Chapter 79 Scorched Earth Tactics

Im the leader of [Element Master], Kurono.

I introduced myself as the leader to the 50 adventurers in the lobby along with my newly created party name.

It was not something like a powerful speech made by the American president in a Hollywood movie. All we did was confirm the details of the quest, introducing the members who will have the central role etc.

Though everyone was obediently listening to me for the time being, but all I have shown till now is only my power I used while beating Vulcan. It will still take some time before they trust me as a proper leader as well.

For a rank 1 adventurer with almost no experience like me, I had no other choice but to shown clear achievements from here onwards.

As I resolved this, it was now the next day 21st of the month of Shinyou.

But, to not even able ride a horse properly, are you even an adventurer?

Shut up Vulcan, Im concentrating right now, dont disturb me.

As we departed towards Irz village early morning, I had already started to make others doubt my abilities as a leader.

The one Im currently straddled to is probably the high class giant horse that was used by the commander of the force that attacked the Irz Village. This horse that had long sleek black hair like a girl was captured while repulsing the Crusaders.

At first it was going to be taken by someone else but since I became the leader, I also ended up getting it as well. It seems the leader is supposed to ride the best horse at the front of the force always.

Well thats not all. It also seems to be a reward for me since I killed a lot Crusaders in Irz village.

I got a great horse but I was just a high school student in a literature club, half year as an experimental body and only three months as an adventurer. Just when the hell would I have had the time to learn something like horse-riding.

No, well I knew that horses were the best vehicle substitute in this world.

Even I wished to ride them one day but if you suddenly give me a horse and say Ride this and lead the adventurers in battle!, isnt it impossible?

Ah, by the way, Fiona-san splendidly climbed her horse and was smoothly running along the highway right now.

It seems she is a bit superior as an adventurergununu.(T/N:Sound of getting irritated)

Gahaha, try not to fall down hard, Mr. newbie leader-san!

Shit, damned Vulcan, should I use full burst on you one more time.

Riding a Bicorn proportionate to his own giant size, Vulcan laughed loudly as he passed by.

By the way, a Bicorn is a subspecies of the famous Unicorn.

As the name suggests, it has two brilliant horns and looked more like a goat rather than a horse but was infact big enough to let even the 2m tall Vulcan ride on it easily.

I would have practiced this earlier if I knew this would happen.

Kurono! Work Hard!

Thanks Lily, what would I do without you, seriously.

Lily sat in front of me. It looked like she was sitting there to not fall off suddenly but it was actually the reverse. Thanks to Lily being here, I am able to show some speed even on my first try riding a horse and am not falling suddenly.

Fairies really have a fantasy-like power that allows them to connect with animals by just touching.

Thanks to that brilliant ability, Lily is working hard to prevent me from falling off from the horse. I really am useless. I end up depending on Lily for everything. Crap, I feel like crying now.

Are you crying?

Im not. Dirt entered my eyes a little-

Ah, dont release your hands!!

Oh crap!?-

Please, reach the destination quickly.

As I prayed, I enjoyed my first time riding a horse.

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Our destination currently is not Spada but the deserted Irz village.

As the representative of the 12 adventurers that came here, Vulcan came to ask me.

We are too many for scouting but too few for making a defensive line. Whats the purpose behind us coming here?

Sorry for not explaining in advance since I was in a hurry. Well I wanted to explain en route but, you saw my sorry state. Really sorry.

The adventurers laughed a bit but I ignored it and continued explaining.

We came here to burn each and every store house and warehouses here in Irz Village.(kurono)

What?

Maybe because my answer was unexpected or imprudent, everyone looked at me with cold gazes.

You bastard, do you even realize what youre saying? Isnt this your village as well? How can you say something like that so easily?

I understand you will oppose this but this is a plan to stop and slow down the enemy, so I want you to understand.

As I expected, the adventurers are well versed in killing monsters and survival skills, but they are not knowledgeable about proper Military tactics and strategies.

Even a person from peaceful japan has knowledge about strategies, well that might be over exaggerating but, I still learnt a lot through various mediums like novels, documentaries, and fiction.

This is called scorched earth tactics.

Scorched earth tactics?

So they really havent even heard of it. They look at me with wondering gazes.

Simply speaking, its a strategy to destroy any facility or food products that might be used and taken by the enemy before running away.

haa

It seems this Vulcan cant even use his head as expected. Other adventurers seemed to understand a bit from my short explanation.

If the enemy finds large amounts of food stocked here, that means theyll be able to eat well, that in turn means that theyll be able to fight sooner. Understand?(kurono)

Since we are trying to hold them off, itll be troublesome for us if they can fight quickly.

Oo, basically, we have no reason to gift the enemy with meals, right!?(Vulcan)

Thats right. If the enemy is unable to procure food locally, theyll have to bring it from other places. That will further make their advance slower than normal. Whats important for us is to buy enough time to run away to Spada. Thisll help in achieving it without fighting them directly.

I understand the logic more or less.

Vulcan made a face like he understood only half of it but continued,

But is that fine? Will the villagers accept burning away all their food they had stocked till now?(Vulcan)

Vulcan, you actually were thinking about the villagers? You are good guy unlike what your face suggests.(kurono)

Shaddup! So, what is it!?!

I dont know whether hes embarrassed or actually angry but he approached me with a threatening look.

Everyone wont agree with it, theyll definitely go against it. Thats why I came back now when the evacuation of Kuar village is finished.

Youre gonna deceive them?

Ill take the help of Village Head Nahad to somehow persuade the villagers later. Right now, its more important to hold the Crusaders back as much as possible. After the evacuation to Spada is complete, I dont mind no matter how much they blame or condemn me. But till that time, Ill do whatever it takes to use the best plans and policies available. Thats why I became the Leader. Thats why, please, trust me during just this quest at least.

If they dont accept me here, then I would have really failed.

I didnt show it on my face but I was anxious whether they would accept me with just these few words.

But, near my legs, Lily smiled and said Its alright!.

Whatever. We decided that youre the leader. Noones gonna complain now. But, if you fuck up even once, Ill change with you as the leader, dont forget that.

Vulcan really is a good guy even with that face. I could only hear that as Ill change with you even if you mess up, so dont worry.

Thanks. Ill give out simple instruction so hear me

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Just like how I came here on a horse, everyone else also came here while riding on something.

Just like how I didnt have a horse, not everyone had ways to travel fast.

In this different world that could be compared to the Middle Ages on Earth, the cost of horses wasnt very high but it was still not something anyone could easily get.

To have a personal horse was natural for only Rank 3 and above adventurers.

And the number of adventurers that came with me right now were 12 excluding me, Lily and Fiona-san.

Most had horses, but there were some that used monsters as mounts like the Bicorn used by Vulcan or the Giant Ghoul used by the Skeleton race Magician, etc.

By the way, a ghoul wasnt a zombie but was a hyena like monster of the Undead race.

Think of the mount used by this Skeleton-san as a giant zombie dog.

There are times where a party uses a carriage to travel but this time only the members of [Vulcan Powered] were using it.

Vulcan had a giant body so he chose to ride on his favourite Bicorn instead.

The reason I chose a horse rather than going by foot was, as I explained earlier, because we didnt have much time.

Since its an army of only humans so one could calculate and estimate the time required to come here, but in the end it was just an estimate.

Raising the speed through magic, or transferring a unit itself, could also be possible.

As long as the opponents tricks and hands were still unknown, its better for us to be as fast as possible.

And thus, we needed to burn all the food here in Irz village before the Crusaders come here.

If possible I want to destroy the village heads house, the guild building and other big buildings as well.

Their troops had been deployed with the guild as a centre so its confirmed that they were using it