders.
Rosettaâs face warped in distress again as she heard those commands from behind.
âââ
Rosetta, as a user of detection magic, took the lead in their charge.
The sun had already hidden itself in the mountainâs shadow with the surrounding area already sufficiently succumbing to the darkness.
They had just arrived near the central region of the encirclement when a faint sound of battle was heard by Rosetta.
Arriving at the location while following the sound, Rosetta witnessed the scene of the support members â the members of the 3rd legion including Dante-san whom she respected â being surrounded by a group of Dark Wolves in an open, depressed area.
The number of Dark Wolves was as much as a hundred by a rough glance, almost as if every single Dark Wolf had gathered here. However, the fact that surprised her was that a knight bearing a wound on his body was kneeling at the center, while the three other knights were standing in a triangle position to protect him.
It was an unbelievable scene for Rosetta. She hadnât expected a member of the Knight Order to lag behind the Dark Wolves when Dante-san was with them⦠and the thing that startled her even more was that they werenât showing signs of running away.
Rosettaâs mind stopped working for a moment as if she was struck by a deluge at encountering a situation so wild she hadnât expected to see it even in her dreams, and right at that moment, that ridiculously-masked young man suddenly nocked an arrow with mesmerizing movements and fired in her direction.
The arrow was aimed slightly to her left and seeing that, Rosetta bent her body in the opposite direction to avoid it. But if that wasnât enough, she was further left bewildered by what happened next.
Suzunami suddenly released her bloodlust and charged in the direction of Rosetta, closing the distance between them as swiftly as possible, while performing a stabbing motion with her spear.
âGaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrg!â
Though her exact aim was at the spot slightly above Rosettaâs right shoulder. Suzunamiâs spear slipped past Rosettaâs side and stabbed the variant called âBlack Lightning,â the boss of the Dark Wolves, who was about to attack Rosetta from her blind spot.
The sharp sound of its howl â its death throes â echoed in the darkness of the night.
âItâs our chance!!â
Dante-san shouted without any hesitation as he jumped out and swung his great sword which hacked apart the surrounding Dark Wolves like paper.
In the heat of the moment, Suzunami also moved behind the Dark Wolf pack and skewered any Dark Wolf that tried to escape the depression.
Though that masked young man, however, didnât budge even a bit as his hands languidly hung down.
âA-Ack, I canât catch up with all that's happening! What should I do!?â
Rosetta was frozen stiff when Suzunami gave her instruction.
âRose, take the spot of the injured Manon and support Allen in searching for the enemy! Rangra, you focus on eliminating the small fries! And Allen, do you know how many are left!?â
âThereâs one more female wolf, seemingly that bossâs mate! Most likely, that's all of them!"
Rosetta took a hold of herself following Suzunamiâs order and ran down toward Manon, who had been kneeling beside Allen, and concentrated on her spirit and ear.
Rosetta knew of Allenâs exceptional detection magic, as he was trained by the «Efficient Operator» Dew Owiel â the commander of the 3rd legion and someone who was touted as a freak when it came to detection magic. However, she also had her pride as one of the top 5 in the 6th legionâs list of detection magic users.
She got bested earlier due to an unexpected situation but as long as she could concentrateâ Rosetta was just thinking that when Allen suddenly drew his dagger from his belt and flung it behind him.
Cluck
His dagger was stopped by a Dark Wolfâs fang.
Impossible!? I didnât even notice itâ¦â¦
âRose-san!â
Just as Rosetta yelped inside her heart from astonishment, she heard Allenâs voice. Her body acted on its own in response to his voice as she slashed the forefoot of the female wolf with her long sword, followed by another swing of her second sword, a short-sword, that lopped off its head.
As soon as Suzunami confirmed that, she shoutedâ
âDonât let a single one escape. Keep driving them toward the hunting ground! Allen, keep your focus on searching for the enemy just in case! Rose, guard Manon in the meanwhile and call the others in with the flute. Then come after us once youâre done! Letâs go!â
Everyone had just started chasing the Dark Wolves following Suzunamiâs instructions when Rosetta called out to Allen.
âWait! How did you notice the attack of that Dark Wolf? I want to use it as a reference for my mission!â
Allen momentarily stopped and turned around to answer.
ââ¦â¦The wind whispered to me.â
Wind whispered?! Is this boy sane?â¦â¦
Rosetta was stupefied on hearing the answer of the kid wearing a laughing codger mask.
The operation might not end at a flawless note, but she didnât expect even a student would tease her like this.
Rosetta, having her pride shattered to a million pieces, glared at the back of Allen with a vexed expression as he left.
âââ
âWait! How did you notice the attack of that Dark Wolf? I want to use it as a reference for my mission!â
Here it comes!
ââ¦â¦The wind whispered to me.â
Turning my head 30 degrees â the best angle I had discovered where my plain face shined the most â I replied.
It was the fruit of the research I had done with Dan and Dol on a certain day in the dressing room of the dormâs bathroom. The three of us stood before a mirror stark naked and seriously studied our poses. Though it had taken me as much as 30 minutes to come back to my senses, it was excusable. If I could have a girlfriend, any amount of time was worth it!
My angle was perfect 30 degrees as I turned to glance at her â though I completely forgot I was wearing a mask at that time â with an almost nihilistic expression while answering. And then, like the graceful wind, I briskly walked away from that place quietly.
I nailed it!
I could confidently say that that was my best shot!
I faintly chuckled to myself while feeling the fervent gaze of Rosetta-san. I think the surrounding wind had just opened up to the clichéd lovey-dovey route.
T/N - Rip, poor MC. I almost didnât laugh out like a maniac reading the last part. And on another note, the author finally learned to drop in some foreshadowing.
E/N - That was too good. Well, if he really wanted a girlfriend, all he has to do is to look at his classmates. Unfortunately, the girls who're into him aren't exactly right in the head and he's also too dense to notice.
E/N 2 - edited the past few chapters so the wolves are consistently called "Dark Wolves". Sorry for the confusion. 4/22/24