Chapter 398: The Battle to Repel 2

“A-Are you alright?”

“……Shall we retreat?”

Told that by Arte and Khamsin, I shook my head from side to side.

“No, I’m going to get serious. I’ve been serious up until now, but this is true seriousness. I will put forth my full power.”

I said that as if to convince myself, and then stood up. Ordinarily, I would retreat with a “safety first” mentality, but this time it’s to repay Rilda for saving our lives. I cannot run away.

In that case, it is a struggle for survival. This is a war to determine who survives. Gentlemen, take up your arms. In order to survive, we have no choice but to defeat the enemy.

I built the fort to be quite sturdy. The walls are easily fifty centimeters thick. Even if a monster whale jumped up and down on it, it wouldn’t break easily. Therefore, we can calmly formulate a countermeasure.

“Could you tell everyone to evacuate into the fort when it gets dangerous?”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

When I called out, Khamsin hurriedly ran up to the roof. Without even a moment to watch him go, I issued the next instruction.

“About your puppets, Arte. Can I change their shapes a bit this time?”

“Eh? Their shapes?”

To Arte, who looked puzzled, I nodded and answered feeling slightly apologetic.

“Yeah. Even if I make them sturdy with Wood Blocks, they’ll probably break instantly against that opponent. So, from the start, I’m thinking of building them just to be agile enough to distract the enemy…… though they won’t look cute.”

When I told her that, Arte furrowed her brows in a troubled manner and gave a wry smile.

“I think that cannot be helped. However, I want to try not to let them break as much as possible.”

Arte said that while making fists with both hands in front of her chest. She was probably being serious, but her adorable appearance made me smile involuntarily.

“Then, I’ll make them right away. They’ll probably have a role to play.”

“Y-Yes.”

Hearing Arte’s reply, I immediately called out to Till.

“Till, could I have some Wood Blocks?”

“Yeees!”

Till ran off with pitter-patter steps and brought over the Wood Blocks I had made in advance. Seeing Till carrying them, Ortho and his group also brought some over.

“Hey! Is right here good?”

Kusala brought Wood Blocks in both hands, so I nodded and replied.

“Yeah, thanks. Ah, Mr. Kusala.”

“What is it?”

When I called his name, Kusala turned around with a smile.

“Could you go draw the Hydra’s attention for a bit?”

“Sure thing, I underst— wait, ehh!? That’s impossible, ain’t it-gasho!?”

“-gasho?”

Kusala was so surprised that he let out a brand new sentence ending. It was a little funny.

“‘-gasho’ is pretty funny.”

“No, that doesn’t matter at all! I ain’t happy even if you praise my ‘-gasho’, ya know!?”

He gave quite a good reaction. He really is funny.

“It’d be a shame if you passed away, Mr. Kusala, but……”

“You’re assuming I’m gonna pass away…!?”

The more you tease Kusala, the more flavor he brings out. He’s like dried squid.

As I was thinking that, Ortho opened his mouth looking worried.

“U-Umm, Lord Van… I think close-quarters combat against that magic beast would be difficult even for us. Well, if it’s Kusala it might be worth a try, but it’d be pretty borderline, don’t you think?”

“Boss!? Borderline means it’s a no-go! Right, Boss!?”

Kusala complained excitedly even at Ortho’s vague statement. Watching the three of us exchange words, Pluriel, who had come down from the roof, crossed her arms and groaned.

“It depends on what we do. But if we just throw throwing knives from a distance, I don’t think it’ll even leave a single scratch…”

When Pluriel said that, Kusala nodded exaggeratedly over and over. However, this time, Van-kun is serious. I tightened my expression and opened my mouth while looking at Ortho and his group.

“It’s fine. I’ll make it so you can draw its attention from a distance. So, Mr. Kusala, please draw the Hydra’s attention together with Mr. Ortho.”

“Eh…? Me too…?”

“Ahahahaha! Too bad for you, Boss! Let’s go to the jaws of death together!”

Having found a comrade, Kusala laughed while pointing at the astounded Ortho. They really are good friends.

While laughing at their antics, I used the Wood Blocks I received to make a new weapon. Seeing it, Ortho and Kusala widened their eyes.

“Th-This is…?”

“A somewhat special crossbow, I guess?”

While answering their question, I finished the finer details. What I ended up with was a crossbow equivalent in length to a Japanese longbow. Its width reached two meters, and its vertical length was about the same. Drawing the string would be tough, but in exchange, the power and firing range upon shooting would be more than enough.

“I think it’ll be heavy, but with this, you can attack from a distance while moving. I want you to attack while moving along the coast. Ah, but since we’ll continue our main attacks with the ballistae and magic, be careful not to let the Hydra escape from this area, okay?”

I explained the weapon and the diversion method, and additionally stated the points to be careful of. Then, Ortho and Kusala opened their mouths with serious expressions.

“…T-That sounds pretty difficult, though.”

“…Is there an additional reward?”