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Chapter 240 Part 1

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Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”

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The sun rises in the east, illuminating the royal capital, and people begin to move about actively.
A three-story stone building I lived in. On the third floor of the building, I was staring at a turtle by the pond in the garden.

「It’s time to go, you say?」

Zaratan nodded. The assignment I gave him was to go to the Spirit Forest to find and bring back a magic beast that eats poisonous mushrooms.
The transport training with Heavy Lancers on his back. After repeating it several times, he has gained confidence to do so.

「Hmm, but, you see…」

I crouched on the shore and looked at the herd of Heavy Lancers.
Their comrades that descended from the shell to the ground. They seem to have gathered to welcome them, but they do not approach the turtle any closer than a certain distance.
I can’t communicate directly with the Heavy Lancer, but I understand it nonetheless.

(This is… They’re clearly scared of Zaratan, aren’t they?)

Putting myself in the position of the magic beast being recruited, I imagined the scene when I encountered Zaratan.
A giant turtle-like spirit beast, about 200 meters long, suddenly appeared in Spirit Lake. It swam towards us as we drank water from the shore, pushing the waves to its sides.
Then, with its head high enough we had to look up, it showed us its shell and told us.

『Won’t you ride me?』

Deep wrinkles appeared between my eyebrows.

(…..Won’t they run away instead?)

Zaratan is unaware of the pressure he gives off.
He is like the president of a large company who repeatedly says, 『Just take it easy』 to the new employees. I guess when you get too high up, you become dull in that regard.
I turned around and called out to the leader of my familiar who sat on the branch of the medicinal tree.

「I’d like to have a strategy meeting with everyone before Zaratan departs. Can you arrange it?」

As Imosuke returned with a wave of understanding, I stood up from the shore. I held out my hands under the branch, and the spirit animal, which looked just like the fifth instar larva of a swallowtail butterfly, moved into my palm.
I continued to sit with my back against the medicinal tree and waited for my familiars to gather with Imosuke in the palm of my hand.

「Also, could you tell the leader of the Heavy Lancers to join too?」

When I asked him, the dung beetle turned around and moved its antennae to the herd Heavy Lancers.
Not long after, a slightly larger Heavy Lancer with a different color started running towards me.

「I’m sorry to bother you. There’s just something that’s been bothering me」

After seeing that they have gathered, I start the meeting.
In front of me, from left to right, are the leader of the Heavy Lancer, Dangorou, and the turtle that came up from the pond.
While Imosuke occupies the palms of my hand. He doesn’t want to move, so he stays there.

「Now then, I’m planning to ask Zaratan to go to the Spirit Forest, but… from what I can see, there are two problems」

My familiars listen to me quietly.
By the way, the means of transportation is transfer magic. It seems he can go to most places as long as there is a certain amount of water.
As expected of a great spirit beast with water attributes.

「One is how to recruit the magic beasts, and the other is how to deal with the elves」

I looked at the turtle sitting in a well-behaved position, then moved my gaze to the side where it stopped at the Heavy Lancer.

「Aren’t Zaratan too big and intimidating for magic beasts?」

Dangorou turns his head to the leader of the Heavy Lancer. He must be conveying my words to him.

『”Yeah”, he said』

I nodded my head at Dangorou’s reply. The turtle, on the other hand, widened his eyes in surprise.
He didn’t seem to think that he was being feared.

「Wouldn’t they get scared and run away when they saw Zaratan?」

My familiars looked at each other and talked in whispers. The leader of the Heavy Lancers is also in the mix.
Imosuke looks up at me from the palm of my hand and shakes his head.

「So it’s no good huh」

The Heavy Lancer had long suspected that the magic beast Zaratan was going to bring with him was not a fearless one. There was a good chance that this would be the case.
His suspicions were correct, and we hit a wall with the first problem.

「Now what should we do?」

As we continued our discussion, Dangorou turned to the side. It seems that the leader of the Heavy Lancer next to him had suggested something.

「Oh? What is it? If you have a good idea, please share it with me」

I nudged Dangorou and he began to explain, looking at me and the Heavy Lancer in turn.

「You’re going to let the Heavy Lancers do the searching and recruiting?」

At the time of the departure, he will be carrying two or three Heavy Lancers, on his shells.
Once they arrive, the Heavy Lancers will search and recruit them, and if they agree, they will take them to Zaratan. That was the idea.

「….I think that’s a good idea」

With the space available reduced, we may not be able to bring them all in at once. In that case, we just need to make a round trip.

「That’s an idea I never would have thought of, as expected of a leader」

As I looked around while admiring him, I received a wave of agreement from everyone. With this, we successfully solved the first problem.

「Alright, now for the matter with the elves」

As I said this, I looked at Zaratan.
He’s a turtle with big round eyes that you can hold in both hands. Even if he looks like this, he is one of the world’s most famous great spirit beasts.
His power is so great that it can clean the water just by being in the pond. It’s no wonder that the elves call him the『Guardian of the Lake of Spirits』.

(Such a big shot moved into our garden. The elves must be in a turmoil now that he’s gone)

They must be desperate to find out where he is. If Zaratan shows up in such a situation, there is no doubt that they will never let him go.
When I told him this, the turtle gave off a sullen vibe. He must have had some idea of what was going on.

「Hm? What is it?」

Here, the leader of the Heavy Lancers gave another suggestion. When I look at him, I see him swinging his horns and scratching the ground repeatedly with his front leg.

「You intend to fight them?」

They must be thinking of fighting the approaching elves off, but I couldn’t just nod my head at this suggestion.

(The conditions are too bad)

In an open area like a grassland, the Heavy Lancers would have explosive destructive power. Just like when they crushed the Kingdom’s knight order.

(But the location this time is either on top of the a shell or a forest)

Footholds, visibility, and trees could be in their way. It will be impossible for them to make a charge, which is their specialty.
On the other hand, the elven Knights would likely hide themselves at a safe distance while shooting long range magic attacks. It’s the same tactic I use when riding the Old Lady.

「It’s the opponent’s territory after all. No matter how strong you Heavy Lancers are, you can’t beat them with just one or two of you」

Out of respect for their pride as warriors, I didn’t declare that they would lose.
The leader of the Heavy Lancers must have also realized the disadvantage in numbers. He didn’t push any further.

「We’ll have to do this transfer operation as quietly as possible」

Unfortunately, there were no other good ideas. I was placing my hope for the Great Spirit Beast’s magic, but it seems it’s not all-powerful.
He would stealthily teleport there before dawn, and once the Heavy Lancers landed on the shore, he would dive and wait there. We decided to use this plan.

「What was it? You’ll try to stay out of the surface as much as you can, you say?」

What do you mean, you don’t want to be out on the water too much?

The leader of the Heavy Lancers tensed up when Zaratan said that.
The higher the waterline, the less room there is for the Heavy Lancers. He was probably worried about falling in the water when they moved.

「You’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning, huh. Please be careful okay?」

I ended the meeting with these words. The turtle nodded at my words.

「And don’t force it, okay? It’s totally fine if you can’t bring them with you」

The turtle’s eyes seemed to smile a little.
After they disbanded, I noticed a group of Heavy Lancers gathered around their leader.

『It seems he’s choosing members』

The one who told me was Dangorou, who made his way into my lap.
He says that there will be three Heavy Lancers that will board the turtle while the leader will stay behind.

「Choosing? That is?」

When I looked at it, I could see one of them pushing the others out of the way and trying to get in front of the chief. They’re making an appeal, no matter how you look at it.
When I looked at my lap for an answer, Dangorou moved toward my crotch. He and Imosuke, who was sitting in the palm of my hand, were pushing each other as if they were competing for space.

(Guess I’ll wait a while before standing up)

I was sitting on my butt at the root of the medicinal tree while watching the herd of Heavy Lancers.

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