I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 199

The day before the next defense battle. Afternoon.

Elise arrived at the lord’s mansion. The female swordsman, clad in her maid outfit and carrying her sword case, was as expressionless as ever, but I greeted her cheerfully.

“Elise! How is it? Was Crossroads livable?”

“…As expected of a frontier town, there are too many missing facilities, but all the essential infrastructure is in place. Yes. It was livable enough.”

Elise hadn’t come all this way just as a simple escort for me.

The Winter Silver Merchant Guild plans to launch several businesses here in Crossroads.

Elise was dispatched here to prepare and gather data for that.

From finding a site to build a branch of the guild, to figuring out where to get the materials and workers to build roads, to how much magic stone inventory needs to be transported to the capital, and so on…

Anyway, she said she had a lot of work to do. That’s why she disappeared as soon as my escort duty was over, and now she’s here.

“Did you finish all the necessary investigations?”

“Yes. I’ve collected all the information our guild needs. Now, I’ll return to the capital to report to Lady Serenade and organize a team to send down.”

“You’ve worked hard. The trip back will be tough too.”

I gave Elise a bright smile.

“So, did you come to say goodbye today?”

“…Actually, I came after hearing about the monster invasion.”

Of course, I announce the expected invasion date of the monsters within the city.

There’s no reason to hide it, and it’s better for the citizens to prepare. It seems Elise came after seeing that announcement.

“I heard that monsters will attack tomorrow. Is that true?”

“Yes. We’re expecting it tomorrow morning.”

There’s a chance that the start time could suddenly change like it did in Stage 3, but it probably won’t. I’ve already figured out the dark event for this stage…

“This might sound like a sudden imposition, Your Highness.”

Elise spoke cautiously.

“May I participate in this defense battle?”

“W-what?”

As I hesitated, flustered, Elise raised her hand in front of her chest.

“Excuse me, but I believe Your Highness, who has crossed swords with me, already knows my skills.”

“No, I know your skills well…”

It’s not her skills that surprised me. On the contrary, I’d be grateful if a strong person like Elise helped.

‘But… I don’t know the reason.’

Why is she helping with the defense battle?

“Our guild branch will be established here in Crossroads. And ordinary people who have lived lives completely unrelated to monsters will be dispatched to work here.”

Elise glanced at the city walls visible through the mansion window.

“I want to see with my own eyes the extent of the threat they might face.”

“Hmm, I see…”

So, this is also an investigation on the guild’s level.

I nodded in understanding.

“Okay. No, I’m grateful! Please take care of me, Elise, even if it’s just for once.”

“I apologize for the unreasonable request. I will faithfully follow Your Highness’s orders tomorrow.”

Having an SSR-grade [Super Super Rare, a high-ranking classification] swordsman like Elise helping me. Tomorrow’s defense battle seems like it will go very smoothly.

I was beaming when I suddenly said, “Ah!” and asked Elise.

“By the way, Elise, does your sword case also have blunt weapons in it?”

The monsters we’ll be facing tomorrow are slimes, so we need equipment with blunt attack properties. Elise is a swordsman-type character, but I wonder if she always carries blunt weapons.

“Blunt weapons… you mean?”

Elise tilted her head, put down her sword case, opened it slightly, and nodded at me.

“Yes, I have them. Would you like to borrow a few?”

“No, I’m not trying to borrow them, I’m saying you should use them tomorrow…”

By the way, how many blunt weapons does she have? How many weapons are in that sword case?

***

Dungeon. Base camp.

Today, I only brought Lucas and Kuilan here.

Flash!

As we passed through the teleport gate, Kelliway waved his hand as if he had been waiting.

“Come on time, you brat! It’s been finished for a while, why are you so late! Are you going to make me deliver it to you, huh?”

“Oh, you deliver to Crossroads too? That’s great!”

“Would I do that, you bastard. Come on, hurry up and take it!”

Kelliway, grumbling, pointed to the equipment on the display in front of the smithy. I approached it.

There was a pair of red leather boots with metal plates attached. And a short, red scarf-like cape.

In this world, not only metal equipment but also leather and cloth equipment are produced in the smithy.

This is because the smithy has facilities for refining magic cores and magic stones.

Therefore, the Crossroads smithy employs a leather tanner and a tailor specializing in cloth clothing.

But Kelliway made both leather and cloth items so neatly by himself.

He’s as good at handling leather and cloth as he is at metal. He’s really amazing.

‘Now, let’s see how they were made…’

I checked the options of the two pieces of equipment. Let’s see.

[Vampire General’s Boots (SSR) Lv.35]

– Category: Shoes

– Defense: 25-30

– Durability: 20/20

– Agility +10

– Vampire-style Physical Enhancement: Enhances leg strength, increasing movement speed by 1.5 times for 5 seconds. Can be used three times a day. If used all three times, the legs will suffer a random injury.

[Vampire General’s Muffler (SSR) Lv.35]

– Category: Auxiliary Equipment

– Durability: 5/5 (Non-repairable)

– Agility +15

– Blood Mist Deployment: When hit, there is a certain chance that a blood mist will deploy from the muffler, causing the enemy’s attack to miss. Durability is reduced by 1 when the option is activated.

I nodded deeply. Good! It came out as I intended.

“I made it to specialize in increasing agility and evading enemy attacks, as you ordered.”

Kelliway clicked his tongue.

“Using this precious Vampire General’s magic core to make evasion equipment instead of a great weapon… tsk tsk. You don’t know the value of things.”

“What are you talking about, Master Craftsman? Good survival equipment is as important as a good weapon. You have to be alive to hit them, right?”

“Tch, if you can’t even say that…”

I gave the grumbling Kelliway some gold bars and good liquor as a small token of my appreciation.

Kelliway reluctantly accepted them. There’s no dwarf who doesn’t like gold and liquor.

“Here, Kuilan.”

I took the boots and muffler and handed them to Kuilan.

“These are yours.”

Kuilan’s eyes widened in surprise. He must have immediately recognized how good this equipment is.

“Huh? Really, Your Highness? You’re giving this to me?”

“Who said I’m giving it to you completely? It’s a loan, a loan.”

I chuckled and shook my finger from side to side.

“If you stay quietly on this front line until the end of your probation period, I’ll give it to you completely after the probation period ends. Understand?”

“Isn’t that the same thing! Haha! Yes, sir! Probation for half a year? I’ll stick to you like a leech!”

Kuilan had a big smile on his face. He must be really happy.

I had been thinking a lot about Kuilan’s equipment setup.

At first, I thought about making him sturdy equipment. But then I came to a different conclusion.

This guy is a glass cannon who’ll fall over if he gets hit once anyway.

So, I decided to set him up so that he wouldn’t get hit at all.

Instead of making him wear heavy armor that would increase his chance of being hit, I decided to make him extremely light and set up safety measures.

…That’s the conclusion I came to, and I ended up making this high-end equipment with an expensive SSR-grade magic core.

‘If I’m going to use it anyway, I won’t skimp on the investment.’

Although he has many flaws, Kuilan is still an SR-grade [Super Rare, a high-ranking classification] character. Moreover, he’s one of the few pure melee damage dealers.

He’s worth developing. That’s what I decided.

“Yahoo~!”

“…”

As Kuilan jumped around wearing his new muffler and shoes, Lucas glared at him with dissatisfaction. I chuckled.

“Why? Don’t you like it, Lucas?”

“…Yes. Honestly, I don’t.”

“I gave you a new weapon not too long ago.”

“The more equipment my lord gives me, the better.”

This greedy guy.

I patted Lucas on the back.

“I’ll get you new equipment again, so don’t worry too much.”

Lucas’s level is slowly approaching 50.

Once he completes his final third job advancement and awakens his ultimate skill, Lucas will also be able to use his exclusive equipment.

‘The privilege of an SSR-grade character, exclusive equipment!’

The reason why SSR-grade is the highest is ultimately because of the exclusive equipment that completes the character.

I couldn’t help but smile as I imagined Lucas flying around with his exclusive equipment.

Just wait a little longer, you monster bastards. Our protagonist’s late-game carry is just around the corner. He’s already incredibly strong, though.

“…?”

Lucas looked at me suspiciously as I swallowed my sinister laughter. Hmm. You’ll understand why I’m like this later, Lucas.

I covered my mouth and chuckled ominously, while Kuilan, perhaps to adapt to his lighter body, kicked the air with a series of aerial kicks.

And then, Kelliway yelled at us.

“Hey, if you’re done, get out of here! You’re being distracting!”

***

That evening.

Crossroads. Temple.

“…”

Kuilan’s older brother, Kureha, was sitting on a bed in a private room.

The pale face, which had been marked by illness, had regained its color, and his emaciated body had gained weight in just a few days.

However, his left leg.

Only his left leg, which was noticeably thinner than his right leg, remained the same.

Because of this leg, which hung down uselessly like a deflated balloon, he couldn’t walk.

– Other ailments can be treated, but this leg will be difficult.

The head priest of this place, who was in charge of Kureha’s treatment, said that.

Kureha smiled bitterly and stroked his withered leg with his hand. He wasn’t disappointed because he hadn’t expected anything in the first place.

It had already been over a decade since his leg had become like this.

‘Ah, but…’

Kureha looked straight ahead.

And slowly, he clenched his fists and stretched them forward.

‘It’s always a shame that I can’t see the next step of this martial art…’

It was then.

Bang!

“Kureha!”

The door to the sickroom opened with a bang, and Kuilan came in. Startled, Kureha quickly lowered his fists.

“Kuilan.”

“Hahaha, how is it? Is the temple livable?”

Kuilan grinned and sat down next to Kureha’s bed.

“Those damn Empire guys, but their healing magic is amazing. Look at how healthy our brother looks.”

Kureha smiled faintly and nodded.

“Everyone here is kind and takes good care of me. They say I’ll be almost fully recovered after a few more weeks of rest.”

“Good, good. That’s great. That’s great.”

Kuilan, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly hardened his expression.

“As soon as your body is fully healed, we’re leaving this city.”

Kureha’s face also hardened. Kuilan clicked his tongue.

“That’s like a penal unit. Do you think our resentment towards the Empire will disappear just because they give us a few coins?”

“…Kuilan.”

“Look at what those bastards did.”

Kuilan stared down at his brother’s abnormally withered left leg, his mouth tightly shut.

“Look at what those bastards did.”

Kuilan tapped the X-shaped scar on his forehead with his fingertip.

“Do you think I’ll forget even if they give me billions? Ha. Do you think I’ll be fooled again like a fool?”

“…”

“As soon as your condition improves, I’ll gather my men and leave this city right away. I feel a little sorry for that unnecessarily kind-hearted prince, but a pine caterpillar has to live on pine needles, right?”

Kureha slowly reached out and grabbed his younger brother’s hand.

“Kuilan.”

“Huh?”

“How about making a new nest here?”

Kuilan’s face hardened.

Kureha stammered.

“If you serve for three years, you can be pardoned for all your past crimes. And they say they give you a salary that’s more than enough to reach our goal.”

“…”

“We didn’t want to become bandits. We didn’t want to steal. Here, we can turn back.”

“…”

“Return to the world, Kuilan. You’re still young. Still…”

Thud!

Without listening to his brother’s words, Kuilan got up. Kureha called out urgently.

“Kuilan!”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, brother.”

Kuilan strode towards the door of the sickroom again.

“The Kureha I knew… the master who taught me martial arts, wasn’t a man who said such weak things.”

“…”

“Just recover quickly. Until you’re fully recovered, I’ll be here, punching monsters and earning my pay.”

“Kuilan!”

Kureha had also heard that tomorrow was the monster defense battle.

Kureha stammered to his brother, who was turning away.

“…Be careful.”

“Hahahaha! I’m Kuilan, the lucky one, the miracle Kuilan. Don’t worry.”

Kuilan grinned and left the sickroom.

“I’ll be back, brother.”

Thump!

The door closed, and his younger brother’s large figure disappeared outside.

Kureha looked down at his own withered left leg with a miserable face. His emaciated fists clenched tightly.

***

And the next day.

The morning of Stage 8 dawned.