Chapter 271: Side Effects of War
While normally the two knights would split up to look through a township and make sure that everything was okay, they decided to stick together as they went further into the buildings, since things were indeed not okay.
It was still only early evening, so they decided to take advantage of what was left of the sunlight. Rather than skirting around the edges, they decided to take on what was left of the living goblins. It was clear they had been cut down at least a bit, but whatever forces were there before weren’t quite enough.
Unfortunately, this reality was what the two had been training for for the past few years. Learning how to survive when it felt like the numbers of the other side far exceeded theirs was something they were accustomed to.
"Shall we stay on the horses?" Irene called to Felix as they moved closer.
"Best to get them away since they are without armor," Felix responded as he slipped off his horse.
Irene agreed, and they were able to close off in an alleyway that had a gate at the end. Luckily, the other side was full of crates that would block them from going the other way, so at least they would be protected on both sides and away from the goblins.
Back-to-back combat was something Irene and Felix both knew well after battle. Except, for once, they were back to back with each other, and not the knights who helped them rise and become the knights they presently were.
They edged themselves into the goblins that had been crowding around the town square. It seemed they had knocked over food storage because they were swarming a particular area where jars were evidently broken, and grains, unfortunately, littered the ground.
"The throats of the ones barely alive" was all Felix needed to say for Irene to know he meant they were to slit their throats if the goblins were already injured. Best not to waste energy on them, but necessary to kill them all the same.
When they moved closer to the center, Felix was forced to use his left hand to wield his sword—which wasn’t an issue because he remained ambidextrous—so Irene could use her right and they would both be effective fighters.
They slashed down the first few, which were easy because they were distracted by the food they were trying to steal. However, when the goblins took note of them and began to attack, the knights felt each other get much closer to one another until their backs were pressed against each other at times. Occasionally, they would even give each other a stray elbow on accident, but there was no harm done. They were doing their best.