Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta

Nido Tensei Chapter 105

Episode 105: The Terrifying Siege

In front of the teleportation gate, my fellow countrymen were gathered. It must have been hundreds of years since so many of my fellow countrymen gathered like this.

“Preparations are complete. From here on, we will begin our attack on the human kingdom. Our target is the Dragon Knight country, Dragonia! Our objective is the head of the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Knights! Pay no attention to the other small fry!”

“Heh, they’re finally moving.”

“Until now, we had to be careful not to be noticed by the humans. From now on, it’s time for some fun.”

“Rather, we should have attacked the weakened humans sooner.”

Hehe, my fellow countrymen are excited to hear that the battle is starting. But I can understand that feeling. Finally, the time of hiding is over, and we will start a full-scale war with the humans.

“But don’t make a mistake. This is just the beginning. And as a gift for this beginning, we will give the humans the head of our strongest force, the Dragon Emperor!”

“Oooohhh!”

Hehehe, kuhahaha! Now, humans, it’s time for fear!

The morning after returning from training, we headed to the adventurer’s guild. Our purpose was to request the purchase of dragon materials.

Yesterday, we were so focused on Lune’s special training that we came back late, so we decided to postpone the purchase of materials until tomorrow.

Actually, on the way back, the Golden Dragon showed signs of giving us a ride, but because of the commotion last time, everyone strongly insisted on going back normally.

“Hehehe”

“You seem happy. What’s up?”

Lune seems to be in a good mood since morning.

“Of course! After all, I was able to defeat a dragon with my own power! Yesterday, I was too tired from training to realize it, but when I woke up this morning and saw Master Rex’s face, I finally felt that realization!”

I see, Lune seemed happy because she gained confidence as a Dragon Knight by defeating a dragon for the first time. That’s understandable, considering that her weapon was nothing more than a poorly maintained piece of junk.

“Now I can report proudly to my father… I mean, my master’s grave! And now, I can challenge the Dragon Princess Ceremony without any worries!”

Oh, that’s right. There was something called the Dragon Princess Ceremony.

“If I remember correctly, there’s a tournament to choose the heroine for the ceremony, right?”

“Uh, yes. Well, that’s right… but I wish you could choose your words more carefully.”

Oops, that was rude.

“Anyway! Let’s continue to work hard in our training! Even though I have Silver Dragon by my side, I’m still an inexperienced Dragon Knight apprentice!”

Yes, yes, it’s important to keep striving for improvement! Especially, it’s good to not let your guard down!

After all, in this world, there are some lousy masters who, right after their disciples overcome rigorous training and finally learn a new technique, say things like, “Alright, now let’s practice that technique together! Oh, don’t use any other techniques, okay?”

“By the way, what do you mean by having Silver Dragon by your side?”

Liliera asked Lune with a question in response to her words.

“Huh? Oh, yes. That’s because I made a contract with Silver Dragon…”

Lune was about to answer Liliera’s question when something happened.

“H-Help! Something terrible!”

Someone suddenly burst into the guild through the door.

“What’s all the commotion… Wait, aren’t you one of the guards at the gate?”

Ah, this person is one of the guards. But why would a guard who protects the town come to the adventurer’s guild?

“Hey, what’s going on?”

A nearby adventurer asked the guard while patting his back, wanting to know what happened.

“M-Monsters…!”

“What? What happened with the monsters?”

The guard took a deep breath and shouted with a voice that echoed throughout the guild.

“The town… the town is surrounded by a horde of monsters!”

“W-What?!”

The guild erupted in chaos at the guard’s words.

“I-Is that true?”

“Yeah, monsters suddenly appeared from the forest and mountains, and in an instant, they surrounded the entire town!”

“B-But if that’s the case, couldn’t you have called for evacuation before the town was surrounded?”

Some adventurers doubted that it was even possible, directing skeptical looks at the guard. In response, the guard explained what he had witnessed with a desperate expression.

“It happened in an instant. The monsters spread out and formed a encirclement, with the faster ones filling in the gaps left by the slower ones. Then, more monsters arrived at the weak points of the encirclement, completely surrounding the town.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

The adventurers were stunned by the guard’s explanation. But still, the movements of the monsters seemed as if they were being commanded by someone. But if that’s the case, who gave the order to surround the town?

Afterward, the guard was taken to a room in the guild by the guild staff, but he returned with the guild master by his side.

“Everyone, please listen.”

The guild erupted in murmurs as the guard and the guild master returned to the lobby.

“Some of you may have already heard, but a horde of monsters is approaching the town, surrounding it.”

Liliera explained, representing the feelings of the adventurers.

“The guild master’s presence made the previously unbelievable story suddenly feel real to us, the adventurers who are closest to him.”

The guild was filled with murmurs as the guild master repeated the same information, confirming what the guard had said.

“Therefore, the guild is issuing a mandatory request to all of you. The request is to intercept the monsters attacking the town.”

The adventurers murmured again upon hearing the term “mandatory request.”

“Hey, what’s a mandatory request?”

Gyro whispered behind me.

“Well, you know, it was explained when we became adventurers. It’s when there’s a disaster that threatens the existence of the country or a dangerous great monster appears, and it’s necessary to secure a large force to deal with it. If you refuse, you’ll lose your adventurer qualification unless you have a very good reason.”

A mandatory request… I remember hearing that term in the story of the great swordsman Lighard, when a powerful monster appeared that could destroy the country.

“Either way, if the town is surrounded by a horde of monsters, we have no choice but to accept.”

“Yeah, even if we’re going to escape, we have to reduce the number of monsters.”

The adventurers had already made up their minds to fight, knowing that there was no escape.

“Fortunately, the town has thick outer walls and large ballistas for dragon defense. We will defend the town while reducing the number of monsters, and when the outer walls can no longer hold, we will aim for a breakthrough in the weak points of the encirclement and evacuate the townspeople through the opening.”

I see, it’s a typical siege battle.

“Although it’s mandatory, if you survive, the guild will provide rewards. So everyone, survive!”

“Yes!”

“Oh boy, things have gotten serious.”

The adventurers started moving busily to prepare for the battle against the horde of monsters.

“We should also prepare.”

“Yes, we should prepare healing potions and other recovery items.”

Minna and the others also seemed a bit restless, but they started moving to prepare for the battle.

“Oh, in that case, I have some stock, so I’ll distribute them to everyone.”

I took out potions from my magic bag and lined them up on the table.

“Wow, you had so many of them!”

“Yes, I made them for emergencies, but I haven’t had many opportunities to use them.”

“I guess so.”

“I never thought the day would come when Rex would need them.”

Well, Meguri-san, it’s important to be prepared. You never know what might happen.

“Sorry, but can you wholesale some of those potions to the guild?”

The person who approached us and asked was the master of the dismantling yard. But there was something strange about his appearance.

“Oh, it’s you, the master. Why are you armed as well?”

Yes, why was the master of the dismantling yard armed? And behind him, I saw familiar faces of other dismantlers.

“Because of the situation, we dismantlers are also joining in. We are retired former adventurers who quit due to injuries or age, but we were hired by the guild for our dismantling skills.”

I see, so that’s how it is. I thought that only specialized people did that kind of work, but it seems that retired adventurers were also employed.

“So, I have a favor to ask of my master.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. This is a request from the guild, but I want my master to sell as many dragon scales and horns as he has to the guild. And I want him to help make armor using those materials.”

“Weapons and armor?”

“Yes, dragon materials are already hard enough as they are. Just by attaching a handle to a scale, it can become a sturdy shield. If they are cracked in the right way, they can also be used as swords or armor, but it takes too much time to process them into proper swords or armor. So I want to make shields to prolong the siege.”

I see. It’s good to have equipment made from available materials in case of emergencies.,I turn to everyone just to be sure. After all, everyone here has hunted most of the dragon materials in the past few days.

“That’s the idea, but would you be willing to provide the materials?”

“I don’t mind.”

“That’s right, as long as you can secure enough for us to use, it’s not a problem.”

Mina-san nods in agreement.

“T-then I’ll provide the dragon materials I hunted too!”

Lune-san also offers to help.

“Thank you, everyone. Boss, since that’s the case, I’ll gladly help.”

“That’s a relief. I’d like to ask the master to drill holes for the handles. Even a small hole is made of dragon material, and we and the town’s blacksmiths don’t have enough tools to drill through them. But if the master can make knives that can process dozens of dragon scales overnight, drilling holes in the scales should be easy, right?”

“Yes, leave it to me! I’ll borrow the dismantling area.”

“What an amazing sight.”

Gyro-kun mutters as he looks at the pile of dragon scales in the dismantling area.

“Indeed, it’s not a common sight to see dragon scales stacked like coins.”

“Hehe, a mountain of gold coins…”

Meguri-san, dragon scales are not gold coins, you know?

“Well then, I’ll start drilling the holes.”

“Ah, please do, master. Drill two holes around this width in this area of the scales.”

“Understood.”

After confirming the position to drill the holes from the boss, I hold the dismantling knife and stand in front of the pile of dragon scales.

“Here I go!”

In an instant, I activate my body strengthening magic and leap. When I reach near the ceiling, I see the dragon scales below.

The dragon scales are not stacked haphazardly, but rather neatly arranged like when counting coins. In other words, from above, it looks like a single scale.

“Haa!”

As I start to fall, at the moment I intersect with the dragon scales, I perform two consecutive thrusts at high speed. But it’s not just a simple stab. If I were to stab normally, the holes for the handles would be too large.

I stop the tip of the dismantling knife, which was thrust out at high speed, on the surface of the topmost dragon scale, and the impact at the point of contact spreads extremely small on the scale, creating a hole of the minimum necessary size to pass the handle through. Furthermore, the impact of the thrust spreads to the lower scales, finally reaching the bottom scale. As a result, small round holes are opened in all the stacked dragon scales.

After completing the drilling, I move towards the pile of remaining scales, and it took less than 30 seconds to drill holes in the necessary number of dragon scales.

“Alright, holes drilled.”

“……Huh?”

Huh? Why are the dismantlers looking at me in astonishment? Did I do something wrong?

“W-what is this!? Just by stabbing the top scale, the holes go all the way through to the bottom!?”

Liliera-san and the others exclaim in surprise as they look at the scales with holes. No, no, it’s not that big of a deal.

“I adjusted the force during the thrust and controlled the spread of the holes and the impact reaching the lower scales. If everyone practices, they can do it too.”

“N-no way, impossible.”

Huh? I think it’s possible, though.

“R-Rex-sensei is amazing… I didn’t know dragon knights had such techniques…”

No, Lune-san, this is not a technique exclusive to dragon knights, it’s just a normal thrusting technique.

“By the way, boss, should we start attaching the handles?”

“…Yes!? R-right, I forgot! You guys start working right away! The master did it in a hurry, so we should too!”

“Y-yes, boss!”

The dismantlers from the guild and the town’s blacksmiths, following the boss’s instructions, hurriedly start their work.

“Boss, do you know how long it will take for the horde of monsters to reach the town?”

“Ah, according to the guild leader, it should be about an hour.”

“An hour… With that much time, we can do a bit more work. Boss, about the dragon materials we sold to the guild, can we use them to make other equipment as well?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. We have enough materials for shields. If you can make other equipment, please do.”

“Then let’s start with swords and spears. If we have time, I’d also like to make some simple armor.”

“Haha, yes, but we don’t have time for that.”

Well, let’s try to do as much as we can.

“Hmm, the siege of the human town is going well.”

The monsters we prepared have surrounded the human town without any gaps for escape.

“But the Dragon Emperor has dragons under his command, right? Wouldn’t he escape by riding a dragon?”

My fellow asks such a question, but their thinking is lacking.

“Indeed, the Dragon Emperor and some of the dragon knights could possibly escape. But that would mean abandoning the people of the town. As long as the Dragon Emperor is the king of humans, he cannot abandon his people and escape. Well, it’s not like he can’t escape. If he were to do such a thing, no one would recognize him as a leader anymore. If that happens, no matter how strong the Dragon Emperor and the dragons under his command are, there will be no fear. What we are concerned about is the alliance between humans and dragons, not just the Dragon Emperor alone.”

“I see, if they fight, they can’t win against the overwhelming numbers, and if they escape, they will be abandoned as cowards.”

“That’s right. In other words, the defeat of the Dragon Emperor was already decided the moment this town was surrounded!”

“Hahaha!”

Furthermore, the monsters attacking the town are our subordinates. Even if they unexpectedly put up a fight, as long as we, who are unharmed, appear when they are exhausted from fighting a large number of monsters, there will be no escape.

Hmph, strategies are meant to be layered and intertwined!

“Oh, it seems the battle has begun?”

Magic and arrows are fired from the human town towards the monsters. The monsters at the front momentarily slow down their movements due to the human counterattack, but they are quickly pushed forward by the following monsters. The monsters pushed forward are killed by the attacks from the humans, but immediately, the next wave of monsters steps over their corpses and moves forward.

“Yes, no matter how much they resist, it’s futile against the sheer number of monsters under our command.”

That’s right, the difference in numbers was overwhelming from the start. No matter what clever tactics they use, they cannot overcome it!

“Let them know the overwhelming violence of our numbers, humans!”

At that moment, our field of vision was suddenly enveloped in light, followed by a thunderous explosion that hit us.

“W-what is happening!?”

The wind is too strong to keep my eyes open. And finally, as the wind subsides, we confirm what has happened.

“What on earth… W-what!?”

It was an unbelievable sight. One corner of the monster’s siege, which we had ordered to attack the town, had completely disappeared.

“Wh-what!? What is this!?”

And it didn’t stop there. The ground shook, and long, thick, and huge walls emerged from the ground to protect the hole in the monster’s siege that had been blown away.

“What are those walls!?”

“Oh no, the siege is crumbling! They can escape from there!”

I see, those walls were meant to buy time for the humans to escape! But there’s no time to be surprised. We must take countermeasures quickly!

“Don’t panic. Assign the flying monsters to fill the gaps in the walls.”

“Right, if they can fly, it doesn’t matter if there’s a wall!”

However, it was a trap. Just as the flying monsters were about to cross the walls and fill the gaps in the siege, they were struck by flashes of gold and silver.

“W-what is this now!?”

“Ah, that is…”

My fellow trembles as they point to a corner of the sky.

“Those are… Golden Dragon and Silver Dragon!?”

Yes, the ones that attacked the monsters were the Dragon King, the Golden Dragon, and the powerful Silver Dragon.

“I see, so that’s how it is. The escape route for the humans is being guarded by the Dragon Emperor himself.”

If you look closely, you can see tiny human figures on the backs of the Golden Dragon and the Silver Dragon.

“They’re doing it. But it’s foolish for the king to be on the front lines.”

It seems the attack earlier was the breath of the dragons. But if that’s the case, if we can distract the flying monsters, we can prevent the destruction of the siege by their breath.

“In the meantime, let the other monsters destroy the human town.”

That’s right, even though the counterattack was flashy, it didn’t change the fact that the difference in numbers was insurmountable. Fast monsters have already started moving to block the escape routes.

“Let them get carried away. Soon, the Dragon Emperor’s face will be filled with despair! Fuhahaha!”

The monsters resume their advance and gradually approach the town. And it seems the humans have realized that too. The gates that were protecting the outer walls open, and warriors for the counterattack appear from inside.

The humans must have understood that. The gates protecting the outer walls open, and warriors for the counterattack appear from inside.,”Hahaha, so this is the true time of despair… Hm? What’s that over there?”

At that moment, I felt a strange sense of unease.

“What is it? There are quite a few warriors with the same colored equipment, and they’re all in full plate armor too?”

Could it be the town’s knight order or something? I’ve only heard reports of a self-defense force in this town, not a stationed knight order. Well, it doesn’t matter. They must be a knight order that happened to pass by this town during their mission.

“Hmph, in the face of this horde of monsters, even if they have some reinforcements with matching equipment, it’s meaningless. Despair all you want! Hahahaha!”