I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 781

A considerable amount of time had passed while we were trapped in the nightmare, and it was already past mid-February. The final battle, Stage 50, was scheduled to begin at the end of February, so the conclusion of this long ordeal was truly imminent.

Fortunately, the city that had been submerged in the nightmare quickly regained its vitality and returned to normal. The southern part of the continent, which had been paralyzed, was also reported to have swiftly recovered.

People had no memory of what they had experienced in the nightmare.

“It just felt like I had a long, deep sleep. I slept so long that my body feels a bit stiff…”

In the Arian Kingdom’s military camp, Miller Arian, the king of the Arian Kingdom, said as he loosened his stiff neck.

I smiled awkwardly and faced him.

“Is that so?”

“Why do you ask, Prince Ash? Did I… or did the people of my kingdom cause any trouble in that nightmare?”

“No, it’s quite the opposite.”

I told him that Miller had supported me in the nightmare world.

Upon hearing my story, Miller waved his only hand.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if it was me or anyone else on this front, Prince Ash.”

“…”

“We all witnessed the miracle you performed, and the legend that the people of this front wrote. No matter how this war ends, we will all support you until the very end.”

Immediately after, Miller scratched his head, looking embarrassed.

“Haha, it’s funny that I, who was about to lead the withdrawal from the front lines, am saying this.”

“…Thank you.”

I quietly made eye contact and then got up.

Both Miller and I were busy preparing for the final battle. We shook hands lightly and then headed to our respective tasks.

“Oh.”

After leaving Miller’s tent, I was heading towards the entrance of the Arian Kingdom’s military camp.

In between, I saw Yoon’s tent.

I thought I’d check on him since I was here, so I peeked inside.

I saw Yoon soundly asleep, and next to him, Kuilan was silently knitting.

“…?”

Eh? Knitting?

Looking closer, Kuilan was skillfully knitting a scarf.

The scarf that was already knitted was wrapped around Yoon’s neck, and Kuilan was carefully knitting the remaining part that was hanging down.

“…”

Yoon sleeping peacefully, and Kuilan focused on knitting. The warmth of the fireplace burning in one corner of the room.

Somehow, the scene looked so serene that I watched for a moment before slowly stepping outside.

***

The next place I visited was the Winter Silver Merchant Guild.

The Crossroads branch of the Winter Silver Merchant Guild had become larger than the New Terra branch. This was partly because the land was cheap, but it was probably also because they were mainly dealing with military supplies.

“Hmm…”

Right? That’s the reason, right? You’re not really thinking of moving the main branch here, are you?

“Your Highness!”

As I entered, Serenade rushed out in her slippers.

I chuckled and asked playfully.

“Serenade, how are you? Did you get some good sleep?”

“Yes?! Ah, yes! I slept so deeply that all the work stopped…! I’ve been sweating trying to get everything back on track.”

After a brief conversation with Serenade about the situation of the front-line supplies, I looked at the navy-blue-haired guard standing silently behind Serenade.

“Elise.”

It was Elise, always wearing her maid uniform and carrying a large sword case.

When I called her, she looked at me with a puzzled expression, and I smiled at her.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Yes…?”

“Let’s keep working hard in the future too.”

“Ah, yes.”

Elise seemed confused but quickly replied.

I wanted to express my gratitude to Elise, who had been dedicated until the end in that nightmare.

I smiled warmly, and Elise blinked, not knowing what was going on.

“…Ugh!”

Serenade, who had been looking back and forth between us, suddenly approached me with a slightly sulky face.

“Your Highness! Me, me too!”

“Huh?”

“Me too, that… praise me!”

“Ah, okay.”

I gently took Serenade’s hand and smiled.

“Thank you always, Serenade.”

“…”

“I’ll be grateful in the future too.”

“…Hehehehe.”

With her face flushed red, Serenade looked triumphant and brushed under her nose.

She sometimes acts like this in front of me, with a lower mental age, but it’s cute, so it’s fine.

After finishing the brief conversation, I left the Winter Silver Merchant Guild. Serenade waved her hand enthusiastically behind me, and Elise bowed politely.

***

Next, I visited the alchemist’s workshop… or rather, Lily’s house, which was nearby.

“Ah, Your Highness!”

Lily, surprised, greeted me.

Inside Lily’s house were Bodybag, as well as Scarlet, Orange, and Violet from the Gamble Club, and even Evangeline. Several female heroes were gathered.

I was also surprised and blinked.

“C…what’s-it-called meeting, isn’t it? What are you doing here today?”

“It’s not ‘what’s-it-called,’ it’s the ‘Great Hero Support Committee’! And what do you think we’re doing? We came to see our Seed while we had some free time.”

Indeed, as Evangeline said, everyone’s faces were beaming as they admired the small Seed.

“These days, all our activities are just Seed appreciation meetings… I wonder if we should change the name from the Great Hero Support Committee to something like the Seed Fan Club.”

Evangeline, muttering, lifted Seed up and pretended to fly him around. The baby laughed continuously, finding it fun.

“…”

Evangeline, that girl, she wouldn’t suddenly trigger ‘Clumsy’ there, would she? Well, that negative trait disappeared a long time ago.

Still, I watched with an uneasy gaze, just in case. On the contrary, Lily, who was the mother, seemed used to it, and while Evangeline was playing with Seed, she was comfortably working on documents.

“Awoo!”

At that moment, Seed, who was in the air, flailed his arms towards me.

Huh, what? Does he want me to play with him?

I asked Lily for permission first.

“Lily, can I hold Seed too?”

“Of course. If not Your Highness, who else would be qualified?”

As soon as Lily gave her permission, Evangeline reluctantly handed Seed to me. I carefully held Seed in my arms.

“Hello, Seed?”

“Awoo!”

“Yes, your godfather is here. Say ‘Godfather,’ Seed.”

Then, the baby actually said it.

“Gofather!”

“…?”

I widened my eyes.

Stunned and shocked for a moment, I asked the person next to me in a trembling voice.

“Did he just… call me ‘Godfather’?”

Then Evangeline snorted as if it was absurd.

“No, he said ‘Gofather.'”

“That’s the same thing! Seed! Did you just call me Godfather?!”

Then Seed smiled brightly and patted my cheek with his chubby hand.

“Gofather!”

“He really said Godfather, Godfather!”

“Gofather~”

“Oh my god, this is crazy. Our Seed is a genius…”

I was even moved to tears.

The women around me, whether they were the C…what’s-it-called or the Seed Fan Club, all looked dumbfounded, but no, this is real! He called me Godfather, not Gofather!

“Seed.”

To the child who was smiling brightly with an innocent face, as if he didn’t know anything about the nightmare, I made a promise once again.

“Your godfather will take you there.”

To spring.

To the world of March.

To the future where you can live as you wish.

Definitely.

***

The smithy.

As soon as we escaped the nightmare, this place was back in operation, and it was hot even in the middle of winter.

Fortunately, while the blacksmiths were all collapsed, Kellybay had kept the fire going to maintain the heat.

Anyway, equipment was being made busily in preparation for the final battle.

Basically, in the final battle, Crossroads might have to endure endless monster waves, so the equipment for the soldiers and the entire wall was the top priority.

However, even in the midst of that busyness, Kellybay was producing the equipment I had ordered.

“You had a transparent cloak among the equipment you weren’t using, right?”

“Ah, I did.”

There was a piece of equipment that I had obtained a long time ago, used once in the capital, and then left to rot. Its stealth level was so low that it was just a mediocre piece of equipment for use on the battlefield, so I had left it unattended.

Recently, I had given all the remaining equipment to Kellybay and told him to forge or melt it as he pleased. Did he touch something?

“I upgraded that equipment with Parekian’s magic core and Parekian’s scales.”

As he said that, Kellybay took out a cloak with densely crafted dragon scales attached to it without any gaps.

“Let’s call it… [Dragon Scale Cloak].”

“What are its functions?”

“It’s basically sturdy. And it inherited some of Parekian’s characteristics…”

Inherited?

“You can walk on walls.”

“…?”

“It has the effect of making ‘dragon claws’ grow on the wearer’s shoes, allowing them to walk and run freely on walls and ceilings.”

I was taken aback by the unexpected function.

Come to think of it, that lizard did walk on walls…

“And the effect of the original stealth cloak has also been enhanced. Like this, ta-da.”

When Kellybay, who was wearing it, infused magic, the dragon scales all shone at once, and like a chameleon changing its body color, they matched the surrounding colors.

“Wow… that’s an excellent camouflage effect.”

“That’s about it for the special effects. Anyway, it’s equipment with dragon heart in it, so you can expect effects such as increased magic power.”

The person who would receive this equipment was already decided.

It was Violet.

As soon as I called her, Violet, who had rushed over from Lily’s house (it was nearby), immediately put on the cloak with a delighted expression.

“Ooh!”

Violet, who had activated stealth, shouted.

“I’m invisible!”

She really was invisible. I could only hear her voice in front of me.

Violet’s voice, who had activated the wall-walking function, could be heard from the walls and ceiling of the smithy.

“Can you really not see me? At all?”

“Yeah. Not at all.”

“Even like this? Ellelalele?”

I couldn’t see her, but I could tell she was being annoying, you know…

Violet, who had come down next to me and deactivated the cloak, frowned and muttered.

“…Then, if I wear this and go into the public bath’s men’s bath… hehe… ?”

“Look at the way you’re thinking…”

For your information, there is a constant stealth detection magic operating in the public bath. You’ll be caught red-handed, you brat.

“Hey~ I’m just kidding, kidding. Hehehehe.”

Violet, who seemed to be completely serious, wiped the saliva from her mouth and then nodded with a serious face.

“By the way, this seems really useful for stealing and gambling… ?”

…I’ll have to take that equipment back after the final battle is over.

As I was secretly making up my mind while watching Violet running on the walls and ceiling again, Kellybay took out another new piece of equipment next to me and showed it to me.

“And this… I made it simply because there wasn’t much time.”

It was four pistols.

Single-shot, single-loading type magic guns that could only fire one shot at a time.

“I made them with the magic cores of the four leaders of the Apocalypse Knights.”

“Oh ho.”

“Since they’re pistols, they’re only auxiliary equipment, and they can only fire one shot at a time… but I guarantee their power. They’ll be a trump card.”

Four pistols in white, black, red, and blue.

The magic guns were named [Plague], [Famine], [War], and [Death].

They each fired magic bullets with poison, water, fire, and ice attributes.

“That’s obviously for Damian…”

As I was taking the pistols, Kellybay pointed to the next item.

“This is something that I’m making according to your order, with the magic core of that Tan-Jin-Chi monster…”

Even though he was the creator, Kellybay had a worried expression, as if he still didn’t trust my idea.

“Will this really work as you think it will?”

“…”

“Not just us, but the stonemasons, carpenters, and alchemists too. Everyone is working on it whenever they have free time…”

I smiled and looked up at the large object that Kellybay was making.

“Of course. Just trust me.”

That’s because, even in the game, the Tan-Jin-Chi magic core was used for ‘this purpose’…!

***

As I left the smithy, it was snowing heavily.

I thought about calling Lucas and taking a carriage back, but somehow I didn’t feel like it.

I wanted to walk through the city.

Walking along the snowy streets, I slowly looked around my city.

Amidst the soldiers from various countries who were busily moving around in preparation for the final battle, the scenery of the city’s residents preparing dinner coexisted.

The smell of baking bread was mixed with the smell of oil, metal, and gunpowder.

The sound of weapons and iron plates clashing was mixed with the sound of a couple arguing and the laughter of children playing in the snow.

I quietly observed this strange scene.

Then, as I slowly walked towards my house, I suddenly murmured a line of poetry that came to mind.

Passing through the dignified hearts of the people of this village, who are born and die, born and die, passing through the dull dreams

On the roof, in the yard, on the well, on the mound, a heavy snowfall piles up on any given night

It was a peaceful evening before the final battle.