Chapter 60 - Warmth?

I finally stopped after making about 200 shadow bombs.

This should be enough.

I smiled as I looked at the amount that could easily annihilate a village. 

Loraine, who was beside me, said in a somewhat reluctant voice, "Young Master, is there a need to make so many already? We don't even know the locations of their strongholds yet."

At those words, I smiled slightly and said,

"That's true... but don't you feel reassured in some corner of your heart when you see bombs piled up?"

"...?"

"I'm kidding. It's partly to prepare for black mages launching another terror attack... and partly to set up in advance in the North."

At the mention of the North, Loraine closed her mouth for a moment and looked at the bombs, then said somewhat seriously, "Does that mean you plan to plant these bombs in the North?"

"That's right."

"Having an ace up your sleeve isn't bad, but aren't there two problems? How will you plant them and how will you maintain them?"

I made Loraine a cup of tea and answered her questions, "The method itself is simple. I'll make them bury the bombs in the ground under the pretext of the artificial sun, or if that's not possible, I can just pile up bombs in Elisia's room."

"Ah."

Well, to be honest, there was no need to use bombs.

We could just detonate the artificial sun that would be put inside Elisia…

But I thought it would be better to prepare in advance for any unforeseen situations.

"And maintaining the shadow bombs is simple. If I just put mana into magic stones and attach them, they can maintain the shadow for quite a long time even without me giving mana."

"What happens when the mana in the magic stones runs out?"

"They explode, of course."

I smiled slightly at Loraine, who was looking reluctant, and patted the bomb with my palm.

***

After about a week had passed, we were able to finish all preparations.

Charging the artificial sun's energy and a detonator that can cause a large rift.

And on top of that, we finished manipulating Elisia's memories and reinforcing the shadow bombs.

Judging that we couldn't make more perfect preparations than this, I decided it was time to send Elisia back to the North.

And not just sending her back.

We also planned to carry out the “operation to create a rift and then make her achieve merit” that we had decided on while consulting with Liana earlier.

As I was deciding to do so and preparing for battle, Dasoon looked at me and made a suggestion, "Hey, I've been thinking, and I want to travel alone after this operation is over."

At those words, I silently looked at Dasoon.

Dasoon put her hands in her pockets and said to me somewhat seriously, "You might not know, but this world has... how should I put it... a plan."

The plan Dasoon was talking about must mean the flow of the original novel.

“And judging by how she says I wouldn't know this, it seems she still hasn't noticed that I'm a transmigrator.”

She was sharp in strange areas, but completely oblivious to things like this.

Anyway, thinking she was a peculiar one, I nodded, and Dasoon let out a long sigh and said, "Well... anyway, this plan or whatever is quite tangled up from what was expected. But I don't think the overall flow will change."

I could only nod at those words.

In fact, the reason I kept Dasoon alive was similar to this.

There must be things only Dale can do.

Of course, now it was Dasoon, not Dale, but…

Anyway, Dasoon was the protagonist of this world, and although a fake hero, she was a hero who had tied up loose ends until the end, so I couldn't help but sympathize with what Dasoon said.

There must be things that only the original protagonist could do, so it seemed better to let Dasoon move freely as she said.

That way we can prepare for variables.

However, what worried me was the part that Dasoon said earlier about being “quite tangled up”, so after pondering for a moment, I threw Carsaril family's token to Dasoon and said, "Then I'll give you this. Use it appropriately if you need to."

"Huh? What's this?"

Dasoon looked at the Carsaril family token I gave her and looked at me in surprise, then smiled awkwardly and said to me, "Oh, oh? Thanks. I'll use it well."

I nodded and looked at Dasoon.

To be honest, I was worried about letting Dasoon, who hadn't gained the sun spirit or the predestined power, wander alone…

But thinking it was right to trust and let her go, I was about to head to the North when…

"Ahem, I'd like one too."

Liana tried to act cute in an awkwardly unnatural voice.

"...?"

As I looked at Liana as if I couldn't believe it,

Liana, seemingly overcome with embarrassment, spoke to me in an uncharacteristically blunt voice, "What? Give me one too."

"You... I don't think so."

Even if Dasoon had the token, she would cause problems that could be managed adequately, so it was fine.

But in Liana's case, there was a high possibility of causing unmanageable problems, so I refused to give it.

And above all, it seems more fun not to give it.

So even if I were to give it, I thought I'd give it later and turned around.

Liana touched her reddened ears and pretended to be nonchalant.

"...Anyway, let's depart. I'll guide the way."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

Thinking Liana's appearance was quite funny, I nodded.

***

Using the teleportation device to move to the North didn't take very long.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the North where blizzards were still raging, then said to Siren, "Then please prepare to create a rift."

"Okay."

I patted Siren's back to show I was asking her, then slowly moved forward.

The target was the dense forest next to the city.

By the way, the cities in the North were surrounded by dense forests, so the place I was talking about meant the forest located on the opposite side of the forest where Fenrir and the spirits live.

Anyway, I settled in a place that wouldn't cause any harm to Fenrir and said to Siren, "Please."

"Okay."

Siren nodded.

Holding the artificial sun in one hand, she slowly stretched out her hand and started creating something in the place with dense trees.

How should I put it? It feels extremely heterogeneous.

It was too deep and dark to be called magic.

It was too light and sharp to be called black magic.

As I was watching this, I felt an incomparably strange sensation.

– Crack.

With the sound of something collapsing, a huge scar appeared in the air.

Hundreds of eyeballs formed inside the scar and started looking at this place.

Eyeballs... it seems like black magic.

But it was not black magic, so it seemed related to demon races somehow.

As I was watching this, thinking I didn't understand why the side effect of the artificial sun was rift creation, suddenly a speculation arose in my mind.

Could there be some connection between the artificial sun and demon races?

If this speculation was correct, there was a high possibility that black mages were connected to demon races, so my mind became somewhat complicated.

As I was thinking this with my arms crossed, Siren clapped her hands lightly, compressed mana, and said to me, "It's done."

At those words, I patted her head to show she did well.

Then I firmly fixed the shadow bombs I had prepared under the rift.

This should do it.

Deciding to detonate this at an appropriate time, I said we should leave this place for now.

With those words, as we were moving to a place where we could hide for a while, Dasoon asked me one question with a serious expression, "Hey... by the way, there's something I'm curious about."

"What is it?"

"What if the bombs placed under the rift don't explode, or if they explode but can't close the rift?"

At that question, I smiled slightly and said, "What does it matter when we have Loraine?"

"Ah."

"Besides, the Grand Duke of the North should be a Sword Master."

So I said that even if the operation went wrong, the North itself wouldn’t be destroyed, and looked at the rift in the distance.

A huge rift spewing out countless monsters.

As I was watching this, realizing it was time to release Elisia, I said to Siren, "Siren, then please."

"Okay."

Siren nodded and snapped her fingers, waking up Elisia's mind.

I pushed Elisia's back out and said to Dasoon, "Then go. I'll be in the back catching monsters."

At those words, Dasoon nodded and looked at me, then stretched and said to me, "Well then, I'll be back."

"Yeah. Don't step in until there's significant damage to the North."

Dasoon nodded, grabbed the fake holy sword, and headed towards the North with Elisia.

I watched their backs for a long time, then took out my mace and said, "Then let's wait for a while until Dasoon gives the signal."

Hearing the answers from behind, I crossed my arms.

***

When she came to her senses, it was a snow field that was just pure white, with nothing else.

Elisia was blankly looking at this scene and walking forward when the woman beside her grabbed her hand and said, "Hey, be careful."

"...?"

Who is this... ah, it must be that commoner Dasoon.

The girl I was going to recommend as a hero candidate but who dropped out for some reason.

The moment that thought arose, feeling her mind coming back little by little, she opened her mouth, "Thank you for your concern."

"It's not concern... get your mind straight. Monsters will be coming."

"Monsters, you say?"

Strangely, a large part of her memory was empty, so her head was dizzy…

But oddly enough, maybe because the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations that had been tormenting her were gone, she didn't feel the headache and severe fatigue.

Thinking it was a strange feeling, she looked ahead and saw more monsters pouring out than during the previous rift incident.

...

If she could have brought warmth in this situation, everything would have worked out well.

She felt great regret, but thinking there was nothing she could do because all plans had failed, at that moment…

– Whoosh.

She saw warmth rising from her hand.

"...Warmth?"

It was an extremely surprising result, but strangely, rather than surprise, she first felt relief and the possibility of turning the situation around.

So she raised the corner of her mouth and slowly walked forward.