Volume 5 Chapter 3 (1/2)
I hurriedly did the preparations for helping Marcho.
Meeting with [Time] and [Dragon would mean I was going to be absent from Avalon so I also needed to prepare for that. The most important thing for that was the instructions I was going to give to my monsters. We only had a few days to prepare so it was necessary that our preparations still progressed while I was away.
In relation to that, I came to the design room within Rorono's workshop. I had something I wanted Rorono to make.
”Rorono, there's another task I want you to do alongside maintaining that. I want you to follow my instructions here. The time limit will be three days from now which is the day of our departure. Prioritize these two tasks over everything else.”
The battlefield this time would be within Marcho's dungeon.
It would be different from the combat we had somewhat grown accustomed to so far and so, we must prepare as much as we could.
One such preparation included the improvement of the Avalon-Ritters. For this upcoming battle, I intended to make use of the special Avalon-Ritters we had managed to reserve before.
Rorono looked at the pages of instruction I had made and given to her. As she read it, her facial expression became stiff. I understood how she felt. The workload needed to pull it off was absurd. I understood that even with her knowledge and ability, it was a difficult task. Even so, I asked her to do it.
”This is in three days?”
”Yes, somehow.'
”…Understood. I'll try to do it in time. No, I promise it'll be done in time. As long as it's for master, I'll accomplish whichever impossible task.”
”Sorry for making you do the impossible, Rorono.”
I said so and then hugged Rorono. I had always burdened this child with the impossible and I feared I might be relying on her too much. However, I had no other choice; it was truly necessary.
”Master, I will do my best. My absolute best. So, after all of this is finished, praise me a lot, okay?”
As she leaned her body on me, she spoke to me in a very pampered way.
”Of course. I'll spoil you as much as you want.”
When I patted her on the head, she smiled from ear to ear.
If she wanted to be praised, I'll praise her, I thought, how can I be so cold-hearted to Rorono who has served me so well.
”Also, don't forget to give me a reward. These are extraordinary requests, after all.”
”Yeah, don't hold back and ask me for anything.”
Her embrace grew tighter as she buried her face more into my chest.
If it was for her, I believed I was willing to do anything.
”Mhm. Then, I'll begin working on it immediately. It'll be beyond expectations! I swear it on my pride as an Elder Dwarf, the world's best blacksmiths… No, I swear it on my pride as Father's daughter!”
Rorono said so, reluctantly parted from our embrace, and then vanished into her work area.
In her hands were a basketful of golden apples from the [First Tree].
Aside from being able to heal one's wounds and restore one's magic power, the golden apples were also able to relieve one of their fatigue. So with that many golden apples, she would be able to work without any need for rest for several days.
She's so dedicated that she's prepared to give up sleep for several days.
”I'm counting on you, Rorono.”
By common standards, the task I had given to her would have been considered impossible.
However, I believed that so long as it was Rorono, the impossible could be made possible.
Having accomplished my goal, I left her workshop.
Aside from her, there were other monsters I had tasks for which needed to be done as soon as possible.
For this campaign, my own forces wouldn't be enough so I knew I must seek for easy and reliable ways to double the friendly forces.
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After I had left Rorono's workshop, I headed to Aura's orchard. As soon as I was in the orchard, I caught sight of Aura and called out to her.
In response, she rushed to my side, her golden hair swinging in the air and her jade green eyes shining brighter than usual.
”Welcome, master”
”Aura, there's something I want you to do right away. It's about the Potions you have made before. I would like them to be used in the upcoming war. Can you do it?”
”Yes, leave it to me. I have succeeded in cultivating the necessary materials. In fact, I have completed trials just this morning. All that's left is the mass production.”
Recently, various medicinal plants were also grown in her orchard. These weren't just for her enjoyment; these were grown as part of my order for her to make Potions.
”This campaign will be a drawn-out one. Many will be severely wounded, gravely tired, or out of magic power. Maybe even all at once. We have to deal with those kinds of exhaustion. Hence, the need for a great amount of curative items. The quality is important but for this war, quantity is even more so.”
”I concur. I will prepare as much Potions as can be with the time left to us.”
So far, Avalon's means of healing relied heavily on the golden apples from the [First Tree]. The effects of eating the apples as the fruits that they were—without them undergoing any process whatsoever—were greater than an average potion's healing effects. To add to that, the golden apples also had other effects other than healing one's wounds.
Given all that, I was convinced that if the golden apples were used in combination with other medicinal plants to make a potion, the effects would be even greater.
”Whether we can count on Marcho's exhausted and wounded monsters will depend on those potions and on you, Aura.”
”Leave it to me! With the potions made out of the apples I raised, we can resurrect even the dead!”
The potions were of course going to be vital to my monsters but they had another purpose: to bring Marcho's monsters back to the frontlines.
I predicted that by the time we reach Marcho and her monsters, her monsters would have already been exposed to a prolonged war and thus have sustained injuries, ran out of magic power, and were nearing their physical limits. In other words, they wouldn't have been able to fight anymore by the time we got there.
If that was so, the very first thing I must do was to heal her monsters so that they could be fit for battle as soon as possible. For that purpose, we needed to have a large amount of high-quality potions.
Just by being able to do that, the situation would all at once improve. After all, we could once again count the wounded monsters—monsters who were supposedly out of the fight already—as part of the fighting force.
That was indeed huge. So much so that it might even have more effect on the war than my reinforcement troops.
”But we have grown the medicinal plants just barely in time, haven't we?”