Episode 130 Iberica – Drone
A front line in conflict in the southern part of the Iberica Peninsula.
Iberica’s brothers advanced to the vicinity of Porto Port, but did not advance any further and were engaged in a confrontation.
First of all, it was a strategic decision that it would be easier to secure the territory of other allied tribes while keeping Porto’s main army tied down.
In reality, it was an effective strategy and most of the Iberica Peninsula was crossed as Crocs swept through, but it was extremely boring for the troops facing off.
Naturally, as such a sluggish standoff continued for quite a long time, the tension among the front-line troops eased somewhat.
Crocs occasionally gave instructions not to let down his guard, but it was difficult to keep calm after hearing such orders once or twice, and it was difficult to keep doing so when there was no battle.
So the orc who came out on watch duty ended up laughing even when he saw the human dozing off while leaning against the watchtower.
“Hey wake up. “It’s a shift.”
“uh? Ah, has it already been so long?”
“Time must have passed quickly because I was sleeping with my wife.”
“Haha, sorry, sorry. But it’s so boring.”
While exchanging meaningless conversation, the orc suddenly narrowed his eyes.
“…What is that?”
“hmm? What?”
The human also looked away, but could not see anything in the dim darkness.
“Hey, there’s nothing…huh?”
The moment I thought that, I saw something moving like waves in the darkness.
“Something is approaching!”
“Hey! “Turn on the lights!”
In an instant, the goosebump-inducing cries of the watchmen spread out in succession, and soon all the torches and bonfires that had been extinguished for the sleeping soldiers were lit up.
The dark hills that were only visible in the distance suddenly became as bright as daylight.
“Wow…”
And everyone saw.
Enemies approaching, covering the hilly terrain.
Enemies so numerous that they cover the entire hilly area are approaching, moving like waves.
enemy. Clearly an enemy. But no one recognized it as an army.
“What is that?”
The waves crash.
Enemies so numerous as to cover the horizon take one step with the exact same movement.
Another wave hit me with another step.
It’s not even like they’re running fast. Just walking slowly.
However, there is not even a single error, and there is no waste of the walking motion that any living thing should naturally have.
The angular movements, as if they were designed after studying how to move humans with maximum efficiency with the minimum amount of movement, are unnatural and even bizarre.
Everyone stood blankly, forgetting what to say, as the terrifying wave approached, seemingly moving with no sense of vitality or emotion but with the sole purpose of moving forward.
“Ready for battle!”
It was only after the cries of Broll, Crocs’ tenth henchman, who came out late, rang out, that the soldiers came to their senses and began to gather and prepare for battle.
Even though our troops were busy making a fuss, the enemy’s movements did not change at all.
It’s just walking at a steady, wave-like pace.
Broll swallowed his saliva as he looked at the scene.
The movement, which is completely devoid of the excitement or tension of the battlefield, actually encourages nervousness.
“Ready to fire!”
The goblins and humans who received Broll’s instructions all raised their bows and said,
“Fire!”
Arrows soared into the sky and fell like a rain on the approaching enemies.
And nothing happened.
Arrows are clearly scattered, but the enemy is approaching this way as if nothing had happened.
“What is that!”
Chuck –
The sound of the enemies’ footsteps moving in unison like machines echoes at a fairly close distance.
“How do I do this?”
Chuck – Even
Broll, Crocs’ proud 10th confidant and a commander recognized for his bravery, was unable to give an order to do anything to that terrifying sound.
“Prepare to fire again!”
Pretend –
While the hands of those holding the bows were shaking and reloading was slow, those standing at the front with swords and spears with anxious faces began to see the shapes of the enemies more clearly at a closer distance.
He was too thin to be human.
“Huh-”
Above all, you can see people approaching with arrows stuck in their bodies.
There are arrows clearly stuck in their bodies, but they are walking with exactly the same movements as the others, as if they can’t feel anything.
“launch!”
Arrows shot out once again – this
time –
Brawl could clearly see them.
Pretend –
The enemies did not even flinch or make any defensive moves, which is a natural behavior for living creatures, despite the rain of arrows.
Chuck –
As if nothing had happened, he just took steps in a steady motion like a machine, even in a rain of arrows.
Chuck –
A few people who were hit by arrows fell down.
However, most of them have arrows stuck in their bodies and continue to approach as if nothing is happening.
“Hehe monsters!”
Chuck-
“This is-”
Should we retreat?
Chuck –
Now, at a distance where he could almost feel the vibration of the ground, when Brawl’s head was confused, the sound that had been steadily pounding the ground and advancing stopped.
The moment everyone felt goosebumps at the quiet change, the approaching bizarre human figures began to rush forward without even shouting.
* * *
“Huh!”
Broll woke up screaming.
However, as he tried to get up, his body fell down comically.
“Ugh…”
Lightning struck Broll’s mind as he finally realized that his body was tied with rope.
A terrible sight.
Something that looked like a skinny human running towards me without even making a sound.
A resounding scream…
“Sigh…!”
Broll gasped when he saw the enemies standing next to him.
‘They’ stood motionless.
The physical form is human.
More precisely, it looks as if a human being has been dried out and dried out.
At first glance, they looked closer to corpses, but Broll clearly saw how they moved and what kind of power came from their withered bodies.
I don’t know the principle, but as Crocs’ 10th confidant, he was confident in his strength. When he got hit a few times, he couldn’t stand it and fainted.
Above all.
Broll shuddered as he recalled how the enemy was swinging his arm without a care in the world, even though he had split his shoulder in half by swinging an ax himself.
“Brother.”
Broll turned his head to the voice calling him.
Most of his men have not yet woken up, but he is tied up with ropes.
The battle was almost a one-sided defeat, but most of his men appear to have been captured.
Oddly enough, only humans and orcs survived. As if the goal was not victory in battle but capture.
Nevertheless, there is not a single goblin in sight who must have been there.
That bizarre difference actually made Brawl feel uncomfortable.
“…I guess we are prisoners.”
They rose up to prevent the port of Porto and the allied tribes from selling their compatriots into slavery to the devil.
So they will probably end up being sold as slaves to the devil.
Naturally, he thought so, but Broll tried to reassure his subordinates.
“The king will come to help soon.”
Right after that.
Among the strangely lifeless troops that did not even move a single inch, a being clearly overflowing with life and looking rather foreign appeared.
A beautiful woman with blood-red hair flowing in a strange fashion, wearing a white robe over a purple dress.
However, when Broll saw the horns growing on the being’s head, he ground his teeth.
“devil.”
The demon Paimon didn’t pay any attention to Brawl, and as he looked at the many captured prisoners, he grinned and opened his mouth.
“Ah, I heard you have to do everything yourself to be efficient.”
Broll opened his mouth, trying to endure the humiliation as much as possible.
“…Are you the commander? I am Brawl, the 10th henchman of King Crocs. “My king will be willing to exchange prisoners.”
Paimon then lowered his gaze to Brawl.
While Broll endured the humiliation of being tied to ropes and having to look up at the devil, Paimon twitched the corner of his mouth.
“Ah, were you the commander? This is an example. There was no prior explanation from the perspective of providing the service. Greetings from Paimon, CEO of ‘Taeman’ under Abyss Corporation.”
The voice was like a beautiful melody, the kind words that did not suit the situation, and the unfamiliar terms made Brawl’s head even more confused.
“…service? Preliminary explanation? “What are you talking about?”
“Unfortunately, there is no prisoner exchange in our plans. Instead, let me congratulate you. You and your subordinates have been ‘purchased’ as ‘goods’ by the Abyss Corporation.”
“What?”
While Broll was struggling to understand for a moment, Paimon stood next to Broll and walked up to the motionless, withered, corpse-like human figure, running his hand down its chest and laughing.
“Oh yeah. How do you feel about experiencing our ‘drone’?”
Brawl couldn’t say anything, but Paimon started talking freely.
“Isn’t it beautiful? This can be said to be the ultimate realization of extreme neglect of efficiency. Absolutely perfect indeed.”
Instead of replying to the crazy devil’s words, Broll asked what had felt ominous a moment ago.
“…Where did they put the goblins?”
“Aha headquarters’ ‘drone’ technology pursues thorough standardization and efficiency. Due to the nature of the race, goblins do not meet physical specifications at all and their magical power is low, so they are not a very efficient ‘product’. Everything has been ‘disposed of.’”
Broll’s mind didn’t quite understand what he meant, but he did understand that he had killed all of his goblin men.
Paimon looked down at Broll’s face, which was filled with anger and sadness, and opened his mouth with a kind smile.
“Oh, don’t worry too much. You and your subordinates here will not be treated so miserably. Rather, we will spare no effort in providing all technical support to help you realize maximum value.”
“…what are you talking about.”
“Haha hahaha. To explain the essence of this ‘drone’ technology, I cannot help but tell you how I came up with this perfect and perfect technology.
As you know, all sufficiently evolved primates, including humans and orcs, possess magical powers. However, the only people who can properly handle it are those who have undergone the necessary training, and there are many who cannot utilize it properly according to their aptitude.”
Paimon slowly covered his cheeks with both hands and opened his mouth as if he was very sad.
“Isn’t it truly a pity? Living an inferior life and not being able to utilize the resources you have? It is truly inefficient and, even for an evolved primate, it is nothing but a tragedy. That’s what I thought. “If all primates develop a technology that allows them to utilize their magical power to the fullest extent, wouldn’t that be the ultimate technology that would allow them to realize maximum value?”
Broll was so shocked that he couldn’t say anything.
“After lengthy research, we have developed a technology that can extract the mana contained in primates into energy. “It was a bit difficult to adjust the balance to extract the largest amount of mana within an appropriate period of time and maintain life, but we did it in the end!”
Paimon opened his mouth as he ran his hand over the chest of the drone standing next to him.
“After the magic has been extracted, the empty body of the primate goes through a magic engineering process and is used as a drone. The power source of the drone is also the magic extracted from the primate. In other words, the drone is maintained using the magical energy extracted from the primate, and the primate whose magical energy has been extracted is used as a new drone.”
Only then did Broll fully understand what this crazy demon was talking about.
“In theory, one ‘drone’ can perform a given mission without a single moment of rest for at least 10 years. Of course, a drone that has been disenchanted is not alive, so it cannot feel any emotions or pain, and it does not need rest. Horsepower is enough for power!
What fate will he and his subordinates face?
“I dare say that no worker or slave could create this amazing efficiency. Indeed, innovation that circulates with maximum efficiency! “It is a revolutionary product and can be said to be absolutely perfect!”
Paimon, who was talking excitedly to himself, looked at Broll’s expression and opened his mouth as if to appease him.
“Oh my. Don’t worry too much. You and your subordinates will have infinitely more enjoyable and happy dreams thanks to the technology provided by ‘Rust’ until all of your magical power is consumed and your vital activities cease. Frankly, I think it is a bit of a waste of money, but it is Abyss Corporation’s policy to pursue humane coexistence.”
“That’s crazy…”
“Oh, it’s so sad that you don’t know the amazing value of this technological innovation. “Originally, you are destined to be taken as slaves and suffer all your life, suffer misfortunes as you please, achieve extremely low efficiency, and then die in pain.”
Paimon smiled brightly, spread his arms, and shouted.
“However, with our technology, those who would work hard, live, and suffer all their lives but cannot produce any more efficient work will be freed from all pain and create value with maximum efficiency while dreaming happy dreams! Literally freedom from all labor and pain! It is, in the truest sense of the word, the realization of negligence! Isn’t it truly perfect?”
“…King Crocs will not leave you alone.”
“Haha haha.”
After hearing Broll’s words, Paimon smiled and said.
“I’m so, so, so curious, and I can’t stand it.”
Then he grabbed Broll’s shoulders and smiled even more cruelly, whispering.
“What kind of expression will King Crocs and the Marquis de Lafayette show when they are captured by his subordinates who have become drones?”
