Kays Translations

Chapter 173: Strategic Retreat

The sudden interruption and subsequent withdrawal of the third magic giant golem left Isamu speechless and frozen in place. He stared in the direction they had left for a while, and once he confirmed they weren’t coming back, he sank to the ground in exhaustion.

“Ahhh, we’re safe…”

Isamu let out a loud sigh. From the discovery of the magic giant golems to their retreat, less than ten minutes had passed. The mental fatigue from the rapid changes in the situation overwhelmed him all at once.

“Isamu-sama! Are you okay?!”

Liddell, who was closest to Isamu, ran over to him once things had calmed down.

“Oh, Liddell. Haha, somehow I’m alright. Lots of stones flew around, but thanks to this armor.”

The earth-element magic armor provided by Marquis Innocenti covered most of his body, leaving him almost unscathed except for the initial wound on his unprotected face.

“Thank you for protecting me! If you hadn’t created that wall, I might have died if I was unlucky…”

Liddell bowed deeply as she spoke. Although she wore armor from the Innocenti family and carried a magic shield against physical attacks, there was no guarantee it could withstand such heavy weapons.

“I’m glad I made it in time. When the dark magic power suddenly increased, I thought it might be… It indeed increased its speed.”

“Yeah, that! Why did it suddenly get so fast? If it moved like that from the start, it could have finished us off quickly.”

Hearing the voice behind him, Isam turned to see Gascoigne and Schmeichel, who had been at a distance, approaching with tired faces.

“Good job, Gascoigne, Schmeichel. That final blow to the magic giant golem was impressive.”

“It was two against one, and the enemy had to worry about magic support. If we had failed, our leader would’ve chewed us out.”

Though they spoke nonchalantly, not many knights could pull off such a feat against an unknown enemy.

“I’m glad you both were here with us. Oh, right, why did it suddenly speed up? Let’s wait for Marcella to join us, then I’ll explain.”

Seeing Marcella running towards them from a distance, Isamu decided to wait for her before starting his explanation.

“I think it used dark magic to lighten its body and increase its speed. Even under normal circumstances, it was faintly cloaked in dark magic, probably to reduce weight for easier movement.”

Recalling the movements of the magic giant golem, Isamu continued.

“Why lighten its weight in the first place? I mentioned before that its main goal is probably to maximize operating time while functioning properly. So, its initial state should be the most balanced.”

“That makes sense. If lightening it more and increasing its speed wouldn’t affect operating time, there’s no reason to make it slower…”

Gascoigne nodded, crossing his arms.

“Yes, it might have been in a power-saving mode. Even after taking damage from explosive shells, its movements didn’t change, so that’s likely its normal mode.”

Under the threat of destruction, it would at least switch to its normal mode.

“Considering that, using the high-speed mode probably consumes a lot of magic power, so it can only be used for a short time.”

“It’s a trump card, then.”

Marcella murmured thoughtfully.

“Probably.” 

Isamu said, shrugging slightly.

“Isamu-sama, what about that village? There were magic giant golems, but no soldiers.”

Seeing the sun setting, Liddell asked.

“It didn’t look like the golems were occupying it…”

“Yeah. It felt more like they were stationed for reconnaissance.”

“Most likely. If the village were under harsh occupation, we would have liberated and stationed ourselves there without hesitation. Since it’s not, we’ll gather some information and then withdraw.”

Isamu spoke slowly with closed eyes.

“We’re out of resources, and we don’t know when those golems might return. It’s too dangerous to stay any longer, so we’ll retreat.”

Isamu opened his eyes and said firmly.

“I agree. With our current resources, we’d definitely lose if we fought again. We’ve learned a lot about the magic giant golems’ strength; it’s time to pull back.”

“Exactly. Dying pointlessly isn’t bravery. The information we’ve gathered here is valuable. Isamu-sama knows well.”

Gascoigne and Schmeichel agreed with smiles.

“I agree as well. The other members we left behind must be worried.”

“Yes. Besides, this is another country, even if it is an allied nation. It feels wrong to stay here without permission.”

Liddell and Marcella also seemed to be in agreement.

“Thank you. Let’s gather some information and then retreat.”

“Understood!”

When they later spoke with the villagers, it turned out that, as Isamu and his group had predicted, the golems were only temporarily stationed there for reconnaissance and information gathering.

The villagers had been hiding in the village due to monsters appearing both to the north and south. One day, a few horsemen suddenly arrived with the golems. They did not pillage or plunder but said they would leave the magic giant golems there and would not harm anyone as long as there was no resistance. The horsemen left the following day.

Of the magic giant golems, only two were stationed permanently. The third one visited once every two or three days; today just happened to be one of those days.

According to the villagers, it had been about ten days since the golems arrived, which meant they came a few days after Capolfi was occupied.

Interestingly, the magic giant golems had never spoken a word.

The villagers were troubled because merchants had stopped coming due to monsters on the roads, leading to a shortage of essential supplies. Isamu promised to request a supply transport once they returned to Pitche and then left the village.

By the time they regrouped with the members who had been waiting about 30 minutes from the village, it was already evening. They decided to share information inside the magic vehicle and quickly headed back the way they came.

Fortunately, they had cleared the monsters along the road earlier, so they only encountered a few monsters coming out of the forest once and managed to return to Pitche before midnight.

“Phew, that was quite an ordeal…”

Gascoigne, having changed into comfortable clothes after removing his armor, sank into a sofa with a deep sigh.

“Haha, it was quite a day.”

Isamu, also in comfortable clothes, responded with a wry smile from the opposite sofa.

The other members, sitting wherever they liked, were dressed similarly.

The group was gathered in the lounge of the guesthouse belonging to the Zambrotta Trading Company’s Pitche branch. Since it was late at night when they returned, they discussed that going to an inn might be a bother. Silvio then invited them to stay at his place.

Though Pitche was not a very large town, it was the closest to the border, resulting in frequent visits from merchants. The Zambrotta Trading Company conducted business across both Plazzo and Staleen, so both their people and clients often visited Pitche. As a result, they had a disproportionately large and grand guesthouse for the size of their business there.

Having washed up and eaten their prepared dinner and late-night meal, they finally had a moment to relax. Although they had shared some information in the magical vehicle on the way back, they were separated during the ride and Gascoigne was somewhat unreliable in the vehicle, so they decided to regroup and organize the information anew.

“Now then, although we did gather information, there were no people around, so we couldn’t ascertain their purpose or identity. What we did learn is mostly related to the magic giant golems…”

Isamu began after confirming everyone was seated.

“We identified three of them. Based on their appearance, they seem to be the same type as the Avalushi magic giant golems we found in the ruins.”

“Which means, they are likely controlled remotely, right?”

“That’s probably correct. The villagers said they never saw anyone come out of them.”

If people had been inside the two stationed golems all the time, they would need food, sanitation, and sleep. Since there were no signs of these necessities, the assumption seemed accurate.

“Where are they being controlled from? The villagers said the golems went north, so it must be in that direction, right?”

Annemarie asked Isamu.

“At least within visible range, there was no indication of such a place or people, so it must be able to operate over a considerable distance. What was unexpected was that the anti-magic disruptor didn’t seem to affect them much.”

Isamu had assumed that the golems were being controlled by magic transmitted like radio waves. Therefore, he thought disrupting this with magic stone chaff would interfere with their control significantly. However, the golems appeared to operate normally even within the chaff.

“Well, it’s possible that their movements were affected by the disruption.”

“That’s true. The last one that appeared moved completely differently. If that’s their normal movement… We didn’t fight it, but it looked formidable.”

“You think so too, Gascoigne? The third one’s movements were much smoother. And it barely used any dark magic.”

To Isamu, the third golem seemed to be on a different level altogether.

“What’s puzzling is that the third golem ended up helping us.”

“I thought the same. After you created the stone wall, if that halberd hadn’t flown in, we would have been in serious trouble.”

Liddell stated firmly.

“Yes. It seemed almost like it was trying to interfere. It might have just been a coincidence, though. There’s no reason for it to help us.”

“Since they don’t speak, we can’t gauge their emotions.”

Despite the odd feeling, there was no decisive action to confirm the third golem’s intentions, so they left the topic there.

“Also, discovering their weakness to lightning magic is significant. Having a weakness gives us a strategy.”

“We took it down by stabbing a lightning sword into its joints.”

“Yes. Plus, Liddell, who uses lightning magic, was targeted first.”

“That was quite troublesome…”

Liddell said, shrugging.

“Their anti-magic armor prioritizing fire and lightning defenses might be because those are their weaknesses.”

As Willem suggested, it was likely they had reinforced their defenses because of these vulnerabilities.

“I think the presence of lightning swords and lightning magic tones in those ruins is also related. Though, the sequence is probably reversed.”

It seemed natural to assume that the magic giant golems were created as weapons, which led to the development of lightning swords and gems as countermeasures, and then anti-lightning magic armor in response.

“We need to increase our stock of lightning magic stones and practice lightning magic. Only Liddell and Ulysses can use it effectively right now, so Ann, Marcella, and I should also learn one or two spells.”

“Understood.”

“Yes.”

Annemarie and Marcella nodded seriously.

“Also, they seem to use their heads to see and protected them from being damaged.”

“Exactly. The head is high up, so it’s hard to target in close combat, but it’s a good target for magic or ranged attacks. At the very least, it’s a distraction.”

“If you’re close, the best option is to throw an explosive orb, like I did.”

Gascoigne and Schmeichel, both experts in close combat, made convincing points.

“It’s also significant that we discovered they can see without their eyes.”

“You said they see through temperature.”

“Yes. In my world, snakes see through heat, allowing them to find hidden prey. If we use fire attribute magic or items like a scorching floor, we could turn that against them.”

It seemed the golems could switch between visible light mode and thermal vision, so if timed correctly, they could be temporarily blinded.

“It would have been best to capture the one we defeated, but we did learn some weaknesses, so let’s call it a success.”

Having summarized the information, Isamu began to wrap things up.

“Well, that’s because we have some effective magic tools. Without them, these golems would be a significant threat.”

“We absolutely cannot let them have non-attribute magic stones now…”

Annemarie said with a stern expression.

“Indeed. We’ll need to discuss countermeasures with Selfers-san and the others.”

With that conclusion, Isamu’s long day filled with firsts—first foreign mission, first reconnaissance, first battle with magic giant golems—came to an end.

The next morning, they informed the bailiff and the captain of the guard about the shortage of daily necessities in the northern village and that the Zambrotta Trading Company would help transport supplies. Isamu and his group then left Pitche.

To share the information they had gathered and plan future countermeasures, they intended to return quickly to Balshan, the nearest allied territory capital.

However, upon arriving at the border town of the Balsham territory, they were met with shocking news.

“What? An emergency summons for all the heads of noble families to gather in the capital?”

“Yes, just yesterday. A direct message from the royal family arrived. We were on our way to escort Samuel-sama and stopped here.”

The person Isamu was speaking to was Franboise, the captain of the Marquis Felker’s magical knights, whom Isamu had fought in a tournament and later teamed up with to defeat a giant crab.

Isamu couldn’t hide his surprise at the information Franboise provided.

“Well, it’s not all the heads, just the upper nobility overseeing large territories. Some minor lords might accompany them, though.”

“Even so, during this critical time when a neighboring country is attacking? What are they thinking, gathering all the top nobles now?”

“The one who issued the summons isn’t the king. It was Duke Alexei Yaderud.”

“Yaderud?”

The name rang a bell for Isamu. It was the duke’s house that monopolized the fire magic stones, a house he had some issues with.

“Can a noble house issue an emergency summons like that?”

“If it’s a duke’s house, yes. With the agreement of five counts or higher, not even the king can refuse it.”

“Such a system exists…”

“Yes. It’s a system that hasn’t been used in over a hundred years, though.”

No wonder there was so much effort to build factions.

“Did you just mention Duke Alexei?”

Annemarie, who had been listening, asked Franboise.

“Yes.”

“I thought the head of the Yaderud house was Duke Drassen, Alexei’s father?”

Drassen, known for his hands-on approach, had entrusted most internal affairs to his sons, effectively making Alexei the head, though he hadn’t officially handed over the title.

“He recently suffered a serious injury while subjugating monsters and passed the title to his son.”

“What…”

If what Franboise is saying is true, it means a summons was issued immediately after the head of the household changed.

“For what purpose…?”

“Well, that’s because—”

“Shall I explain?”

A voice came from behind Franboise, who was hesitating to speak.

“Sa-Samuel-sama!”

“It’s been a while, Marquis Felker.”

Isamu and Annemarie bowed to the suddenly appearing high-ranking noble.

“Indeed. You both seem well. As for the reason for this urgent summons…”

Samuel paused briefly.

Then, with his mouth open anew, he revealed the astonishing reason.

“Viscount Klaufeldt family is suspected of collusion with an enemy nation and treason against the state.”

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