Arc 25: Daydream Believer
Chapter 240: The Obstruction Barrier and the Castle invasion
「I see. So the iron machine soldiers are being stored in the hangar in the castle bas.e.m.e.nt, right? 」(Touya)
『Yes. Though I didn’t sneak into the castle, their numbers are about 1000』(Tsubaki)
「That many?…」(Touya)
I was a little surprised at the details of the phone call I’d received from Tsubaki-san. Saying “about 1000” was still quite a number. Even the frame gears in our country numbered around 400 units at most.
Is this difference due to the quant.i.ty of raw materials or is it due to the production capacity? Or is it something different? It could be that they have a facility similar to [Workshop].
If the materials were brought to the castle, then the production factory should be there. Conversely speaking, if I crushed that place, they shouldn’t be able to easily make iron machine soldiers anymore.
Should I then completely destroy the factory with the thought of “cutting off all future anxiety” in mind?
『One more thing, there seems to be strong barrier placed on the castle. It can somewhat negate everything related to magic』(Tsubaki)
「That’s troublesome…」(Touya)
Then does this mean I can’t transfer the iron machine soldiers in order to “receive” them? It means that it will be necessary to directly board them and take them out.
It might probably be a magic obstruction barrier instead of a magic negation barrier.
There were various type of barriers.
An Evasion Barrier prevents magic targeting.
An Obstruction Barrier obstructs the invocation of magic.
A Bestowal Barrier grants one or more effects to the user.
A Protection Barrier prevents trespa.s.sing.
Lastly, a Sealing Barrier prevents escape.
I only knew about those types of barriers. There seemed to be a lot more others, but among those, talismans or amulets and other similar objects belonged to the Evasion type while the barrier which was said to be bestowed on this world and which prevented Fraze from appearing seemed to be of the Protection type.
Of course, barriers also differed by their strength. It took that much magic power and time to construct a st.u.r.dy one, they said it’s very troublesome.
The quickest way to dispel a barrier was to completely destroy the artifact or the magic formula that brought it up, but it’s very likely that they had another barrier placed to them as well. They probably wouldn’t be caught with search magic.
No, the easiest way is to [Completely erase it along with the capital]. Yeah, it’s obviously rejected. The iron machine soldiers I will be stealing will disappear as well.
In any case, I’d decided to join with Tsubaki-san at once.
Now then, all that’s left is Sonia-san’s group but…
「Can’t you take us with you if you’re sneaking into the castle? There’s no we can leave Jaofar any further than this」(Sonia)
「Please somehow allow us to join you!」(Jesty)
Not only Sonia-san, but also Jesty-san bowed his head to me. Oh well, I don’t mind taking them with me though.
「Is it okay for you to return to the capital? Aren’t your faces already known?」(Touya)
「They were, probably. We’ve ended up giving out our names in order to take Jesty there」(Sonia)
「It’s revenge for my father so it couldn’t be helped」(Jesty)
「Uuu……」(Touya)
In that case, the possibility that their description came out at the time they were guided was very high. To make it worse, it was known that Jesty came to this country with a woman from the Dragon clan and shaved head man. This was the most conspicuous way to stand out.
「It can’t be helped. Let’s change your looks with illusion magic」(Touya)
Well, it would likely get canceled the moment we sneak into the castle.
An Obstruction barrier was a barrier that hindered invoking magic. If we entered its area of coverage, magic with continuous effect would be obstructed as well.
Oh well, I guessed it wouldn’t be a problem while we‘re in the town proper.
I changed the appearance of those three with [Mirage] into the looks of common townspeople from the town, and we went back to the previous bamboo forest with [Gate].
There were many soldiers loitering in the capital on the way to the place where I would be meeting Tsubaki-san. There was no one who noticed the three people thanks to [Mirage], but I was questioned by them a lot of times due to my mask.
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Afterwards, night time came, and the neighborhood became completely dark.
In order for us to take action, we had selected a road that didn’t show any signs of life and went towards the castle. I looked at it up close and noticed that it really had high walls.
「Now then, how should we sneak inside?」(Touya)
Having moved near the castle wall, I tried using [Light] as an experiment. The light was cast only for an instant but immediately disappeared afterward. We’re apparently already within the range of the barrier.
「It seems magic is not usable」(Touya)
「The defense at the front gates has become intense. What should we do?…」
Rengetsu-san, Sonia-san, and Jesty-san who were lost in thoughts had their [Mirage] canceled already.
I’d originally planned to become transparent with [Invisible] and sneak inside, but magic was no longer usable…
「Ummm. It is troublesome, all right. Shall we forget it and break from the front?」(Touya)
「「「「Eh?」」」」
The other side couldn’t use magic as well, and we also had guns at our disposal. Bows and arrows were scary, but arrows weren’t impossible to dodge. They’re nothing if I was by myself.
「Wa-wait a minute, please. Jaofar may run away if we act recklessly. I will be troubled by that」(Jesty)
Jesty-san intervened while panicking. Ah, that’s right. I’ve forgotten about that. Though I have a feeling that I can take control of the whole castle by myself even if magic isn’t usable. Hmm, then that leaves…
(ED: Right Touya. No wonder your wives have grown tired getting surprised all the time.)
Suddenly Kohaku’s ear twitched, and she gazed into the darkness.
『Lord. Someone is heading toward here. Most likely a patrol』(Kohaku)
「That’s bad. Everyone, hide in the nearby bushes!」(Touya)
Reacting to my voice, everyone quickly jumped in the bushes.
Straining my eyes and looking into darkness, I saw two soldiers pa.s.s by the place we’re at some time ago. Apparently, they didn’t seem to notice us.
When the signs of the two soldiers got far and it got safe, we came out from the bushes and began thinking of a method to go behind the castle’s walls once more.
As expected, we can’t jump over this height, right? It’s about ten meters after all. Though I could have jumped over in case it was around five to six meters even without magic.
『Lord, I will be able to easily jump over』(Kohaku)
「Will it be alright if you are carrying me on your back?」(Touya)
『There is no problem』(Kohaku)
Then, shall we do that? It is not good going slowly as well.
When Kohaku returned to her original size, the three people other than Tsubaki-san stiffened with surprised expressions but I left them alone.
I tried opening [Storage] to take out a rope, but it opened only for an instant and then immediately closed. Is this because of the barrier?
Because it opened after I parted from the castle’s wall, I retrieved a long rope from inside.
That’s right, since I may not be able to use magic when I get inside, shall I prepare my hand in advance?
Having left behind a little insurance in case of emergency, I came back to everyone, and entrusted the end of the rope I brought to Tsubaki-san and got on Kohaku.
She gently lowered her body and jumped up in one go. Kohaku jumped more than 10 meters, and landed inside the castle’s wall without making a sound.
Fortunately, n.o.body was in the vicinity. Shrubs and trees were planted here, it was like a garden there. I immediately tied the rope to a nearby tree and, by pulling that, sent a signal to Tsubaki-san.
I paid attention to the surrounding, and made myself ready to pull Brynhildr at any time.
Come to think of it… Let’s test it since I have some doubts about that.
「Blade Mode」
Brynhildr’s blade expanded only a little. I see. It is not like it can’t invoke at all.
「Blade Mode」
「Blade Mode」
「Blade Mode」
「Blade Mode」
Having repeated it several times, the blade finally extended. Can’t I use magic, I wonder, if it is momentary?
One second [Slip] was more than enough. It didn’t seem to be any problem if I momentarily used [Boost] or [Accel]. I believed Aport would also work. Then, because gunmode’s reload was also instant, it should be alright.
Something like [Fireball] might vanish if it’s not used from point-blank range, but in any case if I moved to cover that distance to invoke, I would also get myself blown off as well.
Because [Multiple] immediately disappeared, it was painful not being able to use smartphone’s target lock at all. [Paralysis] also isn’t usable without having to come in contact with target, right?
Aah! Wasn’t it unnecessary to jump over the wall if I had moved instantaneously with [Teleport]?! Thinking that there might be no need to fear being obstructed if the magic was instant, I tried to use it, but I didn’t move to the position I thought about. The movement seemed to be obstructed after all. It was dangerous so I wasn’t going to use it.
When I attempted to try such a thing, Sonia-san appeared on the castle’s wall. Because Sonia-san and Rengetsu-san bodies were light they were skillful at it, but it seemed Jesty-san had a little bit of trouble climbing the castle’s wall.
When everyone finished climbing, I pulled the rope they used to climb, hooked it this time to protrusion of the castle wall and hung the other side down to inside the castle.
After everybody got down inside castle’s wall, Tsubaki-san pulled and retrieved the rope. We hid it in thicket shrub to be sure, but because we would be escaping on iron machine soldier after we got them, it was probably unnecessary….um, wait.
Will I really be able to operate an iron machine soldier after s.n.a.t.c.hing it? I was convinced that I could move since it resembled Frame Gear in some aspects, but I still wondered about that.
「First, I guess we will have to break free from this barrier’s effects」(Touya)
『My Lord. It’s the patrol soldiers again』(Kohaku)
Kohaku, who had already became small tiger, called my attention.
Apparently, this place seemed to be the backyard of the castle. I then peeked out from the shade of a tree and saw two soldiers who looked like they were going on a patrol route while holding torches.
「Alright. Let’s gather information about this castle by questioning them」(Touya)
「What should we do? Shall I do it?」(Rengetsu)
「No, I’ll go. I’ll make one of those two unable to move and ask the other one」(Touya)
I stepped forward, declining Rengetsu-san proposal. I then activated [Accel] for just a brief moment after estimating the timing when the light from the torches approached us and suddenly rushed out to those two. [Accel] had allowed me to vanish immediately like a mist, but it was enough time to turn up behind the two soldiers.
And just like that, I put my hand on the back of one of them and invoked [Paralysis], stopping his movement. Then, I thrusted the blade of Brynhildr at the throat of remaining one.
「Don’t raise your voice」(Touya)
「Hi……！」(Guard)
Did he think that I’ve killed his fallen colleague? The soldier that I’d thrusted my blade at has immediately got obedient.
Sonia-san’s group appeared from the shade of the tree, and put out the torch which the soldier who fell was holding.
「What do I need to do to make the barrier placed on this castle to disappear?」(Touya)
「I-I don’t know. Gad-sama is the one who has put up the barrier. I don’t know really know anything else」(Guard)
「Gad? Who’s that guy?」(Touya)
「H-he’s the heavenly emperor’s close aide. He always acts along with Sol-sama」(Guard)
I heard about their appearance in detail, and realized afterwards that Gad was a magician who’s a companion to the swordsman Sol that had fought against Sonia-san’s group and injured Rengetsu-san.
This magician named Gad seemed to be the one who had established this barrier. There’s no mistaking it. Those two people called Gad and Sol are apparently members of [Gordian].
It seemed some kind of magic tool had been used for the barrier, but this soldier didn’t seem to know that much.
It didn’t look like this guy knew anything more than that, so I made this fellow unable to move as well by using [Paralysis].
Rengetsu-san dragged the two paralyzed soldiers to the shadow of the bushes and hid them.
Should we capture this magician called Gad or something and have him cancel the barrier first? They’ve said that he’s the heavenly emperor’s close aide. There’s also Jesty-san’s revenge, so stealing the iron machine soldiers will have to be postponed.
My aim was the palace of the heavenly emperor and I would probably reach it sooner if I asked other soldiers just like how I’ve done it this time.
「Then, shall we proceed?」(Touya)
Then, we began invading the castle.