070. [STAGE 3] Preparing for War (3)
A finished item from an SSR level reward box.
It… it was a short staff.
It was too short to be a normal magic staff. It was like a…… orchestra conductor’s short, small staff.
‘This, no way?’
I cautiously took the staff in my hand and looked at its stats.
[Maestro (SSR) Lv.35]
– Classification: Staff
– Attack Power: 35-50
– Durability: 10/10
– Creates and controls a magical blade out of thin air. The blades deal the same damage as a staff. The number of blades increases based on the amount of MP consumed.
– When attacking directly with this staff, it deals fixed damage equal to 1% of the target’s current HP and applies a random buff.
“Come on, play!” – A Cruel Conductor
“It’s a real ‘maestro’……!”
I whistled, twirling the staff in my hand.
SSR-tier unique weapons have all sorts of unique stats and abilities, and the staff is one of the strangest.
Its primary function is to generate energy blades. It creates multiple blades of energy from thin air and lets you throw them at will.
What’s not described here is that the properties of these blades vary from character to character.
If Lily wields this wand, it will produce blades of fire, and if Jupiter wields it, it will produce blades of lightning.
I don’t have any magical attributes, so I’ll just have a non-attribute blade.
Regardless, it’s a good staff with powerful mid-range attacks, as long as your MP allows.
It should allow me, a non-mage, to fight like a pseudo-mage.
‘But the most unusual thing about this weapon is the buff through the attack.’
Instead of dealing a fixed amount of damage, a direct hit with the staff deals a pretty high-powered buff.
In-game, every time the character equipped with this had turns left, I made him beat up his allies.
The 1% of your current HP definitely stings, but the return buff is bigger.
‘……Wait, so now I have to hit my party members with this?’
A vision flashed through my head.
I could see myself whacking my party members one by one with the little staff in my hand…….
‘In the game, hitting an ally wasn’t a big deal., but this is real life.’
If you hit kids with a cane for no reason, word will come out for sure. Any human trust that i’ve built will be destroyed.
‘How can I convince them to let me spank them with a cane……?’
I looked down at the short cane in my hand and muttered to myself.
‘You’ve done something wrong, so I’m going to spank your calf, or your palm, or your stomach? ……No, I don’t think so!’
Corporal punishment is not a part of their culture, so I can’t use spanking as an punishment.
‘Is there a way to hit with a cane so that everyone can understand it?’
……It was getting late in the night as I pondered these things.
***.
The next day. Morning.
[STAGE 4]
– Until start: 10 days
Ten days until the next stage begins.
I headed into town to find the head of the Masons’ Guild and the Carpenters’ Guild.
“Ah, my lord!”
“Welcome, my lord.”
The two men, working together in their joint workshop, bowed respectfully to me.
I walked up to them and cut to the chase.
“We’re about to begin restoring the forward base.”
“……!”
“You mean… the forward base……?”
Tension flashed across both union leaders’ faces. I nodded heavily.
The forward base.
A wooden fortress built right in front of the Black Lake to the south. The same place where I fought the black spiders in the tutorial stage.
The damage sustained during the tutorial stage was so severe that it was currently abandoned.
But it was time to start the restoration work.
“I don’t think I need to tell you the importance of the forward base.”
The two union leaders nodded wordlessly.
A defense line built right in front of the lake from which the monsters crawled out.
If it could be operated properly, it would greatly reduce the number of monsters attacking Crossroads’ main base.
It should be able to block things like the monsters’ diversionary operation.
However, the only problem is that it’s hard to maintain.
You’ll need to keep the enemy’s first wave under control. If the defense falls, all of the resident troops will die.
“The invasion of the monsters is getting more intense. It’s a dangerous job, not only to run a forward base, but also to repair it.”
I turned to the two tense-faced union leaders.
“But it’s something we must do in order to defend the Monster Front in the future.”
“Yes…….”
“I know.”
“It’s a long way to the forward base. Besides, we’ll only be able to work on it between defensive battles, so it’ll be quite a long-term project. Slowly but surely, we’ll begin the recovery.”
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I gestured to the stacks of wood and stone in the warehouse next to the workshop.
“First, we need to get the materials and move them. I will pay for the materials and labor, of course. You will determine what is needed for the restoration work and give the reports to me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Trust us and leave it to us.”
“It is for the good of all mankind. Please do it well.”
I finished paying the down payment for the restoration work on the spot.
First of all, lubrication oil is needed to loosen the stiff body and to make it move well, whether it is a machine or a person.
***
Next, I stopped by the blacksmith shop.
The forge was bustling with activity in the morning. As I entered, the head of the blacksmiths’ guild jumped up and down.
“Welcome, Your Majesty,” he said, “have you come to see the horse guns being cast?” [TLN: google horse gun]
“No, that can wait.”
In the first place, the Black Queen was also completed a few days ago. I had no intention of receiving the other three already.
“I’m here today to disassemble the equipment.”
I gestured to Lucas, who stood behind me. He dumped a bunch of equipment on the workbench.
It was a collection of damaged equipment.
Evangeline’s SSR-grade cavalry lance and shield, which I accidentally broke….
And Evangeline’s SSR-rated cavalry lance and shield, also broken in the last battle.
In total, we’ve lost four pieces of SSR-grade equipment.
I’m glad no one was killed, but my stomach was boiling by destroying four of these high-end items.
Especially since two of them were broken by my own mistake!
“Can you extract the magic cores from this equipment?”
Dismantling equipment is the process of melting down items to recover their ingredient items.
If the equipment is intact, you have a 50% chance of recovering a Magic Core of the appropriate grade. The problem is with damaged equipment.
Depending on the degree of damage, the probability of recovering the magic core drops drastically.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get the core intact, but more often than not, you’ll end up with a bunch of other materials that went into making the gear.
‘Give me the SSR Core back, give me the SSR Core back! Please!’
I was crying and begging on the inside, but on the outside, I stood sternly like a lord.
The blacksmith’s guild leader bowed his head, his face grim.
“I will do my best, Your Highness.”
“I shall await the results.”
After watching the broken equipment go into a large furnace, I left the smithy.
It would take a day or two to melt down the equipment and salvage the materials.
‘It would be nice to get even one magic core…’
I prayed as I climbed into the wagon at the entrance to the forge.
My last stop was the alchemist’s workshop.
***
“We’ve been studying the fragments of the golem’s armor you left for us.”
The Alchemist’s Workshop.
The head of the union, who guided me inside, pointed to the inside of the workshop.
The alchemists were analyzing the fragments of the golem’s armor that I had recovered during my last free exploration, and which I had obtained in large quantities during this stage.
“It contains the technology of a magical civilization from hundreds of years ago. Once we’re done analyzing it, it will help us increase the durability of our armor and city walls.”
In this way, for certain monster legions, it would be possible to upgrade our technology through research.
In the case of the golem armor shards, it will increase the tier of the overall armor. It will help.
“It is also because of the Mercury Artifact that I came today.”
Looking at the head of the union and Lily alternately, I gave instructions.
“We need more anti-air artifacts. Do you have any in stock?”
“When you say anti-air, do you mean…… to intercept enemies in the air?”
“Yes.”
There are several rules for the appearance of the monster corps in <Protect the Empire>.
One of them is that flying monsters appear at least once within a five-stage unit.
For example, at least once in stages 1-5, at least once in stages 6-10. Something like this.
‘You have to face a flying monster in either stage 4 or 5.’
If it’s on stage 4, you can start preparing now.
If it’s on stage 5, things get a little more complicated.
A multiplier of 5 is a boss stage of sorts, where the number and quality of the monster hordes are superior.
If you’re facing flying monsters here, you’ll need to prepare for them anyway.
That’s why I’m trying to expand anti-aircraft artifacts from now on.
“From the artifacts that can be repaired, make a list of all artifacts with anti-aircraft capabilities.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Guild Leader and Lily hurried to the warehouse.
While they searched through the warehouse, I was lost in thought.
‘Defensive battles against flying monsters are quite different from traditional defensive battles.’
Obstacles and barricades on the ground are completely irrelevant, and the height of the wall loses its power.
Even ranged interceptions are difficult.
In this situation, monsters approach quickly through the air and engage in hand-to-hand combat.
In other words, hand-to-hand combat is inevitable.
‘The traditional tactic of relying on ranged firepower to reduce the number of enemies doesn’t make sense. We need to establish a strong and stable line of infantry.’
I rubbed my forehead as my head ached from thinking about the melee line.
‘I always say it, but we don’t have enough people, we don’t have enough people!
‘Even if I had one more decent sub party……!’
It’s not that I don’t have additional characters.
But they’re all N-ranked, with no special talents and low levels.
They can be useful if you train them, but they don’t carry the same weight as the main party.
‘Why are there so few usable kids!’
The main party has the luxury of having only two SSR-ranked tanks, an SR-ranked AoE mage, and a cheat sniper.
The sub-parties have dried up the talent pool. It’s only Stage 4, and I’m already running out of time.
‘We need to get some good kids in here soon…….’
Lily and the Alchemist Guild Leader returned to me.
“Here’s a list of repairable anti-aircraft artifacts!”
“Let’s see.”
I took the list and looked it over.
“Hmm, okay, this one, this one, and this last one…… three. Repair them first and place them on the ramparts.”
“Okay, then I’ll get right to work repairing them!”
As soon as I instructed her, Lily accepted the list and disappeared inside the burinake workshop.
Hey, even if you don’t do that, rest assured that I won’t take you somewhere dangerous anymore…….
Receiving a respectful bow from the head of the alchemist union, I left the alchemy workshop.
“Huh.”
Lucas smiled beside me as I untied my collar and inhaled.
“You’ve had a long day, my lord.”
“What. I was just giving instructions.”
I picked up the water bottle Lucas handed me and swallowed. Lucas gestured toward the wagon.
“You’ve done your duty, now let’s get you back to the manor, you still need to rest.”
“You look like you’re about to die, man.”
I’m supposed to be the one taking care of you, not the other way around.
I handed the water bottle to Lucas and headed into the city.
“We have one more place to go.”
“Yes? Haven’t you seen all the workshops?”
“I’ve seen the workshops, but I have other places to go.”
I grinned.
“We’re going to build a new facility in the city, and today we’re going to meet with the people who will be using it and find a suitable site.”
“What kind of facility? A new aqueous facility? Or is it a knight training center to create your own order of knights?”
“No. It’s not a aqueous facility.” [TLN: I have no idea what they mean]
After opening the system window to bring up a map of the entire city, I looked for a suitable place with my eyes and said.
“I’m going to build a casino.”
“……?”
Lucas replied a beat late, as if he didn’t understand.
I said it one more time.
“We’re going to build a casino, a casino. A place where nobles and rich people can legally play for money.”
“…….”
“I’m thinking of putting up a hotel with a casino, to be precise. Where would you suggest…….”
Lucas, who had been looking at me with a stern face, now smiled warmly. What’s with the uneasiness?
“The Lord is the Lord, after all.”
“Huh? Why?”
“To think of building your own casino in this remote village, because you can’t throw away your nasty temperament, and you can’t forget the taste of gambling … foolish Lucas, I can only admire the Lord’s consistency.”
“I’ll hit you, man!”
I restrained myself from smacking Lucas with my newly acquired magic wand, hoping to give him a stinging buff, asshole!
“That’s not it, Lucas, listen up, I’m not doing this to play around!”
I held up my index finger, serious.
“I’m just trying to lure other hero characters into it!”
[Translated by Mashine. Proofread by: WebTrashTranslation]
