Ch.62Chapter 62. The Paladin Training Plan (1)

Chapter 62. Surviving as Paladin Training Plan (1)

With Lakye, Paya, and Tuntuni joining, the demon worshippers are swept away.

Lakye moves freely among the enemies without hesitation, while Tuntuni shoots fireballs from the air.

The power of these two asymmetrical forces was enough to change the flow of the battlefield.

“We won!”

“Don’t let them escape!”

The siege ended in our victory.

We killed all the demon worshippers. They were puppets without self-awareness.

Even if we captured them as prisoners and interrogated them, it was obvious we wouldn’t get the answers we wanted.

– …

Drowsiness washes over me. I used too many blessings.

But there’s something I want to check before sleeping. I can’t rest like this.

– How did they get here?

“I’ll go check!”

Several quick-footed soldiers move out.

I naturally decided to wait beside Totem 1, talking with Lakye.

– Good work. Did you take care of the lesser demons too?

I forgot to ask earlier. It was so chaotic.

“I killed all four in the city. A spider-like demon was summoning the others, which made them easy to deal with.”

Lesser demons only take seconds to kill now, so he must have finished them quickly and joined us.

As expected of Lakye. He handles things thoroughly.

– Are the warriors still fighting?

“Yes. It will take some time for them to return.”

– Was there any special threat?

I’m worried about the warriors in Blutan since our headquarters was ambushed.

“Their forces are of lower quality than Symphonia’s. There won’t be any problems.”

That’s fortunate.

“Lord Malak!”

The soldiers who went to check return.

They say the demons didn’t come through the village. The wheat field village near the castle wasn’t attacked.

Then where did they come from? Did they fall from the sky? Did they spring from the ground?

“W-we found a tunnel!”

A civilized soldier who went farther came running back, out of breath.

Wait, really from the ground?

After transferring my consciousness to Totem 3, I checked the tunnel with Lakye.

“It’s wide. It doesn’t seem like it was made today.”

The tunnel was wide enough for four people to pass through at once.

Lakye slightly furrowed his brow.

“The smell is strong. A mole demon… could it be something like that?”

– It’s possible.

It definitely wasn’t dug by humans. It would be difficult to create such a tunnel with this era’s technology.

When was it dug?

“Tsk. The path is blocked, so we can’t go any further.”

Lakye clicked his tongue after kicking the blocked path several times.

They anticipated we would track them and blocked the tunnel.

“Should I try to break through again?”

– Can you track them?

“…I don’t think so.”

– Then that’s enough.

If Lakye says it can’t be done, it really can’t be done.

How long has it been watching us?

When we conquered Symphonia? When we brought in the civilized people?

…It’s no coincidence they attacked the city when our main forces went to Blutan.

One more source of anxiety has been added.

Unlike threats that are far away like Charon or the cloud demon, this is an enemy that’s close by.

For now, I’ve named it the ‘Tunnel Demon.’

– We need to expand our reconnaissance area.

Ah, there is one piece of good news.

[There is a blessing you can learn!]

[Malak’s Domain (Low): Rains down weakening rain on enemies. Enemies fall into status effects such as anxiety, chills, and slowness.]

Finally, I have an area-of-effect debuff skill.

Hah.

I feel a bit ungrateful complaining even when given something, but why couldn’t this have appeared earlier…

***

The Tribal Alliance headquarters began reorganizing.

This incident taught us something. We’re good at attacking, but terrible at defense.

That’s because both barbarians and civilized people were used to fleeing rather than defending when enemies attacked their strongholds.

To withstand the next attack firmly, we need to make many preparations.

– Bring the blacksmith.

The first task was replacing the castle gate.

This time, we’ll change it from wood to iron.

We’re not making the entire door out of iron, but covering wood with iron.

Making it entirely from iron would make it too difficult to open and close.

Fortunately, there was a civilized person who had worked as a blacksmith, so technical issues were resolved.

“We need iron. The more, the better.”

– Understood.

To fulfill the blacksmith’s request, I brought all available iron from the city.

Of course, only what wasn’t being used.

We also reinforced the castle walls, but there wasn’t much damage, so it shouldn’t take long.

We placed jars and basins on top of the walls.

They were placed to pour boiling water when enemies try to climb up, but they can also be used for drinking when thirsty.

Oil was too precious to pour boiling oil on enemies like in movies.

We also plan to install ballistas. It will take time, but it’s necessary.

Isn’t the ballista essentially the strongest medieval weapon for both defense and siege?

If we can hit vital points, we might even be able to target lesser demons’ lives.

“I can make them. Since I learned it unofficially, they might break easily, but they should be able to fire dozens of shots.”

Harry knew how to make them. As expected of a wizard who has supplied military weapons for decades (according to himself).

He’s good at everything except magic.

This time too, he says he can make them if given enough time and materials.

– Have you collected many magic stones?

“The warriors brought magic stones from the three magic towers in Blutan. I think we can open a warp gate if we collect a bit more.”

The only use for magic stones here is controlling golems.

Since we can’t make weapons using magic stones right now, we decided to invest in the warp gate.

Ah, we also made palisades.

They’re like fences made by driving wooden stakes into the ground, facilities that can reduce enemy mobility.

“Why do warriors have to do this? It’s dishonorable. I don’t like it.”

“Shut up and do it, Dodo! If you flap your lips one more time, you’ll become material for my blessing!”

With warriors as labor, it was done quickly.

It was completed rapidly since it only required labor without any special process.

I considered making a ‘moat’.

It’s a defensive facility that prevents enemy approach by digging around the castle and filling it with water.

It’s easy to think of it as a trench filled with water.

Harry argued we could make one by drawing water from a nearby stream, but…

“Disease could spread in Symphonia, no, the Tribal Alliance.”

Rachel strongly objected.

“A moat can only maintain its function if the bottom is excavated and the interior is continuously reinforced. Without such management, the water easily becomes contaminated.

We lack the manpower to maintain a moat. In fact, our hygiene conditions aren’t great even now. Adding a moat would be disastrous.”

So the cons outweigh the pros. That’s convincing.

– I understand.

Therefore, we decided to postpone installing a moat.

Thus, the Tribal Alliance proceeded with replacing the castle gate, repairing the walls, making ballistas, and installing palisades.

– Paya, could you write a letter for me?

I assigned Tuntuni the role of messenger again.

Now that we have a stronghold, we can invite other tribes.

Since we can’t distribute mini totems to each one, we’ll distribute letters to other tribes to bestow divine inspiration.

Since he needs to visit many places, I told him to just drop letters whenever he sees a tribe.

A proper delivery person should come and go quietly.

“Tuntuni, do you understand?”

Squawk!

He’ll understand Paya’s words.

I didn’t write important information in the letter, like “we’ve taken Symphonia,” so it’s fine even if enemies discover it.

I just wrote things like “if there’s a priest in your tribe, pray while calling Malak’s name.”

I assigned patrol around the city to soldiers and search missions to Lakye.

There’s a high possibility the tunnel demon will return.

If Lakye is nearby then, he might be able to kill it.

Paya and Muri are learning the imperial language and writing from a civilized person who was a teacher.

They’re learning quickly since they already know enough of the imperial language to communicate.

Once they become proficient, I plan to have them teach the barbarians.

Unlike barbarian writing, which lacks uniformity and is difficult to read, civilized writing has regularity.

They’re not called civilized for nothing. They were the rulers of the world before the apocalypse.

I believe our Tribal Alliance also needs to know the language and writing of the civilized people to win the war and rebuild the world.

From the barbarians’ perspective, this might be seen as cultural invasion that defiles tradition, but what can we do?

If Roa commands it, we must obey.

Victory comes first.

Having assigned tasks to everyone, I am now…

“Lord Malak, shall we go to the mountain where the Blue Moss tribe was?”

– Let’s do that.

I’m on a date with Lakye.

…It’s not really a date; I just moved to Totem 3 to help with her reconnaissance.

After assigning tasks to everyone, I have nothing to do.

Besides this, I can only explore the community, but I thought it would be better to keep Lakye company during her lonely reconnaissance.

“…Infected ones are gathered. I’ll take care of them.”

– Good.

Lakye dealt with the infected gathered in front of a cave.

“I sense a mysterious energy inside the cave. I also sense a presence.”

– Can you tell how many?

Lakye perks up her ears.

– One.

Wait. This situation sounds familiar.

Infected gathered in front of a cave and one person inside.

Ah.

Could it be?

I checked the community.

Is there a newbie who joined within the last 3 days…? There is.

[PetitNoa: Please help me(｡•́︿•̀｡)]

Is this for real?