After the battle

In only half an hour, the southern part of the village had been covered with corpses. All of the demonic

creatures had been killed, taking many villagers' life with them.

The survivors however couldn't just rest yet. They had to try their best to reduce the damage inflicted by

the demonic creatures. So, after escorting the wounded to the priest, the villagers hurried to rebuild the

village, accompanied by their children.

In a word, all the villagers were busy. In particular, the busiest person in the village had to be the priest,

Emilie.

As a priest, Emilie had received divine blessings, allowing her to invoke spells.

''God of healing, Sanita, bring warmth, light, and care to your children 'curae'. ''

'...' Alain glanced around. The line in front of her was made up of more than a hundred slightly injured

people who were patiently waiting for their turns.

Seeing Louis approaching him, he asked:

''The balance sheet? ''

Louis sighed

''To sum it up, 57 villagers lost their lives, a dozen were crippled, and more than 150 wounded. We still

don't know the fate of 12 seriously injured villagers.''

Alain closed his eyes.

''I see'' He sighed in a low voice.

Louis put his hand on his shoulder

''Rest well, I'll come back later. ''

Alain didn't hear him as he was already lost in his thoughts.

***

Closing his eyes helped Alain remembering the battle.

''With us! Charge!''

When the order was given, the strategy had already been established.

It was a simple strategy: Charging with the elite would surely reduce the death toll.

Superiorly equipped, they would be able to weaken the demonic creatures without taking too much risk.

And this strategy had proven effective. All in all, only 57 people had died.

Although this number seemed large, immense even - if taken as a percentage of the population, which

would amount to 5% - the demonic creatures weren't just any enemies.

Demonic creatures were, like beasts, formidable enemies. But this only applied to humans.

Humans were rather weak. They had neither the talent of demons nor this of angels. Yet they shared the

same path: cultivation. While beasts and demonic creatures could grow and strengthen themselves without

even cultivating, humans would need years of hard work to overcome their limitations. And as if it wasn't

unfair enough, both beasts and demonic creatures could actually cultivate, leaving comprehension to both

demons and angels. Basically, humans tried to copy off the greats ones to create their own path.

This was why this result wasn't so bad.

Yes, It could've been better. However, few strategies could be deemed effective against demonic creatures.

Always attacking the most fragile points, few defenses could withstand a raid, let alone their makeshift

defenses.

No strategy really worked, and guerrilla warfare techniques were extremely complex to develop because

of the speed of the demonic creatures, especially during a raid when none of these creatures feared death.

Alain hadn't been wrong to order this charge, it was surely one of the best possible results, yet the

responsibility for each of these deaths remained his. It was a weight on his conscience that would never

fall off.

That's why he had to analyze the fight and identify areas for improvement.

But since he had taken on the role of the village chief, no matter how much analysis he did, the results

wouldn't change.

Fortifying the defenses, improving their equipment, all this cost money, money that Nirl didn't have.

As for asking for help, Alain had already lost all hope. Dozens of villages were disappearing every year,

and no exception was going to be made for his village. The story would be different if someone managed

to become a knight though, but then, they wouldn't need any more help.

The only solution was to increase the strength of the villagers by taking every opportunity. Increasing the

number of guards, starting training earlier,... But every method had its problems. Problems of manpower,

efficiency, happiness...

Alain shook his head. Maybe it was time for them to move up another gear.

'Real combat will definitely improve their strengths, but are the risks worth it? '

Alain continued to wonder about it.

''Alain, Alain'' Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I opened my eyes.

It was Louis.

''hm?''

'' We have to go, if we don't leave now, we won't be able to get back before night. ''

I nodded, "I'm on my way.''

The report wouldn't wait. Information was crucial in this world, especially during a raid.

...

Cleppe - Capital of the Viscounty.

'' Ah! Finally! '' Louis exclaimed as he dismounted from 'his' horse. To be more precise, these weren't ours

as they had been entrusted by the viscountess to facilitate the transmission of reports.

Talking to Louis for two hours on the road, I had become somewhat de-stressed.

Before us was Cleppe's castle, where the viscountess and her various knights resided. In front of us stood

two guards fully equipped whose I estimated their power to be equal to my own, at the peak of the veteran

realm.

(Reminder: Military recruit --> Militia --> Guard --> Veteran --> Knight --> Paladin.)

'No, maybe a bit stronger ?' Even without taking into account the equipment, they would probably win

against him.

They seemed to be around 55 years old, about 20 years older than us. At this point, I guess they had

already given up any hope of becoming a Knight, serving as some high-end guard. I didn't know why, but

it kinda pissed me off.

I preferred to let Louis talks to them. Soon after, a guard entered the castle.

Two minutes later he led us inside.

...

Knowledge: Although unofficial, non-noble citizens are classified into citizenship levels. Slaves are level

0 citizens, while free citizens have level 1. Level 2 is given to Knights and the 3rd level to Paladins, who

roughly gave them the same importance as a Marquis.