Ep. 1045 Dealing with the Empire Part 4 (Patreon)

That is what I am currently looking forward to, I have all sorts of ideas that I want to try out. In fact, after watching Iron Man again, I am thinking about creating robotic arms for Jarvis to control. Not that I really need their help, I just think that it will be entertaining.

In fact, I could easily expand the castle's basement and give myself an area just for working on golems. If I am going to have a Jarvis, don't I need a work area to go with it? It would be nice to have an area to keep some copies of books, just in case I need to refer back to them.

After all, it won't always be convenient for me to borrow the books from Lin. I certainly don't want to have to keep bugging her repeatedly while I am working on something. So, I decide to go ahead and expand the basement and make myself a workshop.

While I am at it, I make a bunch of tunnels in the floor of the main level. I make them just big enough for the kids when they are shrunk and run them all over the play area. This will add an extra obstacle for when the kids are playing tag or hide and seek.

Come to think of it, the kids have probably memorized the entire play area by now. So, while I am at it, I completely rearrange the play area and add some new stuff. Come to think of it, the kids might prefer the ship because Athena can make the play area move around.

If I am able to make Jarvis, I will need to make sure he can do the same. In fact, I should try and make sure he has the ability to manipulate the stone of the castle. That way he can make repairs and changes as needed so I don't have to.

Once the workroom is done, I put my forge in it and add the proper ventilation. I don't really need it for blacksmithing, but it is still useful for making alloys. After that, I add a bookcase and make copies of the golem books that had useful information.

Then I head up to the tower roof to read the last two books while keeping an eye on the elves. As I am reading I hear the alarm bells go off, but it is the pattern for a ground attack. Out of curiosity, I send my mana to the city walls so that I can have a look.

Surprisingly, there is a group of adventurers running back to the city and they are being chased. The demonic beasts chasing them are a mixed bunch, but they are all land-based. Everything from the dogs I have killed before to what looks like the spawn of an elephant and a rhino.

I was under the impression that different types of beasts didn't work together. Both the attack on the caravan and the previous attack on the walls that I saw were a single beast type. It makes me wonder what the adventurers did to piss off so many types of beasts.

I highly doubt that they were stupid enough to have attacked multiple groups of beasts at once. From what Almort told me, only the best adventurer groups were allowed to enter the demon lands. Meaning they must have done something else that pissed off the beasts.

The adventurers just barely manage to get to the walls before the beasts. Once the adventurers reach safety, the defenders handle the beasts easily. Even the massive beasts aren't able to do any damage to the walls and are just sitting ducks.

Come to think of it, I've never examined the walls before, there must be something special about them. For them to be able to stop such massive beasts without taking damage is impressive. Either they are made of special stone, or there is a really powerful enchantment on them.

However, I am not getting distracted right now, I need to finish these books. I will see about satisfying my curiosity later, for now I continue reading. The first of the two books is decent and when I finish it I make a copy for my collection.

The other book is just repeating information I have already read so I go through it quickly. Once I am done, I take all of the golem books and put them in Lin's tower. She has rearranged so I don't know where they go, so I put them on a table.

Lin will see them later and put them away so I am not too worried about it. I check on the elven groups again and then head to the association building. Before going to the library I head to check in with Almort and see if he knows about the adventurers.

Almort says "The adventurers that came back today? Yes, I heard about them. From what I heard they found the ruins of a city, but before they could get closer the beasts started chasing them."

"Am I right that it is unusual for that many types of beasts to act together?"

Almort says "Yes, as far as I know it has never happened before."

"That makes me really curious about those ruins. What are the beasts trying to protect?"

Almort says "You are not alone. The council has already ordered an expedition to go back and take a look."

"Oh. Can you let me know what they find? Also, would I be allowed to examine the city walls?"

Almort says "I will tell you as soon as I know anything. You can examine the walls if you want, but I am curious as to why you want to?"

"Because I noticed that the beasts weren't able to do any damage to them so I got curious."

Almort says "I can save you the trouble. They are made of special stone that can only be found in the demon lands. At least, we haven't been able to find it anywhere else. However, it is not indestructible, the walls do get damaged."

"That makes me even more curious. Can I buy some of this stone?"

Almort says "Unfortunately, no. The stone is fairly rare so all that we have is reserved for repairing the walls. There are adventurer groups that specifically go into the demon lands looking for more stone. I can probably arrange for you to take a look at a sample of it, but that's it."

"That would be good, thank you. If it is something I can use, I can always go look for some myself."

Almort says "I can tell you that you won't find any close to the border. We stripped it completely to build the walls. Normally I would say that it is too dangerous to go into the demon lands alone, but I have seen how powerful you are."

"Don't worry, I won't go exploring the demon lands until my business here is finished. I am mainly just curious."

Almort says "That's good. Is there anything else you need?"

"Nope, just those two things."

After talking with Almort I head down to the library and ask about golem books. The library has a decent amount of books on golems, but I only take five of them. That is because other than those five, I have already read the rest of them.