“The great Jajan-sama of the Lagon Tribe has taken the head of the enemy commander! Now, you dogs, kill them! Kill all the humans!”
The situation immediately turned grim.
Paladins were few in number, and a death from among those small numbers meant that the defensive strength of this area would plummet. And then, there was one more thing.
There was a tremendous disparity in fighting strength between a militiaman and a paladin, even if the latter were not part of a hand-picked elite. There was no way the militiamen could win against a demihuman that could kill one of those paladins.
As the militiamen froze in fear, the demihumans scaled the ladder behind the Stone Eater from just now ― Jajan. They burst forth like water from a broken dam, one becoming two, and two becoming four. It was like mitosis.
Demihumans began to fill the top of the wall, and in turn, the number of militiamen began to diminish.
Demihumans and militiamen. The difference in their individual abilities was plain to see.
She looked around in panic.
Arrows. She could not do anything without arrows.
She cast her eyes around like a traveller in a desert searching for an oasis, and then she saw a thoroughly exhausted soldier leaning against a battlement. There was a quiver with arrows beside him.
That’s it! I’ll take the arrows from that wounded man and send him back to the rear.
But Neia sucked in a breath as she ran over. The man who looked like an archer was missing half his face. He was clearly dead.
He had probably taken a direct hit from a Stone Eater. His brains were oozing out, his glassy eye stared out into nothing, and his fate might very soon be Neia’s as well.
She looked more closely, and found several similar corpses. Her usually-sensitive nose finally picked up the thick scent of gore in the air. No, her nose was fine, her brain simply had not received the input from it.
As the porridge suddenly rose in her throat, Neia forced herself to swallow it back down with all her might. She barely succeeded, but there was no telling if it was because she had been lucky, or because she had become resistant to this after watching the “live eating performance” earlier[1].
Neia grit her teeth and transferred the arrows remaining in the nameless archer’s quiver to her own. Restocking her quiver felt like she was restoring her own fighting spirit.
I can still fight. There’s still things I can do….
After quickly finishing up her work, Neia put the corpse’s hands together and closed his remaining eye. There was no time to spare on doing that, but she could not stop herself from doing it.
“I’ll fight for your sake too. Until the very end…”
As Neia turned and rose, she no longer muttered to herself.
Her spirit rose to a peak it had never reached before, and her senses were incredibly keen. She felt like she was a part of the bow which she held.
The top of the wall was now a chaotic melee. Considering Neia’s skills, it seemed almost impossible to snipe Jajan ― who was holding up the head of the paladin ― given the sheer numbers of friends and foes between them. However―
I still have these gauntlets! And the Ultimate Shootingstar Super His Majesty lent me! ―I can do this!
She loosed her arrow as she filled herself with that powerful conviction.
By the time Jajan noticed the whistling in the air, it was too late.
The arrow pierced his head, and Jajan fell limply to the ground.
“Jajan of the Lagon Tribe has fallen by the hand of Neia Baraja!”
Although she shouted those words, she was not answered by a cheer. That was only to be expected. There was no time for a long hurrah in the middle of a life-and-death battle. Neia felt a little embarrassed as she realized that, but she had succeeded in shaking the demihumans’ morale. She could feel the pressure on them easing off.
It would seem this had not been a complete defeat.
Neia took up her arrow again, then turned to face a suitable demihuman before sending an arrow his way. She shot the demihuman through the head and he fell from the wall.
Neia drew another arrow from her quiver. She was doing it like it was nothing, like it could not be helped. Was she a master archer like her father now?
Her bowmanship had rapidly improved during the course of this battle. That was how she had managed to kill Jajan, though the latter had been wounded during the battle with the paladin.
Amidst the chaos of war, Neia sought new prey to bring down.
―I’m an archer, so why aren’t they targeting me?
That question was answered as her next arrow pierced another demihuman skull.
“Don’t approach that human carelessly! She’s wearing the Grand King’s armor!”
“The Grand King?”
“Grand King Buser? Grand King Buser’s armor?”
Neia’s sensitive ears caught the chatter which the demihumans exchanged.
“No doubt about it! That’s Buser’s armor!”
“Don’t tell me that human brought down…”
Ah! Is that it!? When the Sorcerer King said it would protect me, was he not referring to the armor’s ability to defend against ranged attacks but the reputation of defeating Buser!?
The Grand King Buser’s name was well known throughout the demihuman forces. Therefore, the demihumans who had mounted the wall were under the false impression that they were fighting the warrior who had defeated Buser. The fact that Neia had killed a leader-class demihuman in one shot only added to that.
That was why they refused to advance against her, even though they knew Neia was an archer.
I have to hand it to the Sorcerer King, did he take this into account as well?
In all likelihood, few demihumans would chase her now even if she turned tail and ran. They would probably prioritize holding their ground over chasing a strong foe, even if they were making a mistake. Therefore, Neia’s life was probably in no great danger. The Sorcerer King’s advice to “flee to the east gate” suddenly came to mind, but she could not do it after all.
Anyone like that would never have come here in the first place.
Neia loosed another arrow, and killed another demihuman.
“Uoooh! That… that glare again…”
Glare… well, I am looking at them…
“It’s the eyes of someone who hungers for slaughter! That, that female human, at least, I think it’s probably a female, she’s no ordinary enemy!”
Probably… a female…
“Look at that bow! It’s amazing! It’s not just her skills!”
Hehe!
“The Mad-Eyed Archer!”
…Eh?
“What, what do you mean by that name? Do you know that human?”
…No, no…
“Does that female human have a nickname?”
…Hang on!
“I once heard there was a human archer with a devil’s face and amazing skills with the bow… could that be it!?”
That was Dad!
“The Mad-Eyed Archer! The archer who killed Buser!”
For some reason, the phrase “Mad-Eyed Archer” spread through the demihuman ranks like a wave. They’ve already decided it! As that thought ran through her mind, Neia no longer had any opportunity to correct them.
As Neia loosed her arrows, the militiamen began moving.
“―Everyone, hold the line! Don’t let the demihumans near that girl!”
“Ohh! Form ranks! Remember your training!”
“I’m moving up!”