Making Future Plans

As I made preparations, I talked to Kathe and Mors.

“Kathe and Mors. Could you go and look around the mansion?”

“Very well. There may be an intruder, after all.”

“Understood. I could also cast some simple strengthening magic?”

Simple strengthening magic would not be that effective.

However, casting it on the walls would make things a little harder for dark wraiths.

It was good enough for an emergency measure.

I asked Danton just in case, as he was lord of the mansion.

“Would you mind if we cast some strengthening magic to stop intruders? It will make the walls stronger…”

“I don’t mind. Thank you.”

And then Mors bowed politely to Danton.

“Thank you for giving me permission. Leave it to me.”

And so Kathe and Mors went on to patrol the place. I continued on with our work.

“As these materials are different from the wall, it will stick out… But it’s the best we can do considering the circumstances.”

“While it’s an emergency measure, it’s still superior now in terms of strength and heat resistance.”

“But it doesn’t look very nice.”

I talked about it with Shia. And then Danton said:

“I would like this wall to stay like this forever. In fact, I want to boast about it to my descendants. This is the famous wall that Locke fixed.”

“There’s nothing to boast about…”

“No, I intend to boast about it.”

Danton declared stubbornly. And so it was decided that the wall would stay as it was.

Once that was done, Danton took us back to the dining hall.

On the way there, I asked him,

“Are the other chiefs still here?”

“Aye, they should be.”

That was good. I could explain things to all of them at once. It would save us some time.

When we arrived, the chiefs, children, and youths were all waiting.

Kathe and Mors had also returned from their patrol and came to the dining hall.

“Kathe. Mors. How was it?”

“It was fine. I did not find any other intruders.”

“I cast strengthening magic on the walls and ceiling.”

“Thank you. Good work.”

“Oh, it was nothing… And please don’t expect it to be too effective. It’s only temporary. And I doubt it will stop high-ranking dark wraiths. It might just slow them down.”

“Well, that’s still better than nothing.”

The chiefs reacted to our conversation.

“Mister Locke. It was a dark wraith?”

“Yes.”

I glanced at the children. It was a wordless question. Should I talk about this in front of them?

Mors noticed this and said:

“Mister Locke. I could look after the children…”

“Thank you. In that case, maybe we should move to a different room?”

I said in consideration for them, but Danton shook his head.

“No, I don’t mind.”

“But…”

“We are warriors from the moment we are born.”

I looked at the children’s faces. They all looked very serious.

In spite of their age, they were ready.

I knew that beastkin children became Adventurers at an early age, like Nia and Shia.

But I didn’t realize it would be like this.

“I’m sorry. Perhaps I’ve underestimated you all.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

And then I told them about the dark wraith that had invaded the mansion.

Dark wraiths were rather minor monsters, but it was still important.

“It seems that Grulf can sense the dark wraiths…but how is it with all of you?”

“They don’t have a scent or make any sound? Then it’s impossible to sense them.”

“That’s too bad…”

The chiefs looked very worried now.

But then Danton said cheerfully,

“But at least we know how the information has been leaking.”

It seemed like he was forcing it, so the room wouldn’t feel too oppressive.

“That’s true. In that case, it’s important that we don’t allow any more of them inside the mansion.”

I said. Kathe nodded.

“Hmm. Mors. We should go to the other mansions immediately and cast magic on them. Could you create water dragon barriers?”

“Let me see… I don’t have enough materials to create the same kind of barrier as we have around our settlement… But if we only needed to stop dark wraiths…”

“Well…it may be difficult…but we’ll have to try.”

I said. Mors and Kathe agreed.

Danton looked surprised.

“It’s difficult for even you, Locke? I didn’t know that there was anything that would be difficult for you!”

“Of course there is. It would be impossible without Kathe and Mors’s help. And it’s still hard with it.”

It was likely not impossible. But it would be difficult for sure.

“Yes. It’s difficult.”

“Indeed. But we will do it somehow.”

Kathe and Mors were optimistic. If they were confident, then things would surely turn out all right.

“In any case, we should prioritize these barriers.”

“Thank you.”

And so we decided to prepare to make the barriers. The magic tools could come later.

Dark wraiths were dangerous, but they were not that strong in terms of combat.

“As long as we can see them the moment before they unleash their magic, we should be able to deal with them.”

The chiefs agreed.

Aside from Shia, they were all A-Rank, which meant they were first-rate Adventurers. And they also had magic weapons.

So the chiefs would have no trouble killing dark wraiths.

As for the others, it was decided that they should run if they encountered a dark wraith.

Once all that was decided, the chiefs returned to their mansions.