Part 7
As the destroyer kept on repeating its evacuation order, I gathered all the adventurers in the vicinity.
"Hey, what is with that announcement? Would it be bad to continue staying here?"
One of the adventurers asked.
I thought so too. Or rather, everyone here felt the same way.
"It is just a guess, but I think it would explode if this goes on."
When they heard what I said, the adventurers' expression stiffened.
If such a gigantic fortress were to explode, there was no telling how damaging it would be.
We didn't even know where the fortress drew its power from, so we couldn't do anything to stop it.
The only thing we could do was to run away as fast as possible…
But would the stubborn crusader in my party be willing to abandon this town and escape?
No, it was not certain an explosion that was big enough to damage the town would happen.
If I could convince that stubborn girl with this excuse, then that would be great…!
"The, the shop… If this goes on, it would be disastrous for the town, the shop will, will disappear…"
Wiz sounded like she was going to cry.
She must be referring to her magic item shop.
But…
"This machine has stopped operation. This machine has stopped operation. Unable to expend unused energy and vent heat, operators please evacuate from the machine. This machine has…"
When the broadcast repeated again, someone muttered:
"… I want to attack."
I don't know whose voice it was.
"… Me too. I remembered the reason why I stayed in this novice town despite being over level 30."
… So there were such people here too.
And I knew how he felt.
"That shop had been taking care of us with its low prices, if we don't repay them back now, there won't be a next time!"
...
In the complete silence, the only sounds was…
"This machine has stopped operation. This machine has…"
— I took up the loudhailer and yelled.
"Those in favor of infiltrating into the mobile fortress destroyer raise your hands—!"
All the adventurers raised their hands without hesitation. The archers pulled their bows and shot their hook arrows with rope attached onto the destroyer!
The archers had a skill called 'snipe'.
The ability of the skill was to extend the range an arrow could fly and increase its accuracy.
The arrows that were enhanced by skills were not affected by the weight of the hooks and ropes, flying onto the deck of the destroyer easily.
The hooked arrowhead caught onto the obstacles on the destroyer.
The rope tied to the arrow became taut with a pull.
The adventurers grabbed the taut rope one after another and scaled up the destroyer.
I wanted to tell them not to climb up the rope while wearing armor, which was a superhuman feat. Even if they had such strength, it was unnecessary to go so far.
Finally, the first adventurer who climbed up the rope got onto the deck.
He was followed by many others. It was like all their training was just for this day, the morale was sky high.
"Charge in—!"x3
The adventurers were like a bunch of bandits attacking a powerless village as they screamed and went into the fortress one after another!
"Wahh… Kazuma, I am a bit afraid of that group of people… From the looks of things, it should be enough to leave everything to them. Let's go back alright? We will return for now, and work hard from tomorrow onwards."
Seeing how hyped everyone was, Aqua started to fear the adventurers and tugged my sleeve.
But, I couldn't do that.
We were comrades, and my comrades were fighting up there.
"How could we go back now you moron. Can't you tell how brave the heroes invading the fortress are! Your job is just beginning. If you don't want to be treated like a fake goddess, then heal these brave warriors properly."
I told Aqua and followed the adventurers into the fortress.
The archers who fired the arrows had scaled the fortress too.
I said loudly:
"Darkness, your armor is too heavy, I don't think you can climb up! Megumin continue to rest! Wiz please act according to your own judgement! Aqua, this is your fault, so follow me!"
"Wait! I have nothing to do with this!"
When I grabbed on to a rope, Aqua followed me on the verge of tears.
Wiz also joined us and climbed up the rope.
After getting up the deck, what we saw was…
"Surround those golems! Overwhelm them with numbers and topple them with ropes! Hammer them when they are down!"
Judging from the scene before me, I couldn't tell who the real invaders were.
Most of the adventurers in town should be novices, but many of the smaller combat golems had been destroyed by them.
"Jerk! You are in there right! Open the door or I will smash it with my hammer!"
"Come out now! The one responsible for attacking the town come out right now! I will teach you a lesson!"
I looked at the place the shouts were coming from, and saw several adventurers attempting to break open the door of the building. That should be the place where the rumored supervisor of the fortress was shut in.
No matter how I looked at this, we were the invaders.
At this moment…
"A big one is heading your way—!"
Hearing this sound, I turned my head and saw a combat golem.
It was large and bulky with a humanoid shape, similar to the robots in the world I came from.
As that golem was moving in our direction, the other adventurers rushed to our side, ready to lend us a hand.
But I have a secret technique against golems.
"Hey Aqua, let me show you something interesting. This should be the best way to use this skill."
I flexed my fingers and reached towards the golem, my palm facing upwards.
The enemy was a golem.
In that case, it would be stopped by stealing its crucial parts away.
When I was still in Japan, a certain RPG game required the usage of this method to defeat robotic enemies.
That's right, using steal against machines was a one hit kill!
I am improving myself every day too!
"Steal!"
"Kazuma, wait"
Aqua probably realized my intentions and tried to stop me…
But my outreached hand had already robbed the golem's head successfully.
After losing its head, the golem stopped moving immediately.
As I suspected…!
The heavy head of the golem was in my hands because of my skill. It obeyed the laws of gravity and crushed my hand onto the ground.
"… Hya—! My hand! My handdddd—!"
My cocky face turned into a crying expression as the adventurers nearby hurried to push the golem's head away.
"Ahhh! Are you alright, Kazuma-san! When facing a monster carrying heavy objects, do not use 'steal'!"
Wiz was worried about me and Aqua was checking my right hand too.
"Aqua… it's fractured right, it must be fractured."
"There is no fracture at all. I will heal you up, but don't let it get into your head and act recklessly okay?"
Ugh, how shameful!
"It's open—!"
The adventurers used their giant hammer to bash the door of the building in, and rushed inside.
Right now, they were fearless.
Everyone ignored the siren that was blasting and moved in one by one without regards to party make up.
We followed behind the reliable adventurers and went in.
There were a few golems inside, but the adventurers were taking them down efficiently.
… They had always acted as they pleased, but the adventurers were scary when they were united.
We reached the deepest parts of the building and found a group congregating before a room.
All of them looked troubled, their heightened emotions gone.
"Oh, Kazuma, you came at the right time… Take a look at that."
The one talking to me was Taylor, who was standing in the center of the room.
Taylor seemed to be a little down and unhappy.
Looking closely, he seemed to be pointing at something… which was the skeletal remains of a human.
The researcher who took over the fortress was sitting in the chair in the middle of the room alone.
I called Aqua over and asked her to go in.
I pointed at the skeleton, but Aqua just shook her head.
"He had already passed on. He won't turn into an undead, he had no regrets at all."
...
No regrets at all?
"No, he should have some lingering for the world. From the look of things, he should have died alone…"
As I was saying that, Aqua seemed to have found something.
A notebook that was buried in the messy documents on the table.
After Aqua picked up that notebook, everyone shut their mouth obediently.
Under the watchful gaze of the adventurers, the only sound was the mechanical evacuation warning.
And so, Aqua started to read—
"—O month X day. The higher ups of the country gave me a tough problem, asking me to create a mobile weapon. Impossible. They wouldn't listen to my protests, and ignored my apologies and requests. I wanted to resign, but they wouldn't accept my resignation letter. I pretend to be retarded, streaking around in my underwear. But the female researchers simply asked me to take off my underwear too. This nation is going to be over."
… Everyone rested their gaze on the remains.
"—O month X day. The deadline for the design is today. What should I do? I couldn't just submit a blank paper. Why did I started drinking out of desperation and spend all the funds away? As I was feeling frustrated staring at the blank design plans, a spider which I hated the most showed up on the paper. I shrilled and picked something up to smash it. The spider is now stained onto the design paper… The economy is bad, and high quality paper like this is expensive, I won't have money to compensate for it. Screw it, I will just submit this."
… Ugh. The atmosphere was turning awkward as Aqua continued reading:
"—O month X day. That design was unexpectedly well liked. I don't dare to say to them 'that was the goo that spurt out when I squashed a spider, why are you touching it'. And is it really fine for the project to carry on like this? What should I do? The only thing I did was kill a spider, and they made me the director. Yahoo!"
… I was suspecting that Aqua was making up the content, but Aqua was reading it with a serious expression.
"—O month X day. I didn't do anything and the weapon was still taking shape. I am not needed at all right? Whatever, just do what you want, I just want to live my life leisurely… When they came to ask me about the power source, I couldn't be bothered. I said from the start that it was impossible, if you want a power source then get that super rare legendary ore rumoured to be able to burn for eternity— the Coronatite. I rebuked them. That felt great! Bring it to me if you can."
...
"—O month X day. They really brought it to me. What should I do? They actually did it. They are even placing it in the power reactor, what should I do? What the hell should I do? I only said it because I thought it was impossible, and they actually did it. What if it doesn't move? What would happen to me? Death penalty? If it doesn't move I will be sentenced to death? You have to move, please."
Maybe our gazes were making her uncomfortable…
"—O month X day. They said the activation test would be tomorrow, but to be honest, I didn't do anything. The only thing I did was squash a spider. This should be the last day I can sit on this chair so leisurely… I start feeling mad when I think about it. Forget it, I will just drink. This is my last supper, so I won't hold back! There wasn't anyone left in the machine today, so it won't matter how much I drink or how drunk I get. I will start drinking from the most expensive wine!"
As Aqua read, she felt a bit scared of the way we were staring at her.
"—O month X day. When I woke up, I felt a strong tremor. What is happening? How much did I drink? I don't remember anything. No, I don't remember anything about yesterday at all. The only parts I remember was heading to the central zone and lecturing the Coronatite. No, wait. After that, I said I wanted to test its courage and flicked the lighted cigarette onto the ore…"
As she read, Aqua didn't dare to look our way any longer.
"—O month X day. I finally realized what was happening, I am doomed. The mobile weapon is running amok right now. What should I do? They would definitely think it was my doing, so I am probably a wanted criminal right now. They wouldn't forgive me even if I cried and begged for their forgiveness… How irritating… They would probably destroy the mobile weapon, drag me out and execute me. Damn king and the officials, and that female researcher who smirked after taking off my underwear, they are all scum! It's fine for such a country to fall. Enough, I will just drink and sleep. Fortunately, the food and wine are plentiful, I will think about this after I wake up."
Towards the end, the sound of someone clenching their fists tight and muscle tightening could be heard.
"—O month X day. The nation has fallen. Oh no, it has fallen, it is really gone! The citizens and high officials had all fled. But I destroyed my home country. Oh no, this feels great! I am satisfied, I have no regrets. Alright, I have decided. I will live out the rest of my life in this machine, I can't alight or stop it anyway. The one who made this thing must be retarded… Wrong! The one in charge of creating this thing was me!"
Reading the final entry, Aqua said with a troubled expression:
"… That's, that's all."
"Are you kidding me!" x3
Everyone aside from Aqua and Wiz shouted in unison.
Part 8
"This is the Coronatite. So, how do we take this out?"
This was the central area of the mobile fortress.
Having too many people in here won't help, so Aqua, Wiz and I became the representatives for everyone and walked into this room.
In the center of the room was a small stone surrounded by a steel fence, the Coronatite.
— That rare ore was emitting a fiery red light continuously.
But, what should we do? No matter how you look at it, the ore that was fenced in couldn't be taken out.
… I see, this was the last line of defence.
It was easy to light up the ore through the gaps, but removing it wasn't simple.
"What should we do… Ah, right, I remember there was a guy with a magic sword, what was his name again…"
Before Aqua finished, I had an idea.
"Hey, we don't need to cut the fence open, this would be fine. If it is this close, the fence won't matter… 'Steal'!"
"Ahhh! Ka, Kazuma-san!"
Wiz seemed to be shouting something, but as I expected, the Coronatite went through the fence into my hands.
— And it was still burning.
"Hotttttt!"
"'Freeze'! 'Freeze'!"
"'Heal'! 'Heal'! Nah… Are you an idiot? Kazuma is usually quick witted, but you are doing the same thing even after the incident with the golem, you are actually stupid right?!"
Ugh, I hate to say this, but I couldn't rebuke Aqua's lecture!
The Coronatite which burned my hand and almost took my arm too was on the floor after Wiz helped me cool it down and knock it away.
Even though it was frozen momentarily, it turned fiery red again…
"This is bad, there is no time, it's about to blow. What should we do with this thing…"
As Wiz was troubling over this, the Coronatite by her feet was glowing brighter.
Before we realized it, the mechanical warning announcement had stopped.
The thing powering this fortress was definitely this ore.
But we had no way of handling it.
No, this thing was clearly too dangerous for any adventurer to handle.
With the power to move such a large fortress, who could handle this burning ore… That's right, if you encountered any problems you couldn't resolve, you just needed to ask the gods.
"Hey Aqua, do you have any way to seal this thing? Isn't it the norm for goddess to seal the power of evil or something!?"
"I heard that before, but that's just a game setting! Hey Wiz, you have a way to deal with this right!?"
This woman who proclaimed to be something pushed the hot potato to the lich she was always bullying without hesitation. I thought Wiz wouldn't have any way, but she said…
"There is a method… But my mana is insufficient. Sorry Kazuma-san, I need your help!"
As she said, Wiz pushed her serious face before me.
"What, what is it?"
Wiz looked desperate, putting both hands on my cheeks, her thumb lightly touching the corners of my lips.
She then said with no hesitation:
"Can you let me suck a little?"
"It would be my pleasure."
I won't say something cliche like 'suck what?'
Or something like 'at a time like this?'.
I was not a dense character who would panic or pretend to be retarded at such a juncture.
"Thank you! Well then, I will start sucking!"
Wiz's lips closed in before my eyes, I couldn't ignore it even if I wanted to.
Dad, Mom. I am going to be an adult in an alternate world…?
"Kazuma-san, pardon me! 'Drain touch'—!
"Ahhhh!"
"Stop, stop! If you take anymore Kazuma will become a mummy!"
Aqua restrained Wiz in a hurry, and Wiz released my hand before I lost consciousness.
What a disappointment.
No, I already had a hunch it would turn out this way!
"Now, I can use teleportation spells! But… The problem is where to send this thing to… The places I can teleport includes Axel, the capital and the dungeon. Which one should I choose…"
This meant she was planning to teleport the ore to somewhere else?
"In that case, wouldn't the dungeon be fine?"
"But… The dungeon I registered as a teleport marker is a place I will visit to collect magical ingredients, the world's largest dungeon… Right now, that place is a tourist attraction with the dungeon as the main selling point…!"
"That's just looking for trouble! Hey, this is bad! The ore is going beyond red and turning white!"
As Aqua and Wiz were panicking, I casted 'Freeze' on the ore even though it won't help much.
"Theoretically, there is another way! There is a spell called random teleport, which sends things to an unspecified place! But we won't know where it would be sent to. It would be fine if it was sent to the mountains or sea. But if it was sent to a place with a dense population…!"
Wiz said with a frown, she sounded like she was about to cry.
Random teleport?
"Don't worry! The world is huge! Compared to a place with lots of people, the chance of it ending up somewhere with nobody around is higher! Don't worry, I will take all the responsibility! I might look this way, but my luck is incredibly good!"
Hearing me say that, Wiz nodded and chanted her spell loudly.
"Teleport—!"