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Chapter 156 Tail Counterattacked
🕑 Added 2023-05-29 16:10:04 +0000 UTCChapter 156 Tail Counterattacked
"Why am I still tired even though you are the ones who have been casting spells, Shiro?" Lily groggily woke up from her bed. The sun was already high in the sky, indicating that she had overslept. Surprisingly, no one came to reprimand her. Hence, she decided to head to the HQ after changing from her pajamas into her battle suit.
"Good afternoon, Lily. You woke up early," Alistar and Ghander lounged inside the HQ, sipping tea and munching on biscuits. Lily felt puzzled as she looked towards the window and saw the sun shining brightly. Alistar's comment about her waking up early now seemed like sarcasm, but she didn't sense any hostility in his words.
"We are recuperating today. We are in no shape to launch another mission with half of our fifty elite troops dead. We also have to attend their memorial tomorrow," Alistar explained. "Rest well, Lily. You and Edelweiss have worked extremely hard since the day before yesterday."
"I see. Thank you. And what about you, Lord Alistar?"
"Me? Well, Ghander and I always wake up early, regardless of the circumstances. And now we are taking some rest, aren't we?" Alistar replied while lounging in his chair. "But someone has to stay here just in case an emergency occurs. The undead don't care about our vacation days, after all."
"Ah, I see. Thank you for providing us with a day of rest, Lord Alistar. I thought we were going on another mission today." Lily smiled bashfully.
"Hahaha. I see that you're motivated. We did discuss it, but seeing you and Edelweiss, we decided to take a vacation. Moreover, we still have to choose replacements for the soldiers we lost."
"The undead have been quiet for the past two days. Things are settling down. They haven't attacked this fort at all, and even the human fort has been free from their attacks."
"Perhaps it's because we destroyed their curse seed?"
"Maybe, but we're not sure. Let's not jump to conclusions," Ghander replied, his warning resonating clearly.
"Where is Lord Edelweiss?"
"She's still sleeping, of course. Did you expect her to wake up in the morning after such an exhausting day?" Ghander chuckled upon hearing Alistar's somewhat demeaning words.
"What should I do today?" Lily asked, not directing the question at anyone in particular, but Alistar answered nonetheless.
"How about we go shopping with Edelweiss in the evening or afternoon?"
"What can we even buy in this fort?"
"Uh... you're right. It's probably better to go to Hoeth for that."
"Lord Alistar, don't forget that we're planning to hold a memorial tomorrow. It would be best to visit the mourning room for the fallen soldiers here."
"Well, that's our plan for today and tomorrow," Alistar and Lily nodded. She knew some of the elven soldiers stationed here, and she was unwilling to skip their memorial day just for the sake of enjoyment. As a tailfolk, she valued friendship and solidarity.
We visited the memorial house inside the fort today. Here, Lily's senses and values were once again ticked off by the elves. She didn't say anything, but her emotions flowed through me, allowing me to understand how she felt as the soldiers' friend delivered their fallen comrade's eulogy. The supposed friend only talked about how brave his friends were, their military achievements, and their honorable deaths. The elves never mentioned how the fallen soldiers shared their food with friends or how the deceased mages often cracked dirty jokes about their wives, and so on.
"It feels so distant, doesn't it? With those eulogies, I even wonder if they actually knew him," Lily muttered in her mind. Her words were only heard by me, and I nodded.
"That's just how they are. It's their society and their way of doing things."
With the funeral concluded, we returned to the HQ. Edelweiss was busy in the infirmary, doing her best to heal as many soldiers as she could. Her healing magic was superb, but with the number of wounded, she could only make a small dent. She could heal a maximum of about ten limbs a day before her mana ran out. So even if she gave it her all, the most she could heal was around ten or twenty soldiers, depending on the severity of their injuries. With over six hundred wounded elves, it would take months for her to heal them all. And there were also thousands of tailfolk soldiers waiting for her healing.
Even after the memorial and funeral, the soldiers remained cheerful when they saw the sky brighten above the Northlangard province. They felt alive, knowing that we were making progress and that we could be free from the terror of the undead in a few weeks or even days.
"Well, I'm glad these undead were polite enough to wait until the memorial was done," Alistar remarked as an alarm bell rang throughout the fort. All the soldiers rushed to the wall and soon faced thousands of enemy soldiers.
"What's our status?" Alistar ran with Lily on his back, and Ghander was also present. It was odd because, technically, Ghander outranked Alistar, but Alistar took charge in this situation.
"Enemy sighted! Several hundred Vargmuth, a thousand skeletons and zombies, and several hundred archers. They've also brought five catapults and a battering ram!" the report came in.
Ghander and Alistar widened their eyes in shock. The enemy had never brought siege engines to the field before, except for ladders, and now they had six of them.
"Well, it seems the undead have brought out their high-quality units. We must be prepared. Bring out the cannons the dwarves sent us. Man the ballistae and place a tower shield before our archers!" Ghander shouted, and everyone saluted before rushing to their posts and relaying the orders to others.
Tailfolk soldiers could be seen running back and forth, carrying bolts for the ballistae and boxes filled with cannon ammunition. Meanwhile, all the elven soldiers rushed to their barracks to equip themselves with their best gear. Even the injured ones put on their weapons and breastplates, just in case. Everyone was determined as Alistar raised the alert level to maximum.
"This is their retaliation! We will prove to those vile dead that we will be victorious! Come forth, fellow elves and tailfolk alike! Fear no darkness, for we are the bringers of light! The sun and the moon will always be with us!" Alistar rallied the soldiers, and everyone cheered.
And so, the battle began.
