The Sun rose from the eastern sea, casting long shadows of masts and sails. The many great ships in North Bay harbor had been tightly protected by more than a hundred Crusader Veterans, and had not suffered the slightest damage in last night's slaughter and chaos. Yet standing high on the watchtower and looking toward the west side of Queen Saint Elizabeth's Fortress, the wooden huts and thatched houses across the entire farm had all been burned into unfinished torches, still belching choking black smoke.
"Lord! The farm is completely destroyed! Who knows how many of those hundred-plus Colonial Able-bodied Men survived?..."
"I heard the Crusader Veterans took terrible casualties last night! Half a company had their heads cut off..."
"What?! Veterans that formidable were defeated by Natives too?!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! The deputy commander is in a foul mood. Don't let him hear..."
"Damn it! We should just take the ships and leave! Fighting back and forth with these lunatics of savages... I still want to go back to Seville alive!"
"Ah! May the Holy Mother protect us!~~"
The smoke was like a Black Snake gnawing at tree bark, twisting as it climbed into the damp morning sky. In the eyes of the Castilian sailors, that rising Black Snake seemed to hold a special evil, constantly gnawing at their hearts and driving their morale even lower.
At the farm west of the stronghold, the fence they had built had been torn open, and the gate was so thoroughly charred that it crumbled at a touch. The shadows of the Cipangu savages had long since withdrawn into the mountain forests with the night, leaving only blood and corpses strewn across the ground, along with all kinds of savage weapons and armor.
"."
Deputy Commander Antonio's face was ashen