Chapter 96: To Gantz part1
Original Story Synopsis
Driven from her homeland, the Starveek Kingdom, by a coup, the fallen princess Cleria Starvine collapsed on the road while attempting to reach refuge in the neighboring Belta Kingdom with only a handful of attendants. The one who saved her from peril and treated her severed limbs was a mysterious man calling himself Alan Corinth. Wielding unfamiliar weapons and unable to speak the local tongue, he nevertheless rescued Cleria from the swarm of monsters with terrifying ease.
Believing Alan to be a ‘noble who honors chivalry’, Cleria chose to travel with him. While they camped and waited for Cleria to recover, Alan studied the language and magic with astonishing speed. With nowhere to go, the two registered as adventurers and soon reunited with Elna Norian, a former royal guard of Cleria, as well as Serena Conrad and Sharon Conrad, twin beauties who claim to be Alan’s subordinates.
Through a guild commission that put them in touch with retainers searching for Cleria, they learned that under the harsh rule of the newly founded Alois Kingdom, there were people who wished to restore their homeland by welcoming Cleria as their sovereign.
Alan told Cleria that his own goal was ‘the unification of the continent and the education of the masses’, and proposed that they coordinate with the forces supporting him to found a nation together.
After much hesitation, Cleria accepted Alan’s proposal with conditions and decided to relocate those loyal to her into a city Alan says he would prepare within the Great Demon Forest, a land feared for being overrun by monsters.
「First to be offered up as our nation’s victim shall be this country—Belta—the one that wronged my beloved royal guard!」 With Cleria’s declaration, their first target is set: the Belta Kingdom.
Intervening in a battle between two dragons in the Great Demon Forest, Alan brought one down and succeeded in taming the wounded other. He auctioned the slain dragon’s corpse with help from the Commercial Guild, earning a fortune. Presenting the matched pair of dragon fangs to the King of Belta, Alan was safely invested as a baron of the Belta Kingdom in the royal capital and was granted the right to pioneer the Great Demon Forest as his fief.
Thwarting three separate plots by the prime minister Villis Burke, who views Alan as a threat, they rescue Elna’s imprisoned squad and Lord Leister, the former prime minister, along with his son. They also win over a clan of spies under the prime minister’s command. With craftsmen and orphans recruited in the capital, the party successfully departed for the city in the Sea of Trees that Alan promised Cleria.
This city, built deep within the forest, would become the base from which the AI of the Galaxy-class Battleship Iris Conrad—rendered inoperable in planetary orbit by a mysterious attack—would pour her full might into laying the groundwork for civilizational development, all for Alan Corinth, the sole survivor and successor to the captain’s authority.
To stand against the insectoid alien civilization codenamed BUGS, enemies of humanity who will one day reach this world. To prepare for this treat, Alan and his companions devote themselves to continental unification and the advancement of civilization.
Chapter 96: To Gantz
The two days until departure flew by.
The next day, I went to pay my respects to Archbishop Gertner before setting out. We talked a little about the orphans and the timeline for sending a priest to the territory, and after reassuring him that the apostle would be watching over him, I bid farewell.
When I returned to the inn, Erwin’s nephew, Julian, had come by during my absence with a letter and was waiting. He seemed sharp from the way he spoke, so after some thought, I placed him under Katolle’s command. Not too close, not too far—just within my sight. Perfect.
As for the prime minister, it seemed his subordinates had lost contact with Erwin and were in disarray, so there likely wouldn’t be any meddling before we departed. I wanted to avoid any confusion at the moment of departure, so that worked out.
I then dragged myself—reluctantly—to pay my respects to Count Gantz. He rubbed me the wrong way, but this was social necessity; I gave up and got through it with a pasted-on smile.
Two days later, word came right on schedule from the Crafting guild and the orphanages that their preparations were complete. I arranged for everyone to gather in the square before the royal capital’s main gate on the second night, to coincide with the vanguard’s arrival.
Roberto’s vanguard: 1,052
Craftsmen with families, plus clerks and others: 950
Orphans: 500
Adventurers: 150
Total: 2,652
The square before the capital was a madhouse—merchants handing off supplies to the vanguard, opportunists setting up food stalls, and hawkers everywhere. I’d notified the garrison ahead of time, and even though this was technically outside the capital, security was beefed up and there were no problems with public order. Well, we’ve already rounded up most of the shady types anyway.
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At dawn on departure day, I headed to the square in front of the capital. With this many people, the sight was truly something.
As I looked over the square, Cleria and Elna came over.
「Alan, say a few words before we set out.」
「Huh? You’re not doing it, Ria?」
「If the group were formed only of my uncle’s former subjects, maybe. But most of them are settlers for your domain, right? You should be the one.」
Mm. Put like that, she’s got a point.
I ordered the Satellite members to muster and sent word to assemble.
Once everyone had gathered, it fell to me to give a speech from the bed of a wagon—but people in the back probably can’t hear me, can they? Well, whatever. With these things, the atmosphere is what counts.
「Hear ye! Lord Corinth will address you. Attend!」
At Adjutant Dalshim’s words, everyone knelt.
「I’m Alan of Shining Star. Thank you all for gathering. I’m grateful. There may be hardships on the unfamiliar road ahead, but our preparations are thorough. Rest easy. As planned, the craftsmen and their families will depart first. Follow the directions of Satellite Squad One and do not fall behind. We now set out for my domain. Move out!」
Uooooooh!
Whoa, what a cheer! …Even though what follows is simply a steady, orderly departure.
First, Sharon, Satellite Squad One, and the procurement unit handling the various arrangements went on ahead, followed by the craftsmen and their families.
Between each group, Satellite Squads Two through Five and the adventurers slotted in by party, ready to deal with monsters should any appear. I’d agonized over splitting up Selena and Sharon, but to ensure a rapid response, we had no choice but to station the two capable of communications at the star and the end of the column.
「D-One, go on ahead and report any monsters that look like trouble to Sharon—every last one of them.」
「D-Two, take station overhead at the midpoint and keep watch. Eliminate anything that looks like trouble but isn’t visible from the highway.」
「D-Three, keep watch overhead above the vanguard; same deal—eliminate anything that looks like trouble.」
「「「Roger that, Captain.」」」
「Iris, for the night watches, rotate D-Eleven through D-Thirteen, please.」
「Acknowledged, Captain.」
「Selena, Sharon—I’m counting on you.」
「「Leave it to us.」」
After the craftsmen, the orphans departed. Because that group had been decided last, arranging wagons had come right down to the wire; we had to push it and pack them in. I didn’t love how they were crammed in so tightly that they looked ready to spill out, but making them walk wasn’t an option.
After seeing the orphans off, I greeted Hermann and the members of the garrison who had come to see us off.
「All right, shall we get moving too?」
With that, I set out with Cleria, Elna, and Satellite Squad Six.
After us came Robert and the margrave army’s vanguard. Because they needed to recover from days of marching and resupply, they would depart last. Satellite Squads Seven and Eight would insert between their echelons, with Selena and Satellite Squad Nine bringing up the rear.
We’d started departures in the early morning, but with 2,600 people moving, by the time word came in from Selena in the very back that they’d set out, the sun was already well up.
「The schedule is generous, but we still need to watch for anyone falling behind along the way.」
The trip from Gantz to the capital had been planned for twenty-seven days, but we scheduled thirty days for the trek to Gantz. With this many migrants, moving everyone at once had its difficulties, so we gave ourselves slack and set the settlers’ schedule at thirty-five to thirty-seven days. With lodging stops and planned encampments in mind, the plan was for the groups to reach the domain over several days.
「Alan, your plan is perfect. I wish you’d relax a little.」
「She’s right.」
Cleria and Elna, having made it to departure without incident, were completely at ease. The remaining uncertainties on the road to Gantz are the weather, monsters, bandits, and possible attacks orchestrated by the prime minister. Add in health issues and wagon breakdowns, and I can’t let my guard down.
In the end, the journey went frighteningly smoothly.
As for bandits, with a column moving this continuously, they must have balked at attacking. The only things the drones spotted were what looked like hideouts far off the highway, which we reluctantly left alone. As for assaults, Iris reported that Erwin had successfully tamped things down—there were signs of movement among the private soldiers, but then it stopped.
Katolle and the procurement unit’s arrangements were truly superb—no missed meals along the road, no shortages of fodder.
We couldn’t have meals like on the trip to the capital, but we did at least get to have some fun fishing and grilling our catch. We’ll keep that to ourselves, or Selena and Sharon will be jealous.
On the move, at night I consulted Cleria and Elna about our system of governance.
It quickly became clear Elna didn’t have knowledge of domain management, so I asked her about knight-order matters. In this world, a woman—especially a knight—hardly has opportunities for general education. Cleria, as royalty, has the basics, but her knowledge comes from a royal perspective, so she doesn’t know the nitty-gritty.
We set the broad strokes of the governance structure; once we reach our city, we’ll go over it with Lord Leister and see if there are any issues.
Shining Star is, at its core, a gathering of knights, so spinning up a clerical organization is going to be a struggle. Sharon and Cleria will be central, with Roberto and Lord Leister assisting, or something along those lines.
Separate from that, I held AR conferences with Selena, Sharon, and Iris to plan for handling and educating the orphans. That problem can’t wait either. Counting the craftsmen’s children, a third of this expedition falls into that group. Ah, I really shouldn’t have caved back there. I’m in for it now…
At the very least, everyone needs to be able to read and write and do addition and subtraction. We’ll select instructors from the margrave army and other former Starveek folk, but we should also ask the priest and sisters when they arrive. If possible, I’ll ask Silas-san in Gantz whether he can recruit locally too.
On the twentieth day after our departure, Selena caught up with us at the head of the column, bringing Roberto and several clerks. From there, as planned, they would pass the column and go ahead to enter Gantz first.
Passing wagons takes some care, but the roads weren’t too narrow yet, so it was doable.
That evening, we reached the lead camp.
「Adjuntant Dalshim, looks like things are going smoothly.」
「Because your plan was perfect, Alan-sama. The weather holding this far has been a great boon as well. Surely Ruminas-sama’s blessing.」
We halted the horses in the camp and immediately set about digging latrines. Selena and Sharon, who had been operating separately, still weren’t getting earth magic to behave the way they wanted; it had apparently been quite stressful.
Meanwhile, the four girls were enjoying some fishing. If left alone, they’d go until sunset, so I’d told them to call it after five fish—but the delighted shouts I heard said they were having a blast.
After dinner, I checked the upcoming schedule with Adjuntant Dalshim and Katolle’s team, but things were going so well that there wasn’t much to discuss. Since Satellite Squad Six would be leading the column from tomorrow, we did the handover from Satellite Squad One and called it a night.
Is this canon or just a fanbase delusional writing? I don’t see any announcement regarding continues chapter after chapter 95