<The Tree>, currently developing the <Demon Forest>, had punched through roughly six kilometers from the front-line base built just before the forest.
At that point, following a proposal from the Chimiya Family, which was advancing jointly with them, they decided to construct a fortress base.
“............”
“Lady Neun. The surrounding sweep is complete. I will return the squads to standard patrol. Is there any issue?”
Neun=Iris had been looking at a display at the foot of the command vehicle. Neun turned toward Supreme Patriarch Turanta, who had spoken.
“Understood. No suspicious movement has been detected. I judge there to be no issue.”
“Very well.”
The Chimiya Family communicated among themselves by a method <The Tree> could not detect. Most likely, they were using the power of magic fantasy.
Turanta, who seemed to have remotely ordered the personnel redeployment, nodded and then approached Neun’s side.
“A hill is a good place. If the walls are built properly, we can attack one-sidedly.”
“We were blessed by the terrain. There is an even better mountain another few kilometers ahead, but under present conditions, this is likely our limit of advance.”
“Yes. This is not yet the moment to overreach.”
After securing the low hill, <The Tree>’s forces deployed multiple multi-legged tanks at the summit and established a defensive posture, then began sweeping the surrounding area. Working jointly with the Chimiya Family, they secured the site.
At present, they were in the middle of felling trees and securing construction land.
Of course, they were also checking almost obsessively to ensure no monsters remained lurking underground.
“Still, your construction capability truly is magnificent. By ourselves, we likely could not have advanced this far in the first place.”
“The same goes for us. If we were alone, we likely could not have come this far without burning the forest away as we advanced.”
Through the joint operation between <The Tree> and the Chimiya Family, the breakthrough into the <Demon Forest> was proceeding extremely smoothly.
<The Tree>’s automated machines handled labor, maintaining the defensive posture, and transporting materials, while the Chimiya Family eliminated obstructive monsters and conducted reconnaissance of the surrounding area.
That division of roles had fit together exceptionally well, allowing rapid deployment.
At present, the maintenance and guarding of the road through the <Demon Forest> was mainly being handled by the Chimiya Family.
Through regular patrols and extermination of monsters that entered the area, the various facilities installed by <The Tree> were being protected.
For the time being, the goal would likely be to establish buffer zones on both sides centered on this main road, and eventually reduce the Chimiya Family’s patrol burden to the minimum.
“No major fluctuation has been observed so far in the frequency of monster intrusion. However, we cannot determine whether that should be taken as no problem or as an abnormality.”
“Hmm... Ah, I see. The number discovered and the number exterminated per day. I understood it as a matter of instinct, but when you make it into a picture like this, it is extremely easy to understand.”
Looking at the graphed data, Turanta nodded repeatedly. The number of detections and engagements with monsters, or with ordinary animals, and their one-week moving averages, formed almost impressively flat lines.
“Under present conditions, the surrounding territorial conflicts have likely not yet settled. The monsters pushed out by our advance are spreading while fighting among themselves. A certain number of those displaced creatures are entering our controlled territory. Well, in another few weeks, perhaps it will begin to decrease.”
“Understood. If fluctuations are observed, I will consult with you again.”
As Neun answered, Neun flicked a finger and changed the display to the fortress base’s blueprint.
“Now then. For the time being, this is the planned fortress. The summit of the hill will be equipped with laser batteries, primarily for anti-air surveillance. From there down to the middle slope, ground-attack batteries will be installed. The barracks will be built underground beneath the hill. Living facilities will be below the middle slope. The outermost shell will use wire-mesh barriers in order to secure lines of sight.”
“Wire mesh. That is good. It has strength, and it does not block visibility. I had thought we could not eliminate walls, given how many monsters crawl along the ground.”
If they built walls out of concrete or similar base materials, they could secure strength, but observing small monsters would become difficult. In particular, if creatures latched onto the base of the wall, foreseeable problems included holes being opened before anyone noticed.
Therefore, they had decided on a structure using multiple layers of wire mesh for temporary obstruction, then, upon contact with the enemy, incinerating the enemy together with the wire mesh by laser and rapidly reinstalling it.
It would be less effective against enormous masses like boars, but those would be handled by dozer-type automated machines. In the worst case, they could be blown away by bombardment from coil cannons, so the judgment was that solid walls were unnecessary.
“After that, all that remains is relocating the barrier generators installed in the Holy Capital.”
And that was the centerpiece of this fortress base.
The excavation and relocation of the giant <Magic Stone> that deployed the magic barrier installed in the Prava Divine Kingdom’s Holy Capital, along with its structure.
“The holy wall. Even we know that only from records. We will be putting you through trouble.”
“No issue. Once relocation is complete, we may be able to add more structures of the same kind in the future.”
A giant <Magic Stone> had been installed at the center of the Holy Capital, with biological organs extending from it throughout the entire city. They would dig those out, transport them, and install them in this fortress base.
That proposal had come from the Chimiya Family.
Originally, the Holy Capital appeared to have been a front-line city built as a shelter for the people. As the nation expanded, it had moved farther and farther from the front, and its original purpose had been completely forgotten.
Since it had also been set as part of a pilgrimage route as a religious symbol, it was not as if it had become useless.
“As expected, we could not use our heavy machinery. It becomes a target of the barrier’s protection.”
“I see. That rejects what would harm itself. With those machines you use, the intent to repair is likely not conveyed.”
And.
They had now begun that relocation work, but a problem had arisen there.
When heavy machinery attempted to destroy the walls in order to dig up the buried biological organs, the barrier activated.
The Holy Capital was a city where many residents lived.
Apparently, daily repair work, demolition of buildings, and expansion or renovation could be carried out normally.
But large-scale construction work by <Paraiso> was rejected across the board.
It seemed that destruction carried out with the intention of repairing a wall was tolerated, but destruction without intent—such as that performed by heavy machinery—was refused.
Because of that, they had now begun construction work by gathering laborers and having them dig into the walls.
Even then, if the workers did not understand the intent and simply tried to dig it up, they would be repelled, so the purpose of the construction had to be clearly explained to them. It was quietly troublesome.
“It is a phenomenon difficult for us to understand.”
“...You cannot use magic. For all that, your ability to operate such things is worthy of admiration, but...”
To the Chimiya Family, for whom the existence of magic was natural, the automated-machine groups operated by <Paraiso> likely felt strange. Despite using no magical effects whatsoever, they were far stronger and more durable than the cleric-soldiers.
Of course, from <The Tree>’s side, cleric-soldiers who could perform on par with automated machines representing the height of technology were nothing but a threat.
“At least as far as this relocation work is concerned, we will carry it out responsibly. I have a feeling that if you performed the work directly, it might somehow be possible, but...”
“Our individual numbers are few. It is impossible to perform construction across the entire Holy Capital with only our own hands. Well, it will become public works for the Divine Kingdom residents. There is no problem.”
In fact, verification had shown that construction in the Holy Capital was possible if doll-machine communicators were used.
However, doll-machine communicators were fundamentally not suited for heavy labor. What was more, at present, every doll-machine communicator operated by <The Tree> was girl-shaped. If they had been adult male models, there might still have been ways to manage it.
“If this base becomes able to deploy the holy wall, the safety of development will rise dramatically. We should also be able to move our main force here. If that happens, rotating out the cleric-soldiers will become easier, and training will also become more efficient.”
It seemed the Chimiya Family wanted to move their headquarters to the front as soon as possible.
For them, the closer they were to the Holy Land, the higher their motivation rose.
