CH 74

It’s Ko-Fi’s Supporters’ chapter (22/63), enjoy~

In the end, I decided to build the production base near Fort Alpha, about a three-hour walk to the Merinard Kingdom side.

There was a possibility that it would become a battleground when the Holy Kingdom’s army attacked Fort Alpha, but it was judged that the Holy Kingdom’s army, which had been sent to defeat us twice and had lost three forts, would be extremely unlikely to send more troops to defeat us.

“So now we can do as we please in the Merinard Kingdom.”

“We can’t be too careless, though.”

“That’s true.”

Harpy scouts are flying in the sky above, and about thirty soldiers are stationed here. There are dormitories for the workers in the center of the production base, warehouses to stockpile supplies, barracks to protect them, and small forts with defensive walls. While we are defending the fort, we can call for reinforcements with the golem communicator or bomb the fort with harpies from inside. Maybe.

“By the way, it’s unusual for Isla to accompany me, isn’t it? At times like this, a strong individual is usually assigned to escort me.”

This time, my escorts were 30 soldiers, three Harpies, and Isla. Is it a decision that the 30 soldiers will cover for the strength aspect?

“I’m the strongest person in Fort Alpha. That’s just fine.”

“Eh? Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. I’m a former court mage, after all.”

It’s true that Isla’s magic is great, but is it that great? But when I think about it, the majority of the people in Fort Alpha are ordinary soldiers, and the rest are only Qubi and Worg. The main force is in Fort Gamma.

“If I were to get serious, I could take out fifty soldiers of the Holy Kingdom army by myself. Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“I’m not good at close combat, after all.”

I guess that’s true. Isla’s body is small, and if she is exposed to physical violence at close range, she will not be able to do anything about it.

“Kosuke, what do you want the farm to look like?”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m thinking of making a big area around this base. A fence around the farmland will be enough, right?”

“Hmm, I don’t want thick brick or stone walls like the ones in the Great Omit Wilderness. Just a wooden fence or wall would be enough.”

“There are plenty of materials around, so that should be fine.”

This area is close to the forest, and if you go away from the road for a while, you will be in the forest. The fort, the starting point of the production base, was also set up a short distance away from the road.

“It will be hard to cut down all of those.”

“Fufufu, no problem! I’ve created a secret weapon for just such an occasion.”

So I took out an ax from my inventory. It’s an ax with a silvery-white metal blade.

“That ax, could it be…”

“It’s a logging ax made from mithril.”

By the way, the required materials were as follows.

・Mithril Logging Axe ― Material: Mithril x4, Wood x1

The materials are surprisingly cheap except for the fact that it uses mithril and that it takes a long time to make. I also made a mithril pickaxe, mithril shovel, and mithril hoe. The materials used were the same as for the logging ax.

When did I make them? Well, if I make a crafting appointment before I go to bed at night, or rather before I go to my bedroom, it will be ready in the morning. It’s not like I’m going to do that “thing” every night, though.

“Kosuke… you stupid?”

“Awful.”

“It’s a waste of mithril.”

“There’s no such thing as waste. I’ll show you the power of this ax. And I have some mithril left over.”

I mined that canyon to the point of turning it into a mere mountain stream. When the dust settles, the inventory of mithril becomes overwhelming. The amount of mithril used to make mithril copper alloy, and mithril silver alloy is negligible.

“Share it with me later.”

“You’ll have to ask Sylphy. I heard it’s very expensive and I can’t decide on my own.”

“All right.”

I swing the mithril logging ax into the tree while Isla breathes heavily with enthusiasm.

“Soryaa!”

*Don**don**don*

“Kosuke…”

“No, it’s more convenient, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but…”

When Isla sees that a fine tree has been reduced to several logs by a single blow from mithril’s logging ax, she gives me an indescribable look. It’s a good thing; the ax that could finish logging in a single blow is as good as a cheat mod. The other mithril tools are great, too.

“Anyway, that’s how logging gets done.”

“But what about the stump?”

“Oh, yeah!”

I swung the mithril logging ax at the stump, and it shattered without a trace. All that was left was a lovely sapling.

“Oh, if you plant this, another tree will grow.”

“…Yes.”

The light is missing from Isla’s eyes after a long time.

It’s good; in two actions, the tree can be handled, including from the stump to the roots. This makes it a breeze to clear out the forest and turn it into farmland!

There was a time when I thought so, too.

“Wow, that’s a lot of trees…”

“There are also some monsters that are coming.”

In order to create farmland, we first cut down the trees to open up the land, but it takes a lot of time and effort because we have to turn a certain area into a field. Even if I could cut down the trees with one blow, the numbers are still numbers.

And then the monsters attacked as if they didn’t like the fact that we were clearing the forest. Goblins, big wolves, big insects, tentacled meat pillar-like things, crustaceans and slugs, turtle-like things that shoot stone cannonballs, and other strange creatures are pouring in.

“That tortoise-like creature was dangerous.”

“Rock Smasher is rare. They don’t come out around here.”

I wondered if it was possible to use a crossbow with a steel leaf spring to cut through the thick carapace, but Isla used lightning magic to kill it with a single blow. The rest of the 30 soldiers surrounded it and killed it by piercing its head with their spears. What a poor turtle.

“The meat is delicious.”

“I see. Well, shall we all eat the meat of that turtle for dinner tonight?　”

“Hmm.”

It was a pretty big turtle, so we could probably get enough meat for everyone. I’ll dismantle it in my inventory later.

After three hours of clearing a large area of land, it was time to use mithril’s shovel.

“I’ll use it to collect the soil from the forest.”

“Hmm? Why? Why not just plow it up?”

“We can make farm blocks out of the forest soil. The harvest will be much faster if we put down farm blocks, right?”

“Yes. But this isn’t a wilderness; it’s a rich forest, so even if we just plow it, the harvest might be better than in the wilderness.”

“…I see, that’s one way of thinking about it. So let’s start by digging up half of the land and laying down farm blocks, and then just plowing the other half. Then we can observe how it grows.”

“Hmm, I think that would be a good idea.”

That’s what we decided, so Isla and I started digging up the soil in the forest.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a mithril shovel.”

“That’s weird.”

Yeah, you can dig up an area of about five meters by five meters with one dig. It’s amazing.

“How can it be…?”

“I don’t know either.”

When I said that with a frown, Isla smacked me on the butt with her staff, it hurts. Well, that’s good, because it’s convenient.

“Oh, by the way, you know that magical material? Are those things available?”

“The material for Kosuke’s granting workbench? Those should be collected at the Central Wilderness Fort…”

“I’ll have to have it sent over to here…”

“There’s no time to go back there, after all.”

“That’s the problem.”

Basically, under the current circumstances, I’m forced to stay near the front lines, so I don’t have a chance to go back over there. I really need to get a carriage to take me back there.

“Yeah? But can we use a wagon in the wilderness?”

“It’s not impossible to use it. It’s just that it’s very dangerous if you step on a big stone or something, so you can’t go too fast.”

“With Gizma around… we’ll just have to find a way to get back at some point, right?”

“You can also get them here. Some merchants deal in magical materials, so it might be faster to do so.”

“I see.”

While chatting like this, we dug up the soil in the forest and set up farmland blocks in the dug-up areas. Once that was done, it was time for the hoe to come into play.

“That’s it, that’s it.”

“…..”

With a single swing of the hoe, an area of 10 meters by 10 meters was plowed at once. Something like a shockwave flies and plows the ground. This is pretty powerful. Can it be used as an attack?

So I tried to use it when a group of Goblins came out, but it only plowed the ground under their feet. And the Goblins attacked me like crazy. It was a close call.

“The hoe can only be used to plow the ground.”

“Then what happens if Kosuke wields a mithril sword?”

“It was nothing but a slash.”

It seems that no matter how unreasonable the performance of mithril equipment is, it will not benefit me in terms of combat. I’m really not cut out for combat, am I?

“It’s okay. We’ll protect you, Kosuke.”

“Please.”

It’s not that I can’t fight at all, though. I can shoot a crossbow, I can shoot a gun, and when it comes down to it, I can use my strange movements to toss and turn. But I guess my powers aren’t really suited for direct combat. No, if I improve my skills or complete some combat-related achievements, I might be able to turn into one. I shouldn’t give up.

Actually, I’m not that desperate, and I don’t want to do direct combat because I hate pain, I don’t want to do anything dangerous, and I don’t want to be exposed to gore.

However, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to keep making weapons that can kill enemies with me in a safe place while Sylphy, Isla, Pirna, and the others are smearing their hands and feet with blood when necessary.

No, I don’t think it’s acceptable to stain my own hands with blood, either. I feel like I’m making things easier for myself by forcing everyone else to do hard, scary, and unpleasant things. According to Sylphy and the others, it’s more like I’m the one who’s helping them reclaim their homeland and their pride.

The difference in our perceptions, or rather the gulf between us, is probably due to the difference in our positions… I need to stand on that side, and Sylphy and the others need to stand on this side, or it seems like it will never be filled.

“Kosuke?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

“What’s wrong?”

“You look like you’re in pain. Are you tired? Do you need to rest?”

“Hmm, not like that. I’ll tell you later.”

It’s easy to say it’s nothing here and cover it up, but it’s never good to hide and accumulate such a lump in my heart. I’ll tell Isla, Pirna, and the others about it before I go to bed today. That’s what I decided in my mind, and I continued to wield the silvery-white hoe.