CH 67

Chapter 67 – They Ran!

The booming sound echoed as the explosion spread through the sky.

It was the day after I had made the magic stone staff for Asuha. And I was in the old quarry…where the dungeon had been.

Asuha had wasted no time in practicing with her staff, and I had come to watch.

Since she could not unleash them into the ground, Asuha fired off the magic attacks into the sky.

However, the flames did not extend as far as I would have imagined. Well, the flames were still larger and went farther than any human magician’s magic.

Still, Asuha looked a little discouraged when she saw these flames.

She would have been thinking about how they did not at all match what I had done yesterday.

“Don’t be so crestfallen, Asuha. Magic improves with practice. Besides, I am thinking about other ways of attacking from the sky.”

“I am sorry… And I will do my best.”

“No, no, you should rest for today. I just heard from Wiz that you haven’t even slept since yesterday. You won’t get much better if you’re tired.”

“I will rest then… Yes, I will return to the village and sleep.”

“Aye. You should do that. I’ll return to the village as well… The hot spring should be ready by now.”

“Hot spring…yes.”

Asuha sounded a little happy. Everyone liked hot springs.

And so we left the quarry behind us and started walking towards the village.

However, Asuha then noticed that a large dust cloud was rising near the river, and became cautious.

“Ah, Asuha. That is the Mopes, so don’t worry.”

“The Mopes?”

“Yes. I made a little something… I think that I’ll go and have a look. Will you come with me?”

“Yes.”

And so we crossed the bridge and moved towards the dust cloud.

However, the Mopes then began to rush towards us at an incredible speed.

“Baah!! Baaahh!!”

They cried as they usually did, and then the dust clouds began to settle.

What then came into view, was something that made even the mostly expressionless Asuha look surprised.

“What is that…?”

What she saw looked like an iron shed that had a shiny purple color. It had three wheels on the right and left sides. Ten of these things came out before us.

Of course, they weren’t sheds. They were battle carriages.

But not just any kind of battle carriage.

It was the Mopes who made them move, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Asuha tilted her head to the side.

“Are the Mopes inside then?”

“They are. Each carriage is moved by six Mopes… Celes. How is it?”

I asked, and then Celes’s voice echoed from within the battle carriage.

“I feel like I’ve been turned into a Chimera! Now we will be able to knock out just about any enemy!!”

Chimeras were monsters who had the head and upper body of a lion, with a sheep’s head on their back, and a snake for a tail. Aside from powerful magic, and attacks with claws and fangs, they also had incredible speed and charging ability.

“…A Chimera, eh? Yes, I suppose there are similarities… Perhaps I will call it an Iron Lion.”

I muttered, and then Asuha said in a puzzled voice,

“Is this a portable house?”

“Not really. A portable tower or defense wall, maybe… Well, the Mopes could probably charge with these. Do you want to see inside?”

“Yes, I am very interested.”

It was unusual for Asuha to show this much interest in something.

Well, it was true that they just looked like little moving houses… So she would be curious to see what was inside.

“Celes. Could you carry us while running?”

“Of course! We’re going to make a hundred more round trips!”

And so I approached Celes’s battle carriage and opened the purple iron door on the side.

The door and walls were as thick as a human’s fist. Not only would it defend against arrows and bolts, but even ballistas and trebuchets would not be able to penetrate it.

Purple iron was also strong against heat and heavy impact, and magic as well. It was a defense weapon with no weaknesses.

Had this been made of ordinary iron, then not even ten horses would be enough to push them. In the first place, the wheels and axles would not have been able to withstand the weight.

This weapon could only be made because we had the durable and light purple iron. Of course, the speed and pulling power of the Mopes was also important.

“Baaahhh! Welcome!”

The voices of Celes and the Mopes echoed in the iron house.

“Aye, excuse me.”

“Ex-excuse me.”

They were wearing armor in places where they weren’t covered in wool. Purple iron greaves on their legs, and purple iron masks to cover their faces.

But the sight of masked sheeps ‘baahhing’ loudly was intimidating even for someone like Asuha.

Inside, it was wide enough for two people to lie down, and long enough for three people to do the same.

As for the height, it was high enough for a human to move around freely.

In the center, the Mopes were biting a purple iron bar that extended from the walls.

The bar was covered in a soft cloth made of Mope wool, so it would not be painful. Furthermore, the greaves were also padded with Mope wool on the inside. It was strong against heat and would lessen the burden on their feet.

Along the inner walls, there was a railing and platform, so riders could stand.

Asuha and I stood on the platform.

Celes looked at us and said,

“All right! Let’s depart! Baahhh!!”

The cry of the Mopes echoed both inside and outside, and then the battle carriage accelerated suddenly. Without thinking, my grip tightened on the railing.

“Woah! …It-it’s really fast.”

“This is nothing! We can go so much faster!”

“While Asuha might be fine, the Kijins might get sick… I think I should make the railing more durable. Well, let’s look outside then.”

I opened a small window in the purple iron wall.

We were then treated to a view of the outside.

Asuha looked even more puzzled, and so I explained it to her.

“This is called a crenel. It allows you to shoot arrows from inside.”

“I see… You will be able to shoot safely then.”

I had made it low so that explosives and poisons would not be let in from underneath. And so it just barely hovered above the ground.

This meant it could only run on flat lands.

Asuha said,

“Sir Joshua…it really is amazing.”

“No, we have the dwarves to thank for making this…”

They had sent us a tremendous amount of purple iron.

I had not expected to be able to make ten battle carriages in one day. And yet, the dwarves had mined enough purple iron for it.

And even more surprisingly, they had also sent us some iron and copper that they had refined on their own. While I had taught them some basic smithing, they learned much too quickly.

In any case, now I would be able to make one other thing that was similar to this and very interesting.

“St-still…it is quite fast… It might be as fast as a horse…”

“Baahh!! We will run even faster until Sir Joshua is afraid! There is no one who can stop us now!! Baaahhh!”

Celes said with a violent roar.

Had her personality changed, or just become stronger…

Regardless, we continued to prepare for the battle that would surely come.