Chapter 161: Gascoigne’s Weakness

The mock battle for that day ended there, and the following day, a mock battle took advantage of the irregular situation where the bridge had collapsed.

One was a mock battle between the River Crossing Team and the Defense Team, which was conducted several times with changes in team composition and numbers to allow everyone to participate.

The other was a blitz to create a makeshift bridge team versus a team to prevent it.

The core of the bridge-building team consisted of Schmeichel’s team, who had suffered defeat the previous day.

At the suggestion of Eleonora, who said “Simply repairing it would be boring,” it turned into a harsh punishment game where they had to build the bridge while fighting.

By the way, feeling responsible, all of Isamu and his friends joined Schmeichel team, but Orihime, who was at a loose end, charged into the opposing team with Mizeroi and Tiramisu and was unrivaled.

Seeing that, perhaps spurred on by her blood, Eleonora suddenly joined as a reinforcement for the opposing team. It ended in a no-contest due to the battle between the ultimate weapons, which created a large crater.

Having seen Orihime hold her own against Eleonora even with her small stature, she had come to be called “Sensei” by the Eriksen Mercenary Knights.

Also on this day, reinforcements departed for the Margrave Balsham’s territory on the Border.

As a result of the efforts of Eto and Willem over two days, the Ferris Type 1 swords were completed, including squads heading for the capital Balshan and those heading for the Zun border.

Gascoigne looked tired as he spoke about how many people had applied directly to him, wanting to go to the Margrave Balsham’s territory, since they could use the magic sword.

Even the strongest mercenaries pride themselves in being able to use magic swords.

The mercenaries and knights who successfully secured passage to the Margrave Balsham’s territory left with bright expressions, seeming unlikely as they headed to a place that could become a battlefield.

Since the large crater remained in the Grand Arena, it was obviously an obstacle to the exercises, so the next day and the day after that, a total repair operation was carried out with everyone’s help.

The collaboration between the Eriksen Mercenary Knights, who boast the kingdom’s top physical abilities, and Team Orihime, who manipulates ancient magic, was like heavy machinery, and they completed the major repairs in two days.

On the night of the second day of repair work, it was also the last night of Isamu’s stay in the Eriksen territory, so a farewell party was held with knights and soldiers.

There was obviously no building large enough to accommodate everyone, so it was an outdoor standing party using the entire small arena.

In the middle of the stage, a metal plate in the shape of the letter “C”, about 10 meters in diameter, was placed, and the smell and sound of various colorful foods being grilled on a gigantic hot plate enchanted with heat was inviting appetites.

Isamu, Eto, Willem, along with the blacksmiths of Eriksen territory, hastily created a massive barbecue using a gigantic hot plate enchanted with the Heat enchantment.

Initially, they had planned to make it a large circle, but due to Willem’s reasonable question, “How are we supposed to reach the middle?” it ended up in the shape of a “C”.

“Our boss over here is pretty awesome, but your boss over there is also pretty formidable. To create such magic tools just for grilling meat… I might have jumped the gun in saying I’d go to the ruins.”

“Hehe, I’m already getting used to it. Something is always happening. I’m sure exploring ruins will be fun too?”

Gascoigne and Felix talked as they picked at the meat and vegetables on the iron plate.

“Well, yeah. At least it doesn’t seem like we’ll ever be bored.”

“Yes, new magic tools keep coming out one after another. Oh, Isamu-sama is also a first-class cook, so please look forward to that as well.”

“Thanks for that. Well, it’s only for a short while, but I’m counting on you.”

Gascoigne said so, patting Felix on the shoulder.

“Wow, did you really cut down that Metal Leech? Haha, you’re really something, Orihime-sensei.”

“Yeah, that’s right! When it’s the sensei, even the Mage Ogre falls with a single blow!”

“Indeed.”

“Nafuu.”

Schmeichel and Tiramisu were discussing with Orihime in a slightly separate place a little distance away from Gascoigne and the others

Orihime herself, feeling pleased, was receiving chilled roasted bird meat on top of Mizeroi’s head, which had a good view.

“Even a Mage Ogre? Will the sensei also go to the ruins?”

“We’re probably going together. She’ll mostly be sleeping in Isamu-sama’s backpack though!”

“That whimsical side of yours is also quite charming. I’m really looking forward to the ruins.”

Schmeichel, who had become a fan of Orihime, happily took a bite of the meat.

“We’ve become quite dependent on Isamu and the others. Especially that magic sword… Is that really okay? Normally, wouldn’t it be something kept secret by the Klaufeldt family?”

In another place, a slightly tipsy Eleonora was talking with Isamu and Anne.

“It’s fine. Selfers-san has consented because if the fighting strength of the mercenaries under Eleonora-san’s command increases, it will enhance not only the faction but also the country’s strength. Right, Anne?”

“Yes. My father also instructed me to cooperate as much as possible, including providing magic tools.”

“That’s really kind of him.”

Eleonora narrowed her eyes and raised her cup to Isamu reply.

“Well, personally, it’s not such a big deal. I just strongly feel like I want to increase everyone’s survival rate. Even just a little….” 

“That’s really appreciated…Speaking of which, why did you think of attacking from above the cliff during the previous exercise?”

Pouring sake into Isamu’s cup, Eleonora asked. 

“There wasn’t really a solid reason… It’s just that since we’re not used to it, there’s no way we can have detailed coordination with everyone. So I wanted to keep it simple and easy to understand. Also, I thought we had to do something that everyone with a hundred battles of experience wouldn’t do to outwit them, that was the main reason.”

As he returned the toast, Isamu replied.

“If this were a real battlefield, everyone might have tried to find a path up the cliff, but given the situation last time, that option should have been unconsciously ruled out. Gascoigne-san and the others were surprised when I proposed it.”

“I see. Haha, indeed, real combat, especially with opponents of a completely different caliber, surpasses a hundred exercises. I, including myself, have learned another lesson. Thank you.”

“Not at all. Especially for us, I’ve hardly engaged in group combat like that before. It was incredibly educational.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Going forward, we’re planning to regularly dispatch multiple squads from here to your territory for field training.”

“That sounds great! Perhaps we could even have a certain number stationed permanently. It’s quite a distance to the northeastern part of the kingdom from here, so it could be convenient.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea.”

“Unfortunately, there aren’t any grand arenas, but there’s a decent-sized training ground, and more importantly, if you venture deeper into the forest, there are plenty of monsters.”

“Haha, that sounds like excellent training. Well, let’s finalize the details with Lord Selfers as soon as we return.”

“Understood. I’ll think of some more concrete proposals before returning and present them to my father.”

With these casual words from Isamu, not long after, the Eriksen family’s mercenary knights stationed themselves in the Klaufeldt territory.

This unintentionally drove a powerful wedge for Isamu and his faction into the northeastern part of the kingdom.

The next day, with Gascoigne and Schmeichel joining them, Isamu and his party departed Eriksburg in the afternoon to head for the Innocenti territory, once again heading towards the river port of Meator along the Meator River.

Half a day to the town they stopped by on the way, a night’s rest there, and another half-day to reach the port, making for a leisurely journey.

“………… Still not there… huh? Ugh…”

Lying down in the cargo compartment of Isamu’s driven black cat, Gascoigne groaned, his face turning pale.

“We’re about halfway there, so it’ll probably take another hour and a half.”

With a faint voice, Isamu answered with a wry smile.

“Ugh, another hour and a half…”

Gascoigne’s face turned even paler at Isamu’s reply.

“That was unexpected… I had no idea that the monster captain was weak against carriages.”

From the rear seat, Annemarie murmured worriedly as she looked at the cargo compartment.

As she said, Gascoigne suffered badly from motion sickness. Even in a magically improved motor car with much better ride quality than a regular carriage, he succumbed to sickness within 30 minutes.

According to Schmeichel, he wouldn’t last 10 minutes in a carriage, so managing 30 minutes was a new record, which was surprising in its own right.

As a result, he absolutely avoided carriages under normal circumstances and preferred to travel on horseback. Apparently, as long as he was controlling the horse himself, he could endure any amount of shaking.

Since there seemed to be no motion sickness medicine in this world of Ethersia, he would just have to endure it for the rest of today and tomorrow morning.

“Ah, what a terrible experience…”

Stretching on the bow of the ship heading up the Meator River, Gascoigne complained.

In the end, he had been seasick almost the entire two days up to the river port, but today he was back in good spirits.

“…I’m fine with boats.”

Mizeroi, who was invited to stretch with him, said curiously.

“Well, yeah. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been terrible with carriages.”

“Sounds tough.”

“Yeah, it’s really troublesome. But what about your leader? That magic car’s speed is unbelievable. In short distances, horses might be faster, but they won’t last long.”

“But with a magic car, you can easily maintain that speed without breaks. With more than three times the marching speed, the way wars are fought will fundamentally change, you know?”

“Just when I thought you were just collapsing, you were actually thinking ahead.”

In response to Gascoigne’s words, Mizeroi laughed and replied.

“Of course!”

“Heh, I see. Isamu-sama mentioned that he intends to expand it to the entire faction in the near future. If that happens, not only wars but transportation itself will change drastically. The benefits will be greater if you spread them to all the territories you have friendly relations with, rather than monopolizing them within your own territory.”

As Isamu said, there would be some benefits if the transportation speed increased only in their own territory, but since they don’t operate all of the distribution themselves, the effect would be limited.

If this were to be expanded to all friendly territories, all transportation between territories would be sped up, and the flow of goods and people would be established based on that, and the effect would be multiplied many times over.

In that sense, it would be more effective to spread it to the entire country regardless of whether they were friendly or not, but that would be counterproductive as it would undermine the advantage of being a faction.

“…That’s incredible. By the way, wasn’t this ship also the work of your leader? Why is it that this ship, heading upriver, is almost as fast as going downstream…”

The ship of Captain Revecchio, which had been modified into a paddlewheel steamboat while traveling downstream, underwent further improvements immediately upon starting the upstream journey.

That being said, these improvements merely enabled efficiency and wind power adjustments to the original wind-driven sphere they had been using.

“Hah… Isamu-sama always manages to casually create such amazing things…”

As his ship, catching ample wind in its sails, ascended the river at a speed no different from downstream, Revecchio sighed.

“Haha. When going downstream, we couldn’t set the sails due to headwinds. Going upstream, however, with a tailwind, all we need to do is hoist the sails and increase wind power. It’s quite easy.”

As Isamu had pointed out, when going upstream with a tailwind, if the mast and sails could endure it, simply increasing wind power would boost speed.

Therefore, they had equipped the original wind-driven sphere, which could only produce wind of a fixed strength, with an output adjustment feature to facilitate high-speed travel.

Additionally, they had narrowed down the wind’s originally wide dispersal range to blow it only where necessary, thus improving operational efficiency.

Thanks to these enhancements, they were sailing up the river at speeds unimaginable for an upstream journey.

Occasionally, they would overtake other ships, and those aboard the overtaken vessels wore expressions of disbelief, marveling at what they saw.

“At this speed, we should be able to reach the confluence point with the Lusarsa River in four or five days, just like going downstream.”

Previously, this journey had taken about seven days, so there was considerable time savings. Isamu was steadily improving transport efficiency, both overland and by water.

Although they encountered rain for a day along the way, their journey was largely blessed with good weather, and as predicted by Revecchio, they reached the confluence point with the Lusarsa River on the fourth day.

From here, traveling by land with the speed of a magic car would have been faster. However, due to strong opposition from Gascoigne, they continued their journey by boat this time.

While it might be called an error, there was only about a three-hour difference in speed.

And so, after about a week, Isamu and his team arrived at the capital of the Innocenti territory, Inotia.

Though it had been about six months since their last visit, there seemed to be no significant changes. The sight of beastfolk scattered throughout the city remained as fantastical as ever.

During their previous visit, they had stayed at an inn, but this time they planned to stay at a guesthouse attached to a newly constructed magic tool workshop.

The workshop was built by the Nashara Trading Company, established by the Wanderer Wami Nashara who once settled in this area. As a gesture of gratitude for commissioning the production of new magic tools, they had also built guesthouses for their affiliated companies, Orihime Trading Company and Zambrotta Trading Company.

This was particularly appreciated by the members of the Zambrotta Trading Company, including Silvio, who often stayed for extended periods.

They had notified before leaving Klaufenham, so their approximate arrival time should have been communicated, but they arrived earlier than scheduled, causing some concern about preparedness. However, it turned out to be needless worry.

“Welcome back after such a long journey!”

This was the somewhat affected greeting they heard from a black cat-like female beastfolk who had come all the way to greet them at the gate of what appeared to be a large building adjacent to the workshop.

“Huh? Aren’t you… Sori-san?”

“Yes! I’m glad you remembered!”

She was a black cat beastfolk who seemed to be a servant, speaking on behalf of several others who had neatly lined up to greet them. They had encountered her before as a waitress at a restaurant they had visited.

Her name was Sori Nashara. As her name implied, she was one of the descendants of the wanderer Wami Nashara.

“Why are you here again?”

“About three months ago, I was approached by Guild Chairman Gill. They were building a guesthouse here in honor of Wami-sama and the benefactors of Nashara Trading Company. They asked if I’d like to work here.”

Gill Nashara, the current head of the Nashara Trading Company, was deeply moved by the prototype of the Cait-sith and had set out to repay the favor to the Nashara clan by calling on members from this city and nearby towns.

As a result, out of the 15 servants, eight became part of the Nashara clan.

Come to think of it, among the five servants who had come to greet them at the gate, four were beastfolk cats.

“Then, let me guide you to the guesthouse!”

“Huh? This…?”

“Yep.”

Isamu couldn’t help but ask in surprise at the gate. The other members also looked up in astonishment.

It was indeed a large building, as Isamu had expected it to be attached to the workshop. However, rather than a factory annex, the entire structure was a large guesthouse.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter