The Unfortunate Girl Wants an Easy Mode in Her Second Life – Chapter 157

Chapter 157: Counterattack
ㅤ”In the past few days, five settlements have been attacked.
ㅤIn the first settlement, our response was delayed, and there were some casualties among the residents. However, Minato and Almirash-san have managed to arrive in time for the others. Thanks to that, the damage has been minimal considering the scale of the attacks, but… there are a lot of things that don’t make sense.”
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ㅤLewis explains this to us at the encampment.
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ㅤIn response, we━━especially me and Almy━━are exhausted.
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ㅤ”First, we don’t understand the criteria for selecting the targets. The attacked settlements were neither important strongholds nor did they have any significant resources. It seems like they’re just targeting them indiscriminately.”
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ㅤ”That’s true. We’ve deployed a large number of troops to important strongholds, but we can’t station enough troops in every settlement to withstand a demon attack.”
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ㅤSherry-san nodded.
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ㅤ”But that doesn’t mean they’re targeting settlements with few soldiers either.
ㅤEven if they were attacking indiscriminately, it would be normal to target places with weak defenses. But there’s no sign of them making such a distinction.
ㅤRather, they’re attacking settlements with a reasonable level of defense.
ㅤWell, thanks to that, Minato and the others have been able to arrive in time for the rescue.”
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ㅤLewis glances at us with concern.
ㅤWe must be truly exhausted for the rational Lewis to show such consideration.
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ㅤLewis continues his explanation.
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ㅤ”Another question is why they don’t try to retreat even when our reinforcements arrive. They actually try to fight to the death. Since they’re demons, it’s dangerous to leave them partially neutralized, and as a result, we’re forced to kill them all.”
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ㅤDue to our movement speed, either I or Almy will be the first to arrive as reinforcements.
ㅤTherefore, it’s mainly me or Almy who ends up stopping the demons attacking the settlements.
ㅤ”Stopping” them sounds good, but what we’re doing is nothing short of massacre.
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ㅤWhat’s wrong with killing bad guys?
ㅤYou might think that.
ㅤBut, “For the Demon’s Longing!” “Long Live Emperor Hamilton!” “Death to the Usurper!” “Traitorous False Demon King!” ━━ the demons shout things like that as they attack us for as long as they have life in them.
ㅤCalmly killing them off like that is more mentally taxing than you might imagine.
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ㅤSeeing our state, Sherry-san said,
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ㅤ”Could they be aiming to wear down Minato and Almirash mentally?”
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ㅤI managed to answer Sherry-san, who looked concerned.
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ㅤ”No, I don’t think so. The number of demons is already small. They wouldn’t waste them for such an uncertain goal.”
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ㅤ”So in the end, we don’t know the enemy’s plan?”
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ㅤSherry-san sighed.
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ㅤThen, Lewis said,
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ㅤ”Certainly, we don’t know their objective.
ㅤBut there’s one thing I can say.”
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ㅤ”What is it?”
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ㅤSherry-san asked the evasive Lewis.
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ㅤ”Objectively speaking, now is our chance.
ㅤThe enemy has made the foolish mistake of dispersing their already limited forces and making themselves vulnerable to being defeated individually.
ㅤThey might have an ulterior motive, but it’s dangerous to just wait and see what they do out of fear. That could be exactly what they want.”
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ㅤ”You mean they’re trying to stall us by fueling our paranoia?”
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ㅤIt’s a rather unsatisfying deduction.
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ㅤLewis nodded at me.
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ㅤ”It’s not impossible that they’re trying to buy time for the main force led by Hamilton to escape from the Mist Forest.
ㅤWell, that begs the question of why they holed up in the ruins in the first place, but maybe they reconsidered after realizing their disadvantageous position.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”Hmm. I suppose that’s possible.
ㅤBut then, that would mean Hamilton had a hidden objective, but failed to achieve it, and was forced to flee even at the cost of valuable troops. It seems a bit foolish for such a grand scheme.”
ㅤ
ㅤ”Indeed, it is a harsh deduction. I’m not saying it’s the correct answer.
ㅤBut let’s put aside their plan for now. We’ll only be speculating anyway.
ㅤIf we re-evaluate the current situation based on that, we are fundamentally in an advantageous position.”
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ㅤSherry-san nodded at Lewis’s words.
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ㅤ”That’s true. The enemy has depleted their limited forces. Whether they had some hidden objective or some demons went rogue, only they know.”
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ㅤ”Then, we should take the initiative.”
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ㅤ”You mean attack the ruins? I see.”
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ㅤ”Up until now, we’ve been holding back because we thought a direct assault on the fortified ruins defended by the demons would result in too many casualties. We’ve been stationed here to observe and contain them.
ㅤBut now, the enemy has reduced their forces. If we attack the ruins now, we can minimize our casualties.”
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ㅤ”But there will still be casualties, right?”
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ㅤSherry-san answered my question.
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ㅤ”Indeed.
ㅤHowever, the enemy is repeatedly attacking settlements. If we leave the situation as it is, they could inflict heavy casualties on civilians. We cannot make a decision to minimize our losses while overlooking that. It would damage the credibility of the Knights.”
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ㅤ”That’s true.”
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ㅤIf we were even a little late in arriving…
ㅤThe settlements could be completely wiped out by the demon attacks.
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ㅤThe Knights are the shield that protects the people. As Knights, they are naturally prepared to risk their lives for that.
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ㅤ”If we attack, the demons won’t have the resources to attack any more settlements. It’s unsettling that we can’t read their intentions, but regardless of their motives, it’s the rational course of action.”
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ㅤSherry-san seemed to be on board with Lewis’s suggestion.
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ㅤI felt a slight snag.
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ㅤ（Lewis’s judgment is sound. But isn’t it a bit too sound? It almost feels like we’re being led to think this way.）
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ㅤHowever, I couldn’t tell the Knights to stand by based on such a vague feeling.
ㅤEven if I could persuade Sherry-san, the Queen and the other ministers wouldn’t agree with her decision.
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ㅤ（Even if something were to happen, it’s unlikely to be something that Almy and I can’t handle. Rather, if we take the initiative, we might be able to respond to unforeseen circumstances more easily… maybe.）
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ㅤAlmy and I exchanged glances.
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ㅤ”Alright. Let’s go with that plan.”
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ㅤSherry-san said that the Knights are the shield that protects the people and that they are prepared to risk their lives for that.
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ㅤBut this situation is the Demon Kingdom’s failure.
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ㅤTo at least lessen the burden on the Knights, Almy and I will take the lead.
ㅤThe plan is to attack from two different locations and for the Knights to strike while they’re confused.
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ㅤ『I’ll coordinate the start time.』
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ㅤAlmy and I are wearing earring-shaped communicators.
ㅤElminarsh’s voice came through them.
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ㅤ（It’s like the time synchronization you often see in special forces. We don’t have clocks, so it’s just a countdown.）
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ㅤ『Once you’re inside and have caused some chaos, Minato and Almirash, try to regroup as quickly as possible. If it’s just Hamilton alone, it’s one thing, but if Cretias has escaped, it’s dangerous to be alone.』
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ㅤEven now, Cretias’s whereabouts are unknown.
ㅤWith the Patrol Knights keeping watch, it should be difficult for Cretias to join the Demon Co-Prosperity Sphere.
ㅤBut we can’t say it’s absolutely impossible.
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ㅤ（That said, there’s no reason for Cretias to cooperate with the Demon Co-Prosperity Sphere either.）
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ㅤFor now, it’s highly likely that Hamilton and Cretias are separate issues.
ㅤBut there’s no concrete evidence to support that. We can’t be too careful.
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ㅤ（I wonder if I should have brought Bearnov.）
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ㅤBearnov is staying at the Demon King’s Castle this time.
ㅤThis is, of course, out of consideration for the people of the Tree Country. It wouldn’t be appropriate to bring a monster to meet them.
ㅤSherry-san and Lewis know about Bearnov, and they might have even reported it to the country, but I wanted to avoid unnecessary provocation.
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ㅤ『Alright, let’s begin. One minute remaining… Thirty seconds… Twenty seconds…』
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ㅤI hid in the shade of a tree where I could see the entrance to the ruins and held my breath.
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ㅤ『Ten seconds… Five, four, three, two, one… Begin!』
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ㅤSimultaneously with Elminarsh’s signal, I generated a particularly large Ether Shot.
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ㅤI fired it at the entrance leading underground.
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ㅤThe two demons standing guard vanished.
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ㅤI started running at the same time as I fired the Ether Shot.
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ㅤBefore the demons could raise the alarm, I descended into the underground through the collapsed entrance.
ㅤSeveral demon soldiers were slumped over from the impact of the Ether Shot.
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ㅤ”Wha…?”
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ㅤI fired Ether Shots at the surprised demon soldiers and cut them down while they were in disarray.
ㅤThe sword I’m holding now isn’t my usual Black Steel Sword.
ㅤIt’s a bayonet that Elminarsh created based on information from the other world.
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ㅤ（It’s more like… that thing I saw in a game.）
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ㅤIt’s primarily a sword with a trigger on the grip.
ㅤIt’s a romantic weapon that detonates ether within the blade when you pull the trigger while slashing.
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ㅤ”Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”
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ㅤI slashed one of the demon soldiers with my sword and pulled the trigger simultaneously, causing an explosion.
ㅤThe demon soldier’s body burst into a spray of red mist.
ㅤThe explosion is directional, so it doesn’t affect me.
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ㅤ（It’s convenient because fighting demons is different from fighting humans… but…）
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ㅤIt’s quite a shocking sight.
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ㅤI thought this might make them flinch a little, but
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ㅤ”Damn! Don’t falter! If we defeat the usurper here, our paradise will be closer!”
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ㅤThe demon soldiers only faltered for a moment.
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ㅤThey immediately closed in on me, surrounding me.
ㅤMore demon soldiers continued to emerge from the depths of the underground space.
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ㅤ”You fools!”
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ㅤI continued to turn the demons’ bodies into mere plumes of blood with my Ether Shots and trigger blade.