The Gold-Eye Tribe and the Fox Beastmen Tribe (4)
The Gold-Eye Tribe and the Fox Beastmen Tribe (4)
The rain grew steadily heavier.
It was no longer a mere squall, but an unrelenting downpour—the weather phenomenon commonly known as the rainy season.
In this region, the rainy season heralded the coming of typhoons. A few fox beastmen, quick to sense the approaching disaster, hurriedly began to pack their belongings.
Essentials came first. Their bags could only be filled with preserved foods and bedding. Furniture, livestock, and trinkets such as necklaces or rings were nothing but luxury items. They were better off packing one more bundle of bottled water than carrying those.
And the most crucial items were the disaster scrolls.
Activating a Rain Prevention Scroll around the body kept rainwater from soaking through and causing hypothermia, to a certain degree. Likewise, a Storm Prevention Scroll strengthened the bond between the body and the ground, helping one stay anchored without staggering even in strong winds.
The residents, equipped with their disaster scrolls, emerged one by one into the pouring rain. I watched the scene, a raincoat draped over me.
Ten, twenty, thirty... I could hear someone counting the women, children, and elderly off in the distance.
Before long, the first evacuation column had been organized. Several sturdy young men would shepherd the vulnerable and head toward the eastern lands. Frey's mother was among the ranks.
Before the women and children departed, Frey shared a deep embrace with her mother. The little one returned to me, her expression more composed than I'd ever seen it, and spoke.
"Let's go."
We would move in the opposite direction.
Toward the river on the brink of overflowing.
-Swaaaaash
The sound grew thicker with every step. I couldn't tell whether it was the rain or the belch of the rapids. In either case, it was an oppressive, unpleasant noise.
"This is it."
We arrived at the designated spot. Frey and I rolled up our sleeves and looked down upon the muddy river currents.
The torrent was swallowing trees and earth alike as it surged from north to south. Our objective was to block the portion that was trying to encroach onto land.
"You know how wide this river is?"
"How wide?"
"1.3 kilometers."
We had to erect a barrier along a river wider than the Han River.
On a day of torrential rain like this, and within a single day if possible.
[You're really aiming to do something insane, aren't you.]
If this were Earth, I would have dismissed it as impossible.
Not here.
Here on the Arens Continent, quasi-construction methods known as magic and Transmutation existed.
"Let's check the supplies first."
"Cement, lime, sand, water, the mix design, Mana Cigarettes and a lighter... looks like everything's here."
Civil engineering fell under the domain of Earth Magic.
Skilled Earth Magic practitioners could even erect a five-thousand-unit apartment complex in a single day. They were like otherworldly 3D printers that churned out anything as long as the materials were provided.
Frey was a genius who surpassed even those Earth Magic practitioners by several steps. A monster who, given mana, materials, and a blueprint, could build a Tokamak or even an anti-tank missile.
-Ruuuumble
She deployed a Transmutation Formula, using nature itself as the material. As Frey moved her hands, an enormous earthen wall rose beside the river that had seemed ready to burst its banks at any moment.
"How much soil should we draw from here?"
The surroundings were nothing but soil. But using it indiscriminately would backfire, destabilizing the ground itself. A case of more being less.
Thus, a delicate touch was needed to build the embankment at the right height and thickness. We had to carry out the process commonly called 'optimization' in mathematical statistics.
I took charge of that optimization.
I crossed my arms and ran simulations in my head.
Applying the fluid equations at this point, I back-calculated the expected precipitation. Using the data derived from that, I predicted the force of the water if the river overflowed.
"With the current mix, more than 2 meters 73 centimeters."
"Okay."
We established a thickness with enough strength to hold out for exactly two to three weeks.
We would predict, build up, smoke a Mana Cigarette, then move to the next location. That was the cycle, over and over. Over several hours, Frey and I constructed barrier walls centered around the fox beastmen village.
[What in the world... Well, I suppose you'd need at least this level of skill to be a Technical Advisor.]
"What?"
[No. It's nothing.]
Anyway, we were nearly finished.
"Aether, I'm tired..."
"We're done once we complete this section."
"Really?"
I placed a Mana Cigarette between Frey's lips and lit it. Having used the same transmutations hundreds of times, Frey was almost completely spent. Mana depletion was imminent.
Still, she had to continue. With haggard eyes, she moved her hands. A barrier reaching a height of eleven meters shot up as if to pierce the sky.
"Ugh."
In the end, as soon as all the work was finished, Frey went limp like laundry hanging on a line. I swiftly slung the little one over my back and got us out of the riverside area.
How long did I run through the forest? Before I knew it, the sound of soft, rhythmic breathing drifted over my shoulder.
"Oh, you're back already?"
"Yes. Thanks to this one's hard work, we finished earlier than expected."
My mad dash had allowed us to catch up with the last group. Among them were the man and the woman who had picked a fight with Frey on the first day.
Seeing Frey fast asleep, they wore sheepish expressions.
Our group also picked up speed. It wasn't difficult to catch up with the fox beastmen who had left earlier. I was also able to confirm that Frey's mother, who I'd been most worried about, was in good condition.
How many days did we march through the forest like that?
From far in the distance came a sound—boom—as if something had burst.
Reacting to it, we quickened our pace even more.
**
"We've arrived...!"
We finally escaped the forest lashed by the fierce rain and wind, and a low hill country opened before us.
In truth, to call it low was an understatement; it was a highland zone of considerable scale.
The amount of rainfall here was similar. However, there was far less wind than in the village where the Pastrend Tribe had lived.
"I figured there'd at least be some weeds here, but it's completely barren."
"Tragedy of the commons. Since other nomadic tribes take turns using it, the grass seed eventually runs dry."
"Still, since it's wide open, there's no worry about flooding."
The fox beastmen unpacked their belongings and set up barracks. Of the necessities of life—food, clothing, and shelter—shelter was now secured.
Food came next. They had to have something to eat.
Having expended so much energy, Frey and I cracked open canned goods and started chugging from bottles the moment we entered our barrack.
"You're drinking already, right after arriving?"
"Hey, back when I was young! During a flood, all the water got contaminated, so I survived for days on nothing but alcohol!"
That sounded like something an alcoholic would say.
Frey quickly emptied a bottle. The inside of the barrack began to smell of alcohol mixed with the distinct scent of a wild beast.
"Back then this stuff tasted filthy..."
"A bitter life makes liquor sweet, I guess."
I emptied my own cup and let out a sigh. My stomach felt bloated, probably from the strain I had put on my body over the past few days.
Still, my mind remained clear. It was the sensation of a sound mind in a sluggish body.
Perhaps my whole body had grown languid at the thought that I had somehow averted the worst-case scenario of Frey and her mother dying.
Frey knocked back a few more drinks before passing out completely. The little one went over to the corner where her mother was, lay down, and curled up to sleep. During that time, I slapped my cheeks to sober up.
I couldn't let my guard down yet.
This wasn't over once the typhoon passed. We would have to endure rain and wind at this level six more times before escaping this situation. I had to keep myself braced until then.
I rechecked the fluid equations. This time, I decided to put my mind toward predicting the typhoon paths rather than the precipitation.
Weather forecasting. That kind of work was supposed to be for supercomputers. The ridiculous part was that this body could actually pull it off.
"Troublesome."
My calculations showed we would have to stay on this highland for about two more weeks.
That was practically all I could do for now. For the rest, I would just have to trust the fox beastmen and hold out.
For the fox beastmen, this kind of flood damage was hardly a one-off event. So they had prepared most of the standard countermeasures.
That was why the younger adults had gathered in the largest barrack to discuss the next steps.
"Fortunately, we have enough food left to last about three weeks. However..."
"Yes. This typhoon will not end with just one."
Seven typhoons in total. And just one of them had passed.
Until all the typhoons passed through, no external activity was possible. No hunting, no gathering. Any animals suitable for meat and any fruit-bearing trees would have been swept away by the torrents.
The best they could do was collect rainwater and boil it for drinking.
"At this rate, there won't be anything to eat even if we return to the village."
"Should we just relocate the settlement?"
"Where would we go when everywhere else is in the same state?"
Geopolitically, this eastern region was known as the Corridor.
A little further left, and you would hit the Demon Continent, swarming with high-grade magic beasts.
A little further right, and you would find the Philiut Empire.
At this latitude, the beastmen's territory lay narrowly wedged between those two areas. The only alternative was to move north or south, but those territories belonged to other tribes.
"Wherever we go, it'll be a fight just the same."
"Mm."
A simple problem, yet excruciatingly difficult to solve.
Still, as Vermel had told me, if I handled this with a bit of finesse, it was something I could manage reasonably well...
"What are we to do?"
"Would there happen to be a good solution?"
In answer to the question, someone raised a hand and spoke.
"In that case, let's raid Saliere Territory."
What kind of bastard are you.