Hakai no Miko

Late at night, in the woods far upstream of the river flowing through the city of Bornis, there was the figure of the Zoans.

The Zoans, who travel quietly through the woods, span more than eight hundred of them.

The breakdown was roughly one hundred and fifty for the Fang Family, four hundred for the Claw Family, fifty for the Eye Family, and three hundred for the Tender Family.

Leading this group of Zoans, also known as the Allied Army of the Four Families, is Fagle Gargus Gallum, a high honor with the brave among the Zoans of the Sorbiant Plains.

Nearly nine hundred Zoans, led by this black-haired Zoan, found the shallow waters of the river and began to cross one river after another without rows.

About half of it finally crosses, and unexpected things happen.

The stone of a young warrior crossing the shallow waters accidentally collapsed, and the warrior lost his balance and fell to the river.

Zoan and the others, surprised by the sound of their fierce blisters, pulled out the mountain knife.

Around, tension tends to tingle and numb the skin.

"What, what! Enemy?! Where, where?!"

It was the red-haired giant - Zug - who showed up screaming full of joy, like breaking that air. Zoog stepped down blistering near the young warrior who fell as he jumped off the riverbank.

In their abrupt actions, Zoan and the others are unanimous.

Zoog, who, in the crowd circle, made a mackerel out of his hands and looked around, sighed heavily when he found out he had no enemies.

"What, do you have any enemies? Boring!"

Then he dropped his fuzzy eyes to a young warrior who still looked up at himself with his butt on the river.

"What are you doing?

"Huh? No, the..."

To the young warrior who wandered around, Zoog did what he noticed.

"I see. Are you saying your body is on fire before a war that Zoan has never experienced before? None of it, neither do I."

To put it that way, Zug threw the giant out onto the river. A magnificent blister, incomparable with the earlier days of the young warriors, rises and falls like rain over the surrounding Zoans.

"Buha! This feels good!

Wet all over his body, Zug went back to the rear, where he held himself, with a big mouth open and a laugh.

There is an unexpected loss of laughter among Zoan and the others.

The mouth of a young warrior with his butt on the river was also slightly dull.

There, an arm is offered along with the word "grab". The young warrior grabs by its arm and gets up before realizing it was Garam's arm.

"Ya..." Raging teeth?! "

The astonished young warrior upright his spine as if he had been put a stick in his spine.

Gallum gently slaps a young warrior on the shoulder when he smiles slightly.

"Don't cool your body. Keep your body dry later."

Gallum, who went up to the bank of the river listening on his back to the reply of a young warrior who rose to tension, tells Gurkaka that he was waiting for himself there.

"Absolutely. I can't imitate that."

What Gallum said, half-hearted and half-hearted, was about Zug. Besides, Gurkaka said as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Garam.

"If they imitate us like that, we're in trouble, chief. It's like a beast in motion by instinct."

But Gallum gives it back.

"Don't insult him. Look, now the atmosphere has changed."

Attacking a stone city outside the plains is an unprecedented war for Zoan. All Zoan warriors, not just those young warriors, were quite small and nervous.

I wish I was moderately nervous, but this is what happened to the arrow tip, which Gallam also thought was a little too tense.

It was Zug's words and deeds without a thump, but I have to admit the fact that the warriors' tensions, who were too tense because of it, loosened up reasonably well, Gurkaka too.

"I don't think that's the Angry Claw I've ever insulted with a beast. Honestly, I doubted his sanity, like when I told him I was going to go under the chief."

"Me too," Garam replied to Gurkaka, who still looked incredible.

That was a few days ago in the context of a city attack consultation.

"It is unacceptable to make the same mistake as all clan coalitions that once suffered a great loss to humans on the plains. Zoan should abandon his clan-to-clan obsession and come together in one."

Soon after the consultation began, Zug cut it out like this.

Plus, everyone on the spot says, "You say that!" I can't help but think.

Whenever the whole clan coalition has been talked about several times before, it has crushed it because it was no other Zoog.

Firstly, it was Shemr who first grabbed Zoog's suggestion.

"Angry Claws!" Are you saying that soma is not enough?! "

"That's not what I meant! Don't make a scene. It's a fang."

Zoog rushes to deny it.

"I have no objection to obeying Lord Soma either. But! In fact, on the battlefield, it is essential that those who command the warriors respond to a battlefield that turns two or three. You can't rely on Lord Soma for all this?

That's right, Shemr, too, I just had to admit that this Zug word is true.

Still many of Zoan's warriors do not make it a good idea to follow the Ethereal Horse, which lacks qualities as a warrior. They are following the Ethereal Horse as they bend, because Zoan's leading brave men named Garam and Zoog support the Ethereal Horse.

Regardless of the calm discussion between following the two brave men, with the blood on his head on the battlefield, if those warriors are asked to obey the instructions of the Ethereal Horse honestly, he has to hold his mouth.

"So who do you want me to put up?

Shemr makes me include outrage when I guess he tells me to give him command anyway.

Besides, Zoog said without anger, leaking a bitter laugh.

"I think Faggle Gargus Gallum is good."

That was just a bomb statement.

Zoan, who was on the spot, doubted his ears at all times, and then looked at the reaction of those around him and made sure it wasn't a mistake of his hearing, so surprising again.

I guess it was just so heartfelt to be so surprised. Zoog said, bluffing.

"As such, my reputation sucks. I'm not a chief or a warrior in Banukkah or the Eye Clan."

Both Banukah and the warrior chief of the Eye Clan had no choice but to nod to this.

"If so, all that remains is" Fierce Fangs ". If you're young and you're called the strongest warrior on the plains, and you're the brave one who launched numerous medals, then there's no disagreement?

Until the other day, he was praised by Zug, who had been openly hostile, and said Gallum, with a sinister face, to what disgust he was not sitting well.

"But I'm the head of the Fang Clan. The warriors of other families will be resistant to obeying me. Would it not rather be the High Fang, the Son of the God of the Beast?

But Zoog immediately denies it.

"That's not true, Raging Fangs. Certainly, the horns don't stand better in" The Elegant Fang ". But in the battlefield of life and death, it is the power of being a warrior that counts most. When they say no, the warriors obey a better warrior than themselves, not your son."

Of course, Zoog knew what Garam was anxious about.

"If our" claw clan "warrior, who has previously opposed the Fang Clan, is anxious to follow the Fang of Fierceness, then he is worried (Kiyu). We know how good a warrior The Flashing Fang is because we were against it. If you are a good warrior, what is your dissatisfaction with following it? If you're still anxious..."

Until then, Zoog nodded with his gaze at the little zoan with honey citrus hair who had been silently next door watching what was going on.

The Zoan raises his name in a nervous voice.

"Wow, my name is Kraga Bunuka Shishul! I am the niece of Chief Zug!

"This is my sister's cute little girl. Put this guy by your side as an assistant. That way, my countrymen won't complain."

This Zug suggestion is tantamount to saying that he will take an important body hostage.

"The brave name of Lord Fagle Gargus Gallum," Fagle Tooth, we were curious! I am so happy to be able to fight under you!

Shru bowed his head so deep that his forehead rested on the cloth against the gallum as he put both fists on.

If I get this far and say no, I will instead crush the face of Zoog or Shru. With the support of all who were on the spot, Gallam agreed to become the Great Patriarch who would lead the whole clan coalition.

Remembering that time, Garam told Gurkaka.

"Maybe Zoog's crude behavior so far has been frustrating to us"

Feeling that Zoan is in danger of survival, other clans, including the Fang Clan, have continued to confine themselves to battles that only satisfy the pride of traditional warriors.

From Zug, who was trying to defend his family by incorporating the way humans fought until he was slandered not to look like Zoan, such as building a barrier in a settlement, that may have been teething.

"I see. The fool said it was us."

Gurkaka replied, smudged.

Gallum said with a small but strong will when he dived his voice so that it could not be heard around him.

"Tell your compatriots. Forget about your obsession with the Claw Clan. If anyone trivializes" Angry Claws, "this" Fierce Fang "will not allow it."

And Gurkaka nodded for a moment.

After that, when everyone crosses the river without a thing, the Zoans go further into the woods vigilantly around. Then a while later, the head of the group reached the outskirts of the forest.

"Fierce Fang, do you want to go a little further?

Asked by the warrior in the lead, Gallum lines up next to that warrior.

"Do you see the city?

Upon Garam's inquiry, the warrior pointed to a flame of lamps over the dark horizon, peering slightly from among the trees.

"Oh. That would be the city"

"It's not good to get too close. Let's go around here."

Speaking of which, Gallam stares into the eastern sky.

"You still have time for sunrise. Let them eat lightly and rest to the extent that they do not move slowly."

When the instructions are conveyed, the Zoans sit back on the spot, mouthing dried meat and drinking water from the leather bag.

One Zoan rushed over to Garam, who was taking Gurkaka around to see how those warriors were doing.

"Fierce Tooth! Am I anything else to do?

It was the shrug that made his eyes sparkle in anticipation and asked Gallam.

Barometric in its innocent eyes, Gallum inadvertently asks Gurkaka for help with his gaze. But Gurkaka deliberately said, "Well, shall I come and see how my countrymen are over there?" and turned his back on this one and walked away.

When I walked away, Gurkaka's shoulders were trembling in small pieces without stopping to laugh, all I could think was that he was amused by Gallam's confusion.

"No... you know... if you're so concerned now, you can't work satisfactorily when you say you have to."

"It's okay! With your orders, let us fight even for the whole day!

Pushed by Schull's temper to make a fist grip and sue fervently, Gallum takes a step back.

Among the Zoans of the Sorbiant Plains, the brave and the tall Gallum were often turned this way by the young Zoans.

But no one has turned his admiration so strong, because if he is of the same [Fang clan], it is not while we know each other. Nor were the youths of other families in front of their own brethren, and none showed yearning toward their faces.

For this reason, Gallum, who was the first experience to be hit directly from the front with his pure longing in this way, was distressed by Schull's response.

"Ya, fight when you fight, rest when you rest. This is a warrior's job."

"I see! I get it! This shrug, I will give you all the rest!

Shru walked away in a mood that he didn't think he was going to rest very much. Try to swap with her, Zoog's coming.

"Whoa, it's Raging Fangs. My niece, isn't she on her feet?

To Zoog's question, Gallum worried about what to answer, but spoke as he did.

"I'm not a foot wrapper, but to be honest, I'm having trouble handling it"

Zoog feels a strong sense of empathy for Garam's misery.

"Shru is Zoan's daughter. - Well, it's better than your sister, isn't it?

"That's an exception! No matter how much Zoan's daughter says all the way, there are limits!

What a real word, Zoog leaked his grin. If you look at Shemr's devotion to the pale horse, you won't be able to be a lot of peace of mind as a brother.

It was a gallam that was gnawing with a bitter face, but when I accidentally changed my expression, I made sure there was no one around me, and then I told Zoog.

"Angry Claws, Kraga Bigana Zug..."

"What? All of a sudden, it changed."

In the tone of the gallam, Zoog, who felt something nasty, also laughed and took it seriously.

"Don't you want to be a great chief?

In the dark, Gallam said Zoog deserved a grand chief more than he deserved.

To Garam's words, Zoog opened his eyes and was surprised. I stared into Gallum's eyes for a while, but I can only find a glow there that is not a lie or a joke.

And Zoog, um, gets smaller.

But he immediately gave a deliberate laugh.

"Great chief, it's just a hassle. It's just hard work and it's not funny or anything. That's why I pushed you."

Gallum grinned bitterly at the lies that seemed too visible.

Zug has already been told by Shru that Zoug has persuaded the warriors of the Claw Clan that he is uncomfortable following him.

That's not what the man who says he hates trouble does.

So Gallum knew it and got on with Zoog's lies.

"It's about you. Oh, my God, I thought that would happen."

And from neither side, they grinned.

Then Gallum looked at the eastern sky, which began to whiten slightly,

"Soon the night will dawn. You're finally here."

"Oh. - I'll take the honor of the day ahead. The Great Sheikh, watch my ass too."

"... at all. Being a great chief is a lifetime of unconsciousness."

Garam said with a face that seemed sincerely unpleasant.

What do you mean, he asks Zoog with his eyes, and Garam tells him like he's been plugged.

"It's disgusting to see your filthy ass, but more importantly, I thought your whole body hair would turn upside down."

Besides, Zoog accidentally blew it out.

Gallum, who made the tannic surface, sticks out his right fist gripped by Zoog, who shudders his shoulders and laughs.

"As always, call me 'Gallum'"

"That helps. To tell you the truth, I call you the Great Sheikh, and I run with worm spit."

Zoog also grabbed his right fist again, lightly hitting it on Garam's right fist.

"Get the warriors ready. It moves with the sunrise. I'll leave it to you, Zoog."

"Oops. I got you, Gallum."

◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆

A young soldier standing on an early morning watch leaked one big yawn.

He was to stand on a watchtower set up on the city wall because he had somewhat better eyes than others. But this time of year, when you say you will suffer from cold northerly winds that will tear your skin apart, your salary does not rise, and there is not a single task such as good things.

"... that?

With a yawning, tear-filled vision, the young soldier felt like he could see something, stuffing his eyes with sleeves, and then staring at you again.

I see something like a brown cloud going north up the river that flows through the center of the city and further west from there. Looking into his eyes, it seemed to be getting bigger and headed this way.

…… What is that?! "

The young soldier panicked when he realized that was the earthsmoke that happens when a large number of horseback riders and people run.

Is it Zoan's raid?

But if Zoan were to come, it would be in the northeastern direction where the plains are. To come from a northwestern direction with soil smoke rising, you have to cross the river once. No matter how much less intelligent the beasts are, I didn't think the Zoans would bother to act like that senseless.

Then I thought it might be the armies of the maritime state of Jeboa to the west, but it can't be either. It is a well-known fact that the King of Jeboa is a puppet of the Merchant Guild. I can't think of a reason why a merchant guild, who wants more stable business than war, would wage war. Besides, it's the southwestern direction that has Jeboa in the first place. You can't go all the way north.

But in any case, there's definitely a group of unidentified people pushing toward the city.

The young soldier suddenly jumped to the horn provided for the watchtower, breathing air all over his chest and blowing.

The sound of a horn shaking the atmosphere sounds all over the city.

When I whistled the horn twice, three times, I could hear people whizzing from all over the city and banging on the boardwood.

"What the hell is going on?!"

A large captain commanding the city's defensemen asked from under the watchtower, raising his voice to the young soldier.

"From the northwest, give me a cigarette and confirm the unidentified group coming this way!

When the captain looked northwest of the city, there was a group of young soldiers coming this way, winding up the dust, as the young soldiers said.

The battalion captain's sightings show the group coming this way at about the speed of a horse's fast foot. At that rate, half an hour (soldering time) (this world takes a moment of time that divides the day into six parts, so it varies from season to season, but half an hour is roughly an hour) will come as close to the city as possible.

Visually the figure was not a discernible distance, but the captain had already guessed who it was.

Unidentified groups are moving at speeds that cannot be put out unless they are all made up of cavalry. But I've never heard of an organization that can mount precious horses or dragon rides on all those people.

If that's not a horse or a dragon rider, the answer is decided every second.

Zoan, a plain champion who can run at speeds comparable to horses and dragon rides on his own legs.

"Hurry up and call back the residents out of the city! Zoan, they're coming! After four and a half minutes (about 30 minutes), close the gate! Don't open the gates for anything after that!

Residents of the city, who had gone to pick up fueled firewood in nearby groves and elsewhere, hurried back to the city, throwing away the firewood they had collected because of it. The gatekeepers are turning a blind eye to the returning inhabitants, not necessarily because the suspicious will not invade the city.

"Get a quick horse ready! Let the King's Landing know! Zoan's coming!

With the life of a battalion leader, four selected cavalry groups and horses are chosen. In order to avoid disrupting the Zoans along the way, each will change their time and path slightly to the city of L'Oma to the east.

Furthermore, the captain arrows the squadron captains who have gathered to fly the instructions early.

"You check the food promptly, and let the city merchants supply it!

"Yes!"

"You're confirming weapons and armor in the weapons warehouse!

"Battalion Commander! We have already done our men to check and unload weapons and protective equipment!

"Great! Then you recruit more men to fight than the city!

"Roger that!

The battalion captain, who drops off his men who run away at his command, gazes at the Zoans coming this way from the horizon again.

We don't know the exact number from here yet, but no matter how many estimates we make, the Zoans don't seem to reach a thousand.

There are over 10,000 people in the city of Bornis. That number would be even higher if it included, for example, illegal residents. If the number of men able to fight in it is estimated to be about one-fifth of the total, the number of soldiers increased by forced recruitment exceeds two thousand.

With that many people and this strong city wall, there is no fear that about a thousand Zoans will attack us.

And no matter how late 20 days it takes for reinforcements to arrive. It is the role of the defense forces to defend the city until then, not to launch it in search of war merit.

The battalion leader was familiar with the matter.

"Hold your bows and arrows and stand by on the city walls!

Ordering the soldiers gathered on the city walls one after another to do so, the captain raises his right hand slightly as he looks to the approaching Zoans.

As Zoan and his men enter the range of bows and arrows, the bowmen who lay low will rain the arrows and slap their noses first.

The battalion leader felt as an invisible pressure that every human eye on the spot was gathered on his right hand to give that signal.

But its right arm never waved down.

Zoan and the others set up on the western side of the city at a distance from which the arrows could not reach, without pushing against the city wall. And he slapped the drum on the spot and began to roar.

"What the hell are they going to do...?

The captain tilted his neck at the actions of the Zoans.

At a distance this arrow can't reach from earlier, there is no sign that it will attack us all the time just to make a scene.

A squadron leader, who felt the same question, asks the captain of the battalion.

"Are those guys going to attack?

"I don't know. It may be intimidating, but don't be alarmed."

Perhaps he came to intimidate and give warnings so that the humans would not attack the plains, the captain guessed.

Then I can also convince you that the bow and arrow are just noisy at a distance that you can't reach.

But the captain didn't have a bad feeling about it.

I've never heard Zoan say that the Zoans went out of the plains before.

It is also considered to be on the diagram with the crusaders in return, but then you can attack them for good.

Unlike before, something is happening.

Such vague anxiety was on the captain's chest.

At that time, from the soldiers around me, the blurring occurs. To the battalion captain, who was worried about the unprecedented reasons for Zoan's actions, his blurring was somewhat deafening.

"You guys! I don't know when the Zoans will attack us! Don't let go!

But even with the captain's drink, the soldiers' stirring will not stop.

All that time he turned his back on the Zoans outside the city, pointing to the inner streets of the city walls, and he seemed to say something to his mouth.

The battalion captain, who saw what the hell he was looking at and making a scene and saw the pointing tip of the soldiers in frustration, often forgot me.

After just plenty of time to breathe and throw up, the battalion captain finally understood the sight he was seeing, forgetting his position and shouting out loud.

"Hey, what's going on?!"