Episode 13 : The Battle of Nosferus (2) - Part 6

"Liard."

 When Shiva called out to him for the umpteenth time, Guin finally seemed to notice.

"Oh, my God, Sheba."

A few tad further away from the Oni no Kanade, one of the largest oases among the few is spreading out quietly.

 The camp of the 5,000-strong mixed Semitic army was on the banks of that oasis.

"Have you been thinking about something, Liard?"

"Hm."

 Guin slowly turned his head like a man awake and looked at Shiva.

"The Gull party that sent the babies and the old men north has returned."

"I see."

"Liard."

 This time, an unmistakable concern began to creep into Shiva's voice. His hairy, somewhat charming face, which could be called halfway between that of a monkey and a human being, showed a puzzled, anxious expression, which made him look strangely sensible and animalistic.

"What is it, Liard?"

"No--nothing."

 Guin stood up and straightened his back, as if he wanted to see the whole of the oasis.

 It was a strangely quiet - in fact, even tranquil - look that made it seem hard to believe that this was the middle of a desperate, painful, and tragic battle in which a single race was trying to survive against an enemy several times its size. In fact, it was a peaceful view.

 In Nosferus, which shows almost no ups and downs except for the not-so-high rocky mountains stretching from north to east, these oases are rare and strong accents, creating a cool appearance in the all-white desert.

 Although not many tall trees grow, shrubs and mosses absorb plenty of water and spread freshly, creating a beautiful other world like a mirage.

 In the midst of all this, the 5,000 or so Semites, though generally grouped by tribe, crowded together at the water's edge, sipped and drank, picked up moss and gorged themselves on it, quenched their thirst and hunger, and then tended to the wounded, repaired broken arrows and stone machetes, replenished poisoned arrows And now they are busy preparing for the coming battle.

"Your morale has not diminished one bit."

 Looking over at it, Guin muttered.

"Of course, Liard."

 Sheba is proud of you,

"Shem is a race born to fight. No Shem, no matter what race, male or female, is without the courage to fight until he or she falls and dies."

"That can be a problem."

 Guin muttered, but it was even lower than before, so Shiva could not hear it.

"Besides, Nosferus is Shem's mother."

 Sheba was content to move about the oasis as if he had been doing so since birth. He looked out at his hairy dwarf brethren.

"Wherever you are in Nosferus, wherever you leave the village, Shem will not be sad. This is Shem's land. Not to Orm the human. Orm cannot live here."

"But there are times when man comes knowing even that. Shiva - a man can be motivated by something more powerful than the fear of death and the desire to feel safe in his old home."

"Shem won't understand."

 Sheba said doubtfully. Then Linda came up to her. With an urn in her hand and Suni in tow, she was completely elated that Guin had returned to the oasis and was doing so.

"Guin, I've brought you something to eat. I floured it and boiled it."

 He held out an urn with steam rising from it, as if he were proud of it.

"Mmm. Thank you."

 Guin's strong body was being examined, as if she was worried that she might be injured,

"Hey, Guin-- when are we going out again?"

 Linda put her hands on her knees and asked.

"Hm."

 Guin seems to be busy swallowing food.

"Hey. I'm one of the allied troops. While Guin and the others were out, I spent all my time with the young women of Tubai and Lhasa, boiling poison, making poison arrows and learning how to recognize herbs that heal wounds. If you let me make a bow and arrows of a reasonable size, I would like to go with Guin and fight Mongol."

"The battlefield is no place for a child to come."

"You're talking like an Istvan."

 Linda puffed up.

"Where's the prince?"

"Remus is with Loto and the others. He's so happy that he can speak Semitic before I can."

 Linda said, not amused, but drew the conversation back, not noticing that Guin had secretly digressed,

"Speaking of Istvan-- Hey, Guin, where the hell is Istvan? He's not coming back at all."

"Do you care?"

 Guin teased teasingly.

"Even though he's so angry, he's going to miss you when you're not here."

"Oh, my God, come on! He's such a jerk!"

 Linda's cheeks flushed red. She poked her head up,

"I'll get you a drink.

 He's going away without even turning around. Sun-hee follows him, little by little. As he watched her go, a faint shadow of irritation seemed to appear on Guin's leopard's head when he suddenly stopped his hand that was inserted into the urn.

Too slow. Too slow. --what's he doing,he's ...)

 His yellowish eyes glittered. Sheba looked up at Guin, as if she had felt something.

 Sheba, of course, has no way of knowing what thoughts and fears are going through the head of the round, deformed leopard. However, because of his infatuation with Guin, the young Rak warrior could somehow sense the heroic weight of this deformed god of war, which he could not even show to anyone.

"Liard."

 When Shiva was about to ask something..,

"Very well."

 Suddenly, a short, snarling murmur escaped from Guin's mouth.

 At the same time, he put the food down.

"Where are Loto, Iracelli and the others, Sheba?"

 There is no longer any hint of hesitation or concern in the tone of voice you hear.

"Yes, Liard!"

 Sheba jumped up and tried to call out to him. But..,

"Okay. I'll go."

 As soon as he said that, Guin walked off at a brisk pace.

"Liard, Liard!"

"Liard!"

 When he walks into the midst of the Semites, the apes all stop their work and look up at him. Their eyes are filled with the innocent trust and admiration of a child.

 The Lak chief, Lothor, the Guro chief, Iracheli, the Tubai of the Tubai tribe and the Lhasa cult were sitting under the shade of a tree on a desert wolf's fur rug, talking among themselves, when they saw Guin.

"Thanks to you, Liard, my Shem has won many great victories."

 Roto, whose entire body was covered with white hair, said gravely. Normally the voice of the Semites is high-pitched and harsh to the ear, but the voice of this great chief, the grandfather of Suni, is hushed and grave.

"But I'm not happy that Leard is so quick to issue a cease and desist order. Otherwise, we could have taken out the demon of Om much sooner."

 Iracelli of Glo said. I'm sure there was a meeting of the chiefs here to discuss whether or not Guin's surprise attack was a good idea, and there was some internal strife.

 Iracelli was wounded in the previous battle, but he seemed unconcerned, and wagged his tail, which had been torn off like a stump and was the fruit of old wars, and was in great health. He was very large for a Shem, almost as big as Linda and Remus.

"Iracelli, that's short-sightedness. It's because of the teachings of the Lords that we, with our small numbers, have been able to win so many wars."

 The cult of Lhasa interferes. Because the tribe is small, they appear to be reluctant.

"No, let's not forget about Ido's exploits with the Tsvai. Without it, we would have lost long ago."

 Tubai of the Tubai tribe shouted.

"This is not the time for infighting!"

 and Roto .

"Exactly. But I want to say this. Why don't you fight so that you can kill the enemy all at once? It's like a giant anteater pulling out its tentacles from the bottom of a sand pit and then pulling back. In this way, it is impossible to catch the prey and slurp up all the juice."

"Iracelli, that's not true."

 That's what Roto was trying to tell me. But..,

"Yes, Iracelli. That's what Iracelli said."

 Guin's thick voice rang out, drowning out the horrified voices of Shem and the others.

"Liard!"

 Even Shiva stares at Guin in disbelief.

"Listen to me. I've been thinking about this for a long time-- I'm the one who thought of this strategy, the one who hit and run, and taught it to you. But if we don't--"

"..."

"If this goes on for three more days, Shem will be defeated!"

"Aye!"

 It was Curt who spoke up sharply.

 Roto and Iracelli stared at the leopard-headed warrior as if to bite, and listened intently, trying not to miss a single word.

 At that moment, Linda and Remus appeared behind them, carrying a jar of wine and Suni. Seeing this unpleasant scene, Linda put down the urn, and the twins held hands and looked into Guin's stern face.

"Shem will be defeated." - Why, Liard? Liard said. "Fight like this," he said-- and we're making it hard for Orm's army. There are no more Orms than there are Shem. If we fight like this a few more times, we'll be as many as Orm and Shem."

 Shiva shouted, as if he wanted to clear away the still air around him.

"Shiva. For all that we have tormented our enemies, we have also been tormented."

 Guin said briefly.

"I've given a lot of thought to what I'm going to do. I've also made some moves to somehow deal a devastating blow to the enemy after this. But even with the best of them, we Semites lack a decisive factor!"

"What's the deciding factor, Laird?

 Shiva asked wistfully. The Semites have their own language, their own ideas of ethics and honour, but they are incapable of abstract thought beyond a certain point.

"In other words, we have only three or four days left in which to keep the enemy blinded and secure our advantage."

 Guin explained.

"At the moment, we have taken the initiative, and the enemy is psychologically unsettled by the intimidation of being in unfamiliar territory. However, if this continues for a while longer, the enemy will become accustomed to this situation. When this happens, they will inevitably realize that the actual damage they are suffering is not so great, that the whole of the Semitic army is much smaller than theirs, and that the reason they continue to employ this method of surprise is that they wish to conceal this fact. When that happens, it will be the end of us. When that happens, the enemy will turn to a thorough offensive. We don't have the strength to take on and hold off an elite army of more than 10,000 Mongols, even though it has been reduced. If we had, we would have put an end to it in the battle of this morning.

 The chiefs of Shem looked at each other.

"But, Liard... we don't know what Liard means, but if we do as he says, we will win... as Liard said in the village of Raq. We have Nosferus with us."

"It's only because Nosferus is with us that we've managed to put up a good fight so far."

 Guin said.

"However, the other side is getting used to the id strategy, the one-time surprise move, and the surprise attack strategy - if it were true, we should bring out our hidden main force here and crush them at once. But we no longer have such a main force. That's what I mean when I say we lack a decisive move. At this rate, even if the next plan I have prepared temporarily hits the mark, or even more so if it does, Shem will surely be defeated."

"Can I be defeated?"

 Iracelli shouts as he strikes. To which he turns a glittering Leopard's eye,

"We can't lose. So, I've been thinking. I've been wondering if I'm going to have to take a bigger gamble than I've ever taken before."

"Bet?"

 I was just about to ask him back,

"Liard!"

 A young Lak came in alone. He has in his hand a papyrus tied with something.

"As Riad ordered, I kept watch, and after Orm started moving, I went over there and found this under the cactus bark."

"Oh! You're here!"

 Guin took the papyrus almost snatching it from him. He read it down as if he were devouring it, his eyes burning brightly.

"Yes!"

 He said a few words and threw away the papyrus. Then he slaps his knee and stands up.

"The arrangements are in place. I think you've taken in everything we discussed earlier."

"Of course, Liard."

 Iracelli said quickly and nervously.

 Linda and Remus looked at each other with curiosity in their eyes. Quickly, they picked up the papyrus that Guin had thrown away and unfolded it.

 There was an array of enigmatic words in a poorly written Kinkugi style.

"ready / done / waiting for a signal / signal"

 Underneath, there is a pattern of interlocking snakes that is difficult to decipher.

"Hey, Guin ..."

 What is this, Linda tried to ask.

 But he kept his mouth shut and stared breathlessly at Guin.

 Guin's huge, statuesque figure, standing with his hands on his hips, his whole body emanating an uncontrollable, white-hot flame that would burn him to a crisp if he tried to touch it. I even remembered such a fearful, fiendish feeling.

(Guin, ...)

 His tremendous, superhuman willpower and decisiveness, which seem to shatter even the question of what he is thinking, seem to be conveyed to the viewer in a riveting way.

"Iracelli, Loto, Shiva!"

 Guin yelled.

"You're sure you can do this without me?"

"Of course."

 Iracelli was the first to answer,

"Why, Liard?"

 Shiva said slowly.

"All right, Shem."

 Guin looked around at them with tremendous eyes.

"At this rate, Shem will always be defeated, even if he manages to gain the upper hand for a time. But there is one thing we can do to not only avoid defeat, but to win and rid Nosferus of Orm forever. Trust me. Trust me, and I'll hold out for four days, four whole days. It's like this: ..."

 Guin began to speak. In the midst of the cries of astonishment and shock that immediately arose, he continued to speak as if howling.