I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 16

I shared the current situation with the party members.

Damian and Lily turned pale at the news of 1,000 Living Armors approaching.

Jupiter silently puffed out smoke, while Lucas, who already knew, remained calm.

“What should we do, Your Highness?” Lucas asked, and I nodded.

“We can’t just sit around for three days. We’ll do everything we can. I’ll assign tasks to each of you now.”

I first turned to face Lucas.

“Lucas.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“I’m entrusting you with the overall command of the Crossroads forces.”

Lucas was originally the protagonist of this game, the player’s proxy.

His command ability is quite high. I can trust him with this.

“I will do my best.”

Lucas bowed deeply. I gave my orders quickly and concisely.

“Crossroads hasn’t experienced a proper invasion in recent years. The soldiers will be lax. You need to whip them into shape.”

“As you command.”

“The monsters attacking this time are Living Armors. They’re ghosts wearing armor. Physical attacks won’t work well. Especially blades are practically useless.”

What’s the point of stabbing a ghost with a sword? Blades won’t even pierce the armor.

“Change all the soldiers’ weapons to blunt weapons. If not, have them use wooden clubs.”

In other words, I was going to change the weapon attributes so they could at least inflict some damage on the armor.

The physical attack attributes are divided into three categories: slashing, blunt, and piercing.

There isn’t a clear advantage, but it would help to have some variety.

“Over the next three days, replace the equipment and conduct basic training with blunt weapons.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. I trust you with this.”

Lucas will handle it well. I turned my attention to the next party member.

“Next, Lily.”

When I called her name, Lily, in her wheelchair, looked flustered and pointed at her legs.

“Your Highness, as you can see, I can no longer fight…”

It’s understandable that she’s flustered. She just retired because she can’t use her legs. And now I’m calling her back to fight monsters.

“I’m sorry, Lily. But I really need your help right now.”

Lily, an R-rank mage with tutorial stage experience, is too valuable to leave idle.

I’m sorry, but I’ll have to use her.

“Don’t worry too much. You won’t be on the front lines.”

“Huh? Then what will I do…?”

“Crossroads hasn’t been directly invaded for the past ten years.”

It wasn’t just the soldiers who had become lax. The same was true for the defense equipment and facilities.

“Many, no, most of the defense artifacts are gathering dust and rusting in the warehouse. We need to take them all out and repair them.”

I had already instructed the head of the alchemist’s guild. The alchemist team should be gathering at the armory by now.

“Then I will…”

“Yes. I want you to oversee the repair of the defense artifacts.”

The alchemists can repair the artifacts themselves, but it’s more efficient to have a mage for practical testing.

‘Well, that’s just an excuse…’

I was planning to put Lily in charge of the overall management of defense artifacts.

She’s a mage, smart, and good at her job. She’s perfect for managing artifacts, which are the core of defense equipment.

‘If I have her oversee the repair of the artifacts, she’ll naturally grasp their condition and characteristics.’

This is the flow to naturally put her in charge.

I’m sorry, but there’s no retirement for you, Lily. Your future is to work as a public servant in this city for the rest of your life…!

“They don’t need to be in perfect condition. Install any artifacts that can fire at least one shot on the walls.”

“Ah, I understand…”

Lily looked a bit reluctant but nodded. Don’t be too upset. I’ll pay you well.

“Next, Jupiter.”

When I called her name, Jupiter immediately put out her cigarette.

You can keep smoking. You’re going to suffer a lot, so I can let that slide.

“Jupiter, as you might have guessed, you are the key to this defense.”

From the moment she heard that the enemy was Living Armor, Jupiter must have known. That she would be worked to the bone.

“Living Armors are ‘ghosts’ wearing ‘metal’ armor. You, who use ‘lightning’ attribute ‘magic,’ are the perfect counter.”

This was the biggest reason why I decided to fight this stage head-on instead of using tricks.

Jupiter, an SR-rank lightning mage.

When it comes to the monster type Living Armor, she is the natural enemy among natural enemies.

You could say this is the only bit of conscience this crappy game has given me.

“You and your party will be formed into a separate unit. Everyone will be given warhorses… and you will be conducting hit-and-run guerrilla tactics throughout the defense. You attack, and your party members protect you.”

“…”

“There’s nothing else to prepare. Just get in sync with your party members and rest well until the defense. You’ll have to run like crazy.”

Jupiter listened to me silently. I nodded firmly.

“Show me what you’ve got. Make sure the salary I’m paying you isn’t a waste.”

“…Just one question, Your Highness.”

Jupiter, twirling the extinguished cigarette between her long fingers, smiled faintly.

“That ‘salary’ you mentioned… it’s renewed every year, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, if this old woman performs well, it will be increased, right?”

Jupiter asked, not hiding the glint of greed in her one eye.

I was dumbfounded and chuckled. This money-grubbing old woman, really…

“Of course! Depending on your performance, I can definitely increase it.”

“You should start thinking about next year’s raise, Your Highness.”

Jupiter threw the cigarette on the ground.

The elderly lightning mage cracked her gloved hands and smiled.

“You won’t find a mercenary who’s worth their money as much as I am.”

***

Lucas, Lily, and Jupiter left to do their assigned tasks.

Only Damian, Aider, and I remained at the entrance of the mansion. Damian rolled his big brown eyes.

“Um, Your Highness. What should I do…?”

“Damian.”

I gestured to Aider, and Aider immediately brought a leather bag. I handed the bag directly to Damian.

“Here, I prepared this for you.”

“Huh?”

Damian opened the bag with a bewildered expression and held up the contents.

“Is this a crossbow…?”

“Yes.”

It was an N-rank crossbow I had quickly purchased from a weapon merchant.

[Ordinary Crossbow (N) Lv.10]

– Category: Crossbow

– Attack Power: 10-15

– Durability: 30/30

– Bonus: None

Even though it’s N-rank, it’s light and quite durable. I also bought three quivers of good-quality arrows and put them in the bag.

“From now on, your role is fixed as a long-range sniper. Use healing magic only in emergencies.”

Damian had to abandon his identity as a healer and establish himself as a sniper.

Of course, there would be discord. The skill set Damian would learn would only be healing magic, which has nothing to do with sniping.

He also had to abandon his fighting style as a healer, which he had been accustomed to his whole life.

It would be quite a struggle. It would be a difficult path.

But [Clairvoyance] was a trait worth it. It was the best cheat trait in this game.

“…I’ll try.”

Damian carefully placed the staff he was holding on the ground and held the crossbow I had given him in both hands.

“If it’s Your Highness’s command.”

His crossbow-holding pose was a bit awkward, but considering how well he shot the mana cannon, he’ll get used to this quickly too.

“Come to think of it, what about your glasses? You’re not wearing them anymore?”

“No.”

Damian wasn’t wearing glasses. It seems he had taken them off completely after the frame broke during the last battle.

“Actually, my eyesight is too good, so I was wearing non-prescription glasses to intentionally worsen my vision…”

“Huh.”

“But now that my eyes are needed, I won’t wear glasses anymore.”

Damian smiled shyly.

What a great kid. I smiled and patted Damian’s shoulder.

Aider, who had been watching us from behind, adjusted his round glasses and said,

“That’s a relief. I was worried about overlapping glasses attributes.”

“Just shut up and stay quiet, please.”

I growled quietly at Aider and cleared my throat towards Damian.

“Aider and I will go to direct the defense preparations. Damian, you can practice with the crossbow alone…”

“I’ll follow Your Highness!”

Damian shouted quickly before I could even tell him to follow me.

“Sir… Since Sir Lucas isn’t here, please let me escort Your Highness!”

“…”

Escort. Escort, huh? Just by looking at you, it seems like I should be the one protecting you.

Anyway, I was planning to take him with me, so I nodded.

“Okay. Let’s go then. First, the walls.”

***

Crossroads is a fortress city surrounded by walls on all sides, but the southern wall is particularly thick.

It’s natural since the monsters that come up from the south mainly attack the southern wall.

When Damian, Aider, and I arrived at the southern wall, the head of the blacksmith’s guild and the head of the stonemason’s guild quickly gave awkward salutes.

“O-o-oh, Your Highness!”

“Yes, yes, I’m here. What’s the condition of the walls?”

“N-not good. They’ve been neglected for quite a while…”

The two guild heads glanced at the cracked iron plates on the corner of the wall.

I turned to Aider and growled.

“If it’s a fortress city, shouldn’t wall maintenance be the most basic thing? Why did you leave it in this state?”

“Well, because there was no budget…”

Aider smiled awkwardly.

“The appearance of monsters decreased, the mining of magic stones decreased, the city’s income decreased, and so on. The previous lord cut the budget from the parts that didn’t require immediate spending.”

“The purpose and means are reversed…”

It’s a fortress built to stop monsters, but they reduced its function as a fortress because the income decreased. What kind of contradiction is that?

I shouted to the production guild members.

“You can use as much budget and materials as you need. Reinforce and repair it as much as you can. Understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Start now! There’s no time to waste! The monsters are coming even as we speak!”

The blacksmiths clinging to the wall hurriedly added iron plates and hammered them.

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out pleasantly. Clang, clang, clang…!

Money can be earned later, but life is over once it’s gone.

Having experienced too many cases of saving money only to have it go to waste, I had no intention of saving money on defense facilities.

“What about cannonballs and arrows? Are there enough in stock?”

I asked, looking at the cannons and ballistae installed on the wall, and Aider immediately answered.

“Not enough, so we bought as much as the merchants had. They will all be deployed here.”

“Shouldn’t the moat be filled with holy water? Why is it still dry?”

“We’re contacting the temple to get it all delivered!”

I pointed my index finger at Aider and warned him.

“Don’t save money and fill it all up. If I hear that there’s a shortage of supplies, your head will be the first to fly, understand?”

“I will make sure that never happens!”

Aider shouted, clutching his neck with both hands.

I clicked my tongue and looked around the wall, which was being repaired, once more before going down.

***

Next, we headed to the woodworking workshop.

As we entered the workshop, dozens of carpenters, along with a mountain of lumber, all looked at me at once. I clapped my hands loudly.

“You’ve all heard the story, right? There’s no time, so let’s get straight to it. What you’ll be making for the next three days is… ‘walls’.”

“Huh?”

“Walls, I mean walls. Tall things like this. You know? Things that block the way.”

I spread my arms wide to explain the shape of the wall with my body.

“Really tall, really sturdy, really walls.”

“No, well, of course, we know what walls are…”

“We’ll install those wooden walls in front of the southern wall. I’ll designate the exact location.”

The carpenters looked at each other. After hesitating for a moment, the head of the carpenter’s guild cautiously opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. But monsters can easily break through wooden walls.”

There’s a reason why the walls of Crossroads are covered with iron plates.

No matter how sturdy the plywood is, monsters can easily tear through wooden walls.

“It will be difficult to expect them to function as walls…”

“What I need is not a sturdy wall that will stop them forever.”

Do you think I don’t know that? I’ve cleared this game so many times.

“What I need is a disposable barricade that we’ll use once in this battle.”

I needed a wall as a consumable.

A ‘defense game wall’ to force the monsters’ path.

“All you have to do is make the wooden walls as tall and sturdy as possible, as I tell you.”

I commanded the still bewildered carpenters.

“Alright, no more questions! Start working now!”

The alpha and omega of defense game tactics.

It was time to set up the ‘Kill Zone’.