When I was working as a civil servant, I was found out to be a muscle-brained knight by the princess knight and got sent to the front lines - Episode 15

Episode 15

On the third day since Jez and the others arrived near Graysian, unable to enter the fortified city surrounded by tens of thousands of monster forces held by the 8th Legion, they conducted reconnaissance to investigate the enemy’s composition and the presence of ambushes.

They especially wanted to confirm the whereabouts of the King-class, but even after three days, they couldn’t find it. So, based on Jez’s casual remark, they decided to stretch their legs to a place that seemed strategically meaningless for a siege assault from Graysian, but just to be sure, beyond the distance, there…

“…Hey, there’s a lot of them,” Jamil muttered, taken aback. It was an area beyond the hills, somewhat depressed, with a significant height difference from Graysian, completely out of sight from there. In that place, they found what seemed to be a monster army encampment and a large number of stationed monsters.

There were about thousands of them. Furthermore, in the center, there was a particularly sturdy-looking orc giving orders, standing out among the others. That was likely the Orc King leading this monster army. Quite an unexpected but correct guess.

Although they seemed to be using some concealment magic, they couldn’t completely hide the presence of such a large force, and Jamil and the others could sense the enemy’s presence immediately.

The members of the Al-Faz’s unit, including Jamil, who were somewhat taken aback by the enemy’s appearance, and even Jez, who proposed scouting the area, were surprised.

“Seriously, they’re here… But what are they doing in a place like this?” Jamil wondered.

To reiterate, while this position was indeed out of sight from Graysian, it was not a suitable place to hide troops. Because the distance was too great for supporting the allied forces deployed around Graysian, and it was too ambiguous for a rear guard in case the assaulting allied forces were defeated or to deceive the enemy in retreat. Moreover, if they bypassed Graysian and invaded the Tashman Kingdom, the number of monsters was delicate and not reassuring.

Jamil and Jez and the others exchanged their opinions while still puzzled by the question of “why here?” but couldn’t discern the enemy’s true intentions.

Amidst this, Karim Najim, the third seat of the Al-Faz’s unit, reported in a voice containing surprise and urgency while looking through binoculars, “Captain!!! Look over there!!!”

—

“I didn’t expect the monster army to be digging tunnels… Isn’t this pretty serious?”

“Yeah, this is definitely not good.”

Jamil muttered with a very serious expression, while Jez, who always maintained a nonchalant demeanor, thought deeply with his arms crossed.

What Karim found was an entrance that resembled a cave located from the hillside to the depression, the lowest elevation in the vicinity. The entrance was reinforced with wooden frames, and many monsters were coming in and out of it.

The monsters coming out of the cave carried large amounts of debris, which they dumped onto a nearby hill. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the soil on the hill was fresh, almost moist. It seemed like a mound of soil. It was quite sizable.

“Jez, how do you see this?”

“…There’s no certainty, but perhaps they’re digging tunnels all the way under Graysian. Or even if not directly under the city, collapsing the ground near the city walls could render the walls useless in one fell swoop.”

“Yeah, that seems likely. But with a scale like this, they managed to do it without being detected for so long.”

“The increase in monsters has been reported for several months. They’ve probably been digging here for just as long.”

This place where the monster army was diligently working on tunnel construction in front of Jez and the others’ eyes was offset from the reported monster emergence area. Presumably, other areas were deliberately populated with monster forces to attract attention from the human side. This was likely a decoy to hide the main operation.

“While monsters have been known to use tactical and strategic maneuvers in the past, there have been several instances. Even in the northern front a few years ago. However, for orcs, it’s difficult for even a General-class, let alone a King-class, to come up with such sophisticated methods as this time. In the case of orc species, either an Emperor-class appeared, or it would have to be a King-class or higher from a relatively intelligent species.”

“I see. In any case, it’s clear that the situation is worse than we anticipated. We need to inform Graysian as soon as possible. I also want to inform the princess quickly.”

Jamil pondered for a moment before saying, “Karim, I’ll give you 10 riders as well. Please inform the princess of this matter as soon as possible.”

“Understood, Captain. Take care, everyone,” replied Karim, the third seat of the Al-Faz’s unit, as he and ten riders departed towards Kohane.

Watching them leave, Jamil continued, “Now, how should we proceed? We need to inform Graysian castle as soon as possible, and if we could interfere with the enemy here, it would be beneficial… With the remaining 80 riders, what should we do?”

As Jamil and the Al-Faz’s unit members exchanged worried glances, someone proposed, “Shall we conduct sabotage to buy some time? I’ll try causing a collapse near the tunnel entrance. Jamil and the others, can you distract the enemy’s attention?”

A muscle-brained member began warming up on his horse.