Inn Overlord: Reincarnated with Enhancement Magic, Now Worshipped as a Divine Messenger! - Chapter 40

(POV of Jake, Captain of the Schmar Kingdom Army Cavalry Unit)

By order of Mayor Robert Zappa, I rode toward Noonan Village leading 2,000 cavalry soldiers.

I never expected the Empire to send a separate unit to Noonan Village, where many adventurers were staying. Normally, adventurers don’t get involved in politics. Even in war, they might be taken as prisoners, but they are never killed. However, if adventurers are held for too long as prisoners, the Adventurer’s Guild might punish the captors.

—But the Empire might actually do it…

Attacking Noonan Village is like making enemies for no reason. If the Empire takes over a village from another country, we cannot help but remember the horrible massacre that happened in the Barossa Kingdom.

That’s why we must save the people of Noonan Village no matter what. I gripped the reins tighter without realizing it.

Then, an earthquake hit.

My cavalry and I all stopped moving.

—Damn it! At a time like this!?

We were confused by the shaking for a while. Once the quake stopped, we started riding again.

We could see Noonan Village. Unlike the time I visited a few years ago to catch training monsters, the area was now surrounded by a wall.

When we arrived at Noonan Village and saw the people were safe, we felt relieved. But the villagers, in contrast, looked shocked and confused. Of course they would be—2,000 cavalry riding toward them is a big deal. And on top of that, there was the earthquake.

I raised my voice loud enough for the cavalry to hear and informed the villagers of the situation.

“The Victor Empire has crossed the border and started invading the small city of Barmuller!”

I heard gasps of surprise from the villagers.

I continued speaking.

“The Empire’s army is about 20,000 strong! A few thousand of them changed course and are heading toward this village!”

The villagers shouted in shock.

“What!?”

“Huh!?”

“N-No way!?”

“T-This is serious!”

“By the order of Barmuller City Mayor Robert Zappa, we came here to evacuate you! Start preparing for evacuation right now—”

As I said that, someone came forward—it was David Leenvern, a former B-rank adventurer with a prosthetic leg.

“Can’t you take care of the Empire soldiers coming here by yourselves?”

Even in this tense situation, he stayed calm and spoke clearly. I had to admit—his bravery was real.

“I want to, but we only heard that their forces are in the thousands. We have 2,000 men. If their numbers are more than that, we can’t win. We can’t fight such a risky battle.”

“No, from what I saw, there are only about 1,000 of them.”

“What!?”

“And this village has walls, right? Maybe we can find a way to beat them?”

Villagers began rushing to evacuate, while the adventurers staying in the village looked around in confusion.

“Prepare to evacuate quickly!”

“What’s going on?”

“What happened?”

“Take all the money and food you can carry!”

“They said the Empire is attacking!?”

“What!? The Empire!?”

I left the situation to my men and decided to go see the Empire soldiers that David mentioned. I was told I could observe them from the southwest part of the village.

I rode my horse through the village and saw a gate that was built into the wall. The gate was open, and some children were peeking through to watch the Empire soldiers.

There was a boy around 10 years old and two girls who looked about 15.

When I approached, the children backed away, and I took their place to see what was happening with the Empire soldiers.

I saw about 1,000 Empire soldiers off their horses, lying flat on the ground.

“…What are they doing…?”

When I muttered that, the boy from earlier spoke.

“There was an earthquake earlier, right? I don’t know why, but ever since it happened, those people haven’t moved at all…”

“They haven’t moved…?”

I thought carefully. Just like David said, the enemy’s number was about 1,000. If we use the wall, we can hold the village and defend it.

“But still, what is the Empire army doing…?”

The boy spoke again.

“…I don’t know… But it seems like they’re looking for something important…”

The boy looked sad. Maybe it was the mix of fear from possibly being attacked and relief that we came to help.

David finally caught up, put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, and said,

“This village has strong farming. We can even serve good food. If you brought 2,000 soldiers, why not split into 1,000 cavalry and 1,000 infantry and defeat those guys? You could rest the horses in the meantime too.”

We could definitely evacuate the villagers to Barmuller. But maybe, just as David said, we should destroy the Empire soldiers here and reduce their total power.

“Is there a chance this is a trap by the Empire?”

“No. I’ve been watching the whole time. This happened because of an unexpected event.”

“Unexpected event?”

“Most likely, the earthquake scared their horses and made them uncontrollable. It shook here too, but the center of the quake was probably on their side, in the south.”

“I see… Got it.”

I gave my troops their orders and asked the villagers and adventurers for their understanding about the new plan.

Some villagers still looked anxious, but the adventurers shouted to support us. Then David continued.

“Everyone! Don’t worry! Even if the kingdom’s cavalry is defeated—”

David grabbed the hand axe on his back and swung it down. With a swoosh, the air split and the wind blew.

“I’m here, so everything will be fine!!”

The adventurers cheered for David, and the villagers, though still uneasy, showed faces that looked a little braver.

I followed David’s lead.

“People of Noonan Village! Don’t worry! We will surely drive out the Empire soldiers!!”