Isekai Rebuilding Project: Volume 2 Read online

  “I’m sorry that you’ve come all this way, but we don’t have the luxury to enjoy such things at the moment. Moreover, this city will soon turn into a battlefield. I implore to leave, quickly.”

  Earl Agamemnon did grant us an audience, though, and said this to us. It translated to ‘go back the way you came.’ While he looked exhausted, he seemed like an excellent man to me. Still, we couldn’t very well take his offer and run.

  “I think that this, too, is a part of our world-saving endeavor.”

  Tiamat shrugged her shoulders.

  2.

  Tiamat, Baze, Hieronymus, and I volunteered to join Earl Agamemnon’s army. I was sure that the Earl didn’t account for F-rank adventurers being of much use, but he couldn’t deny that he wanted all hands on deck. Every grain of sand towards tipping the scale. Then, I told the Murdock troupe to leave Mostail.

  “There’s no point in running if the city is to fall. With our slow pace, we wouldn’t get far anyway.”

  Mister Murdock rejected the suggestion. I didn’t try to convince him any further. He was absolutely right, and running from the city in no way guaranteed their safety. If monsters decided to go around the city and chase after them, they would be done for.

  “Besides, there’s no time left to run.”

  “Yep. The bad boys are marching in, full force.”

  Tiamat and Baze pointed out the monsters’ movement, sensing the situation. Of course, I didn’t have such instincts.

  “They’re sick of the attrition, it seems. They must intend to break through the walls, ready to lose a portion of their army,” Hieronymus explained, like a military strategist.

  This baron made sure he played all of the cool roles. Acknowledging his comment, I turned to Tiamat.

  “How do you feel, Tia?”

  “In this form, I doubt I can take care of all of them.”

  In other words, she would have turned all of them to ash if she were in her dragon form.

  “Baze and I will cause a distraction, while Earl Agamemnon’s men will push them out of the city. That seems like the rational course of action.”

  “I think rationality has fled the country.”

  She just claimed to be able to stop a monster army of eight thousand in their tracks, with just the two of them, both still in human form. This dragon princess.

  “Can I be of any assistance?” Hieronymus asked.

  “No need. You will protect Eiji. Without me, he wouldn’t even be able to best Eily.”

  “Aye aye, lady commander.” Hieronymus bowed ceremoniously.

  My pride? What’s that? I certainly didn’t expect to regain any here.

  “Earl, it seems the enemy is on the move,” I said.

  “What... are you...?”

  Earl Agamemnon stared back, dumbfounded. No duh. The troupe of traveling performers that could not have come at a worse time just refused to leave a worn-torn city and began plotting like they had a chance. I couldn’t blame him for thinking we were nuts.

  “We’ll distract them to make an opening. At the right time, you and your men have to finish them off.”

  “What are you...”

  “Earl Agamemnon. Mister Eiji and Miss Tiamat are Hermits,” Mister Murdock chimed in.

  Thank you. Oh, thank you. I thought I was going to be forced to say it myself. Given the Japanese consider humility a virtue, that would have been an embarrassing experience. Very embarrassing.

  “Excuse us, we’re going to climb on top of the city wall.”

  The wall that contained Mostail was about three meters high. It looked pretty sturdy, but it was no fort. Just a thick wall, with no equipment to fend off enemies nor archers’ stations atop it. Tiamat, Baze, and Hieronymus followed me... as well as the Murdock troupe, for some reason.

  They carried drums, gongs, and other instruments with them. Then I realized their plan. They were an improv troupe, after all. They planned to accompany our heroism with music. The old storyteller was even warming up his throat, rubbing it with his hand.

  “Mister Murdock? This is real war.”

  “Is there such a thing as fake war, Mister Eiji?”

  The troupe leader grinned.

  The gong blared through the air. Four silhouettes stood atop the city walls with the steady beat of heavy drums in the background.

  “Hear ye, hear ye!”

  The storyteller’s voice rang. From how we were standing, it must have appeared like I was the one talking.

  “You filth who dare desecrate this city, blessed by the Hermits!”

  There that old man went with his nonsense. We had just arrived at Mostail moments ago. What blessing was there to give?

  “If you fear the wrath of the heavens above! Cower while you can!”

  He kept going, throwing all sorts of things across the field. Of course, the monster army didn’t falter. An ominous cloud began to rush towards us from the southeast. Even though I was just told that there were eight thousand of them, I couldn’t see their numbers in person. To be honest, I was terrified.

  “I’ll go right.”

  “Then I’ll go left.”

  The dragon and the Fenrir beside me made their plans cheerfully. So casual, like they were going for a little stroll.

  The gong rang again. The next instant, a bright light tore through a chunk of the monster army! It was Tiamat’s Laser Breath. How did she fire that in her human form?! Before I could ask that question—

  “Long-range weapon out of the blue? Girl, you’re scary!”

  Baze leapt, kicking off of the city wall and traveling over a hundred meters before landing in the middle of the enemies. He tore through the writhing goblins like he was mowing the lawn.

  The troupe began playing some heroic music. The curtains were raised on our feast of blood and destruction.

  “That can be scary in its own way.” Tiamat smiled. “I’m off as well. Be a good boy, Eiji.”

  “Be careful.”

  With a light peck on my cheek, she jumped off of the wall. I guess jumping down three meters was nowhere near dangerous for these two.

  The monster army was slammed into the depths of chaos...

  “Baze the Star Breaker and Tiamat the Dragon Princess. The Hermits’ sword. The Hermits’ shield.”

  ...accompanied by the storyteller’s song. Before I knew it, many residents of the city had climbed the wall to cheer on Tiamat and Baze. Wait a minute. These people were solemn and depressed a minute ago.

  “Lord Eiji. The enemy will break soon. An opportune timing.”

  Hieronymus ceremoniously gave me his advice, standing beside me. The monsters struggled to regain their formations to no avail. Baze tore apart any defensive formation they tried to take, and Tiamat blew through any concentrated attack formation with her Laser Breath. They were trampling those monsters. With a nod, I shouted from the bottom of my gut:

  “Open da gates!”

  Urr. A little Hokkaido dialect came out. Still, my meaning didn’t seem lost, as the city gates opened with a rumble. Lined up behind it were Earl Agamemnon’s soldiers, 450 of them in all. They were hurt and exhausted, but their eyes burned bright with fighting spirit.

  “Behold! The brave warriors charge!” continued the storyteller.

  He was explaining even the obvious stuff because not every person in the city was able to see it happen. This was the same in their usual performances, where they didn’t have a proper theater or stage to perform on. In order to make sure everyone in the audience knew what was happening, they had to employ a little over-narration. The gong rang furiously as the music climaxed.

  “Charge!”

  With the earl’s call his army ran out, as fast as a loosed arrow. Horseshoes tore through and flattened the monsters. Bravely, Earl Agamemnon himself was leading the charge. At this point, something came up beside him: a Fenrir, his brimming white fur blowing in the wind. Before he even had the chance to wonder if the Fenrir was an enemy, the earl was on its back.

 
“A hero is chosen! By Baze the Fenrir, Hermits’ Sword!”

  The people roared in response to the storyteller’s declaration. Riding Baze, Earl Agamemnon kept shouting for his army to charge, swinging his longsword while engulfed in the crowd’s excitement. He was the hero, no doubt about it. The earl’s army, almost too energized, charged even faster.

  3.

  After that, everything happened so fast. Our team of 450 (+2) decimated the monster army of eight thousand in a single blow, literally. I doubted that there were more than a thousand monsters left. Having given up on the battle, they began to flee. While they still had the earl’s army beat by numbers, they were losing by every other standard.

  “We won, Lord Eiji.”

  “...Yeah, we did.”

  The city was already in party mode. Victory had come in one glorious swoop from a hopeless situation. Who among them could contain themselves now? Still, I couldn’t help but withhold my reply to Hieronymus for a moment. Not because I was suddenly scared of the massacre I helped orchestrate or anything.

  “Is something the matter, Lord Eiji? It seems to me that something is troubling your thoughts.”

  “Lord Hieronymus. Is it in a monster’s nature to retreat so cleanly?”

  “Hrm?”

  Hieronymus gazed toward the distance, following my line of sight. The monsters were retreating as they gathered each other from every corner of the battlefield, keeping the injured in the center of their horde, and watching their backs.

  “...No, that does not seem right. No sense that goblins and orcs can execute those strategic movements.”

  “Indeed.”

  Tiamat, transformed back into her dragon form, landed on the wall with a few flutters of her wings.

  “Tia. You’re all right.”

  I sighed in relief. I knew that she was stupidly powerful, but that still didn’t make me eager to send her out onto the battlefield.

  “A piece of cake! ...Is what I want to call it, but it became a little too difficult for my human form, so I turned back. Same with Baze, I assume.”

  Hm. Did that mean she actually had a tough fight on her hands, despite the nonchalant attitude?

  “None of us fear a horde of a hundred goblins, but Lord Syfer’s team would. Is that what you mean, Lady Tiamat?”

  “Mm-hm.”

  I understood what he meant, too. The most definitive difference between an army of monsters and an army of humans is order. Humans are much weaker than monsters, and that’s a fact. We don’t have the body of an elephant, the fangs of a lion, the speed of a cheetah, or anything like that. While there were a few warriors who could handle several ogres in this world, they were unmistakably the exception.

  At our core, humans are weak. For our weight class, we are the weakest in the animal kingdom. Yet, humans rule the world. Even in my homeland of Hokkaido, it wasn’t the Hokkaido wolf or the brown bear that was crowned champion, but humans. For simple reasons, too. Humans fight together. Humans implement strategies. Humans think ahead about what needs to be done to secure that victory. These things are huge, you know.

  Monsters, though, don’t do any of that. They attack on instinct and flee when they fear for their lives. Or else they fight to their deaths without any forethought. A monster could defeat a human, but monsters could never defeat humans.

  “They began to retreat, seeing that they didn’t stand a chance after our attack,” Tiamat said.

  “They lost almost nine-tenths of their army.”

  “That’s the thing, Hieronymus. Losing 90% is a miserable defeat, but what does nine thousand mean to orcs and goblins.”

  “...Indeed, not much.”

  Goblins and orcs, apparently, rapidly multiplied. I believe this is the case in most fantasy pieces too. I’ve never heard of an endangered goblin species.

  “Perhaps their commander is even content to have a thousand left.”

  “So you think the monster army has a brain, Lord Hieronymus?”

  “Indeed,” the handsome gentleman confirmed. It was fishy that an army of monsters was after a crucial trading port to begin with. Their attack was clearly strategic.

  “Monsters waging war...”

  I pondered that with my arms crossed. I couldn’t help but imagine the worst. That being said, Earl Agamemnon’s men moved too well to be afflicted by beriberi. With war, people can’t afford white rice and start to mix in other grains. I had heard of that scenario. By this point, it had been almost two months since I first heard it. Was it all a coincidence?

  “What’s wrong, Eiji? You don’t look too good.”

  Showing concern, Tiamat came at me with the tried-and-true.

  “You don’t mind if your boyfriend doesn’t look good, Tia?”

  “Not that I fell for your face to begin with. I was after that sweet, sweet bod.”

  She was grinning. What a lousy fiancée she was. Just watch the tears form a river down my cheeks.

  In any case, we had won. The city of Mostail erupted, and the earl’s soldiers returned to be greeted with a storm of hugs and kisses from the girls of the city.

  The one most adored, though, was Earl Agamemnon, who had fought valiantly on Baze’s back. He looked as glorious as a legendary hero... before rushing towards me and kneeling before me, in a sign of swearing his loyalty. This happened just as I had climbed down from the city wall. I didn’t really need that kind of thing, though. I would only make more unnecessary enemies now.

  “Sir Eiji. Master Hermit. My words fail me to thank you for saving our city.”

  “The credit belongs to you, Earl Agamemnon. We only lent a small helping hand.”

  I took the earl’s hand to stand him up.

  “And so the hero earns the Hermit’s trust,” the storyteller proclaimed, as loud as he could.

  Someone stop that old man.

  Why did he have to narrate that kind of thing, just at the right moment? No one’s tossing you coins, you know?

  “Sir Eiji...”

  “It’s not a show of humility. There would have been no victory without you and your army holding them off until now.”

  If they had been defeated before we arrived, we naturally would have had no way to help them. Guerrilla warfare was the right choice, too. In order to combat that, the monsters formed an attack on the city while expecting to suffer casualties. It was indisputable that Tiamat and Baze could fully utilize their strengths only because the monsters were attacking through the front door.

  If their method of attack was sneakier like monsters usually were, even Tiamat would have had a hard time dealing with them. It wasn’t amiss of me to say that most of the credit was due to Earl Agamemnon. We just happened to be here at the right time and took advantage of the situation.

  “That being said, we did put some work in. I don’t think anyone would criticize you for buying us dinner.”

  I winked. Maybe that was too much showboating. But asking for a meal wasn’t just to look cool; I wanted to know what they ate. The earl brightened his expression. We weren’t asking for money or titles nor making unreasonable requests like meeting the king. Our demand was the best-case scenario for the lord of Mostail.

  “Mm. Not that you put any work in, Eiji. It was mostly Baze and I who put in the work.”

  Tiamat tossed in this jest at the perfect time. Thanks, partner.

  “You didn’t have to tell them that, Tia.”

  Of course, I jumped on it, and the crowd laughed. It was a pretty good icebreaker. Of course, Tiamat and I didn’t want to make a living as a comedy duo... just in case that was unclear.

  “If we were not at war, we could do so much more...” the earl said.

  “Please. We’re travelers. We would almost feel uncomfortable with an excessive celebration.”

  “You are too kind.”

  “At war, you said?”

  “Yes...”

  The earl lowered his voice, somewhat.

  A month ago, the monsters suddenly became much more thr
eatening. They were no longer creatures that adventurers could hunt down. They were organized and efficient.

  “As if a king has appeared and began ruling over them...”

  I felt a chill as the distinguished earl whispered this.

  4.

  The celebration began. Boy, was that a storm. Who could have asked them to keep it down when their prospect of being overrun by monsters changed to a victory in an instant? The saved-up food and drink were released, and the Murdock troupe brightened the party with song and dance.

  There was an incredible crowd at the city’s central plaza, reminiscent of the Nebuta festival in Aomori. As I recall, that festival is also a celebration of victory, celebrating Sakanoue no Tamuramaro’s conquering of the Emishi people. That’s why it’s a no-holds-barred party.

  It has a unique chant that apparently came from people chanting for ‘more and more’ celebratory sake. The fact that the haneto dance has no rhyme or reason to it is because of the same reason, I bet. Drinking while jumping up and down from the excitement of victory. No sign of etiquette there.

  That’s exactly how Mostail was. Baze and Agamemnon were holding each other’s shoulders, singing a song off-key. The beautiful women of the city were dancing a fast dance with Hieronymus. They all seemed to acclimate to the city just fine. I had decided to step away from the commotion to watch the crowd, just because I felt like it. You know, as a descendant of the conquered Emishi, I had a hard time jumping into this victory party.

  “Hm. The Emishi that Sakanoue no Tamuramaro conquered were in no way the people of Hokkaido.”

  “Right-a-roo.”

  Emishi meant ‘the people of Ezo,’ but Hokkaido wasn’t called Ezo until modern times. To be more specific, the first use of the word in that way was at the end of the feudal era in Japan. That didn’t mean that no one occupied Hokkaido at the time. The Ainu lived there, of course.