NOVEL NEXT Chapter 114 - Chapter 114: The Watchtower and Magic
Chapter 114: The Watchtower and Magic
After dinner, while drinking coffee and gazing at the sea, Hajiramu approached us with Azir.
“Lady Laura, may I discuss our future plans with you now?”
“Mmph… Ah, yes. That’s fine.”
Laura, who had been dozing happily while holding Kohaku, woke up at Hajiramu’s voice. Indeed, if she let her guard down even a little, she would fall asleep. Her belly was full, and the sea breeze was pleasant. The gentle sound of the waves was lulling her consciousness away. Everyone was relaxing, each resting in their own way.
Kuro and Shiro, along with Gisella, were grooming each other’s hair. Kuro looked ticklish as the two of them brushed his hair. Zamza, Mil, and Oscar seemed to be trying their hand at fishing again a little distance away. Oscar was moving his rod unnecessarily.
“Then, shall we go for a walk?”
“Bonus… You’re coming along too, you know.”
“Hmm, it’s a strange taste, but… this is quite good.”
“Azir. Why are you eating our fish like it’s the most natural thing in the world?”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? There’s plenty left anyway.”
Indeed, because we got carried away and cooked too much, some of the fish stew was left over. It would be better if it was eaten now rather than saved for dinner. It wasn’t exactly bad, but it was a bit of a failure. Adding Mil’s herbs made the flavor too strong. Besides, there were plenty of fish in the sea around here. Zamza and the others would surely catch something, and they had already made a lot of dried fish to take back to the hideout. They wanted to keep some as souvenirs for Nietzsche and the others, but there was still more than enough for the next couple of days.
Before I knew it, Hajiramu had naturally prepared his own coffee.
“As for our future plans… until the Menas Caravan returns, I think we should focus on making bricks, disposing of monsters, cleaning up the collapsed buildings, and sorting materials.”
“Well, since we don’t have the materials, we don’t have much choice.”
“It was indeed the right decision to bring the villagers here as Bonus-sama suggested. I’m surprised at how smoothly things are going.”
“No, Laura deserves a lot of credit for this.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“I thought it would go well to some extent, but I didn’t expect us to run out of materials so quickly… By the way, when do you think Menas and the others will be back?”
“At the earliest, in three days.”
“Well, it’s tough to procure materials in Savoia right now… it can’t be helped if it takes time. What kind of work do you plan to do once Menas and the others return?”
“In addition to the ongoing restoration work, we plan to build a watchtower in the field. I’d like to ask you, Bonus, to take on this task. Lady Laura and I discussed this, and if the villagers can resume farming, their self-sufficient lifestyle will quickly get back on track.”
“A watchtower, huh… It’ll be wooden, right?”
“Anything practical will do. But I’d like to build it as soon as possible.”
Several images of structures floated through my mind. However, I couldn’t quite decide on a concrete method for constructing it. Making a wooden frame would be the quickest, but in Savoia, it’s hard to get long, thick wood. Building a tall structure with long beams would be difficult. Although it didn’t need to be particularly earthquake-resistant, the area experienced rain and strong sea winds. A structure piled up vertically seemed a bit worrisome. Even if we used small parts to gain height, reinforcing the joints with metal would be tough. The proximity to the sea made rust a concern. Using ropes for joints was possible, but I lacked expertise in that area.
In the end, regardless of the structure chosen, building it quickly with my current knowledge and skills seemed challenging.
“It’s surprisingly tricky… How many do you need?”
“We’re planning on three locations for now… Is that difficult?”
“Well… can’t we combine them into one location? Instead, we could make it taller and use the first floor as a storage and emergency shelter.”
“Hmm… we’ll need to reconsider the locations, but that’s fine.”
“In that case, we’ll build the first floor and foundation with sun-dried bricks and stones, then erect a wooden tower on top. That way, we can make the lookout platform over ten meters high.”
“I’ll help too!”
“No, Lady Laura, you have the job of burning the monsters and various other tasks.”
“Ah… yes, you’re right…”
It felt like quite a big job, but it also seemed interesting. I might draw up some plans when we get back to the hideout.
“If we have Oscar and Gisella… I’d like Zamza’s help too, and maybe one more person…”
“…I’ll go.”
“Hajiramu?”
“Yes. We’ve established a routine for dealing with monsters around the village. With Azir and Shiro there, it should be safe.”
“But still, you’re getting on in years, Hajiramu… are you sure you’re up to it?”
“I’m in better shape than Bonus. Besides, the fields do attract monsters occasionally, so it’s better to have someone capable of long-range attacks. I can use a bow. Also, no one in Savoia has more experience facing different kinds of monsters than I do. In terms of defense, I can provide various advice. Once we decide on the basic structure, we should work out the details while considering the risks posed by various monsters.”
“Indeed… the input from someone on the ground is crucial.”
Although approaching sixty, he was once called the Dragon Slayer and was the best mercenary in Savoia. He would certainly be reliable…
“Bonus, Hajiramu is quite knowledgeable about monster behaviors and various fighting techniques.”
“I see… well, if Shiro says so, it must be true.”
Shiro spoke up while having her hair brushed. She must have seen Hajiramu’s expertise firsthand during their monster hunts. The area around the village was indeed quite extensive. Efficiently exterminating the scattered monsters required more than just high combat ability. Understanding monster behaviors and developing strategies accordingly was likely more important.
“If it’s also a shelter, we should prepare some basic defensive measures.”
“I see. Well… I might lack a practical perspective if it’s just me and the onis.”
Besides, Hajiramu might be worried that I’d build something too unconventional. It wouldn’t be good if Vaintz Village mistook it for a military base. I didn’t know how to balance those considerations.
“That’s the main reason I’ll accompany you. You guys are capable, but I worry you might do something outrageous if left unchecked.”
“Alright, alright. If you’re coming, I’ll make sure to put you to good use!”
Hajiramu drained his coffee and stood up. He was likely going to see the village chief. He regularly communicated and gave instructions to the villagers, not just us mercenaries. He was so diligent it was hard to believe he was a mercenary like Azir.
“Hey Bonus, this is pretty good. I might join you for dinner tonight.”
“Azir, when did you… wait, did you eat all that?!”
“The fish last time we stayed in this village wasn’t great, but this was delicious.”
“Well then, Bonus, I’ll leave it to you. Let’s go, Azir.”
“Alright… hey Bonus, I’d like to try some grilled fish for dinner, so make sure to prepare some.”
“For dinner… ask Mil or Zamza…”
“Thank you for your hard work, Hajiramu.”
“It’s no trouble; I’m used to it. Lady Laura, please take it easy for a while. You’ve been working too hard.”
“I’m fine! With Kuro helping, I’m not tired at all!”
“Kugya, kugya~!”
“…I see.”
Hajiramu seemed like he wanted to say something but ultimately left with Azir without a word.
Well, in reality, Laura seemed to be in good health. She was eating well, after all.
Apparently because she worked hard, the food tasted better than usual. She’s surprisingly adaptable. During this expedition, I saw many different sides of her that were not part of my initial impression. I never had any bad feelings toward her, but she turned out to be a much more charming woman than I thought. If it’s her… maybe I could even take her back to the hideout.
“Tomorrow, I think we’ll return to our base.”
“Oh, is that so… that’s… that’s too bad…”
“If you’d like, you could join us—”
“I’d love to! Please! Yes!”
Laura responded eagerly and approached me with an oddly shaky movement. Was that a skip… it looked a bit scary.
“Thank you, Bonus!”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Kyao~! Kyao~!”
Kuro joined in, circling around me. For some reason, she perfectly mimicked Laura’s awkward skipping. The movements were so tricky that it was a bit frightening. Kuro seemed to like Laura quite a bit and was probably happy.
“Finally, I get to visit Kohaku-chan’s home!”
“Nyuu~?”
Kohaku looked up curiously at Laura, who was now holding her. For some reason, Laura was pressing her cheeks alternately against Kohaku’s big paws, as if massaging them. She had started doing this occasionally whenever she picked up Kohaku. Despite her contorted face, Laura seemed happy.
“By the way, Kohaku-chan is really good with handling magic.”
“Huh? Kohaku uses magic?”
“She isn’t quite using magic yet, but I think she’ll be able to use amazing magic someday! As expected of a Kidanakemo!”
“Wait, you can tell Kohaku is a Kidanakemo?”
“Yes, because she manipulates magical energy.”
“So, magic… what exactly is magical energy?”
“It’s really hard to explain to someone who doesn’t use magic, but…”
Unexpectedly, the conversation turned to magic. It wasn’t often that I had the chance to hear about it in detail, so this was a good opportunity. The word “magic” itself is somewhat thrilling. It made me feel like a child, hoping that I, too, might be able to use that mysterious power somehow. And then, there was the matter of the giant bird from a few days ago. We had a hard time dealing with its magic. In the end, we survived only thanks to the little birds. There was no guarantee that something similar wouldn’t happen again. I really needed to learn more about magic to protect myself and my comrades.
Laura sat down with Kohaku in her arms and seemed to search the air with her eyes, probably thinking about how to explain it so I could understand. She shifted from her usual slightly dreamy demeanor to a more intelligent one.
“I’m not sure I can explain it well… but I’ll try. First, magical energy exists everywhere. This magical energy gently fluctuates, rising and falling slightly. As magic users, we perceive this as the flickering of magical energy.”
“Is it like seeing it visually?”
“It’s very close to that feeling… but we can sense it even with our eyes closed.”
“I see…”
It seemed like having a sensory organ beyond the five senses. In that case, it was almost like a different species…
“In a world where such gentle fluctuations of magical energy exist, what magic users can do is… interfere. We can disturb the process of the slightly elevated magical energy returning to a stable state. That is the only thing a magic user can do.”
I had been listening with a bit of excitement, wondering if I might also be able to use some incredible magic. But it was starting to sound quite mundane… And it was becoming clear that using magic might not be possible for me. At least, I had never sensed such fluctuations in magical energy before…
“By repeatedly interfering with the process of magical energy decreasing, you can create a state where the magical energy is extremely high. Um… as I mentioned before, this process is very similar to performing calculations. The higher the magical energy becomes, the more calculations are required to interfere, which makes it very tiring and increases the chances of failure.”
“Is that what magic is?”
“Not exactly… um, once you create an extremely high state of magical energy and then stop interfering—it’s like suddenly letting go of a stretched rubber band—the magical energy will rapidly return to a stable state. When this happens, it causes some sort of physical phenomenon. It could become hot or cold, the air could expand or contract, light could appear or disappear… this is generally what is referred to as magic. The type of physical phenomenon depends on the arrangement and layout of where the magical energy is increased, and the difference in the levels of magical energy determines the power of the effect.”
I started to get the picture. However, the concept of magical energy was probably just a simplified way to explain it. From what I could gather, Laura tailored her explanation to my level of understanding. In reality, there were likely more complex theories behind what she described. Since it involved a power I couldn’t perceive, it was hard to grasp, but I could understand it.
“According to your explanation, Laura, if there’s always a fluctuation of magical energy, does that mean some form of magic is happening right in front of us now?”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s too small to perceive, though…”
“Is it possible to prevent a magic user from performing those calculation-like operations when trying to use magic?”
“Yes, it’s quite simple… at least for another magic user. The amount of calculation needed to interfere with magic is only about one-tenth of what is needed to use the magic. So, in a fight between magic users, magic alone usually doesn’t decide the outcome. It comes down to physical strength!”
Laura flexed her seemingly frail arm and laughed. No matter how amazing the magic might be, it seems like, in the end, it comes down to physical combat… What does it mean to be a magic user, anyway? However, for someone who can’t use magic, the idea of an invisible force you can’t sense until it’s used is pretty terrifying.
“So… back to Kohaku, does that mean Kidanakemo can use magic too?”
“Hmm, it’s a little different. We magic users are the descendants of Kidanakemo.”
Laura said this shocking statement as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Was this really something I should be hearing…?