Extra 3 Part 1
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Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
「Take THAT!」
Accompanied by Hiroshi’s battle cry, the heavy mace made a splendid sound as he swung it at the boar-shaped monster, flinging it spinning into the air. Then, once its weak spot, the abdomen, was exposed, one arrow pierced through all the way to its heart from point-blank.
「Hiroshi, send one this way, would you!」
「Hiroshi-kun, over here too!」
「I got y’all!」
Answering both Makoto and Haruna, he first sent a boar flying over to Makoto using Smash, and once the skill delay had ended, he immediately launched another one over to Haruna.
「Sensei, above!」
「Yeah, I’m one step ahead of ya!」
He found the Gigantic Crow that had quickly flown down at him a moment earlier than Mio had spoke, countering its rapid descent with Smite and felling the beast.
「Wind Cutter!」
Right before it fell to the ground, Tatsuya lopped off its head with Novice Wind Magic, landing the final blow. Then, in response to the carnivorous bear that had appeared from afar seeking out the source of the blood scent,
「Over heeere!!」
Hiroshi built up pressure with Outface and concentrated aggro onto himself. Momentarily faltering, the bear leaped at Hiroshi out of fear to try and knock him down, but the next instant it was blown away in a flashy manner.
「What now?」
「S’long as we got that proof of subjugatin’ the monsters, I could care less.」
「Got it.」
They finished that little exchange before the bear could regain its composure, and Tatsuya promptly turned it into a popsicle with a nonverbal spell.
「Good job.」
「Man, we really git a lotta those suckers out here.」
Hiroshi muttered in an exasperated tone as he kept his vigilant battle stance, looking around at all the monsters they had taken out. The monsters they had finished off numbered over twenty. Although this did not even reach 30% of what Makoto and her group had gone through when they had gone to get the solmizen, they couldn’t simply ignore such a mob, especially when it was in the midst of winter near human villages where snow was gathering.
「I couldn’t believe my ears when you artisans said that you would round up all these monsters and annihilate them, but…」
「You really are something, all of you…」
「So cool, Boss Man!」
The craftspeople who had been taking refuge in the safe areas around the battlefield began to all marvel about this fight. On this particular occasion, the five of them had come here for a quest in the farmland outskirts of Wulls, hoping to also train in coordination. Nora and the other two figured this would also be a good opportunity to tag along for materials. Of course, this was with the permission of the landlord.
With that being said, using the term “outskirts” was a bit misleading. Leite Village was positioned in an odd location, the road to the village taking about two hours by foot to walk to from the eastern gate and then another half day from said road. The information for this particular quest was simple: drive out the unusually large amount of monsters that had gathered in the vicinity. With the mission being as simple as it was, several other adventurer groups besides Hiroshi’s had come and were hunting in other areas assigned to them. It was a little vague as to just how many they had to hunt, but Hiroshi was fairly sure that there was no need to take down 100 or 200 in just one area. In fact, hunting too many of them would eventually become an issue in and of itself.
「This is all normal stuff fer us. Heck, even if I ain’t here, Makoto and Brother could easily end it all without taking up much time as well, right?」
「Pretty much.」
「But if we’re talking which way is easier on us, this way is far easier, Hiroshi.」
The two of them said exactly what they were thinking, agreeing with Hiroshi while still maintaining their battle stances.
One might be tempted to think at a glance that five people fighting would be better than only having two people fighting such enemies. However, other than maybe amateur group fights, monsters were a whole different ball game.
First off, it was already presumed that each member of the party was able to at least take down one monster in a one-on-one battle, and they also had to have a firm grasp on their equal role as a party member. It would be even better if they could fulfill their part while keeping in coordination with what the other members were doing, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt for some people to share expertise in the same fields as each other.
In that sense, the Japanese team was the closest to the ideal composition. In their case, it was also true that they would have liked another person who was skilled at support magic, but of course that was too much to ask for. After all, they still had the unrivaled, reliable tank known as Hiroshi, and Tatsuya wasn’t the only one who could hold the forefront. They were truly blessed to have such options.
Although they couldn’t be as stoic as Hiroshi or Douga with their usage, Makoto and Mio also had top-notch guarding ability. Also, since Haruna didn’t have a single problem with going up against one or two monsters at a time, she could follow up whenever things got rough. Again, they were truly blessed.
「But ever since you learned Outface, things have gotten quite secure, haven’t they?」
「When you didn’t have that ability, you couldn’t even tell that the occasional enemy was in your blind spot. That’s a great way to lose.」
「Aww c’mon, ya can’t just expect all that from a simple craftsman.」
「No, I’m pretty sure that a “simple craftsman” wouldn’t try and stand in the front lines without using Outface.」
Hiroshi was already troubled with Tatsuya and Mio’s comments when Makoto also interjected with an exasperated face.
「Well, there doesn’t seem to be any more coming out, so let’s just gather whatever we can.」
Haruna had been listening to their conversation with a wry smile, surveying their surroundings before making the proposition. The reason Haruna hadn’t said much of her own opinion was because she was well aware from prior experience that their own perceptions of the outside world were inevitably skewed from regular people and their perceptions. Though it was already too late, surely there was no need to continue to offer her own opinion and be treated even more like an oddball by the other craftsmen. Or at least, that was what she thought, concerned for once about her public image. She didn’t intend to tell anyone, though.
「Yup. Oh, but we got a lotta raw materials fer once.」
「Could we possibly use them for practice?」
「Other than the animal hide, I’m purty sure that Haruna could barely even do it, let alone anyone else. We gotta git our hands on materials that’re at least not too hard to make into a Level 7 potion, otherwise everythin’ we use fer potions is gonna be too difficult.」
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement at what Hiroshi had said, cutting off just the parts that proved their subjugation of the monsters. This would at least make them some money, so they collected whatever they could, but it was unclear as to what they could even manufacture using these items.
「So how many medicinal herbs were you able to gather?」
「For now I was able to somehow gather a basket’s worth.」
「What amazing work you’ve done, Fum.」
「You worked pretty hard yourself, Teres!」
From their point of view, the harvest itself was marvelous. The reason why Nora was more fatigued than Teres or Fum was probably a mere difference in ability. Compared to Teres, who was formerly a denizen of the forest, and Fum, who had often searched through weeds to harvest edible food, Nora had made it here through a more odd-job approach, so it couldn’t be helped.
「In that case, how about we go back and report, but in the afternoon instead?」
「Yup. We might ‘ave a lotta heat regulation enchantments cast, but there’s no tellin’ just how cold it can git.」
「True, it would suck to have snow fall on us.」
Hiroshi and the others agreed with Tatsuya. Even if this area was close to Wulls, the surroundings had accumulated with snow piled on snow. Even the snow that had fallen three days ago still remained here and there, the fact that it was two or three degrees colder than the roadside was already a telltale sign.
「Haruna, what did you prepare for the afternoon?」
「There’s some good-quality gyano and I made it into a saple, actually.」
「Oh, that sounds tasty!」
Makoto made a truly happy-looking face in response to Haruna’s answer. It was a large-scale fish with the eyes of an amberjack and the taste of a salmon, and saple was food wrapped in big tree leaves and roasted. Not limited to gyano, saple could also be made using various meats or fish, which was soul food good enough to rival the other representatives of Farlane like Terrona and Burfshu. The leaves used differed depending on the season or region, characteristic of their own unique flavors, and the typical way to eat the things sold from street stands was to bite into it while peeling away the leaves. Furthermore, these three types of meals could also be arranged elegantly in official courses.
「The temperature isn’t too cold at the moment, so we should get a move on now.」
「Understood.」
Mio, much like Makoto, was also in a pleasant mood, implicitly urging everyone to return so that they could eat. Everyone else gave them lukewarm smiles, but had no qualms with that, proceeding to head back. As to the astonished faces of the other adventurers who saw them bring back an unprecedented amount of monster parts as evidence for everything they hunted in the afternoon, that is another story.
「Starting next week, I’ll escort you to Kalsus, just so that you know.」
When Elena and Aearis had come over to hang out, Haruna let them know the plans. Hiroshi, Tatsuya, and Makoto were out on errands, while Mio was overseeing the workshop, so Haruna would be the one taking care of them. At times like these, Layla would never show her face outside of when she brought tea in, and Lime had just begun her afternoon nap, so it would be a while longer before she would wake up.
The number of people who could enter and exit Azuma Workshop was limited, and there was also the fact that it boasted much better defenses than an amateur fortress, so if you were to enter directly via a transportation stone or with transportation magic, depending on the situation, it was quite a bit safer than even a castle. As a result, they had made sure that most people did not know about princes and princesses coming here unguarded. In the first place, just thinking back on the time they had sheltered Elena and Aearis, they had already been through a lot with them. Why bother having second thoughts now?
There was of course the typical opinion that the royal family should not connect so deeply with a mere manufacturer, but in the first place, there were just too many things that could not be harvested without Azuma Workshop. Many of said items were included in national policy, and until they were easier to gather, it was impossible to weaken their relationship with Azuma Workshop. These unique circumstances had put them into a strange, delicate position where the workshop would not be affiliated with any power struggles. Of course, those involved in this entire affair didn’t have the slightest intention of doing anything nefarious by deepening said relationship.
「……It’s already that time, is it?」
「Well, there’s also the fact that certain areas in the center have already begun to lose the snow.」
As they were remarking on such things, the two royals dove further into the warm kotatsu. Although it was true that winter was about to end, it didn’t change the fact that it was still cold.
「Yeah. Everyone in the workshop can finally begin to do some decent work, and this seems like a good opportunity to practice, or so I’m thinking.」
Haruna’s definition of practice in this case had two purposes. One purpose went without saying–practice with workshop procedures in the event that Hiroshi was absent–and the other purpose was to move Hiroshi and the others as far away as possible.
Incidentally, both Wulls and Kalsus were port cities, but needless to say, it wasn’t like their logistical relationship consisted only of maritime trade. There were already several villages and towns along the way, and there were of course plenty of items that were not suited for long trips at sea. Besides, even for the fishing villages along the coast, it wasn’t like ships would always stop at their ports. Transportation gates, as convenient as they were, were never used anywhere other than in the capital of every country or in the public transportation system of big cities. The transportation circles in the main cities were also limited to small sizes, and of course the only ones who could use those were royalty, nobility, or those with permission from the royal family.
Therefore, the major job of protecting caravans would not be going away so easily, at least not until a land transportation system with the convenience and speed of a railway that could resist monsters were to be invented.
「Well, thankfully, we can procure however many transportation stones we need, so even after leaving Farlane, I’m pretty sure that Hiroshi-kun plans to return quite frequently.」
Even though they had done the best they could here, it had only amounted to them finally being able to measure and mix without failing. Curry powder, they hardly had any issue making, but in regards to soy sauce, which required unclassified potions and ripeness, it was a bit lacking in stability. As a result, it was necessary for Hiroshi or Mio to return a minimum of once or twice every month in order to issue orders.
No one could after all be expected to become so proficient in just three months or so. In actuality, they had begun teaching them how to make glass bottles in three months and they had managed to reach a somewhat unstable level of unclassified potion making, which was already exceptional.
In addition, digressing a bit, being able to use transportation stones like they grew on trees was in a sense the dream of every adventurer. A transportation stone was a miraculous item that could transport the user instantly to any location that the user had either traveled to and recorded once or was familiar enough with said area to the point where they could envision it. Each stone could transport five to six people at once, plus there were no drawbacks. With that being said, transportation stones were convenient, but also throwaway items, so it wouldn’t take many days before all the magic would ebb away and their usefulness would end. Given this caveat of magic gradually dissipating, transportation stones were in general build-to-order manufacturing, the price a whopping 10,000 Chrones.
”If transportation stones are pricey, then why not use long-distance transportation magic?”, some might ask, but that task in itself would severely deplete energy, making it harsher in terms of travel limitations than even transportation stones. Once you used it, it would take a minimum of 24 hours to recuperate, and more than anything, traveling in groups had a 1/1,000 chance of causing a transportation accident. It was a dangerous type of magic. To add further to this, unless you were to use outside measurements like Barold or gather over ten people for the ritual, the amount of people you could transport at one time and the amount of material resources you could carry in were no different from that of a transportation stone. Well, the vast majority of accidents were merely being sent to a different point than the intended destination, as well as the fact that Layotte or Aearis could ignore all the restrictions (minus the number of humans) by using their special Alfemina magic.
It must also be noted that even if you could theoretically bring along as many as you wanted, there was still a limit to it, and you would certainly struggle with coming and going every day with these stones. In the first place, unlike during the game, the transportation stones over here could only get you so far before their effects wore off, so it wasn’t even certain whether or not they could get to their first destination, which was in the center of the Great Forest of the South, and move again from there. Darl, the next destination, would almost certainly require two stones, even for the outskirts of the country borders, and three for the capital itself.
「Come to think of it, you mentioned something about making a way to move to other places without using transportation stones or transportation magic. How’s that coming along?」
「It’s in the middle of being tested. Apparently it’s best to be able to freely activate it in an area with few people in order to check for any issues.」
「I see. Then what did you end up making?」
「Does the term “golem carriage” ring a bell?」
The two of them understood what Haruna was saying. Although it was comparatively more rare in Farlane, it wasn’t like they never saw such things. In the case of Farlane, the main mode of magic-assisted transportation was by ship, so the golem carriages used for land transportation had not been developed much. The best place to sight golem carriages was probably Lorren, as its inland transportation had revolved around them.
「So is said carriage the type that the golem itself pulls? Or is the carriage itself mounted on the golem?」
「The carriage would be on the golem. Hiroshi-kun is going to work on it all night and make one that about seven people can sit in.」
「Wow, that’s quite the scale we’re talking about there.」
「The only remaining procedures are the washing and repairing. He fully intends to have the two of you riding aboard with him.」
「Then I can look forward to that.」
「That sounds fun.」
The two girls seemed to be happy for some reason. But they’ll probably be shocked when they see it, thought Haruna to herself irresponsibly.
Some sagacious people might have already realized that what Hiroshi had made was a so-called “one box” car. Needless to say, flooring the gas pedal would allow you to easily surpass 100 km/h, boasting not even just the highest specs in all of Farlane, but of the entire world, except for maybe monsters. As Hiroshi had invested all he could on the suspension aspect, riding in this carriage would easily surpass not only the current carriage system, but likely any vehicle in the world.
Now, only judging by the speed potential of this vehicle, one would assume that if any mistakes were made and you crashed into something, then the damage done would be proportionately different from that of a regular carriage. As a countermeasure, Hiroshi was making sure not only to consider accidents but was also thoroughly washing it again to make sure that there were no issues with the hardware. That happened to be the reason why he decided to go outside and run around a side road where there were few people.
That being said, the thing that Haruna assumed they would be “shocked” to see was not the speed nor the specs of the vehicle. The real issue had nothing to do with the speed, design, or comfort level. For some reason, thinking of when the vehicle would not be in use, Hiroshi had thought up a detailed gimmick.
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