Episode 210: Post-War Processing
The Mountain Boar, struck by the Cannon Shells of the Aerial Escort Ship (Titan) series, 4th ship, Creios, reversed its course and returned to the depths of the forest.
Originally, it had only fled in surprise from the Wyvern’s breath, and once it regained its senses, it would naturally try to return to its original habitat.
It’s irritating that it could return unscathed despite being bombarded with Cannon Shells, but I have no choice but to accept it as that kind of Monster.
Perhaps with a Magical (Fantasy) attack like that Pierce, it might be possible to break through that defense.
A mere arrow attack had pierced the Hidden Player’s Magic Barrier that had deflected the Railgun. If one person could do that, then once the ＜The Tree＞ forces master the technology of Magic (Fantasy), they might have no enemies in this world.
For now, using Magic (Fantasy) technology requires preparing both Magic Stones and Monster parts as a set, and there are concerns about the absolute amount of resources.
“Well, I guess that’s one thing settled.”
From the Big Moth’s mass breeding to the Wyvern’s Kaiju showdown, and then the Stampede by the Monsters.
The Stampede itself remained small-scale, so the impact on the Forest Country (Lebresta) was limited. For a while, the power distribution in the Demon Forest will probably be chaotic.
“The evacuees have safely reached the city in the rear. It is expected that they will reorganize with those who can fight and move to recapture the village.”
“Well, of course. Help them out. At a bargain price.”
“Yes, Ma’am. We will seek Monster Materials.”
Buying up the corpses of the Big Moths, recirculating the generated funds, and allocating them to defense costs.
This is the mercenary contract that will continue for the time being.
However, even with this much compensation, it would be bad for the Forest Country (Lebresta)’s reputation to have us fully cooperate.
After the defense settles down, the Council of Elders (Le Elphia) in the capital, Linda, said they would offer some kind of reward as a token of gratitude.
I don’t completely trust those words, but well, if it ends with just a letter of appreciation, that in itself can be an excuse for various things.
Of course, if we receive proper compensation, there’s nothing to complain about.
No matter which way it turns, it will be a benefit for ＜The Tree＞ for the time being.
After that, the villagers of the frontier village, Lalan, carried out an operation to recapture the village with hunters, defense officers, and ＜Paraiso＞ forces.
They moved with them on the backs of Multi-legged Tanks, a Tank Desant.
Due to the Multi-legged Tank’s movement characteristics, the torso hardly moved up or down, so the ride should not have been uncomfortable.
While hunting large animals and stray Monsters they encountered along the way, they safely returned to Lalan Village.
They had only left the village for a few days, and in the end, the Magic Barrier had not been breached by Monsters, so the village was clean.
Some areas had been ravaged by animals, but it was generally unharmed.
All that remains is to hunt in the surrounding mountains and confirm safety.
If the Multi-legged Tanks remain stationed, they can repel a certain number of Monsters.
If no powerful Monsters are living in the surrounding area, the villagers will be able to return soon.
◇◇◇◇
“Well, can we see the results of this Stampede?”
“Safely, yes.”
“Thanks to the young ladies.”
“We were able to suppress the troublesome radicals. We managed to drive them to self-destruction before we intervened, so wouldn’t you say it’s the best possible outcome?”
“We ended up relying entirely on the military strength of another country, though.”
“Ho ho. We were prepared for that from the beginning, weren’t we?”
“If the young ladies weren’t here, what do you think would have happened this time?”
“Well, let’s see… Our territory would have shrunk. Half of our soldiers would have died in battle. The radicals’ influence would have increased, other countries would have seen us as weak, and the economy would have collapsed. We would have issued a general mobilization and had to work for decades to restore our national power, and even our national structure might have been in danger.”
“Well, something like that. We might have needed a major purge within the country.”
“If the young ladies had been hostile, we might have been militarily invaded around that time and had our entire territory annexed.”
“It might have been easier to live that way, though?”
“In the first place, even in the current situation, could we resist being militarily invaded by the young ladies?”
“It would be impossible.”
“Did you hear? The young ladies even brought out an aerial ship.”
“As a rumor, yes. They said it drove away that Mountain Boar.”
“There are multiple of those flying around, right? Impossible, impossible. Guerrilla Warfare is the most we could do to annoy them. From the sky, the city is completely visible. If our bases are all destroyed, all that’s left is to hide in settlements and try to survive.”
“In the first place, I don’t think we could shoot that thing down. If they can fly something that big, they probably have something smaller too. Our flying soldiers don’t have enough numbers anyway.”
“Well, let’s leave the countermeasures to the experts. What about the reward this time?”
“Reward… It doesn’t seem like we can cover it with domestic funds.”
“It’s not that we can’t give it. It’s just that from the young ladies’ point of view, it would just be unusable money.”
“Just matching the face value. Rather, we’d like to buy things from the young ladies.”
“Interest-bearing bonds aren’t bad either.”
“Rights might be good too. Tariff reductions, priority export rights for Magic Tools, domestic passage rights, and then flight rights.”
“That might not be bad. If we make it a renewal system, we can limit the value. Then we can prepare the reward without excess or deficiency.”
“We might want to ask them to guard that frontier village for the time being.”
“It’s practically like being a local lord.”
“Let them do as they please. In the first place, we don’t have the power to bind them with treaties.”
“Is a de facto vassal state possible?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Do you think those girls will interfere with us?”
“I don’t know that far. But if they were trying to bring us under their control, it would be too roundabout. We can compromise to some extent.”
“As long as we don’t become dependent, we can do anything. It would be difficult for a normal country to steer, but we should be able to adjust well.”
“Hmm. Then should we have them choose between bonds or time-limited domestic rights?”
“But if that happens, the west will be completely controlled by the young ladies.”
“Should we aim for the east? In the first place, there’s no appeal in expanding our territory.”
“We shouldn’t change the borders. It means we’ll have more leeway for national defense. If it’s easier to put our strength into the east, we’ll have nothing to worry about.”
“The Demon Forest will be noisy for a while. If we don’t have to allocate our strength to the west, it will be easier to conquer.”
“Honestly, we still don’t know what the young ladies’ goals are. If possible, we want to continue the dialogue.”
“Should we build an Embassy? We wouldn’t mind handing it over as a leased territory.”
“That’s right. In return for providing convenience, let’s have them join us for tea.”
“Ho ho. That sounds good, it’ll give us something to strive for.”
◇◇◇◇
The Stampede that struck the Forest Country (Lebresta) has come to a tentative end.
Most of the abandoned cities and villages were recaptured, and the damage was minimized.
By selling the acquired Monster Materials (mainly to ＜Paraiso＞), the country as a whole may actually be in the black.
Even so, things could not go back to the way they were.
With the shift to a wartime system, economic activity has been suspended across the board.
Looting also occurred in the abandoned villages and cities.
Many citizens had their livelihoods destroyed.
Of course, the country will provide some compensation for these, but only a minority will be able to resume work immediately.
For the time being, the goal will be to normalize the domestic infrastructure.
The Demon Forest’s ecosystem has also changed significantly.
The activities of the hunters will also be limited, so some kind of support is needed.
And as a countermeasure to these, great expectations were placed on ＜Paraiso＞.
Their proactive support for Lebresta’s national crisis captured the hearts of many citizens.
Of course, there was information manipulation from the Council of Elders (Le Elphia).
Originally, the country had a kind of longing for the Beastkin race, so the girls of ＜Paraiso＞ were easily accepted.