We quickly finished our preparations, and everybody had already assembled when we met up.
At first glance, we were all in uniform, but aside from Epona, our equipment were slightly different since we were going to take part in a real battle.
For example, Neusch had two swords hanging on his waist and a dagger hidden inside his chest.
One of his swords was the one he used on a daily basis, and the second one was easily identifiable as a magic sword, probably his trump card.
Losing your weapons on the battlefield would lead to your death.
So he had a powerful magic sword that he normally didn't use as his main weapon, a spare sword that he was accustomed to using every day, and even a dagger in case the worst happened.
One point worth noting was that both the first and second sword had practically the same center of gravity and weight.
The more skilled the swordsman, the more he was concerned about minor changes in weight and center of gravity.
So he made sure not to feel off when he changes weapons.
I thought he wouldn't know about real battles, but his equipment indicated the opposite after all.
[You're like a full-fledged warrior. Have you already been on a battlefield?] (Lugh)
[You could say that, there's no better training ground than an actual battlefield after all. No way you don't gain experience from that. I see you guys are raring to go too.] (Neusch)
[So you can tell?] (Lugh)
[Of course. Say, would you be willing to sell me that stuff you're wearing if I was ready to pay for it? I kind of wish I had it.] (Neusch)
[Sorry, that's top secret. I can't give it up.] (Lugh)
Although the three of us from Tuatha Dé still looked the same form the outside, we were different on the inner side.
My predecessors from two generations ago in Tuatha Dé had assassinated a demon beast that had destroyed one entire city, then they butchered its body and brought it back home to leave it under the care of Tuatha Dé.
This inner wear was made by making full use of the beast's skin and the secret arts of Tuatha Dé.
It was an exceptional item that provided protection against magic, heat, ice, sword slashes and blunt attacks, and it was so elastic it didn't hinder my movements at all.
This was used in Tuatha Dé during battes.
[This is too tight around my chest…!] (Talt)
[…Please bear with it.] (Lugh)
However, it seemed that the secret arts of Tuatha Dé didn't take Talt's plump chest into account when making that inner wear.
It was made of stretchable material, but even that had its limits.
I felt sorry for her, but she would have to put up with it. Even if it was a bit hard to breathe in, its benefits outweighed its disadvantages.
[Wow, holy co- Wait, I know…! Lugh, I think it's too tight for me as well.] (Dia)
[I-Is that so?] (Lugh)
Dia said in a whisper, but that was definitely a lie. Suffice to say that the fabric was elastic enough for her to handle it.
However, I was a gentleman, so I refrained from such remarks.
In the meantime, the time for departure had come, and everyone boarded the carriage and proceeded.
Normally, fighting a horde of orcs was within our capabilities. Here's hoping that the military intel was correct.
_______________________________________________________________
We reached the canyon where we would ambush the orcs.
Soldiers were there.
Every one of them were magicless.
During battles against monsters, magicless people lacked the ability to fight back, but they could play an active role in other areas such as guarding and scouting, stalling, creating positions, evacuating villagers, resupplying and contacting the headquarters.
Those who had magic possessed overwhelming power, but they couldn't fight with that alone.
The magicless people were the reason why the magicians could focus on the battle.
The scouts had returned.
They seemed to be reporting to Rachel, who had the most authority here.
Rachel nodded and seemed to be thinking about what to tell us.
After a while, she came in our direction.
[The horde of orcs will be here in another four hours or so. For some reason, their numbers have increased. We expected 100 of them, but now they have increased to 150.] (Rachel)
She said so in a dignified tone.
A number that was 1.5 times larger was no laughing matter.
If there was such a margin of error, we should normally abort the operation and withdraw.
We waited for Rachel's next words, but she didn't say anything else.
In the midst of all this, Talt timidly raised her hand.
[Um, is there any strategy you might suggest?] (Talt)
[Our strategy is simple: we slaughter all the orcs in this canyon. If I had to say something, the melee combat specialists should actively fight in the front lines, and the magic specialists should fight from the back lines.] (Rachel)
This was too poorly executed to be called a strategy.
But then again, it was impossible for us, who hadn't properly been trained to collaborate, to follow a complex strategy.
[Rachel-dono, I have a suggestion. This canyon may be perfect for intercepting the pack of orcs, but even so, the path is still too wide. Fighting 150 orcs head on would be paramount to suicide.] (Lugh)
The path was roughly 7 or 8 meters large, and even with their giant bodies, this was enough for 5 or 6 orcs to line up.
If as many as 6 orcs marched on, they would break through the vanguard, surround and attack them from all directions, and the rearguard wouldn't have the time to cast magic.
We, who were already outnumbered, would end up at a disadvantage.
[But there's no better location than here.] (Rachel)
[As far as what the map can show us, that's right. In that case, we can change the terrain. Dia and I can use earth magic to narrow the path's width. If we build earthen walls that gently declines like this, we can make it so that only about two orcs can get through.] (Lugh)
I drew a simple picture on a piece of paper.
As I said orally, the earthen walls were arranged diagonally so as to connect to the walls of the canyon, reshaping the terrain into an increasingly declining landscape.
The advantage in doing this was that it would reduce the number of orcs we'd have to deal with at once.
Moreover, the earthen walls would also serve as protection. The rearguards would be able to safely fire magic from behind the walls in a parabolic trajectory.
I wish I could close up the walls completely, but since it could dissuade the orcs from marching on and convince them to take a detour, I prepared a gap that was barely large enough for three of them to pass through.
[That's an interesting idea. But do you have enough mana to build those earthen walls?] (Rachel)
[It won't be a problem for me and Dia. If we're going to engage the enemy in four hours, then we'll have the time to quickly build the walls, and if we take the time to rest, we will recover a considerable portion of our mana.] (Lugh)
[I'm in favor. What about you?] (Rachel)
Rachel asked our instructor.
[Let's go get permission. Lugh, Claudia, give it a try.] (Class S instructor)
[Yes sir!] (Lugh & Dia)
[Lugh, do your best.] (Neusch)
Dia and I nodded to each other, and we started building the walls right away.
Whether it was those who had magic or those who didn't, those around us were astonished by our performance.
[This is incredible. As always, Lugh and Dia-kun's magic is a real work of art.] (Neusch)
[Yes, Lugh-sama and Dia-sama are both prodigies in magic.] (Talt)
[Wow, amazing. You wouldn't guess that they're just students at all. I wish I could have them as my subordinates here and now.] (Rachel)
This wasn't our original magic, but the composition of a magic of this magnitude was practically perfect, and because I never seemed to run out of mana, I must've appeared to be a monster of some sort.
But I've got to say, I really wondered if our instructor and that knight lady were sane at all, because if I hadn't said anything, then this battle would've turned so hopeless it would've been no surprise if everybody except Epona had been wiped out.
…No, actually, maybe they intended to create such a situation.
_______________________________________________________________
After the civil engineering work was finished, we left the lookout to the soldiers and decided to take a rest.
In order to boost the recovery of her magic, Dia drank tea, which was made according to Tuatha Dé's secret recipe, had relaxing properties and facilitated physical recovery, before going to sleep.
That being the case, we were allowed to use a tent for three people.
…If we considered efficiency alone, it would've been better if only I took care of the civil engineering task, but obviously, that would've been too conspicuous.
[Lugh-sama, this will be our first time fighting monsters. I feel rather nervous.] (Talt)
[True… Those aren't the kind of enemies we can handle best. Assassination is the art of killing human beings, after all. Well, from the beginning, I had no intention of using any assassination technique in front of people, though.] (Lugh)
Assassination is the pursuit of how to kill humans efficiently, and Tuatha Dé's techniques had evolved so they could kill irregulars who possessed magical power, but although plenty of them were more effective than regular assassination techniques against monsters, fighting them was undeniably outside of my area of expertise.
Talt's legs were shaking.
[Talt, are you afraid?] (Lugh)
[Not at all, because you're here, Lugh-sama.] (Talt)
[I'm glad to hear that. Let me give you one word of advice : don't hesitate, and go for it.] (Lugh)
[Yes!] (Talt)
Talt tightly grasped her spear. She had already unfolded her telescopic spear, and since I expected this to be a hard fight, I reinforced the connected parts.
I warned her to fall back immediately if the spear ever broke.
[Also, could I… have a little more? I… ran out of it again.] (Talt)
[Do you still have trouble controlling it?] (Lugh)
[Yes, my mana has been leaking out all this time. So, please give me yours, Lugh-sama.] (Talt)
I glanced sideways at Dia, and she seemed to still be asleep.
If so, then I suppose there was no need to move to another location.
There was a downside to Tuatha Dé's eyes. You can use them to enhance your eyesight by focusing your mana into them, but when you're still getting used to them, you're in a state of magical incontinence and unconsciously pour you mana into them, leaving you with a shortage of mana.
Going into battle in spite of that could prove fatal.
Once you're used to it, you can stop providing the eyes with magic when you don't need to, but Talt couldn't do that yet.
Which is why I used a secret technique to compensate for what she lost.
I placed my lips on Talt's and made my mana flow into her from there. Mucosal contact was the easiest way to transfer mana.
The moment our lips touched, Talt relaxed her body, closed her eyes and strongly pressed her lips against mine.
When my mana began to flow into her, her body jumped a little and her breath felt hot.
This was my original method. Matching one's mana wavelength to another's was a super-advanced practice, and those who had ever tried that were most likely very few.
…I didn't want to use this method too much, but I had to in order to save Talt who had already suffered from a serious mana deficiency before, so she would let me know whenever her physical condition was in a critical state, but she'd been asking me quite a lot since then.
In fact, I suspect that Talt had been able to control her eye for a long time now, but I found it adorable that she was using this as an excuse to be spoiled, so I let her do as she pleased.
Besides, I kind of liked it.
Embracing Talt and joining my lips with hers, that is.
[Is this enough?] (Lugh)
I separated my lips from hers.
I'd always thought so, but at this time, Talt looked sexier than I could ever imagine when she was her usual self.
[Yes, I can feel your essence flowing into me, and I am now full of mana and courage!] (Talt)
With a most ecstatic expression, Talt gently brushed her lips.
…I kept this treatment a secret from Dia. Telling her about it could make things bothersome in many ways.
Suddenly, our surroundings turned noisy.
This was the sign that the enemy was appearing.
[Time to go, huh. Talt, wake up.] (Lugh)
I shook Dia awake.
[Nngghh… 'Morning, Lugh.] (Dia)
[I did tell you to rest, but sleeping so soundly in such a situation takes quite a lot of guts.] (Lugh)
[Maybe. But thanks to that, I've recovered a good amount of mana.] (Dia)
Dia was the same as usual.
I guess she didn't see what we did earlier.
[Let's go then. Dia, did you bring your good luck charms?] (Lugh)
[Sure did!] (Dia)
Dia's pochette contained 5 foul stones that I had practically charged to the breaking point with my mana.
This was her last insurance. A last resort for when she was about to run out of mana.
It was a trick that we couldn't reveal to anyone, but it wasn't worth risking Dia's life.
[Talt, you're ready to go?] (Lugh)
[Yes! I won't lose.] (Talt)
Soldiers came to call for us.
At last, it was show time.