Due to the bombardment from the Titan Series Ship No. 4 aerial escort ship, Kleios, the Mountain Boar reversed its course and returned deeper into the forest.
Originally, it had only fled in surprise after a wyvern’s breath, so once it came to its senses, it would likely try to return to its original habitat.
It was irritating that even after pumping shell after shell into it, it simply went back without a scratch, but there was no choice except to accept it as that kind of monster.
If it were a magical attack like that Pierce, it might be possible to punch through that defense.
It had penetrated the magic defense barrier of the Hidden Player, which had swatted away a railgun with nothing more than ordinary bow-and-arrow attacks. If a single person could do that, then once the <The Tree> faction mastered the technology called magic, this world might end up with no enemies—perhaps.
For now, in order to use magic-fantasy technology, it was necessary to prepare both magic stones and monster parts as a set, and there was concern about the absolute quantity of resources.
“Well, I guess that wraps things up for now.”
From the Big Moth’s explosive breeding, to the kaiju-level showdown between wyverns, and then the death march stampede of monsters.
Since the stampede itself remained small in scale, the impact on the Forest Kingdom of Levresta was limited. For a while, the distribution of power within the <Demon Forest> would just turn into a complete mess.
“The evacuees have safely reached the rear city. We assume they will reorganize with those who can fight, and move to retake the village.”
“Of course they will. Help them out. Dirt cheap.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. We will seek monster materials.”
They would buy the Big Moth carcasses, circulate the costs that had occurred, and allocate them to defense expenses.
This was the mercenary contract that would continue for the time being.
Even so, having full cooperation at that price would be bad for the Forest Kingdom of Levresta’s pride.
After defense stabilized, the Elders’ Council Le Elphia of the royal capital, Lindra, had said they would provide some kind of reward under the guise of gratitude.
I did not fully believe those words, but if they could wrap it up with something like a certificate of appreciation, that would serve as an excuse for all kinds of things.
And if we received proper compensation, there would, of course, be nothing to complain about.
Either way, for the time being, it would become profit for <The Tree>.
After that, the villagers of Frontier Village No. 1, Raran, carried out an operation to retake their village, together with the hunters, the defense officer, and <Paraiso> forces.
It was a tank descent—riding on the backs of multi-legged tanks as they moved.
Given the movement characteristics of multi-legged tanks, the torso section barely moved up and down, so the ride likely was not bad.
Hunting large animals and straggling monsters they encountered along the way, they returned safely to Raran Village.
They had only left the village for a few days, and since it was not as though monsters had broken through the defensive wall in the end, the inside of the village was clean.
Some areas had been disturbed by animals and the like, but it was fine to say it was mostly unscathed.
All that remained was to conduct a surrounding mountain hunt, and confirm safety.
If multi-legged tanks stayed in place, they could drive back a certain level of monsters.
If no powerful monster had settled in the area, the villagers’ return could likely be made possible immediately.
*****
“Now then, have you seen the result of this stampede?”
“Without incident.”
“We owe those girls a great deal.”
“We also managed to suppress the troublesome radicals. Since we forced them into self-destruction before we even had to intervene, is it not fair to say this was the best possible result?”
“Though it did become a situation where we relied completely on another country’s forces.”
“Ho ho ho. You had resolved yourself to that from the start.”
“If those girls were not here, what do you think would have happened this time?”
“Let’s see... territory would shrink. Half the soldiers would die in battle. The radicals’ influence would grow, other countries would look down on us, and the economy would be in shambles. We would have to declare total mobilization, and unless we devoted decades to restoring national strength, even the nation’s form might have become unstable.”
“Something like that. We might have needed a great purge at home, too.”
“And if those girls had been hostile, we might have been militarily invaded around then, and the entire land annexed.”
“That might have made it easier to live, in its own way.”
“In the first place, even now, if those girls were to militarily invade us, do you think we could resist?”
“Impossible.”
“Did you hear? Supposedly, those girls even brought out a ship in the sky.”
“As rumors, yes. They said it drove off that Mountain Boar.”
“And there are multiple of those flying around, right? Impossible, impossible. At best, we could harass them with guerrilla tactics. From the sky, the cities are fully visible. If every base is crushed, all that’s left is to survive while hiding in settlements.”
“And I do not even feel we could shoot one down. If they can fly something big, they will have small ones in proportion. Even our flying troops do not have enough absolute numbers.”
“Well, leave countermeasures to the specialists. What will we do about the reward this time?”
“A reward... It does not seem like something we can cover with domestic funds.”
“It is not that we cannot pay. It is simply that, from the girls’ perspective, it would be money they cannot use.”
“Even if we match only the face value. In truth, we would rather buy from those girls.”
“Bonds with interest would not be bad.”
“Rights might be better. ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) A reduction in tariffs, priority export rights for magic tools, domestic transit rights, and then flight rights.”
“That may not be bad. If we make it renewable, we can also limit its value. Then we can prepare a reward without excess or shortfall.”
“For the time being, we might also request them to guard those frontier villages.”
“In practice, that would make them like regional lords.”
“Let them do as they like. In the first place, we do not have the strength to bind them even with treaties.”
“So, even de facto vassalization is acceptable?”
“I would not go that far. Do you think those girls will interfere with us?”
“I do not know that much. But if they are trying to place us under their control, it is far too roundabout. It is fine to compromise to some extent.”
“As long as we do not become dependent, we can manage anything. For a normal state, it would be difficult steering, but for us, we should be able to adjust well.”
“Hmm. Then we will have them choose between bonds or time-limited domestic rights.”
“Still, if we do that, the west will be completely held by those girls.”
“Will we aim east? In the first place, territorial expansion is not appealing.”
“We do not need to change the border. It means we will have leeway for national defense. If it becomes easier to focus power on the east, our worries will lessen.”
“For a while, the <Demon Forest> will remain noisy. If we do not need to allocate strength to the west, the conquest will become easier.”
“To be honest, we still do not know those girls’ objective. If possible, I would like to continue dialogue.”
“Shall we build an embassy, then? We could even hand over land as a leased area.”
“Yes. In exchange for our conveniences, we will have them keep us company for our tea-table talk.”
“Ho ho ho. Good. It gives me something to look forward to.”
*****
The death march stampede incident that struck the Forest Kingdom of Levresta reached a provisional end.
They retook most of the abandoned towns and villages, and kept damage to a minimum.
By selling the monster materials they acquired (mainly to <Paraiso>), the nation as a whole might even be in the black.
Even so, it could not mean returning to life as it had been.
With the shift to a wartime footing, economic activity had broadly come to a stop.
Because towns and villages had been abandoned, opportunistic looting also occurred.
Many citizens had their means of living destroyed.
Of course, the country would provide some compensation for those, but only a minority could restart work immediately.
For the time being, the goal would be restoring domestic infrastructure to normal.
The <Demon Forest>, too—its ecosystem had changed drastically.
Since the hunters’ activities would also become more restrained, some kind of support would be necessary.
And as a measure against these issues, tremendous expectations were placed on <Paraiso>.
The way they actively provided support during Levresta’s national crisis seized the hearts of many citizens.
Naturally, there was information control from the Elders’ Council Le Elphia as well.
But since it was originally a country that held something like an admiration for the beastfolk species, the girls of <Paraiso> were accepted without resistance.
