Chapter 155: Capital City Balshan

Three magic cars race along the highway stretching north from the town of Fariya toward the capital city of Balshan.

The sun has already begun to set, and soon the earth will be bathed in orange hues.

Since there are no streetlights along the highway, once the sun sets, darkness envelops the surroundings.

Even though magic cars are fast, it’s expected that they’ll arrive in Balshan after sunset, but it can’t be helped since it’s better to deliver the letter as soon as possible.

Once the sun has completely set, Isamu, who is accustomed to driving at night (on Earth), takes the wheel, and Willem is currently driving.

Meanwhile, Isamu, using the traveling time, is preparing a meal for Oihime in the simple kitchen attached to the bathing magic car.

“Oh, so this is Wyvern meat. It’s lean. It doesn’t have any particular smell, and it looks like beef or lamb.”

“I’ve never eaten it before, but Wyvern meat is said to have a unique flavor and is considered a high-quality meat despite its appearance. It’s said to be surprisingly tender as well.”

In the rattling interior of the bathing magic car, Isamu, along with Annemarie, who volunteered to help, starts preparing the ingredients. Currently, they are cutting the meat into bite-sized pieces for Orihime.

“It seems like it would be fine to eat it raw, but just to be safe, should we lightly boil it?”

“Meow.”

Orihime, who was curiously sniffing the scent of the meat, lets out a small meow. Since she didn’t scratch at it with her front paws, it seems like she approves of the smell.

“Oh, the water’s boiling.”

Annemarie, who was watching the pot on the makeshift magic stove, informs Isamu. The pot is about a quarter full of water.

Even though the suspension system has been improved and vibrations have been reduced, cooking inside a moving magic vehicle is still dangerous, so both the magic stove and the pot are prototype designs specifically made for this purpose.

To prevent them from easily tipping over or moving, the magic stove has a 2-centimeter-high frame, and the pots and pans are made to fit snugly. There are also clasps to secure the lids.

Even though it’s not perfect, since it’s almost a straight shot to Balshan, they decided to cook as part of a field test.

“Shall we try boiling it lightly? Let’s try three different cooking times and compare the tenderness.”

Isamu quickly puts the cut Wyvern meat into the pot.

As soon as the meat is put into the pot, a delightful aroma rises from it.

“Wow, this smells amazing. It must be delicious.”

“…It’s very appetizing.”

“Meow.”

The three of them swallow their saliva at the scent.

Isamu’s first impression is that it smells like a combination of chicken broth and high-quality beef shabu-shabu. Since it was cut into blocks rather than thinly sliced, they try samples boiled for 1, 3, and 5 minutes, tasting each one as they cool down.

“Oh, this is exquisite… I’ve never tasted meat this delicious before. It’s juicy and tender even though it’s boiled. The flavor of the meat is incredible.”

“…”

As Isamu struggles to comment with a sigh, Annemarie looks at him wide-eyed, silently savoring the taste.

As expected from their first impressions, it tastes like shabu-shabu made with high-quality Japanese beef and hearty chicken broth. And there’s no unpleasant aftertaste.

“Well, all three are cooked perfectly fine, but I wonder if boiling it for a bit longer would bring out more flavor… I wonder which one the princess will like the most?”

Saying so, they divide the cooled meat into plates according to the boiling time and let Orihime taste each one.

After eagerly devouring all three varieties, Orihime touches the plate that was boiled for 1 minute after a little thought.

“Meow, meow.”

“Oh, it seems like the lightly boiled one is her favorite. Maybe she prefers a taste closer to raw? Alright, I’ll boil it a little longer, so wait a moment.”

After quickly boiling all the cut meat and letting it cool, they feed Orihime one plate at a time according to the boiling time, storing the rest in the refrigerator.

“All right, this should be enough food for the princess for a few days. Let’s save ours for when we get to Balshan.”

With that, they secure Orihime’s food while tasting the Wyvern meat and continue running for nearly three hours until they reach the city of Balshan shortly after sunset.

“Stop! The gate’s closing time has already passed!”

A guard, who was on watch on top of the gate, approaches the suspicious group with torches lit.

In many towns in the world of Ethersia, gates are often closed after sunset.

Since it’s pitch black after the sun sets, and because monster activity increases at night, it’s only natural.

Balshan is no exception, and as the guard said, the gate had closed a little while ago.

“If you have any business, please come back tomorrow… Huh? Is that the crest of the Klaufeldt family?”

He was about to tell them to try again when he noticed that the suspicious pitch-black vehicle had the familiar crest of a noble family on it.

“Sorry for coming so late at night! We are an inspection team led by Isamu Matsumoto of the Viscount Klaufeldt family and Annemarie Klaufeldt, the eldest daughter of the Klaufeldt family. We were scheduled to visit tomorrow, but due to urgent business we came here today. We would like to ask you to open the gates!”

When the guard noticed our crest, Isamu spoke up.

“O-Oh, are you Lord Matsumoto and Miss Annemarie Klaufeldt from the Klaufeldt family!? The main gate can’t be opened right away, but I’ll open the side gate immediately. Please wait a moment! You there! Open the side gate immediately!!”

Seeing Isamu and Annemarie sticking their heads out of the magic car, the guard rushes to give orders. It seems like he recognizes the two of them.

“Hohoho, Isamu always does unexpected things, doesn’t he?”

“Meow.”

With Orihime on his lap, the border countess, Rubinda Balsham, squints his eyes.

“Oh, sorry about that. I thought it would be better to come as soon as possible…”

As he scratches his head, Isamu responds.

As Isamu and the others, who entered through the side gate, explain briefly what happened in the neighboring town of Fariya while showing the guild master’s letter at the guardhouse, a welcoming party from the lord’s mansion arrives soon after.

They are invited directly to the lord’s mansion, where they finish their explanations and change clothes, taking a moment to catch their breath.

“Oh no, we’re grateful. Thanks to you, we can form a suppression unit tonight and head for the extermination first thing tomorrow morning. We can’t ignore the fact that Wyverns have settled in the area…”

Following Rubinda’s instructions, preparations for the Wyvern extermination are now in full swing.

“However, Wyverns… What’s your opinion, Larem?”

Rubinda, with a furrowed brow, addresses a middle-aged man with a prominent beard standing beside him.

“Well… If it’s just a ‘stray,’ it’s not a problem, but considering the report of increased monster activity near the southern border with Zun, we may need to raise our vigilance.”

The man called Larem hesitated for a moment before answering.

Isamu recognized this man. Although he hadn’t participated in the recent tournament, he had been leading the knights. He was the former knight commander who retired a few years ago and now seemed to serve as an adviser to Rubinda.

“I see. Since the habitat of wyverns is limited, it’s natural for the southern border to become more suspicious.” 

It seemed that Rubinda agreed with his opinion, as he nodded while crossing his arms.

“Rubinda-sama, was there something happening at the border with Zun?” 

Isamu asked, hesitating whether it was appropriate to inquire, but feeling that he might be able to help.

“Ho, we haven’t fully grasped the situation yet, but for about a month, there has been increased activity of monsters along the southern border with Zun.” 

Rubinda succinctly explained in response to Isamu’s inquiry.

The Balsham Frontier territory stretches from just north of Balsham all the way south and faces the border with the Zun Republic on the western side of its territory.

The southern part of the border is characterized by steep mountains and deep forests, where many monsters are said to inhabit.

However, incidents of monsters coming out from the forest or mountains are rare, and those that do are called “strays” and are occasionally hunted down.

However, over the past month, the number of reports of “strays” has increased dramatically, and reinforcements and investigation teams were dispatched to the south just a fortnight ago.

Since there had been no previous precedents for such events, they suspected that something abnormal was happening in the forest.

“In such circumstances, this commotion with the wyverns is most likely related.” 

Rubinda concluded with a sigh.

“It seems that way indeed. If that’s the case, I’ll lend you a spear-gun. Please give it to the expeditionary force tomorrow. It’s still in the prototype stage, so I can only give you one, I’m afraid.” 

“A spear-gun for hunting wyverns? That’s a generous offer, but are you sure about giving away something so valuable?” 

Rubinda was surprised by Isamu proposal, and Larem, standing beside him, also wore an incredulous expression.

The spear-gun fell under the category of concealed magic tools. Even though they were allies, it was unusual to provide such items to another house.

“Well, it’s a matter of great importance for my comrades. If I can help in any small way, I’d like to. Besides, I originally brought other magic items for testing as souvenirs.” 

“Is that so? You have other items as well… My, my, I thought if I could get one or two in the next ten years, it would be a pleasant surprise, but to think I’d be granted one on your first visit…” 

Rubinda mused.

“Haha, there’s more to come. I’m planning to offer the magic vehicles at an affordable price soon. After all, they’re essential for national defense, Rubinda-san. It’s only natural to support each other.” 

“Even the magic vehicles… It seems like I’ll be indebted for generations to come before I know it.” 

Rubinda sighed, overwhelmed by Isamu’s successive proposals.

“Since it’s late today, why don’t we try them out tomorrow? Oh, and I’ll give the spear-gun to the expeditionary force, so it’s better to do it in the early morning.” 

“Ho ho ho, that sounds delightful. I’m excited like a child.” 

Rubinda chuckled.

“Then tonight, I’ll give you another souvenir. Um, first, I was asked to bring the sacred object of Orihime.” 

“Oh!? Has it finally arrived!? I’ve been waiting for that moment!!” 

After that, they spent the rest of the day exchanging gifts and playing a full game of mahjong with mahjong tiles engraved with the crest. 

The next morning, Isamu, who woke up around sunrise, was guided by Rubinda and Larem, who were already awake, to visit the expeditionary force’s final check before departure at the knight’s training ground. 

“This is the spear-gun. The usage is simple; first, touch the magic stone at the bottom of this short spear to activate it.” 

Isamu explained while touching the magic stone.

“Since this short spear itself is imbued with lightning magic, just grazing it can numb the opponent. Although we confirmed that it can bring down a wyvern by piercing its wings, be careful not to touch the tip area, as it will also cause numbness to yourself.” 

Isamu explained, and by the end of the explanation, the surroundings fell silent.

“Since it’s still in the prototype stage, I can only give you five short spears. Also, the magic circle is painted over to prevent easy replication when stolen.” 

“Oh no, five should be plenty. If anything, it’s too much. Mm, I’m starting to feel like using this myself…” 

Rubinda said, blood boiling, prompting Larem to intervene, reminding him to restrain himself. 

The expeditionary force’s archers, who were thought to be knights, conducted test shots by not activating the lightning sword function, recovering the fired short spears each time to confirm their ease of use.

“We’ve allocated more people capable of using magic to the expeditionary force, but still, there are more people who can’t use magic. This magic tool, which allows even those who can’t use magic to deliver a blow like a top-class magician, is extremely helpful.” 

The leader of the expeditionary force, watching the test shots, said, bowing lightly to Isamu.

“No, no. I’d appreciate it if you could tell me anything you felt when you used it in actual combat later.” 

Although most of the members of Team Orihime, from the maids and up, were able to use magic, they were a minority. Even in the knightly order, which gathered elites, only about 40% of them were able to use magic effectively, and among the magic knights, only 10% were considered good enough.

Since powerful monsters, especially those like the wyvern that can fly, require the power of magicians, the gratitude expressed by the commander of the expeditionary force was likely sincere.

After getting a feel for it with several test shots, the expeditionary force thanked Isamu once again before departing for Fariya.

After seeing off the expeditionary force, the next demonstration was held for the magic artillery.

First, an explanation was given about the explosive shells. Although they should have heard about them from their close ally, Margrave Nazario Innocenti, this was their first time seeing the actual shells.

*Boom!*

The explosive shell thrown by Mizeroi, the throwing specialist, exploded in the center of the training ground.

The one shown to Nazario before had been detuned, but now that they had formed an alliance, they were using the regular version.

“…This is quite something,”

“Yes… It seems to have more power than the standard explosive magic. Just throwing it…”

Rubinda and Larem murmured as they looked at the slightly depressed ground.

“Although the basic method is to throw it like before, if used for base defense or siege, the range may be somewhat lacking. That’s where this magic cannon comes in.”

After Rubinda also tried throwing one himself, Isamu set up the magic cannon on the ground.

“Hmm. Unlike the spear-gun we saw earlier, this one is almost like a barrel,”

“Yes. The basic mechanism is the same, but this one is simpler. In fact, we made this one first and then developed the spear-gun based on it,”

While explaining briefly, Isamu connected the separate parts, including the activation and power adjustment magic circles, to the main body.

Since they had been busy making magic vehicles and spear-guns, they hadn’t caught up with the mass production design of the integrated version yet.

“All right. With this, preparations are complete. At this size…”

“About half should be enough,”

Mizeroi, who was now like a seasoned artilleryman, immediately offered advice.

He naturally transitioned to handling artillery weapons from his role as a throwing specialist. Since he couldn’t use magic himself, he probably had high expectations for magic weapons.

“Shall we try a test shot then? It would be a waste to use explosive shells, so we’ll use dummy projectiles of the same size and weight.”

As Mizeroi suggested, they set the power to about half and loaded a dummy projectile into the barrel.

“…3, 2, 1, fire!”

*Boom!*

As soon as Isamu touched the firing magic stone, the dummy projectile was launched from the barrel with a light explosion sound.

It flew in a parabola and landed slightly before the edge of the training ground. The distance was about 150 meters. Mizeroi’s estimation was spot on.

“This is…”

“…,”

Rubinda and Larem were speechless as they watched the dummy projectile fly effortlessly to the edge of the training ground.

“And this is only at half power, right? With twenty of these, that fortress wouldn’t stand a chance…”

“The enemy would probably use wind or earth magic for defense… but their magic power would run out sooner or later.”

As Larem said, once the mechanism was understood, it wouldn’t be so difficult to defend with walls of wind or earth.

However, magic users had limited magic power. Since the explosive shells had considerable power, the defenders would also need to invest a fair amount of magic power to erect their defenses.

On the other hand, the magic cannon didn’t consume much magic power to fire, and even if the magic power ran out, it was easy to replace. Assuming there was sufficient quantity, the outcome was clear.

Furthermore, since it wasn’t clear whether the incoming projectiles would explode visually, mixing in dummy projectiles and firing would be an even more efficient way to deplete the enemy’s magic power.

“So, what we’re doing is extremely simple. We mainly developed it for base defense, but it’s also portable, so I think it can be used in siege warfare or field battles. Currently, the activation circles and such are separate parts, but I expect to have an integrated version soon, and then we’ll start mass production,”

With the demonstration finished, Isamu concluded.

“If something like this could be mass-produced, it would no longer be a battle.”

“Yes… Especially on first sight, it would be an overwhelmingly one-sided match. While it’s reassuring to have allies like this, I absolutely wouldn’t want it to fall into enemy hands.”

“Indeed.”

“As the wise man who formed a faction centered around the Klaufeldt family, Rubinda-sama’s name will surely be passed down through generations in the Balsham family.”

“Hohoho, but if you say that, what about Isamu, who is essentially the flag bearer of that faction?”

“He will undoubtedly leave his name in the history books,”

As they watched Isamu, who was in a fluster, being bombarded with questions from the knights who were observing the demonstration, Rubinda and Larem squinted their eyes as if they were seeing something brilliant.

In the afternoon, they held a test ride session for the magic vehicles, and the next day, they conducted a joint exercise assuming the deployment of the magic artillery, deepening the interaction not only among the heads but also at the field level.

Furthermore, on the following day, the expeditionary force that successfully defeated the wyverns returned triumphantly.

It seemed they had shot down two out of the three wyverns with the spear-gun, and they were all thanked profusely by the members of the expeditionary force.

And now, on the third day of their stay before departing from the Balsham territory.

From the reinforcements sent to the southern border, a report was brought.

“Hmm. So, can we assume that the increase in strays is due to the flow of monsters from the Zun side?”

“Yes. Merenza-sama also mentioned that the likelihood is high,”

Listening to the report from the messenger, Rubinda’s expression turned grim.

By the way, Merenza is Rubinda’s eldest son. A few years ago, he was appointed as the knight commander as the successor to Larem after his retirement and is currently leading the reinforcements and investigation team to the south.

Since the ceasefire agreement fifty years ago, there have been occasional reconnaissance-like individuals caught near the border, but there haven’t been any significant problems, especially since the military dictatorship continues to rule. Nevertheless, they always remain vigilant against Zun, their constantly wary hypothetical enemy country.

According to the report, monsters have been flowing from the forests and mountains on the Zun side to the forests on this side, and as a result, the “straying” of monsters has been accelerated.

“Since the flow of monsters from the Zun side is still ongoing, they requested consideration for reinforcements,”

“I see… Larem, what do you think?”

“I don’t want to allocate too much of our forces from the northern region, but there’s no helping it. Fortunately, the wyvern hunting party has returned, and we also have five magic cannons provided by Matsumoto-sama. Let’s send a squad consisting of one knight unit and three infantry units.”

“Well, that seems reasonable enough. Understood, prepare it immediately,”

“Yes!”

Following Rubinda’s instructions, the messenger and Larem left the room.

“Sorry for showing you such a flustered side despite you coming all this way, Isamu,”

“No, please don’t worry about us. We’ll leave the spear-gun behind. Since we’re out of short spears, we’ll need to make ones without lightning sword functions in the same size…”

“That would be appreciated. Well then, starting tomorrow, you’ll head to Miss Eleonora’s place, right?”

Yes. After reaching the Rusarsa River via the town of Fariya, we plan to travel south down the Rusarsa River and the Meator River in one go until we reach the river’s mouth.”

“There’s one message I’d like you to deliver to Miss Eleonora. I’d like her to lend us a few hands. I’m concerned about the movements of Zun…”

“…Understood. Since I’ll be using an acquaintance’s ship, there should be some flexibility, and since magic vehicles are faster than carriages, I’ll hurry and go,”

“I’m sorry, for everything…”

“No, it’s mutual help between us. After all, the reason I can boldly ride around in a magic vehicle like this is thanks to the faction we formed with Your Excellency. It’s truly appreciated not having to be secretive about it,”

“Well, it’s not much of a favor… I’ll gladly accept your help this time. Ah, I’ve stocked up quite a bit on wind magic stones, so feel free to take as many as you like,”

“Thank you! I’ll probably use them on the ship too, so it’ll be a big help,”

“It’s nothing much,”

That night, a standing dinner party was held as a farewell, and after replenishing their spirits, Isamu and his group left the town of Balshan the next morning, heading for the capital city of Elixirburgin the territory of Eleonora Eriksen.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter