It was true. When I checked the luggage that the original William had packed, all I found were alcohol bottles. No cores, no reactors. More importantly, there were no clothes or daily necessities for myself.
Enoda, who had accompanied me to review the materials, let out a sigh as he looked at the mess in front of us.
“Total of 100 bottles of Aplia Wine,” he said, his tone dripping with exasperation. “Picked from elven trees. Each bottle is worth the same as an S core. So essentially, you’ve traded 100 S cores for nothing.”
‘What were you thinking? Are you crazy or are you just that stupid?’ I screamed in my mind, already seeing the hopeless situation once more.
Arion continued to search through the luggage and finally emerged with a grin on his face.
“My lord, I found something!”
“Found what?” I asked, my voice trembling with hope.
“I found three S cores!” Arion declared.
My eyes widened in disbelief as I rushed over to him. Indeed, he was holding three large, spherical objects, each about the size of a big baseball. They were cores, and they were S rank.
“My precious!” I exclaimed with joy, cradling the cores as if they were priceless treasures. “I thought I had spent all of them on alcohol.”
“Yes,” Arion said, a hint of awkwardness in his voice as he looked away. “You mentioned you were planning to sell these three cores to buy more alcohol.”
“Well, I’m certainly not selling them now!” I declared with a determined nod. As I held the cores, a screen popped up, showing their details.
Items:
Stormbound Core
S (Super)
Infernoheart Core
S (Super)
Celestial Ember Core
S (Super)
“Enoda!” I called out, and the elf was instantly by my side, examining the cores with his mana lens.
“It should work,” Enoda confirmed after a thorough inspection. “However, I can only craft three pieces of armor with these, and it will take at least five days.”
“Make one for Arion,” I instructed. “Ensure that Arion’s armor emphasizes defense and mobility.”
“Understood. And the last two?” Enoda inquired.
“I’ll decide on that later,” I replied.
Originally, I had planned to take Arion, myself, and three other soldiers to confront the succubus responsible for mind-controlling the soldiers, but it seemed that it was impossible. I would have gone to the frontline myself, but I decided that I was just too weak to be of any help. If it was only limited to three, they needed every powerful person they could get.
Typically, Arion wouldn’t need additional armor, but the upcoming battles required him to be at his best. I intended to have his armor specially designed to enhance his effectiveness in the forthcoming stage.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“Good,” I said, turning to Arion with a grin. “Arion, inform the soldiers that I need a volunteer who is powerful enough to handle multiple monsters without issue. Assure them that there will be heavy rewards for those who step up once the mission is complete.”
“Yes, my lord!” Arion responded, though he seemed slightly downcast. I must have been imagining things. Once Arion rushed off, I turned back to find that Enoda had already left to begin crafting the armors.
I guessed I was alone. Now that I was free, I should check up with how the defense was going and I should have a meeting with people to discuss the strategies.
[(0)]
After five days of preparation, everything was falling into place for the tutorial stage. The additional 10,000 soldiers bolstered our defenses, and the fort was fully in repair along with its defense. Things were looking good, almost too good.
Enoda had done an amazing job. My armor and Arion’s were finished, and he even managed to create the artifact that could detect mind-controlled soldiers. Thanks to that, we managed to capture several mind-controlled soldiers before they had the chance to sabotage anything. However, the succubus who was responsible for all this still hadn't been caught.
Though that wasn’t something important. I never planned to capture the succubus in the first place, and I wasn’t planning to waste my energy on capturing a single enemy. However, capturing the mind-controlled soldiers did serve its job as I grinned in front of everybody.
“So, did I bring enough proof that succubus will be behind the attack and their attack pattern will change?”
I was currently in the war meeting room, surrounded by the fort's key representatives and leaders. Alaric sat across from me, glaring daggers in my direction. Beside him were three of his aides, each responsible for overseeing different teams of war machines. A representative from the mage group was also present, along with a delegate from the engineers and blacksmiths. And, of course, Arion stood by my side.
“The enemy number would exceed over 600,000 goblins.” I said, meeting with a stunned silence. “While the fort and the soldiers are in good condition, it wouldn’t be enough to stop them from marching onto us. Worse, there’s a high chance a succubus is controlling their leader, meaning we can expect them to act like one coordinated, intelligent army.”
An officer, whom I believed was Colonel Ash, the captain for the Cannon Corp, raised his hands, “Is this true sir? It’s like I doubt you or anything, but it’s just too hard to accept everything.”
The old man in wizard robes, Olfoaid Aindio, chimed in as well, stroking his long beard thoughtfully. “I agree with Major Ash. Even with the mind-controlled soldiers as evidence, there's no guarantee that everything you've said is accurate,” he said, his tone skeptical. “Why now, of all times? Why not attack us when we were much weaker, before the reinforcements arrived? The timing seems... suspicious.”
“I understand,” I said, standing up and gripping the black square stick I had brought with me. Without hesitation, I tossed it to the ground, and as it hit, a soft glow emanated from it. A screen-like projection appeared, reminiscent of a classroom blackboard.
“But I need you to trust me,” I continued, looking each person in the room in the eye. “I don’t have any clear evidence that the goblins will attack in two days. But I need all of you to follow my orders. I swear on the name of the Dakeon Family.”
The room fell silent.
Swearing on the family name wasn’t just a promise; it was a binding oath. Breaking it could result in severe consequences, banishment, torture, or even execution. Not even the royal family was immune from such punishment. My declaration wasn’t just a request; it was a solemn vow that showed how serious I was.
After a silence, Alaric broke the silence with a sigh. “So why did you hold a meeting? You didn’t gather us just so you could tell us this hopeless situation, right?”
Before Arion could speak up, probably saying something to Alaric about speaking rudely to me, I cut in. “Correct, I am here to tell you about the plan I had made”
Even after all the trouble he had caused, Alaric still seemed dissatisfied. I supposed it was fine as long as he didn’t try to kill me.
“First things first,” I began, projecting various detailed diagrams and strategies onto the screen. I clicked some buttons and drew my plan if necessary, and all the people in the room paid close attention.
For hours, I explained every detail of my various plans until everyone in the room was on the same page.
When I finally finished, I let a small, confident smile on my lips. “Now that I’ve explained the plan, does everyone understand?”
“Yes,” Everybody said at the same time, though Arion raised his hand.
“My lord, you mentioned we’d have a party of three to kill the succubus. Who is the second and third member?”
“I’ve already chosen the third member, and they’ve agreed to join us,” I replied. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Arion’s face relaxed in relief. “That is good to hear.”
“Any other questions?” I scanned the room, noting the serious expressions on their faces.
Alaric, ever the skeptic, spoke up. “What if we fail to defend the fort? Do you have a plan for that scenario?”
I leaned back, a gleam of amusement in my eyes. “Well, if we fail… then we’re all doomed. So, make sure you give it everything you’ve got.”