Everything We Can
When we finally reached the place where the materials had been stockpiled, Guido spoke up.
"What the hell is all that?"
I couldn't really blame him for the reaction. It wasn't just the Acanthodis hide we'd taken down earlier — all sorts of things were tangled and bound up in spider silk. The mass of it alone was easily the bulk of a full-grown monster.
I'd been ready for that kind of response.
"We need to move all of this."
"Oh, for— you've got to be kidding me."
Guido let out a hollow laugh. He ran a hand over the clump of materials.
"How many of these things did you even kill…?"
Hell if I knew. I hadn't counted. Somewhere between twenty and thirty, maybe.
Lucas looked at me.
"So we just take all of that?"
"Yeah."
"…What are you planning to do with that much?"
What else?
I shrugged.
"Catch Disastro."
"…With this?"
"Yeah."
Lucas eyed the materials with a doubtful look. Whether any of it would amount to something was up to the craftsmen now.
I added, "We have to do everything we can. That way we won't have any regrets."
Lucas and Guido stared at me blankly. I waved them on. What are you waiting for? Start moving it.
The soldiers who saw the materials kept sighing with complicated faces. Even the hides alone were heavy enough — this was no different from hauling an entire monster whole. A cart would have been nice, but the outpost didn't have one, so everything had to be dragged by hand.
Still, between the two 10-captains, the soldiers, and me, we had twenty-three people total. More than enough — overflowing, even.
Soldiers hooked grapples into the materials and hauled on the ropes with everything they had.
"Gyaaaah!"
"Why is this so— heavy—!"
Of course it was heavy.
I watched from a distance with a wry smile. Seeing their faces go red pained me a little. Of course, I wasn't carrying anything. I was slacking off under the pretext of providing escort.
"Ugh…"
Guido's glare was particularly sharp. It wasn't just him — the soldiers seemed to resent me too. But if I thought of it as an investment in the future, even those looks were kind of cute.
Better to suffer now than get eaten by Disastro.
So if you asked how the transport operation went — it was a success.
Sighs of relief burst from the soldiers' mouths.
"W-we made it—!"
"Waaaaah—!"
The way they cheered like they'd just finished a desperate battle was pretty funny. Was this what victory in war felt like?
We arrived at the outpost after working through the entire night. Guido and Lucas, same as the other soldiers, immediately threw off their helmets and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"I'm seriously, seriously gonna die…"
I said quietly to the soldiers, "Good work, everyone."
Thanks to you, I got off without lifting a finger.
Guido, still face-down and gasping, looked up at me with murderous eyes.
"Next time… hah… don't you ever… make us do something like this."
"…R-right."
He looked ready to stab me, so I answered immediately.
The scribe who appeared late stared at us with wide eyes. Then she spotted the material mass, blinked several times, and asked me,
"H-Hunter. What is all this?"
"Our weapons."
"…Pardon?"
"We're going to use them as weapons."
"These things?"
I nodded, then calmly explained one thing after another to the scribe.
These materials weren't for my personal use — I intended them as public supplies for Angolo. There wasn't much I personally wanted from them. Just a new set of armor and weapons for myself before fighting Disastro.
The rest would be for the Disastro subjugation: goggles and masks so we could keep our eyes open even in sandstorms, and ballista bolts made from monster horns and spines.
There was more besides that. To face a monster as massive as Disastro, we needed massive weapons of our own.
We needed craftsmen. More craftsmen.
To finish quickly, we'd have to hire many craftsmen and convert everything into weapons. This wasn't something I could do alone. I needed the royal family's help.
After hearing my explanation, Scribe Biopia thought for a moment, then nodded.
"…I see. Understood. Then I'll put in a request for transport. We'll ask skilled craftsmen from various regions and finish this as quickly as possible."
"Please do."
"Yes, leave it to me. I may not look it, but I'm a royal scribe of the kingdom. The fact that I came to this wasteland with His Highness is proof my abilities were recognized."
Biopia said this with a triumphant face.
"Just trust me."
"Uh… yeah…"
That actually made her less trustworthy.
Can I really trust this?
I eyed Biopia skeptically, then looked away.
Then Biopia opened her notebook with a serious expression and said to me,
"However, I can't decide something like this on my own authority. Please speak with His Highness first. I'm sure he'll agree readily. I'll organize the details in advance and prepare a report for the kingdom."
"…Ah, right."
She seemed somewhat reliable after all.
I glanced at Biopia, then ambled off.
I wiped only the blood from my hands and went to find Melchior.
Melchior was in a quiet place with neither soldiers nor hunters, holding a coffee cup. White steam rose from it — freshly poured, it seemed.
Melchior touched his tongue to it lightly, then immediately pulled away from the coffee and took a candy from his pocket, plopping it in.
What is this, some kind of weird food combination?
Melchior, who had been enjoying his contemplation, noticed me and acknowledged me.
"You've come, then."
I just nodded and stood beside him.
"At least you always report when you've finished a commission."
"I need to make a report."
"A report, is it."
Melchior, who had been gazing at the sky, turned his eyes to me.
"Has some other monster popped out? I'm confident nothing will surprise me now. I've already been surprised enough."
Melchior said this and drank his coffee.
I told him what I needed.
"To catch Disastro, get me craftsmen."
"Cough—."
So much for not being surprised — Melchior choked on my words and bent over coughing for a moment.
"…You're already thinking of catching it?"
"No. I still need time. We have to make the weapons first."
"Ah, craftsmen for that. I thought you meant to put weapons in the craftsmen's hands. You're not quite that ruthless, then."
What does he take me for?
I crossed my arms and stared steadily at Melchior.
Melchior avoided my gaze, leaning against the wooden palisade and looking out beyond the wasteland.
"So what do you plan to make?"
"…To face Disastro, goggles and masks are essential. There's always a sandstorm around that thing. We can make them fine with materials from the monsters here. I've already prepared all of that."
"You're well prepared. Excellent."
Melchior nodded.
I continued.
"And… we need to scout the place where we'll fight it."
"I was planning to send scouts anyway."
"Why?"
"There's something a bit suspicious."
Saying so, Melchior pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
It wasn't a map or anything — it was a drawing. Two cute-looking dogs and an archer who didn't quite look human, with a triangle connecting them in the middle. Someone had carefully drawn it by hand… a thoroughly strange and bizarre picture.
"What the hell is this?"
"It's a drawing by my sister Adelaide. She's not good at drawing, but try not to laugh too hard."
A sneer was on Melchior's face as he said this.
"I wasn't laughing."
"So only I was laughing. My sister never had any talent for this sort of thing. She was always a laughingstock in the arts."
A prince who remembered every little thing like that was impressive in his own way. He seemed to care quite a bit about his sister.
Melchior handed me the drawing.
"Look carefully again."
"…I still don't get it. What is this?"
"This is the constellation of the royal capital, Sperita."
Melchior said in a low voice.
Hearing that and looking again, what had seemed like two weird dogs and a person was actually a constellation drawing. The triangle in the middle was a line connecting special stars from three constellations.
"They say the same constellation can be seen deep in the wasteland. Have you seen it yourself?"
"…I don't really care about constellations."
"Is that so. …According to the hunters exploring this land, the Cartadian language can be glimpsed on the ruined and weathered ruins scattered about. If my thinking is correct, this wasteland is clearly the Cartadia of the future. This place is our kingdom without a doubt."
Melchior radiated a thoroughly gloomy atmosphere.
"The place where this constellation was confirmed was also… said to be something like a collapsed fortress. Which means… our descendants failed. They failed to protect the country from something."
At those words, I flinched.
Melchior didn't notice my reaction and kept talking.
"I want to know why our once-glorious Cartadia Kingdom became this wasteland. Was it my failure? Or my sister's? Or further down… the failure of our bloodline…"
I could have answered Melchior's near-soliloquy. But I didn't tell him in detail.
I handed the paper back to Melchior and said,
"I don't know either."
The one who failed to protect the future was me.
But speaking carelessly was forbidden. Even now, I was moving to protect the future. Declaring that it had already fallen was far too rude to me.
"And Cartadia hasn't fallen yet. You're alive. Your sister is alive. And so am I."
Cartadia's lineage hadn't ended yet. Because I was alive in this time.
Melchior listened quietly, then nodded.
"…You're right. We're still alive."
Melchior pushed off from the palisade and moved. Eyes full of resolute will turned toward me.
"Then as you said, let's put our strength to work. Have you spoken to the scribe?"
"I already told her."
"She'll have the details organized already, then. I'll get started right away."
They know each other well.
I nodded.
From here on, it was out of my hands.
It would take time for the preparations to finish.
In the meantime, a little rest and maintenance would be good.
…I should go to Antico and have Matillo make me some new gear.