4
“Uhhh, yes, yes. Put them all out. No, never mind that, forget about profit. Use ammunition and potions right and left, open all storehouses up to tier six, and clear out all the stock, thanks in advance, ’bye.”
Right after ending his telechat with the dwarf girl who acted as his inventory manager, Calasin leaned in from the corridor and spoke to the People of the Earth maids and cooks: “I brought you some meat.” Many impromptu kettles and tents had been set up in the courtyard, and the place was as noisy as a battlefield. Or rather, it actually was a battlefield.
Castle Cinderella, the heart of the Maihama duchy, was currently serving as a frontline base. Since the Eternal Moths attacked from the sky, castle walls and city streets meant nothing to them. In the dusk, this castle was caught up in a battle with attacking monsters.
The monsters seemed to prioritize targeting beings with high combat abilities or mana. In this world, that description was synonymous with Adventurer. In the urban areas of Maihama, the doors of all the houses had been shut tight, and martial law had been declared. The People of the Earth just held their breath and stared up at the sky. The city and castle were being defended by a force that had been built around the Knights of the Black Sword.
The idea of holding the Eternal Moths back in forests and highways away from the town had been suggested, but the monsters attacked Adventurers only “as a rule.” They weren’t intelligent enough to let People of the Earth they happened to encounter get away. In that case, Isaac, who led the Knights of the Black Sword, had decided to keep them where he could see them and guard them that way.
Calasin’s motives were different, but that didn’t change the conclusion.
As a result of these things, the defense operation was underway.
“Mr. Calasin.”
“Oh, would you look at that! Thanks very much for the present.”
Bright female voices sent up cheers.
In this castle, Calasin was even more popular than Isaac. The goods Shopping District 8 brought were useful to People of the Earth of every class, and the demand was particularly large among the kitchen personnel. Items like sauces, soy sauce, and high-purity sugar were still difficult for the People of the Earth to make on their own.
“You’re real popular, GM!”
Glancing at Taro, who’d complimented him with wide, startled eyes, Calasin grumbled: “Well, sure: I’m the Young Gent.” About 20 percent of those cheers had come from hungry soldiers, and 70 percent had been from the middle-aged maids and chefs who were preparing the food. Even Taro, who looked startled every time and wore expressions that said, That’s amazing. Wow, I’m jealous, knew this and was acting that way on purpose. Calasin couldn’t deal with the guy.
After he dexterously removed groceries and potions from his fantasy-class Holy Precincts of Ku Lal Bag and lined them up under the tent, his job here was done. Beside him, Taro had taken bandages out of his own shoulder bag. Having finished his work as well, he nodded firmly.
“From the southwest and the west, you think?”
As they traveled along the top of Castle Cinderella’s retaining wall at a jog, Taro spoke.
Sounds that were sharp but somehow light, as if paper bags full of air were being popped, rang out one after another. It was the noise of attack spells, bursting in midair. Since they were far away, they sounded flimsy.
“That’s where the Black Sword’s main forces are. The People of the Earth knight brigade should be there as well.”
“Is that gonna be okay?”
Calasin answered Taro’s drawled question with a nod: “No worries.”
It should be all right. In fact, as far as the current uproar was concerned, he predicted they’d do extremely useful work. After being trained by Isaac and company, the Glass Greaves’ levels were in the high twenties. Among the People of the Earth, these abilities were considered elite, and they had combat power that civilian People of the Earth couldn’t hope to match. Since their basic abilities like strength and endurance had grown as well, they’d be able to fight for a long time.
On top of that, since they were still far from the level-90 Knights of the Black Sword, the Eternal Moths wouldn’t be as quick to target them. While the Knights of the Black Sword held the enemy in check from the front, they could act as guerilla fighters and attack from the flanks or direct evacuations all they wanted. In fact, Calasin had been getting reports to this effect.
“Before sunset, though, huh? I wish they’d stick to the schedule.”
“There’s no help for that. Trouble always crops up.”
Calasin shrugged.
It wasn’t clear what had happened, but the Eternal Moths had attacked without waiting for moonrise. However, Calasin was taking that as a positive sign.
“Shiroe and the others must have done something.”
“‘Something’?”
“Yes, something.”
He had no idea what was going on, but it wasn’t anything he needed to think about.
At any rate, Shiroe had taken action out on location to corner the enemy, and the schedule had shifted. Calasin had assumed that, since Shiroe had gone, he’d get it done, so there didn’t seem to be any point in thinking about the details of the situation at the site. This wasn’t because he trusted Shiroe or anything. It was more that he thought that, since the world was like a violent torrent loaded with unexpected happenings and hurtling downstream, there was no point in worrying about things he couldn’t completely control on his own. Though, thought might not have been the word: Calasin had his hands full with his own territory, so he didn’t have time to meddle with anything extra.
Although taking care of little Minori and other girls is another thing entirely…
Worrying about Shiroe was ridiculous. It was what was known as a wasted investment.
That said, as far as the battle in front of him was concerned, he was involved, and he’d probably have to get through it.
“Taro.”
“Yessir, GM.”
His contemporary straightened up and saluted, and Calasin issued several requests. Taro, who’d pulled a memo book with a paw pad mark on it out of his back pocket and was taking down notes, said “Really?” and “Really for real?” several times, making sure, then made tracks for the front line. The defensive wall around the town itself was several kilometers away, but if an Adventurer put their strong legs to work, they could get there in a bit under ten minutes.
The stock discharge wasn’t a problem at all. The Adventurers of Akiba almost never used items compatible with level 30 and under anymore. You could have called the stuff backlogged inferior stock that had been sitting around since the days of the game. If they let it go here, it might not look so good on the books, but it wouldn’t do them much damage. On the contrary, Calasin thought that if they had the opportunity to create some obligations, they should go ahead and do that.
Calasin entered the great hall, passed through it, then went down a colorfully carpeted corridor to the main tower. Slowly, he climbed the broad spiral staircase. There were small windows whose purpose was to let in light, and the color that filtered in through them was madder red. The tower was filled with the chilly air of an early spring evening.
He hadn’t climbed up to it many times, but the top floor of this main tower probably had a view across the whole city. From what he’d just heard, Duke Sergiad was up there as well.
Partway up the spiral, Calasin and some knights on guard duty passed one another. They weren’t just People of the Earth; Adventurers were in the group, too. Lezarik was in charge of security, and apparently, he was posting sufficient forces.
Although the streets he saw from a small window halfway up the tower were brimming with tension, he didn’t see any fighting. It was probably just a bad angle; the fighting was over by the hills and the defensive wall.
Calasin sighed and continued on.
The situation was pretty tiresome. However, he thought tiresome might have a saturation point. Just as it wasn’t possible to dissolve more than three hundred grams or so of salt in a liter of water, there was a limit to the number of exhausting things that would melt into human lives. Where did the fatigue go when it reached its limit and overflowed? It spilled over into the surrounding area. It was just like a room in chaos. There were limits to the amount that people could clean up.
Since mystery monsters had appeared with such excellent timing, further inquiries into the Iselus assassination affair had been shelved. That had been convenient for Calasin, too, so he hadn’t made a fuss, but assassinations weren’t the sort of thing that could be neglected, either.
Yes, there were limits to the amount that people could clean up.
Still, people were said to be creatures who could work together, and so in order to fulfill the duty in front of him and his own curiosity, Calasin climbed the tower.
“Hello.”
“Oho. To think you’d come here, Sir Calasin.”
Sergiad, who’d given a laid-back response to a laid-back greeting, was gazing at the battlefield from the tower balcony. His profile had been stern, but when he turned to Calasin, it was mild again. The knights who were attending him didn’t look stressed, either, probably because the battle they could see from the balcony was going their way.
“How does the monster attack look?”
“Incredibly abnormal. There are no records of an attack that would require Adventurers to line the town walls in the history of Maihama.”
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