◈ 017. [STAGE 1] Preparing for War (2)
I shared information about the current situation with the party members.
Damian and Lily’s faces turned pale when they heard that 1,000 living armors were coming.
Jupiter just blew out cigarette smoke without saying a word, and Lucas, who he already knew, calmed down.
“What shall we do, Your Highness?”
I nodded my head at Lucas’ question.
“I can’t play for three days. Do everything you can. I will instruct each of you on what to do from now on.”
I met Lucas first.
“Lucas.”
“Please tell me.”
“I entrust you with overall command of the Crossroads troops.”
In the first place, Lucas is the main character of the game. is the player’s agent.
His commanding ability is quite high. worth trusting
“I will do my best.”
Lucas bowed his head deeply. I ordered quickly and concisely.
“Crossroads has not suffered a proper invasion in recent years. The soldiers will be relaxed. You discipline yourself.”
“I will do as you say.”
“The monster that invades this time is Living Armor. It is a ghost in armor. Physical attacks don’t work well. In particular, it is safe to say that the blade is completely useless.”
Would stabbing a ghost kill you? The blade doesn’t stick well to the armor either.
“Change the armament of all soldiers to blunt weapons. If that doesn’t work, at least use a wooden club.”
So, I would rather change the properties of the weapon so that it can hit the armor with certainty.
< Defend the Empire >‘s physical attack attributes are divided into three types: slashing, hitting and penetrating.
There is no such thing as a clear match, but it would be helpful to match the assortment.
“For the remaining three days, change your equipment and do basic training on blunt weapons.”
“yep.”
“good. I will trust you.”
Lucas will do just fine. I turned to the next party member.
“Next Lily.”
When I called my name, Lily in a wheelchair pointed at her leg with a puzzled look.
“His Highness the Prince. As you can see I have no more battles… … .”
Just don’t be embarrassed. I lost the use of my leg and just got out of the service. Called to fight the monsters again.
“I’m sorry, Lily. But now I really need your help.”
Being an R-rank wizard and having experience in the tutorial stages, Lily is too advanced a talent to be left alone.
I’m sorry, but I’ll have to pamper you.
“But don’t worry too much. You will not be on the front lines.”
“yes? Then what do I… … ?”
“Crossroads hasn’t been directly invaded in the past dozen years.”
It wasn’t just the soldiers who were slacking off. The same was true of water-based equipment and facilities in general.
“Many, if not most, of the water-based artifacts are dusty and rusty in the warehouse. We have to take it all out and fix it.”
I had already instructed the Alchemist Guild Leader. By now the alchemist team should be mustered into the munitions depot.
“Then I… .”
“okay. I want you to oversee the repair of the Mercury Artifact.”
Artifact repair itself can only be done by alchemists, but it is of course more efficient to have a wizard in the actual test.
‘Well, actually, this is an excuse… … .’
I meant to entrust Lily with general management of Mercury Artifacts from now on.
In addition to being a wizard, he is smart and does his job well. It was suitable for managing artifacts that could be the core of water-based equipment.
‘If I leave it to the supervision of artifact repair, I’ll naturally figure out the condition and characteristics of the artifact.’
After that, it is a natural flow to be appointed as the general manager.
I’m sorry, but you don’t have to retire, Lily. Your future is to work hard as a civil servant in this city for the rest of your life… … !
“You don’t have to be at your best. The artifact that has been fixed to a level where you can shoot even one shot should be installed on top of the castle wall.”
“I see… .”
Lily was very confused, but nodded. don’t be so distressed I will give you a lot of salary.
“Next Jupiter.”
When I pointed it out, Jupiter immediately put out the cigarette.
You can keep drinking it. You will suffer from death in the future, so I can take care of it.
“Jupiter, as you might have guessed, you are the key to this defensive battle.”
From the time he heard that the enemy was the Living Armor, Jupiter must have known. The fact that you will be eaten until you die.
“The Living Armor guys are ‘ghosts’ wearing ‘metal’ armor. It means that you, who uses the ‘electricity’ attribute ‘magic’, are the perfect counter.”
This was the biggest reason why I decided not to resort to tricks on this stage and to fight according to the rules.
SR-class lightning striker Jupiter.
As far as the living armor type of monster is concerned, it is truly the natural enemy of natural enemies.
It could be said that this crappy game gave me a bit of conscience.
“You and your party are organized separately. I’m going to give everyone a war horse… … You’ll be doing hit and run guerrilla warfare throughout the defense. You attack and your party members protect you.”
“… .”
“There is nothing else to prepare. Just match your breath with the party members and rest well until the day of the defense battle. You will have to run until you die.”
Jupiter was silently listening to my words. I nodded broadly.
“Show me your skills. Please make sure that the annual salary I paid is not a waste.”
“… Let me ask you one question, Your Highness.”
Jupiter, who was spinning the cigarette he had put on with his long finger, smiled faintly.
“That ‘salary’… … Is it renewed every year?”
“yes.”
“Then you’ll be more impressed if this old man shows a good performance?”
Jupiter asked, not hiding the greed that glistened in his only eye.
I was dumbfounded and laughed out loud. This old lady with money is really… … .
“Of course! Depending on your performance, of course I can give you a raise.”
“You’d better think about next year’s raise, Your Highness.”
Jupiter threw the cigarette on the floor.
The elderly blitzmaster laughed as he loosened his gloved hands.
“Because there won’t be another mercenary that’s worth the money as well as me.”
***
Lucas and Lily Jupiter left to do their own thing as I directed.
The only ones left at the entrance of the mansion were me, Damian, and Ader. Damian rolled his big brown eyes.
“Hey, Prince. What do I… … .”
“Damian.”
I gestured to Ader and Ader immediately brought out a leather bag. I handed the bag to Damian right away.
“I took it and prepared it for you.”
“yes?”
Damian opened the bag with a bewildered face and took the contents in his hand.
“This is a crossbow… Are you?”
“okay.”
It was an N-grade crossbow purchased from an arms dealer in a hurry.
[Normal Crossbow (N) Lv.10]
– Classification: Crossbow
– Attack Power: 10-15
– Durability: 30/30
– Bonus: None
Although it is rated N, it is lightweight and has quite durable durability. I bought three arrows of good quality and put them in my bag.
“From now on, your role will be fixed as a long-range sniper. Use recovery magic only in emergencies.”
In the future, Damian had to abandon his identity as a healer and establish himself as a sniper.
Of course there will be dissonance. The only skill set that Damien will learn from now on is recovery magic that has nothing to do with sniping.
In the meantime, I have to throw away the combat method as a healer that I have learned all my life.
You will have to suffer quite a bit. It will be a rough road.
But [Clairsight] was a trait worth it. It’s arguably the best morale feature in the game.
“… I will try.”
Damian carefully put the staff he was holding down on the floor and held the crossbow I handed him in both hands.
“If it’s the prince’s order.”
The pose holding the crossbow is somehow sloppy, but considering that he shot well on his own during the mana cannon, he would soon learn this one too.
“By the way, what about the glasses? Are you not using it anymore?”
“yes.”
There were no glasses on Damian’s face. After the frame broke during the last battle, it seems to have taken it off altogether.
“Actually, my eyes are too good, so I was wearing glasses of any power to deliberately lower my eyesight… .”
“Huh.”
“But now I need my eyes. I don’t want to wear glasses.”
Damian smiled shyly.
proud guy. I smiled and patted Damian on the shoulder.
Ader, who was watching us from behind, spoke as he adjusted his glasses.
“I’m so glad that is. I was anxious because the properties of my glasses overlapped.”
“Please shut up for a bit.”
I growled softly at Ader and cleared my throat at Damian.
“Me and Ader are going to direct Mercury preparations from now on. Damian, you can practice your crossbow by yourself… … .”
“I will follow the prince!”
Before I could tell him to follow, Damian quickly shouted.
“Knight… Sir Lucas is not here, so let me escort the prince!”
“… .”
escort. escort Just looking at what you look like, I’m supposed to protect you.
Anyway, I nodded my head since I was thinking of taking half of it with me.
“good. Then let’s go. First of all, it is the wall.”
***
Crossroads is a fortified city surrounded by walls on all sides, but the southern walls are especially thick.
It was only natural that the monsters from the south mainly attacked the southern wall.
When Damian Ader and I arrived at the southern wall, the blacksmiths’ and masons’ guild leaders gave a hasty, awkward salute.
“Oh oh are you here, Your Highness!”
“Come, come, come. What is the condition of the walls?”
“Joe is not good. It’s been left for quite some time… … .”
The two leaders glanced at the iron plate with cracks in the corner of the castle wall.
I turned to Ader and growled.
“How about a fortress city from the name? Isn’t the wall repair the basic of the basics? Why did you leave it like this?”
“That’s because we didn’t have a budget…” … .”
Ader smiled shyly.
“Because the appearance of monsters is decreasing, the collection of magic stones is decreasing, and the income of the city is also decreasing. The former lord has reduced the budget starting with the parts that don’t need to go out immediately.”
“Your purpose and means are reversed… .”
It was built to stop monsters, but its function as a fortress was reduced due to a decrease in income. what a contradiction
I shouted at the production union members.
“You can use any budget and materials. Reinforce and repair it to the extent that it is a bit excessive. Got it?”
“All right!”
“Get started! no time to play! Even at this hour, the monsters are coming!”
The blacksmiths clinging to the wall hurriedly added iron plates and pounded their hammers.
Metal collided with metal, making a pleasant sound. clang clang clang… … !
Money can be earned again later, but life is over when it flies.
Having gone through too many cases of saving and shitting, I had no intention of saving money on water-based equipment.
“Cannonballs and arrows? Do you have enough stock?”
When I asked while looking at the cannons and ballistas installed on the wall, Ader immediately answered.
“It wasn’t enough, so I bought as much from the merchants as they had. Everyone will be placed here.”
“Shouldn’t the moat be filled with holy water? Why are you still dry?”
“I contacted the temple and it’s being airlifted!”
I thrust my index finger at Ader and bluffed him.
“Don’t save money and fill it all up. In the future, if you hear that there is a lack of supplies for anything, you know that your neck will fly away first, right?”
“I made sure not to say that kind of thing!”
Ader shouted as he wrapped his hands around his neck.
I clicked my tongue and looked around the wall that was being repaired one more time before going downstairs.
***
Next we headed to the wood workshop.
When I entered the studio, a mountain of lumber and dozens of carpenters on standby looked at me at once. I clapped loudly.
“Did you hear the story? We don’t have time, so let’s go right away. What you will make in the next three days… … It is the ‘wall’.”
“yes?”
“A wall, a wall. that high know? Blocking the road.”
I spread my arms wide and explained the shape of the wall with my body.
“A fucking high, fucking strong fucking wall.”
“No, of course I know that wall… .”
“Install that wooden wall in front of the southern wall. I will point you to the exact location.”
The carpenters looked at each other. After hesitating for a moment, the head of the carpenter’s union cautiously opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Monsters easily drill through wooden walls.”
There is a reason why the walls of Crossroads are finished with iron plates.
No matter how solidly the plywood is added, the wooden walls are easily torn apart by the monsters.
“It would be difficult to expect a function as a wall, but… .”
“What I need is not a strong wall to keep them out forever.”
i don’t know that I’ve beaten this game a few times.
“What I need is a disposable barricade to be used and discarded in this battle.”
Walls as consumables are necessary.
A ‘defense game wall’ to force the path of the monsters.
“All you have to do is make the wooden wall as high and strong as possible, as I tell you.”
I commanded the carpenters who were still bewildered.
“Don’t be so sweet! Start working now!”
The alpha and omega of defense game tactics.
It was time to install the ‘Kill Zone’.
