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Micchi Versus the New World - chapter 110
🕑 Added 2022-03-05 00:39:43 +0000 UTCAlt link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_gBE6MWLQVzvLcDRjz3ozAdNy7aTAleEE4F2Pl4If4M/edit?usp=sharing
Chapter 110
That settled it.
As I stood over the many bodies of Garrison Arackus soldiers, many of them groaning in pain and a few were knocked out, I knew— we were fucked.
"Geez. You guys can't fight for shit. I ain't seeing a better use for any of you besides canon fodder at the front of the gate." Sighing, I knelt down next to an unconscious beastling and rapped my knuckles on his leather helmet. The rest were in pretty bad shape, and a few healers had to rush out of the keep to heal the badly injured.
"There's no way we can match your strength!" One of them, who was picking up a fellow soldier, had a fist-shaped bruise on his face.
"I don't give two shits if you're strong or weak! Everyone pisses and shits in their diapers when at the start. What matters is if you're still wearing 'em now. Well, are ya?"
Both gulped hard and backed away from me. So did a few who were close by.
If Kain and Rugal had told me these rugrats never saw fighting until recently, I'd believe them. None had really put up a fight. All went down in one or two hits and stayed down. The couple of nobles under Rugal's cavalry unit had more guts than this lot.
"There's the answer, see. Smeared all over your asses because you're still in diapers. Now get up and start cutting down some trees. This place needs some fixing up. If I'm back and some of you ain't working, it's back to the usual training!" I shouted.
"Yes, Commander!"
Those that could move stumbled their way to work, leaving the ones that were worse off lying on the ground to be tended to by healers. They had until I checked the garrison.
I went over to the front of the stables where Byron was still lying unconscious in a water trough with a wooden bucket on his head. A couple of horses were drinking from it, not minding his presence. After pulling him out, I used the bucket to splash water on his face and startled him awake.
"Are we under attack?!" Byron sat straight up, screaming in panic.
"Get up, Bitch Boy. I need you to show me the garrison and what needs doing." I kicked his leg.
"Bi… My lady, you may have relieved me as commander, but I am a noble elven lord! You are to respect my status and—" He shut his trap as soon as I lifted him off his feet and became many times more agreeable.
Byron started with the gate. The keep was just a giant fucking stone wall that stretched from one side of the canyon to the other, facing into the deserts Amarinth. There were fresh burn marks on the wall from magical spells, and the ground leading up to the gates was littered with broken arrows and big rocks. Probably from being recently sieged.
It didn't take a military genius to see that the garrison was built on a strategic geographical position. The canyons were too steep and uneven for the enemies to sneak over. An attacking army's only real entrance into Scoth was this gate, or they were going to have to take the long way around through Kazaar, and Chieftain Breila and big ass monsters there weren't going to let that happen so easily.
"How often does this place get attacked?" I asked Byron as the both of us stared out towards Amarinth where green vegetation grew increasingly sparse.
"Uhm… Almost every other night… I believe?" Byron answered with uncertainty.
"Why the fuck don't you know?"
"I, uh… The guards who patrol the wall should know! I'm normally inside, seeing to matters only a commander can! Like… l-logistics?" He gulped.
I was about to slug Byron until my eyes caught something far in the distance. The heat made it hard to see, but it looked like an encampment of tents and wooden fortifications.
"What the hell is that over there?" I squinted to see.
"Oh!" Byron lit up like he had an amazing secret to share. "That's an enemy outpost— guh!"
"That close to the fucking garrison?!" I grabbed him by the throat.
"We weren't… in the best… state to… fight them…" he choked out.
I might have to pay them a visit later before they get the drop on us.
We went back through the gate, and it was like night and day with how different the environment changed. On the side of Scoth was a lush forest that stretched as far as the eye could see. Unlike behind me, there was no gate or wall. The place was built like a small town, and further down was in fact a small village. Judging by the smokestack billowing out of the smithy, Bogart was already hard at work inside, repairing equipment and supplying the garrison with arms.
Right now, the soldiers were hard at work, cutting down trees for lumber. Surprisingly, there wasn't a single one left on the ground when we got back.
"W-Would you like me to show you the commander's quarters next? Surely, you would like some rest after a long trip. Gods know I need a bath…" Byron mumbled at his still soaked self.
"No resting until we collect enough lumber. We're gonna help our boys and girls," I said.
"Right, of course. We must supervise our soldiers to ensure they are working properly—"
"We're helping."
Byron looked like a deer in headlights after I shoved an axe into his hands.
When the others saw us coming with axes in our hands to help, many of the soldiers were confused. They stopped to watch Byron, who had the axe clutched in both hands and close to his chest.
"C-Commander! You don't have to trouble yourself!" a cat-eared beastling woman came to tell me.
"See! They don't need help. We can leave it to them. A commander's place belongs in the keep!" Byron insisted.
"It's faster if we help," I ignored Byron to respond to the soldier. "Now, let's get to it!"
Reinvigorated, the garrison soldiers fought against their exhaustion to really put their backs into. They had it in them if they tried and were only being held back by a shitty commander before I came along. After all, they weren't put in what was possibly the most dangerous position in the kingdom to defend.
By the time the sun was coming down, we had ten stacks of logs ready to be used as fortifications and repairs. Everyone was dead tired, lying around just as sprawled as earlier. We still needed to load the lumber onto the wagons and bring it over to the mill for the woodworkers to get started.
"I can't move a muscle…"
"If I close my eyes, I might just pass out…"
"We ain't done until we move all these logs over to the lumber mill. Almost done. Just hang in there!" I shouted.
"It's impossible for us, Commander!"
"We're not used to this much work in one day."
"And not to mention, we hadn't been getting any sleep since we're constantly attacked by Amarinth's nightly raids!"
If Kain hadn't told me to go easy on them, I would have kicked their asses. But even I know that a heavy hand could only go so far. Pushing them any harder than this, and they were just going to break first, then we really wouldn't have a garrison of soldiers anymore.
"When the enemy comes knocking on our door, they ain't gonna wait on you to get out of bed and brush your teeth. I sure as hell don't plan on letting even one of them come close to the wall, so those of you who still got some fight left, we got work to do." I picked up a tree in each arm and began loading them onto the wagons.
It started with one soldier. The beastling girl from earlier. She looked down at her blistering hands, wiped the sweat from her face, then got up to join me. But by herself, she couldn't lug any of the giant trees. One by one, the others got to their feet and started helping.
Everyone pitched in except Byron, who watched from the ground.
We only had so many dire ox to pull the wagons with, so me and the stronger soldiers pulled the extra vehicles ourselves. Once all the lumber was dragged to the mill, the workers revved up the saws to begin cutting. They assured me that it would all be done by morning since they intended to work overnight, which was exactly what I wanted to hear.
The crew was finally able to retire for the day. They looked like shit and it showed in how much their feet dragged. Entering the mess hall, however, filled them with energy again. The chamber, lit up by candle chandeliers had tables lined up more orderly rather than placed randomly in the guild hall. Food was already prepared, and there was so much of it that the plates were inching to the edge of the tables. By the looks on the soldiers, they hadn't seen this much food in ages.
"Good work today, everyone!" Ethel and Roma exclaimed, aprons and faces dirtied from how much they also worked.
"Is… Is this really all for us, Commander?" the same beastling woman asked me.
"Hey, you gotta put in just as much food as the work you put in. Start digging in, because there's plenty more." I grinned.
As they clamored to the tables and gorged themselves in the feast, Byron slinked in and was the only one appalled to see so much food.
"Those are from my personal food stores! W-What have you done?! And… were those wines taken from my cabinet in the commander's quarters?" Byron cried.
"My quarters. Take a good hard look at the faces on your boys and girls. You telling me this ain't worth it?" I asked.
Byron chewed back a response and stayed quiet instead. It wasn't until Loraine was coming to me with a carafe of water in her hands did he come alive.
"I've brought something for you to—"
"My lady, you are an angel!" Byron grabbed hold of Loraine's hands and caressed them.
"Hands off the goods." I growled, placing a hand on his shoulder and threatening to crush bone.
The soldiers around us bursted into laughter at Byron's expense when he slinked away out of sight.
"Hehe. You're so cute when you're possessive." Loraine smiled and poured me some wine to drink.
"I don't like him. Did you know there's an Amarinthian camp within sight of here? Don't care how incompetent you are, that ain't something you forget or ignore." I glowered.
Later at night, when most of the soldiers went to bed and the remaining ones headed out to patrol the wall, Kawa and Loraine followed me to the commander's quarter to find Byron in the middle of rummaging through his desk. Opening the door caused him to jump.
"Nice pad you got here," I said.
"W-Well, this is the commander's quarter after all." Byron cleared his throat uncomfortably.
The bedchamber looked more like a room more fitting for a king or prince than someone who should be a military commander. He even had a large bed with luxurious sheets, a fireplace going, and even a large painting of himself behind the desk.
"Last I checked, you aren't the commander anymore. I am. You and I are gonna stay with the grunts. Boosts morale since they need it. In the meantime, my girls will be sleeping in here." I thumbed over to Kawa and Loraine, who entered the room to make themselves comfortable.
"You're joking! This—"
"Ain't up for discussion." I glared.
Byron cursed under his breath, then gathered a bunch of papers into his hands. Before leaving, he also snatched the satin bedsheet on the way out. Once he had left, I nodded to Kawa to start sniffing around the place.
"Do you really think Lord Byron is working for Amarinth?" Loraine whispered.
"About to find out," I said, watching as Kawa picked up a curious scent from the desk.
The elemental wolf transformed into her beastling form. "Smells like Sultan! It's something flowery and was stronger when Byron was in the room with the papers."
Loraine and I traded glances.
"Byron must have been receiving letters from Amarinth. You don't suppose he was planning to burn those letters before you got here?" Loraine gasped.
"Tch. I should've held him back. That pompous prick's got some answering to do."
We followed Kawa's nose as she sniffed for Byron's trail and eventually led us outside the keep. Right up to the gate, in fact.
"Hey! Why are the gates open?" I shouted to the five soldiers who guarded it.
"Eh? Well, Lord Byron's always had us leave the gates open. Says it's in case we get travelers," the human guard said.
"Did you see anyone come or leave just now?" Loraine asked them.
They looked at each other as if we asked a weird question.
"We would have seen if someone did," another answered.
I wouldn't put it past a magical invisibility spell. Byron probably asked the guards to leave the gates open precisely so he could come and go to the enemy encampment whenever he wanted.
"Stay here, Loraine. I'll be back in a sec." I mounted Kawa.
"Wait, Commander! Where are you going?" the guards shouted for me.
"Just gonna say hi to the neighbors."
Kawa and I zoomed across the desert. Their encampment was surrounded by a wide palisade. The many round tents raised inside and smoke from campfires were evidence that a lot of soldiers had gathered here. If they wanted to, they could have launched an offensive at any time and done a lot of damage to the garrison. The fact that they hadn't attacked yet had to be because they got word I was coming.
As we were getting close, I could hear Byron's frantic complaints.
"You have to attack soon! Prince Kain has sent an unreasonable woman to take my place. It is only a matter of time before that bitch—"
Two dark elven guards saw me and Kawa coming and pointed their spears at us.
"H-Halt!"
Byron spun around and gaped. "C-C-Commander…"
"Well, well. Lookie here. If we were gonna hold talks, you should've invited me along. Meh. I guess even if you did, I ain't one for talking anyway." I smirked.
