5-5 Part 1
Starting a Water Heist with a Single
Shovel
- The Crushed "Morning
After" Flag -
Translator : PolterGlast
The next day, I devised further defense plans. The guild
receptionist had said it: Don't let your guard down just because you disposed
of one Hobgoblin.
So I reconsidered the relationship between Goblins
and Hobgoblins. The two are in a relationship of the ruled and the
ruler. One side only has intelligence on par with a young child.
In other words, if I crush the ruler called the Hobgoblin,
I can destroy the organization. The fact that the attacks stopped completely
after that is probably due to that influence.
Hobgoblins
are rulers, and therefore few in number. They rarely show themselves on the
front lines. That is precisely why I used myself as the decoy. But I doubt it
will go that way next time. Even if I were to repeat the strategy like an
honest fool, I wanted to add a variation to it.
"Are you awake?"
"Ohhhhhh! Shinza-sama! Or rather, Savior-sama!
I'm grateful to ya! I'll have breakfast made right away, so please wait!"
Captain Lucky of the Vigilante Corps came to the
Village Chief's house. So I left the 15-year-old child still deeply asleep and
moved from the guest room to the living room.
"Village Chief, I feel like your attitude has changed considerably
from yesterday..."
"Just yer imagination! Thanks to you, the village had a
great victory! We ain't scared of no Goblins anymore!"
"If shown that kind of work, anyone would change their
attitude. Shinza-dono, yesterday's victory was exhilarating."
They probably feel like they've already won. Indeed, it's
true we dealt them a heavy blow. But Hobgoblins are living creatures;
they make families. It's hard to think there was only that one.
"The construction isn't finished."
"Wh-What are ya sayin', Shinza-sama?!"
"Give me breakfast. Once that's done, I will improve
that moat even more perfectly. Also, I just thought of this, but let's
reconnect that river to the reservoir that looks like it's about to dry up any
moment."
Most likely, the Goblins dammed the flow upstream.
The village's waterways were still somehow alive, but the water level was low
and unreliable.
Looking at the village reservoir from the window, I could
see it only had a quarter of its former water volume now.
"Th-That, I definitely wanna ask ya for that! Without
enough water, even farm work is impossible!"
"But is it okay...? We have no money; it just makes my
conscience hurt more."
Then, the Village Chief grinned vulgarly at me. It must be
about ordering Kachua to offer her body to me. The deep mountains are a
bit chilly, so she served as a hot water bottle substitute.
"I don't mind; this is also a trick to make them attack
again. I'll dig an underground passage and guide the water to the reservoir.
I'm stealing back the water."
"In other words, Shinza-dono, you can even dig
underground tunnels...?"
"As I thought, Shinza-sama is a savior! Haaah,
thank you, thank youuu! I leave the village in your hands, Shinza-sama!!"
Despite trying to make Lucky's still-young niece sell
her body, the Village Chief bowed deeply to me. There was no malice in sending Kachua
herself. I have no choice but to think he is just that kind of human.
"Also, we need bows
and arrows. Build scaffolds to shoot them from. There are likely still Hobgoblins remaining—we’re going to
snipe them again."
"Making unreasonable demands first thing in the
morning... Understood, leave it to us. Shinza-dono, please… make
this village a Water Village once again."
When it was decided in that form, the Tome of the Evil Dragon
in my pocket trembled slightly. Parting with them and returning to the room
once, I turned the page and it was as I thought.
— Business —
- 【Dig One Underground Tunnel】
- Completion
Reward: Shovel LV +0.5 / STR
+5 / EXP +200
- “Recover
the village's abundant water. If you do, you shall become a genuine hero.”
A new page had been added to the Tome of the Evil Dragon.
The completion reward is attractive. It meant that if I completed one job, I
would become an even sturdier Shovel user.
Dig an underground tunnel (zuido), huh? But Zirant,
you've got the wrong character. It's underground waterway (suido), not
tunnel (zuido).
Well, that's how it is. We divided the roles, and it was
decided that I would dig the waterway first. As expected, the original river
had been dammed by the Goblins.
They will probably imagine that after seeing my big job, I
might dig up the waterway next. Then I'll outwit them and steal water from
underground without going above ground. Since I am Firefly, I must have
some connection with water.
After returning to the room and checking the book, I ate
breakfast while being flattered by the Village Chief. Lucky-san was also
there. He laughed, saying it was his second breakfast.
"By the way, Savior-sama, did you like the gift from
the village?"
"Yeah, Kachu—"
"Shhhhh!! That's a secret from Lucky!! So, how
was it...?"
"Yeah, we slept together."
Lucky-san looked
at us wonderingly. If it's bad to be heard, you shouldn't talk about it here...
"Ohhh, that's good then! Savior-sama, please save this
village! ...I'm glad you liked Kachua; feel free to do as you please
tonight too. Or if you want a substitute girl..."
From the middle of his sentence, he leaned in with his hairy
hand and whispered. I put the breakfast of only boiled oatmeal and vegetable
soup into my stomach while being half exasperated.
"It's fine. I liked that girl. Others would be
troublesome."
"Haaah~! I look forward to working with you from now
on, Savior-sama!"
"Village Chief, that's enough! If you fawn and flatter
him too much, you'll actually hurt Shinza-dono's impression...!"
It's fine. The moment he pushed Kachua into my bed,
the impression was the worst. No matter how much it was for the village, he
didn't have to make a 15-year-old child, and Lucky's niece at that, do that...
After filling my stomach, I climbed the watchtower once with
Kachua. For some reason, after that, when I got ready to go out, she
stuck with me.
Since I needed an assistant and a guide, I had no
complaints. The Village Chief would be more convinced that way too.
"Look over there, a thin stream continues to the
village, right? From there onwards. The river is blocked in the forest around
there."
"They are unexpectedly clever. But if it's around there, it's no big deal. Probably."
The river passes from the west through the center of the
village and exits into the basin in the east. This operation of stealing water,
no, this strategy surely has value on its own.
Because the cornered Goblins might put all their
effort into blocking the river. Human life cannot be sustained without a water
source.
"What's wrong?"
"Eh... N-No, it's nothing..."
Kachua was
looking at my profile. I doubt it, but I hope she's not still suspicious of my
eyes...
"Yesterday was an optical illusion. Forget it."
"...Eh, what are you talking about? Ah, about your eyes
glowing? No, I was just looking."
"Is that so. Just looking, huh."
"Th... That's right! Is that bad?! I was just
looking!"
I really don't understand girls of that age... The stream
flowing below us was far too thin, unreliable for the village's life.
"More importantly Kachua, let's get to work.
Once we enter tunnel construction, shine this lamp on the front wall."
Descending the tower, we headed to the reservoir in the west
of the village. It seemed to be structured to adjust the water volume from that
reservoir and carry it to the fields, but unfortunately, the water level is
completely insufficient now, and it's not functioning.
I want to fill this place with clean, cold water. While
expanding the image, I dug a vertical shaft like stairs slightly away from the
reservoir.
"Then I leave the light to you. Also, I'll say this
first, sorry if I splash mud on you."
"It's fine. If I get splashed, I'll have Shinza
wash me."
"Do you intend to make me do laundry?"
"No, I'm saying let's bathe together once it's
finished."
"That's a no-go. Sediment is likely to pour in at first. If you enter, you'll get
even muddier."
"Is that so, too bad..."
After a night, I don't know why, but Kachua is acting
more familiar than yesterday. I guess that means she took a liking to me too.
Well fine. I was itching to start, so I began the tunnel construction.
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