CH 127

Chapter 127 – Inspection At The Rear (Official Stance)

After setting up the large golem communication device at Fort Alpha, we immediately flew to our next destination. The security instructions would be sent from Erichburg soon, so we had no further role to play. After all, we’re on vacation right now.

“In the meantime, it’s just a matter of inspecting the rear, deploying the new communication device, and building goodwill with the elves of the Black Forest, right?”

“Yes.”

It’s like an official stance, just like Sylphy said. In reality, it’s a vacation.

The leader of the Liberation Army, Sylphy, appears at the rear base to check on the situation with her own eyes, deploys golem communication devices at key locations, and goes to meet with the elders of the Elven village, with whom she has not spoken directly for some time.

I’ll be accompanying her. I’m the only one who can communicate with the dragon Grande, and I’m her rider, and I can easily transport supplies with my abilities. In fact, I’m carrying the various crops, delicacies, materials, and other things we procured in Erichburg in my inventory, and I’m planning to release them to the central and rear bases in the Great Omit Wilderness, where we will be stopping in the future, not to mention Fort Alpha, where we just stopped.

“I haven’t seen the place for a while. What’s the situation at the rear base?”

“Basically, they seem to be living comfortably. The land is large, and there’s no need to worry about food or water.”

“The majority of the people there were weakened by the harsh life in the rock salt mines… so it might be better to specialize as a treatment center.”

“There’s also the magic power that comes from the vein, so in addition to being used as a treatment center, it can also be used as a base for technological research and as a source of magic crystals.”

“Speaking of which, there are quite a few ruins buried in the vicinity, aren’t there? It might be a good base for explorers.”

This time, while talking about such things, we stopped by the central base.

“It’s been a while.”

“You’ve somehow… grown stronger.”

“Hahaha, I’ll die if I don’t get stronger.”

Sykes, who had seemed rather thin, had undergone a transformation. It looks like his body is one… No, two sizes bigger than I remember. This means that Sykes has adapted to the harsh environment… Subhuman is amazing.

“What do you mean by ‘if you’re not strong, you’ll die’…? You’re not fighting, are you?

“I am fighting, yes. In a way.”

“Every night?”

“Yes.”

Sykes’ eyes suddenly lost their light. The research and development department here is like Sykes’ harem in a way… I’m sorry, most of the men, including myself, went to the front lines that time.

“…Good luck with that.”

“Yeah.”

I handed the dead-eyed Sykes a drawstring bag filled with magic sparkling stones that had been crushed to a reasonable size, as well as a mithril ingot. Now that Sykes and the others are working on a base station for golem communication and radio broadcasting technology, the magic sparkling stone and mithril, with their ability to save and amplify magic power, should be useful.

Sykes was astonished, but when I told him that I was able to make it, his eyes went dead again.

“I wonder to what extent you are now heading, Kosuke-san…?”

“I’ve been told I’m like a chicken that produces mithril and magic sparkling stones.”

“Oh.”

He was convinced. It’s not that I’m producing mithril or magic sparkling stone by chanting something, you know? I just made it based on the materials, that’s all. It seems that the rate is a little strange, though.

After lunch at the central base, we flew again, this time to the rear base.

This is the first large base we built, with a capacity of three thousand people. There are less than a thousand people actually living here now, so it’s quite spacious.

“But it’s lively, isn’t it?”

“According to reports, there have been no Gizma attacks, and the fields produce an abundance of crops. There’s also a lot of magic tools that can be used to harness the inexhaustible magic power that comes from the vein, so it looks like they are living a pretty prosperous life.”

“There are also wards to keep out monsters. Most of the people living here are those who lived a harsh life in the rock salt mines; should they be allowed to recover for a while?”

“We are currently short of manpower, so we can’t say that all the time. It seems that those who are back in shape are slowly moving forward with mining and exploring the ruins.”

“I see.”

The inhabitants were surprised to see the dragon fly in for the first time, but it seems that the information was shared via communication here as well, so there was no sudden intervention or something like that.

“Your Highness, thank you for coming.”

The person who greeted us was an old man who was probably a dog or wolf-type beastman and the residents of the rear base.

“I’m sorry for the trouble. Donnell.”

The old man, who Sylphy called Donnell, was once an outstanding high-ranked adventurer who had already retired from adventuring 20 years ago when the war broke out and was working as the head of an adventurer’s guild in a town in the Merinard Kingdom. He’s already quite an old man.

He’s now using his experience to help organize the rear base.

“But to be able to tame a dragon, that’s… as expected of Kosuke-dono.”

“Grande is my friend.”

“I see.”

It’s not that I tamed the dragon and made it my pet or servant; I’ll correct that for now. To put it bluntly, I baited her with Melty’s violence and the food I provided, so it might be more accurate to say that I tamed her, as Donnell said.

“Sylphy, I’m going to release the supplies.”

“Oh, I’ll talk to Donnell for a bit and then go.”

I left her and moved to the stockpile warehouse. On the way, I observed the people, all of whom looked peaceful and had nice skin. When I first came here, they were all in a terrible state and looked ragged, so it seems that their health has improved a lot since living here.

When they noticed my presence, they all started to thank me.

“Thank you; you’re the reason I’m able to live a decent life.”

“Thanks to you, we can now live without any worries about raising our children. Thank you so much.”

“I came here, and my father’s disease was cured. Thank you, brother.”

The subhuman refugees, who had once been wary of me, were now very friendly. When they thanked me this way, I realized that what I had done so far had saved these people.

Well, that doesn’t mean that what I did was justified, but the world isn’t that simple, is it?

I did indeed save the subhuman refugees here. But I’ve also killed many more Holy Kingdom soldiers and made their families unhappy. So whatever the case may be, I think it’s important to keep that in mind. It would be so much easier if everything could be divided into right and wrong.

While responding to the grateful residents, I took out supplies and stored surplus crops and products in the stockpile. What is produced in the rear base is mainly food, metal weapons and armor made with water-powered and magic-powered processing machines, and other household goods.

In particular, there is a lot of food and processed metal products. The food was harvested from the fields I had plowed, and so far, there was no sign of a decline in the yield. What a fantastic farm block and I wonder what’s really up with it.

Also, the processed metal products are apparently made from ore mined from a nearby mining site, smelted in large quantities using a magic-powered furnace, and then forged using a waterwheel or magic-powered hammer. As far as I can tell, they all seem to be of good quality.

I heard that there is an attempt underway to mass-produce magic iron and steel by adding magic power during the ore refining process. If this can be realized, the quality of the Liberation Army’s equipment will be further improved.

Also, there were quite a few magic crystals in the stockpile. As long as they have the machines to make them, they can make more and more just by keeping them running, so it seems that they are currently increasing the number of manufacturing machines. Magic crystals can be used as a catalyst for enchantments, and they can also be used to power magic tools, just like magic stones and magic crystals. They can’t be processed into magic crystals like magic stones, but they can be used as a stable source of magic power with higher output than magic stones.

I don’t know the difference, but I’ve heard that it has a different demand between magic stones and magic crystals.

When I finished releasing and storing the supplies, Sylphy had just finished her meeting with Donnell. After setting up the large golem communication device in the location prepared beforehand and checking its operation, we moved to the Black Forest, our final destination.

It’s been a while since I’ve been back to the Elven Forest. It probably hasn’t changed that much, but I’m really looking forward to returning to that house. Once we get there, I’m sure Sylphy and I will be able to relax for a few days.