The Gold-Eye Tribe and the Fox Beastmen Tribe (3)
The Gold-Eye Tribe and the Fox Beastmen Tribe (3)
Contrary to expectations, Frey's mother did not pass away from her illness.
People generally assume that a sickly person will eventually die of that sickness. <Darkest Academia> supposedly exploited that very player psychology to catch them off guard.
"Cough, cough."
I observed the condition of Frey's mother to verify the details the possessor had given me. I couldn't be sure of the specifics since I was no physician, but at the very least, she was not so ill that her mobility was severely impaired.
[Given her symptoms, there is a possibility of minor radiation exposure as well.]
That would make sense if it was an aftereffect of exposure rather than a disease. The radiation levels in this region were higher than in other places, after all.
"Still, this much was manageable."
The situation itself was not bad.
"My mom is really sick, so I'm worried."
"Isn't she getting any medicine?"
"We did get some decent medicine while trading with the humans. But it's still not enough. So I asked the Great Spirit."
The Great Spirit.
That was the name the Fox Beastmen Tribe, who enjoyed Jörmungandr's protection, used to address her.
"She said that if my mom eats a 'thousand-year-old Cornelian cherry fruit' found deep in the eastern mountains, an illness like this will be cured in no time!"
Right then, Frey uttered those lines as if dropping a hint.
Had I been the same person from before my secret meetings with Vermel, I would have certainly followed Frey's words and gone out to search for that tree fruit.
This was a trap.
The moment I left to find that 'thousand-year-old Cornelian cherry fruit,' a massive typhoon would form in the southwest.
Not just any typhoon, but a super typhoon capable of easily uprooting hundreds of trees.
Furthermore, not just one, but a total of seven would appear.
Affected by an unstable air mass, the rapidly intensifying typhoons would swiftly move north. By the time I returned with the tree fruit, it would all be too late.
The scale of the typhoon swarm exceeded imagination. The river with the drawbridge would overflow, completely submerging the lowlands.
Fortunately, a significant number of the Fox Beastmen Tribe would notice this and abandon their village. They would somehow evacuate to a safe zone and survive.
The problem was the few who could not. With her sickly body, Frey's mother would be unable to evacuate once disaster struck unless she reached a pre-designated location.
"Aether, since you're here anyway, help me out! Won't you come with me to find what the Great Spirit mentioned?"
Knowing these facts, I shook my head at Frey's request.
"We can always go out to find that. Preparing for the typhoon is the priority right now."
"Typhoon? Oh, right!"
Frey clapped her hands and nodded.
"But we've already checked most of the usual stuff! Besides, this place is far from the river. There's no way it'll get flooded!"
"That's a lack of safety awareness."
"Aww, come on! You're worrying way too much!"
"Take a look outside and then say that."
A squall was pouring down outside the window. It was a sudden torrential downpour, something I had seen a few times since coming here.
"It does rain a lot more often than I thought."
"That means the convection is unstable. The typhoons coming this time might be more dangerous than you think."
"Really? You can even tell things like that?"
I didn't know the details. I wasn't an atmospheric science major, after all.
I couldn't confirm the typhoon's direction or the expected flooding scale. Ninety percent of the knowledge coming out of my mouth at that moment relied on the possessor.
"At least there's no harm in preparing."
"W-well, true."
I finished persuading the little runt by lowering my voice a notch further. The Gold-Eye Tribe buff was also at play here.
The one who protected the Fox Beastmen Tribe was Jörmungandr. Jörmungandr had golden eyes. Because of that, Frey and the other fox beastmen considered the Gold-Eye Tribe to be relatives of Jörmungandr. That was why Frey had struck up a conversation with me so suddenly at the entrance ceremony.
Having this body was quite convenient at times like this.
"Ma'am, I believe it would be best for you to take shelter elsewhere for a while before the typhoon arrives."
I conveyed the same words to her mother. Fortunately, persuading her was less difficult than persuading Frey.
In fact, a day later, the surrounding air currents deteriorated. At one point a southeast wind blew, and then a few minutes later the flag would snap sharply to the north.
When a natural disaster is about to occur, animals sense it before humans do. The Fox Beastmen Tribe was a race that possessed both intelligence rivaling humans and the cunning senses of a fox.
"It's about time we discussed this year's typhoon countermeasures."
Naturally, in the Pastrend village as well, preparations were underway, centered around the chieftain.
Twenty foxes put their heads together in a shabby tent.
And one of the Gold-Eye Tribe was there.
"Wait, what is a different race doing here?"
"Because flood damage is a problem for everyone staying in this place."
I shot back simply at a few of the fox beastmen's questions. If a human or an elf had said the same thing, they would have been told to shut up and get out.
A momentary silence hung in the air. Soon, the Pastrend chieftain opened his mouth.
"Hmm, hrm.... The typhoon countermeasures are the same as last time. We must install disaster levees where the river is likely to overflow and preserve our food stores.... If necessary, we must also be prepared to abandon the village and relocate to a safe place."
When I crossed over from the Saliere territory, I had seen several natural breakwaters made of mud and stone. The idea was to repair them before the rain got any heavier.
It wasn't bad. But we could not stop there.
I raised my hand.
"Chieftain, as a member of another tribe, I hope you'll forgive my forwardness, but may I say a word?"
"Oh, if it's advice from a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe, it can't be bad. Speak."
"Well...."
I cleared my throat and shifted my tone to one of nobility.
A tone perfectly suited to the image of the Gold-Eye Tribe they held.
"The Great Spirit Jörmungandr, who watches over this region, hath said that the scale of this typhoon is beyond imagination."
"How do you know the Great Spirit's sacred name?"
"Because I have met with the Great Spirit before."
I followed most of the script Vermel had told me about.
"Ooh, now that's reassuring!"
"So, what is the solution the Great Spirit has bestowed upon us?"
As expected, the reaction was not bad. If Vermel, an elf, had come in person, he would not have drawn this much favor with the same words.
"The basic gist is not very different. We must secure the food stores as the top priority and evacuate the villagers to a safe location. However, there is one problem."
"What is it?"
"With the time we have right now, we do not have enough time to fully reinforce the levee."
Preparing to evacuate required time.
What if the river flooded and swept away the village before that?
"As the Great Spirit read the direction of the clouds, she said that this typhoon would deal devastating damage to the village. She thus recommended that we evacuate immediately, but we currently lack the materials or skill to hold back the river's flooding for long."
It was a race against time, so to speak. Would the levee burst first, or would the tribe evacuate to safety first?
"The estimated time required to complete the evacuation is 13 days. If the levee can hold until then, there will be no problem."
"But that time assumes most of the Fox Tribe are packing their belongings. Who will take on the role of building the levee?"
I had been waiting for those words.
I subtly lifted the corner of my mouth and placed a hand on my chest.
"Frey and I will do it."
"Huh? M-me?"
I hadn't told Frey it would turn out like this. When did I have the time to tell her, having only met her a day ago?
"Just the two of you?"
"Even if you are a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe, that sounds like a tall tale."
This, too, was the expected reaction. Of course it was. I was telling them we would build a massive dam in just a few days.
However.
"I learned while living with Frey at Tillet Academy. This kid has a natural-born talent for Alchemy."
"Alchemy?"
"Yes. If I draft the design and hand it over, Frey can construct the levee in a short period."
Frey's alchemy skills had been proven in that one previous transmutation.
The Tokamak.
This little runt was a monster who could build something like that if given the materials and blueprints.
"Ah."
Come to think of it, I had left the Tokamak at Rote's house.
Well.... that wasn't what was important right then.
"I have prepared a concrete plan for building the levee in advance."
I took out dozens of sheets of paper from the bag I had carried over.
It was not the Magic Paper commonly used when writing scrolls. It was ordinary paper, A4-sized, with regular ink dried onto it. Across the paper, a number of formulas too many to count were having a social party.
"What is all this?"
While all the fox beastmen were looking baffled, only Frey watched the paper with keen interest.
She may have acted childish, but Frey was a student in the Special Class of the prestigious Tillet Academy. Understanding the mathematical formulas I had written down was a piece of cake for her.
Her eyes narrowed, Frey opened her mouth in a tone of disbelief.
"That's the Multidimensional Flow Equation we learned in Water Magic class!"
"Multidimensional... what?"
"It's a formula that can predict the flow of water or air! If you understand this, you can reverse-engineer how sturdy you need to build a levee according to water pressure!"
To put it bluntly, it was this other world's version of the Navier-Stokes equation.
The most fundamental formula for analyzing all meteorological phenomena and fluid flows.
However, its form was slightly different because it was calibrated for the effects found in Elemental Spirit Studies and Water Magic Theory. Thanks to that, it was, if anything, easier to solve than the original Navier-Stokes equation.
"Anyway, how did you even calculate all of this?"
Even so, finding an analytical solution remained the same challenge. The mathematics level of this world was not significantly superior to Earth's, after all.
So I used the most primitive method.
"No way...!"
"You're thinking of the right thing."
The work commonly known as 'grunt work.'
I brute-forced it by plugging in every possible function.