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Year 7444, Month 6, Day 1
After giving out the instructions Fantodu returned to his office room and called out the head warriors of each ranking. With the rank 1 head warrior Zageruforu at the front, the rank 2 head warrior Akein, and rank 3 head warrior Emyuddo were all quickly called to gather in Fantodu"s slightly narrow office room. They"re all older than Fantodu. In an already cramped room, while feeling the pressure of the three head warriors, even then Fantodu somehow tried to maintain his dignity as he opened his mouth. Obviously since he"s younger he spoke politely.
"Yesterday, just as we notified you, the command was given by warrior inspector general Yoretto. Just a moment ago with rank 2 warrior Harugozon as the command an interception unit with a total of seven members were given the dispatch order. As the a.s.sistant inspector general, no, as a single citizen of Lail Kingdom I don"t think there"s any order more foolish than this. I"m sure that the inspector general has his own way of thinking but I have my own thoughts as well. I would like to proceed with this discussion as if everyone already understands the circ.u.mstances. If anyone still doesn"t understand then please come forward now. I"ll explain everything."
The rank 3 head warrior Nemerukoru.Emyuddo her long light blue hair swayed as she stepped forward. Just the same as Zegeruforu, she"s a female warrior wearing leather corset armor dyed in high quality black and crimson with a mantle that goes midway down her back. Her skin color is considerably deep. Emyuddo appeared nervous as she opened her mouth.
"What I was notified about was commencing a practice match against a member of the rank 1 warrior cla.s.s as they return from the outside. I wasn"t told as far as the reason."
Just the same the rank 2 head warrior Dyusukuri.Akein stepped forward with his slightly reddish hair fluttering. While he"s also wearing leather corset armor but that armor is dyed black and yellow green. He isn"t wearing a mantle.
"I haven"t heard about the reason either. I thought that we would receive an explanation about it here though"
Hearing their words Fantodu made a face as if he expected it and nodded.
"..I see. I"m glad I asked. The reason is far too worthless. First off, the warrior inspector general is of the thoughts that he wants to make Lail Kingdom even larger and more abundant. Of course, I am too and I"m sure everyone thinks that way as well. The matter this time is a dispute over the method of how to achieve that. The warrior inspector general believes that in order to make the kingdom even more abundant we need to increase our production ability. Up until here is fine right."
After confirming that the two head warriors who stepped forward nodded, Fantodu continued.
"For that reason, the warrior inspector general is of the thoughts that it would be best to cut each of the warrior cla.s.s numbers by 20% and allocate those numbers to the service ranking in order to increase our productivity...Yeah, without a doubt that"s what he"s thinking. I think that you all already know but ever since the warrior inspector general took up his role he"s been advocating that we should reduce the number of warriors.
Since the a.s.sembly of elders has continued to push back against it, there hasn"t been much of any change at all to the number of warriors but he"s still been advocating that. And then the other day, we received divine instruction from her majesty Lilus. The details were over a number of topics unlike ever seen until now. However, among those the warriors were almost not mentioned at all. The only words she offered us were "Rank 1 is fine. Deal with the fall in quality of Ranks 2 and 3." was just that."
Hearing that Akein and Emyuddo looked down making mortified faces. In their eyes they were directly referenced by her majesty the Queen in the "fall in quality". Certainly they haven"t just been playing around but it"s true they"ve felt a drop in quality compared to 10 years ago as well.
"Hearing this what do you think? Do you have any ideas on what to do?"
Fantodu questioned the two head warriors.
"I would like to increase the amount of time for training. I"ll discuss the details afterwards with rank 3 head warrior Emyuddo but in order to make the most effective use of the extended time I would like for the two of us to devise some means."
Akein replied.
"We should urgently revise the details of the training and on top of closely investigating them, we should abandon the standardized training and focus on growing each individuals strong points while also having them overcome their weak points."
Emyuddo replied as well.
"That"s true. I think we should start off with things like that. However, it seems that warrior inspector general would have preferred the effects be shown even sooner. He"s thinking about having 20% of the warriors with the lowest abilities of each ranking retire and include them into the service ranking. I think that he"s most likely aiming to pull out the motivation of the remaining warriors through that act as well. And then, in the case it really comes to that, I"m sure the morale of the remaining warriors will drop a bit. What I think was raised as a plan to avoid that is for the rank 2 and 3 warriors to defeat a rank 1 warrior."
Of course it"s not as if all Fantodu"s guess is on the mark but Fantodu said with a confident expression while looking at the two head warriors. Akein and Emyuddo couldn"t hide their surprise. Only Zageruforu was making a bitter face as he stood in the back.
"The basis for those thoughts of the warrior inspector general-dono being "There"s no difference in the abilities between each ranking of warriors. The only difference is their skill with magic." is something I"m sure you already know. I dare to question this but what do you two think in regards to this?"
Fantodu caressed his grey hair which isn"t very appealing as a Dark Elf while asking.
"If it"s ranks 2 and 3 then I think it"s fine to say that"s largely correct. Of course if you properly make the comparison then I think that rank 2 is slightly above rank 3 in some ways...Nevertheless, whether it be simply martial arts and obviously magic as well they"re not match for rank 1. If they"re going to be a match for rank 1 then..if the opponent is just one then, at the very least they would need at least three people to challenge them at the risk of their lives. It would be while preparing themselves for two of them to be killed or suffer heavy injuries though. Obviously it would also be necessary to make preparations under favorable conditions as well."
The rank 3 head warrior Emyuddo said. Hearing that the rank 2 head warrior Akein nodded as well.
"It"s almost the same opinion as myself. Zageruforu rank 1 head warrior. How about you?"
After accepting Emyuddo"s answer Fantodu questioned the rank 1 head warrior who was still standing disappointed in the back.
"..I"m of the..same opinion."
Zageruforu twisted his face in regret as he replied.
"Ho? I remember you saying that seven people of rank 2 and 3 would be plenty to challenge them but..."
Fantodu said it disagreeably. He still took it personally how Zageruforu made a slip up in his words the other day. He thinks that if something unnecessary hadn"t been said it wouldn"t have gotten this complicated.
"Well it"s fine. As a matter of fact the things I just said were a statement that Zageruforu rank 1 head warrior said in front of the a.s.sembly of elders. It ended up taking the shape of the warrior inspector general taking it as his pledge."
While the two head warriors eyes went wide, Fantodu continued his words.
"The order has already been given out to prevent the infiltration of any dark elves who don"t have the yellow ribbon as a mark tied on their arm from making it above the 4th perimeter of the mountain. According to Zagerufory head warriors report there"s two targets. It"s possible that both Dendudasu and Chizumagurol will return from outside within the next two months.
I"ve heard that it"s very possible both of them will have finished missions bringing us over 100,000,000 Z in foreign currency. I"m sure they"re tired from their long journey as well. If they were successfully able to achieve their mission then the moment they enter Mount Kinru it"s possible to think that they"ll let their guards down. The order just now is something that might end up injuring those such brethren. Killing them has been forbidden but there"s no way Dendudasu and Chizumagurol would know about that. Do you know what this means?"
With silence as their answer Fantodu looked at the three head warriors and continued his words.
"I think that this worthless, unhelpful order is clearly a mistake. However, something that was announced by the warrior inspector general-dono who"s in a position above mine doesn"t make mistakes. Anyone who doesn"t want to hear what I"m about to say now please leave this room right away, I give you permission to return to your jobs. There won"t be any special disadvantage to it.
Just, please think carefully about it. What can be earned from the warriors injuring each other. We will end up losing 20% of the total number of warriors as well. Of course, since they"ll end up servicing our country through the service ranking I"m sure it will still raise the national power of our country. Nevertheless decreasing our precious active duty warriors who have gone through training by 20%, I wonder how we are supposed to accomplish the Royal Road Paradise Construction Project from here on out.
When her majesty Lilus gives out the proclamation for the Royal Road Paradise Construction Project, please think about what sort of meaning it is to reduce the warriors who are the vanguard for that.."
After confirming that no one seemed like they would leave the room, it"s something he already expected but Fantodu breathed a sigh of relief.
"Now then, once again I the a.s.sistant warrior inspector general declare that I have finished explaining to you the reason for the practice match this time. It"s not like I was particularly forbidden from it but I just wanted each of you head warriors to know. From here on out is just me speaking to myself."
Fantodu said with a serious face.
"After this for a period of two months, I think it sure would be nice if some warriors with free time were to start wandering around in the area of the 4th perimeter without the mark on them. I sure do wish someone would even cut time out from sleeping to always been wandering around the areas between the 3rd and 4th perimeters. Since the commander chosen this time rank 2 warrior Harugozon is from a branch family of the warrior inspector general, I"m sure he"ll try to faithfully follow through with the order but even they need to take some rest. It sure would be nice if there was people wandering around to the point where they can"t get anything like rest~ And then, in the off chance that something like a practice match were to start, if someone yells "It"s a practice match!" in the area to call their allies that would be great. If there"s any injured people in the area it would be great if they could use some healing spells~ Hey, it"s just for two months. It"s not a very long time at all."
He looked around at the three head warriors and finished saying just that last thing to himself.
"Obviously, I would like for the head warriors to forget to eat and sleep and carefully patrol the 3rd and 4th perimeters as well."
And then, while he is younger than them but he made a elder-like expression while glaring at the head warriors and,
"Hn? So you were still here huh? It seems I spent too much time talking to myself. Everyone leave the room and return to your official duties."
And said that while taking out some expensive paper for doc.u.ments.
................
Year 7444, Month 6, Day 20
(..But..Why?)
The inside of Miduchi"s head was confused from the attack she"s receiving. However, she can"t just remain confused either. In any case understanding the situation can be put off. Something like the situation is something you can slowly confirm while doing everything you can do. She lowered her body low in the bushes she rolled into on the spot and started preparing an arrow with her bow. The moment I can see the opponent even if it doesn"t hit it"s necessary to keep them in check. If the opponent falters then I can move over to those other bushes that seem a bit easier to fight defensively from, in the case they don"t falter then this time just like I was just attacked, this time it should be fine if I fire a {Flame Arrow}.
However, the {Flame Arrow} from just now was a speed slow enough to normally be avoided. I guess they don"t have any intention of killing? It"s not as if that first arrow was aiming for a vital point either. If they"re serious then it"s best to aim for the face or heart on the first shot after all. They aimed that for the stomach. By chance I had the plate I borrowed under my armor in my clothes pocket so I was able to block it without any damage at all but even if I didn"t have the plate I"m sure I would have been injured but putting aside {Cure Light} for an arrow wound to the stomach, if it"s {Cure Serious} then there wouldn"t be any risk to my life.
It would be a different matter if poison was smeared on it but there was no poison on it.
She was able to decide that far in an instant but in any case there"s no other choice than to hold out for now. I somehow want to jump into the entrance of Erurehei but there should still be quite a bit of distance remaining. She quietly took off the arrow before putting it on the ground and then grabbed two bottles from her waist with her right hand. There"s a special chemical in both of these bottles and when you mix the contents together a red smoke is given off. She placed one bottle on the ground and then if she just pours the contents of the second bottle in there the red smoke will start to raise right away.
It"s something like an emergency smoke signal for dark elves. No matter what they"re doing when dark elves see this smoke they"re obligated to go and save them. Fundamentally the ones who use it the most are rank 3 warriors who are fighting monsters or hunting along the mountain paths. It"s common to remain within 20-30 m windward from where you use it but there"s no absolute to it. It"s more often the case that you can"t continue to remain in one place while in the middle of combat with monsters after all and it can also be thought that there won"t be any place just right to wait windward.
Miduchi hesitated over whether to use the bottle of smoke.
It"s simple to use it but at the same time it gives away your location to the opponent.
If you don"t use it then it"s possible to tragically be killed as well.
In the first place is the opponent..Alone?
In the case there"s multiple of them, even in the worst case Miduchi thought she didn"t have any chance of winning.
She remained to the ground holding her breath, while Miduchi couldn"t do anything but that she hesitated and started thinking.
The only thing Miduchi can rely on right now is the small bottle in her own hand.
She also had doubts about what kind of reason this sudden dilemma was occurring. At the very least, it"s difficult to think that she would be targeted by someone within the area of influence of Lail Kingdom. Well then, is it a monster? That"s unthinkable as well. There"s not even a 1 in 10,000 chance that monsters that can use not only the bow but also magic would be wandering around here.
While she keeps remaining close to the ground going in circles with her thoughts the situation isn"t changing for the better.
Miduchi quietly looked around the area and returned the smoke bottles to her pouch.
"Oh~ another practice match huh! Give it your best~!"
She heard that sort of voice from the distance. There was a considerable amount of distance from that voice but it echoed out as if it was trying to teach Miduchi that a practice match was taking place. Hearing that while Miduchi was somewhat able to accept it, there was still points remaining that she couldn"t understand.
(Practice match? But, why are they aiming for me? In the first place, there never should have been a practice match in a place like this up until now..)
Thinking that, she carefully continued to look in the direction the arrow came flying. If a practice match is really taking place and she was mistaken as the target for that then it"s not as if she wouldn"t understand the attack from just now. However, she couldn"t make sense of why they would suddenly start a practice match without notifying this side. After all if Miduchi were to counterattack in the case she doesn"t know anything, her first consideration would be taking the lives of their opponents as she counterattacks.
(Something is strange..)
While she was thinking that and quickly a person appeared in her sight. It still hasn"t been 10 seconds from the first arrow.
She almost reflexively went to use {Flame Arrow} but stopped herself. The opponent is the same dark elf as her. She"s seen their face before as well. If she remember correctly that"s the young rank 2 warrior Harugozon. There"s two people behind, some other young rank 3 warriors are abiding by him.
(Eh? Why is a rank 2 warrior in a place like this?)
Miduchi surprise is something only obvious. The rank 2 warrior cla.s.s normally act as so-called gatekeepers protecting what could be called the front entrance of Erurehei, their mission is to guard the surface entrance and several of the secret entrances. There"s no way they would be forgiven to leave their position and wander around in a place like this. Of course, it"s possible they could be off duty and using their day off to do some training alone but even in that case it"s unnatural. You could say that equipment is strange for training. After all, they don"t just have a bow and arrows but they"re equipped with long swords on their waist. They"ve properly got their leather armor on and the way they"re scanning the area without letting their guard down is hard to call training.
(This location, that appearance, is it really a practice match...Otherwise it"s live combat?)
"There"s seven people after all! Be careful~!"
Miduchi can hear the voice from a moment ago again. It"s closer than last time.
(Eh? A warning? Is it aimed towards me? What"s that? What"s going on? I don"t understand the meaning..)
That"s only obvious. Even though they"re performing a practice match there was notification to this side, not to mention for some unknown reason they"re even so politely telling the number of attackers. Harugozon and the other"s faces twisted detestably hearing the voice. It was to the point where she might even have heard them clicking with their tongue.
(If it"s seven people then..Other than the three in front I guess one on each side..If even further they have one in direction to the back then they would have me surrounded..So the three approaching from the front are the decoy huh?)
"We"ve secured the horse~!..Chizumagurol huh!? It"s a practice match! Don"t kill! It"s alright!"
Along the way the voice echoed out as if it was in a hurry.
She thought it would be fine just letting her horse go but she"s thankful that they secured it. After all among her precious business tools stored in it"s saddle bag is the especially heavy magic stone. The size is around that of an adult"s fist and it"s weight is over 6 Kg. Just one of those could easily rival over 10 years of her annual income.
Simultaneously she also felt she was able to relax a bit. It seems true that she"s really being challenged to a practice match. And, if that"s the case then there"s only one thing to do. Even if it"s just a practice match losing is annoying. Miduchi sticks out her forked tongue to lick her lips once before thinking of the area where they would be circling around from and without worrying about hitting just fired her bow, then at her full speed hid her body behind the trunk of a tree nearby.
"She"s in the shadow of that tree! Pin her down!!"
Harugozon"s order echoes out. While Miduchi was hidden behind the tree she took some distance and confirmed above her and then in a hurry used earth magic to create a doughnut shaped wall surrounding her to act as an improvised shelter. Right now Miduchi"s elemental magic is level 5. She create 30 cubic meters of dirt in one use. The inside has a diameter of 60 cm, the walls a thickness of 1.5 meters, and a height of over 3 meter as she shaped it like a gun barrel. She can"t afford to take her time. She has to decide the match before they throw dirt or water inside.
Immediately after she climbed up the dirt about 50 cm and used level 5 wind magic at her feet. In an instant 30,000 cubic meters of air appeared and taking into consideration the 1.5 meter height of the gun barrel Miduchi was sent flying over 20 meters into the air. Below her the improvised gun barrel and shelter was smashed to pieces sending a cloud of dusting flying into the surroundings of where she was.
During the 2 seconds or so until she falls 10 meters to the surface how many times can she shoot {Lightning Bolt}? If possible she wanted to hit at least one person surrounding her. Then at least make one person from the decoy group unable to fight through electricity.
She flew into the air and while Miduchi was making a twisted face she sent pale blue lightning flying from her left hand.