CH 42

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In selecting the base’s location, which may later become a major city, the most important thing is to have a large flat area. Whether to expand the base later or to intercept incoming enemies, it is more convenient to have a good view of the plain.

Normally, a water source’s availability would be an important factor, but I can make as many water sources as I want with my bucket. Nothing is more convenient than this if you just close your eyes to a bit of unreasonableness.

Therefore, it took us a few days to explore the area using the small base as a starting point.

“This area looks good.”

“The view is also nice.”

It was flat land as far as the eye could see, and for some reason, there was no sign of Gizma in this area. It was really strange not to see Gizma around.

“What do you think is the cause?”

“Do you think there’s something out there that’s driving Gizma away?”

“Hmm…?”

Sylphy and Qubi discussed the cause. Shumer is tilting her head with an unclear look on her face.

“Hmm… It might be different.”

Isla looked around and then raised her staff. Then a dimly glowing ball appeared in the air. Oh, it seems like magic.

“What is this?”

“It’s an exploration magic that reacts to waves of magic power.”

“Fumu?”

Sylphy tilted her head as Isla’s explanation was too brief. Qubi and Shumer had similar reactions. Is it like passive sonar? While I was thinking about that, a part of the glowing ball turned red, and the entire ball shivered.

“What is it now?”

“I captured a wave of magic power that humans can hardly feel. Many monsters are sensitive to the vibrations of magical power. By using that characteristic, it can drive away monsters from you or vice versa.”

“So you’re saying it’s some kind of ward to keep out monsters?”

“That could be it. It’s a very old form of warding.”

“Now I remember!”

Shumer snapped her fingers.

“I remember this place. When we were on our way to the Black Forest, there was one night when Gizma didn’t attack us. I think it was around here.”

“…Oh, that’s right. There was one night like that.”

“I remember that too.”

“I have no memory of it.”

“Isla-Ojoochan was collapsing from overuse of magic at the time, after all.”

I see. So this area has been like this for at least a few years, and Gizma has been gone.

“But why is there such a thing in this place?”

“This type of warding off monsters is useless if you don’t release waves periodically. The device is designed to accumulate magic power and then release it all at once. However, the amount of magic power required is too great to be covered by the magic power of mages and magic stones. Therefore, it can only be installed in a place where magic power can be pumped out inexhaustibly from the earth’s veins. It was abandoned about three hundred years ago when a more efficient warding device was invented.”

“So it’s a relic from the time when the Omit Kingdom still existed. We need to take control of it.”

“Yes. I’m surprised it’s still working, but if something happens to change the nature of the waves, the Gizma might come in droves.”

“That’s scary.”

We wandered through the wilderness, trying to locate this wave-type monster repellent device. The range of the wave seems to be quite vast.

“I think it’s around here.”

“There’s nothing here.”

“I think it’s under the ground.”

“Kosuke, do your best.”

“Do your best!”

“Okay.”

When it comes to digging holes, it’s my turn. However, I don’t know how long it will take, so I need to build a base here as well. In terms of distance, it’s probably only half a day from the second base.

That’s why I’m going to build a base of the same size as the second base. It will be the third base, after all.

“It’s really no different from the second base.”

“Please tell me it’s standardized.”

There are minor changes, you know. In the middle of the base, I built a water tower using an infinite water source to supply water to each facility. I also built a water source on the ground using a hand pump, though.

“Tomorrow, we’ll use this as a base for digging.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“Even if we helped, we’d be slowing you down.”

“Well, I’m going to take it easy. If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

“I’m a complete burden when it comes to digging holes, so… leave it to me to watch the surroundings!”

When it comes to digging holes, I’m the main one who works. Isla and Sylphy are the assistants. Pirna will fly to the surrounding just in case, and Qubi and Shumer will be our guards. It’s unlikely that Gizma’ll attack us, but there’s a possibility that there are guardians that the Omit Kingdom has put in place to protect the wards against monsters.

“What kind of guardians are there?”

“Mostly magical creatures like golems, gargoyles, dragon tooth warriors. Also sometimes undead.”

“Wow, that sounds like a fantasy.”

“Kosuke, this is not a fantasy; this is reality. Depending on the skill of the magician, all magical creatures are far more dangerous than Gizma.”

“I see. I’ll prepare weapons so that we can always be prepared for an attack.”

After I finished building the base, we decided to take the rest of the day off to prepare for tomorrow, so I decided to build another pump-action shotgun. I’ll load one with shotgun shells and the other with slug shells. I could have alternated the rounds in one shotgun, though. With my abilities, it’s easier to have both.

After finishing maintenance, we all ate, bathed, and went to bed. I prepare all the meals. In my spare time, I use item creation to expand my cooking menu.

“Kosuke’s food is delicious.”

“I like the Cream Stew.”

“As for me, I like meat.”

“For me is the Hot Dog! I really like it!”

“The food Kosuke cooks with his own hands, not with his powers, is pretty good too.”

“Is that so? Maybe we should try that tomorrow?”

“I’m sorry, but my homemade cooking is only for Sylphy.”

“Stingy.”

Isla mumbled, but I pretended not to hear her. No, it’s too much trouble to make a home-cooked meal for this many people. I can easily make delicious food with my crafting abilities, so why bother?

“Hah, I’m so tired.”

I fell into bed. After eating, all that was left was to sleep. All I want to do is sleep, but I’ve been feeling tired lately. Or, more accurately, I’m stressed out. Or, to put it more directly, I’m overwhelmed with sexual desire.

I haven’t touched Sylphy in over ten days. That’s a lot of things to accumulate. But we’re busy right now, taking the first step to retake the Merinard Kingdom. Sylphy and I are on the front lines all the time, and we spend our nights separately.

The women seem to sleep together every night, so I can’t go crawling into the night. As a matter of fact, Qubi and I don’t sleep together. Since we have extra dormitories, we sleep in separate rooms.

Incidentally, since I’ve been able to talk to Qubi in a reasonably casual manner, I’ve asked him about the sexual situation of subhumans. Basically, subhumans of the beastman type are in heat once or twice a year, and they don’t get much motivation unless they’re in heat. It’s not that they can’t, though.

There are some beastman subhumans who can do it all year round, so I’m just talking about the basics. I’ve heard that one-eyed folks like Isla, oni-types like Shumer, and elves like Sylphi can do it all year round but have trouble having children. Instead, they have a long life span.

The one-eyed folk is the second longest-lived race after the elves, with an average age of about 300 years, and the oni folk also generally live to be over 200 years old. There are also lamia and lizardmen, but unfortunately, he doesn’t know much about these reptilian races. I’ll have to ask someone next time. Maybe Sir Leonard.

“Kosuke, are you awake?”

“Hiyaahh?”

It wasn’t that I was thinking of anything sinister, but I was startled by the sudden call. When I looked in the voice’s direction, I saw that Sylphy was glancing at me from outside the room. What’s that cutie?

“What’s the matter? You look flustered.”

I was thrilled to see Sylphy approaching me while smiling. It looks like my face is a little red.

“I’m just surprised that you called me out so suddenly. What’s wrong, Sylphy? What are you doing here at this hour?”

“I’m lonely. You know that, don’t you?”

Sylphy sat down on the bed. The sweet smell drifted softly to the air. My head is spinning just from that. Stay, still stay, me. Hang in there.

“How about you, Kosuke?”

She says that with moist eyes. You’re coming to kill me, aren’t you, Sylphy-san?

“I thought so too. But it’s difficult, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. But now that I think about it, it’s a little late for that, isn’t it?”

I guess that’s right. It’s an open fact that Sylphy and I have such a relationship.

“Shumer encouraged me to do it to my heart’s content without worrying about them.”

“I see.”

My stock in Shumer had gone through the roof. Now I’m going to make her something she wants.

“Therefore, you know, right?”

Sylphy’s blushing face is cute, but I don’t think I can take much more of it. The soundproofing is not perfect, so let’s do it as quietly as possible. As much as possible.

The next day. I staggered the time I left my room, got ready, and went to the breakfast table.

“…(blushing and staring).”

“…(grinning).”

“…(grinning).”

“…(blushing).”

These are the reactions of Isla, Qubi, Shumer, and Pirna, respectively. Stop it, you guys. That look is killing me.

“You had fun last night, didn’t you?”

“Aye, I’m jealous you have a partner.”

“…Filthy.”

The knives of words plunge deep into my heart. Stop it! I’m at zero HP! Pirna’s face is so red she won’t even make eye contact with me! Her reaction is heartbreaking too!

“Go-good morning, everyone.”

“…Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Go-good morning.”

Sylphy, who appeared late, seemed to have noticed the subtlety of the atmosphere. Her face is red. Even her ears are red. Shumer’s grinning expression remains unchanged, though she doesn’t seem to be directly making fun of her as she did with me. Qubi seems to be trying to keep his expression in check, but he’s overdoing it and looks like a Tibetan Sand Fox.

“L-let’s have breakfast. Kosuke?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Today’s breakfast menu consisted of soup, bread, and a platter of assorted sausages. The soup was corn potage. Everyone begins to eat in silence, with only Shumer grinning. It was the perfect time for everyone but Shumer to bring the soup to their lips.

“I knew it would happen anyway.”

“Bufuhhh!”

Everyone except Shumer spewed out the corn potage soup at the same time. It was a catastrophe.

“Y-y-you! From where?”

“Ahahaha!”

Without answering my words, Shumer escaped with a platter of sausages. Isla is fainting in agony like a certain colonel* as if the corn pottage spewed by Sylphy in front of her got into her eyes, and Pirna is floundering in confusion. Sylphy turned red and chased after Shumer, while Qubi, who had reached the end of his patience, was laughing.

[T/n*: Let me know if someone knows the reference of this.]

“How did this happen…?”

No one could respond to my words.

It was already the third day of digging in the area, despite the sad incident.

“Hmm?”

I felt my shovel being blocked by something hard. I thought it was another rock, but it felt different. As I carefully dug around, I soon realized that it was clearly a man-made stone wall.

“Hey! I hit something!”

I shouted from the bottom of the hole and called everyone else. Then, I dug around it and placed stone wall blocks to make space for us to plunge into the underground structure. In the meantime, everyone except Pirna came down to the hole I was digging. The harpy Pirna can’t move properly in a closed space like a basement, after all.

“What did you find?”

“A stone wall. I think it’s the wall of an underground structure.”

“I see… Isla, what do you think?”

“The height is right. I think it might be the right one.”

The light sphere of detection magic that Isla created turned red on almost all sides.

“All right, we’re going in now. Kosuke will make a hole in the wall. And I’ll provide the lights. Once the hole is made, Shumer, Qubi, and I will enter in that order. Kosuke and Isla will follow after us.”

“Copy that.”

After confirming that everyone was in position, I destroyed the stone wall with my pickaxe. At the same time, Sylphy illuminates the facility with light spirit magic, and Sylphy and the others enter the structure with Shumer in the lead.

“There’s no abnormalities. I don’t see any enemies.”

After hearing Shumer’s voice, Isla and I also went inside. It seems to be a rather large structure. The ceiling is high. And there are paths leading to the left and right. Is it a corridor?

“Isla, which way?”

“To the right.”

“Okay. Then I’ll take the lead, followed by Qubi, Isla, Kosuke, and the princess will be the rear guard, okay?”

“All right. Leave the rear guard to me.”

“Don’t make too much noise… It’s better not to shoot the gun here.”

“Ah, okay. The noise would be too loud for our ears.”

I have no choice but to pull the improved crossbow out of my inventory. I should have made a silencer for the automatic pistol. It uses subsonic ammunition, so it reduces the sound considerably.

We all formed a single line and proceeded down the corridor with caution. We found a few rooms along the way, but most of them were dilapidated, and we couldn’t find anything of interest.

“I wonder what the facility was originally for?”

“The usual answer is the basement of the royal castle or a facility-related to the court mages. It could also be a dedicated defense facility.”

“If it is in the basement of the royal castle, there may be an underground treasure house. A warehouse.”

“It could be a dungeon full of grudges.”

“It would be troublesome if the undead were to appear, but then again, they wouldn’t be near the monster wards.”

“The undead are extremely vulnerable to magical radiation before they settle into something. First of all, they can’t spawn naturally in this area.”

“Undead are more fragile than I thought, aren’t they?”

I don’t know if it’s worth it or not, but for now, we’ve been exploring the basement for thirty minutes, filling my inventory with all the things I’m interested in. Finally, we arrived at a room that looked like that.

“Is that it?”

“Definitely. I’ve seen it before in old documents.”

“It’s a golem, isn’t it?”

It’s quite a large room. The ceiling is more than ten meters high, and the depth from the entrance is probably about fifty meters. The width of the room is about the same. It looks like a square room.

There is a shining jewel floating on a large pedestal by the wall in front of the entrance. I guess that’s a warding device to keep out monsters. However, there are two giant stone statues on either side of the place where the warding device is set up. Both of them are holding ridiculously large hammers that look like they can move.

“Is there any weakness in that golem?”

“They have a magic stone embedded in them somewhere, and they will keep moving until you destroy it. Once the stone is destroyed, it stops moving.”

“I see. But they don’t move, do they?”

“They’ll probably attack us when we enter the room.”

“They won’t attack us as long as we’re here?”

“Maybe.”

“How do they react if we attack them from here?”

“…Maybe they won’t move if we attack from here.”

“All right, maybe we can do something about that.”

The slug bullets loaded in the shotgun are what is called rifled slugs, so the power should be just about the same at this distance. If I shoot several times, it could destroy a stone statue. It would probably have a weak point in its head or chest anyway.

Even if we don’t destroy it directly, maybe I can dig underneath it and drop it further down and bury it. This might be smarter. How are they detecting the intrusion in the first place?

“Hey, how does it sense intrusion, that thing?”

“Golems are like humans. They recognize it with their eyes. That’s why it’s looking at us.”

“I see. Then I’ll go up and cut a hole in the ceiling and bury its head.”

Blocks can be placed up to five meters out of reach. There is no need to fight it straight, right?