Chapter 141 – I’m Not Going, You Know

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Eh? Lord Van doesn’t have to go?”

After the war council ended, in the study of the lord’s residence after everyone had left, Arte asked that back. Laughing at that, I nodded while holding a single wood block in one hand.

“I told His Majesty beforehand last time. That my territory is still very much undeveloped and doesn’t have any knights I can send to war. So this time, I’m cooperating as a relay base for invading the Yerinetta Kingdom.”

“Is that so? For His Majesty, who values military might so highly, to permit that…”

To the surprised Arte, I showed the map. On that map were drawn a winding mountain path and the position of the fortress on the Yerinetta Kingdom side, a little distance away.

“Instead, I have to help make sure they can attack in perfect condition. The armored wagons with ballistas are fine, since I had already made several, but I guess the problem is building the bases. Well, I’m thinking of something like foldable containers.”

“Containers…?”

When I muttered my thoughts aloud like I was talking to myself, Arte tilted her head with a difficult expression.

At that point, there was a knock at the door, and Till and Kamushin came in.

“Lord Van, everyone’s tour of Seat Village has ended.”

“Thanks. You worked hard.”

When I offered words of appreciation to Till and Kamushin, who had been guiding the people who took part in the war council, a tired, “We’re exhausted…” came back.

Well, they probably were tense, since they do not often get a chance to deal with so many important people.

As I thought that with a wry smile, Kamushin opened his mouth.

“His Majesty the King and Lord Jalpha went to inspect the dwarven furnace, and Lord Ventury went to see the ballistas. Everyone else is checking the conditions of each knight order’s campsite and moving to procure supplies.”

“I see, I see.”

While listening to Kamushin’s report, I manipulated the wood block in my hand like clay. The image is a foldable container. The wall sections are made so they fall inward into the box, and when all the walls are folded down in order, the box folds up into a flat board.

Conversely, if you raise the boards that become the walls one by one, it becomes a box. The box is rectangular, and the wall on the short side has a door attached.

It is a simple design, but when I folded and assembled it several times, Arte and the others were delighted and said, “How interesting.”

“Won’t it break?”

When Kamushin asked that, I pointed to the inside of the box.

“There are grooves in the top and bottom panels, and once they click into place, it’s pretty sturdy.”

When I answered that, Kamushin nodded with straightforward admiration.

“Still, if it’s like this, it gets too heavy, so naturally you can only make bases the size of wagons. Should I remove part of the side walls so they can be connected, or should I separate it into a frame and panels and have them assemble it on site…”

Groaning, I made another kind of assembly-type box. It is the type where you connect the frame pieces and fit panel boards around them.

The foldable one is simpler, but the type where you connect the frame has more flexibility. It’s a tough decision.

“All right, let’s actually try it.”

Saying that, I stood up with the box in hand.

“Try it?”

“Are you going to make the bases already?”

I nodded to everyone’s surprise and raised the box as if to show it to them.

“I figured it’d be better to have people actually make them and judge from that.”

When I answered that, Arte blinked, and Till and Kamushin exchanged looks.

With everyone’s help carrying the wood blocks, they were piled up in heaps along the road. Around them, the tents for the various knight orders’ campsites were lined up with enough force to cover the ground.

“All right! First candidate, foldable-container type!”

“All right!”

At my line, Orto and the others gave a loud reply and raised their arms. This time, the adventurers who had directly accepted requests from the royal house and the various knight orders to guide them through the mountain path, watch for magic beasts, and even scout, had somehow also agreed to take on the additional job of setting up the bases.

As expected, each knight order would handle the transportation itself, but even so, it was impressive work.

Though because of that, the reward was exceptional, so everyone seemed highly fired up.

With about thirty adventurers including Orto gathered together making noise, even the soldiers around the tents turned to look this way, wondering what was happening.

Without showing the slightest sign of caring about those looks, the adventurers crowded around the prototype I had made.

“People on both ends, lift the top board! That’s right! Next people, lift the second board while moving it to the right… ah, right from where I’m looking! Push it in like that! Ah, the people holding the top board, stay like that! All right! Next, lift the third board and push it to the opposite side! Once it clicks into place, try letting go!”

When I gave instructions in a loud voice, they each assembled the containers, and almost at the same time, a self-supporting tunnel-like box was completed. Seeing that, even the soldiers who had turned into spectators let out impressed voices.

“Oooh!”

“That’s easy.”

“If it’s sturdy like this, then we don’t even need tents.”

All sorts of comments could be heard, but I ignored them and continued with the assembly.

“All right! Now raise the remaining walls! In order!”

“Oryaaa!”

Following my instructions, the adventurers squeezed out loud voices. Since I thought that, if it was going to be used as a base, it had to be spacious, I had made the prototype fairly large, so the boards that became the walls and ceiling were quite heavy. Even so, the strong adventurers built the container house without any trouble.

Since I had installed a single-swing door beforehand in the final board, the moment the container house was completed, the door was already attached too. Opening that door, one of the adventurers poked his face out from inside.

“Ooh!? A house already got built!”

It was the kind of expression and line you’d see in a commercial. At that, the other adventurers got wildly excited too and raised cheers.

“No way!”

“I want one of these for myself!”

Since it had been completed even more easily than I expected, they were moved more than I had expected. They might be happier if I changed the reward from gold coins to container houses.

After that, since everyone was pleased and said this felt pretty good, I tried having them set up the assemble-it-yourself prefab-style base, and it was very unpopular.

Too difficult. Easy to mess up. Too small for how much trouble it takes. They gave it an absolute drubbing.

Since there was no helping it, I decided to focus only on developing the container houses.