Chapter 159.
The main unit of the imperial army and the reserve forces arrived at Warrant around 10:30 p.m., about 30 minutes past the scheduled arrival time.
Warrant was a huge fortress city at a glance, but it was as ragged as if it had just been attacked by the demons. People at the headquarters couldn’t hide their nervousness at the large claw marks on the wall, as well as some parts that had been torn down.
I’d known that from having read it in a briefing, but looking at the battlefront in person was a world apart.
Outside Warrant, soldiers with special equipment moved around to clean up the corpses of demons, and there was a strong smell of blood and gunpowder in the air.
"Everyone, be careful when you breathe," said Roseland. Everyone nodded.
It was common sense for those who worked for the adventurer’s guild that demon blood was poisonous. Of course, it wasn’t enough to worry about, considering the large distance between us and the demon corpses and the fact that the amount of poison that spread into the air was minimal. Still, demon poison was very deadly, so there was nothing bad about being extra careful.
Demuir admired the demon corpses that were being rolled away. "Wow, how much is all that worth?” To Demuir, who was in charge of accounting at headquarters, all the demon corpses just looked like money.
"It’s probably less than you think,” I remarked.
Demuir refuted my statement. "No, they’re very expensive. Magicians go crazy over the demon byproducts we buy from adventurers."
I laughed at Demuir. "There are some demons that are worth more and some that are worth less. Usually, the adventurers who come up to headquarters only bring ones that are worth money.”
"What? Really?"
Since there were no demons near the capital, all the demon byproducts traded at the headquarters were handpicked.
"Yes. For example, the giant rabbit that’s being cleaned up over there can’t be used as a magic catalyst, except for its liver. Its hide is worth as much as regular leather, but you probably can’t get that price because it’s so ragged and full of holes."
I wondered if I could even get a silver coin for that leather when it was so ragged.
Another method was to collect blood from demons and sell it as poison. However, demon blood was difficult to handle and dried up quickly. Unless one used a special treatment on the spot, using it was difficult, so the price dropped a lot.
"Really? How do you know these things so well?"
I answered Demuir’s question with a smile. "My second brother is a hunter. This is information I learned while helping my brother when I was back home."
It wasn’t a lie. My brother was the leader of a warrior group, and those groups were hunters, so it was safe to call him a hunter. Come to think of it, Uncle Bloody was also a hunter, as he used to be the leader of the warrior group.
"And personally, I have some interest in magic catalysts," I continued.
Fiona clapped her hands and said, "Oh, come to think of it... Den, you said you were an alchemist, right?"
"Yes, although the granny who taught me always called me a novice.”
Honestly, from Elder Mirpa’s perspective, everyone was a novice in alchemy.
In terms of my level in alchemy, me being a novice was a given, but Elder Mirpa’s other disciples, who had started learning decades earlier than me, barely reached the level of her toes.
It was only natural for me, though, since I was an oddball who had decided to not focus on alchemy despite having an alchemist as a teacher.
“Anyways, this is my first time in Warrant,” I said.
“It is the same for me.” Flam agreed.
The carriage we were riding, which was also carrying supplies, passed through the gates of Warrant and entered the city.
Starting now, there was a chance that I might run into Uncle Bloody, so I had to make myself scarce.
* * *
Gawain quickly passed through the demon territory on a deer-shaped alchemical lifeform created by Mirpa.
The subtly green-tinted deer was the same kind of alchemical lifeform as Den’s chirps. However, it was strong enough to be on a different level from the chirps.
Even though it had been created with the same magic, it was completely different because of the ingredients, time, and effort put into it.
"Woah woah, stop!" Gawain pulled on the reins, and the alchemical lifeform gradually slowed to a halt. Gawain shouted, "Mac! Uncle Bloody!"
At Gawain’s call, all of the Black Water Buffalo Knights, who had been subjugating demons from afar, looked in his direction. "Ohh! Sir Captain!"
Mac smiled brightly and waved at his friend, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time. At the same time, he kicked a demon that was attacking him in the head, breaking its hard skull. The demon’s body joined a field of cold corpses.
Seeing that, Gawain smiled brightly at Mac’s unchanging skills and rode the alchemical lifeform over to them. The alchemical lifeform quickly ran toward the center, lightly stomping on and killing the demons that got in its way.
"Wow, what is that? What’s that deer?” Mac asked him in an exaggerated tone, and Gawain threw him a wristband from his pocket.
"Elder Mirpa made it for me. Put it on, fill it with mana, and shout ’Summon, Ying Hua of green light’, and it comes out." [1]
After Gawain’s explanation, Mac didn’t hesitate to get off the horse and put on the wristband. "Summon, Ying Hua of green light!" His incantation created a summoning magic circle in the air, and an alchemical lifeform like Gawain’s walked out.
"Ohhh!" Mac was filled with admiration.
As Mac jumped right onto the alchemical lifeform, Bloody looked at Mac with envy and asked Gawain, "Hey, isn’t there one for me?"
Gawain answered Bloody without hesitation. "No, there isn’t."
"What? Why?"
"She said to tell you that even the youngest knows how to make one, so ask him to make one for you."
"Tch, what a cheap granny." Bloody grumbled and complained.
Meanwhile, Mac fell in love with his new ride and stroked the alchemical lifeform’s neck. "All right! His name is now Green!" Gawain thought Mac’s naming sense was the worst.
Afterward, Gawain left Mac behind, and threw Lancelot a wristband too.
"Huh? There’s one for me too?”
Gawain smiled and nodded as he saw Lancelot’s surprise. "That’s right. She said you’d probably have the hardest time finding the youngest, so she gave you something more special. The incantation is "Summon, Red Light Hong Ying." [2]
Lancelot got off the horse and memorized the incantation. "Summon, Red Light Hong Ying." Then, a summoning magic circle appeared in the air and a large red colored wolf jumped out.
"Wow!" Lancelot hopped onto the alchemical lifeform with childish delight.
Bloody shot Gawain a look.
"Even if you look at me like that, this is all Elder Mirpa-nim gave me."
"Tch, can’t Leisha make things like this?" Bloody expressed a futile expectation.
Mac and Lancelot shook their heads.
“Ehhh, it’s too much for Miss.”
“She probably won’t be able to do it.”
Bloody became depressed when the two refuted him. "Ah, am I really going to have to catch that brat, Den, and ask him to make one for me?"
Mac and Lancelot shook their heads again at Bloody’s grumbling.
"Hmm, that would probably be difficult too."
"The youngest master isn’t so nice that he would simply make one without a price.”
Even Gawain added, "If it’s the youngest, most things won’t catch his eye."
"I want one too!" Bloody yelled into empty air.
The captain of the Black Water Buffalo Knights works said, "General-nim, we need to move on in order to finish what General William asked us to do by midnight tomorrow. Let’s head out."
Bloody replied in a somber voice to his subordinate’s unreserved words, “All right."
Looking at the depressed Bloody, Mac asked playfully, “Shall my Green let you ride behind me?”
“No thanks!”
Seeing Bloody become furious at Mac’s provocation, the Black Water Buffalo Captain sighed. "We can’t leave the horses behind, and the horses are afraid, so it would be great if you two also rode on horses this time.”
Mac and Lancelot were saddened by the captain’s words, recalling their summons as they remounted their horses.
"Then let’s move on to the next point. Are you coming along?” Bloody asked.
Gawain shook his head. "No, I’m on my way to Warrant because of some business." He had been on his way to Warrant when he ran into Bloody’s company.
"Really? Then give William an interim report on the way.”
"Okay."
Bloody nodded, and one of the Black Water Buffalo Knights handed Gawain a report. Then, the Black Water Buffalo Knights gathered the horses and moved in the opposite direction from Warrant.
Gawain pulled the reins of the alchemical lifeform he was on and sped toward Warrant.
* * *
Although we had arrived late in Warrant, we had to work diligently to move supplies to the storage room and organize them.
The higher ups must have judged that the tide of demons would end shortly, because overall, there were only fifteen days’ worth of military provisions and supplies.
However, the amount of supplies earmarked for five corps, about 50,000 people, was still enormous even though it was only for a short time.
"Will we even be able to sleep tonight?" Flam said, sounding tired.
Fiona hit Flam on the back and said, "It’s okay. We’ll be able to sleep. Come on, let’s get it done before midnight!"
Under Fiona’s direction, the supply soldiers began to pile up supplies one by one.
"Just remember roughly where everything is. There’s no time to record in detail. We’re going to take it all out and put it back tomorrow, anyway!" Despite her words, Fiona was rapidly recording the location and quantity of supplies on the spot.
"Demuir, head over there, and Den, please record over here. Flam and Organ, please go to where the provisions are and help Roseland."
"All right."
"Okay."
Demuir and I walked around busily under Fiona’s instructions and recorded various supplies.
"The mana stones are in warehouse 3!"
A large number of mana stones had been moved into the warehouse. There were so many mana stones that it felt as if all the mana stones in the empire were gathered here.
Indeed, mana stones could be useful in any situation, so the more we had, the better.
"Send all the arrows to warehouse 12!"
"Put the ballistae with the siege weapons, not the arrows! Are you messing around?!"
As I recorded and ordered the administrative soldiers around, the organization process that had seemed endless finally came to a stop.
"Aigoo, that was tiring," Demuir said, collapsing on the floor.
Fiona said encouragingly, "Good job. We’ll sort out the details tomorrow."
I smiled bitterly at Fiona. "I guess we’ll be dying tomorrow."
In war, few weapons were as useful as long-range weapons, especially in defensive battles. As such, arrows were consumed in large quantities and were important supplies.
If there was one tactical material as important as arrows, it was gunpowder. But since gunpowder could be replaced to some extent with magic, we had to pay more attention to the consumption of arrows than to gunpowder.
With gunpowder, there wouldn’t be any difficulty in correctly keeping track of the stock; it was simply consumed. However, after a battle, arrows that could be recycled were retrieved, so it was difficult to keep track of them in real time.
Still, the supply of arrows was an important indicator for planning operations used by the higher-ups, so even if it was difficult, we had to figure it out somehow.
Fiona sighed along with me. "Tomorrow, people from other branches will be joining us, so it’ll work out somehow."
Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
1. Ying Hua (Lianzhi) was a Manchu Bannerman, a prominent Catholic layman who agitated for church reform, founder of the prominent newspaper Ta Kung Pao, and instrumental in founding The Catholic University of Peking. - Wikipedia
2. Hong Ying, a chinese author.
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