Dawn Traveler

The Stories of the Fathers

Rendall and Nedhand’s first impression of each other was not very good.

[That’s a short dwarf with a lot of facial hair.]

[What a weak looking human. What could a petty common mercenary do to help.]

3000 monsters came down from the Metis Mountains to the Barikade Castle.

The monsters should be regularly suppressed each year to reduce their numbers, but the nearby noble families have been fighting in recent years and have neglected to do this.

As a result, three cities were wiped out by the monsters.

A group of gelkos had swarmed in front of the Barikade Castle which had not been invaded in nearly a century.

The captain of the guard for the castle shouted loudly.

“Hold out for a bit more. If you endure for a day or two, reinforcements from the Earl of Basad will arrive! The monsters will then be easily repulsed!”

Rendall snorted.

[There’s no way that will happen.]

From the captain of the guard’s stance, he had to speak to reassure the troops and the citizens.

However the 3000 gelcos were frightening creatures that one will not easily catch sight of.

Gelco!

It was a monster that looked like a 2m lizard running on two feet. (Darknari: that’s about 6 1/2 ft)

Their minds were much more shrewd than a clever hunting dog and they were very fast. They move as a group and ate anything.

They reproduce by laying hundreds of eggs at a time, but they hate hunger, so they had a habit of eating each other as babies.

Otherwise, there would have been nothing left but gelkos on this continent.

If the gelko lounge appeared at Barikade Castle, it was highly likely that all the neighboring small towns and villages were in combat. (Darknari: a lounge is a group of lizards)

It was a situation that could be called a catastrophe.

Rendall did not speak out about it but resolved himself to be exterminated.

[Maybe today will be my end. I just wanted to quit my mercenary work and settle down…….]

At that time when the gelco lounge had invaded 24 years ago, the Mercenary Guild had recorded that 7 towns and 31 villages were destroyed.

[There are no reinforcements. We must hold out on our own for at least a week. This is too much.]

All of the adult men in Barikade Castle had made up the defenders.

The same was true of Rendall, who had came with the merchant.

“You’re a mercenary. Do you know how to handle a sword?”

“Yes sir.”

“How long have you been a mercenary?”

“Seven years.”

“Really? Where are you from?”

“The Dukedom of Lefrea.”

“That place is famous for being teeming with monsters……. Can I check your mercenary card to confirm that that is the truth?”

With magic the Mercenary Guild had left several kinds of marks on a mercenary card. Recorded down on it was the owner’s name, their work experience as a mercenary, any misconducts, the appropriate commission fee, etc.

It also served as identification when traveling to other regions.

“Really. Your commission fee is quite high. Wouldn’t you have made more money than me as well?”

Rendall was a mercenary but he temporarily received the position of a 100-Man Commander.

30 of them were regular soldiers but the rest were male citizens that were forced to hold spears.

“Shore up the east. Bear in mind that if the ramparts are occupied, then we are all doomed.”

Though it was a task he was forced to assume, if the ramparts were breached then they would all be in danger.

Randall fought with the soldiers against the Gelko lounge at the eastern wall with the strength that he would die.

Every time a soldier died, they had to fill in the vacant space.

The only thing he trusted in was his physical strength and swordsmanship. Even in the worst of circumstances, Rendall calmly swung his sword.

[This may be where I die, but not yet. I’ll kill one more to protect the residents.]

When a battle arises, the lives of countless people were determined by the commander.

The captain of the guard was a somewhat competent man.

He asked Rendall about the gelco’s behavior in detail.

“I don’t know the details. However, their appetite is so strong that it is said that their purpose for living is only to eat.”

“Hmm. If that’s the way it is, if we give them food, will they go away?”

“No. Even though they’re smart, they don’t think the same way as humans.”

“What do you mean?”

“In their view it would seem that the food is giving them food. There would be no reason to back off.”

“Huh, but I guess I’ll have to make use of it somehow.”

At the end of each battle, the corpses of the dead were thrown over the ramparts.

The gelkos ate everything.

They were able to rest for a while because they were fighting each other while eating the corpses, and this weakened the cohesiveness of the gelko lounge.

Nevertheless, there were about 2,000 troops in the castle that could handle a sword, and the Gelko lounge had more than that.

Considering the fact that a gelco could fight 3 mercenaries on level ground or in a forest, even with the benefits of the ramparts, there were too many.

Rendall alone defeated more than 40 gelcos.

The other mercenaries were not able to catch up to this deity.

The captain of the guard, whose body was covered all over in blood, gave out an order.

“Throw out the food from inside the castle.”

“Captain!”

The soldiers were shocked and dissuaded against it, but the captain of the guard had a plan.

“Let them fight amongst themselves to eat more food. So that they can quarrel about the food, it will induce them to not attack the castle.”

The women and the children in the castle made food.

“Kehehe. This Sir Nedhand cannot be the food of a gelco! I’m tough and tasteless……. Uh, the aroma of beer has probably completely sunken in. Anyway, the dwarven god Lord Ugendal would not permit it.”

With the hastily made stoneware by the dwarf blacksmith Nedhand, the food was flung out far away. (Darknari: 발석기를 some help?)

The heavily spiced baked dishes displayed a great effect.

When have the monsters ever eaten properly cooked food? This had stopped the gelkos from advancing, and led to them fighting for the food amongst themselves.

Two weeks since this desperate battle.

Food in the castle had ran out and the gelko lounge was still around 1,200.

They could hardly sleep well and had fought only monsters.

10 gelkos had slipped past the ramparts and they had engaged in a chase throughout the city, and the castle gate had nearly been breached.

The damage to the guard was approximately 80%.

After receiving emergency aid, even the soldiers who had lost an arm had rejoined the battle in order to protect their families.

The captain of the guard, whose hair had quickly turned white, tenaciously gave out commands.

“Raise your swords. Fight and die! And if you enter a gelko’s mouth……use that to protect your families!”

Then the reinforcements arrived.

The Earl of Basad’s household.

5 magic machines and 120 knights came out, sweeping out the gelco lounge like they were dead leaves.

Each time a magic machine swung it’s sword, five or six gelcos were crushed.

Rendall just blankly watched the scene from the ramparts with the few remaining soldiers.

“Shining Blade!”

The magic machine activated the monster attack magic that was sealed within.

A huge blade of light spun around in the plain, splitting the gelco lounge in two.

The knights continued to pursue after them in this way, and in just 2 hours the harassed monsters were completely wiped out.

“W-we won.”

“We’re alive!”

Rendall and the other defenders collapsed as their legs gave out.

Barely survived, just barely.

After that were the probation measures.

Rendall was a mercenary, and he was mobilized in an emergency, so he did not receive a reward.

The loss to the merchants who had visited to trade was also high.

Horses and wagons were destroyed, and about half of the merchants lost their lives in the fighting.

It was also nonsensical to ask for compensation from the Earl’s household. They won’t deal with them, so they have to continuously crawl in order to do business.

The property damage was substantial, but they were fortunate just to be alive and they carried on to trade in the next town.

Rendall watched the knights’ probation process for mishaps during the day before he left.

The captain of the guard, who had led the men for two weeks, was decapitated and his head was hung high at the castle gate.

“Listen to me all clearly. Not only did he foolishly provide food for the monsters, but he failed to prepare properly causing the city to be severely damaged. Without this guy, the monsters would not have flocked this far and the glorious knights would have arrived earlier.” (Darknari: