31

It was far too simple to be called a base—somewhere in the mountains without even a roof.
As I checked the goods I had obtained, I stared at the water jar in my hand.

Its size felt a little too large to be a mere ornament, but if one insisted on calling this a “water jar,” it had a fatal flaw.

(There’s a hole in it… on top of that, some kind of carved indentation of unclear purpose)

After various inspections, I concluded that this was actually a “part.”

From its shape, an image came to mind of a half-naked female statue carrying a water jar on her shoulder.

(If I recall, there was a fountain like that in some city… perhaps this was something they ordered to replicate it?)

In short, it was useless to me.

It had been carried with such care that I assumed it must be magic-related, but this disappointment made my shoulders slump.

Reluctantly, I checked the rest—ordinary salt, ordinary wool.

The dried meat was a little too salty.

Perhaps it was salted heavily because mercenaries, whose bodies were their livelihood, ate it, but I couldn’t help but worry if the general populace of the Kingdom of Canaan also ate this sort of thing as a matter of course.

What I wanted next was spices, but that would mean I might need to change locations.

Canaan, situated in the northern part of the continent, had no climate suitable for growing spices.

As I recalled, they mostly relied on imports from the southern nations, and unless they had opened sea routes, they were likely buying from Seizeria or the elves.

Therefore, heading east or west and targeting caravans there seemed to be the correct move.

That said, it was only speculation.

For now, I would stay here and pillage the passing toll.

I was also curious about what kind of goods were traded in this era, and this would surely help me learn more about the inner state of the Kingdom of Canaan.

Staying in one place too long risked a subjugation force being sent, but that wasn’t a threat.

Because Canaan had abandoned science.

Having done so, they could not hope for uniform quality in their soldiers.

If they relied on magic—a power weighted toward individual talent—then all I needed to do was eliminate only those who posed a threat.

Put another way, against a very powerful individual, numerical superiority became meaningless—a worst-case pattern.

In game terms, one simply ignored the vast majority who dealt 0 damage, and focused only on the handful who could inflict at least 1.

In other words, the moment those few damage sources were incapacitated, the outcome of the battle was decided.

What’s more, those few elites were extremely difficult to mass-produce, and the costs were absurdly high, leaving one no choice but to say, “Are you mocking war?”

Now, imagine instead that the majority were soldiers armed with modern weaponry.

Even if they could only inflict 1 point of damage each, a thousand of them would still deal 1000 damage.

If, like the elves, every single “individual” were powerful without exception, there would probably be no issue—but humans were not like that.

That was why I believed that even if the Kingdom of Canaan sent out an army to subjugate me, I could crush them.

Whether it was five thousand goblins or five thousand humans, it made no difference to me.

Even if it were ten thousand, the result would not change.

Even if they brought out siege weapons like ballistae, they were meaningless if they didn’t hit.

I wasn’t a beast—I could easily sense the timing of a launch, and knowing their purpose, I would be wary.

“Being effective” and “actually working” were different matters.

I wasn’t so overconfident as to think a ballista bolt wouldn’t penetrate, but I understood my own specs.

There were still many things I wanted to test, like resistance to magic or poison, but unless I obtained a large supply of magical potions like the ones I had acquired before, it wasn’t worth attempting.

So, for today, I decided to end my activities.

There probably wasn’t much time until dawn, but I would get a little sleep and rest my body.

Of course, saying “a little sleep” was easier than actually doing so in a place without even a roof. All I could do was lie down somewhere that looked suitable, using wool as a pillow.

And so, the next morning.

I stuffed the wool-filled hemp sack into my pack, snacked on the salty dried meat for breakfast, and washed it down with water.

I left the water jar behind since I didn’t need it.

The fragile-looking salt jar, on the other hand, I packed carefully into the backpack, wedging it with wool.

(Even so, it still feels like it might break… maybe I should look for a proper container at the shopping mall in Eilqueel)

If I was going to keep stopping by the former Imperial territory every time something came up, I might as well establish a proper base.

And truthfully, it wasn’t a bad idea.

If I stockpiled supplies there, I could operate around it, and whether or not I had a storage location would greatly affect my activities.

(Not bad. Considering elf surveillance, resupply, and… well, “collection” rather than looting, establishing a base in the old Imperial lands could greatly advance my operations. The problem is the location…)

I had an idea of where it would be convenient.

(The Einhel Republic to the west was important. The north was less important, but not without value. If I excluded the east and south for now… then the candidate would be north of Aidres or its surroundings)

The south could also be considered, but that could wait until I knew more about the current era’s political situation.

It was also possible to separate a depot from the main base.

It felt almost exciting, like building a secret base.

With that thought, I felt the urge to cram in every function I could think of.

My imagination swelled until I could no longer hold back.

“Gaggaaah!”

Even if I tried to shout “Hyahhaa!” what came out was still this ugly voice.

Before I knew it, I was running.

My goal was southwest.

The objective was to find a suitable location north of Aidres for a base.

I really was weak to the words “secret base”… because I was a boy, after all.

By the next morning, I was still running.

Partly because of the distance, but also because the salt jar slowed me down.

I had entered the forest, so I figured I must be near the target, but perhaps I should first locate Aidres and then move north.

As I pondered this, I found the ruins of a base.

Apparently, I had gone too far west.

Still, now that I had established my location, I shifted course eastward, scanning the surroundings for good terrain.

When the sun reached its zenith, my supply of water and dried meat ran out.

(Damn. I should have resupplied at the elf-surveillance base)

Regretting my lack of foresight, I decided to continue exploring until nightfall, and if I couldn’t find a candidate site, I would return to the surveillance base.

As I continued, I spotted a color not found in the forest.

Looking that way, I saw what appeared to be a man-made structure.

(Wait… I’ve seen that building before…)

Even if partially collapsed and covered in greenery, I could never forget it.

It resembled the above-ground portion of the research facility where I had awakened.

I sighed at my bad luck.

“So when I try not to think about it, I stumble across it.”

Having found it, I couldn’t just ignore it.

I approached the facility and looked at the gate.

(No contamination warnings. In terms of distance from the Imperial Capital, it shouldn’t differ much from the facility I was in… now, how should I take this?)

In any case, first I needed to investigate.

Since my body was too large to enter through the main doorway, I circled the area.

Wild animals, sensing my presence, bolted, but I had no time to hunt them and instead examined the building.

I discovered a large hole with clear signs of having been destroyed from the inside.

And the traces were far too fresh to be from 200 years ago.

Specifically, the greenery that should have covered it was absent, and the broken area had not yet been overtaken.

I couldn’t be certain, but it was almost guaranteed that the wall had been broken less than a year ago.

(Don’t tell me… did that spider-man come out from here?)

The first thought was of that man—but it was also possible another subject had escaped.

I grew more alert and entered the facility through the hole.

Inside the dim interior, I found an elevator door left open nearby.

Peering down, I saw the cage just below.

(About 5 meters underground? Not very deep)

As I began to descend, I felt something odd in my hand, quickly let go of the rope, and examined it.

A sticky substance clung to my hand from grabbing the rope.

(This is… his thread?)

So this had been spider-man’s research facility.

I exhaled heavily.

My thoughts and emotions grew tangled and hard to organize.

I descended using the rope, slipped through the melted ceiling of the cage, and found, just like in my facility, a gate beyond the open doorway.

The one difference was—

(Why is the gate open?)

Yes, the gate was open.

My sympathy for that man diminished.

After all the suffering I endured, that spider bastard had simply walked out through an open gate to the surface.

But anyway, it was still a gate.

If it was open, that was convenient, but the reason it was open bothered me.

As I examined it, I discovered something unbelievable.

(Wait, hold on… the power facility is still working?)

Clearly, it hadn’t been “open from the start”—it had been “opened.”

A thorough search revealed that the facility had a self-sustaining power system.

Though only a few devices still functioned, they indicated the facility generated a small amount of power from underground water veins, currently supplying less than 1% of its original capacity.

It could barely store power, the facility’s performance was degrading daily, and within 300 days it would completely shut down.

(I see, so spider-man was able to leave because part of the facility had barely survived)

Even so, letting this facility die felt wasteful.

Because it still had electricity.

Considering its location, it wasn’t perfect, but it was more than adequate.

In terms of terrain, with its sturdy ceiling, difficulty of access, and temporary power, it could function well as a base.

(This place is practically decided as my base. Next, I must explore as much as possible, and also find a way to keep electricity available)

The latter was especially important.

If I could use electricity, it would be a priceless gain.

I had to find a way to maintain it, to make my life far more comfortable.

For now, I cleared a room of useless desks and chairs to use as storage, and placed the salt jar and wool inside.

The sight of jars of salt and wool in a modern-style room was surreal, but I ignored it.

With my backpack emptied, it was time to resupply.

Now, to the river—time to resume elf surveillance duty.