CH 55

It’s Ko-Fi’s Supporters’ chapter (9/43), enjoy~

The next morning. I woke up feeling perfect. It was really refreshing. I slipped out of bed, got dressed, and stretched. Hmm, refreshing. Eh? Isn’t Harpy-sans in my bed? No, there isn’t. I refuse to go that far. No, it’s not that I’m dissatisfied with the Harpies, you know? They’re all cute, and Isla too, but there’s nothing underhanded about them, and there’s no way I’d feel bad about them giving me straight favors.

But it’s another thing to have that kind of relationship with them completely. In that sense, yesterday’s bath was a close call… I’d like to think it was a close call, but I’ll be sure to tell Sylphy about it. I swear by it as I break down the wall with my pickaxe.

Ah, yes. I made my room almost a secret room by blocking the doorway with a wall. There was a block with a window and an air hole in it, but I made sure that nobody could get through, not even the harpies.

The reason why I went this far was because I decided that if someone broke into my bedroom and tempted me, I would probably not be able to resist. I learned that in the bath. I can’t argue with the idea that I’m weak-willed, but I don’t think a man who doesn’t react to being forced into a straight favor and asked out is a normal man. At least I can’t. That’s why I had to shut it off from the beginning.

If you want to laugh at me as a lousy guy, then laugh! Hahaha! Sigh… Let’s get breakfast ready.

“Good morning, Kosuke-san.”

“Good morning.”

Pirna greets me in the morning, and the other harpies greet me in the same voice.

“Morning. Shall we have breakfast?”

The girls’ faces are bright as they reply, “Yes.” I thought it would be awkward because of my blatant refusal to block the entrance, but it didn’t seem to be the case. I felt a little relieved as I served them bread, salad, vegetable soup, and a platter of cut steak for breakfast.

“Kosuke-san, are you worried about what happened yesterday?”

“Well, yes. I think I was too blunt and stubborn.”

I ran into the room as soon as I got out of the bath and sealed it off. I told Pirna and the others to forgive me if they were tempted any further because I was afraid they might try to touch me.

“That’s what we say, but please don’t take it too seriously. As for us, it’s enough that you’ve forgiven us to the extent that you’ll make a move on us if we seduce you.”

I think it’s a man’s fate that if he’s invited by the opposite sex he likes, no matter how suspicious it may seem, he’ll go along with it. No, maybe not so much? Isn’t it true that no matter how beautiful a woman is, they won’t go along with someone they don’t feel comfortable with? No…? I can’t imagine it because the assumption is too specific.

Because I’m a creature of unconditional forgiveness just because I like the way a person looks… I even thought Sylphy was beautiful, even though she beat me up when I first met her. Even though I was quite cautious, I ended up getting my hands on her because she kept asking me out. I don’t trust my reasoning, you know? Yeah. Rational, right?

“You guys are really aggressive, aren’t you? It’s a lot far from my common sense… I don’t mind it at all, but I’m confused. Just wait until I get a little more comfortable.”

“Yes, we’ll be waiting for you.”

Pirna and the other harpies smiled smugly. Is this enough for them for now? U-u-umu… it’s okay, right? Even though Sylphy alone is too much, there are also Isla and the harpies… ? And from what I hear, Melty and Gerda are also targeting me.

Let’s talk about this with Sylphy. Let’s do that. To be honest, it’s too much for me to handle. Way too much. But Sylphy was not familiar with romance or anything like that before she got involved with me… Who should I talk to about this?

Men are unreliable, and… how about Qubi? If not, a well-educated woman… Isla is well educated, but she seems to be biased towards magic and alchemy… Melty? Is it okay? To consult with a woman who is supposedly targeting me about something like this?

No, let’s talk to Sylphy about this as well. Let’s do that, yeah.

After breakfast, we parted ways with Fronte and the others, completely dismantled the temporary lodgings, and started moving towards the temporary fort again. I made sure to register the temporary lodgings in my blueprint. I might use it in the future.

“Are we staying at the fourth shelter today?”

“We’ll think about it when we get to the fourth shelter. At this pace, we should be able to reach the temporary fort, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I think we can.”

After taking a short break at the third shelter and checking the communication with Isla using the Golem communicator, we were running towards the fourth shelter. We left quite early in the morning today, but it was still early in the morning when we reached the third shelter. I couldn’t tell the exact time because my phone was already turned off, but considering the sun’s height, it was probably just before 9 am. Running at this pace, we would be able to reach the temporary fort with enough time to spare. However, if I pushed myself too hard and couldn’t reach the fort before sunset, that would be a bit of a problem.

That’s why I decided to postpone answering Pirna’s question and concentrate on running.

To be honest, staying at the fourth shelter would mean that it would be just Pirna and the others and me for the night. Pirna and the others seemed to agree, but I didn’t know if I would be able to withstand the next temptation. I really don’t want to spend the night with just them and me if possible.

I don’t know if my prayers were answered or not, but the journey went much better than I expected. There were a few battles with Gizma along the way, but with the mobility of the high-speed jumping, the attack power of the shotgun, and the defensive power of the blocks, Gizma was nothing more than a small fry to me.

I quickly collected the corpses and was able to reach the fourth shelter before noon.

“It was fast.”

“I’m surprised too.”

The distance between the two shelters is about six to eight hours by human foot. It was about thirty to forty kilometers. If we arrived before noon, that means we ran through the two areas in less than six hours. I think it might have something to do with the fact that I was jumping through the wilderness, which is normally hard to walk through… I’ll try to measure my speed next time.

“The audio sounds clear.”

“Hmm, it’s fine. If it reaches the fourth shelter, we’re good.”

It takes four days to walk from the front-line fort to the fourth shelter. It must be at least 100 kilometers away. Suppose we can communicate clearly over this distance. In that case, we can say that it is a very useful tool for military purposes.

“If you know the distance between you and the other person from the strength of the magic waves… No, it’s not necessary if you know each other’s current location.”

“It’s not impossible to do the calculation, but it will eat up a lot of the core’s capacity. The basic functions will inevitably be degraded.”

“That’s one thing. We’ll take a short break and head to the temporary fort.”

“Hmm, okay. Be careful.”

“Yeah, okay. Bye.”

After finishing the golem communication with Isla, I had lunch with Pirna and the others.

“All the food that Kosuke-san serves is delicious, isn’t it?”

“I’m glad I can eat meat other than Gizma’s.”

“I don’t mind Gizma’s meat either.”

Today’s lunch consisted of a honey-roasted chicken sandwich and sliced pickles. I was wondering if it was okay for Harpy to eat chicken. I asked them before, but they said it was no problem at all. Rather, it seems that chicken meat is a common food for harpies.

No, well, it’s true. Even on Earth, the natural enemies of birds are usually larger carnivorous birds. That’s about right.

By the way, only three of the five harpies accompanying me are currently acting together with me. The other two are flying ahead of me to the temporary fort.

It’s probably still safe, but if the Holy Kingdom is already attacking the temporary fort, it’s not safe to go in unprotected. There’s hardly any Gizma around here anymore, and they’re scouting ahead for us.

So the ones eating with me are Pirna, Pessar, the brown-feathered harpy, and Torch, the green-feathered harpy. Ahead of us are Ygrett, a white-feathered harpy, and Eyjar, a dark-reddish feathered harpy. In fact, there are two types of harpies, small birds and large birds, with the small birds being faster and more maneuverable and the large birds being less fast but better at navigating long distances and more powerful. Pirna and the others who are still here are small birds, while Ygrett and Eyjar, who were sent ahead of us, are large birds.

“I was looking forward to taking a bath with just us and Kosuke-san tonight, but…”

“It’s a pity. Well, the sooner we arrive, the better.”

“The original itinerary was for three days, so why don’t we take it easy?”

“Yes, let’s take our time.”

“That’s not how it works.”

I shook my head with a bitter smile. Pessar looked serious but is actually a lazy bum, while Torch is a pampered child. Although they are not here, Ygrett is somewhat ladylike or noble. Eyjar was a taciturn girl.

“That’s true. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time to play around.”

Pirna, who had finished her chicken sandwich, left her seat and began to check the condition of her wings. Seeing this, Pessar and Torch also began to check the condition of their own wings. They always check their wings before flying off. They said this was because the slightest irregularity in the wings could cause an accident in flight. There might be some kind of flying secret in each of their wings.

“Let’s go, then.”

“Yes!”

After dismantling the temporary accommodation, we started to move again.

“Kosuke! You’re back!”

“Y-yes.”

And as soon as I arrived at the temporary fort, I was hugged by Sylphy. Hey, it’s strong, so strong, it’s creaking!

“Thank you for your hard work, Kosuke-dono. Did the liberated people arrive at the front-line fort safely?”

“I think they’re probably arriving by now. Let’s try to communicate with Isla.”

“Communicate?”

Sylphy released me and tilted her head when she heard an unfamiliar word. I see, Ygrett and the others have not reported about the Golem communicator.

“You see, you said you wanted a way for the liberation unit to exchange information with other units that are far away. That’s why Isla and the others created the Golem communicator. We were able to communicate without any problems around the fourth shelter, but I wonder if we can do the same here?”

I activated the golem communicator and tried to call out, but there was no response. It seems that the magic wave can’t reach them.

“Hmm, it looks like the magic wave can’t reach them from here. It seems that the magic wave can only reach the fourth shelter from the front-line base, so it can reach a distance of about four days on foot.”

“Oh, so it’s a four-day walk. That’s great, isn’t it?”

“If we set up relay stations, we should be able to communicate over a much wider area. I believe Isla and the others are working on it now.”

“Fumu, I see… warfare is going to change fundamentally.”

If you have golem communication, you can use it as a decoy to ambush and pincer attacks all you want. In terms of defense, you can quickly tell when the enemy is attacking. If we can make something like a headphone and have Harpy fly with a miniaturized Golem communication device, we’ll have an early warning and control device.

Sharing information from a bird’s eye view of the entire battlefield from the sky, where the enemy’s movements are transparent… is nothing more than a nightmare for the enemy. The Harpy has good eyesight and will be able to see where the ambushers are. And then the aerial bombardment will crush the enemy… I think we just need Harpy, aren’t we?

Well, if I were on the enemy’s side, I’d go for a better anti-aircraft attack. There’s magic in this world, so it wouldn’t be surprising if there were some kind of attack magic that specialized in anti-aircraft. If we want to continue to operate Harpy, we should be aware of the strengthening of the enemy’s anti-aircraft capabilities.

“As for the liberated people, I confirmed that they arrived safely to the second shelter yesterday, and they seem to have departed safely, so I think they will be fine.”

“I see. By the way, how did you get from the front-line fort to here in two days…? That’s as fast as a centaur.”

“It’s certainly fast… No, it’s really fast. And you don’t look tired at all.”

“Yeah, that’s true…”

In order to resolve the doubts of Sir Leonard and Sylphy, I will show them my newly acquired continuous jumping movement. It’s easy once you become accustomed to it, isn’t it? The important thing is rhythm.

“It’s an interesting move…”

“As always, I don’t know anything about Kosuke’s ability… Isn’t he accelerating unnaturally in the air?”

I wonder if the light will go out of his eyes again when I show it to Isla? Hmm… I’m really starting to want to show her something. Surprising Isla is somehow becoming a pleasure for me.

“That’s all I have to report. Is there anything unusual over here?”

“Well, that’s the thing.”

It seems that there is movement in the border fort bordering the Great Omit Wilderness. A large number of supplies are being brought in from somewhere, and they seem to be steadily preparing for battle.

“According to the survey of the Harpies, it looks like that. The number of enemy soldiers is likely to exceed 5000. It looks like they’re going to start moving in a few days.”

“Hou, 5000… that’s tough.”

Even so, with a solid fort, crossbow, ballista, and aerial bombardment, it may be manageable.

“However, there is no need to fight them properly. Just set some traps, and let’s get out of here.”

“Trap?”

“Yes, a trap. I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it thoroughly.”

Kukuku… Let’s use this temporary fort as their tombstone. Oh, no, we have to declare war on them first, right? In case you’re wondering, we’re not barbarians; we’re a civilized race of people. Let’s make our position clear. I don’t think there’s any room for discussion, though.