Chapter 145: Sky Palanquin

The hunt concluded in a few days, and Mutt waited for Rino's surprise gift to transport all the animals they captured for the new farm. There were more than three animal couples, but none of them fit the milky criteria, much to Rino's disappointment. Then again, it couldn't be helped. He didn't expect to find cows in the forest.

The main quest wouldn't be completed until Rino brought the captured animal couples to his pens, so he had to find a way to transport them safely without risking any deaths of his precious livestock.

With Mutt and Fowler working hard on the actual quest, Rino spent a lot of time designing his first transport between provinces for long distances. He used a lot of paper to calculate the weight his new palanquin could hold and tested the strength of shadow rope tendrils the shapeshifter spectres could summon.

Flying was the only way to bring those animals over to the new town because Rino did not trust Mutt to guide those animals past the swamp and through the rocky mountainous terrain without difficulty. Even an expert sheepdog would lose a few sheep along the way, and it would take too long.

Surprisingly, the hunting party secured some hogs. They were not the spiky hogs that turned Fowler into meat pulp from the first night but were pygmy boars. The tiny tusks were only a mating attraction feature for measles, and females were dull in colour but not much bigger than their male partners. These pygmy boars were quickly captured to fulfil Rino's desire for a meaty type of animal. 

Believe it or not, it was actually the hobgoblin patrol guards who found them. These gluttons were caught going through the unguarded granary and helped themselves to over two hundred kilograms of potato before anyone discovered them. At least now, there was no doubt about their food source, and Rino had faith that once the spud field grew in his new town, these boars would fatten quickly and multiply like no tomorrow.

The farm animals were in cages. Some of them chirped while others grunted. Mutt ignored everything and counted down until his Master appeared. It was almost dusk, and Rino told them that the surprise would come from the sky.

The hour came, and something from a distance was approaching at a rapid speed. The darkness that spread across the sky just before the sun disappeared completely took everyone by surprise. Some claimed that it was a calamity while the warriors raised their spears.

It wasn't a bird or a wyvern. Instead, there was a cloud made of black squirming snakes. Nobody knew what to think about it, but there was no mistaking where that monstrosity's destination was. Goblin Lord Gnut growled, but Mutt stopped the Baron from taking command. He could smell it, and for some reason, Mutt found those black squirming snakes familiar.

"They are not a threat," he reassured the panicked villagers.

The black cloud approached closer just as the sun disappeared, and finally, the bolder villagers dashed out from their hiding to get a better look. The dark cloud lowered its altitude as it came closer to the meeting point, and finally, they caught sight of something sitting on top of the dark clouds.

Mutt howled in recognition. He knew those hooded figures! Instead of gracing them with his presence, Rino sent four shapeshifters as escorts for the big present. Those black snakes were actually shadow tendrils, and Mutt wondered why they had to do that. It looked ridiculous, but the size of that wooden box they carried looked heavy.

The palanquin was big enough to provide ample shadows. It had windows that open upwards sideways so that animal cages could fit inside. The palanquin was made from wood and cement but was enchanted with magic that Mutt did not recognise.

The teleportation pad glowed, and Kragami stepped off the platform, squinting at the sight of his student's surprise. The old magician was surprised that the palanquin was enchanted with many of Rino's best spells. There were rune writings all over the wooden structure, from space manipulation to structural reinforcements. 

It wasn't just a transport box. This could be a battle box if they were under attack. Only Kragami understood just what his students built. If anything, he finally saw a glimpse of the future under this magician's rule. For centuries, humans were at the mercy of harvesters. In fact, humans were not the only ones who suffered. Several other more intelligent life forms became extinct, but Kragami did not know how many were victims of harvesters. He isolated himself in the swamp because everyone knew harvesters followed the wind. The swamp was probably the last place they would pass by, and even if they did, Kragami was prepared to hide under the bog or use the dead as his shield before Rino turned everything upside down.

Honestly, he had no idea if the powerful defence barrier created that thwarted a wyvern could hold against the swarm of harvesters. The rest of Rino's shadow summons might be unaffected, but the faes and Kragami were very vulnerable. Unlike the battle box palanquin, they had few escape options.

The wooden box landed, and the shadow tendrils disappeared. Four spectres alighted, and Mutt recognised the leader of the tannery, who introduced himself to the goblin lord and Kragami. Rino must have informed Acht about the people in charge of Noir Province. What a smart move to use the surprise to establish friendly relationships between the two territories! Mutt's respect for Rino increased.

In the vault study, Rino shivered. Someone was talking about him far away, and he pegged it as the gossip of the gods playing peeping toms. He spent a good amount of time thinking of a logistic solution while the sabre tooth wolf and Fowler hunted for animal couples. The story of a great ship saving humanity from extinction in his previous world inspired Rino to finally develop the logistic solution he needed.

While the wooden floating palanquin wasn't a ship, it came close. Using the idea of a portable grimoire, Rino spent a long time carving rune spells and drawing magic circles. The palanquin drawn by spectres and powered by his mana could transport at least a hundred villagers. It was his last resort and evacuation plan if a catastrophe threatened to wipe his population out.

Rino wasn't worried about the undead like Mutt and the shadow spectres. If anything, he was concerned for the brownies, pixies, fairies and gnomes. Kragami was also painfully mortal, and Rino had to create some disaster shelter for the worst-case scenario.

While there was only one such palanquin, Rino decided to increase their number in future so that there would be at least one palanquin in every village or town on standby. What a genius plan to tackle logistic and defence measures! Rino praised himself for designing the sky palanquin and claimed a sixteen-hour nap after the transport was completed. Yes, it was possible because of the system loophole at midnight. Rino might have woken up for a total of six seconds before he knocked out for the next eight hours, enjoying his dreams of the previous world.

As Acht explained how the palanquin should be used, the hobgoblins were already helping to load the animal cages. Kragami greeted the leader of the palanquin escorts and asked if they could bring a few more materials over to Rino while they were here if there was extra space.

"Of course," Acht nodded and revealed just how much the sky palanquin could store.

Fronzo and Erika got to work at once, giving directions to every available farmhand to bring out the potatoes, woven cloth and cleaned pelts. Kragami told the spectres to hold on while he made a trip back to Cypress County. He had new alcohol, more treated wooden planks and extra water bell flower seeds that he managed to harvest. Rino was going to need everything he could carry on this trip. Kragami looked forward to visiting the new town because his student informed him there were living caves with metal ores.

Blacksmithing was a lost craft for mankind. Only dwarves knew how to work with metal ores. Occasionally, someone would find a tool made from metal by dwarves buried or hidden somewhere. The necromancer never thought that the knowledge of working with metal could be revived after the dwarves vanished from existence.

Rino was definitely a walking wealth of new discoveries the mayor gave up on. There was a reason why humanity never progressed further from stone and wooden tools. Even their agriculture research was insufficient, and many skills were lost between generations. It was difficult to build a world hellbent on walking the path of destruction. It was more difficult for newer generations to develop curiosity. Those who did often did not live long.

Humans were such cowardly creatures, and Kragami was no different. However, Rino's desire to build a kingdom and the constant invention of things they once could never imagine relit the dying spark in the old magician.

He wanted to see the birth of a new way of life with his eyes before he died.

As the fairies and undead loaded up the palanquin, Kragami wondered if there was anything he could do to contribute.