Kuro no Maou

I gave the orders to take shelter in a loud voice after reaching the protective wall.

These guys weren’t villagers but adventurers. They calmly followed my orders even under this rain of fireballs.

“Oi, what the hell is this rain of flames? It’s really annoying.”

Vulcan had raised his large sword overhead as an umbrella and made a really irritated face.

Many of the fireballs dropped near Vulcan but they were quickly absorbed by his sword in no time.

[Evil Eater] really is an amazing ability. With such an item I can understand why Vulcan is so composed.

“They’re firing these little things from afar. Should I go all out and take care of them right now?”(Vulcan)

“No, I want to avoid attacking as much as I can.”

“Then what should we do? Should we just sit here while they shoot at us?”

The fireballs only seem to be getting even more vigorous.

Each and every one of them has an effect of spreading fire in a radius of few meters from the landing point but its explosiveness is not really great.

Now then, I wonder if this is the maximum power of this long ranged attack or are they holding back the power? If they could carpet bomb with an explosiveness of TNT of 10 kilotons, even our remains will be destroyed.

No, since they had retreated yesterday, I doubt they think that our defensive line is the same as yesterday, then, they don’t have any reason to hold back during their second attack.

“We have no choice but to bear with this. They’re trying to lure us out.”(kurono)

“Haa?”

“Vulcan, you asked me to attack instantly right? Then basically, anyone would want to do that.”

“Well of course. Anyone who stays silent even when he’s being made fun of like this is just a coward.”

“That’s right. They have brought their army because they expect us to come out and attack. That army isn’t there for protecting the magicians who are doing the bombardment. I’m sure they are waiting on the other side of the river to take revenge for yesterday.”

If we were to attack by crossing the river, then this time we’ll be the ones who’d get attacked while crossing the river. Also, they should have more archers and magicians than us as well. Even without a machinegun, they could easily repel us 100 adventurers.

“.......Then, we have no choice but stay cooped up inside the guild, is that it?”

“Yeah. I should probably send out some scouts but yes that’s what we’ll have to do.”

Looking at the landing point of the fireballs, they must be hidden pretty close to the river. We might be able to take out the magicians with a well planned surprise attack, but the risk is quite high.

“Is that fine? The enemy might not come charging like yesterday you know?”(Vulcan)

“Look, many of the fireballs are falling near the river as well. They can’t even accurately aim. If they came charging, then they’ll have to stop this bombardment as well.”

If they don’t they’ll hit quite a lot of their allies as well. I think even those Crusaders would want to avoid something like that.

“If only the soldiers come charging, I and Mossan can hold them off quickly.”(kurono)

“Tch, can’t be helped then.”

With a reluctant Vulcan, I also took refuge inside the guild.

.

.

.

Lily came up to meet me as I entered the guild.

“Kurono! Are you alright!?”

“n, you’re awake Lily? Yeah I’m fine.”

She must have awakened due to the sound of the fireballs. At least she was still asleep when I woke during midnight, that too in my bed for some reason.

Anyway, looking at her, it seems she has recovered mostly. Even if the Pegasus Knights do not come, Lily still has various other jobs like using Telepathy and healing magic as well.

“Where’s Fiona?”(kurono)

The one I need right now isn’t Lily but Fiona.

“She’s eating over there.”

In the direction where Lily’s small finger pointed, I saw the witch challenging a plate filled with a mountain of the same type of bread I was eating on the roof.

It’s not like she hasn’t noticed the enemy’s bombardment, but still to eat at such a time, she really does things at her own pace.

“Fiona.”

“Oh Kurono-san, Good Morning.”

Her golden eyes looked this way but her mouth is filled with bread as her cheeks are filled up. Are you a hamster!?

“Ou, good morning. Since you’re eating breakfast so elegantly, it’s fine to think that the enemy’s attack is not a big deal right?”

“n, that’s right—–*gokugoku*”(T/N:sound of drinking)

Before answering she drank her milk from her cup, no, her giant mug.

I wonder if she’ll also spew everything out brilliantly like me if I asked ‘Is Fiona a lesbian?’ at such timing?

I’m afraid of what’ll happen after that so I decide not to ask such a thing.

“puhaa——its firepower is on the same level as [Ignis Sagita]. It’s just a simple attack with [long range catapult] technique included in it. I guess there’s no problem since Kurono-san came to me.”

“So it was the right decision to not attack.”

“Yes, it must be a tactic to bring out the simple-minded ‘demons’ from their pov. Even if we don’t go out, they’d fine if the guild building catches fire.”

“I see. So my prediction was right more or less.”

As long as we are in the guild, this bombardment is nothing more than a disturbing noise to us but if we go out carelessly, there’s the danger to be burnt badly so I want to avoid that as much as possible.

“Is there any method to deal with it?”(kurono)

“Won’t it be fine if we fire back as well?”(Fiona)

“How many magicians do we have that can actually do that?.......”

“That’s true. Even if it’s a simple magic, it’s still a Union magic used by multiple magicians together after all, I doubt we’d be able to do a proper bombardment.”

Only those who have cooperated and practiced as a team can use Union magic.

We quite a lot of skilled magician adventurers among us but they are all specialized in solo play. A strong team won’t be created just by gathering some strong magicians randomly. Especially, it’s impossible to learn how to use a Union magic in such a short span of time.

“If only we had a cannon or something.”(kurono)

I guess I’m asking for too much. Even a genius alchemist like Simon wouldn’t be able to build a cannon so quickly. In the first place, we have neither the materials nor the facilities to do that.

“How about having just Lily-san attack from the air?”(Fiona)

“If the Pegasus Knights came inside those 30mins, we’ll probably be defeated.”

“I guess so.”

The girl Lily held fearsome strength to face off against the Pegasus Knights alone but there’s a time limit of 30mins in which she can show her full strength. I can’t let her go to the front lines recklessly.

Rather than that, since we have no other force that can fight against Pegasus Knights in mid air, I can’t have her sortie until they appear.

“And don’t treat Lily like a convenient pawn.”(Kurono)

“I think she’ll happily go and attack if Kurono-san asks her though.”(Fiona)

“I can actually imagine that so let’s stop.”

In my mind, I imagined Lily sortieing while wearing a headband with ‘Kamikaze’ written on it.

Since Lily really is too honest and obedient, she really might do so if asked.

“For the time being, let’s put up observers to make sure the enemy doesn’t start charging and prepare if the building gets damaged. Also, we need to accurately discern the position of the magician squad so we can plan a proper surprise attack.”

If we only use members that have high agility, it’s not exactly impossible.

But the fact that they’re hiding like that inside the forest, they must have become precautious due to Simon’s sniping yesterday.

“Isn’t a surprise attack too risky?”(Fiona)

“I don’t really want to do it either but if the adventurers start getting too dissatisfied, I won’t be able to help it.”

“I see, they do seem the type who don’t like staying inside their rooms.”

“Well, by tomorrow or day after tomorrow, the enemy would probably start charging again so I’m not really worried too much about it.”

“How can you say that they won’t attack today?”

“They had been obstructed so much in the river just yesterday, the next time they come they’ll at least prepare a bridge or a boat, in the worst case, they might even prepare a raft.”

“.......I see. Certainly that does seem plausible.”

“If only the soldiers are coming, we can simply repel them back like yesterday. But if they prepare a way to cross the river, the next battle will become much harsher. After all, the heavy knights and magicians will also come to this side.”

The 1st time the enemy attacked with only force and vigour so we were able to successfully push them back.

But the next, the enemy will come at full alert and then it’ll be the true battle.

“In the end, the things we can do now are limited.”(Fiona)

“Yeah, let’s just wait patiently till the enemy comes charging here.”(kurono)