Reincarnated into a Game As the Hero’s Friend

Traveling from the capital to the border to meet with the refugees took us just 4 days since we were in a hurry, but it’s been more than 20 days since we left the border yet we haven’t arrived at the capital. Our pace is quite slow since we need to adjust our pace with the refugees.

Including the time spent in the Knap Marquisate to gather information regarding Triot, it’s been a month since I left the capital. Can I keep up with the lessons at the academy when I return…

As for finance and stuff, I stopped thinking about it. It’s only going to make my head and stomach hurt if I don’t. There are professional accountants so let’s just leave it to them! I’m not shrinking from my responsibility. Yup, not at all.

It will take us just a few more days until we reach the capital. To be able to finally see the end of this arduous journey makes me feel relieved. I still can’t relax though.

The threat of demons and demonic beasts, most of them were being taken care of by the adventurers and mercenaries. There were few times when the demons and demonic beasts reached the rank of soldiers. In those times, the shoulders killed them in an instant. After all, killing the demons and demonic beasts was originally the soldiers’ job.

The external problem has been neatly taken care of, while there has been no big internal problem among the refugees. This is because the refugees with enough energy to cause trouble like fights in the midst of our long journey were all given heavy manual labor. This way no one has enough energy to cause fights.

Not to mention, people with that much energy are already quite rare. I mean, they all have been walking for 20 days straight. It’s a blessing that at least the weather in the past 20 days has been sunny. I thought that as I was looking at the sky.

The many regulations, mediations, and simple court trials have also helped to maintain this peace. Though I know it’s hard to create a proper mediation plan on the spot in case there’s a fight. Fortunately, a commander meeting will be held when there’s big trouble in the army so I can just throw the responsibility to resolve them to the adults.

Other than that, the threat we have given to them has also been effective. We make a simple threat to kill anyone that commit murder or assault women. The threat is announced in front of lined-up heads of demons and demonic beasts that were killed by the adventurers and mercenaries though.

For normal people, just 1 demonic beast is already terrifying. But then they were threatened in front of heads of kobolds, goblins, and various other species of demons and demonic beasts that’s been made into a skewer using a spear. Of course, no one dared to cause any problem.

On top of that, I also used the simple method of tampering with their meals. Under my order, the meals that will be given to the people who had a fight with others are given less salt. It forces them to walk half a day with a mineral deficiency. Obviously, they won’t have enough energy left to fight.

So even the old method has its own use.

As usual, I participated in the commander’s meeting in the evening. By the way, the Duke always has his dinner after the meeting, so the commanders all follow suit. The Duke said ‘I should eat after all the soldiers have eaten’ so there’s nothing I can do about this.

The old duke sure is healthy.

“It seems like for now, there hasn’t been any big problem.”

“Yes, and It is also a relief that there has been no disease outbreak.”

To be more precise, because we shoved medical herbs and potions to people the second they seemed sick, there has been no problem regarding disease. After all, it will be even more difficult if we move after an outbreak has happened.

Potions are pretty expensive, so in order to prevent the refugees from getting used to luxury, we purposely made potions with a nasty taste. We told them that good medicine tastes bad. The price for these potions will be paid by manual labor. The refugees need to be prepared to work more in exchange for the potions.

“I heard that the aqueduct is already 80% complete,” said Duke Seyfart.

“That was quite fast.”

I thought I’m the only one that was surprised but it looks like everyone is also surprised. The kingdom must have put the aqueduct construction as one of the urgent projects. I guess there are some magics that can replace heavy equipment in this world. Still, I wonder if construction work using magic can be said to be completed by human effort.

“Apparently, a huge quantity of harrek was used.”

“Oh, so that is why the construction went this fast. The royal family seems to be going all out,” Baron Kretschmer nodded seriously.

The Duke’s explanation convinces and surprises me at the same time.

(Info dump warning! Here to skip. Summary:

Harrek is similar to roman concrete. It was created by mixing demonic beasts named killer rabbits’ tooth that has been baked and destroyed until they become powder with sand. Killer rabbits are common mid-sized demonic beasts but since harrek is created only by its small teeth, gathering enough teeth to make harrek is pretty hard, hence harrek is expensive. The killer rabbits skin is hard so it’s used to make soles rather than clothes)

Harrek is, to put it in a simple term, this world’s concrete. It’s not ordinary concrete. It’s concrete that can set even underwater so it’s close to roman concrete. It’s light, can set fast, and won’t leak so it’s really useful

It’s also sturdier than concrete so if something is randomly built with harrek it might cause problems later on. Its color is close to white so it also looks beautiful. In short, it’s a perfect construction material.

The problem with harrek is the availability of the material used to make it. While the roman concrete is created using Mount Vesuvius’s volcanic ashes as one of its ingredients, harrek is created using teeth… or I should say fang… of a demonic beast name killer rabbits. 

Though the killer rabbits themselves are a common demonic beast, collecting a sufficient amount of teeth to create harrek is difficult. Even though killer rabbits are considered mid-sized demonic beasts the size of their teeth is still small after all.

The time needed to destroy and bake the teeth until they become powder, then mix them with sand is also long. That’s why harrek is an expensive building material. It’s not only time-consuming to create, the killer rabbits’ meat can be eaten so many just brought the meat while ignoring their teeth.

By the way, the killer rabbits’ skin is hard (even though they are just rabbits) so it’s not a popular choice for making clothes. Usually, the skin is used to make soles. No material wasted, huh.

[Info dump end]

“Currently the Adventurers Guild might be swarming with commissions to hunt killer rabbits.”

“Probably.”

Everyone laughed.

♦

At that time it was just a joke. But the second we arrive at the capital, we will come to know the fact that the price of rabbit meat has collapsed. Just how many killer rabbits have been hunted!?

♦

(Info dump warning! Here to skip. Summary:

Dinner usually consists of salty soup, baked things that resemble bread, and dried meat. The meat will be grilled or made into soup. There’s also cheese and dried fruit. There are only a few vegetables that have been brought as provision so the logistic division will frantically buy vegetables when there’s a settlement nearby. It’s also forbidden to pick mushrooms without the guidance of specialists since a long time ago, someone unknowingly cooked poisonous mushrooms and poisoned several units. Since the food here isn’t delicious, hunting for edible demons or demonic beasts is one of the soldiers’ important missions.)

After the meeting, we have dinner. Usually, the dinner will consist of a rather salty soup, a baked something that resembles bread, and meat. The meat is dried meat and it usually will be grilled or will be put into the soup. There’s also cheese and dried fruits.

As for vegetables, there are only a few vegetables in our provision. That’s why the logistics division will frantically buy as many vegetables as possible when we pass by villages or towns. After all, Eating the same thing every day might affect our morale.

As a side note, it’s forbidden to pick mushrooms without specialist guidance in the army. This is because a long time ago, a person unknowingly picked a poisonous mushroom and cooked it, causing several units of soldiers to retire from the frontline.

This world also has hard bread. It won’t mold so it’s perfect food for long-distance travel. The problem is the hard bread, like its name, is really hard since it was made only for the sole purpose of long preservation. It’s something that I will only eat if there’s no other food left.

In any case, you can’t call the food here as delicious, even as flattery. In the headquarters, we also get alcohol but the amount is not much. I can even say that hunting edible demons are one of the soldiers’ most important jobs.

[Info dump end]

The dinner in the headquarters is more for exchanging information between commanders. It’s a pain in the ass if there’s someone I don’t like here, but that’s not a problem for me.

Today, there is no notable incidents (encountering demons and demonic beasts and small fights among refugees are no longer counted as a notable incident)

I was just walking to return to my tent after finishing dinner when a messenger called me from behind, “Viscount Zeavert. My apologies for bothering you, but please return to the headquarters.”

“Got it.”

I need to return even if I don’t want to since it’s probably ordered by our commander-in-chief. I followed the messenger to the headquarters. When I arrived in front of the headquarters, I met Count Vogler. I see he was also called back here.

“Hello, Count.”

“We just parted earlier, but hello to you too, Sir Welner.”

Both of us exchanged an awkward greeting with a bitter smile. We were called back on our way to return to our tent, so showing our complaints on our faces like this it’s fine, right?

Since the Count is also called here, it seems like the problem isn’t about the adventurers or mercenaries.

“I wonder why we were called here.”

“There might be some trouble from Triot.”

“That might be true.”

We were wrong. The real reason is far more shocking than that.