Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

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As the injured were collected and brought back to the main camp, the clean-up after the battle was proceeding. Kyle sat on the ground, as Minagi treated the wound on his cheek. Approaching them with a complaint was Basques.

“What a shameee. They ran againnn. Why won’t you let us finish them off?”

To corner the demons but not cross the line was Kyle’s strategy. The other commanders respected this tactic.

“…This is just for safety’s sake. Our lines got thrown out of order, so I didn’t want to keep on attacking.”

Even Kyle was frustrated that he couldn’t finish off the hedgehog because Byakumu got in his way.

“I would’ve gotten it with just a bit more…” Basques grumbled but knew that Kyle’s words were correct, so she didn’t try to argue any further.

She probably just wanted to say it for the sake of it.

“I think this was the expected result. The sun’s begun to set, too.”

Minagi finished putting the balm on Kyle, agreeing with Kyle’s decision. This time around, she wasn’t actively participating in the battle, instead traveling the battlefield to gather information and report back to the commanders. It was thanks to her that humanfolk could work together as efficiently as they did.

“Oh huh, so I’m the only one who finished his opponent?” Seran approached the group, not reading the mood as he just confidently grinned.

Both Basques and Kyle furrowed their brows but didn’t comment on that. Basques herself enjoyed the battle more than the result, so she wasn’t rushing any victory. That’s why she was probably frustrated that the battle had to be cut off early. Still, she seemed to have enjoyed the battle. And Kyle had a different goal rather than simply defeating the demon, which he accomplished.

“Good thing everything worked out,” said a relieved voice as a female archer in her late thirties appeared.

Ruktera was known as a talented archer, and the previous shot that saved Kyle was also her work.

“Yeah, you saved my bacon. I managed to deal with that annoying demon,” Kyle answered with a smile.

“I gotta say, I’m shocked you actually wanted to try that first time in a real battle,” Ruktera answered with a smile of her own, albeit mixed with a bit of cynicism. “I may be confident in my skill with the bow, but I didn’t think you’d need that level of accuracy there. That was…exceptionally bad for my heart, you know.”

Kyle asked her to fire off an arrow with incredible accuracy, while he used his body to block the opponent’s view. It might sound simple enough on paper, but one moment too late and Kyle would have been pierced by the arrow.

“I knew you’d be able to do it, Ruktera,” said Kyle with absolute confidence, leaving her bewildered.

Well, we’ve done this countless times already.

Kyle kept that to himself, but he was damn certain of it. If you didn’t cross the line to go beyond your limit, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demons’ ridiculous strength. And since he could afford to try out strategies during today’s fight, he couldn’t waste the chance.

“How am I supposed to react to that, anyway? Well, I’m just glad you trust me that much. And I don’t mind repaying the person who saved me and my daughter,” Ruktera said with a smile.

The daughter he was speaking of was actually the girl Erina, who guided them to the World Tree where the dragons lived. As a result, they ended up saving her mother Ruktera and Erina herself, which is why they still felt indebted to Kyle and his friends. However, her smile also made Kyle uncomfortable. In the previous world, Kyle was forced to abandon Ruktera and her squad because the situation forced him to. Although the guilt was a heavy burden to carry for him, he couldn’t tell her, either. Plus, the reason she fell sick in the first place was because of the Mera cult’s involvement, who sought to assist Kyle in his journey, so he indirectly got her involved. Of course, he knew it was pointless to think about this, but he just couldn’t forget, either.

“But still, that white demon…” Ruktera’s expression grew clouded.

She must be feeling regret that she couldn’t do much to help then.

“Oh, him? Yeah, nothing much you can do about that. As of right now, we have no real means of dealing with him. I gotta think of something soon.”

“Not even the sword will work against him, righttt? How boring of an opponenttt,” said Basques in a disinterested tone after knowing that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy a battle. “More importantly, that final shot was a sight to beholddd. You have so many talented archersss,” she added as she looked over at the dark elves preparing to retreat for the day.

They showed no intention of socializing with the people around them, solely focused on being on their way now that their duty had finished. Ruktera could only muster a wry smile at that.

“I keep telling them to open up a bit more, but…They are following orders, so.”

“Sorry to force that onto you.”

Ruktera became the pseudo-leader of the elves because Kyle asked for this. The dark elves might be a race living secluded from the rest of the world, but when the fate of their race was on the line against the demons, not even they could sit by idly. However, it would only bring more trouble if they went against the general formation and movement of the army. At the same time, you couldn’t expect them to naturally work along with the other races of humanfolk, either. Kyle understood how complicated this situation was, so leaving this to Ruktera, who fell in love with a dark elf and gave birth to Erina, was probably the best thing to do. And granting Ruktera an achievement with the demon earlier helped solidify her position as the leader.

Kyle was relieved to hear that the dark elves were following her orders, only to spot a familiar face amongst them. It was the dark elf warrior Paserane who they had met on their journey to the World Tree. She seemed to have caught on to Kyle’s gaze, so she sent him and then Ruktera a complicated expression and followed after her allies.

“She never changes, does she…” Ruktera saw her off with a defeated smile.

“I’m sure you’ve got your fair share of trouble, but I’m counting on you. The dark elves are a valuable force we need right now.”

He not only asked her as a commander but also as a bridge to fill the gap between the races of humanfolk.

“Of course. I think that their seclusion has been too aggressive and going on for too long.”

Ruktera thought that this war might also be a good chance to bring genuine change.

“Either way, your shot earlier really saved him, but if they’d been here earlier, we would have won for good,” added Seran while looking at the Golems.

The group of Golems that received the name “Machine General Squad” might be strong but definitely lacked in other areas. It took quite some time to activate, and they were absolutely not quick on their feet, and they wouldn’t be able to work for too long, either. According to the developer of these golems, Magic Creator Gou, the biggest flaw was the actual design and he might have been able to perfect it within a year, but that wasn’t spread to the rest of the army.

“That said, they definitely pack a punch, so it’s the best thing we could’ve asked for.”

Kyle understood what Seran wanted to say, but he was happy with the result—at least compared to how it was before.

“Anyway, we managed to secure another win…Let’s make our triumphant return.”

Be it on the battlefield or in times of peace, Seran’s voice remained cheerful. Kyle followed along, going their way home. Looking over at the soldiers preparing to retreat, there were many injured, as well as dead. So although humanfolk were winning the war at this point, they couldn’t just take it lightly—that was what humanfolk as a whole felt. Yet, Kyle was the only one who knew…that this situation was nothing compared to the Great Invasion he had experienced. Being able to fight not on equal but superior terms was almost like a dream to him. And knowing that it was thanks to his hard work, he felt like he was allowed a bit of pride. The situation was progressing smoothly—but there were problems on the horizon.