CH 47

It’s Ko-Fi Supporters’ chapter (3/23), enjoy~

“Thanks for the effort this time. Are there any injuries?”

“The twelve members of the 5th Unit are all fine. There’s no single scratch on them.”

“All right, let’s hear the report.”

“Yes.”

The first unit that returned to the front-line fort had a total of forty-nine people, including twelve members of the liberation army and thirty-seven liberated people. Now, in the operation control room, the report was given by Jagira, a cat-beast woman who was the commander of the fifth unit, and Zada, a lizard woman who was the deputy commander ― one of the three people who were previously saved from being attacked by Gizma.

“Well, first of all, we had quite a hard time breaking into the Merinard Kingdom itself.”

“Oh, as I thought. Oh, don’t worry about the way you talk. Just go on as usual for now.”

“Ah, no, that’s not possible either. Well, as initially predicted, Gizma’s assault seemed to be on the Merinard Kingdom’s side as well, and all the forts between the Merinard Kingdom’s territory and the Great Omit Wilderness were on heightened alert.”

Jagira, who Sylphy told not to overreact to her tone, refused and proceeded to explain in her own polite tone. Sylphy is the highest-ranking person in this community, and as a member of the military, she cannot afford to disrupt the discipline. However, the term “honorific” is quite questionable.

“However, the area where the Merinard Kingdom and the Great Omit Wilderness border is vast, so if we took advantage of the shade of night, we managed to get in.”

From there, the six liberation units split up into three groups of two units each, each with twenty-four people, and began full-scale activities. Instead of using the city roads, they took the roadless roads in the forest and wilderness, with the troops led by Jagira and Sir Leonard heading for a village near the border. The other two groups went to a village a little further into the Merinard Kingdom.

“It’s been three years, but we still had a map. We had decided on the route to take beforehand, and in case of unforeseen circumstances, we were supposed to retreat quickly or join up.”

“I see. So, how was the village?”

“Yes, that’s the problem.”

The purpose of the Holy Kingdom, which made the Merinard Kingdom a vassal state, was to seize the mines that produced high-quality rock salt and iron. The Merinard citizens, who are used as the Holy Kingdom’s garrison soldiers and laborers, cannot be allowed to starve, and their international standing is at stake if they rule too outrageously.

This is the reason why the rural areas in the outskirts of the country were given a certain amount of consideration so that the people could live as they did before the Merinard Kingdom was turned into a nation.

“However, the taxes were heavier, and the freedom of movement was restricted.”

Zada, the lizard woman, added to Jagira’s report.

The actual treatment of the villagers was not good, as they were banned from traditional village festivals, forced to convert to Adelism, the religion of the Holy Kingdom that worships the sole god Adel, and forced to take a lower position as a servant to humans according to the doctrine of Adelism, which is based on human supremacy.

To prevent the villagers from revolting, the weaker women and children were placed under the control of armed soldiers, and their families and friends were severely punished if any of them showed rebellious behavior. Sometimes a small child died because of it.

“It was so terrible… So, how did the actual liberation operation proceed?”

“We attacked in the shadows of the night. We had good eyesight at night, and the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom had lights in their hands when they were on guard at night. It was a good target.”

“We didn’t even have to draw our swords.”

Many sub-humans have good night vision. Even if they weren’t, sniping with a crossbow wouldn’t have been a difficult task if the target was illuminated by lights. It’s also been proven that the arrows of the improved crossbow can pierce the armor of the Holy Kingdom’s army without any difficulty.

“Once we got rid of all the soldiers during the night, we just grabbed what we could and made it look like a bandit raid and came back quickly.”

“Sir Leonard’s unit followed the other two units to the farther reaches of the Merinard Kingdom. The idea is to join up with them and help them with their operations.”

“I see, very well. If you notice any other problems with the equipment, please report them to Melty, Isla, and Kosuke.”

In response to Sylphy’s words, both Jagira and Zada pondered for a moment before opening their mouths.

“That’s right… It was hard not to be able to make a fire. We couldn’t put anything warm in our stomachs.”

“Food, huh? Food is important, after all.”

The quality of the food greatly affects morale. The block cookies are tasty, but you will naturally get bored if you eat them all the time. I also prepared some dried meat, which I made by using my crafting ability to process the steak further, but still, people want to have something warm in their stomachs when it comes to food.

“The other thing is the means of communication. I think it would be useful to have some tools to keep in touch with our friends who are far away.”

“Oh, a communication device. That’s also difficult.”

I wonder how many people in today’s society have a complete understanding of how radios and cell phones work? At least I don’t know. I don’t know anything about Morse code, and I have no idea how radio transmitting and receiving devices work. Should I have at least tried to make a transistor radio? I’ve never even touched a transceiver.

“I only have a vague idea about communication, but I’ll discuss it with Isla and the others as soon as possible.”

I don’t think I can make an earth-made communication device with my vague knowledge, so I’m hoping for a magical approach. In the first place, even if I try to make something with Earth technology, there is still no sign that I can make a product that uses electricity.

On the other hand, if I were to take a magical approach, I could use the Golem Core, an item that looks like an electronic control device, and I could also use magic power as a resource. I think this is the direction I should go.

“Is there anything else to report?”

“Unfortunately, there is not much more to report. In order to be certain, we didn’t take any prisoners and shot all the enemy soldiers, and the villagers we liberated this time were restricted from going to other villages, so there was little information about the situation in the Merinard Kingdom. However, according to those who had been in charge of transporting the harvested crops to the towns, the towns and cities larger than the villages were almost exclusively inhabited by humans. He said he rarely saw any of the original Merinard citizens.”

“Twenty years is a very long time, isn’t it? What happened to the people who originally lived in the city…?”

“According to the villagers, they may have been sent to work as laborers in the frontier settlements and mines. They may have heard the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom talking about such things.”

“I see… Depending on how you look at it, it might be a good thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Villages and mines are less protected than cities surrounded by high walls.”

“…That’s also true.”

While agreeing with Danan’s statement, Sylphy had a somber expression on her face. Frontier development and mining work can be very dangerous work. And on top of that, they’re dealing with the Holy Kingdom of human supremacy. The working environment is probably not the best.

“How are the liberated people doing?”

“There are a few people who are not feeling well, but they are generally fine. They were frightened at first when they heard that we were going to flee to the Great Omit Wilderness, but after we killed Gizma without difficulty and reached the underground shelter that Kosuke had set up before dark, their spirits lifted considerably. The block cookies were a big hit, too. The children and young people who had never eaten anything sweet were impressed.”

“Now, each family is assigned its own quarters and is fed.”

“I see. Today and tomorrow, after the liberated people and the rest of the unit has had a good rest, send them back to the main base.”

“Understood.”

Jagira and Zada are leaving. I watched them leave and then exhaled.

“For the time being, it’s a success.”

“It’s still a small step forward. But it’s a big step.”

Although there were many challenges ahead, we were able to take a step forward. In that sense, it is indeed a big step forward.

“So, I have two requests from the front lines. The first is a hot meal that can be eaten without starting a fire. The second is a tool to communicate with distant comrades without being noticed by the enemy.”

“Hmm… it’s difficult.”

“A hot meal is one thing, but communication is quite a challenge”…

Isla and Sykes crossed their arms and groaned when they heard the subject I had brought up. That’s right; I can’t come up with a good idea either.

“We’ll start with one thing at a time. How about the hot meal?”

“How about making a portable miniature heating device?”

“It’s not impossible, but there are twelve people in a unit, right? Wouldn’t it require a large pot or something to cook a meal for that many people?”

“That is true. Should we give them a pot that can be used as a shield?”

“I don’t think that would be too tight… Well, let’s try to develop it in that direction. What about the power for the heating element?”

“It can be powered by either the user’s magic power or the magic stone.”

“Also, it’s better to make it sturdy. Sturdiness is a priority, and weight should be taken into account whenever possible.”

The first idea for a hot meal was to develop a portable heating device and a shield that could be used as a pot.

“Do you have a solution to this problem, Kosuke?”

“Hmm… I believe there was a way to heat food by reacting quicklime with water. But I don’t think it would solve the problem of the container.”

“Oh, quicklime. That’s true; it also generates heat rapidly.”

“Interesting. Did they use quicklime for cooking food in Kosuke’s world?”

“It’s not a widespread method. It is used to cook hot food in special situations, such as when traveling in an environment where the fire is not available… in a vehicle, or in a situation where cooking is difficult due to a disaster. Of course, it was also used by military personnel to eat hot meals during operations.”

Whether they use quicklime or not, I don’t really know.

“In the end, it’s one-time use. It would be too bulky to prepare a large number.”

“Whether we adopt it or not, it’s not a bad idea to have more than one in development.”

“Yes, while we’re working on it, we might develop other technologies that can be applied.”

“Is that so? Well, sure.”

Surely, it won’t be a waste of time. It’s better to do whatever we can do in the rear.

“, the communication system.”

“That’s a tough one. Do you have any knowledge that might be useful, Kosuke-san?”

“I’ve been on the receiving end of it myself on Earth, but I only have a vague understanding of the principles. If that’s okay with you.”

I decided to tell them how communication works and its history, to the best of my knowledge.

“I think the easiest one is Morse code.”

“Morse code?”

“It’s a simple code that combines short and long sounds, like “ton, tsu, ton, tsu,” and it’s used to communicate by sending it over a long distance.”

I tapped the desk with my fingertips and lightly explained the concept of Morse code. But I’m not very familiar with it, so I can only describe it like this.

“The “ton” part means that magic is flowing for a moment, and the “tsu” part means that magic is continuing to flow. In my world, we used electricity, but magic power is easier to understand in this world. See, there it is. The warding device at the main base. That thing also periodically emits a magic wave or something to chase away monsters, right? Similarly, it sends out waves of magic power over a long distance and uses that wavelength to communicate. It would be easier if the magic waves could be carried by voice.”

After hearing my words, Isla, Sykes, and the other mages and alchemists started whispering about something.

“If you just want to send it, you can adjust the wavelength…”

“Receiving can be done by applying detection magic…”

“If you use a golem core…”

They were actively discussing something. Why am I being left out of the conversation? It looked like the mage and the alchemist were doing that, so I decided to work with the blacksmith, the woodworker, and the engraver on a design for a pot that could be used as a shield. It’s going to be heavy, but it should basically look like a Chinese pot, I guess. To keep it hygienic, let’s add a removable cover and handle to keep the inside of the pot clean. Then, let’s add a locking mechanism so that the cover and handle can be fixed using the pot’s handle.

The mage and alchemist group seemed to have finished while I was recommending the idea.

“I have a feeling we can do something with the golem technology. We’ll proceed with the development, including the creation of a code.”

“Oh, I see. Then let’s get started right away. I’ve decided on the design of the pot. Let’s start with the prototype.”

Thus began developing a pot shield, a portable heating device, a quicklime heating bag, and a communication device that would later be named the Golem Communication Device.