Chapter 144 – We Decided To Go From The River!

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“Alright, that should do it.”

I said as I looked up at the fortress that I had built on the island.

There was a tall stone tower that was surrounded by a defensive wall of stone. And around the tower were several huts.

Not only could we store resources, but some of the people we saved could stay here as well.

I had also made a sailboat so that we could go to the royal capital.
There were two masts, and would carry about fifty passengers. And since the hull was covered in purple iron, it was very durable and would not burn.

“As always, you are so… No, you are even swifter than usual.”

Mette said with astonishment. And Melk nodded.

“Were you prepared?”
“I…was. All the materials had been prepared in advance in magic workshop.”

That being said, even I was a little surprised.
Up until now, I would have the others carry the materials to the building site, and then I would slowly process them through magic workshop.

But now, I was able to take rock materials that were thirty beters wide, and process them all at once.

That showed how much larger magic workshop was growing. I wonder how much could fit inside…

As for speed, well, I was used to this kind of work. Because it was my main job back in the Knights Order.

Just then, Asuha returned from another scouting mission.

“I’m very sorry, Sir Joshua. But I was not able to contact the people who are hiding inside. There are archers among the skeletons. I’m sorry that I could not be more useful.”
“Thank you, Asuha. We have enough information now. And since the fortress is ready, we should rest for today.”

Asuha nodded in agreement.

After that, we all ate dinner and went to bed early in order to prepare for the next day. As we had not slept in a building in a while, everyone slept very well.

The next day, just as the sun started to rise, I called Iria and the others and held a meeting at the top of the tower that was in the center of the fortress.

From here, we could see the whole royal capital city. Even the roof of the temple was visible.

“Good morning, all of you. While we will soon be infiltrating the city, I wanted to hold a war council first.”

I said, and then I spread Asuha’s map out on the table.

“First, as for how we will infiltrate the city, I am thinking of sailing by boat from the island, and disembarking in the port district.”
“I see. So we will go by river. Because there are so many skeletons on the walls.”

As Iria said, the ramparts were packed with skeletons.
And some of them had bows.
It would be too dangerous to advance on land and head to the gates.

However, why were there skeletons up there in the first place?

They weren’t fighting or killing anyone up there. They were merely waiting. Surely that was due to someone’s will. Perhaps it was the work of the person who was creating the Undead from the graveyard.

“…Indeed. However, there are several watchtowers along the river. And there is no guarantee that there won’t be skeletons in them.”
“In that case, you can leave them to us elves. We shall shoot them down with the arrows you provided us, Sir Joshua.”

Monica said as she showed me an especially thick arrow.
I had made it myself, and its purpose was more for great impact rather than piercing.
It was an anti-skeleton arrow.

“Aye, we’ll be counting on you. Monica and about seven elves will join us in the boat then. The other eight should wait in this fortress.”

Monica and the elves nodded.

“Now, as for Enna and the others. I would like you to keep watch on the boat and the area surrounding the island.”
“Leave it to us. The time has finally come for us to repay the debt.”

Including Enna, there were ten Kappas with us. Five would be in the boat and five on the island. And they would watch the water and surrounding area.

“There may be skeletons that can move through the water. So I’ll leave them to you. And Ecleshia. Could the Ents stay to protect the island?”
“Aye. We will not allow anyone to land here. It will be easy, since there are a lot of plants here.”

Ecleshia answered.
As Ents were very large, only three of them had come with us.
However, three was more than enough for an island of this size.

“That is reassuring. As for the Kijins, werewolves, Tengu and dwarves, they will be split up, so that half stay on the island and the other half are on the boat.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Except for Celes, who raised her voice with satisfaction.

“Baahh! So were we deemed unfit for action!”
“It is not like that at all. If anything, I want you and all of the Mopes on board. There is something that I would like to test.”
“It-it’s not something dangerous, is it?”

Celes said with a frightened expression. ‘What happened to your fighting spirit?’ Melk muttered.

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t do anything like that. However, you used to be in the Demon King’s Army, right? And so if the enemy is from there…”
“I see… In the Demon King Army, there are signals used to communicate to those you cannot speak with. If we use that, perhaps we can avoid being attacked.”
“Aye. I want to test this once at the port district. And if it goes well, we can hide with the Mope herd and move close to the temple.”

There were fifteen Mopes in all. That wasn’t a lot, but as the Mopes were big, they should be able to hide us easily.

Also, I wanted to summon Ronea the demon. I had asked her about defeating skeletons before, and she apparently had no such magic for that, but said that she might be able to talk to them.

“That is a lot of responsibility… Leave it to us!”
“Aye, I’m counting on you. And now, let us head for the city.”

And so we boarded the boat and went up the river towards the port of the royal capital.

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Seisan Mahoushi no Rakuraku Henkyou Kaitaku - Saikyou no Ajintachi to Howaito Kokka wo Kizukimasu!