Water Magician

On the way back, they didn’t encounter any monsters.

Only once, they saw a large group of caterpillars moving from the direction of Ayteke-Bo to the direction of the World Tree from a distance.

“Somehow… it’s a surprisingly violent yet orderly march.”

“Yeah, I understand Ryo’s pain trying to express that…”

That was the conversation Ryo and Etho exchanged after watching the caterpillars move.

A caterpillar that uses its giant body to push down nearby trees and fold them as it advances…a caterpillar.

However, compared to the time when they were heading towards the World Tree, when their body surface was slightly red, it wasn’t that scary…

He tried to express it, and the result of the painstaking effort was the expression ‘violent yet orderly’.

“As expected of Etho. You can understand my pains… if it was Niels …”

Niels responded to Ryo’s words.

It appeared that he heard it.

Of course.

Niels was walking next to Ryo.

“I was trying to say that if it was Niels … it would be nice if he could understand too. I’m saying the truth.”

“I am absolutely sure that’s a lie!”

“How did you find out!”

In this world, there is such a thing as a lie that will be exposed…

“I feel like Niels is getting sharper these days.”

“I don’t understand why you are coming up with such impressions from our conversation just now…”

“I think being sharp is a good thing for a swordsman.”

“Oh, oh…”

“Of course, there is not necessarily a proportional relationship between thrusting into a conversation and thrusting a sword. Niels needs to work harder at thrusting his sword…”

“Yeah, I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all.”

Understanding each other is quite difficult.

“Well, the caterpillars were quite calm compared to when they came from the World Tree.”

“I felt like they had achieved their goal.”

Etho and Amon discussed the change in the caterpillars.

“It’s the difference between before and after Ryo gets a cake.”

“Excuse me! Before I get a cake and after I eat it. Please don’t mistake it.”

“O-oh, my bad…”

For some reason when Ryo speaks with Niels, it becomes a comedy act with both acting as the fool.

It was afternoon when the four returned to Ayteke-Bo.

Two o’clock in the afternoon.

The four of them arrived at a position where there was a path cut through the forest and they could see the whole view of Ayteke-Bo.

The sight they saw there was…

“Acha~”

“This is……”

“The castle walls…”

“The wrath of nature.”

Niels, Etho, and even Amon were at a loss for words.

For some reason, Ryo at the end spoke like an old lady.

The western half of Ayteke-Bo’s massive wall had completely collapsed.

Beyond the ramparts, perhaps in the West Bank, the situation was also dire.

However, among them, the one that seemed to have the most concentrated damage was…

“The Lord’s Mansion… there’s no trace of it.”

The other three nodded to Etho’s mutter.

When the four approach the castle wall…

“Hey, you guys, over here!”

A loud voice called out to the four.

When they looked in the direction of the voice, they saw a fierce-looking giant man waving his hand.

“Hugh.”

“Everyone in the delegation seems to be around Grandmaster.”

“I’m glad everyone is okay.”

“All the inns were on the East Bank, so they would have been fine…”

Ryo confirmed, Amon supplemented, Niels gave a common-sense impression, and Etho voiced his hopes.

And the result ….

“It’s okay. Everyone from the delegation is safe.”

All four of them smiled when they heard Hugh’s words.

“… I see. So that happen?”

Etho made a coherent report, and Commander Hugh McGrath understood and nodded.

Beside him, the top civil negotiator, Ignis, was listening while nodding repeatedly.

“Over here, hordes of caterpillars tore down the ramparts, and warwolves, boars, and snakes overran the West Bank. It seemed that their purpose was the branch of the World Tree that was in the Lord’s Mansion, and it seems that they left after they found it…”

At that point, Hugh paused and continued his words with a frown.

“There weren’t as many casualties as it appears, but it seems Lord Zuransu and several of his aides were involved.”

“Therefore, the trade agreement this time is void…”

Chief negotiator Ignis shook his head slightly as he continued.

“I’m sorry for making you all go out of your way.”

“No, chief negotiator-dono doesn’t have to apologize…”

At Ignis’ apology, Niels bowed his head in a hurry.

Once the new government is inaugurated and the situation stabilizes, they agreed to send a delegation from Ayteke-Bo to the Kingdom and conclude a trade agreement.

(What would they do about the Empire in between us?)

Ryo thought so but decided not to think about it further.

That was because there may be loopholes or detours that Ryo didn’t know about.

Or something else.

Yes, for example, using a ship that floats in the sky…

In Ryo’s head, the Golden Hind, which he saw in the Kingdom Liberation Battle, was floating.

A flying ship with amazing grace and power.

Even as he thought about it, he really did want to own one.

“It must be expensive~”

Hearing Ryo’s murmur, Niels next to him gave him a questioning look.

“No, it’s not a big deal. I was just wondering how much the aerial battleship Golden Hind, which I saw in the Kingdom Liberation Battle, would cost.”

“As always, you’re thinking of something outrageous, Ryo…”

Niels answered Ryo’s words with a slight shake of his head.

“5 trillion Florins just for material costs.”

“Ha……”

Etho answered with a smile, and Ryo was literally at a loss for words.

“Rune’s Knight Commander, Neville Black-sama said it. In a joking manner though.”

Etho revealed why he knew that amount.

“You can’t buy it as an individual.”

“Oh, so it’s impossible…”

Ryo lamented and Niels gave up trying to retort.

It’s not a ship that an individual can build…

After that, the Imperial delegation, the Union delegation, and the delegation of the smaller countries joined them, and it was five days after the Lord’s Mansion collapsed that they departed for the next country, ‘Shultz’.

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