CH 27

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Yes, this is Kosuke the next day. Last night I played too much mischief and suffered a counterattack. Sylphy, you were such a novice, yet where in the world did she get such a technique… I suspect it’s because of Melty, who’s been with us a lot these days.

Anyway, we are going to go hunting for Gizma today. We need to be ready for anything. I finished collecting my creations while Sylphy was making breakfast, and I was making splints on the modified workbench.

It’s hard for ordinary people to understand what a splint is, yes. In other words, it’s a set of splints. It’s used to treat fractures and sprains. The reason why I made this is that this is an essential item in survival games where the concept of fractures and sprains is used.

In survival games, broken bones and sprains are terrible debuffs. They greatly reduce your mobility, jumping ability, and in some cases, even slip damage. If you lose your mobility, it becomes difficult to escape from hostile characters, which can lead to death.

Most of the time, this debuff is caused by falling from a height, but in some cases, it can be caused by an attack from a hostile character. There is no harm in being prepared for it.

“Kosuke, breakfast is ready.”

“Yes!”

Today’s breakfast consisted of naan-like thin bread, chopped vegetables and mushrooms, and beans cooked in a spicy sauce. I wondered if it looked like chili beans. I don’t remember there being any mushrooms in the chili beans, but it was quite tasty.

I put a loaf of bread and a pot of what looked like chili beans in my inventory for lunch, collected the manufacturing equipment, and headed for the defensive wall. When we arrived at the wall, we found refugee soldiers preparing for a sortie. Their equipment was all over the place, but they all seemed to have crossbows.

“Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Good morning!”

The refugee soldiers greeted Sylphy in unison. Yeah, there’s no sense of sadness. Their morale seems to be surprisingly high.

“Good morning, Your Highness.”

“Oh, good morning, Danan. Kosuke, please deliver it.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

In response to Sylphy’s gaze as she returned Danan’s greeting, I took out the crossbow’s bolts from my inventory on the table that was already set up.

“It doesn’t have enough room on it. Of course not.”

“Wait a minute. We need to keep track of the number, so can you take them out 500 at a time?”

“Ah, sure.”

I delivered the crossbow bolts according to Melty’s instructions, and the bolts were distributed to the refugee soldiers as soon as they were counted. This kind of management is hard work. The refugees seem to carry the bolts in a kind of quiver or a bag with a string. Hmm, that’s true. They need equipment to carry them around, right? I failed to notice.

“I’ve made a couple of improved crossbows, though.”

“I’ll take them along with the rest of the regular type.”

The remaining two hundred and fifty crossbows and fifteen improved crossbows that I made in small quantities will also be delivered. This is the end of the whole delivery.

“If any of the crossbows or bolts are damaged or broken, please do your best to collect them. I can fix it.”

“That’s right. Especially iron arrowheads, they are very valuable.”

Melty nodded and walked towards Danan. She seems to have already entrusted the management of the delivered items to her subordinates, or rather to the people who are helping her. That’s all I have to do at this point, so I head towards Sylphy.

“Hey, I’m counting on you today.”

There was Qubi, holding a crossbow. It seemed that he was going with us.

“This time, we’ll be working in groups of three. It would be Kosuke, Qubi, and me.”

“I see. How do we work?”

“Qubi will be the vanguard, I will be in the center, and Kosuke will be in the rear.”

“How does that work?”

“Qubi is quick and perceptive. Even if we suddenly run into Gizma, he won’t be killed by a single blow, isn’t that right, Qubi?”

“Well, yes. If not, I wouldn’t have made it to this forest.”

While saying this, Qubi shrugged his shoulders. I see, Qubi, who has reached the Black Forest in perfect condition, has probably survived the most fights with Gizma out of all of them.

“As soon as Qubi gets into combat with Gizma, I’ll come to support him. When it comes to melee combat, I’m the strongest, after all.”

“That’s true.”

The last time I watched her, she took Gizma by surprise and defeated it with a large knife.

“So, since Kosuke seems to be the least good at close combat, he will be positioned at the very back. That makes you the best choice for the rearguard since you can shoot the powerful, improved crossbow quickly.”

“I’ll be careful not to misfire.”

If I accidentally shoot the improved crossbow, it would be a disaster. Sylphy’s tight-fitting suit will not stop the penetrating power of this thing either.

After confirming each person’s role, Danan gave a light admonition to put each person’s life first rather than destroy the Gizma. If possible, recover the bolt, even if the crossbow is broken, but do not insist on it because it could kill you otherwise, he said.

The harpies, who can fly, are already scouting the area, and the Gizma may have already entered the area between this village and the forest.

“The pace of the invasion is fast, huh?”

“…It’s more than we expected. At this pace, it is likely to reach the village tonight at worst or tomorrow at the latest. I shudder to think if Kosuke wasn’t here.”

“That’s true. If it weren’t for Kosuke, we’d have to head deeper into the forest to get what we need.”

“I’m glad I could be of help.”

There were many refugees here to see us off, as well as people going out on sorties. Some of them had wounds that would never heal; others were children or the elderly. I felt proud to think that my abilities had saved them from a harsh escape.

“Well, it looks like Danan’s lesson is over. Let’s depart now.”

“Roger that.”

“Aiyo. Let’s go and save our precious lives.”

The two of us nodded at Sylphy’s words, and Qubi and I led the way into the forest. Now, how much of a battle can a crossbow do? I don’t think it will be useless, but I’m a little worried about it.

About an hour after we left the village, Qubi stopped while raising one hand. He looked at us behind him for a moment and pointed ahead. At first glance, we couldn’t see anything in the direction he was pointing, but when we looked carefully at the ground, we noticed a spot where the dead leaves had been unnaturally brushed away, exposing the soil.

When Qubi saw that we recognized Gizma, he picked up a stone at his feet, holding his crossbow in one hand, and threw it into the area where the soil was exposed.

Instantly, Gizma’s huge body flew out of the ground while rolling up the dirt. Is that the Ambush Tackle of Gizma I heard about? Yeah, if I get hit by that, I’ll be screwed. It’s like getting hit by a light truck, you know.

“I’m going around, attack it while moving back.”

“Aye aye, ma’am.”

As I replied, I set the sights on Gizma with the bolt-set improved crossbow.

“Giiiiiiii!”

The crossbow’s bolt that Qubi released pierced deep into the base of Gizma’s neck before I could shoot. Does Gizma also feel the pain? It stops moving in fright.

“Nice shot!”

As I call out to the retreating Qubi, I take up a position directly in front of Gizma and release the bolt. The bolt fired from the improved crossbow flew directly towards Gizma and pierced the middle of its face. No, it pierced through. The bolt pierced so deeply that its arrow feathers were no longer visible, and Gizma’s huge body shook with fear. It’s working pretty well.

“Hey, Kosuke! It’s dangerous to go straight ahead!”

“I know.”

I already know that if I stand directly in front of it, it will rush at me. I’m not standing right in front of it without a plan either.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Perhaps it’s a last-ditch effort, but Gizma is rushing towards me at great speed. Hahaha, they’re just insects or animals that only work on instinct after all.

“Hoy.”

I placed a brick block directly in front of me. The brick block was one meter in depth, width, and height. And then, there was a tremendous sound that echoed.

“Holy shit.”

“I didn’t have a role to play, but…”

In front of the dead Gizma… Qubi and Sylphy let out an exasperated voice. Yeah, to be honest, I didn’t think it would go this well either. I thought that as I put the object of Gizma’s corpse, with its head crushed, into my inventory.

“Well, I’d normally leave this sort of thing to Woodspike-sensei, but I was not sure if it would be possible to stop this giant.”

“Woodspike-sensei?”

“This…”

I showed them the abatis that I had made earlier. Abatis is a defensive facility consisting of sharp-edged pieces of wood stuck into the ground and lined up. They are so reliable that one survivalist zombie game has given them the honorific title of “Sensei. It’s not surprising since it’s something that boosts an inhumane weapon’s strength, similar to a caltrop.

“You’re right; I doubt this will stop it.”

“I’m not sure if this will even stick against Gizma.”

“Unless it’s a metal spike, it’s going to be difficult to hit Gizma.”

Then I took out my pickaxe and collected the brick blocks. Well, I plan to install the abatis outside the wall later. That thing can be made even without facilities, so it is currently in mass production.

After that, I continued to use the brick block strategy to kill the Gizma. Qubi spotted them, and the two of us attacked first. We intercept the incoming Gizma with brick blocks, and if we can’t finish them off, Sylphy will immediately stop them in close combat.

Only about half of the Gizma were killed instantly by the brick blocks, and even if they didn’t die instantly, their movements were stopped by the shock, so Sylphy was able to finish them off with ease.

“I’ve never had such an easy time hunting Gizma.”

“As long as you don’t get attacked by surprise, you’re not going to lose.”

Sylphy and Qubi muttered when they had killed the eighth Gizma. For Gizma, it’s a nightmare to be attacked by a painful attack, and when it wanted to strike back, a sturdy wall appeared in front of it. It might be terrible, that’s for sure.

“Hahaha, there are more ways of doing this.”

If I had more time, I could have built an interceptor base full of traps a little farther away from the elf village. The only thing that could be done with the base is to put spikes on the walls and a deep empty moat around it (with Woodspikes-sensei at the bottom). Of course, we should deploy a lot of soldiers with crossbows in the interceptor base. We’ll definitely need an aerial or underground passage for escape in case the base is breached. Hmm? Come to think of it; I wonder if the blocks made with this ability are affected by gravity? I’ll give it a try.

“What’s wrong? What’s with the wall all of a sudden?”

“Just a little experiment.”

I stacked two wood blocks vertically and tried to destroy the bottom one.

“Oh, I see. That’s how it works.”

The top block stood still in the air. Even though I pushed and pulled it, it didn’t budge.

“Qubi, am I getting tired? I see something strange in front of my eyes,” said Sylphy.

“I can see it too, so it’s probably normal.”

“Hahaha, this will make a great floating base.”

The question is whether or not this block can remain in the air even after I leave it. If my ability has an effective range, the floating base may suddenly fall and collapse. In the meantime, I attached another woodblock and a brick block to the side of the woodblock that was standing still in the air to see if there was a setting for load-bearing capacity.

“Yeah, it won’t fall.”

I get on top of it and jump and stomp on it. It feels as safe as the ground itself. It doesn’t shake at all. I’m thinking of creating a floating base. No, even if I can make a floating base in the air, it won’t do me much good if I don’t make some kind of easy way to get to and from the ground. I need to build a warp gate or a vehicle that can move through the air.

“Sorry, sorry, that took a while. What’s the matter with you two? You look so tired.”

“No, it just made me realize why… Isla was so attached to you and talking about absurdities.”

“I get that.”

“You say that… But I really don’t want to be disturbed by every single thing Kosuke does, and even if I wanted to, it wouldn’t end well.”

The experiment was over, so I pulled myself together and resumed our hunt for Gizma. It was when we continued and defeated about three of them using the brick block strategy.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Qubi’s ears twitched, and he looked in a different direction. I turned my head in the direction of Qubi, but I didn’t see anything in particular.

“What is it?”

“It’s Gizma’s roar. It’s not only one or two of them.”

“Maybe some of the troops ran into a pack. Let’s go check it out.”

“Copy that. I’ll take the lead.”

As soon as he said that, Qubi started running. I wondered if it was safe to run so unguardedly, but Sylphy didn’t say anything, so I ran after him as well. After about ten minutes of running, I soon saw the destruction. Several trees of a certain thickness were crushed and broken. It was definitely Gizma’s mark.

“We’re close.”

“That way.”

This is where I heard the sound of trees cracking and Gizma’s roar. I wondered how they roared. I don’t think they have vocal cords or anything.

“I see them! Be careful not to misfire and concentrate on drawing the enemy’s attention first!”

“Understood.”

“Roger that.”

There were three Gizmas lined up in front of us as we rushed towards them. Refugee soldiers are fighting these three Gizmas, all of whom are unfamiliar to me. One of them was a squirrel-type beastman, the other was a lamia whose lower half was a giant snake, and the one slumped on his tail was probably a lizardman.

Three Gizmas were chasing them. Perhaps the lizardman was injured, and when they tried to retreat, they hooked another Gizma. I guess it’s similar to the so-called train phenomenon. The squirrel beastman seemed to be using the trees to distract the Gizmas and buy some time.

“I’m going to cover the one being chased!”

I was declaring so and intercepted the lamia, who was trying to carry the wounded, and Gizma, who was chasing her.

“You?”

“I’m fine, just stay back!”

I immediately set up a brick block between me and Gizma, who was rushing at us and prevented it from rushing. Immediately step back and place a brick block, then place another on the side to create a wall. Then, I use the command jump to climb to the top of the wall, aim at the stopped Gizma, and shoot.

“Giiiiiiiii!”

I guess I hit the right spot since the Gizma stiffened up, so I shot it with a bolt from my improved crossbow and killed it. It’s easy to determine if it’s dead or alive because it can be placed in my inventory when it dies.

When I turned my attention elsewhere, I saw that Sylphy had just finished off another one by striking her kukri into the Gizma’s neck. The remaining one, which Qubi and the squirrel beastman keeps firing their crossbows, seems to be quite weak. I also shoot a bolt from the top of the brick block wall to cover them.

“Gieeeeeeeeeee…”

The last Gizma died when I shot three bolts into it. Yeah, the crossbow seems to work well enough on Gizma.

I left collecting Gizma for later and hurried to the lamia who was holding the wounded. She was helping the lizardman at a distance. From the looks of it, he had been injured in the leg. His bloodied right leg was bent in an unnatural direction, and the bone was sticking out.

“An open fracture, huh…?

Fortunately, I had a splint and a life potion on hand. Isla was also impressed with the life potion’s effectiveness, so let’s try to save him.

“I’m going to heal you. I know it hurts, but you just have to bear with it.”

“Oh…”

The lizardman nodded quietly at my words. It’s hard to read the reptilian face’s expression, and he doesn’t seem to sweat, so it’s hard to tell. I took out some drinking water from my inventory and washed the bloody area first. The lizardman seems to be tolerant of pain and accepts the treatment without moaning.

“Then, the splint…”

With the splint in my hand, I looked at the lizardman’s broken leg and saw a pop-up message that said ‘use.’ When I selected the pop-up, my body automatically moved to apply the splint and bandage with an unhurried hand.

“H-hey! We need to fix the broken bone first!”

“Well, well.”

The lamia, who was caring for the lizardman, shouted as I applied the splint to the broken leg and bandaged it. That’s true; I think so too. But I think it will probably be okay.

“Guh! Ohh!”

As soon as I finished wrapping the bandage around the broken lizardman’s leg, the fractured leg was immediately corrected and straightened. It was as if the broken leg had returned to its normal state by itself. It was gross, to say the least. The lizardman let out a squeal of pain as it returned, but it was a minor issue. Hahaha.

Once his legs straightened, the splint disappeared, leaving a shattering effect. Hmm, that’s mysterious.

“Oh, my legs straightened on their own…”

“It’s some kind of special divine magic, I guess. I don’t understand it either.”

“You don’t know it?”

The lamia’s tsukkomi is intense, but I let it slide and take out a life potion from my inventory. If the injury is as severe as a broken bone, this would be a better choice than a small potion.

“It’s a potion with Isla’s seal of approval; now drink it.”

“Ah…”

I uncorked the life potion and handed it to the lizardman, who drank it down without hesitation.

“How does it taste?”

“It’s a little bitter… Mmm?”

“W-what’s wrong?”

“The pain is gone…”

The lizardman said and stood up quickly. He steps and puts his weight on his broken right leg several times as if to check its condition.

“It seems to have healed.”

“Eeh? It was such a bad fracture, you know?”

“Fumu… but it seems to have healed.”

The lizardman said and even jumped. It certainly seems to have healed. Isn’t the sprint and life potion too effective? While the lamia was shivering, Sylphy and the others also came over here.

“Looking at your injuries, it looks like you’re going to be fine…”

“Eeeh? It was a badly broken bone! What the hell kind of magic did you use?”

“His healing and potions have healed me. Thank you, you’ve been a great help. I think I would have had to have my leg amputated even if I had survived with that wound.”

The lizardman turned his emotionless face to me and bowed his head.

“Yeah, I’m glad I could help.”

“Was the wound that bad?”

“It’s not just bad! The bones were coming out through the flesh!”

“…Are you sure?”

Sylphy and Qubi, who hadn’t seen the wound after hearing the squirrel-beast man’s claim, were puzzled. Yeah, it’s hard to believe unless you’ve actually seen those wounds. The lizardman is jumping up and down now.

“It may not have returned the blood you lost, so I think you should take care and retreat.”

“Yeah… How many did you guys kill?”

“Two.”

“Including the ones we just killed and ours, that would be thirteen… That’s enough success… Let’s go back to the village.”

“Copy that. I’ll get ready to move out.”

The installed brick blocks and Gizma’s corpse are collected in my inventory, and the six of us return to the elf village with caution. On the way back, we killed two more Gizma, bringing our total to fifteen for the two groups.