Chapter 35 (1/2)

Chapter 35

When I checked the skill column, both skills were replaced with the newly created MP Recovery (L). With this, my MP issue was improved a little. Next I tried synthesis HP MP Recovery (S) and (M) together, but apparently, it has a 12-hour cooldown. It seemed that I can’t use this synthesis skill repeatedly one after another. I made a mental note to fuse those skills after the cooldown was up.

While I was mix and matching skills for a few days, the army was reorganizing itself to march towards the Empire.

Meanwhile, the prisoners of war were tasked to rebuild Raafu.

Some of them volunteered to join the Kingdom as well, so we put them under Hayato’s and Jirou’s troops. Tatsuma too was grouped in this category as well, but since he had declared that 『I have no intention to attach myself to the likes of you』, he was locked in a guest room. Considering his strength, it would be easy for him to break out at any moment. The reason why he hadn’t done so is a mystery.

3 days after the battle, Jirou told me that our army hadn’t finished reorganizing. Since I was still exhausted both physically and mentally, I decided to visit Yoko, who was dead-ing around.

Apparently, restoring her golems require a tremendous amount of mana, especially since she also needed to restore Gigant Golem’s gigantic head and the entirety of her dummy golem. In addition, it seemed that the newly obtained Exmizer require a lot of mana to move around, which made her stuck on the medical bed ever since the battle was over. Even if Adelle tried supplying her with mana, she would be sucked dry instead. So we had no choice but to rely on her natural recovery.

「Uuughー………」

She was having it harder than I thought. As someone whose mana also kept being regenerated and drained over and over, I understood her suffering. Being completely drained of mana was taxing both physically and mentally.

「Are you alright?」

「Umuu… No good… I’m sorry. I had recovered a bit but……」

「Don’t worry. It’s alright. Besides, you played an active role in the battle. It’s fine for you to take a rest」

「………Yaay」

I sat on her side and stroked her head. She seemed to be comfortable since she was starting to doze off. Her blond hair was smooth and silky, it felt nice to touch it. I don’t know when, but apparently, she had calmed down and fallen asleep while I stroked her head.

It would be bad if she woke up, so I guess I will stay here for a while.

I noticed the commotion when I tried to leave the treatment room. It seemed like something happened.

Maybe I should ask the prince…

Oh, a telepathic message from Paddle.

《Big Boss! Big Boss, can you hear me!?》

《Yeah, I can hear you. Don’t panic on me, what happened over there?》

Even the usually calm and composed Paddle to be this fl.u.s.tered… Was it the same problem as the one happening here?

《Boss Earl Allan asked us to help monitor the Empire’s coastal line, so we came with the guys from Kingdom’s navy, but… For some reason, every boat seemed to try to escape from the Empire’s vicinity. From fis.h.i.+ng boats, merchant’s s.h.i.+ps, even the wars.h.i.+ps. All of them sails full speed like crazy》

If only their wars.h.i.+ps set sail in a hurry, they probably had something schemed, but for fis.h.i.+ng boats and merchant’s s.h.i.+p as well? Something must be wrong.

《h.e.l.l Boss, even the stupidly big Frigate wars.h.i.+p ignored us and skedaddled away! So I borrowed a telescope from Boss Earl and take a look… You won’t believe what I’ve seen, Big Boss! There is this gigantic thorn-covered tree on the place where the Empire’s castle was supposed to be!! The whole town was covered in plant-like monsters. I have a feeling that tons of ordinary people and soldiers were killed, Boss》

《A gigantic tree, you said…?》

It reminded me with what happened with Barry. His body also looked rather tree-ish. Seemed like something bad had happened over there.

Perhaps, the uproar that happened here was…

《There is an uproar over here, they are probably talking about the same tree you just mentioned. You guys continue to monitor the situation from the sea. Get as close as you possibly can, but don’t endanger yourself. If the monsters noticed you, just escape as quickly as possible》

《Got it! I’ll tell Boss Barbarossa right away. We will also try to rescue as many people as possible!》

It seemed that my underlings know me well. They knew what I would order without me saying it. I should take care of them well.

《Yeah, go for it. I’ll close the connection. I am saying it again, don’t be too reckless》

《Aye aye sir!》

After I closed the telepathic communication, I quickly walked towards our headquarters. Hayato, Adelle, and Jirou had arrived before me. There was Tatsuma as well, handcuffed on a chair.

「Ah it’s you, Masaki. I was just about to call

call you. Something happened at the Empire」

「Yes, I knew about it already. Paddle has just informed me. There is a huge tree growing from the Empire’s castle and the town was riddled with monsters. We have confirmation that many s.h.i.+ps are leaving their harbor」

「Is that true!?」

Tatsuma stood immediately. He looked at me with a stern expression.

「I only heard about it just now. It came from a reliable source. What about you, sir?」

「I’m the same as well. After the battle was over, I sent some scouts to gather information about the Empire. However, after they told me about the tree, the connection was immediately cut off」

Paddle should be okay since he was watching from the sea, but the scouts were watching from the land, so some of them must had fallen victim.

Indeed, one must be quick to be a scout… but what if they were ambushed?

Or what if there was no way for them to escape?

「About the gigantic tree, Tatsuma, does the Empire castle have that kind of tree?」

「Not that I know of. There are only normal trees growing there」

Tatsuma answered the prince in a nonchalant manner and returned to his seat, but it was clear that he was itching for any information about the Empire’s current state of affair. If he wasn’t being kept captive here, he would rush toward the Empire’s royal capital immediately. I only had bad memories in the Empire, but Tatsuma seemed to have something important in the Empire. That was what I think.