Volume 6 Chapter 18-2 Slave Liberation？
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I really have to wait until morning, but I will cross the wall. Toyata Village is surrounded by a wall. It’s not as big as the royal capital’s, but still quite strong. The wall was made as a fortress, so the moat’s bottom is nearly eight meters below the top of the wall.
The stones that could be used as footholds are carefully covered with concrete and filled in. This place is a real stronghold. It could have kept out ten thousand Demon Kings. In the last battle, about two thousand orcs and goblins attacked here. But they don’t like sieges and just passed through Toyata Village.
If you get close and look carefully at the wall, you see some weathered cracks and bumps on the rocks. A rock climbing expert could probably climb up easily. I don’t have that skill, but I prepared other ways.
I have hooked ropes, but throwing and hooking them is tricky. If the rope hits the rocks, it can damage the wall and make a loud noise. There are many ways to climb, but since I want to be quick, I’ll teleport to the top of the wall and have Pii-Pii lower a rope.
Then I would climb the rope easily… but I couldn’t. I trained hard and am strong, but climbing a wall with just a rope is harder than I thought. I need more practice. When I have free time, I’ll ask Yakou to train with me.
But not tonight. Tonight, I will use flight magic, which is old-fashioned, to lighten my body. Flight magic can be shot down by the skill called ‘Curse of the Sky,’ so it’s dangerous. But just lightening my weight to help climb the wall is safe enough. Even if ‘Curse of the Sky’ hits me now, the rope will keep me safe.
People fear the ‘Curse of the Sky’ too much. Yes, falling from high places kills you instantly. But not using flight magic because of that is a waste. Shouldn’t there be laws to stop careless use of ‘Curse of the Sky’? If shooting down people flying for fun was a serious crime, maybe it would help. It’s hard to catch the culprit because the range is long. But would any pranksters do it, knowing it’s a crime?
If I hide with Stealth and fly high, I don’t think I’ll get shot down easily. But who knows? The risk of crashing is too big to try easily. Still, I can use flight as a last resort. Practicing flying low would be good too.
One of the professor’s friends is studying a new parachute that can resist the ‘Curse of the Sky.’ They thought of it because dandelion fluff isn’t affected much. I wonder if normal parachutes or paragliders would work.
Even if I don’t fly high, just lightening my weight helps wall climbing a lot. I feel like a ninja. When I safely reach the corridor above the wall and tie the rope, I jump down into the village. I started flight magic too late, so landing hurts my legs a lot. Today is a really bad day. When I look carefully, I see stairs nearby that go to the top of the wall. Village kids get scolded for using them, but I forgot they were there. Yep, bad day.
Dragging my sore legs, I return to the workshop. Mr. Zenom is still awake, nibbling smoked quail and drinking sake.
I want to keep secrets about Ms. Joa and the others. I can’t hide it completely, but if I say they went to the royal capital on official business, it will fool people for a while. To get quail meat, maybe I should ask someone from Antfolk for help.
”Is this shield for sale?”
I suddenly see a large round shield leaning against the wall. It has a thin brass plate over a metal frame. It looks fragile against a spear. Leather would be more practical than brass.
”That shield isn’t for humans. I tried to copy a giant’s shield for a new signboard, but it was too big to look like a shield.”
So it was a failure. Perfect. Even for a sign, Zenom-sensei made it well.
”I want to buy it.”
”What will you use it for?”
”I’m going to modify it to make a vehicle prototype.”
When I said vehicle, Mr. Zenom got interested. But working late with blacksmithing disturbs neighbors. We agreed to soundproof the new workshop. While explaining things, we wait for dawn, half asleep or napping.
I thought of making a hovercraft. Between Toyata Village and the new village site is a marshland. It’s close, but going around the town is too far. So a hovercraft, or air cushion craft.
At dawn, I helped Mr. Zenom make a brass funnel and attach it to the hole in the center of the shield.
I plan to use wind magic for power. The magic I use daily is weak, like a small fan. But if I make a cyclone inside the funnel, it can lift the shield a bit.
”Wow, it floats! Is it done now?”
”No, since it’s good, I will make a copy with recycled mithril.”
We melt mithril scrap with salamander fire and cast it into the same shape while floating. If I could imagine it well, I could cast without a prototype, but this is easier.
”Eh, Master Gino’s technique, huh?”
”That person is the master of my master, right?”
I took out the silver golem Mr. Gino gave me.
”Well, yes, but… I didn’t expect you to meet our hard dwarf king. Amazing.”
I didn’t know Mr. Gino was the dwarf king. Now it makes sense. He seems proud, but more like a factory manager.
”He was very friendly. His disciple’s disciple is also a disciple, and he treated me well.”
”I see, he still call me disciple. Wooow!”
Zenom got excited and started crying. Male tears. I know why, so it’s okay. Otherwise, a bearded man crying like that would look creepy.
Now, I leave the moved Mr. Zenom alone. I go for a hovercraft test.
I place a big shield on the courtyard floor and get on top. The mithril copy should be strong, but I try to put my feet on the frame. Is that metal creaking? Because it’s one piece, it shouldn’t come apart.
If I make a small tornado with magic inside the funnel, it should lift with cyclone effect. That was the plan. But only air blows around the shield, and it doesn’t lift. Maybe I need a rubber skirt.
Getting rubber in this world is hard. Maybe monster hide could work, but I should make the weight lighter. I use flying magic to lighten myself.
Before my weight disappears completely, I float gently.
Just by moving my weight a little, I can move forward, backward, and sideways smoothly. It takes skill to pilot. I float just above the ground, so big stones are a problem. But I am hovering.
With this low flight, even if the ‘Curse of the Sky’ hits me, it won’t hurt much. But I don’t know what happens if I go too fast.
”What is that sound?”
Mr. Zenom jumps out. The hovercraft makes a sound like buooooo. It’s not loud, but strange in this world. Hard to hide with skill.
So that’s the flute sound.
Mr. Zenom quickly modifies the brass prototype.
”This should make it quiet.”
Instead of replacing just the funnel, he copied the whole thing again. The second unit is done.
I try it. This time no sound at all. It is eerily quiet.
”It’s like a dog whistle. There is sound, but humans can’t hear it.”
It’s not quiet, just sounds humans can’t hear. Dwarves are amazing. They are the most cheating race in this world.
* * *
After that, I try going to the old Toyata Village with the second unit. I hide with Stealth and fly over the wetlands. It’s easy to hover over flat water and mud, but the ripples on water surface can’t be hidden. I will use it mostly at night.
I reach my destination in minutes; it’s really close in a straight line. I miss the crumbling stone walls. Ms. Nina and Ms. Claire were still with me then.
The old buildings have been cleared by the Goddess’s purification. The village was bigger, but now it’s empty. Measuring the area, there is room for all the houses in Toyata Village. If we make a trading city, we need to reclaim the peatlands and build a trade district. Medieval Venice was built by driving piles into swamp like this.
Now, I need to find the dwarves’ teleportation gate. It’s important and probably in the center of the village. It is likely destroyed. The attack and the teleportation gate are probably linked.
If it still works, it is underground. I scan below with Radar Scan. Search skill should not be this good, but maybe my analysis power has grown.
Detective Holmes has great observation power, but his real strength is analysis power—the ability to find unseen things from small hints.
Looks like this place is on top of a limestone mountain. Long ago, tectonic activity sank the mountain. Over many years, peat buried it. Maybe there are fossils.
No need to explore deeply now. I found a water vein for drinking. That’s good, but now I need the teleportation gate. It should be no deeper than a few floors underground.
The church area is suspicious. There is an underground room full of rubble, but it doesn’t seem to be the gate. Probably a fake to fool attackers.
If I can’t find it, I could try entering from another teleportation gate and come out here. If a gate still exists underground, I can use it.
The closest is probably in the Wolf’s Forest. I took out the Eye of the Cyclops to check, and saw weak mana underground. Maybe it reacts to this one? It was weak at first, but I roughly found the spot.
There is a small gap under the stone pavement. It’s hidden under a paved road that is not used. Or maybe it’s a fake to look forgotten.
The room with the teleportation gate is full of sand, but it still works. I want to dig it out and check, but it’s too early. It’s been well hidden, so I’ll leave it alone until needed.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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