Chapter 16: A Fuss at Night

Posted bytheredsargeantJuly 25, 2020Posted inFun Territory Defense

I ask for Kamsin’s sword as Ksara, with a broken heart, attempted to reattach the pieces of his leather shield.

　The sword, illuminated by torchlight, shines with a brilliance which made it hard to believe that it is was made of wood.
(T.N.
Note: The author really wants to let you know how it’s amazing that these things are made of wood… I am running out of ways to phrase it in different ways.)

　Apologetically, I stood next to Ksara and touched his leather shield.

“Please hold it still for a moment.”

“Huh?”

　Ignoring the puzzled Ksara at my side, I repair the leather shield with production magic.
I connected and fused the shield’s components to make it even stronger than it was before it was cut.

　In no time at all, it was back to its original shape, and Ksara was able to hold his shield with a shining smile.

”Oh, whoa! It’s fixed! My shield! My orc knight’s leather shield has been fixed!”

　Ksara was so delighted that he started vocalizing a few excited “hyah!” sounds.

 I nodded to the delighted figure, who was jumping up and down, and I turned to Till.

“Please cut me the shield a little.
A little bit with the edge is fine.”

“What? But Ksara looks so happy…”

“I’ll fix it later, so please.”

　Being pressured into it by me, Till gently swung the axe while muttering something like, “It will be okay, right?”

　Since it was made of wood, the axe was light and easy to wield.
Even when lightly swung, the axe passed by Ksara with considerable spped.

”Huh?”

　A piece of the severed leather shield falls to the ground in front of Ksara, who listlessly mutters a reaction.

“Oh, great.
How did it feel, Till?”

　When I asked her that, Till blinked her eyes and showed the axe to me.

”It’s so light I felt as if I was holding onto air.
There was almost no resistance as I swung…”

“Oh yeah? That’s impressive.
But if I don’t sharpen it, the sharpness of it will probably deteriorate over time.
It’s just wood after all.”

　As we were having such a conversation, I felt a presence behind me, so I quickly turned around.

”Oh, Van-sama…! Oh, what did you do to my shield, Van-sama? My shield is broken again, broken…”

　Ksara was grieving loudly.
Seeing this, Till and Kamsin turned their accusing eyes towards me.

“No, please listen.
I’ll fix it, okay.
I was going to fix it in the first place.”

　I awkwardly pried the broken shield from the poor adventurer’s hand.
As I did so, I felt Ksara’s sad eyes staring at me, making my conscience ache from the guilt I felt.

”I’ll make you one even sturdier than before, don’t worry.”

　Assuring him, I restored his shield while strengthening it as much as I could.
Seeing this, light returned to Ksara’s eyes.

”Incredible! It came back…! (T.N.
Note: This guy isn’t very bright, is he.)

　I nodded lightly to Ksara, who let out a shout of joy.
Yeah, yeah.
Congratulations.

“Hey, what’s going on here?

“Is that you, Master Van?”

“Who is making the noise? What’s going on here?”

　And because of Ksara’s fussing, Ortp, Pluriel, and Dee had woken up.
I can see some of the villagers coming out of the house as well.

“Sorry for waking you.”

　At my apology, Dee waved his hand.

“It’s not a problem, but what are you doing here so late at night?”

　Dee said, looking at us one by one to check each of our faces.
Then Kamsin showed his sword and headed towards Dee.

“Master Dee! Look at this!”

　When Kamsin held up the sword, Dee took it and gazed at the blade.

“It’s has a very interesting shape.
But if it is so thin, won’t it break if it hits a shield or armor? And what is this material? Is it the bones of a hexenbiest?”

　Dee was quite intrigued and moved the sword up and down.

“This was made by Master Van,”

　When Kamsin said this, Dee’s eyes narrowed in surprise and delight.

“My God! That’s… I’ve never seen a curved sword as good as this one.
The next time, make it one out of metal.
It has the makings of a good piece of equipment.
As expected of Master Van.”

　Dee looked like a grandfather praising his grandson’s summer crafts, but Kamsin’s cheeks puffed out at Dee’s dismissive tone.

”Master Dee, this is a weapon that can’t be compared to those plain metal swords.”

　Dee nodded quietly to the angry Kamsin with a troubled smile.

“Yes, you’re right.
I’m sure that any weapon made by Master Van is supreme in quality.
I just wasn’t able to see past its humble exterior, this blade is surely better than any metal one.”

　Kamsin nodded back in satisfaction to Dee, who had agreed in a hushed voice.
Obviously, he had other real feelings, but Kamsin didn’t seem to notice.

　Pluriel then looks at us and opens her mouth.

“What are you doing here so late at night? It’s time to go to bed, okay?”

“Why are you being so disrespectful, Pluriel.”

　Orto gets upset with a grumpy Pluriel, who is probably having low blood pressure.
But I didn’t care about that and apologized to her.

”I’m sorry for being so late at night.
Anyway, I thought I’d try to fortify the village’s defenses when I had time.
That’s not the reason for the commotion, though.”

　When I say this, everyone looks at me suspiciously.

“Why, are there no lights on?”

“How does Master Van think he will strengthen the defenses?”

“Oh, are you piling up rocks?”

　And people are saying such demeaning things to me.
They must think of me as nothing but a clueless child.
This is making me mad…

“I’ll show you guys what I can do.”

　A little miffed, I headed towards the gate.

“Oh, no! I admire your motivation! It’s just that I don’t have a lot of work that Master Van can do…”

　Leaving the bone-headed Dee, I went to stand in front of the village gate.
The gate was made of sturdy logs.

　I check the gates construction by placing my hand on the logs.
Since the gate is made of wood, and I probably apply the fiber weaving technique I used to make the woodblocks on the gate.

　But the mention of the word “weight” that Dee had made earlier had been bothering me.

　Indeed, I hadn’t thought much about it, but weapons such as swords, spears and axes use weight to increase their power.
If the weapon is aimed at a vital point, such as the neck, then a light weapon should be fine, but there are other scenarios in which a heavier weapon would be much more effective.

　I should also take this into account when making gates.
After all, the gate is the cornerstone of defensive strategy, with the ability to deny entry to the enemy and allow a small group to win against a larger one.

　While I can only make the gate wooden right now, later on I will make a heavy metal gate.
Metal will probably require more magic than wood to manipulate, but I think I will be able to do it if I just slowly work away at it.

　With that in mind, I began using my production magic on the gate.
I combine the disparate wooden fibers and combine them into an extremely durable material.

”Van-sama…? What on earth is that?”

　I heard Dee’s voice from behind me, but I ignored him because I was still a bit little angry about earlier.

“….Okay, I’m done.”

　I muttered and looked up.
In front of me was a gate that was larger and more luxurious than before.
It was emblazed with the coat of arms of the Marquess family, a behemoth.

　The hinges were wrapped in a cover, and the handles were made into bars so that people could open and close the gate more efficiently.
The bars also could be used as bolts, giving the gate some extra reinforcement.
It had grown smaller after the transformation, so I will have to bring a wooden block to bring it back to its original size.

　When I looked back, everyone was looking at me with a startled look.
Till and Kamsin were smiling at were smiling proudly, happy that everyone was impressed with my work.

”…Hey Orto, let’s test out the integrity of the gate.
Try cutting it with your sword.
I can fix it, so don’t worry and just give it your all.”

　As I said that, Orto hesitantly took out his sword and looked at me as he stood by the gate.

”Are you sure?”

“I need to know how well it can defend the village.”

“I understand.”

　Having received permission, Orto drew his sword and held it above his bead.

　Then, he swung it down with all his strength.

”Hah!”

　Orto’s form as he struck ensured that his strike would be flawless and strong.
A normal log would have stood no chance.

　But Orto’s sword didn’t slash through the door.
In fact, it bounced off it, making a deep metallic clang in the process.

　I had to plug my ears because the noise was so harsh.
After the clanging sound abated, I went over to the gate.

　Checking the surface of the door with the dumbfounded Orto by my side, I found a scratch on the upper portion of the gate.

”……..Mmmm.
Its got a scratch on it.
I guess wood isn’t the right material, after all.”

　As I let out a frustrated sigh, the faces that hadn’t moved, as if time had stopped, closed in on the door as if they were pouncing on it.

”No, no, what?!”

“What? The wooden door blocked Orto’s sword!”

“Is this really made of wood?”

“Master Van! This is, what, wait… Master Van what on earth is this?!”

　The scene was wrapped in panic.