After the week was gone, The town lost most of its powerful members. The council left, as most of the wealthy merchants. The hired guards and adventurers followed, leaving the guild empty. Now all that was left were the slaves abandoned by their masters and the commoners. The mayor decided to stay, but he lacked the will to command what was left of the people, the future looked bleak.
I was eating lunch in the guildhall, Herbert and Jana were there next to me, and Razana across. The guild that once housed several hundred adventurers was reduced to 50, most of the locals who took up the job to make money. The town guards were nonexistent, with only the captain, a local man remaining. So basically the town was left with 51 soldiers, some of them ill-equipped against an army of 7,000.
I had spent considerable time studying the situation, the monsters would attack soon, they probably gauged that with the merchants and other influential people here they’d be attracting unwanted attention, especially when their contacts got involved.
Now the town was vulnerable, and it was only a matter of time before the high orc launched an invasion. Herbert and the other adventurers did look up to me, after all, I was the only one with a good education.
Jana broke the silence, “So what are we gonna do boss?”
I looked up, “Boss?” I asked, “When did you start calling me that?”
“Since now,”
“Hmm,” Being accepted here was cool and all, and I wasn’t unfamiliar with being in a leadership position, I had occasionally taken leadership roles in projects back in school, but now that I think about it, that experience in such a peaceful environment didn’t measure up to what kind of leadership this situation required.
Back in my old life, I constantly took things easy, deriving pleasure from my readings, never pushing myself. But now I was thrown into this world against my will, and I had people who were counting on me and my skills. I couldn’t let Razana or Herbert or Jana or any of these nice people down. In my old life, I would never have put myself in a position like this, I would have run away from this mess and gone back to my books. For the most part, I was treating this life like my old one, constantly lazing around reading and amassing knowledge, but never using it for any good purpose. I thought back to what my great uncle said, about making connections, I saw the true meaning now, to make connections is to be human, have something to live for, otherwise, your life would be in vain. Unbeknownst to me, I had made these connections here, I had a reason for life that was more than just books, I had to protect these people. My grandmother and mother were simple people, and after losing my grandfather and father they never seemed to truly recover. And I understood that they were the people that they lived for, and for them to be gone they felt sad and without purpose. While they did have me, I didn’t want to judge.
Like it or not I was stuck in this world, and I had friends, actual friends not just acquaintances, and I had to get my act together and save them. “Alright!” I said, standing up.
The remaining adventurers were all sitting at tables, looking glum. “We’re never gonna get anything done if we just sit around moping! We need to make a plan and save our comrades!”
Herbert looked at me and smiled, “What do you have in mind? Whatever it is, if it can save the town then I’m all ears!” he said.
“We might not have the numbers, but this town is situated on a hill, making us have the high ground, not only that but we have walls. I’m sure if we divide our resources correctly, we can defend this town and win!”
My mind went a million miles an hour, I used my knowledge to the greatest extent possible, formulating a plan. Walking out of the guildhall, every one of the remaining adventures followed me, they were in and following me. I had to get everyone on the same page, so we walked to the mayor’s house.
The Mayor’s house was a small manor in the center of town, it was also home to the local government. The mayor himself was a small man, short and portly but with a good heart. Next to him was a strong middle-aged man with silver hair, he was the captain of the guard (Also the only guard) in this town.
We had gained an audience with the mayor due to Razana’s connections. Me, Herbert, Jana, and Razana all were here, in the mayor’s grand office. Laying down a map of the town and surrounding area, I proceeded to brief the mayor.
“The goblins are likely to attack from all directions. Knowing we have nowhere to go and that this is the safest place to hide, they’ll try to swarm and encircle us. However, due to that we can try and last a siege.”
“A siege?” The mayor asked, ‘Do we have enough supplies? And even so, the goblins will probably lose interest and attack surrounding villages.”
I nodded, ‘That’s why we must fight them, they will try climbing the walls and flooding the gates, we need to be on the top of those walls and kill any who try to climb. We’re like a dam holding backwater. The water is the monsters. As it hits us, the dam, we must kill them!” I said firmly.
“Pardon me,’ The guard captain said, his name was Helman Riesse. “Even if we do manage to engage them, I don’t believe we have enough armed men to defend ourselves effectively, even if we force conscript our citizens, not many are familiar with combat.”
“You are perfectly correct about that, Captain Riesse, that’s why I thought of a way for even a housemaid to contribute.’
“What is that?” The mayor asked.
“Simple, from where I’m from there is a practice of dropping things at enemies from above. It seems as if this place also has this practice, but it seems limited to explosives.”
“If you are wondering if we can drop explosives on the enemies… I’m sad to admit that we possess none.” Captain Riesse said.
“It’s okay, I knew that we didn’t, even if we did, if we dropped them from the walls it might collapse them so it would be impractical anyway. I’m thinking of dropping something else, as the goblins start to climb we pour boiling water on them.”
The mayor and the captain gasped. I was sort of surprised when Razana and the others were unfamiliar with this tactic. Many medieval-era defenders would use this method on those trying to scale the walls. And if this town had anything, it was water. A large river ran through the middle of the city. The water was scummy, but it could be boiled. If we dragged cauldrons on the top of the walls and filled them with water and boiled them. We could tip them over and burn anyone underneath. That way it would thin their ranks and also injury anyone underneath.
The two heard me loud and clear. If we mobilized the people and made a bucket brigade, we could keep water coming. Also even if we had to reboil, the goblins who were burned would have to regroup, giving us precious time. If we had fire mages up there as well, they could help boil and provide support. That, along with archers and spearmen who could pick off anyone who managed to evade the scalding water could be our saving grace.
The mayor stared at me with a stunned and interested face as I explained the logistics. In the end, both he and the captain decided to support my plan, and he announced for everyone to do their best to support it. He placed me in a position of authority to organize the whole thing. I would have liked him to take initiative and gain a bit of authority himself, but in the end, it would all go more smoothly with me in charge. We evacuated the villages that surrounded the town due to their vulnerable state. Then I got all able-bodied people to grab buckets and create a bucket brigade. We got on top of the walls and placed cauldrons and flammable materials next to each other at fixed intervals. Then we filled each of the cauldrons and made a pulley system for hauling up buckets. After that, we got some common folk who cooked regularly and fire mages to stand by the cauldrons and man the fires. Others such as hunters or fishers grabbed bows or spears and stood between the cauldrons. The bigger men grabbed thick gloves and prepared to tip the cauldrons.
I had got blacksmiths to create a frame that surrounded the bottom of the cauldron. This frame not only made moving easier but also made it so that the cauldrons could be aimed. Finally, we donned shields to protect us from projectiles.
All we could do was wait. And sure enough, after two nights of preparations, the goblins attacked.
We tried to keep things under wraps so the goblins wouldn’t notice our movements, and so far that seemed to be the case. I stood at the south gate, a grim smile on my face. Defenders surrounded me, they all looked at me for orders.
I had gotten myself the respect of all the people in the town. The remaining adventurers all volunteered to fight to protect their hometown, and a few people here and there knew how to handle a spear. If this all went right, then the enemy host would be obliterated.
As the night fell, only our fires provided light. Then came the sound of thousands of feet. They spilled out of the expansive forest, coming in large numbers and swarming the town. The forest was to the east of the town, so I knew that side would be the hardest. Running to the wall, a goblin launched himself up. He couldn’t jump high enough but behind him came another goblin carrying a wooden trunk. They set these trunks down at the base of the wall and began scaling. The archers picked off many of these trunk-bearing goblins as they came, but due to the expanse of the walls and the limited personnel, a few got through. The trunks that did get through were being placed and used to scale the walls. The goblins weren’t exactly cooperative monsters, however, so many of them fought to get on the trunk and were disorganized. This worked in our favor, as many goblins climbed others swarmed the bottom of the trunks. We moved the cauldrons to the places where the goblins were swarming and after they piled up, we poured boiling water over them.
The goblin’s screams echoed throughout the night, those on top were killed instantly, and the ones on the bottom who were burned writhed in pain. The other goblins quickly trampled them as they attempted to flee or climb. We quickly refilled the cauldron and I set it to boil with my magic. Others held spears and attempted to push goblins off, poking them in the eye and killing them. Soon the cauldron was ready, and we did it again. This process repeated itself many times, all across the wall. I got another mage to take over, and I, Herbert, and Jana ran around the wall helping spots that got overwhelmed.
The siege lasted the entire night, the goblins didn’t stop coming, but since we were ready we killed thousands. They were fast and could replenish numbers quickly, but we were strong enough so that after the first night was over, they had half the numbers. It was too easy, at least with this strategy. Even though it was easy, I was constantly on edge, knowing that every one of these monsters could kill. We retained no casualties though, just a few minor wounds from grazes or accidental burns.
The next night, they came again, more cautiously. But it wasn’t enough that we beat those suckers badly. Now there were only a few hundred left in their army, and I knew they were getting anxious.
It was the third night, a full moon rose and bathed the land in an eerie silvery light. Out of the forest came a much larger monster. Three meters tall and thick with tons of muscle, it was the High Orc.
Meeting the orc was inevitable, so I had devised a plan to deal with it. Remember how I said I was most proficient at dark magic? Well due to the nature of this siege, I had the time to devote to summoning a beast. Most beasts only stuck around for a short while, and right now, that was good enough for me. I had summoned a familiar, a large direwolf cousin, a great Moonwolf. On full moons, a Moonwolf gets special powers and strengths by taking in the moonlight.
We opened the gates. On any other night, a Moonwolf would only be as strong as a normal direwolf, and I wasn’t capable of summoning anything stronger as of yet. So as we released the beast, it set out on accomplishing what I had summoned it to do. Summoning a beast puts the beast under your control for a set amount of time, usually a day, afterward, the beast is sent back to wherever the summoner summoned it from.
The Moonwolf bathed in the light and started transforming. It gained not only bulk but a gigantic amount of size. It grew to two meters tall and four meters long. Its claws became wildly unproportional to its body and glinted. I ordered it to attack the orc. Nodding its head, it advanced on the orc. The orc let out a cry of its own and slung a makeshift spear off its back. The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
Unleashing a cry, the orc launched itself at the wolf. The spear stabbed right where the wolf’s heart should have been. “Silvi…” Razana whispered, she was standing right next to me.
I put my hand up to reassure her, “Just watch,” I said.
The wolf remained unfazed, the orc stood in bewilderment as the spear cracked and splintered. It fell to the ground and the orc was left unarmed. The wolf took a step forward and glared menacingly. The thing is with Moonwolves, they gain powers under the moonlight. The moonlight not only gives them considerable physical bulk but reinforces their pelts as well. A moonwolf under the moon was far from invincible, but it was more than a match for a poorly equipped orc such as him. However, due to the wolf’s power under the moon, it would not remain under my control for long. Not only that, it took the entire day to summon it, even then I wasn’t sure it would work. So it was truly a stroke of luck that we had this beast on our side.
The orc knew what was going to happen next, the wolf bit its shoulder and flung it across the hills. The orc landed with a thud, and the wolf advanced. Howling, it jumped on the orc, stamping into the ground and biting it in the stomach. Blood flew from the wounds and the orc was dead. The wolf began feasting on the corpse. Then the wolf started to glow, and as the glowing intensified a circle appeared underneath it, and it got whisked away. Due to the wolf’s power, it remained under my control after a day’s worth of preparations for only about 10 minutes. This showed how difficult it was to control beasts.
Regardless, we managed to beat the goblins and the orc. While we used the power of the wolf, and that was not available all the time (for instance, if it wasn’t a full moon then the wolf wouldn’t transform) and that it only stayed with us for a bit, a victory was a victory.
The town folk cheered as I announced the goblin’s retreat back into the forest. We left a few men in charge and retired for the night.
The next morning, Herbert led a group into the forest and exterminated the remaining goblins. When he came back successful the mayor announced that the threat was over.
That night, a celebration was held at the guildhall. I was happily drinking and eating with Jana when Razana suddenly got on top of a table. “Today we survived a monster attack! Not only that but we defeated them! As you all know, this was not something we could have done alone. If it weren’t for the ingenious strategy of using boiling water or the magic of summoning a moonwolf, we would not be here today. So I propose we toast to the woman who made it all possible, Silvi!” She yelled.
Everyone raised their mugs and cheered along with Razana. Blushing, I thanked everyone for their congratulations. Due to the intense partying, I got hungover and slept most of the next day. I was probed awake a little afternoon.
Razana stood over me, “Hey, I know you had several long days, but we need you for something.” She said,
Mumbling I rose and followed Razana to the town square. There stood a man dressed in a traveler's tunic.
“Are you Lady Silviphiette Tephit?” he asked.
“That would be my name, yes,” I replied, “why are you asking?”
“Please,” He said kneeling, “I come on the behalf of the people of the township of Partmire, we swear allegiance to you great one, please accept us and humble us with your protection!”
“What?” I said, confused. “Hold up, what’s with this allegiance thing? I’m not a leader? And why does Partmire want to even swear allegiance in the first place?”
“The people of Partmire heard of you, the heroine. They say that you wasted the goblin army using ingenious tactics and possess great magic that you used to defeat the High Orc single-handedly.”
“Hold up! While it is true I beat the goblins, I didn’t beat the orc by myself!”
“Ah, I see you’ve met the envoy,” A voice sounded, it was the mayor.
“Mayor! Tell this man he can’t swear loyalty to me!”
“Why?”
“Umm… Razana back me up here?”
Razana smiled at me, “Why would I do that?”
“Argh!” I let out a grunt of frustration.
“Pardon me, but Lady Tephit, you are the leader of this town, yes?” The envoy asked.
“No!”
“Yes,”
“What?” I turned toward the mayor, “I’m not the leader here, you are!”
“Oh ho ho, I was, until this morning that is,” the mayor replied, “I resigned, you are the new head of this town!”
I could only stare at him blankly. “Great!” the envoy butted in, “That means you can accept us!”
“Wait!” I said, putting my arms out, “This is happening way too fast, I need to ask, why am I in this position?”
Someone clapped me on the back, “It’s because we need you!” Herbert had snuck up on me.
Jana, who stood next to Herbert nodded, “With the councilors and merchants gone, all the things that stopped this place from developing have been removed. Not only that, but we have you, I believe you have the potential to lead us into a bright age!”
“Uh,” I said, “but is it alright for me too, what about the people.”
“You don’t need to worry about that, we held a vote this morning, the people have your unswerving loyalty!” Razana answered.
“Was I the only person sleeping in!” I yelled.
Razana only smiled. “Fine! I guess I could turn this place around, I said scratching the back of my neck.”
“Please, when you do, bring the people of Partmire into it as well!” The envoy insisted.
Partmire…. It was a slightly smaller town to the east of us, the people here and there had a good relationship with each other, so I guess those people were my people.
‘Fine,” I said sighing, “I can’t stand leaving people unhelped in a situation where I can help them,”
“Thank you!” The envoy said, “I shall ride and inform the people at once!”
“I wonder why Partmire wants in on this though,” I said.
“Probably because they’re in a position much like ours. The monsters would have inevitably gone after them after obliterating us, so I imagine they feel a sense of gratitude toward us and you for stopping the monsters.” Herbert replied.
I nodded, “That makes sense,” I said.
I stretched and got ready to work because as I would soon find out, running two towns was hard work!
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