Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord

Carefree Lord Volume 3!

Comic adaptation Volume 2!

Releasing on August 25th!

Yay!・:+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+

[Ort]

Dodging the charge of a giant boar, I slashed the back of its knee. Suddenly losing one of its front legs, the boar crashed headfirst into the ground. It rolled over with a tremor, swinging its tusks wildly. A desperate act, but its massive body and huge tusks had enough power to easily knock down trees.

"Mechanical bow!"

"Got it!"

I leapt back a big step and gave the order. Kusala responded lightly, firing three arrows consecutively from the treetops. The arrows struck the boar’s head as if pulled in, and the huge beast twitched once or twice before going still.

"Alright! This one’s a good catch!"

"Thanks, I can’t get any strength from just rations."

A comrade providing cover laughed as he said that. But Pluriel, who had been hiding behind us, looked dissatisfied.

"It’s been nothing but meat for a whole week? It’s about time we went fruit and wild vegetable picking."

Pluriel, tired of meat, suggested this, and Kusala furrowed her brows and shrugged.

"Even if you say that, with demonic beasts charging this frequently, there’s no way we can leisurely gather wild greens."

Kusala argued back. But Pluriel seemed at her limit.

"Even that one just now was the kind of opponent that Ort handles at the front while Kusala shoots arrows to easily hunt down, right? If you assign escorts, I can gather some wild vegetables during that time."

"No, that won’t work."

I couldn't help but interrupt Pluriel’s logic. She turned her sharp gaze on me. I raised both hands to show I didn’t want a fight and spoke.

"If it was just one or two, no problem. But if multiple demonic beasts appear consecutively, two people won’t be enough. Also, our job is to guide and assist the march. Letting demonic beasts slip through would be the worst."

Pluriel frowned and looked back. There, on the rugged mountain path, the knights in armor walked.

"Besides, can’t the knight order handle all but the most dangerous demonic beasts? Do we really have to fight all of them ourselves?"

She said it knowingly. Pluriel’s tone made it feel like she was hinting at something. I sighed and waved a hand.

"No, that’s impossible. We can fight with almost no losses because it’s us, but if the knight order had to deal with one beast after another, it would slow the march and cause casualties. If the Yelinetta Army, for example, trained dragons even at lower ranks and took them along, demonic beasts would hardly appear. But we aren’t prepared like that."

Kusala laughed bitterly and spread her hands, holding the knife and mechanical bow made by Lord Van.

"The entire war with Yelinetta was fought on the Scudetto side because passing through these mountain paths was insanely difficult. Simply put, Lord Van’s weapons are insanely high-performance, or else we wouldn’t have made it this far. If we had regular weapons and armor, we’d be dead already."

"…Especially this mechanical bow. Even without magicians, we can hunt demonic beasts from a distance. I get it. I was wrong. I was just a little irritated."

"Oh good, glad we didn’t get into a fight."

I laughed and replied. Pluriel is smart. She’ll sort out her feelings from this exchange and get back to work properly.

"…Still, we’re not even halfway there, and I’m worried about what lies ahead."

I sighed softly, looking at everyone’s backs.

The adventurers are helping the long, stretched-out Kingdom Knight Order march in groups. We, who hold the lead, bear the greatest burden, but the other groups working over wider areas have it tough too.

The knights load containers onto wagons and carry the supplies, but rest times are short, so fatigue is high. During the knights’ breaks, we are responsible for keeping watch, so there’s no real rest.

We talk with other groups daily to exchange information and confirm schedules, but like Pluriel, other adventurers are also growing frustrated. Normally, they explore and hunt demonic beasts freely in small groups. Being ordered around by the knights irritates them.