Unbending Tasks And Inviolable Principles (1)

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

Hare, having finished the warehouse expansion at the harbor, began work on the golems I requested according to the schedule, and for the associated wagons and rails, I was able to manufacture them using shortcuts to save on iron, which was already in short supply.

“To think such things are possible with Construction…”

I already knew that I could increase strength by infusing a large amount of mana, but I had not realized that an object crafted with what seemed like an excessive amount of mana would possess such absurd durability.

Today, while working on a large batch of rails, I made a few wagons; as luck would have it, an Ogre Lord appeared, so I threw one at it for a strength test, and even though the Ogre Lord tried its best to break it, it could not.

Everyone looked on in disbelief at the stone wagon, which possessed a staggering hardness that wouldn’t even crack, but the one most flabbergasted must have been the Ogre.

Anyway, moving on, I was able to quickly traverse the Sky Bridge thanks to Demina and work on the tracks, eventually laying three lines so that only one golem would operate per track for now.

However, the problem occurred after that.

“Who are those people?”

It’s not that the news had spread, but when the Sky Bridge was fully connected, a group of people surrounded by troops could be seen at the terminus.

The strange thing was that they were humans. If they had been beastkin, they certainly would have bolted into the Forest of the Demon Dragon without hesitation. Moreover, the fact that there was a considerable number of soldiers weighed on my mind.

‘I might create trouble with unnecessary help… but on the other hand, I might profit by giving aid. What to do…’

“They seem to be humans from the Northern Continent, but the problem is that one of those surrounded seems very strong.”

“Strong?”

“Yes. You can tell just by seeing that the surrounding soldiers cannot approach haphazardly. But aside from that, the power felt from that individual cannot be ignored either.”

“How strong are they?”

“By human standards, they seem to be at the highest level of an Expert.”

Even when told that, I had no sense of it.

“What level is that?”

“It can be said they possess the minimum requirements to become a Master, like the one who came before.”

“Minimum requirements. So with just a catalyst, they would become a Master?”

“Probably.”

“Is it someone Demina cannot handle?”

“Three seconds?”

I wondered what that meant, but Demina continued to speak.

“If I were to fight in my current form, they are weak enough that I could tear their throat out within three seconds.”

It was a great display of confidence, but also a chilling statement.

“Then, if you fought Count Branne?”

“Well, a human who has become a Master is unimaginably strong. In my current state, I am certain I would win, but I might get seriously injured.”

“Demina, you were incredibly strong…?”

“Are you just realizing that now?”

I supposed the title of the ‘strongest beastkin’ wasn’t attached for nothing. But that was that, and the situation was a bit peculiar. Such a formidable person was protecting someone.

“What is the identity of those two women behind?”

“If it’s someone protected by a person of that caliber… they would likely be the daughter of a high-ranking noble, right?”

“A high-ranking noble…”

After weighing a few options, I asked Demina.

“Shall we take those people?”

“Why?”

“I just feel like they might be useful.”

As Demina hesitated, it seemed the battle was about to begin. I could hear the sounds of people shouting noisily at each other. I couldn’t hear well, but Demina seemed to hear clearly.

“They are telling them to hand over the Princess.”

“A Princess… sigh, a Princess again?”

Just as my head was becoming complicated, Demina asked.

“She seems to be a Princess of Briden. What will you do?”

At the mention of Briden, my hesitation was brief; I felt I had no choice but to step in. This was because I thought that if I could establish a relationship with Briden through this Princess, it would be a huge help for my future tasks. Furthermore, I thought this might be an opportunity granted by the heavens and spoke.

“Demina, let’s save them. It might be a bit of trouble, but could you handle them for me?”

“What about you, Lord?”

“I’m going to try applying my specialty.”

“Your specialty?”

She had a look of misunderstanding, but after studying my expression, Demina set me down and began to run. I shouted to her just in case.

“Don’t kill them! Got it?!”

It might be a quite unreasonable request. However, I thought the current Demina could do it, and I also began to run toward where the Briden Princess was visible in the distance.

But this body of mine—it was definitely suffering from a lack of exercise.

‘How can she move that fast?’

While I was admiring Demina’s lightning speed, before I could even run a short distance, Demina had already cleared the forest and was roaring as she swept through the soldiers.

Thinking that sight was quite cool, I panted and finally reached the edge of the forest just as the battle broke out. Thinking this was the moment, I observed the area around the Briden Princess, who was keeping a close eye on the situation from a bit further back, and used Construction to add my imagination. This was because I intended to trap them in the form of a fortress or a tower.

There were safety concerns, but I also needed to see how far I could go. I used Construction with the feeling of first raising walls of a suitable height.

At that moment, mana erupted. I could see a knight turning toward my direction with a panicked expression; they must have felt the mana and turned around hurriedly.

I wanted to tell them I wasn’t an enemy, but they didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking me; they seemed to act to protect the Princess from the sudden mana. However, they probably never imagined it would trap them inside walls.

The walls stretched upward rapidly. Because this happened in the middle of a fierce battle, both the soldiers and Demina looked at me in bewilderment.

I awkwardly waved my hand to Demina and shouted.

“The Princess is in our custody. I do not know who you are, but it would be best for you to retreat. If not, I will command the warrior over there to kill you all. I warn you strictly!”

Demina took a step back in sync with the bustling soldiers and my shout. In that short interval, dozens of soldiers were already lying on the ground. It was then.

One person among the enemy group stepped forward and shouted.

“I do not know who or from where you are, but do not meddle in the affairs of another country!”

“Whether it becomes the affair of another country or our own problem—I will judge that. If you will not retreat, there is no choice but to fight again. This time, you had best be prepared for everyone to die. My mercy ends here. Decide: will you retreat, or will you choose to stay and die?”

The warning continued, and soon soldiers could be seen retreating with angry expressions. When quite a distance had been established, I used Construction to make a hole just large enough for a human voice to pass through and spoke toward the inside of the wall.

“The soldiers have retreated, but since I cannot distinguish whether you are allies or enemies, I cannot release you just yet. Could you tell me your circumstances?”

After my words, a quite long silence followed from within. Just as I was about to speak again.

“We are people of the Briden Royalty.”

An answer came back in a quite plausible voice, so I changed the question I was going to ask first.

“Why were you being pursued?”

“We were ambushed. As the only remaining descendant of the royal family, it appears to be the work of nobles who want me.”

Hearing that she was the only descendant, a sense of discomfort washed over me for some reason. Is that why? Looking at Demina who had approached, I gestured for her to come closer, then resealed the hole meant for voices with Construction and asked.

“They say she’s the only descendant of the royal family; what should we do about this?”

“What’s the problem?”

“The fact that she’s the only one, that she’s a woman, and the current situation combined… for some reason, I feel like I’m about to roll in a field of dung.”

Thinking the feeling wasn’t good, I hesitated for a moment and then asked Demina.

“Since we saved them, we saved them… let’s just retreat a suitable distance and release them.”

“Aren’t you going to take credit for it?”

“If I take credit, I feel like I’ll have my spine sucked dry. Let’s just retreat for now. Besides, if we knocked down that many, won’t they be able to escape well enough on their own?”

“They didn’t look like they would give up easily, though?”

My head was complicated. After a moment of thought, I let out a sigh and spoke.

“There’s no other way, right?”

“I think they will only give up if we take them with us for a certain period and instill the impression that we are protecting them firmly. You should make the judgment yourself, Lord.”

Looking at Demina as she brushed the blood off her body, I scratched my head. Then, using Construction, I first created a suitable space to see their faces, looked inside, and spoke.

“We are not enemies. We came here for other reasons… but since we couldn’t just stand by, we simply saved you. We don’t want anything in particular afterward, and I hope you recognize that we can’t do much for you either. Please answer.”

A moment passed, and a response came saying they recognized it. Then, as I carefully widened the entrance to allow people to come out, a man who appeared to be a knight first stepped forward and stood still. However, he did not draw his sword.

It seemed he did not draw his weapon because they had been saved. However, seeing that he had turned the hilt of his sword forward for an immediate reaction, I could tell he was on guard. Following him, two women walked out; one appeared to be a maid, and the other wore clothing so ornate it was clearly ostentatious.

It was truly ironic how she managed to flee down a dirt road dressed like that.

“We are in your debt. I do not know how to repay this…”

“I told you that you don’t have to repay it, didn’t I? Besides, I let you out for now because of those people.”

I pointed toward the soldiers who had not retreated but were keeping a suitable distance. But what was a bit disconcerting was that a fair amount of dust was rising from behind those soldiers.

“By any chance, are there people rushing here to help them?”

Seeing the Princess’s party, whose expressions darkened at my words, I looked at Demina. However, Demina also shook her head and spoke to me.

“Fighting all of them is no big deal… but I don’t have the confidence to fight while protecting them.”

Realizing that she was trying not to reveal my identity, I chuckled as I saw Demina avoiding the word ‘Lord’ she usually used and said.

“First, take one of these each and follow me. Let’s avoid them while also doing an experiment.”

At those words, looking at the three people holding the medals I handed over, I immediately turned back and entered the Forest of the Demon Dragon, and the people looked at me with startled expressions. I gestured for them to come quickly and spoke.

“With that medal, the Demon Dragon will allow you to wander through the Forest of the Demon Dragon. Hurry along. I absolutely hate getting caught up in bothersome business.”

Saying so, I demolished the wall I had built with Construction and walked straight into the forest, with the three people following behind me with complicated expressions.