Chapter 9: The Mana Pool
By the time that the merchants got here with the rest of Mariel and Lindari's team members, we had already finished transferring the carcasses from the cave into the wagons that I'd made.
All in all, there were a total of 13 large wagons, capable of holding up to 25 metric tons each - about 55115.565546 pounds - each wagon. And 39 large earthen golems, with three golems to each wagon. Each wagon has nine wheels and two stoppers on the side in case of road curves. Each wheel was made out of the woods found in this forest, so it was fairly okay in strength. There's no problem with making a larger wagon than this size, but doing so would take some more time, something that I really don't want to wait for now. So, an extra large wagon capable of rowing 25,000 pounds was just perfect for this case.
Not only that, but I had also placed a couple of weight-reducer spells and engravement on these wagons. As a result, these wagons were able to pull more weight than they were designated to.
The earthen golem will only last up to four hours since they don't have any magic stone or magic shard inside them. But they are both strong and flexible. And besides, I didn't carve any magic runes on them either, so yep, they are all temporary here for four hours. I can resummon them once four hours have passed by. It would only cost me a bit of mana and nothing else since they are only made from earthen soils.
While I was checking the wagons to ensure that they were structurally strong enough not to collapse on the rough terrain path, Sir Marcus was panicking.
"Shirin-sama!" He shouted with a panicked face as he ran toward me. Wait, Shirin-sama? I look at Lindari and Mariel with a look, causing both of them to flinch and sweat.
"Sir Marcus," I answered calmly as I finished checking everything about the wagons. Ignoring the Shirin-sama from the man for now, I didn't bother to acknowledge that I heard him calling me so.
"W-was there really a mana pool inside this cave?!" He asked, completely panicking and wishing that I was joking. Sorry dude, I'm not jesting when it comes to lives. Well, much, anyway.
"Come, I will show you," I said as I led Marcus and the other merchants inside the cave.
The smell of blood inside the cave wasn't that strong, but it was enough to cause the merchants to nearly throw up. They weren't used to this much blood, even when they were pretty used to bandits and monsters during their business trips. This much blood wasn't normal. Well, obviously. I did bleed out all the monsters' carcasses, so the amount of blood in this cave wasn't normal.
"Oh, Holy Mother of Igrisa, what is this pool?!" Marcus yelled, completely surprised at the size of the pool.
"A mana pool, of course," I answered calmly, not bothering to hide my sarcasm.
Igrisa is the God of Creation in this world. She and her siblings are the nine gods that watch over this world. Of course, I'd already met them. I met them right after Cidetal woke up to find that I was here in her world and panicked. What happens after that? You don't want to know.
"A-a mana pool this big?!" Marcus was completely frightened. Same as everyone else. Marcus was near hyperventilating due to stress.
Okay, now that they are here, the rest is their responsibility as a noble family.
I left the merchants to their jobs as a nobleman, and I went back to the wagons, not caring that Marcus looked like he was going to cry as he watched me leave.
Nope, I'm not staying there any longer. My presence was already starting to affect the manique- the proper structure of the mana itself- inside the mana pool. I don't want to affect the magicules, too, with my presence. If I stay any longer, that mana pool will gain consciousness and start to follow me, too. Again... so nope. I'm not staying.
Hmm? Ahh- Yes, my Internalized Space World [ISW] has about a couple tens of hundred mana pool and an ocean worth of high-grade mana-spiritual spring water. Do you know the elve's Eternal Spring Water? The Life Spring Water that was very famous? Well, that water originated from the ocean water in my ISW. Well, as time passed, the water in my world might as well be called [Life Aqua] because of how strong and pure they are. The reason was due to the fact that my Soul Forces and Laws had changed its property and its makeup attributes into something that would benefit me.
Me, who's level was already maxed out. Me, whose level was in the hundreds of billions. Me, whose Mana and Qi Regeneration was 4,000,000 points per second.
What kind of mana water would affect me?
Not the Elve's Life Spring Water, for sure. The Elve's Life Spring water only has 20,000 points in regard to its powers. It might as well just be normal water for me.
Just a drop of my blood alone contains at least 500,000 points of mana and life force. This was one of the reasons why people would like to use me as both healing potions and mana potions whenever they found out about my powers.
This was also one of the reasons why 10 Worlds ended with nothing but a flick of my finger or a slight twitch of my madness. Afterall, the rate at which I absorbed the mana's manique and magicules out there in those worlds was... pretty much a guarantee to dry it up.
How much energy do you think a world like this world has? And how much reserve do you think I have? The last world that I destroyed wasn't an accident. I did it fully knowing why and what caused it. I might not be merciless like Tian Yuanle but even I have a button line. And that world crossed my button line knowing exactly what had happened. Let's just say that the god who controls that world doesn't exist anymore and that the world's core is now a part of Bel-chan's power.
"Shirin-sama, everything is secured into the wagons," Mayfill told me once I got close enough to the wagons. Her face was tense but it was a happy face.
The forest that this cave was in was slightly weird. It wasn't like a Field of Magic forest but the amount of mana in the air was abnormally dense. This was due to the mana pool inside the cave. So, there was no problem with using the woods from here.
One wagon worth of carcasses is for Mariel and Lindari, while another one is for the women to start their new life with. I don't know if the woman was going to stay in their old village or come with us to the next village. Still, regardless so, Sir Marcus, as a nobleman, has the obligation to make sure that the women's new lives can restart okay, even as slaves or otherwise.
Each wagon should be worth at least five small gold coins. No, it might be worth more than that since the news of the mana pool will cause a lot of people to start gathering and accumulating more food, especially with smoked and dried meats. This could've meant that just one wagon was enough for the women to live comfortably for a few months. Until they find themselves new jobs.
I don't know if the women were going to stay in their old village or come with us to the next village, but regardless, Sir Marcus, as a nobleman, has an obligation to make sure that the women's new lives can restart okay, even as slaves.
The noblemen's obligations and responsibilities are fulfilled as long as they are alive and have enough funds to restart their lives.
After all, this was the law and rule of this world. As a world that had long ago accepted lives as slaves, their obligations and responsibilities as a noble are only so. I know that Prince Yui has already started to change some of the laws regarding slavery in this kingdom, but such laws haven't reached this part of the kingdom yet.
If the native lives of this world itself don't care for their own lives, why in the world should I care for them? I have no reason to care or take responsibility for them, much less want to. Prince Yui was only doing such interfering because he was bored. Me? Nah- I hate troublesome stuff.
Those who will be my obligations to look after are those who have connections with me, like the orphans that I had hired and Novelle and her mother and sister. Other than that, no one else would get my protection. Even if the world got run over by monsters tomorrow, except for the people who have my protection, others could've died for all I care.
What? I'm not a god, and I am not a good person. No matter how much you said otherwise, I know myself well enough to know that I am not a hypocrite in that directional sense. When I say I don't care, it means I don't care. When I said that they are my responsibility, they are my responsibility to a certain point. When I said that I could care less if this world is destroyed, I really mean it.
When the merchants emerged from the cave, their expressions were grave and gloomy. Sir Marcus knew exactly what this meant as a merchant and a nobleman. As people who live in this world where lives aren't worth much if the continuation of the race is critical, he knew exactly what this meant to them.
The villages and towns within a certain distance of here will all have to migrate and relocate far away. This costs time, effort, life, and emotional trauma. Fortunately, the area that Sir Marcus's family governed over was not within that distance from this cave. Since this cave was located about 17 days of traveling away from Karnosh City, farther to the East, the distance between here and the small town that Sir Marcus was governing over was about 25 days. This put his territory out of range for relocation.
Thinking of the distance, I wish that I could make some traveling vehicles or flying mounts. The wagon-pulling methods were good and all, but they were very slow compared to cars and flying mounts. Of course, I knew that Prince Yui was making them with his Knighthood, but... it's so slow!
Why is Prince Yui so slow at making flying mounts? At this rate, I would have to take out my own Crystal Mount if I wanted to travel faster.
A few minutes later, everyone sat beside and near the campfire as they took a much-needed rest.
"What should we do?" The merchants sat around the campfire, eating their lunch and brainstorming. We are currently still in front of the cave, as the merchants and the women try to heal all the women from the cave. The girls—women—were doing a good job at healing; however, they were very slow. Healing potions and healing spells were the only two healing methods that they had, so it was slightly slow.
I took out four small bottles of healing potion from my Inventory and gave them to Lindari. She looked at me with surprise before inspecting the healing potions that I had given her. Her eyes widened so wide, but she didn't say anything. She just took the cap off one bottle and poured its contents into the cooking pot in front of her. She then stirred the cooking pot a couple of times and scoped out a large label of soup into a bowl. She passed them to the other women and had them drink them slowly.
From where I am sitting, I can see that the women's skin and facial expressions are getting better and better as each minute passes by. Luckily, Lindari knew better than to draw attention to me even though she kept stealing glances at me.
Uris and everyone else in his group were also there, listening and helping them brainstorm. I am, too, as I eat the food that I have cooked.
What? I ate a lot. There's no way that I will eat the food that others cooked. Not only does it not suit my taste, but it also tastes extremely simple.
As someone from Earth 36 Centuries, you can say that my taste in food was very spoiled. Not only that, I have a very extreme tongue that can taste things to the extreme, so I am a very picky eater. This is why I will also cook my own food, as I am a perfectionist when it comes to my own cooking.
Mariel looked at the large plate of food in my hand with shock. I can see her swallowing her own saliva.
Lindari, who cooked the food for everyone alongside the Therius Merchant group's own chef, was shocked and disappointed that I didn't eat their food. No, they shouldn't be disappointed, you know? There were 15 other kids and more than 20 other women here who needed more food than me. And yes, the merchants took the kids with them when they came to this cave with my animal messenger.
One of the merchants, the treasurer of the group, Nathan Til Therius, one of Marcus's cousins, replied, "What else can we do? We have the obligation to help out as best as we can. We also will have to send words to His Majesty the Emperor, alongside letters to the Duke of Marshen and his Lordship Flavius. Since this area is governed by his Lordship Flavius, he will have to send people over to help the people in this region migrants. The only problem is that this will take a lot of time and effort. People will need a new house, jobs, and lands to farm." Nathan looked utterly worried.
As a low noble house, if ordered by Lord Flavius, they will have to help the villages in this region move, which will cost a lot of time and effort.
The Duke of Marshen was the neighboring city next to Karnosh City in terms of population. He and Lord Flavius are cousins. Lord Flavius's Wife was the second sister of the Duke of Marshen. And Lord Flavius's second uncle married the Duke of Marshen's third aunt, too. All in all, these two families have had a marriage tie for a long time. So, they are really closed. Karnosh City has a lot of trade with Marshen City. Karnosh City specializes in fabrics, wheat, and lumber since the Green Amber Forest was so close to Karnosh City. Marshen City specializes in medicines, potions, and magic scrolls. Well, magic scrolls are very low-level, but they are magic scrolls. So far, those magic scrolls have helped out a lot.
"Where would the villagers in this region go to, though? His Lordship governed over this region and two other regions. But, the other two regions aren't places that people will want to live in, much less can live in," James Til Therius, the person who takes care of the group's restocking, Marcus's cousin and Nathan's younger brother, said with a depressed face.
"His Lordship Flavius's other two regions are farther up north, right? Isn't that a snow region?" I asked, wanted to confirm my knowledge.
Marcus nodded as he sighed in depression. If the villagers moved to the northern region, it would be harder for merchants like him to go there since those regions are very cold. This would also cause hardship for the villagers as taxes and living expenses would increase. Just thinking about it gave Marcus a headache.
"Going or not going, the future doesn't look very good for the villagers." Marcus was very worried. He wanted to ask all the villagers to move to larger towns, but he couldn't because moving to a whole village or certain towns would only cause more problems. Food, shelter, jobs, and safety were big concerns for villagers.
"Hmmm... wasn't the Northern Mountains a part of the regions that Lord Flavius owns?"I asked, not worrying at all, as I continued eating my food. I made a lot of pasta, stir-fried vegetables, meats, grilled fish, grilled pork with plenty of sauces, and a clear bowl of soup. The size of my deep plate was probably so big that everyone was very surprised. After all, it was a 72cm wide deep plate.
"The mountain? Ah, those regions." Marcus was enlightened.
The mountain region that I am talking about is a part of the northern region, where it snows 24/7. It was part of what was formerly known as the [Ice Mountain Ranges], one of the other forbidden regions in this part of the continent. Right now, the people just called it the Northern Mountain since it was literally straight north of Karnosh City, but it truly named was something else.
The mountain region that I am talking about was a bit south of the [Ice Mountain Ranges]. It has a large amount of Ice-Elemental Water, which naturally forms into various lakes with various delicious fish. Well, fishes weren't the only ones living in that region, but it was the fishes that were the most well-known. It was the fish that the World's Core was most conscious of, too, so those fish were the reasons I knew about that region.
The Ice Salmon, Frosty Bass, Rainbow Tuna, Frost Mackerel, and Blue Seabeam.
These monster beasts were very huge, and they had a ton of goodies inside their body.
For example, the stomach of the Ice Salmon was used to make an anti-coldness potion, the liver of the Ice Salmon was used to make a hyperthermia potion, and the heart of the Ice Salmon was very useful as a catalyst for making an antidote potion.
The Frosty Bass was even more useful. Its eyes can be used to make glasses that are just like binoculars; its brain was used to make a healing potion for a specific illness, and the bladder of the Frosty Bass was used to make medicine for [male]. In words that were easily understood, Ice-Elemental Fish is very Super Useful.
Not only that, but the flesh of the fish and the meat itself have a ton of favors and energy. If it were someone else, they wouldn't make sushi out of those fish because just one piece was enough to make their stomach full. A small slice, about 2 inches by 2 inches, was already enough to fulfill a level 3- of what this world called Apprentice Level - Magician for 12 hours. This was why these fishes were in very high demand but had no source of supplies.
The only problem was that the water was far too cold, making it impossible for humans to fish there. Oddly enough, this made the fat from those fishes even more tender and moist, not cold.
This was also the reason the fish from that region were so huge and docile, as there was no natural predator hunting them.
Since the fish themselves lived in the ice-elemental water, they would not spoil for a long time, causing these fish to be so high in demand that only the Emperor would get to eat them due to the cost. Each fish cost at least 50 large gold coins, you know? That's already worth about 40,000 Galactic Credit- something that took a middle-class businessman to earn in 5 years on Earth. Here in this world, 40 Small Gold Coins were about eight years worth of middle-class citizens' earnings. Even high-class noblemen don't have the option to eat them that much - if at all.
Marcus looked confused for a couple of seconds before his eyes widened in disbelief at my idea.
"Making a new town that specializes in Ice-Elemental fishes?" Marcus caught on really quickly. His eyes were sparkling with hope. Was that hunger that I saw in his eyes? Oh? So he had eaten an Ice-Elemental Fish before.
"That will not work," Nathan said as he rejected my suggestion. I shrugged my shoulder. If he thinks that it won't work, then so be it. I won't force it.
After all, the only reason I suggested it was that I wanted to buy some Ice salmon, frosted bass, Rainbow tuna, Frosted mackerel, and Blue seabeam.
I have some other variety of fish for sushi and sashimi inside my Homestead, but I wanted to try this world's fish first. After all, the fish inside my Homestead were far too high of a higher-grade types of fish. Using it in this world was good and all if only I was the only one using it, but once I took them out, that guy would also want them. And once he ate, he had even more energy to spend on sex.
And that was very troublesome.
Not only that, but this World's Core told me something very interesting about those ice-elemental fish, which piqued my interest.
Those fishes are a kind of near-magical grade beast, a kind of fish monster. Due to their lack of hunter and prey situation, the number of fish that each lake has had increased far too much that it caused the World's Core to twitch with annoyance. Which was why she had pleaded for my help. She wanted me to take some of those fishes away to save those lakes from overflowing with Ice-Elemental Fishes.
Since I was craving fish and sushi, I was wondering where I could get some, and the World's Core just happened to hear me wondering about it, so she told me so. It just happened that the Commerce Guild Master in Karnosh City also requested the same fish for the First Prince, the Heir to this Kingdom, whose birthday was coming up in a couple of months, too. So, I got a really clear expression of those fishes.
Of course, my suggestion didn't work because the temperature there was very cold. It was low enough to freeze even boiling water within seconds, so it was understandable why it was impossible.
Since the Commerce Guild Master, Vinolle von Chester, requested this and was willing to pay up to 100 small gold coins per one ice salmon, 120 small gold coins per frosty bass, 130 small gold coins per rainbow tuna, 135 small gold coins for each frost mackerel and blue seabeam, I was willing to procure it for him if I had the time. This was already three times the price of the market's price, afterall.
This request was for Rank C Adventurer and above only, so I can accept it if I want to, but for now, I plan to finish the requests that I have already accepted.
It was quite a good business selling Ice Elements Fishes. I might go into this business... Or have the orphan do it in my stand while I provide them with the fish... Okay, let's do that since I am far too lazy. Fishy~ Sushi~ What should I make?~ Wait, I'm getting far too ahead!
Since the northern mountain where the lakes are located is a bit far from Karnosh City, I was thinking of going there after I finished my five quests here, but I will definitely have to go there sooner since I really am craving some sushi.
I want some tuna(the normal kind), too, but since normal tuna is seafood, I will have to go to the sea to catch some. The nearest seaport was to the far East of here, about 30 days of traveling away or about 45 days away from Karnosh City.
Normal fish were good, but the main reason why I wanted those magic fishes was because I wanted to farm/breed them for the normal citizens of this world, too. After all, they will need it soon.
I want them inside one of my External Spatial Spaces; either the Space Dimension Homestead, the Fold-Space Dimension, or the Internalized Space World is fine. If not in those External Spatial Spaces, my Internal Realm Space was also fine. And if possible, near my house in this world too.
Well, not my house exactly since they suppose are to be used as a catalyst for my water garden, the hydroponic gardens. But only when I successfully bred them into normal fish, not monster fish. After all, if they stay as monster fish, then they would absorb too much mana and cause the natural formation in that city to collapse. Not to mention, the Ice-Elemental Fishes are an Ice-Elemental monster. It was not a good idea to place them near my normal plants.
If I succeed in turning them into normal fish, then the Ice-Elemental Magic and mana that the fish naturally emit would only benefit the land. But what's the point of doing that? It's because of the Ice-Elemental Magic that made those fishes what they are worth.
Besides, they are also very good as a food source- especially when they are still magical monster fish. So, placing them inside my Internalized Space World to breed them was not only a great way to farm them but also a great idea for me to hide them.
Hmmm? Feeling confused? Where? The spaces?
Ah. When I said my External Spaces- I meant them as my External Spatial Space like my Inventory Space, my Space Dimension Homestead(SDH), and my Internalized Space World(ISW) - which was created out of a World's Core like Cidetal's Core, and my Fold-Space Dimension(FSD) which I created using Space's Origin Spatial Law and Time Formation to bind a Ranked- SSS Magic Core. These four different External Spatial Spaces are bonded through my Magic and Domain.
My Inventory Space was gifted to me by the God of Earth - my Original Earth. The Demon God granted me my Space Dimension Homestead in my 4th World transmigration. He gave it to me because I didn't kill him. My Internalized Space World was created by myself using a World's Core from a world that has already died. As for my Fold-Space Dimension, I created it using my own Blood to form the spatial laws, forces, and time formation onto an Ancient Magic Core. This External Spatial Space was not inside my soul but my Magic Domain. It does not have a so-called [Dimensional Axis] because it is with me whenever and wherever I am.
As for my Internal Space, those are the actual Internal Realm Spaces that are tied directly to my Soul, Magic Core, and Spiritual being. Ah- to clarify, my Soul and Spiritual are not the same, okay? My Soul World Space was where all of my Soul Creation objects are in. My Magic World Space was where the top 5,000,000 Strongest Beast or Monsters, or in some cases, Star Beasts or Magical Beasts, that I had tamed lived. My Spiritual Dimension was where the rare and precious herbs that I had gathered and planted were. It is also where all of my Spiritual Beasts and Monsters that I had tamed reside.
The majority of the herbs that I have used normally are planted and cultivated inside my Space Dimension Homestead, one of my Fold-Space Dimensions. Still, the herbs that I cultivate in my Spiritual Dimension are the ones that will literally eat a whole world as a snack, and thus, they cannot be used normally.
I put those in there because they are being used as a Restriction on my Spiritual Power so that I don't accidentally destroy another world - again. How many are in there again? Hmmm, let me check real quick. Oh- wait a second. Since when did they start to cross-breed?! And what the fuck did they do to my house?! I don't want a castle! I want my house back!
Arg... Forget it. Now was not the time.
I will check on them later on. Right now wasn't the time.
Anyway.
I wanted to breed the fish for cooking purposes. Mainly because my stomach demands it. Okay, don't start to feel hungry right now - it was not the time. I don't have any high-grade food with me, so I can't afford to be hungry right now. Hm? The food on my plate? These are my snacks, okay?
"If that doesn't work, where would the villagers go to? Our town? There isn't that much free space left that can be used for farming," Marcus sighed in depression as he worried for the villagers. He totally forgot about the food on his hand as he eyed the food on my plate. Even though he was very stressed out and depressed over this situation, his body still reacted to the food on my plate. That can't be helped since my food smells far better than the trash in his bowls. Not only that, my food was all cooked by me too, so the mana inside the meat was emitting out-stream into the air, causing everyone to eye my plate of food with both curiosity and hunger.
"If there's no free space, then we can only make more space," James replied back with a determined glint in his eyes.
"Sigh, James, even if you say that the most that we can do is accept another ten families at most." Both Marcus and Nathan answered at the same time. Causing James to quiet down. A frown was on his face, and his hand was clenched so tight that the bowl of soup cracked.
He knew that, but he didn't want to accept it. As a nobleman and a merchant, he really should be thinking about the pros and cons of having ten new families within his family's land, but the thing was, the Therius Family was always a low-rank noble house that originated from a small village. Their history was what caused them to want to go to small villages for transactions like this in the first place. This was mainly to help out the smaller villages.
"Sir Marcus, your town is Cremon Town, right? What is the size of your town? What do you need to do to increase it?" I asked. This man is a good man. This merchant group was a good group. They have morals and sympathy for helping others even when they know that it doesn't give them any advantages.
"Yes, Cremon Town belongs to my family. As for the size, we have about 1,000 to 2,000 households total, give or take a couple of tens. To increase the size of Cremon Town, it is necessary to border out the wall and to border out the wall, a lot of time and effort is needed aside from the materials and cost of labor. To increase the wall's defense, it has already caused a lot of burdens to the civilians there due to the high tax." Marcus explained all the facts and opinions clearly to me. This isn't a secret, so he has no need to hide it.
Uris and the rest of his team listened quietly to our talks, not interrupting us, but also weren't inputting any forward. They have no clue as to what they should say.
Since Marcus had already sent one of his bodyguards to inform Lord Flavius using my flying bird - a shadow flame bird called "Fringle", for now, he'd decided that we can continue going on to the next villages. All the women and the kids we found are also coming with us in another two wagons I had to create. At first, the women all feared the earth golem that I summoned, but after a couple of minutes of noticing that they weren't alive and had no will of their own, the women all relaxed. Even now, they trusted the earthen golem more than the men who protected them.
As we had expected, the other two villages were in a similar situation to the previous one, except that their situation wasn't as bad as Novelle's village. Many elderly people had already died. However, the children, teenagers, and adults were still alive even if they were so miserably in pain due to their fights against the monsters and beasts that kept on coming toward their villages.
After Marcus explained everything we found in the cave to them, everyone who heard it paled so badly that they collapsed onto the floor. I tried not to pay attention during this as I scanned the surrounding village to see if there were other monsters that we missed.
There was. A large group of beasts horde that's about 13 miles away from the village, making their way here.
Based on the live reading of that horde of beasts, most of it is the dires monsters? I can use the skill 'Map' to make sure that everything is corrected, but I got used to using my own skills without using Bel-chan. But, to make sure that I am not mistaken, I'd pull out the Map Skill and check the red dots on it. And yes, they all are Dire beasts and monsters. Ranging from Level 50 to level 80 Dire beasts and monsters.
I also inspected Sir Marcus and everyone else's levels.
Name: Marcus Til Therius
Level: 12 Profession: Merchant Captain
Strength: 48 Constitution: 28 Agility: 24 Intelligent: 58
Charisma: 64 Willpower: 27 Perception: 32
Skills:
Item Appraisal Level 2
Arithmetic Level 4
Commerce Level 5
Management Level 2
Vendors Level 5
Enlarge Weight Capacity Level 2
Profiteer Level 3
Spendthrift Level 1
Luck Level 1
Dagger Technique level 1
Name: Nathan Til Therius
Level: 9 Profession: Merchants Treasury
Strength: 38 Constitution: 30 Agility: 20 Intelligent: 68
Charisma: 4 Willpower: 20 Perception: 42
Skills:
Money Management Level 5
Commerce Level 4
Arithmetic Level 5
Item Appraisal 3
Short Bow Technique Level 2
Name: James Til Therius
Level: 19 Profession: Merchant Stockmaster
Strength: 48 Constitution: 28 Agility: 28 Intelligent: 28
Charisma: 14 Willpower: 57 Perception: 42
Skills:
Money Management Level 3
Commerce Level 6
Item Appraisal Level 4
Arithmetic Level 3
Hammer Fall Level 6
Hammer Technique Level 3
The rest of the merchants have a lower level and three common skills: Arithmetic, Commerce, and Cart Booster.
.... The difference between the levels is too high. I don't even need to see what Uris's group's levels are at...
Monsters and beasts such as dire apes, badgers, bears, boars, lions, and wolves were all above level 20. The chances of this group of humans coming out alive were very slim. Not zero, but close to it.
Oh? There's the reading of a chimera and a large monstrous scorpion. Are there any flying monsters? Ah, found them. Hmm, they flew pretty far behind from the rest of the horde... A group of hawks? No, that's not what it's called in this world. I believe the term is "Shark Talons,"
So there would be 1250 monsters, including the flying ones? Oh my, this village was so in deep shit.
When I told Uris this, the man froze in fear. Seeing that Uris was useless, I had to go tell Marcus instead of waiting for Uris to tell the man. Ahhhh—the joy of being the receiving end of my luck—note the sarcastic there, please.
"A-a horde of Dire Monsters and Flying Talons are coming here?!" Marcus slammed the table with his wooden cup of water. He had just finished talking to the village's chief. And now, even more, the bad news was here. He slumped into his chair as his face pale completely. Nathan, James and the rest of the merchant had completely frozen in their seats. Their expression was completely in desperation.
"H-how f-far...?" Marcus tried to come back to his senses, but he wasn't really successful. Yep, even if this world has a horde of monster attacks often, for a small group of merchants like this, their hope is completely washed away.
"About 6 hours minimum at the rate that they are traveling. However, once they get closer to the village, their speed will probably increase, so about 4 hours max?" I answered.
"4 hours..." Uris whispered as he snapped out of his surprise. Uris had been through a couple of monster hordes before, so he had experience with it. However, I doubt that his previous will helps in a situation as shitty as this.
I'm sorry, everyone. The situation is like this because I am here. My presence tends to trigger hordes of monsters a lot. For me, this was considered lucky; for other people, it was a disaster.
This was one of the reasons why I didn't go out a lot back when I was a teen. This was why I nearly turned into a Hikikomori. Because my luck affects the people around me far too much. Back when I couldn't control my luck, do you know how many people's lives changed because of me?
"Sir Marcus, please calm yourself down. We still have some time. The only choice that we have right now is to evacuate the villagers here into a safer place and fortify the walls of the village. I can create an underground shelter that will last three days and create walls using Earth magic. However, everyone here who can fight will have to continue fighting the hordes that are coming, as I will be busy keeping the walls up." This is the best that I can do for now. If I keep using my powers when I just got to this world not even that long ago, bad things will happen so that I won't do anything more than that. I have to wait for this world to accept my presence and get used to my luck before doing anything else.
Well, it probably won't take that long since this world already had gotten used to His Highness Prince Yui. That man's presence is even more... You know, mind-breaking than mine. At least with me, I won't take out things like Immortal Pills for Cultivations and Martial Arts... Or Pills that will increase the lifespan of a normal human... Even if I have tons of them in my Inventory Space.
Yes, I had already noticed that Prince Yui had given the two bodyguards who were there with him that time two pills. Because their presence was no longer human but rather a semi-human-semi-immortal, since I have no clue when Tian Yuanle had already been Prince Yui in this world, I cannot act rashly. I have to make at least sure that my presence won't cause this world to collapse. Again.
So, for now, this is all that I can do.
"Really? Shirin-sama?! You can make walls?!" Asked Marcus with hope in his eyes. The rest of the merchants look both hopefuls, like they had seen the sun after a long year of darkness. I wondered, when did the merchants start calling me Shirin-sama, too? I hope that it wasn't because of Captain Uris.
I nodded. "For now, gather everyone up and tell them to go to the Chief's house. His house is in the middle of the village, so it was easier for me to create an underground shelter there. As for water, food, and other things, I will also take care of it, but it will only last three days at most." I said as I stretched my arms, pretending to look like the actions that I would do would be very tiresome.
Marcus, Uris, and Nathan all looked worried that I would collapse from using too much mana, but I didn't wait for them to protest and went ahead to the village chief's house.
It didn't take me that long to make a shelter that was deep enough and secrecy enough. The shelter was about 25 meters away from the surface. There's a small natural water well inside alongside 'holes' that they can use as potty during nature's call. Of course, tissues and paper for wiping their ass isn't something available in this world. So, instead, I left a lot of small sticks and water for them to use...
This was just how it is in this world. Even if I had successfully created a modern-day pumping system for my house, this isn't my house, so such a thing isn't my problem. Creating a stone wall for the shelter was a lot easier since I was under the ground. As for beds, earthen beds with wooden planks are fine for now.
All in all, there are three large bathrooms with a water well next to it. There are ten small toilets (holes) that are away from everything else, and there are food shelves with enough food to last for a week. Water containers made out of bamboo baskets. Lastly, enough rough blankets made out of jute and linen are needed for sleeping. The rest, things like cooking tools, cannot be taken in, so only magical tools are allowed to be used here. The village chef's daughter will be the one to power those tools. After making the air circulate throughout the underground, I nodded in satisfaction.
Next, I pretended to sway as I went out toward the wall of these villages.
Sir Marcus and the villagers looked worriedly at me, but I waved them away. The rest was not my job, so Marcus had to lead the people down to the secret underground.
While he was doing that, I went toward the large trees nearest to the wall and used magic to cut it down. A lot of the trees will be used to support the wall, so Uris and the merchant's bodyguards helped out too. Since they, too, have their own Storage Backpack, carrying and transferring the wood logs didn't take long.
Of course, I planned to make an earthen wall for this village, but I also needed something to be the foundation of the walls, so wood would have to do. I don't have the time to gather stones to make a stone wall, so wood and earth will work for now. Next, I fired up the earth to harden them and fortified them with the wood logs.
In this village, they specialize in herb plants used for making glues, so I also requested that and used it to harden the walls. This way, not only would it last longer, but it would also offer protection against fire.
After three hours, I finished making ten towers made of wood and earth for archers, along with walls that are pretty much what will stop the monsters.
Ah, I also make pits all over the place, with sleeping potion-smeared spikes on the bottom.
Now, all that I have to do is wait. I pretended to collapse, pants and sweat rolling down my forehead and neck.
"Mayfill, water..." I ordered Mayfill, who stayed next to me, to get water. Mayfill worriedly gave me a cup of cold water as I drank them all. After that, it was just a matter of waiting.
I rest my mind and keep track of the horde.
Five hours later.
I am very disappointed. Sorry, I shouldn't be saying this when the villagers are crying in relief that their homes are intact but for real, I am very disappointed.
In myself.
I had made the Earthen walls far too strong. The sleeping potion smeared on the spikes was a little bit far too efficient. Not only does it slow down the monsters on the ground, but it also causes the flying talons to drop from their skies into a dead sleep.
.... Like serious... This only means that my skills are far too strong for this world. I have to be careful about which skills I use from now on.
So I left killing the monsters and beasts to everyone else while I pretended to be resting.
Since the sleeping potion was specifically for beasts only, humans are safe to go near it. The rest? They have no problem with killing it themselves. Aside from me, everyone else, even the villagers who had hidden underground, came up to kill them.
I am not going to talk about what happened afterward because it's a pain in the ass. Nor am I going to talk about what happened next.
Let's say that I successfully completed all my missions/quests with an A+ on all quests and leave it at that.
Yes, I even got the spiderworm's threads that I wanted along with accidentally collecting enough honey to cover my whole house with. I left all the bodies of the monsters that I killed to the villages that we passed by and that's it. Of course, if it was monsters like Black Wolf who have very beautiful furs then I am keeping it. No one complains about it, either.
I took Novelle, Annabelle, and Mayfill with me back to Karnosh City. The other women? They went to the nearby towns that we passed by, even after knowing that they would probably have to move again once the Emperor investigated what happened in this region of the world. They still decided to live in those villages and towns that we passed by. As a result, I left behind enough materials and two Summoning Stones for each woman. Those Summoning Stones will summon two large mobile earthen golems that they can use as transportation, a place to sleep in, and storage space. It would only last three days each for Summoning Stone, but it was enough for the women to travel away from this region when the time came for it.
When we returned to Karnosh City, the guards were already mobilized to scout and investigate the pool. People were running to and from wherever they went, and the city was in a rush.
While everyone was running all over the place, I was cooking a storm for myself while I settled Novelle and her family in.
For now, Mayfill's job was to make musical strings for me so that I could craft all sorts of string instruments. As for Novelle, for now, her job is to clean the house that I made for them to live in and my house. Aside from that, she had to look after the orphan's payments every day and make sure that they ate the foods that I had cooked for them.
Since I wanted Novelle to be able to read, write and do basic math. I hired two people to teach her since I am no good at teaching kids. One of my bad points was that I am not very good at teaching things like that. My brothers have emphasized this a lot of times, and I know it myself, too.
It's not that I cannot teach them; I can since I do have the teaching skills, but I just don't feel that I am good at it. Besides, I never learned this world's writing system. I can read, write, and speak in them due to my "All Languages Learned" Skills, but I have never actually learned the languages of this world.
Ah, since this will reduce the time Novelle can look after her sister, I will only make it so that she works in the afternoon when Annabelle is asleep.
Hm? Their payment? Of course, it is as I had said that I will pay. Novelle's rates aren't as high as the orphan's since she doesn't need to use a lot of her strength, but for Mayfill, for now, I am paying it according to the grade that her strings are worth for me, aside from the already paid.
This means that if, in a day, Mayfill can make up to three strings that I approved off, then her payment will be three small silver coins, as each string costs one small silver coin to make, plus 30 copper coins.
The reason was that it was hard to make musical strings, so this much was a given. After all, this was handcrafted, and not machines were created.
After that, I stop accepting requests from both the Adventurer's Guild and the Commerce Guild.
I plan to take a couple of months off for complete rest as I look after my gardens and farms and give this world a chance to get used to my presence.
While I rest, I will be making a violin, a piano, a bass, and, let's just say, the whole orchestra's musical instruments. I even plan to make the entire drum set since I have a lot of hides from monsters. The rest of the time, I will be spending luxuriously.
Ahh, I still want some fish... I want some sushi.