Chapter 45 Watching from the Heights
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Lisha-san and Shirley-san finally caught up with us. With the whole crew together again, we descended to the exit of Rock Valley and made our way toward the front lines where the Demi-human army had established their blockade.
”What the-!? Humans!? How the hell did you get in here?” a man with dog ears barked, his voice cracking in surprise.
”Relax, we aren’t your enemies,” I said, raising my hands in a casual, unarmed greeting. “Word was sent to the Elves. We’re humans who walked away from the Human Kingdom to side with you. Haven’t you heard the rumors? The guys handing out food?”
He kept his sword leveled at my chest while signaling the man behind him to go verify my story.
”Don’t move an inch until I get confirmation…” His face was twisted with a desperate, lethal intensity.
”Fine by me. I’ve got no interest in fighting you guys. We’re just here to slaughter the Dole forces¹.”
”Wh-what? They’re your own kind, aren’t they?”
”Technically, yeah. But their King had me kidnapped, threatened, and nearly disposed of once I wasn’t useful anymore. I lost everything because of that ‘country.’ Some of my friends back there have gone through the same. Besides, I know people from my hometown are still being held as Enslavement²-slaves and worked to death over there… So,” I asked him plainly, “do you really think I should care just because we share the same race?”
He fell silent, his eyes dropping to the ground. “No…”
”I’m here for revenge.”
”Then you’re distributing food just to buy our help?”
”No. Once I’m done, if there’s no place left for us in human territory, the people who followed me won’t even have a home. This is about building a place where we actually belong.”
The man finally lowered his sword. “If that’s true, your actions will be the proof.”
”Much appreciated. I’m not asking to join your ranks. We’re going to charge the enemy on our own, so just try not to get in our way.”
By the time we finished talking, the scout had returned with a small crowd of reinforcements.
”What’s the verdict?” the dog-kin man asked.
An Elf stepped forward from the group. “They say they haven’t heard the story. However, the Princess told us about a specific human man. This must be him.”
The two of them huddled together, whispering. Between my story, the rumors, and likely whatever Sylpha-san’s sister had told them, they decided I wasn’t a liar.
”If humans want to fight and die among themselves, that’s fine by us. As long as you don’t cause us trouble, we’ll stay out of it. But we aren’t letting you inside our lines.” The Elf man crossed his arms, glaring at us.
The atmosphere among my group turned sharp at his tone, so I spoke up first.
”That’s plenty. But do me a favor-watch us closely. I want you to see, for a fact, that we are the enemies of the organization you’re fighting.”
”I’ll watch, but don’t expect ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ crap from us.”
”I get it. We don’t like letting strangers into our circle either. I’m just hoping this proves we aren’t the ones you should be pointing those swords at.”
”Hmph. Just like the Princess said-you’re a strange one,” he said, finally relaxing his stance.
”I’ve been told.”
”…Is that something you’re proud of?”
”Sure. It means I’m a ‘friendly human’ success story, right?”
”No, I just meant you’re a weirdo.”
”Oh, come on! The flow of this conversation totally felt like you were calling me a good guy!”
”I said no such thing,” he muttered, though a “kukuku” laugh escaped him as his stern expression finally broke.
”Whatever. As long as you let us through. We need to start preparations to push the enemy back to the mountainside.”
”I see. Then we shall watch. Show us this ‘god-like power’ the Princess mentioned.”
He signaled his troops to clear a path. We marched through the wide pass sandwiched between the towering peaks.
”Alright, we managed to talk our way through without a bloodbath. Preparations³ are complete,” I said.
”Wait… passing through without fighting was the preparation!?” Lotte-chan asked, her eyes wide with shock.
”Well, yeah. If you can use Mana Sensing⁴, you’d understand. Honestly, the hardest part is going to be trying not to kill them.”
”Um… what does that mean?” Rosanna-san asked, tilting her head.
”I mean, if you’re sensing them, you can tell how massive the Mana gap is, right?”
”N-no… we can’t sense it with that much precision, can we?” Rosanna-san looked around at the others for support.
”Ah, Ibuki-sama, you’ve been assuming we could feel things the same way you do. No wonder we have these little misunderstandings,” Shirley said.
”If someone is incredibly powerful, we might feel a sense of pressure, but that’s about it,” Shirley continued. “We can’t sense the subtle differences in Mana between people at or below our own level. As a swordsman, the most I can do is pick up on a person’s presence.”
”My job makes me sensitive to presences, so I can tell to a degree,” Amelia added. “But I have no idea how big the actual gap is.”
”Is that so…? It just became natural for me after I Growth⁵-ed, so I figured it was the same for everyone. For the record, even the guy with the most Mana over there only has about a tenth of what any of you have. And that’s including everyone back in that town.”
A chorus of “What!?” echoed from the group.
”Mana isn’t everything, but yeah, with a gap that big, it’s a bit of a joke. Anyway, we’re going up against a Hero. Having this much of a lead makes things safer.”
”I suppose so. But how are you planning to capture them?” Luna-san asked.
I had everyone huddle up. Then, I manifested an iron cage made of reinforced Mithril⁶ alloy around them. The bars were as thick as telephone poles.
”Give it a shot. See if you can break it.”
”Master, that’s just impossible…” Shuri-chan said, hugging her Mithril spear as if afraid it would snap. Shirley, however, didn’t hesitate.
Clang!
Her sword snapped cleanly in two.
”Even a sword made by Master can only leave a scratch this small? Then it should be fine,” Shirley said, nodding in approval.
I tossed the bars and the broken sword into my Storage to repair them. I reinforced the blade even further before handing it back to her. Shuri-chan slumped her shoulders. “Oh, right. I forgot Master can just fix things instantly…”
”Next up, gear. How about full plate mail made from monster materials?”
”Yes. As long as it hides our faces, there shouldn’t be any issues,” Erina agreed.
I had everyone strip off their old armor, stored it, and then began crafting new sets. I used the corpses of inorganic monsters I’d harvested during my six months of leveling. With my Processing skill, crafting was instantaneous. Each set appeared with a dull metallic thud.
The gear was beautiful-a sleek, sable-sheened black that looked dangerous. It looked like something you’d wear to the final boss fight.
”S-so cool!” Maria-san shouted, which was rare for her.
Charlotte-san struck a pose with her sword. “Hehehe! I look like a real-deal knight now!”
”Charlotte-san, you literally fight alongside us all the time,” Meena said.
”Exactly. You’re way stronger than me…” Luna-san muttered.
”Charlotte-san is always like that,” Shuri-chan teased.
This time, she actually heard them. “I’m just a farmer, okay!?” she barked, while the others just laughed.
I sat down on a nearby rock and kept working on the preparations.
”What are you making now?” Fran-chan asked, crouching down in front of me.
”Hmm… bombs, I guess,” I said with a grin.
”Bombs?” She tilted her head, so I decided to test one out in the distance.
BOOOOOM!
The explosion was violent, gouging the earth and sending a shockwave that rattled our chests.
”I didn’t give it any shrapnel, so it just blows things away with air pressure. Perfect, right?”
”Wait… wouldn’t a direct hit kill someone?”
”Nah, they’ll be fine. For people like you, it’d just be a ‘that hurts’ moment. I won’t hit you guys, though.”
Right. This world has levels. The physical durability of the human body is on a completely different scale. If I’d designed these to throw metal shards, they’d be weapons of mass slaughter, but a pure concussive blast might injure them at worst. To be honest, the girls’ own physical strikes were way more vicious than these bombs.
As I churned out about a thousand of these impact bombs, the enemy army approached from both sides. They must have come running after hearing the explosion. It wasn’t their main force yet-maybe a thousand men.
”Just right,” I thought. I started lobbing bombs just short of their line to flush them out. They turned tail and ran immediately. We ran after them, dropping bombs right at their heels.
”Master, you look like you’re having way too much fun with this…” Amelia-san whispered with a small smile.
”I mean, it’s flashy, so I just…” I stopped. When I thought about it, what I was doing was actually pretty psycho. “Maybe I should stop. No point in wasting them.”
We pushed through the abandoned human camps, moving deeper and deeper. Eventually, the fleeing soldiers stopped and tried to regroup.
”They think you’re out of ammo,” Amelia-san said, her eyes gleaming.
So, I dropped more bombs to “encourage” them, and they went right back to running. We kept this up for several kilometers until we reached the spot I’d picked out.
”We actually managed to drive them all the way back with just that…”
”Yeah. They were surprisingly good at running away.”
I expected them to at least try to block with shields, but they just kept choosing the “get hit or run” option.
”But we still have five days, right?” Luna-san asked. “What now?”
”Now? We enjoy the show from the heights.”
”Wait, if we leave this place open, won’t they just push right back?”
”If they do, I’ll just rain bombs on them from above,” I said. I used my Processing skill to build a wall along the mountainside. No gates, no stairs-just a solid blockade of stone blocks. I stacked four layers of ten-meter stone blocks, using sixteen in total.
With the perimeter secure, I hopped into my human-powered plane and flew up to the mountain peaks. The slopes were so steep there wasn’t a single flat surface, so I literally cut a chunk out of the mountain and shoved it into my Storage to create a foundation for the house. I used our old house from the underground days. I brought everyone up and we stood on the second-floor balcony, looking out over the world.
”This is definitely a ‘high-ground observation’!” Shuri-chan laughed.
”We can certainly rest easy up here…”
”Yeah. I can see for miles, and there isn’t a single flying monster in sight.”
”So, can we finally relax?” Fran-chan asked.
I told her we could, and Charlotte-san immediately headed inside. “I’ll get started on dinner then!” Lisha-san and Olivia-san followed her.
From there, it was back to our usual routine. Everyone started setting up the bath and getting the bedrooms ready. Meanwhile, I fired up my Crafter skill again. I wanted to make magic-actual healing magic. Not a tool, but the spell itself.
I still had mixed feelings about keeping Luna-san with me. Healers belong where the fighting is thickest, but the girls had been absolutely stubborn about it. So, I was trying to find a workaround.
You have to hold a crystal-clear vision of what you want the whole time for the skill to work. Even a stray thought can ruin a session. That’s why being stuck on a mountain before a big fight was actually perfect for concentration. I pumped Mana into the spell with everything I had.
We spent four days on that mountaintop. Finally, the human army arrived. They were forming ranks on the other side of my stone wall.
Time for the real show. We left the house and got ready to move out.
—
Summary:
Ibuki and his group negotiate safe passage through the Demi-human lines by proving they are enemies of the Human Kingdom. Ibuki uses his overwhelming Mana and Crafter skills to chase off a thousand-man vanguard using non-lethal bombs and constructs a massive stone wall to blockade the pass. The group retreats to a mountain peak to wait for the main human army while Ibuki attempts to craft a new healing spell.
—
Trivia:
- Ibuki was originally a victim of the Human Kingdom’s King.
- The Demi-human princess had already spoken to her troops about Ibuki.
- Most characters cannot sense specific Mana differences; they only feel ‘pressure’ from much stronger beings.
- Charlotte is significantly stronger than she lets on, despite calling herself a ‘farmer.’
- Ibuki is purposely developing healing magic so Luna won’t have to be on the front lines.
- The bombs are specifically designed to be non-lethal through air pressure rather than shrapnel
—
Character Insight:
Ibuki shows a darker, more detached side when terrorizing the human soldiers, though he maintains a protective and domestic dynamic with his companions. His focus on developing healing magic stems from a desire to optimize his team’s safety and roles.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The title ‘Watching from the Heights’ is a literal and idiomatic expression of Ibuki’s strategic and power-level superiority over the approaching conflict.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Shirley – 14yo ex-knight family swordswoman, Ibuki’s 2nd slave (8-gold scapegoat from Karl), rocking long red hair, dignified cool beauty in tight white dress—shocked by the chill vibes at first. Fanatic loyalist, weapon tester, security guard, blunt questioner of his slave game, one of his 3 wives, combat/sales pro but can’t cook.
• Lisha – Mature native babe with killer curves, huge rack, long brown hair, big-sis vibes—polite shy type who hangs back gathering intel on other Heroes. Head of Sha-sha brand, acting chair, runs group logistics/training with authoritative feminine flair.
• Sylpha – Youngest daughter of the Elf Chieftain. A blonde elf princess sent as a monitor. Blunt, realistic about her people’s desperation, and enjoys Ibuki’s food.
• Lotte – 12-year-old slave girl under Ibuki, a scaredy-cat blue mage (water/ice) standing just 130cm with fluffy light-brown hair and big watery eyes. Lacks magic confidence, gets shocked by his OP power, one of the group’s sensitive lil’ sis types dreaming of spell-slinging skills.
• Rosanna – Older ex-slave in the party, rocking that high-born noble vibe—volunteers for intel on dark orgs, spots the crew’s busted power levels. Loyal AF, scouts underground, bows deep with solemn grace while opening up on missions.
• Ibuki – Broke high‑schooler from Earth who got tossed into another world with the “Crafter” class he first thought was useless—turns out it’s totally busted. Black‑haired, germaphobic, and low‑key bitter but sharp as hell. Uses Synthesis, Processing, and Inventory skills to survive, craft gear, and haul loot while exploring. Currently a Level 10 otherworlder, wielding a stone axe, traveling the frontier forest with Charlotte, and just trying to stay alive long enough to find a bit of peace.
• Amelia – Quiet, expressionless white short-hair girl with red eyes—smallest in the crew but arguably strongest—once robotic, now opening up, happy with Master’s food/clothes, craving to repay kindness. Ibuki’s loyal CQC bodyguard who goes full deredere lovey-dovey post-intimacy, struggles with personal dreams but sticks by his side.
• Hero – Ibuki’s upperclassman from Earth—summoned as the naive Hero with emotional, mentally fragile personality. Empathetic yet reluctant and inadequate-feeling, lacking survival instincts and political skills. Currently in despair and terrified by his situation.
• Luna – A 15-year-old girl with rose-pink hair, roughly 155cm tall. A Priest who suffered trauma and physical abuse (welts on her arms) due to her inability to use recovery magic during previous forced training. A companion who recently received armor and weapons from the protagonist.
• Shuri – 15yo tomboy lancer at 170cm, messy blonde hair, lean athletic build—worries about the Dole Kingdom beef heating up. Blacksmithing savvy, she’s the tough chick with a spear who’s all about that hands-on grind.
• Erina – A 17‑year‑old swordswoman and slave under Ibuki’s contract, originally from Paul, with drill hair, a refined noble‑like air and speech suggesting she was once a high‑born lady.
• Maria – A 16-year-old swordswoman. Has long, lustrous red hair and a sharp, dignified facial structure. One of the new recruit.
• Charlotte – Short, skinny late‑teen slave girl with messy brown hair, feline eyes, and a soft, slender body. Was an Ex‑Level 8 farmer, now Level 10 and bound to Ibuki, who she calls “Master” and calls herself his wife. Wears rags at first, then pretty clothes he makes, plus his bat‑wing hairband. Blushy, clingy, protective, and easily emotional, she follows him on runs, fights, and flights while always worrying if she’s useful enough.
• Meena – A young girl and slave who is easily overwhelmed by Ibuki’s crafting abilities. An 18-year-old thief with a youthful appearance. Height is approximately 140cm (4’7).
• Fran – A young member of the group who is easily flustered. Member of the group who expresses moral or existential concern over the ‘unnatural’ leveling process.
• Olivia – A member of the group who asks about the ‘weird’ monster types with some technical/magic-tech knowledge who is stunned by the efficiency of Ibuki’s skills. Archer. Eldest of the new recruits. Height approx 160cm (5’3). Deep blue-black hair. Calm demeanor.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply