The Human Saint is Bored, so I was Summoned to Another World

Chersea on the Eve of War (Side Chapter)

"So, uh, Kuro...these are your mercenaries?"

"Yep. I fought with them in the tourney before, if you could still remember."

Lily sighed, "Oh, so that's why a few of them are familiar to me..."

"It's pretty convenient that they were attracted by the news of the Imperial armies in Amaranth. I just found their hidden base somewhere in the city." I pointed out to their leader, "By the way, that guy—"

"He's a guy?" Lily's eyes widened, "All this time, I thought he's a girl."

"Don't worry..." I snickered, "Even I initially thought he was." Well, what I meant was that I initially thought that Griff's counterpart in the manga I read before was a 'she', but explaining it to Lily would be a hassle, so I just kept silent, "The name's Griffyth and these guys are from the 'Band of the Oak'."

"Well, tell me. What are their numbers, and what can they do?"

"They got a thousand men, with more to come in later." I explained, "As for their abilities...Hey, Griff! Come over here!"

Griffyth then presented himself over to Lily, "Oh! If I'm not mistaken, this pretty lady over here is the Iron Princess of Nerfes, Lilyhaven von Leese! How are you, Your Highness?" He followed it with a bow.

"He's quite got a tongue, Kuro, huh?"

"Well, Princess Lily wants to know the abilities of your men." I told him, "Can you show her?"

"Certainly." Griffyth then whistled to his men, "Alright boys...and girls (he referred to Kashca here), time to show what we can do!"

At Griffyth's command, the mercenaries of the 'Band of the Oak' formed a disciplined standing formation. Then, he shouted his order, "Shield wall!"

The men brought up their shields and raised their swords in a combat-ready stance. Though it looked ugly because of the different shapes of shields forming a formidable defensive wall, the tactic reminded Lily of the formations used by the Imperial legionnaires.

"That's because I was once a legionnaire, too," Griffyth explained to us.

"Impressive." Lily quipped.

"And that's not all..." Griffyth continued, "Pikes on the double!"

At once, the men dropped their shields and swords and quickly chanted magic that caused their pikes to appear on their hands.

"They can also use pikes?" Lily couldn't keep herself from getting surprised.

"I cross-trained them in using different weapons."

"Really, really impressive."

Griffyth had a look of triumph on his face. However, he's still not finished yet, "Kuro, look at this! Demons out!"

The mercenaries dropped their pikes and chanted their magic once again. Much to my surprise, matchlock guns appeared on their hands, complete with an already lighted slow-match.

"Fire!" their commander shouted. At once, the mercenaries fired their matchlocks. Though it was not in-sync (unlike in the movies), the successive loud bangs were still impressive enough to create surprise to the leaders of the holy coalition.

"Well..." Griffyth explained, "...that demon weapon you used before in our tourney fight left a huge impression on me. It could easily rip armors, so I thought it would be beneficial for my men to be taught in using it. That's why we're also in Cherflammen; to get these weapons..."

"That's something that Sir Kuro used to destroy the armor of the Templar-Prince of Baltes, eh?" the Earl of Yaris muttered, "From its sound alone, it is terrible."