Chapter Thirty-Two

The arrival of the gorillas took everyone by complete surprise. Kevin immediately shouted, “Hold on, everyone—the gorillas have come to help us!”

In truth, just because the gorilla had smashed the enemy archers didn’t mean it was necessarily an ally. They couldn’t even be sure the gorilla could distinguish friend from foe. But regardless of the reality, shouting it out would certainly boost morale and dampen the enemy’s spirits.

Though the expressions of their adversaries were hidden, their actions betrayed their hesitation. Nearly all of them stepped back, watching to see whether the gorilla was friend, foe, or simply passing through. This moment’s indecision gave Kevin and his group a precious chance to catch their breath.

With both sides momentarily pausing, the gorilla also halted, standing in place and making unintelligible noises—whether a form of communication or simply random calls was unclear. After a brief pause, the gorillas seemed to reach a consensus and charged together at the blind poacher.

Gorillas, too, bully the weak and fear the strong. These poachers were clearly formidable and not easily intimidated, but the blind man was an easy target. The powerful arms beat down mercilessly, and after only two screams, the man fell silent forever.

“You’re just going to stand by as your companion is beaten to death? Are your bonds so thin that you’d risk your life for your so-called leader?” Kevin taunted.

The enemies hesitated, momentarily speechless.

“What’s the matter, do you enjoy this standoff?” Kevin sneered. “The Kingdom Army’s support signal has already been sent—they’ll be here soon.”

“Haha!” one of them burst out, “The more you say that, the more desperate you must be. Everyone, attack! These gorillas are idiots; they can’t tell who’s who!”

With a whoosh, a gorilla hurled a stone at his face.

The enemy, startled, instinctively raised his blade to block and took another step back. Kevin seized the opportunity, launching a magic missile from a blind spot, aiming directly at the enemy’s groin. Magic missile was the weakest spell—but also the fastest to cast and nearly silent, like a farmer’s punch.

Yet the man dodged with practiced skill, twisting his waist to avoid a fatal blow. The missile only struck his hip bone, doing little more than bruise.

Kevin cursed his own inexperience. Perhaps his eyes had betrayed his intentions. He was, after all, still a novice.

With a rush of air, the other gorillas followed suit, pelting seven or eight stones at the poachers. Kevin added another round of magic missiles, each aimed at a vital point.

“We’re leaving!” The enemy, focused on Kevin, took a couple of stones for his trouble. Realizing the situation was now untenable, he ordered a retreat. All six vanished into the woods without hesitation.

Gray let out a long sigh, his legs giving out as he slumped to the ground.

“Watch out!” Kevin shouted suddenly, just as an arrow whistled out from the forest. Instinctively, everyone ducked, and the arrow shot harmlessly past.

Clearly, the enemy was clever enough to switch to ranged attacks, knowing they’d lose in close combat. As seasoned poachers, they knew the terrain well, while Kevin’s group were newcomers, burdened with the wounded professor and at a disadvantage.

Fortunately, the poachers’ archery skills were not exceptional. Had they used bows from the start, things might have gone much worse.

“Keep your heads down!” Kevin pressed himself flat against the ground, and the others followed suit. To their surprise, the gorillas mimicked them, dropping to the earth and continuing their guttural calls.

Two more arrows flew from the woods, embedding themselves harmlessly in the ground before them. Sain immediately drew his bow and, with a single shot, struck an enemy cleanly in the forehead.

Kevin had to admit that, in archery, he was no match for Sain. Poor eyesight was a permanent handicap. Still, he was grateful for Sain’s presence—without him, counterattack would have been impossible.

“That one’s hiding behind a tree,” Sain whispered to Orca. “Lend me your aura—I’ll pierce it.”

“Alright!” Orca replied, gripping Sain’s arrow. A red glow enveloped the shaft as battle aura was infused—making it tougher and more penetrating. However, the further it flew, the less power it retained.

Ordinarily, using aura arrows was taxing for even a third- or fourth-tier fighter, but working together—one drawing, one infusing—greatly eased the burden. It required perfect timing; if the infuser held the arrow too long after the archer released, the shot would be crooked or not fly at all.

Sain, Orca, and Gray often worked together, and at this critical moment, they didn’t falter. The arrow flashed red and, with a muffled thud, struck home behind the tree.

After firing, they quickly ducked down and waited in silence for the next attack. But none came. The woods were still, save for the buzz of mosquitoes. Kevin, his head now covered in bites, dared not scratch.

At last, the parrot swooped down. “Still lying there? They’ve long since run off!”

Relief swept the group. The gorillas also rose, slapping their hands together as if celebrating.

“How are your injuries?” Kevin’s first concern was for the wounded. Gray’s hand was hurt but not seriously. Stat, however, had taken three arrows—thigh, shoulder, and abdomen, all severe injuries. He’d fought on until now without treatment and had passed out.

“No problem, let me help,” the professor said, pulling out medicine, sprinkling it on the wounds, and bandaging them. The arrows were left in for now, the shafts cut short to await proper treatment back at camp.

The gorillas clustered around, wide-eyed and curious.

“Will Stat be alright?” Kevin asked anxiously.

“We need to get him back quickly for proper care,” the professor replied. “I’m no cleric, and this isn’t holy water—just an emergency measure. My three students, help carry him.”

Though strong, the three students struggled with Stat’s considerable bulk. Three months of recruit training had done little to slim him down. Carrying him wasn’t the problem—getting him back was.

“We'll make a stretcher,” Kevin said, already cutting four branches and having everyone remove their belts to lash them together. This simple trick wasn’t taught by officers; Kevin had learned it from a camp chaplain.

No one was surprised by Kevin’s odd knowledge—he was known as a walking library, a bard by trade, and expected to be full of such facts.

Orca went to inspect the enemy's weapons. “These really are smuggled dwarf weapons.”

“Oh?” Kevin asked. “How can you tell?”

“Our country strictly controls arms. Some mercenaries want better weapons, so they smuggle them in. Smuggled arms look battered to pass inspection but, once sharpened, are very effective,” Orca explained.

“Wait!” Orca found something else. “This one has a badge—Dreamer Mercenary Company?”

Uncertain, he brought it over for everyone to see. Comparing it to the badge they'd seen on Locklock days before, they quickly matched it.

“So the attackers weren’t mere poachers?” Sain deduced. “They were Dreamer mercenaries? What did they want?”

“That explains why they fought so hard,” Gray shuddered. “We really brushed death this time.”

“Let’s not worry about that now—what about these gorillas?” Kevin brought the focus back to the immediate problem.

Everyone turned to the professor, who sighed. “A pity, but with the wounded, we have to leave.”

“There’ll be another chance,” Kevin consoled him. “Shall we show them the gorilla mating diagrams?”

After a moment, the professor pulled three diagrams from his pack and showed them. The gorillas crowded around—two looked away shyly, some gestured and howled, and the largest snatched the diagrams, grunted, and dashed off with the rest in pursuit, vanishing into the jungle.

“Professor, is this the gorillas repaying us?” Kevin asked.

“Gorillas are intelligent animals, so it’s possible,” the professor replied, glancing at the blind man killed by the gorillas. “But I think it was revenge.”

Sain returned from the other side. “The two I shot also had Dreamer badges. We really fought mercenaries.”

“These days, mercenaries are unreliable,” Marinas grumbled. “They claim to be mercenaries but act like bandits—no one cares.”

“But that’s strange,” Orca wondered. “Isn’t Dreamer’s leader a woman? Why did they keep shouting we killed their leader?”

“Hard to say,” Kevin replied. “Would someone really carry their company badge while doing dirty work in the wild?”

Silence fell. Sain cursed, “If not Dreamer, then it must be Purple Gold, trying to stir up trouble. It’s just those two companies—when we get back, I’ll have my father mobilize the troops and wipe them out!”

Kevin tried to calm everyone. “Let’s just get back.”

He glanced over to see the parrot perched quietly on his shoulder. “Parrot, where did you go? Where’s our reinforcements?”

The parrot gave him a sidelong look. “Who do you think called the gorillas?”

Everyone fell silent.

The professor added, “Animals have special ways to communicate, which we’re studying. Besides, if the parrot really wanted to summon help, it would just signal its mage master by contract—it doesn’t need to fly off.”

That explanation satisfied everyone.

After a while, a squad of lightly armored soldiers hurried over, led by a mage. The parrot flew up: “Master! Over here!”

The mage followed the voice, his uniform and insignia immediately recognizable. Kevin knew then that they were truly saved.

On the way back, Kevin shook his head and sighed, “Why didn’t I faint? Then you’d have had to carry me. All I’d need to do is close my eyes and wake up in bed—no more walking.”

Everyone rolled their eyes.

His joke made them suspicious of Stat, still unconscious and being carried along.

By evening, they finally reached camp. Most went straight to rest, but as acting leader, Kevin had to report to Marcus. To be honest, it was a stretch for Kevin to take charge—Marcus’s absence was a clear dereliction, but Kevin didn’t dare say so outright. Fortunately, everyone survived and the mission was completed.

Medical treatment in the army was free. The chaplains served under military command, not the Church of Light. They were ‘chaplains’ in name only, and after retiring, were not employed by the Church.

Stat’s wounds were not life-threatening. For the first time, he received proper healing magic, but even so, full recovery would take two days.

The real problem was the identity of the poachers. Kevin left the matter to Marcus, for he was just a recruit. Marcus reported the incident up the chain, and the army lodged a formal complaint with the Mercenary Guild.

Of course, Dreamer denied involvement, and Purple Gold even more so. For now, all they could do was wait and see.