Re:Monster

Chapter 7 : Day 61 to Day 70

Day 61

Since so many things happened today, it would be difficult to mention everything.

Thus I think I’ll do my best to avoid the useless stuff, and write about it from start to finish.

First, the number of Hobgoblins increased by eight. Two of them became mages while one of them became a cleric.

The one who had become a cleric was already close friends with Gobuji-kun; he might have been drawn into becoming a cleric because of this. The number of clerics increased as expected, and I found myself grinning wickedly.

The next part concerned Gobumi-chan.

When Gobumi-chan woke up today, she had become an entirely different race called a [Dhampir – Variant ].

The change in her appearance cannot be compared to the time when she ranked up from Goblin to Hobgoblin.

Or perhaps I should say, it’s unnecessary to compare them.

These were her features: her height is no less than 180 cm, a clearly charming body with a narrow waist accentuated by her breasts whose size would overflow in your hands, a moon-like beautiful face more fleeting than an Elf’s, her glittering silver hair that flowed down to her waist, fine skin, and finally, red eyes with golden pupils.

Also it says that she acquired the ability [God of Ice’s Divine Protection]; a wonderful ability that allows the user to generate and manipulate large amounts of ice with little risk towards the user. According to Gobujii, the blessing of a [God] is above that of a [Demi God], even when compared to the rare blessing that Gobukichi-kun possesses.

Moreover, it’s hard to imagine from looking at her delicate appearance that her strength and agility was remarkably different from before. I dare say that she would be evenly matched with Gobukichi-kun whose base stats were higher than me.

Even with the [Blessing of God] in the daytime the undead body of a Vampire would carry a weakness to the sun. But because she is a [Dhampir-Subspecies], this weakness is not an issue.

As always, she was able to go out without any limitations even in the day time.

In other words, to get to the point, Gobumi-chan has become immensely beautiful.

If you understood that much, then, there won’t be a problem.

But her appearance bothered me… I felt like I have seen that face somewhere before… like the adult face of a certain childhood friend.

I’ll keep this story for the time being as it does not concern today. Let us focus more on the changes.

These changes are really hard for me to grasp in just one day.

Now, about Gobue-chan…

What Gobue-chan had turned into was a species of [Lord] called a [Half Earth-Lord]. Anyway, she was not *from a subspecies.

She was at least 240 centimeter tall, approaching my height with a stout and solid muscular physique. She also had two large horns that extend 20 centimeters out and curve back on her forehead while having short yellow hair and garnet-like eyes. Her skin appeared to be firm but also included all the softness that came from being a woman, and her breasts were comparable to the size of watermelons but had better shape to them. Lastly, a yellow looking stone, around five centimeter in diameter, embedded in her abdomen as well as under both her elbows. They appeared to be the same type of stone that Hobusei-san’s [Lord] species had. Those stones, called “Ogre Orbs”, were always imbued in a [Lord]’s body and contained the abilities and characteristics of their species

Abilities of her species included manipulation of the earth. One of those was particularly related to mining; the ability [Complete Geological Comprehension] was able to see the brittle points of the bedrock’s areas. This aided the mining for more types of ore while, at the same time, strengthened her body.

As a trial, she attempted to dig through a wall with her bare hands acting similarly to a drill and the ground gave way. Barehanded, she dug more effectively than when she was equipped with a pickaxe as a hobgoblin.

There was no point in complaining about this; we could mine more ore and spirit stones faster than ever before.

Also, It seem that she can use lightning based magic, and it can occasionally be useful during mining to locate ores. She was able to obtain a variety of ores because of this.

What can I say, Gobue-chan has leveled her mining skill well. It is amazing to see the things that happen when you push forward with your all towards a passion.

In combat Gobue-chan is nothing to fool with either, she can easily break rocks with her bare hands. Imagine what would happen if a soft living thing was caught with one of those blows.

A body is frailer than bedrock, it would become like meat paste.

She sure is scary.

Now, moving on to Hobusato-san.

Because Hobusato-san has always been good with using the sword, she became a [Lord], specifically Hobusato-san turned into a [Half Bloody Lord]. Like Gobue-chan she is normal and not a subspecies.

[T/N: the half of ‘half bloody lord’ means she’s a ‘half’-‘bloody lord’, e.g. ‘half’-‘lord’]

She is two meters tall, with clearly defined muscles; she has modest breasts, and in the center of her forehead a 15 centimeter ruby extended. She has carnelian coloured pupils, slightly red skin, and long red hair the color of blood, that was bound by string into a ponytail. A unique characteristic of hers was that she also had two bright red Ogre orbs about five centimeters in diameter embedded into her hands.

[T/N: a carnelian is a brownish red gemstone]

Although it was not likely that she would gain the ability to use magic, her physical capabilities had grown, compared with before her combat strength grew in leaps and bounds. It seems that the [Bloody Lord] species will excel in close quarters combat.

As it is with a race that includes the “Blood Sword” and blood in their name, they have the ability to manipulate the blood of themselves and others, although there are conditions to do so.

Even if she cannot use magic, these abilities made her strong. If we are talking about only direct combat ability she would probably be fourth or third place after me and Gobukichi-kun, and she will certainly be in the top five.

Although it seems that she falls behind Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan in terms of physical power, in close quarters combat I expect that [Predict], [Precognition], and [Intuition] evens out the match.

At any rate, mysteriously everyone developed a black tattoo similar to mine like Hobusei-san, but differed slightly in the design and placement.

Hobusato-san had one on the back, Gobue-chan on the arm, and Gobumi-chan on the leg. The other Hobgoblins had them on the leg, arm or neck.

I am not worried about them, because I feel that a power boils up from these.

I expect that I will gain an understanding of these in the future.

As a celebration for Ranking up I passed out two magic items to each Hobgoblin.

Out of the magic items that had not been used yet, Gobumi-chan received a blue and white dress made with dark magic, and bound together with steel like thread, she also got glasses related to her new ability that is a trait of her race, the [Eyes of Bewitchment]. These glasses work to seal the effects of her eyes’ ability, it is best not to look into her eyes for too long. As a present she got an enchanted claymore called the [Drop of Moonlight], the sword looks like a piece of artwork made with ice crystals.

Gobue-chan got two new weapons, the [Earth Goddess War Pick] and an enormous [Earth Goddess Shovel] as a set that have the capability to accommodate her new, larger, size. Also, because of the change in her size due to changing species, she was given a new set of clothes consisting of surplus magical items, and I also gave her a new towel to wipe away the sweat from her hard work made of my thread.

To Hobusato-san I gave a set of magic items consisting of full plate armor made with red iron, and a red cape which is a good match for physical and magical attacks.

On top of this I gave Hobusato-san an enchanted long sword [Blood Princess] that has the ability to suck blood, even though this hardly seems necessary with her abilities.

To the three people who became a race above and beyond that of a standard Hobgoblin, I supplied them with bracelets that have the storage ability, Gobukichi-kun and Hobusei-san already have these.

But, yeah.

Gobumi-chan has become like a noble’s daughter, on her front side the zipper stops just short, liberating the rest of her top. Gobue-chan is dressed like a farm boss, she has the towel I made her wrapped around her body and tucked into her breasts, exposing the top of her chest and her navel. Hobusato-san has the composure of a knight with her whole body dyed in red.

Nevertheless.

Even though we had ranked up so much, we still call each other by our old names, like Goburou, Gobukichi-kun and such, and it was beginning to feel odd.

Well, we are not Goblins anymore.

I asked Gobujii, and it happened like this.

Goburou → Ogarou Gobukichi-kun → Ogakichi-kun Gobumi-chan → Dhammi-chan Gobue-chan → Asue-chan Hobusei-san → Supesei-san Hobusato-san → Burasato-san Gobuji-kun → Hobuji-kun Gobufu-chan → Hobufu-chan etc.

The individuals who had ranked up each received their new names.

Though I did not expect Gobujii to have good naming sense, this was terrible.

People just have to understand, since it is not like a person can decide his or her own name either, so I just let the matter go.

In addition, since this will likely be asked, I will go ahead and say it here.

If you take the average strength of the races and place them in order, it looks like this.

Dhampir ≥ Half Spell Lord = Half Earth Lord = Half Bloody Lord ≥ Ogre ≥ Elf > Kobold Foot Soldier > Kobold = Hobgoblin = Human > Goblin.

This is a list of only the races, it does not include skills and armaments.

Although an Ogre can beat a Half-Lord race in terms of physical strength, but since, unfortunately, their intelligence is usually lower, their tactics are simpler, and for this reason they are weaker.

There is not much of an opportunity for exceptional individuals.

Now, to go on about the Elves and Kobolds.

I decided to refrain from eating the kobolds since they decided to join us yesterday.

Well, even if I did decide to eat them now the flesh won’t be able to strengthen any of my abilities, and it appears that having them around won’t hurt, since their loyalty seems genuine. I am anxious to see what a Kobold will turn into after it ranks up. But, it is reasonable to assume that it could turn into a variety of things, and anyway having minions that can move freely as scouts in the future will be a great asset.

As for the war between the humans and the elves, I know that Father Elf-san will make a request of me again. But for now there is still time, and a messenger will be here soon without a doubt.

Then, if he does make a request, I am going to accept it.

A large-scale war will lead to me gaining new abilities, and it will be good for making myself stronger by itself, and I can also gain some knowledge about the military powers, tactics, and methods of battle in this world.

It will also serve to strengthen ties with Father Elf-san, and that Elven wine will become easier to get a hold of.

That sake is seriously delicious!

For that reason, having a large number of minions to be used for putting the humans in a trap, or constructing military camps, or launching surprise attacks would expand the range of strategies I can use if it comes to participating in the war.

That was the reason why I decided to not kill them but make them my followers, but of course, there’s no way I’d trust them just like that. Even within the group there are only a few that I can totally trust, so there’s no way I could have confidence in Kobolds who appeared out of nowhere.

So as insurance, I gave all the Kobolds new and improved cuffs that were enchanted with three abilities like the communication-device cuffs I distributed before, but further enhanced with a new ability [Enslave], and had them wear it.

With this, the immediate problem of wondering if the Kobolds who lost would defy me is solved. Even if they lost their loyalty, they could be used without any problems.

Then, the cuffs are also supplied to the elves, who were used for sex and breeding. However, these are superior objects, enhanced with [Conceal].

The purpose is to have them submit body and soul with [Enslave], while avoiding any unnecessary trouble with the other elves with [Conceal].

Somehow, it seems that the Elves had a culture or custom where cutting a hole in their ears for the attachment of ornaments is a serious taboo—By doing that, it seems their name will be struck from the clan forever, and they will be exiled as punishment; for that reason it seems that Elven slaves that circulate in the markets of this world had their characteristic long ears cut halfway—having these ear-integrated cuffs installed was mostly to try to deny them their last bit of resistance.

Other than that, it was fine to just install the cuffs, but in that case they could make up an excuse like “It was done against my will, I couldn’t help it” to hide their real intentions, so I did this to strip off their remaining pride.

Well then.

As for the males, I put Ogakichi-kun, who consulted me beforehand about his relationship with Asue-chan, in charge of them, saying “Try doing it with them as practice before the real thing”—of course, I gave him detailed instructions to go easy on them so as to not break them—, and as a reward, left them to the goblins whose social standing were too low and had no chance. Despite being males, the Elves sure were pretty boys. They were satisfying enough. That goes without saying.

I have to ask myself, If the higher ranked Hobgoblins just take charge of the women for hours on end.

In the end I think it is better for them to live obediently.

Therefore, the elves who had all been imprisoned until now to prevent any chance of escape were taken out of the cave.

I then had allowed for them to participate in training with the Kobolds and the others. It could be said that to use an elite elf only for sex and breeding would be wasteful. It also seems that it is more difficult for Elves to get pregnant, so the numbers that will be bearing will strike a balance that is more ethically sound than what happened with the human women before.

Now that I no longer have fear of rebellion because of the cuffs, the sex and breeding program in the future will be more efficient. It might be good if the enemies that are captured are human.

The elves, being out of prison for the first time in ages, showed an expression of freedom in most cases. It seems that the change of scenery was a great success.

However it is time to train now, the point is to be able to organize into ranks quickly, and to be able to run for a long amount of time. It is the type of basic training that Gobukichi-kun and the others were made to do up until this point as well. Anyway this would be good for the Kobolds, but the elves being made of elite warriors could have skipped over the basic training, but since this was a new beginning they performed the foundation work too.

The ones who naturally knew how to do this had no problems, and the ones who had a thing or two to learn had some minor difficulties.

The training continued until they couldn’t stand anymore.

After a break, there were apparently no Kobold out of them who could be chosen based on combat, strength, or character, therefore a Goblin supervisor was appointed to teach this new group the way to use logistics and how to be effective rear support in battle.

Those that remained now, were the Kobold children and the elves, they were given additional combat lessons through sparring sessions.

In sparring, the opponent was not Gobukichi-kun. The opponents were not Goblins or Hobgoblins, and they are not between the elves and the Kobolds either.

This training serves the purpose of also being an experiment.

The opponent for the Elves, Kobolds, and the others will be a skeleton produced by my [Lesser Summon Undead] skill.

As I can generate them almost indefinitely, there is no risk involved, and I even gain experience if they are defeated. I gain experience for the ability every time I use it, and among the bones that remain after defeat there are a variety of materials that can be used for blacksmithing or alchemy, so this process kills three birds with one stone.

The practice is held in a cave, it is a little gloomy in this large room, but it needs to be because the strength of an undead wanes in daylight.

The undead appear from the ground forming from a black shadow. Like some sort of hallucination the bleached bones of a skeleton rise up from it.

But this time something unexpected occurred.

Unlike the common (Skeleton) that was normally formed, a black skeleton had been created instead, it stood at a height of two meters, and was equipped with a jet black mantle and (Full Plate Armor) that covered its entire body in brutally sharp looking metal.

It was armed with a curved saber, and had a crimson (Kite Shield) for defense.

This was not the same white skeleton as before, but instead was a (Black Skeleton Knight). I could clearly see that this was a higher rank compared to the past skeletons.

It would be comparable or even superior to a Greater Skeleton. The skeleton system uses “Soul Equipment” to arm the body according to the ability of the individual. This means that weapons and armor are expressed by the level of either [Greater Equipment Materialization] or [Equipment Materialization].

These high quality weapons and armor cannot be wielded by another person after the skeleton is destroyed because the armaments disappear into a fog at the moment of defeat. Since the quality of the equipment has improved to the point where it envelops the entire skeleton, this skeleton without a doubt is the strongest I have seen up until this point.

I examined it quickly.

According to the examination the [Lesser Summon Undead] somehow created it, even though my abilities should be too low to do this. Normally the performance of an ability is generally strengthened when I eat, but this time it is different, and to me it reaffirms that it is best to practice with the abilities too.

These reasons are why this black skeleton is to be fittingly called the Black Skeleton Knight .

The Black Skeleton Knight faced off against Elves equipped with Mithril short swords and round shields, but the skeleton ended its fight the victor.

I could tell at once by making it fight, this skeleton has the skill of a true knight, complete with the robust defense of the kite shield, and the furious waves and slashes let out by its saber, I can only say that it has brilliant movements.

The Black Skeleton Knight was resistant to slashing abilities, and fatigue, because of this it is well suited for drawn out conflict.

Even against the elves there was no major difference in skill, but in the end it lost to a difference in physical strength.

Yeah, this guy isn’t usable.

Simply put, experience gain was a big factor, also trying to manage a number of Black Skeleton Knights, I let them be defeated by going easy. The normal experience gain was steadily decreasing in value once these were defeated. I’m not sure of the reason, but It must be something that was done though.

Later in the evening, the experiment with [Lesser Summon Undead] continued.

Day 62

Using [Create Lesser Undead], I once again endeavoured to raise everyone’s levels yesterday.

I could confirm that it’s possible to alter the summoned monsters according to my will.

I could make different kinds of black skeletons; axemen, lancers, archers, and mages were all possible, and if I wanted to go easy on the opponent I could even make simple white skeletons.

It was even possible to summon moving, decomposing corpses called “zombies”, frail clusters of souls called “ghosts” and other undead types.

I wanted to try eating the ghosts, but even I couldn’t eat insubstantial creatures.

It appears that there are certain conditions that have to be met to eat a ghost in this world, so I swore in my heart that if I met someone who could do this that I’d eat his flesh.

Returning to the original topic, for the purpose of earning experience points, I created mainly zombies and the ordinary white skeletons; then I let them get defeated by the troops.

The Black Skeleton Knight is stronger than the others, and for this reason it was able to act as Gobokichi-kun’s or Gobumi-chan’s sparring partner, and was used as an instructor for the Kobolds and Elves respectively.

It was not able to talk beyond making rattling noises. It could communicate using rough gestures though.

Steadily strengthening this ability will make it terrifying.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that there were no problems with the undead.

Undead-type monsters have various restrictions like [Sunlight Vulnerability] and such.

Dhammi-chan is an undead, too, specifically a dhampir, but since she possesses a [God’s Divine Protection] and is thus a subspecies, it isn’t a problem for her, unlike for other undead.

Black skeleton class monsters could somehow last ten minutes, although they start emitting black smoke from all over their bodies, but their overall strength dropped so much that it couldn’t even be compared to their usual power.

They got so weak that even the kobolds could defeat them so it should be easy to imagine.

That was what it was like for the Black Skeleton Knight Class of the Skeleton species, so weaker undead such as zombies or ghost and the like couldn’t even last ten seconds before being purified.

Though the zombies were exorcised in the sunlight, their rotting bodies remain, and can be used to spread disease in enemy territory, or as material to fill up holes, or recycled as meat for Hobufu-chan who liked to eat them, but ghosts who leave nothing behind can’t be used at all once the sun comes up.

Besides, it also hurts that they can be easily exorcised, specifically by using holy water or holy light.

Thinking about the forces that can fight during the day, the calculations went a little crazy.

Troubled over how we’re supposed to overcome that, I stopped thinking about it for a moment. Today I was earnestly overseeing the training of the Elves and Kobolds.

The elves were originally hand picked elites, thus they could improve their skills simply by fighting Black Skeleton Knights and Black Skeleton Axemen one on one, so training them was easy.

For that reason, I concerned myself more with coaching the Kobolds .

The Kobolds, as a species, were about equivalent in power with Hobgoblins, perhaps higher, but anyway, here’s our current composition:

Lord : 3 Females Ogre: 2 Males Dhampir: 1 Female Hobgoblin: 6 Males, 4 Females Hobgoblin Mage: 3 Males, 2 Females Hobgoblin Cleric: 1 Male, 1 Female Goblin: 14 Males, 16 Females Elder Goblins: 4 Males, 4 Females Elf: 10 Males, 7 Females Human: 5 women. Kobold Foot Soldier: 1 Male Kobold: 18 Males, 10 Females, 4 children, and 3 elderly 119 total.

Including pets into this.

Three-Horned Horse: 5 Hind Bear: 3 Black Wolf Leader: 1 Black Wolf: 8

So, it is a large group of 136 in total.

Even with these large numbers, our residence was originally a huge mine, and in addition expansion work has been carried out so living space is no problem. However, with our current strength there’s a large difference in our supplies of armament and food.

Weaklings and those with weak positions within the units are made to be gophers, they—The game that was hunted is primarily used as food. There are plenty of wild fruit and vegetables as well, since the sisters are in charge of the goblins making delicious cuisine, the nutrition balance is not bad — receive less food than others.

No, at the very least, they can eat.

But, all living things want to fill their stomach after strenuous exercise, those in low positions will only get to partially fill their stomach. It is simply hard.

The biggest problem is armaments.

In a world where the strong eat the weak, powerful weapons are important to increase the chances for survival.

You might be able to keep afloat by using fangs and teeth, yet, for the purposes of reach, the sharpness and durability – among other factors – of weapons used by humanoid races will give superior results.

But the weak remain weak, they get inferior weapons compared to others. As such they get viewed as weak by others and the possibility of them being targeted increases. Even though they’re already weaker under normal circumstances.

Is it bad that I don’t change this rule? Think about it, giving the weak good armaments would, to a certain degree, be a waste of treasure and most importantly the distribution will become unbalanced, leading to ruin.

I am aware of the merits.

In order to cultivate their abilities, from now on I will never change this rule.

Train them until they vomit blood, make them feel like they’re dead to increase their individual power.

Well, amongst the kobold some are approaching level 100 and will rank up soon, biting into the higher positions and mixing it up.

Besides, truthfully, I carry some expectations for the young kobold children, since they are in their growth periods.

Their race already excels in nimbleness, so I put a policy in place to emphasize it in their training sessions.

Day 63

Today I am riding on Kumajirou, similarly Dhammi-chan and Redhead were mounted on their respective familiars, and walking behind us were the common foot soldier kobolds which comprise our 17 fighting members, to go to the cave of the kobolds.

The purpose is to seal the hole that was connected to the Velvet dungeon at the interior part of the cave, as well as to retrieve the little loot that was stored by the kobolds.

The kobolds’ cave was a 40 minute walk away.

After retrieving the luggage, I ordered Asue-chan to destroy the cave as she is best equipped to handle the task.

With this the first purpose is finished.

Afterwards, I allowed the kobolds to hunt.

Armored Tanuki and et cetera were killed and brought home as food for the future. Lately the favorite target for hunting is the black wolf.

Though I still needed more familiars, I wanted to accumulate lots of linked experience; that’s why I risked clashing with black wolfs that I aggroed into one big group.

While training is important, it is indeed necessary to pile up actual combat experience that places one’s life on the line as quickly as possible.

I had trained them in the basics of the basics for two days; the main thing now is to see whether or not they can leverage that. Well, I was aware that I was asking too much of them, but they had assistance from the cuffs, and if we didn’t do this now nothing would happen.

Let’s work to exhaustion.

Though I didn’t really expect that much of them,the Kobolds tried their best.

They moved as I ordered, and the group of 12 black wolves were driven into a trap laid out by another division.

They were injured more or less severely since the unreasonable condition not to kill the black wolves was imposed on everyone, continued regeneration (Regen) was added on the cuffs so it was not a major problem because they easily recover from wounds of that level.

I considered it this time, it might unexpectedly be a good find, the kobolds that is.

The brains of the captured black wolves were tampered with quickly and turned into familiars.

Afterwards, the next group of Black Wolves we found were successfully herded in the same way, thus the «Familiars» we gained today were twelve Black Wolves. Only, neither of the heads of the two groups we captured today had the abilities of the ones called “Leader”. Regretfully those individuals were just the same as the others.

That said, we were able to get them in sufficient numbers, so for now I’ll call it a success.

As we were going back in high spirits, because of today achievements, we encountered a “Stamp Boar (Temporary Name)” with its characteristic rocky snout pierced with an iron nosering.

“Just in time for a test of strength!”, said Asue-chan eagerly as she dismounted from her favourite Triple-Horned Horse to attack it from the front. Naturally, the opponent Stamp Boar, with its disposition to crush and eat anything that opposes it using its craggy snout, charged without any intent to run away.

Then, as the [Earth Goddess’ War Pick] that was swung from right to left hit the Boar, it smashed through the boar’s body.

The rock-like solid body of the Stamp Boar couldn’t withstand one blow from Asue-chan, its front half was blown off.

Though it appears that I wanted to adjust things, but well, things turned out this way—it had a body that was hard as stone, so for Asue-chan who could break stones with her bare hands it would be a very easy enemy to kill—, that was what I thought, so I said nothing in particular and washed off the blood from her face using a water ball.

The carcass could become valuable food so I put it away into my Item Box, once I was back in the cave, we made it into hotpot and ate it.

At night, I was approached by Blacksmith-san while working on various work, she wanted me to come to the smithy.

I went with her, thinking what could she possibly want; what I saw there was the figure of a halberd, freshly repaired.

Though I had overused the halberd at that time of life and death battle with the Red Bear previously and as a result lost its usefulness, do I remember requesting Blacksmith-san to fix it?

In short, the repaired version of it has been completed.

Furthermore, Blacksmith-san applied some revisions on several areas, the blacksmith master proudly boasted.

First of all, the axe head is the feature of the halberd, it is made of an alloy produced by combining water spirit stone, wrought iron and mithril. Because a water spirit stone is mixed, water gushes out when it is shaken just like the spirit stone knife.

However only by shaking it will the exaggerated water tricks occur. I have already proven that moving it at a constant velocity will turn the water into a blade. When used, it seems the range of the attack expands up to 3 meters.

Since the sharpness has been improved from the time when the knife could almost have been called a blunt weapon, even if water does not go out it can be treated as an ordinary edged tool.

Then, there is the spearhead, it was made out of an alloy of spirit stone, wrought iron, and mithril just like the axe head. The spirit stone that was used was a lightning spirit stone that gives off lightning. When thrust at high speed, it can fire a bolt of lightning from the tip, hitting distant enemies with an electric attack.

I thought that perhaps by using [Triple Stab], lightning would also be fired from the invisible spearheads, firing three lightning bolts at the enemy all at once.

What a convenient thing.

The pick on the opposite side from the axe head was likewise made from a similar alloy, the spirit stone used was fire spirit stone. As a test I took out a log from the Item Box and stabbed it with the spear, and fire came roaring out from the place where the pick pierced the log.

Inserted at the butt end on the other side from the blade part was a tetrahedral polished earth spirit stone, stabbing the enemy with it becomes easier with the help of my Earth Control system abilities.

Above all, using the spirit stones in combination, the effects are greater than normal. It was probably equal to or greater than the knife I enchanted before, as I was thinking about why it was the case, Blacksmith-san told me this.

Somehow, it seems that she got a new Job. Surprised, she didn’t tell anyone and kept it a secret until she had finished making the halberd.

Right now, the only one who knew this was me, I was a little bit happy.

The name of the job was [Spirit Blacksmith], it seemed to be a rare job she got by clearing some troublesome conditions such as regularly handling various spirit stones and becoming proficient at handling it.

This seems to be the main reason for the increase in the abilities of the spirit stones used for the halberd.

I was so happy I hugged her. Recently, due to one thing or another I had been able to adjust my strength, even unconsciously.

The smile that Blacksmith-san turned towards me in my arms was very cute.

I got a bit fired up.

Day 64

The number of Hobgoblins increased by three Goblins today. I’m a little disappointed that there weren’t Mages or Clerics this time.

Well, Mages are usually one or two Goblins per group, although the current situation’s abnormal.

As always I give them a congratulatory gift each.

After today’s training, I let the kobolds go into actual combat in buddy pairs and secure food. Only fighting skeletons is good for acquiring experience efficiently, but will get you in a rut, people who fight a wide variety of races can develop practical skills.

I intend to come out of the forest one day, so looking at things to come, as expected we should gather experience facing various monsters while we’re here so that we’d be harder to kill.

For that reason, with the spare time I had now, I made preparations for going out hunting alone.

The savoury taste of a Stamp Boar was unforgettable. What’s more, these places had a fine likelihood of rewarding new abilities. Its about time that we tread on new habitats and ate new monsters.

I already searched for the habitat of the Stamp Boar, it’ll be found immediately since I already knew the signs before this.

As I tried to depart I was stopped by Ogakichi-kun.

He wanted to talk somewhere private, so we went out the cave and walked for a while. We talked after I confirmed no one was around.

According to him somehow, finally, at last, in the end, he decided to confess to Asue-chan. His feelings became stronger with his rank up,

Only problem is, he doesn’t know what to say. And wants my council.

So he expects cheap consultancy service, is what I’d like to think but Ogakichi-kun is my buddy.

So I suppose coming to me for council would be… obvious right?

So much for today’s plans to go Stamp Boar hunting, huh. We shall dedicate the time from noon to evening for strategy and tactics.

And with that, Ogakichi-kun shall commence “Operation Confession” tonight.

The result of which we’d know in the morning.

Day 65

It was a success. What was? Ogakichi-kun’s confession, of course.

Ogakichi-kun reported this to me, blushing, after I woke up today before the paired kata with him that had become my daily routine before morning practice.

[T/N: kata — it’s a Karate thing. Practicing the ‘form’]

Well, I did expect it to be a success so I was not surprised. Perhaps Ogakichi-kun did not realize it, but Asue-chan had also fallen for him since some time ago.

The news that Asue-chan had consulted Dhammi-chan about it had fallen into my hands, so the rumor was not a mistake.

There really was no worry about him getting rejected; I even secretly shared all the details of yesterday’s strategy meeting with Dhammi-chan using the cuff-type communication devices in order to buy time to orchestrate those two’s relations.

The fact that things turned out this way was all a matter of course.

The only thing I was worried about is whether he got too excited last night and broke Asue-chan or not.

[T/N: He’s an ogre, but Asue-chan should be just as big.]

Well, I already mentioned previously that I had put Ogakichi-kun in charge of the male elves as advance practice, but there was a precedent where he broke various things when he had his first time with a partner that had a 1 meter difference in physical size. He was assigned a 2 meter tall elf, the biggest of them, right now the elf is being healed by Hobuji-kun as practice and put to bed.

Asue-chan is currently the top miner of spirit stones that pop up around the area, because of the influence of Velvet’s Dungeon, and also of various rare metals, so it would put a dent in work efficiency if she couldn’t move.

See, the current Asue-chan is an excavator-like existence.

I wonder if I should regulate various plans in response.

That was what I thought, but as far as the reports I’ve heard, everything seems to be fine.

Because it wasn’t Ogakichi-kun’s first time, because Asue-chan is tough, and then because he honoured the promise I had him make last night at the strategy meeting, it seems he was able to do it in moderation.

Which was a pleasant thing.

At any rate, during today’s kumite, Ogakichi-kun was so spirited he took several of my punches.

[T/N: kumite is similar to kata in that it’s one of the three main sections of karate training.]

Even with trembling knees he was still smiling. His spiritedness was so annoying, I might have to allocate several black skeletons to let out my feelings on. I immediately put that into practice.

The sparring finished at noon, and as I was going to go capture Hind Bears with Ogakichi-kun, Dhammi-chan and Asue-chan said that they want to come along.

When I asked Asue-chan about how her mining operations were progressing, it seems that she had been steadfastly working all morning and had met her quota, so for the first time in a while the four of us went hunting.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to encounter the Hind Bears we had hoped for, but we succeeded in hunting five Stamp Boars, six Poison Mantises (tentative name) with 1-meter bodies and sickles dripping with purple venom, four Rhinoceros Beetles (tentative name) with 1-meter long horns and lustrous black iron-like exoskeletons, five Argiope, four Demon Spiders, three grey-shelled sixty-centimeter long Messenger Locusts (tentative name), and eleven Yellow Monkeys (tentative name) with yellow fur and strangely-growing tails.

As expected from an area that we haven’t come to before, there were lots of monsters that I hadn’t eaten before. Only unfortunately, I had to worry that shelled insect-types like the Poison Mantises and Rhinoceros Beetles would be poisonous if eaten by anyone but me, so the products of the land weren’t so good.

Unfortunately. Yeah, Unfortunately.

As a result, as soon as I stripped the parts that seemed usable off them and tossed those in my item box, I crunchingly ate the remains. Feeling awkward that I was the only one eating, I had the other three eat two Yellow Monkeys each.

Ability [Molt] learned Ability [Generate Insect Wings] learned Ability [End Edge] learned Ability [Silent Kill] learned Ability [Horn Blow] learned Ability [Dissonance] learned Ability [Parasitic] learned Ability [Improved Jumping Power] learned Ability [Tough Vitality] learned Ability [Exoskeleton] learned Ability [Shell of Wrought Iron] learned Ability [Limit Breaker] learned Ability [Cold Vulnerability] learned

I became a Henshin Hero.

[T/N: ]

Well, I ate the rhinoceros beetle to obtain [Exoskeleton] and then the personal armor I was wearing that was created from the red bear was immediately taken the instant I activated it. The carapace had a unique red luster to it and came from a humanoid stagbeetle no less than 2 metres 50 centimeters in height. I was in was completely covered in armor.

I was second guessing myself about why it looks like a stag beetle when I ate a rhinoceros beetle? Surely my horns are to blame.

When I turned my senses towards the slightly curved, sword-like, pair of horns, I could get them to move. As a test I held a tree in between them, and slash, I was able to cut it. Furthermore, I did not feel the slightest bit of resistance, so sharp were the horns.

I could really get used to this

I inspected the exoskeleton for a little while.

Since I was doing that, I expected to understand the skeletal structure as well, which seemed to be awfully easy to move in yet extremely sturdy. I tested it by having Ogakichi-kun hit me and while the part that was hit was dented a little, I did not feel any pain. Somehow it seems that there was a mechanism incorporated into it that reduced damage by dispersing the impact throughout the exoskeleton.

Moreover, wearing it felt like wearing the armor from when I was deployed at work before my reincarnation, a power suit made from biometal. Eventually I got used to it until there wasn’t even a slight feeling of my movement being obstructed.

Moreover, somehow the exoskeleton seemed to even have power assist, so I couldn’t find any faults in it. Well, maybe being too conspicuous is one.

Yeah, well, this was an extremely good ability.

Only, after a brief investigation, I want you to excuse the fact that I become stark naked as soon as I dismissed the [Exoskeleton]. It’s okay though, since I had the trousers I made before; I don’t actually have a hobby of stripping.

It did hurt that the sentimental protective gear, full of memories, from my fight with the Red Bear disappeared.

Well, as I tuned my senses,

Ability [Exoskeleton] Entry 1 [Red Bear Beast King’s Prestige] registered Entry 2 [ ] empty Entry 3 [ ] empty Entry 4 [ ] empty Entry 5 [ ] empty 4 more form entries remaining. Which entry number would you like to equip?

Was displayed inside my head, so it didn’t completely disappear. I was thankful for that.

It looks like I was able to change forms depending on the course of battle. It was a handy ability for having such a good use.

Also, it was good that I could produce wings that enable me to fly, but the flight controls were more difficult than I had thought.

I should practice when I get home.

Being extremely pleased with this outcome, I grabbed my spoils, returned home and ate them.

Taste of Stamp Boar meat never disappointed.

Ability [Reckless Charge] learned Ability [Tail Attack] learned

After that, I tried some flight practice, crafted a couple items and then dropped to sleep.

Mhm, excellent day.

Day 66

Today was the first time it rained in quite a while, so I decided to go bother Redhead, Blacksmith-san, the Sisters and the Alchemist-san.

Well, they’re usually asleep together at nights and running errands during day and noon, this gave me very little time to pamper them.

After having earned [Noire Soldier], Redhead’s attacks were relentlessly brutal. Up until now, she was equal in terms of physical capabilities but fell short in terms of raw strength. She really is beginning to catch up.

Lately, she’s been coming to me saying “Come train with me, I wanna spar” which I find adorable. Hard to explain it.

You know that feeling when puppies come over to play showing their adorable faces? Oh and a miniature toy dog at that, with that tail wagging all over the place. Something like that I suppose.

To most, she might resemble some kind of fierce doberman, I on the other hand see a little puppy running up to me.

And that’s how I spent the morning, playing with Redhead.

I’m gonna bother Blacksmith-san next.

Lately the elves Kirue and Arue ? these were the ones guarding the fool, anyway I’ll just refer to them as “guard elves” for simplicity ? have been enthusiastic about crafting mithril alloys, the workshop was littered with knives and shortswords.

Mithril crafting is something only the guard elves could do, so among those captured, these two were the only ones capable of it. Giving the task to them is what I’d call having the right man for the right job.

Those two really seem to be daughters from a good family with a splendid lineage.

By the way, not all elves are familiar with Mithril crafting. Blacksmith families passed the technique down through the generations; that is why most elves aren’t familiar with the process and can’t craft. These two were elites who not only received training but also had crafting passed onto them by their lineage.

Well, although there is a drawback about the quantity two people can make, it can’t be helped since only the best is made.

Since I requested for someone to make a repeating crossbow, Blacksmith-san and the guard elves are contributing opinions concerning the new production. I’m wondering if the development was a success? Tell me when it is.

The repeating crossbow loses out to the conventional bow in range but who cares, it rained havoc on the opposition.

It seems Blacksmith-san’s been doing great lately. Prototypes of many new weapons have been made and tested by trainee goblins.

Results of which seem promising. We now had many new weapons in our arsenal.

I requested for the mass production of the repeating crossbow. Taking the opportunity, the guard elves begun acquiring the made mithril, as it is extracted from my silver arm as an ingot. Though the composition of the mithril taken from my silver arm is close it’s still a counterfeit, with this my personal products will be made as I request them.

I understood, a blushing Blacksmith-san, with her chest puffed out in pride is too lovely. Without realising it, I couldn’t close my mouth and it just hung open.

After that, we exchanged various opinions.

I went to the Sisters place in the evening.

Recently they have been working hard at their new job [Chief Cook], being in charge of preparing food for the Goblin commanders.

Since several of them ate frequently, if the Sisters didn’t start cooking early there wouldn’t be enough. Fortunately the utensils, since they were looted from Blacksmith-san’s work, could be put to multiple uses; at any rate, the kitchen had become similar to a battlefield.

Moreover, I had also joined in. I started chopping the food. Even if I look like this, I can still cook fairly well.

While I was glad she was cooking, despite being able to study and exercise, among other things, Aoi was useless at it; that’s why I had the pitiable experience of eating her food.

That Aoi, I wonder what became of her after I was stabbed.

After the rice preparation was finished I worked until evening came. Together with the two sisters, we had started our food research.

The goal was the reproduction of food from my previous life. Right now, potato chips could be made among the other foods. Since the ingredients were completely different from my previous existence, I thought it was going to be a rough time, but when I consulted the two sisters, it looked like they finished it relatively quickly, so I did not worry.

The food quest was interesting

After the meal I went to Alchemist-san.

Recently Alchemist-san had devoted herself to manufacturing an original magical item using skeleton bones; the result of which I had not yet learned.

I thought I would find out about it now.. So, I went to check out the situation and ask her about it. She informed me, without hesitating, to conceal everything. It was anti-climatic.

However, I had a surprise after that.

She presented to me the whittled bones of a black skeleton she had made into rustic, black stakes. There were 10 of them, supposedly their ability was “a person stabbed with this is unable to leave for a fixed amount of time”.

“Amazing, I’m really impressed with these; I’ll make sure to cherish as them memorabilia,” I said.

It seems like Alchemist-san also gained a new [Job], although she seems to have kept silent about it.

Nevertheless, I think that lovely way of speaking attached to the smiling face is foul play; an ordinarily cool girl that displays impish behavior.

While flirting stealthily, just like before, the intruders started coming in one after another.

After that I definitely won’t say what happened afterwards.

Day 67

A little past noon, six messengers from Father Elf-san arrived. Though they came without having a appointment, I let them through for the sake of listening to their story, and because I understood they were not trying to be discourteous.

The elite elves were participating in the training in the great hall when we entered and spread out immediately. However, the messenger and the others never said anything about this matter.

Only for an instant did they turn their scornful glances towards them.

Right now the elite elves, because of the [Conceal] added to their cuffs the elves possessed darkish bodies — since they look like that they should be referred to as dark elves. I think by only glimpsing the elf messengers you would not realise that they were from the same elf village.

As for the scornful gaze the elf messenger turned towards the elves, in fantasy it is often the case when communicating that elves and dark elves relationship is bad. Considering this result I’m sure I’m right. This is a favourable situation.

When the elite elves were practicing, it looked like some of the elf messengers wanted to say something, but in the end nothing was said. Now, afer such a long time, they could no longer return.

Afterwards, the elf messenger and the others went through what was both my workshop and private room, the tea that I received from Father Elf-san before was served. Unfortunately, since there is no sofa they are going to have to sit on the single chair made from my thread.

Although among the six, only one was sitting on the chair. This one probably had the role of war negotiations; the others seemed to be escorts.

And then their side started the conversation.

Although I already knew it from the beginning, the human army seemed to have arrived at last. In addition, arriving from the routes I taught them about before, it seemed that the military forces were of a splendid scale.

Even with the magic items I offered, the Elves are still anxious about the fight with the human army. The hole left behind when I made the Elite Elves my subordinates was quite large now, they came to our place to request assistance for that reason.

If the elite elves heard that, they showed no signs of knowing anything about it. They all went missing as a result of the idiot who mobilized the elite elves without stating the purpose.

Their whereabouts are unknown even now. We were searching for any signs of them but because nothing has come up even after such a long time they were given up as dead.

At any rate, I wonder if that carefree Father Elf-san is manipulating the information in some way, though I’m honestly grateful for that.

After exchanging light gossip, we started to talk about the job.

So our mission in a nutshell is to either repel the Human army, or possibly destroy them? It would be good if it’s within our capabilities to destroy them. However we can also strategically retreat, but won’t allow running from the enemy. Although I don’t think the meaning will change much.

The reward was 40 sets of mithril short swords, round shields, and chain mail, 10 mithril ingots, 3000 mithril arrows, general magic items that produced light, etcetera.

Based on my achievements, it seems they would give me even more among the other stuff. Any items we plundered we could keep for free.

They asked whether I would accept it, of course I readily complied with their request.

However, our conditions are that we are able to operate freely then we will let them include us. Instead of fighting from the front, guerilla tactics will definitely bring us victory. Fighting from the front is a last resort.

For the sake of smoothly exchanging information, the bracelet with the communication feature installed into it was handed to the messenger elf; I am sending it to Father Elf-san.

After seeing off the messenger elf who was returning, I dispatched a part of my body as a scout. Since confirming and collecting information on the war situation is a big deal.

At any rate, the mercenary corps << Preparation for war (Parabellum) >> had their first job.

Day 68

Three in the morning. We ran in the forest still shrouded in darkness.

There are a few members because I put an emphasis on mobility; I sat on Kumajirou at the lead with only 36 people riding «Familiars». The others are waiting in the cave.

The reason for moving now is simple, the scout that came from my body discovered the human army’s garrison, for the sake of commencing a surprise attack.

The scale of the force we were attacking was about 800 people; their numbers were much too different from us. With the <> included, I had 73. If we were to attack normally, the result would be our death.

Even for me, attacking an enemy who not only is large in numbers but whose combat abilities I do not completely understand is just too rash.

However, at night the situation belonged to us.

If I continue summoning Black Skeletons and Zombies we’re unlikely to lose because of their physical superiority. But since it wouldn’t help the situation if I exhausted my magic creating undead, I’m absorbing the magic accumulated in the darkness so I won’t run out.

If it became dangerous we could escape immediately. Our mobility will be assured since it would be difficult for humans, who don’t have night vision like we do, to chase us.

Therefore, we commenced the surprise attack; we didn’t even need to run. It took around an hour to completely wipe them out.

The operation went smoothly,

Approaching secretly.

→ We had detected the lookouts from within the semi-transparent barrier around us.

→ We had scattered about in order to encircle their surroundings.

→ After confirming everyone was at their assigned placement, right after I destroyed the semi-transparent barrier with a javelin made from my Demise magic, Asue-chan surrounded them with a four meter high mud wall.

→ Signaling them, the magic of Dhammi-chan, Supesei-san, and the tops of the mage corps that the two were leading created explosions all over the enemy lines. In an instant, several hundred units of the humans were dead.

→ While I was generating approximately 10 undead every single second, I had changed my left arm into a ballista and was firing spears created by my Demise magic

→ After brutally killing small-fry in ten seconds a silver female knight accompanied by a white clergyman, a crimson swordswoman and a jet black magician, plus some others, conspicuously exited the large tent in the center, clearing a portion of the zombies and plain skeletons.

→ That group’s concentrated attack kept the Black Skeletons at bay.

→ During the time the surroundings were being annihilated, the women were taken prisoner. Though this wouldn’t apply to them if they were ugly.

→ I rode on Kumajirou with my halberd to the remaining elite forces. I was being accompanied by Kurosaburo, as well as the heavily armed Ogakichi-kun who was followed by a Hindbear and Supesei-san who sat atop one while chanting. Also following me was: Dhammi-chan wielding [Drop of Moonlight], her claymore of ice, in one hand while spreading [Eyes of Bewitchment], Asue-chan smiling with her gigantic War Pick, and Burasato-san who changed into a red knight , simultaneously releasing 30 blood swords into the surroundings.

→ An unrivalled stampede; a perfect subjugation.

→ The fight has ended.

Even if I look back, it’s just another cruel battle. No, this might have been a one-sided humiliation.

Well, I’ll put that aside.

The undead shouldered all of the injuries; that is why we went without casualties. It looks like those women, besides for the exceptional ones, will be forced to die. I think it’s likely that after the surprise defeat most of them will be gone. But just in case, I’ll let the black skeletons scatter throughout the surroundings.

They have until sunlight before they are purified, but even if they vanish, since they are merely an insurance for now, there won’t be problems.

The gains gained from this surprise attack are prisoners that will become necessary breeding persons; in addition there is a large amount of army provisions. I got a lot of things, especially women and magical items.

Moreover, since a decrease in the degree of freshness decreases the chance of securing an ability, I selected the superior specimens and ate them then and there.

Ability Braveheart learned Ability Trip learned Ability Army Leadership learned Ability Job-Captain learned Ability Job-Heavy Swordsman learned Ability Job-Minstrel learned Ability Speed Reading learned Ability Job-Strategist learned Ability Smithing learned Ability Improved Evasion Rate learned Ability Large Spin Slash learned Ability Cross Slash learned Ability Hard Qigong learned Ability Soft Qigong learned Ability Job-Spearman learned Ability Job-Slave learned Ability Job-Farmer learned Ability Job-Monk learned Ability Unilateral Sense of Justice learned Ability Pure Faith learned Ability Mindless Acceptance learned Ability Chain-Soul learned Ability Job-Heavy Warrior learned Ability Job-Light Warrior learned

This is gre~at.

I’m so glad I did this.

Afterwards, the captives, who were put to sleep with toxins, and the loot were taken home. Stimulants similar to the ones the former elfs were administered were brought into the prison.

However, as expected, the human males we had applied stimulants to were not as attractive as elf males. The plan is to have the men labour as slaves and information sources.

Since men are different than women, they will be put in slave collars immediately.

My compassion is to “not kill them”. Should I have them work until they die?

Well, I wonder how many days the women can endure despite the pleasure. A report by Father Elf-san detailed our gains from this battle.

I was very surprised about the hourly report just before noon; if this inspection really is the case, then five barrels of Elven wine will be brought here directly by an escort and will arrive at approximately 3pm.

“I see, cheers.”

After a light alcohol gathering, Father Elf-san had gone home.

Well then, how are the prisoners? I think I’ll go and see; my patience is at it’s limits. I only reacted to the courageously fighting Female Knight-san that I had come into contact with; her haughty manner was amazing.

Huh? a great nobleman’s daughter? hee~, hmm. That’s not a big deal for me right now.

After all, I’m not human, I’m an Ogre now.

The circumstances of a human are irrelevant to monsters. But, I’ll allow it for now.

Afterwards, I loaned the male prisoners to Goblin and Kobold females who requested them because the men’s reactions were amusing.

But Female Knight-san and the others’ first partner naturally has to be me…

Day 69

While I was sleeping, I felt a slight pain in my chest.

When I awoke, it seemed that my heart had been pierced by someone. The culprit was the one who hadn’t been cuffed yet; the aforementioned Female Knight-san, who was clothed only in her birthday suit, was already wet in many places.

Even though she was really perturbed yesterday, I thought that she would eventually regain her sanity. Fortunately, the stray wrought iron knife (Blacksmith-san’s work) that she had picked up and used on me, was one only meant for chopping food.

While leisurely thinking about that, I grabbed the handle of the knife embedded in my chest and pulled it out. You should not underestimate the survival power of someone from the Ogre race. I won’t die from just a shallow wound to the heart made by a simple wrought iron knife. It only hurts some, merely stopping my movement when I heal my wounds.

But, as I dislike pain, I used «Fast Healing». The wound closed right before my eyes.

Then, as I looked up, I saw Dhammi-chan stark-naked. She was holding Female Knight-san down while grabbing a bunch of her hair with quiet, simmering anger.

Unable to fight back against the inhuman physical strength, Female Knight-san looked up at me with a hateful look.

Hmm, it looked like it wasn’t enough yet. Therefore, I injected a drug into her that I created myself and punished her together with Dhammi-chan.

[T/N: punish = sexual innuendo]

I know I’m exaggerating, but in the afternoon I personally cuffed Female Knight-san!

We gathered the male slaves and made them spit out all of the information that they knew. As a result of [Enslave], they could not lie or withhold information from us. We will pass all of it on to Father Elf.

Because increasing our feats seriously affects the Elven morale, yesterday we received 10 barrels of Elven Wine from Father Elf-san in exchange for information. It was a good deal.

Also, as of today there are 4 four more Hobgoblins today. Mixed within them, was a Cleric.

As usual, I will send them a celebratory gift.

Day 70

Today we set up various traps on the human army’s invasion route to ambush them.

The human army was planning to take advantage of their greater numbers to attack the Elven army from multiple directions. That’s why we are lying in wait on separate routes to defeat them one by one.

Because this is one of the many routes that are currently being watched, it seems likely that one of the units of the main force will pass by here.

While I think I would be able to gain a lot of experience points from this fight, I devoted myself to dividing the hunting ground together with Asue-chan.

The road that looked like a game trail was slightly lower than its surroundings, and as we moved forward we altered the terrain to make a little slope.

We set pitfall traps at the base of the trees, which grew thick on both sides.

Then we dug a trench to hide at the base of a certain tree that was a little farther from the road. To make it safer here, we installed a shield made out of wooden boards and placed fauner near the trench to make it inconspicuous. Blacksmith-san had worked hard to make enough repeating crossbows to equip the long distance attack troops, , who were stationed inside the trenches

We also placed <<Red Charge>>, the light infantry, inside the trench as an insurance. So even if they jumped over the pitfalls and got close by slipping their way through the rain of arrows, it would be easy to buy ourselves some time… or make killing them easy.

However, they ought to have been dealt with by our kobolds that were hiding in the pitfalls before that.

Soon after we finished the general preparations, the scouts from my squad reported that it would take our enemy approximately 30 minutes to arrive here with their current marching speed. So, all we could do was hold our breath and wait.

Then, they came.

The Rusty Iron Knight, who was equipped in a rust-iron colored full-body armor, advanced while astride his war-horse. He paid close attention to his surroundings as he led an orderly army that did not break ranks while it marched behind him. Certainly, each of them seemed to have relatively high fighting abilities, I guess there were about 700 of them.

Amongst them were magic users? ‘Magicians’ is a general term to represent them, describing those whose job involves achieving miracles by using magic. There were Summoners, Arcana, Sorcerers and more? Probably about 100 of them.

Considering the annihilation power of magic, even with only 700 of them, they had an tremendous fighting potential.

But it didn’t bother me, it made me feel they were a delicious opponent.

Coordinating the troops through the cuffs, firstly we felled a tree and cut off the enemy’s path for retreat. Despite the loud noise of the falling tree, it didn’t crush a single person. However, it diverted the attention of our enemy and gave me the opportunity to shout out the next command.

With their retreat cut off, it was time for our first assault.. We rolled over and pushed down multiple boulders that had been carved out, from the hill above our enemy on them. The recessed area that was the enemies’ foothold, caved in on both sides and became a disaster to those who didn’t get away in time. They were either crushed or they were trampled to death by their comrades who desperately tried to get away from the falling boulders.

Within them, there were those that took up their weapons, others used their magic to try and pulverize the boulders. Unfortunately for them, I had placed an enchantment on the rocks so that they wouldn’t break easily and maintained their momentum and rotational force when rolled down. Their resistance was in vain and they fell prey to the boulders.

Of the 700 enemies once standing, more than 200-300 were crushed to death or were left unable to fight. Many others had suffered injuries from the aftermath as well, it would be difficult to immediately re-organize themselves again.

Of course I had no intention of giving our enemy a break, so we barraged our enemy with our repeating crossbows, sending a rain of poisoned arrows at them.

We had sealed off their escape by gruesomely crushing their comrades with a surprise attack of falling boulders which was followed up by a rain of arrows that came flying in. It was a nasty method that was fearsomely powerful, especially since we used numerous repeating crossbows.

Moreover, because I smeared the arrowheads with a poison I made, even the slightest touch was deadly. Thus this attack instantly cut down the number of enemies.

In an attempt to fight back, some of them tried storming the trenches but ended up falling into the pitfalls that were skillfully hidden. They were met with a wretched end as they got beaten to death by the hidden kobolds.

Of course, this alone was not enough to kill them all. The commanding power of Rusty Iron Knight was not something to be taken lightly.

He raked together the few that survived and arranged a formation using the bodies of their dead comrades to shield themselves from the poisoned arrows. We tried to bring them down with the boulders, but those were destroyed by rapid blasts of magic that were shot from between the crevices in the shell-like formation. With the poisoned arrows being blocked by their shield of dead bodies, we could no longer decrease their numbers.

We plunged into a short stalemate.

Just as I was thinking that he did well with barely 100 left, I felt a surge of interest in the Rusty Iron Knight.

Because I wanted him as my pawn, I stopped their annihilation by magic attacks for now and had the heavy armed unit, led by Ogakichi-kun, charge at them from the top of the hill.

To prevent shooting our own by mistake, we had to stop firing the poisoned arrows. So I just watched over Ogakichi-kun and his men as he readied his ‘Tower Shield’ and they advanced forward.

Magic attacks spurted from the enemy line at Ogakichi-kun, but all of them were blocked by the magic item ‘Tower Shield’ and were dispersed to no purpose. Our enemy judged that it would be useless to aim for Ogakichi-kun and started targeting the others. However, most of them were protected by the Tower Shield.

As both armies closed in on each other, the enemies desperately jumped out from the enclosure in a sink-or-swim resort, but were not able to break through the defense of the heavy armor unit, and were instead cooperatively slaughtered by the members of the heavy armor unit, one by one.

Though Steel Crowback struggled against Ogakichi-kun, there was no real contest as Ogakichi-kun had improved his skills in a fight against the Black Skeletons recently. The reason why he was ‘struggling’ against them, was because he was simply playing around since I ordered him to bring Rusty Iron Knight back alive.

Then after 30 minutes when Ogakichi-kun had enjoyed the fight to its fullest, Rusty Iron Knight was knocked out, captured and enslaved.

And so the meat was distributed and were munched on, crunch, crunch.

Ability Job-Sorcerer learned Ability Job-Shielder learned Ability Job-Sentinel learned Ability Shield Bash learned Ability Combat Technique Aptitude learned Ability Sword Proficiency learned Ability Guard Proficiency learned Ability Job-Archer learned Ability Job-Hunter learned Ability Job-Item Creator learned Ability Shield Wall learned Ability Greater Tool Appraisal learned

Our military achievements this time were quite outstanding.

After we collected the useful-looking equipment, we transported the spoils of war, useful-looking prisoners and food just like last time.

We drugged the captured women and put them in jail while the men will be put to work as slaves immediately.

After that, I reported to Father Elf-san.

If they could no longer restrain themselves and sought after the captured women, at that time I shall give them as a reward to individuals that had performed well.

I replied when I was asked what will become of them. Father Elf-san said ‘not to force them against their will’, but to have your way without drugging them, what are you talking about?

Since they are enemies, we should at least be allowed to drug them.

Now, shall I going to ask various questions of Rusty Iron Knight? Just as I was thinking of doing that, Dhammi-chan embarrassedly tugged on the hem of my bottom with flushed cheeks.

Huh? She wants a… child?

I got fired up in various ways.

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