10-45. A Tale from the Past 7: Gratitude
One month had passed since Amaka and the others gathered at the Akki Gate village. After a long time, Dacia paid them a visit. (TL: if you wondering why the village name sometimes changed, it’s something like the true village name, the ‘Oni Village’ is just like an alias)
The mission seemed to have been a great success, as Dacia brought a large amount of steel and iron sand in a magic bag. The blacksmith was delighted and immediately set to work forging the katanas.
When Hiwa and Renma expressed their interest in hearing about the mission, Dacia gladly shared the details. Renma had been in the midst of trying to recreate the Oni Dance with his sword, but this conversation seemed more important. They quickly went into a room and all of them sat down.
Present in the room were Hiwa, Renma, Dacia, and a demon named Atrak.
“Nice to meet you all. I’m Atrak, a Majin.”
“A Majin? What does that mean?” Hiwa asked.
“You can say I am the strongest among the devil.”
Despite his claim, he was laughing heartily. He had two horns that had bent twice and dark circles under his eyes. His thin body gave off a feeble impression. It was hard to believe that he was the leader of the devils.
“Bwahahahaha, well-well, it’s not that big of a deal. You are the one who came up with that strategy, right? I’m here to show my appreciation.”
“I only came up with the plan. It was Dacia who executed it, so if you want to express your gratitude, give it to her.”
“Humble are you not? Well, whatever. Dacia, go ahead and tell them.”
“Understood.”
Dacia began explaining the entire execution of the mission. They had learned about the approaching human reinforcements carrying supplies to the mine three weeks ago. After carefully timing their move, Dacia opened a gate and led the devil assault on the humans. The attack was aimed at the visible location where the human troops were guarding the mine entrance.
The devils executed the operation using a large number of lower-ranking devils and a few middle-ranking ones. They used various methods such as burning and burying to destroy the supplies. However, the humans fought back. The magic forces among them began attacking the devils in the sky, and the human troops stationed at the mine, now alarmed, joined the battle as reinforcements.
At this point, the decision was made to proceed with the first part of the plan. Dacia’s elite forces waited for the human troops to be fully committed to the battle. This waiting time felt quite long, and Dacia was starting to feel a bit anxious while carefully calculating the timing. However, after enduring the wait, Dacia finally gave the order to attack.
Though one-third of the Devils that were destroying the supplies were defeated, they were successful in destroying most of the target supplies. Dacia’s elite forces launched a full-on assault into the mine, trampling over the humans while destroying their food supplies. With their familiarity with the terrain, they moved freely within the mine, engaging the enemy safely in close combat without causing the mountain to collapse.
After dealing with the presumed leader, they finally received the order to retreat. Staying there any longer would mean being defeated by returning enemies. This operation was a siege; they destroyed the stored food supplies in the mine and also the supplies that were being transported. The remaining food was not enough to sustain the humans who had arrived as reinforcements and those who survived in the mine.
The rest should be decided by the passage of time, and victory is certain.
There seemed to be a few Devils who defied the retreat order, but they are probably already dead. However, there will be no blame for those who fought until the end.
And about a week later…
When the food had run out and the humans were likely starving, they launched a surprise attack. Surprisingly, they were able to annihilate the humans quite easily.
It seems the humans could hardly put up any resistance and were in a dire state.
But this is war. Regardless of such things, the Devils completely annihilated the humans remaining in the mine.
There was one instance when reinforcements arrived, but it seems they failed to share information, and the escort numbers were insufficient to be called reinforcements.
They probably assumed they were taking possession of what was there.
By the way, obstructing the flow of information was also the work of the Devils, so any humans attempting to report back to their country were promptly dealt with.
Thanks to that, the supplies became abundant.
It seems that recently the humans finally got information about the mine, and this battle has now ended with the victory of the Devils.
Now that everything has calmed down, they brought the rewards here.
“Well, that’s how it went. We didn’t go with the second strategy, but it allowed us to deal a heavy blow to the enemy. We recaptured the mine, and now we have Rock Worms inhabiting the surroundings as a defense.”
“You guys really pulled it off so smoothly! Listening to the story feels great.”
“You’re right. From the beginning, I’m still surprised at how well the plan worked. I was nervous when we decided on the first strategy…”
“Dacia gets nervous too?”
“Of course.”
“Hehehe, compared to me, she’s still just a kid,” Atrak teased.
“Atrak-sama…”
Everyone laughed at Atrak’s playful remark while drinking their tea.
At that moment, Renma stood up, quickly dashed outside, and returned carrying a large barrel of sake.
“Hahahaha! Urushima made divine sake! Let’s celebrate our victory!”
“”You just want to drink, don’t you?””
“Renma! You-!!”
“C’mon, isn’t it finee~!!”
While not everyone seemed thrilled about the idea, Atrak appeared to be on board.
He downed all the tea and then poured sake into Renma’s cup.
“Not bad~ Not bad~! We couldn’t celebrate with victory cheers over there, but it won’t be a problem if we celebrate here.”
“Exactly! You’re their lord after all! You understand!”
“But won’t we get scolded by Lurimkos-sama…?”
“This is this and that is that! Hahaha!”
“I only intended to deliver the reward…”
“Well, never mind,” Dacia compromised and decided to accept the sake. With a sigh, Hiwa also finished his tea and handed his teacup to Renma, indicating he wanted sake poured in it.
Grinning with satisfaction, Renma promptly poured the sake. He poured some into his own teacup, sat cross-legged, and raised the cup.
“Are you sure you want to drink with us Hinata?”
“Isn’t it weird if only I don’t drink? Seriously…”
Like the others, she finished her tea, poured sake into her teacup, and raised it.
After confirming that everyone had their cups raised, Renma clapped the floor to make a sound.
“Well then!”
“”Can we join in as well?””
“Whooaa!? You startled me, Enggetsu, Shisui! Just come in normally!”
Hisui, a female oni with two blue horns and dressed like a ninja, had a forehead protector on her forehead. Her gray hair was cut short to avoid hindrance during combat. She wore a hood with holes for her horns and a scarf wrapped around her neck, making it difficult to see her face clearly.
Her companion, Enggetsu, had a single green horn and was wrapped in chains on his arms and legs, carrying a straight sword on his back and a large sickle in his hands. He had black hair, tied up neatly at the back, and his mouth was fully covered with cloth, making it hard to read his expression. However, his eyes glinted sharply, and his slightly muscular face had a somewhat angular appearance.
Upon seeing their appearance for the first time, Hiwa couldn’t help but feel a little intrigued; both of them seemed powerful.
“Come on, you guys just want to drink too, right?”
“Being true to our instincts is a good thing. Well then.”
“Well, it’s fine. The more, the merrier!”
Both Enggetsu and Hisui poured sake into their teacups, sat cross-legged, and raised them. With everyone now holding their cups, Renma finally raised his voice.
“All right! To the Devils’ victory!”
“”””To victory!””””
◆
Outside, Urushima wiped the sweat from his forehead while looking over the neatly arranged rice field. Since he excelled at Earth-based skills, this was an easy job for him. Nevertheless, working in the field was tiring.
Is everything ready for growing rice? It might be good to improve the soil in the fields for growing other vegetables, but for now, it seems like they need to work on the waterway a bit more. This place is on higher ground than the river, so they have to create a waterway to lift and carry the water.
Do they need a waterwheel for that?
“Ah, a-doin’ farm wawk like this here brings bak memawies.”
He had often worked in the fields with his grandfather when he was growing up in the countryside. It made him feel proud that such knowledge was now useful in this situation. However, concealing his dialect was a bit challenging. He was getting used to it, but speaking this way still felt more comfortable.
Sometimes, he would mutter in dialect to prevent feeling suffocated. Since there weren’t many people around the field, he didn’t have to worry about being heard.
“Just gonna go ayn’ design thay …err waterwheel, ay guess”
“What did you say?”
“Whoa?!”
Suddenly, Atrak appeared behind him, wearing a creepy smile.
Startled by the sudden voice, Urushima tumbled down into the field before he could get all muddy. But before he became a mess, Atrak scooped him up and tossed him onto the roadside.
“What are you doing? Are you a dork or something?!”
“W-what…? A devil?! You were supposed to be with Hinata-san…!?”
“Nahh. It’s a skill, so it’s not a problem. Anyway…”
Atrak leaned in closer, showing an amused expression with curious eyes.
“What was that way of speaking just now?”
“N-no, it’s nothing special…”
“Don’t be stingy, tell me. Hehehe, you seem like an interesting one. Come on, I won’t let you go until you tell me!”
“Ahh hell naww!”
