A torrent of spells and arrows rained on the Goblins below.
Some mages chanted while holding a staff, others murmured incantations with closed eyes and hands pointed at the sky, and a few older men simply pointed their hands and fired their spells like it was nothing while breathing calmly.
There was even a guy who was using Earth magic of all things. He had a pile of rubble at his feet and was using that to make sharp projectiles. After he ran out, he simply opened a Space Pouch and shook out another pile of dirt and stone.
"Ooh, that's pretty smart!" Elly said and made a mental note to remember the strategy.
A few sword carriers got bored after hours of inaction and jumped down on the piles of corpses that now almost reached the top of the wall, and started slaying Goblins left and right.
They didn't overexert themselves but fought just enough to get the blood flowing and expel the drowsiness that came as the sun went down. They were the only ones still full of energy, the rest were already getting tired and had aching hands from shooting bows that much.
As the night deepened and the only visible moon hid behind clouds, the attacks slowed to a trickle. Even though those beasts had better night vision than the humans they were fighting against, they still had problems seeing. The only thing they could see was the bright and shiny walls of Auralba that were already turning black due to all the fire and blood.
A night shift of soldiers came and took over so the fighters could take a few hours of rest and prepare for another round in the morning.
Feeling the tiredness that washed over them, the girls also decided to return home and take a long rest there. If anything unpredictable happened they would surely get notified.
***
"So, how was yesterday?" Gerald asked the following day as they were having breakfast together.
The responses were less than enthusiastic. It went along the lines of: "Meh…" and "It was fine." A typical womanly response, basically.
Looking at their depressed faces, Gerald didn't know what to say, but luckily he didn't have to think about it. That's because the butler came in with some news. "Forgive me for disrupting your meal, Young Master, but a matter requires your urgent attention," Sebas said as he bowed.
"What is it?"
"One of the workers you just recently hired came with a message. The beasts were cunning and around a thousand Orcs stormed the wall this morning at sunrise when the defenders were changing shifts. They actually managed to break through!"
"What?!" The tree girls exclaimed at once. "That's impossible, the defense is not that weak!"
Gerald refrained from commenting and let the butler finish what he had to say.
"That's what happened, but don't worry, the beasts were already taken care of. Reinforcements were quick to respond and in just a few minutes the Orcs were pushed back. However…"
"However?"
"However, the beasts were too strong and it took some time to push them back out. The fierce fight resulted in a few buildings catching fire and the flames quickly spread to near the northern wall. The warehouse you just recently rented was one of them…"
"My gunpowder!" Gerald exclaimed as he shot up. He was already preparing to fly there at the fastest speed.
"Young Master, please let me finish! The Water mages already got the fire under control, so it should be fine now. I'm just here to deliver the message since the workers had to evacuate." As butler Sebas Tian finished his report, Gerald breathed out and sat down in relief.
"Still, to think something like this would happen, just my dogshit luck," he said grimly. "It might have been its plan all along! That Giant turd might be strong, but I'll be damned if I don't do my best to kill it!"
Seeing his sudden transformation from worry to anger, the girls guessed something was amiss.
"What exactly happened? Did you have some prior contact with that horde?"
"The Giant, actually," Gerald answered and sighed. "A damn strong monster, that's for sure. Come to think of it… Why isn't it attacking the city?" He suddenly felt something fishy was going on.
The Giant just had to throw a few stones and the wall would be demolished, right? The little ones would then have a much easier time rushing in. Why didn't it do so? It clearly had intelligence.
"Actually, the Giant isn't anywhere near the city. We didn't even see it yet. Only Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Orcs were seen for now," Sera informed him. "Even Ogres and Orc Shamans are still hiding somewhere, they might be up to something…"
Gerald nodded, but at the same time, he didn't really care. At the moment his main concern was getting the gunpowder produced quickly enough, and any delays were unacceptable.
He quickly ate what was on his plate and went to gather his stuff before flying off into the distance. Before doing that though, he called for his teammates and made a few orders for them to follow.
They each got a few Mana Elixirs and after they consumed them and increased their Mana capacity, would they join him in the north. They would help defend the warehouse as a team and kill any monster that showed itself, with extreme prejudice.
Only Qiona would remain at home, guarded by many guards and protected by their trusted butler. The man was old and experienced and could well imagine what would happen if anything happened to the young lady.