Chapter 164.
"Achoo!"
When I sneezed, Demuir asked anxiously, "Did you catch a cold?”
I smiled casually and waved my hand. "No, I think dust just got in my nose."
Or, someone was talking about me...
Inside Warehouse 3, which was full of dust and mana stones, I had to use a snow shovel to scoop mana stones into a sack. Considering the dirty air, it seemed to be the former rather than the latter.
"By the way, how was Mr. Dane Walker?" Fiona asked.
Fiona put on a mask because of the dust and opened a new sack. Demuir and I began to scoop the mana stones into the open sack with our shovels.
"I don"t think he"s in very good shape. I"m afraid he might be evacuated to the capital," I replied.
"Is it that serious?" Fiona asked.
"Well, he’s not on the brink of death, but he"ll have to stay still and recuperate for another month or so," I said. It was only a month because I’d force fed him the medicine; otherwise it would have been at least half a year.
It felt as if Dane Walker had only thought of the medicine as a nouris.h.i.+ng tonic, but it had been made with an ingredient known as a miracle medicine to magicians, so the price of the ingredient alone was at least several gold coins.
Well, it was so expensive because it was a mushroom that grew only in Olympus Forest. But I had so many in my pocket s.p.a.ce that they were practically rotting.
Anyway, I"d just retrieve the price of the medicine from Dane Walker later.
"By the way, there are so many mana stones. Wouldn"t it have been fine to have just distributed them freely?" grumbled Demuir.
Fiona nagged, "Why? Do you want to eat mana stones every meal instead of chocolate next time?"
I also added to Fiona"s nagging. "Mana stones are too expensive to give you. I"ll pick up some stones on the side of the road and feed you, though."
Demuir lamented over our responses. "Can"t I even make a joke? You"re so mean! I’m just saying that because the pile of mana stones doesn’t seem to shrink no matter how many we scoop out!”
"Hurry up and keep scooping. We have to finish this before dinner," I said.
Demuir grumbled and put the mana stones in the sack. These sacks were taken away somewhere by knights after being filled.
Those mana stones would probably be used to deal with the turtle that Dane Walker had been fighting earlier in the day. However, bringing so many mana stones like this meant that the upper echelon had already known that such a monster was coming.
* * *
After all the supply soldiers and supply officers were mobilized, we finally managed to move the mana stones by the appointed time.
It wasn’t any of our business where they were going to use that ma.s.sive amount of mana stones. Everyone was just interested in tonight’s dinner.
This evening"s menu was preserved food, but there was a stew with fairly large chunks of beef in it, and we were given bread, not hardtack. It seemed to be a special meal, as even smoked ham had been brought out.
"Why are they bringing out meat all of a sudden tonight?" someone asked.
"Isn"t it because we had such a hard time today?" someone else replied.
The soldiers who were being served were also excited.
When the war broke out, all residents had been evacuated to Asterium and other rear cities, so there was nowhere to buy better food even if the supplied food was terrible.
The Asteria and Druval merchants had remained like the shrewd merchants they were and sold food, but not even three hours after they’d started selling, they had completely sold out. That had happened long before the main forces, including myself, arrived.
"Hmm, isn’t something a little fishy?” I asked with a serious look.
Demuir looked at me happily without thinking, while shoveling ham and bread into his mouth. “Whhaay? Grunngg?”
“Speak after you’re done swallowing,” I shot back.
Demuir eagerly savored the food in his mouth.
At my suggestion, all the chocolate had been distributed to the magicians, so Demuir looked very happy eating food other than chocolate after such a long time, even though it was still combat rations.
After swallowing all the food in his mouth, Demuir cleared his throat with some stew and asked, "What"s so fishy about it?"
"Well, the quality of the food has suddenly increased," I replied.
This sort of sudden distribution of meat usually only happened when foot-and-mouth disease broke out. In fact, knowing the background of the situation, it felt more like the last supper for a death row inmate than an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
"So you"re not going to eat?" Demuir asked.
Smack! I hit Demuir"s hand to stop him from reaching for my smoked ham. "Of course I"ll eat."
I ignored Demuir as he held his hand in pain, and took a bite of the smoked ham. It was greasy and had a salty taste that would make one feel sick if one ate too much.
"It doesn"t taste all that good,” I complained. Upon hearing that, Demuir crept toward my smoked ham, but I hit his hand away again.
At that time, a signal came from chirp 145, who had been a.s.signed to patrol the farthest regions of the demon territory.
"What"s wrong?" Demuir asked as he reached for my smoked ham again, but I couldn"t pay any attention to him.
A huge mountain could be seen in chirp 145’s eyesight, which I could share through magic.
To be exact, the Turtle Carrying a Mountain, a great demon I’d encountered earlier in the day, was approaching this place. Once again, it felt as if Mt. Hanra was moving toward us.
"I"m going to eat this...?"
"Eat it or not, do whatever you want." I shot out of my seat and headed toward the warehouse.
"Hey, where are you going? Can I really eat it?”
"I"m going to the bathroom."
I ignored Demuir"s words and ran. From far away, I could see Demuir enjoying my smoked ham and stew, but I wasn’t interested. Should I escape? I didn"t think anyone would say anything about it even if I escaped.
* * *
Atop Warrant’s fortress wall, b.l.o.o.d.y pulled out a sword and looked at the huge mountain that had come into view in the distance.
"So that’s the great demon called the... Toad? Turtle? Carrying a Mountain or something."
Every time it took a step, the ground seemed to shake all the way to Warrant, which was still far away.
"It"s not a toad, it"s a turtle," Orphina corrected b.l.o.o.d.y.
b.l.o.o.d.y shrugged. "Whether it’s a turtle or a toad, it’s still a monster.”
"Foolish. Knowing your opponent and yourself is the basic tenet of military strategy."
William mediated between the two as they growled at each other as usual. "Come on, that"s enough fighting. A single hair on that monster in front of us is more than a match for all three of us fighting together with all our might."
William looked at Orphina; Orphina sighed helplessly and climbed onto her dragon, Hargan, flying into the air.
Warrant, seen from high above, contained tens of thousands of soldiers on standby in formation.
Orphina looked at the soldiers watching her and shouted, "As the commander-in-chief, I’ll be taking the lead! Follow me!"
At Orphina"s mana-infused shout, all of the imperial troops gathered at Warrant let out a cry. “It’s war!”
Warrant would be facing the worst monster it had ever seen since its founding.
* * *
The battle against the great demon began.
The other non-combat officers and I gathered in Warrant’s shelters and waited for the battle to be over. After all, even if people who didn’t know how to fight kicked up a fuss thinking it would help, it would only be annoying.
As for the supplies, there would be no point in trying to save them if we didn’t survive the battle, so the higher-ups had decided to not think about the consequences and released all the supplies.
Therefore, there weren’t any supplies that we had to manage anymore. Even if there were, it would just be limited to rations that were to be served tomorrow morning.
I snuck out of the shelter and watched the battle from the top of the fortress. If things went wrong, I"d have to run away, but it bothered me that Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y and that d.a.m.n pushover were in the middle of that battlefield.
I’d a.s.signed some chirps to Pushover, so I didn’t really worry about him.
Even though he was technically part of the battle, he didn’t have the abilities to qualify for partic.i.p.ation.
Rather, the one I was worried about was Uncle b.l.o.o.d.y. He was strong enough for me to recognize, but his opponent was a huge great demon.
To be honest, the waves of fearsome mana that the turtle emitted made me want to run away immediately. Still, I couldn’t see my uncle die, so I stayed on guard for a dangerous situation in which I would need to get him out and run away.
Before that, I put on a white half-mask and armor, and a helmet taken from the warehouse just in case.
This outfit made me feel as if I should make a cheering motion toward the sun.
* * *
William pulled the magic wand from his pocket s.p.a.ce and shouted, "Open Magic Circle 7!"
Under William"s instructions, the Magician Corps began pouring mana into the designated pile of mana stones in unison. Then, hundreds of huge chains surged up from inside the demon territory and began to bind the body of the great demon.
This was one of the magic circles that had been installed by the Black Water Buffalo Knights led by b.l.o.o.d.y as they roamed the demon’s territory according to William"s instructions.
The chain was thick enough that it would take two or three people to embrace it, but it looked infinitely thin compared to the size of the great demon.
The great demon struggled to break the chains that had suddenly wrapped around its body and hindered its movements. The whole area shook as if there were an earthquake with its constant stomping.
“Red Dragon Knights, follow me!” As Orphina flew ahead toward the great demon, the Red Dragon Knights followed.
"Commence Lance Charging!" Orphina cried. The Red Dragon Knights took out huge lances from their s.p.a.ce expansion bags. Then, they charged toward the great demon’s head in unison.
The mana stone embedded in each lance responded to the knights" mana, and protective barriers formed to completely cover the dragons.
Lance Charging, which was similar to a full body slam by the Red Dragon Knights, left large craters all over the great demon’s body.
"Kuooooooh!” The great demon screamed at the sudden impacts and the dragons faltered in midair. Immediately after, the knights abandoned their single-use lances and rode their dragons high into the sky.
"Open Magic Circle 4!" William cried. The Magician Corps injected mana into a second pile of mana stones. This time, a magic circle shone from atop Warrant’s fortress, firing a beam of light at the great demon.
The great demon, which had yet to escape the shock delivered by the Red Dragon Knights, was unable to avoid being hit by the beam. However, the beam aimed at its head ended up sweeping from its shoulder to its body as it moved about.
“Kaoooooo!” This time, it screamed in pain. Dozens of the mountain peaks on its back completely collapsed; also, blood could finally be seen as the beam penetrated the outermost layer of its sh.e.l.l.
Seeing the blood of a great demon was an achievement that would be recorded in history, but William clicked his tongue. "Tch, we missed it. Open Magic Circle 9!" Even if he had hit the mark, he didn"t expect to be able to kill it with a single blow.
At William"s command, magic chains came out of multiple spots in the demon territory again and bound the great demon.
"Recharge Magic Circle 4 with mana and open Magic Circle 5!"
Mana slowly began to gather atop Warrant’s fortress; at the same time, a magic circle beneath the great demon began to s.h.i.+ne. The great demon was fl.u.s.tered, but couldn’t move because of the chain that tied it up.
Soon after, ice spikes soared up from the s.h.i.+ning magic circle and stabbed into the stomach of the great demon, as if to mutilate it. When its relatively fragile stomach was attacked, it became furious at the pain.
William shouted urgently as he felt an unusual mana surge from the great demon.