Vol 8 Chapter 3.3 (1/2)

A track made of magic circles was projected about thirty metres forwards, and nature was twisted according to their established effect. The wildlife, overgrown from the interference of dryads and trents was made into a tunnel. The surrounding trees were avoided by warping them.

The magic circles continued ahead, bringing light. They didn’t just interfere with nature to make s.p.a.ce, they produced a floating force-field rail that made movement easy.

On top of them, moving via a repulsive force were steel vehicles. They were eight metre large box-like vehicles. With boorish armour and gla.s.s inlays for windows, those were tinted and you couldn’t see inside.

In the fourth back, a two floor construction that had a canopy that could open, there was a woman.

Her proportions brought to mind a carnivore and she wore a military uniform, Mizufa Trude.

She was a highly ranked general for the Holy Empire of Westelande.

The general had a cynical smile on her face that brought together stubbornness and shallowness as she gazed out through the gla.s.s. One beautiful leg rested over the other, showing her relaxation, her left index finger caressed circles on her sword’s hilt.

Mizufa was satisfied with the vehicle’s performance.

The vehicle had enough ma.s.s that it wouldn’t move without the chained rail but thanks to the magic circles, it could even navigate uneven terrain like within these mountains. Even the hard to deal with ma.s.s, when its defensive properties were taken into account, it wasn’t only a flaw.

The adventurers desired flight, this steel vehicle had failed mid-development and been discarded as an unusable toy. But to Mizufa and other people of the land, even this discarded toy was worth more than gold. That overwhelming difference in technological strength made Mizufa smile.

It wasn’t just technology; magic, stamina, inventiveness, adventurers had many times more of these than people of the land.

It was as if someone had decided they would play the lead role in the world.

And Mizufa and the others would be the supporting role.

Mizufa suppressed her amus.e.m.e.nt in the back of her throat.

She didn’t know who, but it was a cruel comedy.

“Our progress is good.”

“Our location?”

“As before, the eastern part of the Forest of Deep Sorrow.”

As Mizufa sat in the the centre of the steel vehicle, her soldiers were currently carrying out a top secret mission, Operation Red Night. There were only a few involved. However, it was an important mission involving the cutting edge technology of the steel vehicle, Summon Orb and EXP pots.

Even the Ten-Seat Council confirmed its importance, but Mizufa thought it wasn’t there yet. The adventurers didn’t even slightly understand the meaning of this operation.

At the same time as allowing the council’s whimsical leader to escape the castle, it encouraged the soldiers. Mizufa herself had been greatly effected by the scheme. Here, the soldiers would give their life and soul and wage war at Mizufa’s orders. Nureha was a princess that inspired blind devotion and wild enthusiasm in the Holy Empire of Westelande. Her charisma was beyond words.

“Though — Nureha-sama is capricious.”

However, despite all the devotion she had, Nureha was still an adventurer.

She may have gotten tired of progressing through the Forest of Deep Sorrow and had unexpectedly disappeared. The chamberlains and maids were frantic, but her disappearance was not a rare occurrence. Mizufa was calm.

Besides, her aim of encouraging and inspecting the troupes was accomplished, once that was over she wasn’t needed anymore. Rather, her being nearby and meddling would be a nuisance. Leaving her be might be in and of itself a problem but one of the Ten-Seat Council, Roreil Dawn was pursuing her. It was already five days since she had disappeared. They would probably have joined up by now. This was preferable to Mizufa.

The only thing left that could be called an issue was Kazuhiko, also part of the Ten-Seat Council.

The arrogant, stubborn person was the leader of the Mibu Wolves, a private army, and stuck his nose into many of the happenings of Minami, he was an eyesore to Mizufa. They even undermined her military authority using the name of the Ten-Seat Council as a s.h.i.+eld and acted like a secret police. Their leader, Kazuhiko had remained, insisting it was to confirm the safety of the Summon Orb.

However, that too, she had taken into account.

Red Night had worth. No, strengthening this company was a process that couldn’t help but further her ambitions.

Mizufa laughed in her throat.

The steel vehicle wasn’t particularly fast, it could do about thirty percent of the speed of one of the latest four-horse carriages on a highway. However, that speed didn’t drop on unfavourable terrain. Naturally, it slowed through the forests and valleys, but it was faster than marching.

It was certainly inferior to the machine the adventurers wanted, something that would get from Minami to Ezzo in ten hours, but it was useful in its own right. Compared to the sky, where visibility was un.o.bstructed, moving hidden like this could be said to be better. In the first place, even the adventurers hadn’t completed an aircraft. To Mizufa, this steel vehicle was treasure enough.

Zeldys developed Mana Breeder and it was made useful on a large scale as Jered Gan’s Mana Furnace, an ancient technique pa.s.sed down the Kunie line. The magic technology that their children were born into was the nucleus of the adventurer’s fortune but the leftovers went to the people of the land. This steel vehicle was the same.

It was simple to say “It can travel over uneven terrain.” but that wasn’t limited to the wilderness.

The Circled Rail guaranteed their course and had the power to distort the trees from their path. In other words, although it was slow, they could secretly move troops through the entirety of Yamato, with its many mountain forests.

Mizufa currently had ten of these armoured vehicles under her command. Among them, four were particularly large. The lack of numbers was a worry, and Mizufa preferred more standardised equipment but there was no helping it.

Adventurers were capricious and liked new things. They held no interest in ma.s.s producing things that were already practically complete. Always moving to the next, new, different, stronger, better thing. Of course, that was beneficial for innovation, but it was irritating for military people like Mizufa. Despite its use and application in the current location and circ.u.mstances, standardised equipment was much preferred.

Despite this, as she was taking their unwanted inventions, she had no intention of requesting such luxuries. She could only request a minimum of maintenance and if push came to shove, she knew various bribes would be needed too.

Adventurers were childish, and weak to greed.

“Report, the Nighshade Servants status?”

“Squad 1 has returned, Squads 2 and 3 are progressing from Boxurt to Redstone, 4 is backup, Squad 5 is currently guarding our surroundings, Squads 6 and 7 stand relieved.”

“Understood. That’s fine. Onwards, remain on guard.”

Mizufa ordered the two Arcane Mancers in the c.o.c.kpit, two floors down.

“The Nighshade Servants on reconnaissance appear to have hit upon the upper parts of the Fevael River.”

“Hmm.”

Mizufa turned her gaze to the topographic map stuck to the wall.

The vehicle didn’t shake much so there were various maps, doc.u.ments and files around. Mizufa was currently in command, and despite her love of soaking her sabre in blood, she was still a highly ranked general and knew her weapons well.

“Fevael River hmm, this map…”