The Hero Menace

by Hyougetsu

  In a remote village like this, babies were important not just for ethical reasons, but practical ones too. We couldn’t have the whole village dying out. So we’ve only got 56 to work with... As I mulled that over, one of the other elders walked over.

  “We need two werewolves to safely take down one fang lizard,” he added calmly.

  “Last time, we split people up into pairs, with one responsible for chasing down the lizard and the other finishing it off. Fang lizards are strong enough that they might be able to kill us unless we outnumber them.”

  All the cop movies I’d watched in my past life had had cops paired up in two-man groups too. If we formed pairs though, we’d have only 28 pairs to face 100 fang lizards. The last thing we wanted in this situation was a head-on confrontation.

  “Elder, how exactly were you planning on fighting them?”

  He pulled a face and replied, “We’re hunters, not warriors. The knowledge our forefathers passed down to us is of no use in a defensive battle. All I can think of is to hole up in the village and protect our weaker family members.”

  “I see...”

  “Incidentally, Veight. I have a request for you.” The elder bowed his head. “I have heard that within the demon army, you are especially respected for your tactical insight. Furthermore, you have more combat experience than any of us. Would you be willing to lead the village in my place for this battle?”

  “You want me to be the commander?”

  It was true I’d helped out the demon army, but that had mostly been with odd jobs. Besides, I was a mage, not a strategist. Most of the battles I’d participated in, I’d just been casting support magic from the rear... Though, I’d occasionally charged the enemy lines to protect my comrades... Okay, maybe a bit more than occasionally. Misinterpreting my silence, the elder quickly added, “I know it’s customary for werewolves to obey the strong, but I believe you’ve grown quite powerful these past few years. I’ve heard much of your achievements from Lady Gomoviroa. I hear the other demons are calling you a werewolf Champion.”

  I have no idea what Master told you, but it’s probably exaggerated. Master was always humble when it came to herself, but she praised her disciples to no end. She was like an overly doting mother.

  “I’ll make sure the other werewolves agree, so please, Veight, won’t you use the strategies you’ve learned in the demon army to protect our village?”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to help...”

  I’m just an amateur at tactics. At best, I had the superficial knowledge I’d learned from strategy games. Seeing my hesitation, the other elderly people of the village voiced their support.

  “Veight, we know you dislike being the center of attention. But our village’s existence is at stake.”

  “You only have to take charge until the demon army gets here. Everyone else will be relieved to have a veteran mage commanding them.”

  If everyone wants me that badly, I guess I have no choice. I gathered my resolve and agreed to take over command.

  “Understood. I’m still inexperienced, but I’ll do my best to lead us well.”

  The elders sighed in relief.

  “Thank you... Without you, we might be doomed.”

  Now you’re just making me blush.

  Now that I’d accepted command, I had a responsibility to keep everyone alive. Using the knowledge I’d gained from my short time in the demon army, I reorganized our battle formation.

  “I feel like two-man teams are too small, so we’re going to combine teams into four-man squads instead.”

  “Won’t that slow us down?” The younger Garney brother spoke up. His older brother turned to him and tilted his head.

  “So it’s gonna be me, you, and two others?”

  “There’s twice as many lizards as us. The fighting’s going to be all over the place.”

  It was probably a little harsh to say this, but I wasn’t expecting anything sophisticated out of these guys.

  “You can fight in groups of two if you want to still. Just think of it as having another team with you at all times. That way if any of you get injured, the rest of you will be there to cover for each other. If there’s three of you left instead of one, it’s easier to guard the one injured guy, right?”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t sound too bad.”

  Werewolves were melee fighters through and through, so making the squads any bigger than four would just make it hard for them to maneuver. Besides, four to a group was how many there were in tank squads too. With that, the werewolves split themselves up into 14 squads.

  “Alright, these fourteen squads are going to be in charge of protecting the village. Make sure you always move in a group, whether you’re retreating or attacking, never do it alone. Understood?”

  The younger Garney brother smiled and flexed his biceps.

  “Don’t worry, whatever I do, my brother does too!”

  Aren’t you forgetting about the other half of your squad?

  After making some adjustments to the squad members, I had everybody start fortifying the village’s defenses. That being said, it wasn’t like we had walls or anything. Our village was a tiny one, surrounded by nothing more than a fence.

  “Hey, boss.”

  “Yeah, Jerrick?”

  “You think this fence is gonna be any help?”

  I looked at the moss-covered stake in front of me and gave it a slight push. There was a dry crack, and it toppled to the ground.

  “Looks like a no.”

  Fang lizards weren’t too different from the alligators or Komodo dragons that had existed back on Earth. Though they looked slow, they could put out short bursts of speed. A paltry fence like this wouldn’t even slow them down. Besides, they were dextrous enough to slip between the smallest of cracks.

  “We don’t have the time to cut down trees and remake it, either. The demon army or the lizards will reach us by then.”

  However, I had a different plan in mind for this fence.

  “Let’s make a moat.”

  “A moat, huh? That’s not a bad idea, but we don’t have any water.”

  “A dry moat’s fine. We’re up against a bunch of huge lizards, they’ll have a hard time climbing slopes.”

  “Really?”

  “...Probably?”

  There was a lot about monster biology I still didn’t know. Jerrick folded his arms and cocked his head.

  “Isn’t it basically anything goes with monsters? Considering werewolves like us exist, there’s no telling what crazy abilities they have. You sure we’ll be fine?”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s anything goes.”

  I tried visualizing how to construct the moat as I gave Jerrick my reply.

  “Fang lizards are big and strong, but they’re still lizards. They can’t breathe fire, and they can’t fly. Plus they can’t talk or use tools either.”

  They had a set physiology, and they had to follow the laws of physics. They just happened to be a mutated version of normal lizards. But even those mutations were still something that had to have followed the theory of evolution.

  “Honestly, the weirdest thing about them is that they’re social. Reptiles are practically never social creatures. Even though they lack intelligence, they still hunt in packs. It’s strange.”

  “I-I see... So this is what studying under a Great Sage teaches you.”

  Actually, this is all stuff I learned in my past life.

  However, even if a moat would be effective, we lacked the time and manpower to build one around the whole village. Instead, I had everyone dig one around the town hall and the village square. The rest of the village we’d abandon until the lizards had been dealt with. The younger Garney brother grumbled as he dug up the earth, his shirt tied around his waist.

  “Our house is gonna get busted up again, isn’t it...”

  The Garney Brothers’ house was pretty far from the town hall, so it wasn’t protected by the moat. Their house was the only one that had been de
stroyed by the Golden Brute incident almost a decade back, so I understood his frustration. However, I had both limited resources and time, so I had no choice but to abandon his house. Sorry, man.

  “Jerrick, did you finish what I requested?”

  I walked into Jerrick’s workshop and found him sweating at his forge. He looked up and held out a sharpened iron rod. He’d used the iron I’d gotten from the demon army to make it.

  “This good enough, Boss?”

  “Yeah... this looks plenty sharp.”

  “Course it’s sharp, I forged it! It’s sharp enough to cut through anything!”

  There was no water to fill the moat with, so I’d decided to fill it with sharpened spikes instead. Fang lizard underbellies were soft, so their weight alone would impale them on these.

  “The more we can kill with traps like these, the less casualties we’ll have. We need to try anything that might raise our chances of victory.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll protect this village with my skills!”

  Our village had a carpenter and stonemason as well, and I’d thrown them all together in the same squad. They were serving as my makeshift combat engineers.

  “We can jump over the moat in our werewolf forms easily enough, so there’s no reason to build a bridge. Instead, take all the spare lumber we have and build up a barricade around the square. It’ll serve to buy time.”

  The older Garney brother dismantled an abandoned house and carried over one of its supporting pillars.

  “What good’s buying time? If we don’t kill them, what’s the point?”

  “There’s way more enemies than there are squads. If the lizards attack us all at once, we won’t be able to protect everyone.”

  I wanted to funnel the fang lizards as much as possible so that each werewolf squad would only have to take on one or two at a time.

  “Leave a few gaps between the walls. That’ll lure the fang lizards to those spots. They won’t be able to maneuver when they’re squeezing through the holes, so attack them when they’re pushing through.”

  The villagers exchanged glances, then nodded to each other.

  “That makes sense... So this is what they teach in the demon army.”

  Actually, that’s also knowledge I picked up in my past life... I’d gone on a field trip to a nearby castle in middle school, and the tour guide had explained that to me. The demon army was more a ragtag band of guerilla fighters than anything, and none of them had experienced a siege before. Though at some point, one of the demon army’s commanders would be tasked with sieging a city.

  Hunting was werewolves’ forte, so I focused my defensive measures more on luring lizards into traps than into holding them off. That way, everyone would have an easier time understanding and incorporating my strategies.

  “Focus building up the wall around the open square. The town hall’s sturdy enough to take their tackles, and they’re not limber enough to climb up to the roof. Worst comes to worst, we’ll hole up in the hall ourselves as a final line of defense.”

  “Gotcha!”

  Assuming fang lizards were like most large reptiles, they relied on their sense of smell like us. Meaning they’d make a beeline for the square, where all of us were gathered.

  “If I know where they’re coming from, guarding against them won’t be too hard. At the very least, this is a lot easier than dealing with human armies.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, they won’t try and pull any fancy tactics. See, that’s why humans are scary. They’re masters of strategy.”

  As a former human, I felt a strange sense of obligation to emphasize their good points. I grinned and added, “So compared to them, these fang lizards are nothing. We just have to hold on till the demon army gets here.”

  The werewolves exchanged another glance.

  “If you say so...”

  “If that’s what you say, I guess that’s how it is, Veight.”

  I wasn’t completely confident about that, but if I looked worried it’d just lower morale.

  A few days later.

  “The horde’s on the move!”

  One of the scouts yelled as he dashed toward the village square.

  “They’re all coming at us at once!”

  Everyone’s expressions grew nervous. They took off their shirts in preparation to transform.

  “Veight, you’re in charge,” one of the elders said as he finished herding the last of the sick and elderly into the town hall.

  “We’ll guard the young’uns, so don’t worry about them. We might be old, but we can still fight for a little bit. So don’t keep fretting about how to keep ‘em safe.”

  “Understood.”

  Alright, time to see how well I can lead.

  “Monza, your squad’s in charge of the western side. Keep a lookout from the rooftops and tell me if the lizards come from there!”

  “Aye-aye, sir.”

  Monza’s squad leapt across the rooftops and headed west. We’d be in trouble if we were expecting only 20 coming from that side and they all came instead.

  “Jerrick, how’re the crossbows looking?”

  “They’re in perfect shape, boss. All working like a charm.”

  Jerrick grinned and held up his handmade crossbow. However, he and his squad then added, “I’m not much of a shot though.”

  “Yeah, we haven’t really practiced archery. Sorry if we miss.”

  Well yeah, normally you guys would be better off just biting your enemies to death rather than using things like these... As I’d feared, human tactics couldn’t just be copied wholesale for demon forces. Demons’ fighting styles and physiques were just too different. Guess it won’t be that easy to come up with strategies. As I was mulling over my tactics, the Garney Brothers transformed early and started hyping themselves up.

  “Let’s do this, Nibert!”

  “You got it, brother!”

  I’d put them in Fahn’s squad specifically because I knew how rowdy they were. Seconds after they transformed, Fahn came running over.

  “Stop right there, you two! Your posts are on the east side!”

  “But the enemy’s coming from the west...”

  Fahn grabbed the two brothers by the ears and dragged them away. Looks like I picked all the right people to be squad captains. As I was patting myself on the back, I heard Monza’s howl from afar.

  “Enemy, coming.”

  “Lure them in.”

  Perfect, everything’s going according to plan. The werewolves I’d posted on our makeshift walls turned back to me. They were waiting for my orders. A little nervous, I gave out my first order.

  “All squads, to your posts! Defend your designated areas for as long as you can! If you’re struggling, ask for help from other squads who’re free!”

  I’d created five openings in the walls to funnel the fang lizards through. Meanwhile, we had 14 squads, so I was able to allot 2 per opening. The extra 4 squads I’d kept as a reserve, and to serve as the rearguard.

  “Aha, watch out guys, they’re coming!”

  Monza yelled as she and her squad ran back to the safety of the village square. Right after they cleared the moat, the first of the fang lizards appeared from behind a nearby building. The stench of raw garbage filled the air. Ah, so this is the smell Fahn was talking about. I wanted to shoot down the lizards right away, but because of how low it was to the ground it’d be hard to hit from this distance.

  “Hold your fire! Wait until they’re trapped in the ditch before shooting! It’ll be easier to hit them when they’re right below you!”

  “You got it, boss!”

  The fang lizard in the lead avoided the spikes I’d planted as it navigated the moat. However the ones behind it weren’t as careful, and they found themselves impaled. They writhed in pain as Jerrick’s iron spikes stopped them in their tracks. It would’ve been great if they’d all just been impaled and killed there, but soon enough the spikes stopped being effective. The three-meter li
zards were large enough that they could force their way past them. On top of that, I’d underestimated their agility.

  “Here they come! All squads, stay at your posts! Intercept only those that come your way!”

  After making their way past the moat, the fang lizards quickly spotted the holes in our makeshift barricade. They slithered forward and wriggled their way through the openings.

  “Attack now!”

  “UOOOOOOH!”

  The werewolves loosed a battle cry and started beating down on the lizards. Werewolf blows were powerful enough to destroy most creatures in a single hit, and these fang lizards were no exception. Trapped in the narrow passages I’d made, they were unable to dodge the deadly blows raining down on them.

  “We can do this!”

  “Don’t let them bite you!”

  “They might be trapped, but don’t let your guard down!”

  The werewolves fought ferociously, but carefully, so as to avoid being bitten. Natural hunters that we were, werewolves didn’t let their guards down even when we had an overwhelming advantage. Unfortunately, our walls weren’t sturdy enough for this strategy to work forever. Fahn’s side was the first to crack.

  “Veight, the wall’s starting to creak!”

  Since the barricade was made of scrap lumber it wasn’t very sturdy.

  “Hold on as long as you can! If they make it past the walls the fight’s going to get a lot harder!”

  Their coordination ability made fighting a group of fang lizards exponentially more dangerous than fighting a single one. I confirmed the situation from my post on the roof, and ordered the crossbow squad to attack.

  “Jerrick squad, provide covering fire for the western wall!”

  “Gotcha!”

  Crossbows twanged, and heavy quarrels embedded themselves into the lizards in the distance. Anxious, I checked to see how the other sides were doing. To my surprise, the fang lizards had stopped their assault.

  “Hm?”

  They abandoned their wounded comrades and beat a hasty retreat. They scaled the moat again with even more speed than when they’d been attacking, and vanished. The rotten stench that had filled the air began to lessen. At first I’d thought they smelled of raw garbage, but now that I was able to analyze the stench with a calm mind, I realized they smelled more like rotten oil. Either way, it was an unpleasant odor.