On the evening of the fifth day since the march began, the traders from the Amister side were extremely busy.
The alloy weapons we prepared and Ed and the others crafted sold out in an instant.
We limited them to one per person and only allowed additional purchases after everyone had received theirs, but it still happened incredibly fast.
Considering they don’t cause magic fatigue or deterioration even when used by Ancient Classes, it’s understandable that High Classes would do anything to get their hands on them.
However, unexpectedly, many participants in the Torencia Alliance were primarily using Adamantine Steel.
This was discovered during production, so Yamato hurriedly flew to Valentia to procure a large quantity of Adamantine Steel.
There, he coincidentally met a Valentia M-rank Hunter named Ribart, who asked him about the rumors of the Amister and Torencia Allied Forces marching on Solemne.
Since it wasn’t a secret, Yamato apparently answered honestly.
He also asked about Scaffolding. It seems that because Valentia has many Dragonewts, people there often use Flying, and thus, for a different reason than Torencia, the usefulness of Scaffolding wasn’t understood.
So, Yamato explained the usefulness of Scaffolding to Ribart and asked him to spread it properly.
“Still, I’m tired.”
“Me too. For the first time, I understand the hardships of shopkeepers.”
“I agree.”
My sister, Mana-sama, and Prim were collapsing in the living area of the Beast Carriage, but since they were registered as traders, they, along with traders from other Unions, had been selling the weapons forged by Ed and the crafters.
Marina is also registered as a trader, but since her main profession is as a crafter, she was exempted. Marina is now receiving resentful glares.
“All I can say is, good work. Well, you three worked hard, so please rest well today.”
“Really?”
“Of course. There’s no sign of contact with the Solemne Army yet, so the journey is long. Please rest well.”
Scouts from the Order and Saber have been conducting daily patrols, but there’s still no sign of contact with the Solemne Army.
That’s why Emperor Reinhardt is commending my sisters, and I think it’s perfectly fine to accept his kindness.
On the other hand, monsters attack us almost every day.
Hunters actively engage the monsters, as any defeated monster becomes their property.
Solemn, known as a desert country, rarely experiences rain, let alone snow.
Therefore, the monsters that appear are the same year-round. However, many of the monsters that inhabit the area are only found in the desert strata of labyrinths, making them a temporary source of income for hunters.
It’s helpful that we were able to obtain alloy weapons here, but it’s also an unexpected expense. Thus, the Torencia Alliance will likely hunt actively, partly as a test of their new weapons.
“Brother Rai, about this Multi-functional Beast Carriage…”
“You mean that Torencia Hunters and Sabers have also taken a liking to it and some are expressing a desire for one?”
“Yes. I heard the proposal came from Yamato-sama and that it was actually made by Fiana. The space is appealing, and despite being close to the desert, we don’t suffer from the heat or cold.”
Hilde-sama is speaking with some difficulty, but it’s understandable that Hunters and Sabers would want this Beast Carriage.
Especially in Torencia, where it snows all year round, camping is also very difficult.
“I understand how you feel, but to secure that much space, you’d need to rely on a High Crafter. Also, I heard that the Tenma Stones used for blocking external air must be at least from G-rank monsters, right?”
“Is… is that so?”
Yes, that’s how it is.
The Tenma Stones for the barrier use Barrier Magic and Wind Attribute Magic for deodorizing, but due to the wide range, G-rank monster magic stones are needed, otherwise, the magic power depletes quickly.
With wind attribute magic stones, even S-rank monster magic stones might barely suffice.
“Even with a 10x Mirroring enchantment, we can secure a larger space than a normal Beast Carriage, so I don’t think there’s no demand. However, that would prevent the multi-person transport, which is one of the selling points of the Multi-functional Beast Carriage. If the use is limited, it might be fine, but it would come at the cost of habitability. So, while it might be suitable for Hunters, I don’t think it would be ideal for Sabers.”
I see.
Fiana is explaining, but when applying Mirroring enchantment to a Beast Carriage of the same shape as a Multi-functional Beast Carriage, 2x would be about 24 square meters, 5x would be about 60 square meters, and 10x would be around 120 square meters.
Considering that the cabin of this Beast Carriage is 6 square meters, 10x enchantment could possibly be utilized, but anything less would be difficult. Even with 10x enchantment, we’d still have to consider multi-person transport.
The selling point of the Multi-functional Beast Carriage is that it offers both multi-person transport and habitability. Limiting it to just one of those would mean it’s no longer a Multi-functional Beast Carriage.
Furthermore, there’s the issue of height, so at least a 7x enchantment would be necessary.
“So that’s why a High Crafter is needed. And even if that problem is solved, the issue of Tenma Stones remains.”
“Yes. To give you a reference, if we apply a 30x Mirroring enchantment, the Multi-functional Beast Carriage alone would cost 2.5 million El, and depending on the interior, it could exceed 4 million El.”
A 30x Mirroring enchantment costs 1 million El, which is one Divine Gold Coin. And because it’s large, it requires more materials than two ordinary Beast Carriages.
Furthermore, due to its weight, we need to use magic stones from sufficiently powerful monsters for the wheels, which inevitably drives up the cost.
This Tree-made Multi-functional Beast Carriage has the advantage of all materials being customer-provided, which made it cheaper, but even then it cost 3 million El. If we include the cost of materials, it would certainly be tens of millions of El, possibly even reaching 100 million El.
“So, even with a 10x Mirroring enchantment, it would cost close to 2 million El…”
I understand the sentiment, but there’s nothing we can do about it.
Even the 10 Beast Carriages of the Amister Alliance cost around 5 million El.
“The Multi-functional Beast Carriage from the Order’s Guild, although labeled as a prototype, is planned to be used as is. Additionally, since they hunt a considerable number of G-rank monsters in Amister, they don’t have as many issues with magic stones.”
In a way, that might be the most significant factor.
In Torencia, G-rank monsters only appear as far as the Golud Great Glacier, so many are not accustomed to fighting them.
There are also several labyrinths, but they are often avoided for that reason, so they don’t circulate much.
Amister Hunters have similar issues, but in labyrinths, many people target G-rank monsters, so they circulate relatively well. With the movement of the Amister Alliance, hunting even P-rank, let alone M-rank, is not difficult.
No, even A-rank monsters might be manageable.
“Huh? But wasn’t the Alliance investigating the Golud Great Glacier, so the circulation of magic stones should have increased?”
“That’s right. Since we’re selling monsters from Seryado Volcano, they should be cheaper than before.”
Ah, that’s right.
Since the Alliance was dispatched, monsters from the Golud Great Glacier have begun to circulate more, and we’ve also been to Seryado Volcano several times, causing their prices to plummet.
Furthermore, we hunted a large number of monsters during pre-Solemnne combat training, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they were practically given away rather than just being cheap.
“That is a point of concern for me as well, but with the disappearance of the Slume Lord, the ecosystem of the Golud Great Glacier is said to have changed. If that’s the case, we can’t very well tell them not to investigate.”
“There were also monsters that came close to Rio and Krater.”
In Rio, the Amister Alliance took the lead and hunted them with glee. In Krater, the Order was apparently very active.
With over 20 High Orders deployed, I heard they hunted several stray Icicle Tigers and Friezas Tigers. And the fact that there were no casualties means the dispatched troops truly lived up to their name.
The Saber’s Guild must have felt complicated about that.
“Is that so? In that case…”
“Yamato-san, a monster has appeared!”
Flam descended into the Mirror Room, interrupting Hilde-sama’s words, but if a monster appeared, there’s nothing that can be done.
“Again? What appeared this time?”
“A Grand Deathwurm!”
“P-rank or R-rank, huh? Another troublesome one has appeared.”
A Grand Deathwurm is a rare species of Rock Worm that inhabits areas like wastelands and rocky regions.
Valentia also has many wastelands, so Rock Worms are hunted to some extent, but since Rock Worms are G-rank monsters, it’s not uncommon for low-rank hunters to fall victim to them, and even High Hunters can be taken down if they let their guard down.
If a rare species of Rock Worm has appeared, it might be a bit too much for Torencia Hunters.
“But why would a Grand Deathwurm appearing now be a match for the Amister Alliance? Why are you so flustered?”
“There are so many of them! There are 8 Grand Deathwurms alone!”
Ugh, that’s really troublesome.
“Understood.”
“I’ll go too.”
Yamato and Emperor Reinhardt stood up, and we followed them.
With that many rare species appearing, it’s likely that the abnormal species, Grand Deathwurm, is also present, so we need to be cautious about that as well.
Outside, not only Grand Deathwurms but also a large number of Rock Worms were present, resulting in a chaotic battle regardless of whether they were Hunters or Order members.
The Amister forces were unfazed and actively hunting the Grand Deathwurms, but the Torencia forces seemed to be struggling.
So far, there have been no casualties, but it’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt at this rate.
“What a chaotic battle. I want to provide support, but if I intervene carelessly, it might leave a bad precedent.”
“I’m using Air Vortex to impede the movement of the Rock Worms that the Torencia Alliance and Sabers are fighting, but more keep appearing.”
Makoto, who was providing support from the observation deck, informed us of the situation.
Even with that, the numbers have decreased.
“We can’t afford to lose our strength here. Very well, we’ll intervene under the condition that any monsters defeated by Wing Crest will be given to the Hunters who were fighting them.”
“Is that okay?”
“We can’t afford to take too much time, can we? The Torencia Alliance just obtained the alloy a little while ago, so they’re not used to it yet.”
Indeed, Yamato is right. This might be the best course of action.
Our earnings will decrease, but there’s no point in creating friction with the Torencia side here.
“Alright, commence combat!”
With that, Yamato charged out, and we followed.
Perhaps because the Ancient Classes of Wing Crest intervened to support the Torencia Alliance, the attack by the Worm species soon ended.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, but several Torencia Alliance Hunters who refused our support suffered serious injuries, which made their treatment troublesome, according to Makoto.
Because they were seriously injured, they were unable to fight those Rock Worms and were defeated by a different Raid.
Healers are available, so even serious injuries can be treated, but they will be charged the regular fees from the Healer’s Guild.
It seems like they ended up spending a lot of money due to their stubbornness, didn’t they?
Incidentally, the total numbers were 46 Rock Worms, 16 Grand Deathwurms, and 2 Grand Deathwurms.
One of those Grand Deathwurms was defeated by Falcon’s Beak, and the other two were defeated by Mina and Flam, respectively.
Furthermore, during the Grand Deathwurm subjugation, El, the leader of Falcon’s Beak, evolved into an Ancient Harpy, and Mina and Flam each evolved into an Ancient Human and an Ancient Undine, respectively.
So, we had to scramble to provide equipment for El, so we provided monster materials from M-rank monsters.
There are others who appear to be close to evolving, so we sold them materials at a low price as well, but some of our stock is looking precarious. Yamato said that after this war, we’ll have to go back to the Solpreza Labyrinth and hunt a lot of Dragoons.
I think we’ll be fine for a while, but it’s always better to be prepared.
