Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Rat Rangers Ready for Deployment!
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Rat Rangers, deployment preparations complete!
Sunset.
A heavy, blood-red dusk soaked the vast open square of Hamster Wheel Village in a dark crimson hue.
Gathered in the square were the Rat Rangers and a colorful assortment of ratkin girls.
I climbed onto the platform and told the rat girls the truth.
"Polly and the caravan members have been dragged off to Blackstone Mine as slaves!"
I also shared the fact that the kingdom's military police had no intention of hearing us out or investigating.
"No way! We can't just abandon Polly sis like this!"
Temi sniffled roughly and dashed forward. Her small fists clenched tight, trembling with rage.
Tears welled in her eyes, leaving dark stains on the dirt ground with each drop.
The once innocent rat girls' necks bulged with veins.
"Because we're ratkin! Because we got nothing, they think we're easy pickings and treat us like this!"
"In Lady Rodentia's name! We gotta wipe 'em all out!"
"Yeah! Let's smash 'em all!"
Crimson camaraderie and murderous intent swallowed the entire village in heat.
I pulled a hat from my bag.
It was a new red beret sewn by the tailor rats.
To onlookers, it probably looked like round ears poking out.
"The kingdom has no intention of protecting us!"
My voice rumbled low across the ground, deeper than usual.
"Now we'll do it our way! We'll get our friends back! We're no longer alleyway mice!"
I drew a deep breath into my lungs and roared.
"We're not slaves or toys!"
"Rawr!!!"
The twelve Rat Rangers stomped in unison.
The heavy vibration shook the surroundings.
At that moment, brilliant golden light burst in the air.
Rodentia appeared, surveying the villagers as she shouted.
Your god! Your lord commands: Strike without mercy!
No childish whining like her usual tantrums.
Only a sacred proclamation that crushed the air with its weight!
Crush all who stand in your way! All bloodshed and sin... the Lord of the Hamster Wheel shall bear them!
This was it.
Our god had personally granted absolution.
The rage surging past the tipping point transformed into fanaticism.
"Waaah! Chit!"
"Kill 'em! Smash 'em!"
They were ready to grab weapons and charge over the mountains right then.
But I coldly suppressed the boiling madness.
"Halt! We're not heading out just yet!"
My shout poured cold water on the excited Rangers, making them freeze.
"Rage alone won't breach the mine. To rescue Polly safely and survive, we need thorough preparation."
I calmed the Rangers and the rats.
For the next few days.
The peaceful Hamster Wheel Village transformed into a massive supply base and a deadly fortress.
The most urgent task was fortifying the village defenses airtight.
With the main fighters, the Rangers, away, external forces might strike.
"Chit! Dig deeper! We have to protect this place so the chief and Rangers can fight without worry!"
"Char the tips of the stakes with charcoal to harden them! Don't forget to sharpen the points!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
Carpenter rats and villagers swung shovels and pickaxes day and night, covered in dust.
A deep moat encircled the village outskirts.
Inside it, sharply pointed log stakes were densely packed in multiple layers of defense.
The slum-born rat girls put their gritty alley survival skills to full use.
With agile movements, they infiltrated the capital's dark alleys.
"Chit! Blackstone Mine is scary! Only one entrance!!"
"Chit-chit! Tons of guards! They even hired adventurers... who use magic too?"
"Good work! Gather all this intel and bring it quick!"
The girls chittered busily, pooling their heads.
They scraped rumors about Blackstone Mine from old friends and other rat girls like dust bunnies.
Armament for battle wasn't neglected.
I ordered villagers to collect every discarded potion bottle or empty glass jar.
"Chief, pour the leftover oil in here, right?"
"Yeah. Be careful not to spill. Move that torch away! One slip and we'll burn ourselves before the enemy."
"Rip tough cloth for wicks and stuff 'em in?"
The kitchen rats filled empty bottles with oil and sticky flammables to the brim.
They plugged them tight with cloth scraps as stoppers.
Fearsome Molotov cocktails piled up in crates.
"Got the hooks and ropes? Use 'em first on the rough mountain paths!"
"Packed food? Extra water too!"
Climbing the rugged mountains to the mine required special gear.
Luckily, we Rat Rangers were light on our feet, perfect for the ascent.
But that wasn't enough.
Finally, I pulled out my ace in the hole.
Deep into the night. Oily metal chunks on the desk meshed with cold, clear clicks.
Click!
At last, a double-barrel percussion pistol took shape in my hands.
Assembly done, I cocked the hammer back and dry-fired.
Crack!
The hammer struck the pistol's breech with a crisp snap. Add primers and powder, and it'd spit fire.
'Thanks, Mr. Mace. This'll come in real handy.'
It was what Mace had given me before heading to the capital.
Normally, I'd settle for the Rapid Bowgun, but not now.
Our foes weren't monsters—they were humans.
Armed with guns, no less.
And the lives of my kin hung on my back.
'No time to pick and choose methods!'
A chill metal touch crawled up my palm.
Meanwhile, a few days before the infiltration op.
Hilde and I led a small recon team, flattened on a cliff overlooking Blackstone Mine.
The mine's panorama through binoculars was jaw-dropping.
"That's a coal mine?"
"No way. Look at the outpost placements, layered barbed wire, armed guards rotating shifts. Who guards a coal pit like a fortress?"
Hilde nailed it.
Guards clutched long rifles; surveillance nets sparkled without blind spots.
Then, Spirit Horned Rats who'd scouted the mine's sewers and vents climbed my shoulder, trembling.
Thanks to Rodentia's thickened divine power?
Their bristling fur and tail twitches conveyed the horrors skin-deep.
"So, what'd you see inside?"
"Chit! Chit!"
The Horned Rats drooped their heads to the ground, lamenting with squeaks. Despair and agony pulsed through at that moment—I knew.
"No way... our kin are forced into labor in there?"
"Chit...!"
Rodentia's floating face twisted in pain.
I don't know if the child Polly is there... but it's a vile, disgusting sight! My poor children weep blood in agony!
The rumored horrors of forced labor were brutal reality.
"Gotta bury the whole place!"
I etched the terrain and guard routes into my mind via binoculars, then turned.
That's when Mani, staying for village defense, dragged a heavy wooden crate with grunts.
"Reti! Check this out!"
Parts from the Rangers' training ballista.
"This is a ballista?"
"Yup! You said they're no pushovers, right? For the breakout, we need overwhelming firepower. I modded it my way."
Mani grinned, pulling bizarre metal pieces and long wooden parts from the crate.
"Slot in this high-cap magazine, add parts..."
Click! Clack-clack!
A few deft moves from the engineer's hands turned the bulky single-shot ballista into a vicious repeating heavy weapon.
"Watch close! Crank this side handle like mad, and it'll rain thick crossbow bolts non-stop—way beyond a regular bowgun!"
A hefty chunk too much for small ratkin to wield.
But mount it sturdy? It'd pour merciless steel lightning.
"Unreal..."
A chill ran up my spine as I turned to Mani.
"Thanks, Mani! You're the best!"
"Psh, thanks? I'm the village's top techie. I'll guard Hamster Wheel airtight—go fight easy!"
Two of Mani's repeating ballistas were firmly placed on village defenses.
The last disassembled for Rangers to share. If Molotovs and my pistol couldn't breach? This would shine.
In remaining time, Rangers drilled assembly and firing relentlessly.
Soon, thick darkness crushed the forest at midnight.
The promised hour arrived.
"All hands, prepare to deploy!"
Me, Sena, Hilde, and twelve fully geared elite ratkin boarded the wagon one by one.
Our eyes fixed on one spot.
Locked on the gray darkness yawning wide north of Dunholm: the Blackstone Mountains.
"Move out."
The Rat Rangers' night march began.