Chapter 85 - On the Road Again

It was finally time to leave. Gren managed to fix his problems by purchasing the Nonmetals One research project a bit early. What the system neglected to mention was that it took time for the research project to finish. One quarter hour per research point spent.

Although it gave Gren access to steel, he was more excited about the fact that he would now be able to create rubber. Rubber was pretty versatile if you could put up with the terrible smell. It could be turned into a flexible lightweight armor that was slightly better than leather which helped solve the problem of both Kuroa's and Dhalra's armor.

In order to get Jessica's approval for Jasmine to come, Gren needed to build a new covered wagon to keep her warm and the rubber came in handy. Rubber coating on the top protect the steel from rusting with a padded leather interior to prevent the heat from escaping. Rubber-coated wheels for more grip since steel had little to no traction. A rubber seal on the door so that it didn't let in wind as they traveled along. Rubber condoms... couldn't be made yet; he needed the Carbon Byproducts technology and that wasn't needed until he wanted to make vehicles.

Their little army was all gathered around. Twelve independent mercenaries and nineteen of their own forces--or twenty if Mimi counted--with one tag-along; the vampire that Gren needed to keep giving blood to. In the end he decided to give Buthi and Gallia massive shields so that they could defend against the arrows while giving Buthi a spear to make up for the fact that only one of her top arms had a weapon. Kuroa was given a hard rubber armor that only protected her chest and head; it was decided that she would be throwing spears from far above. Gren also decided to build a barrier on wheels that could be pushed which was currently sitting in his pocket dimension. This might end up being a proper siege battle so Gren wanted to be prepared.

His own equipment saw a good amount of improvement. The iron armor he had been wearing was a little bent up so he replaced it with steel armor. His old sword was destroyed so he replaced it with a steel one that would fit in the shield's sheath; the shield was still fine so he didn't replace it.

Annie was one of the only other people that had on steel armor and she was chosen as the leader of the group for the duration of the request. After meeting up with the merchant and his family at the transportation company and hiring on enough horses and wagons for everybody, they left Adierton. Gren calculated that the journey to Fort Togo would only take a couple of days with the horses they hired traveling twelve hours each day and there was a village between Adierton and their destination. There shouldn't be a need to camp away from civilization.

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Their caravan was made up of four wagons--the two that belonged to the guild and two that were rented--and the carriage that belonged to the merchant that they were escorting. Gren didn't know how to control a horse so he was currently riding shotgun in the front-most wagon. The person with the horses' reins in his hands was the former knight that became a mercenary: Osmond. He only became a mercenary because his father's noble status had been revoked by the King and his preferred weapon was a lance despite the fact that he no longer had a horse to ride.

"The wagon you've got is surprisingly light. I thought that the horses would be struggling to pull it right now since it was made of metal." The roads they were on were rough so Osmond figured that the horses could only pull about twice their own weight behind them. "Where did you get this? It's pretty well-made."

There was no way that Gren was going to tell him that he magicked it out of thin air. "That's a company secret but I can tell you that it's light because the frame is hollow. Solid metal isn't necessary for a vehicle like this." Gren used a tubular chassis beneath the wagon's bed because the solid metal frame was too heavy; in the simulation it would result in the wheels snapping off at high speeds over bumpy terrain. "If you're interested in getting one, I can contact our provider and you can buy one through us."

"There are too many costs for an individual like me to own a wagon. I'd sooner buy a horse but I can't afford one of..." Osmond suddenly tapped on Gren's shoulder and pointed ahead. "Downed tree and a carriage. Signal the others to stop. This could be an ambush."

Gren got up and waved around the side of the wagon towards the one just behind them. After they signalled the ones behind them, the caravan came to a stop. "Why are we stopping?" Annie was inside the wagon itself; with her was Jasmine, Mimi, Letta, and the two elf girls: Nadia and Nalia. "Is there a problem?"

Gren nodded before realizing that she couldn't see him with the door closed. "There's a downed tree up ahead. There might be an ambush so Letta might be needed."

Letta opened up the door and walked out. "Finally, some fresh air. It's a bit packed in there. So, what do you need me for?"

Gren pointed towards the downed tree before speaking, "We're going to go check out what's going on up ahead. Grab your crossbow and keep watch for anything suspicious." It was technically Gren's crossbow but he couldn't get used to it while Letta was a natural with it. He didn't mind letting her have it.

"Got it. You guys be careful out there." Letta gave a small salute before resting the crossbow on the back of the driver's seat.

Annie exited the wagon next; her armor looked weird with the bulge on the back but it was necessary to protect both her and Mimi. "Hold on, you two are staying behind. I'll take Ahk and Dill to go check it out." Right. Annie was the leader on this request so she made the decisions. "Get the archers ready, just in case." Annie hopped off the wagon and left with the other two... three. Mimi was waving at Gren from the hole in Annie's armor. Gren waved back even though he wasn't sure if she could see him.

The result was more boring than Gren expected it to be. A carriage went off into a ditch after a tree fell in front of them. The drawhorse was injured and the front left wheel was cracked so Gren was called forward to help. Healing the horse was easy and it helped show the independent mercenaries that he could use healing magic so he did it for free.

"There's no way that he'll make it to Valkland with that wheel. Do you have anything that can fix it?" Annie felt bad for the guy's situation since he had his two daughters with him. If he was by himself then she would just leave him to ride his horse back to the city.

Gren could just replace the entire wheel but he had to take it off by hand. The wheel was kept on using a wooden wedge that had been hammered in so it would be easy to remove it... if you were Ahk. "Can you get this for me?" Ahk pulled the wedge out like it was nothing. "I'll go do some repairs and be right back."

Creating a functional replica of the wheel was easy but Gren had to wait in the back of the wagon. The elves didn't seem to trust him and chose to wait outside in the cold so he just sat there awkwardly while sitting in Jasmine's lap. He didn't want to sit in her lap but she was strong so it's not like he had a choice. "I think I've waited for too long. Can you let go of me now?"

"Do I have to?" Jasmine was only half awake and she didn't want to let go of him. "Your hair always smells so good. Just give me another five minutes." Gren only managed to get free when Annie came in and whacked Jasmine on the head.

Gren brought the new wheel with him and put it on the carriage without letting the guy inspect it. Hopefully the guy would never notice that it looked nothing like their own wheels. The man thanked Gren and gave him a couple silvers before Annie took them, giving one silver each to the two girls in the carriage. "Come on, Gren, we've got to get going. Ahk has already moved the tree so there's nothing keeping us here."

After getting back on the wagon, Gren and Letta switched places. Letta was riding next to Osmond on the driver's seat while Gren entered the wagon. The elf girls looked uncomfortable with him there but Annie convinced them to stay inside. Gren could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation but what he did hear made him understand why they were afraid. They still thought of him as their master, even though Gren had already freed them. Their last master was a terrible person that used them as sex slaves so they thought that Gren would do the same in this enclosed place.

They were only children... they shouldn't need to worry about things like that. The world he was from was far from perfect but at least things like slavery were illegal. He should be considered someone important in this world as the son of their Goddess so maybe he could make a change.

Even if nobody listened to him, he could always singlehandedly bring about the industrial revolution and make it where they don't need slaves anymore. It wouldn't do anything get rid of the people that wanted sex slaves but it would be a start. He could understand their desire for beautiful women that gave them sexual release whenever they wanted but that's what brothels were for. He hadn't been to one yet but he remembered seeing that one in the slums.

"Getting rid of slavery won't be that easy." Eh? Gren looked down and saw that one of Mimi's tentacles was resting on his hand. "There's no way that people will give up their traditions for some machines that they don't understand." Mimi unlatched the hatch on Annie's armor and pulled herself out, bringing the core of her body to Gren's lap. "Can you think about those machines again? Especially that one with the giant spinning blade on the front." The harvester? "Whoooa, just imagine that thing in a battle."

"They're not meant to be used for war. They cut up crops and then separate the grain from the stalk. At least, that's what I think they do. I've never actually used one." Gren wasn't sure if he could make one with the system's blueprints. Mimi moved away from Gren when he thought about the system. "Don't worry, I won't use it when you're touching me."

"I still see that thing in my dreams sometimes." Gren felt bad that he caused her nightmares and still wondered what she saw. "If you want to know, I can tell you. It was mostly dark but there were voices all around me and they seemed to be coming from the dead souls around me. The monster seemed to be devouring those souls with its large tentacles. It was covered with eyes with one really large one in the center of its body." A soul-devouring giant tentacle monster with eyes? Gren would bet money on it being evil. "When the large eye locked on to me, I started to panic."

Gren was planning on showing Mimi some tanks and planes when his head started to hurt again. This wasn't the first time that it happened but they would suddenly come without warning. Using healing magic didn't help them but they never lasted long. There was nothing wrong with his body according to the scans but it didn't make sense. There was nothing that he could do about it so hopefully it didn't get worse in the future.

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Gren's calculations were off; he didn't know that horses could only travel for eight hours a day. Instead of the two days he expected, it would take three to get to Fort Togo. So much for not camping in the wilderness. They would be spending the night in a clearing at the side of the road. The snow was melting which made the clearing muddy so Gren's magic was needed to separate the water from the dirt so that they could set up their tents.

"Should I set up some barriers just to be safe?" Gren had some iron walls made a couple of months ago for when he started doing missions but never had a chance to use them. Annie didn't know what he was talking about. "I'll just set them up and you tell me if I should keep them." The camp was larger than the one he prepared for so he set them up on the side closest to the forest. There was a small watch tower that could be attached to the walls so Gren placed it in the center. "Is this good?"

Gren turned to see Annie's surprised look. "Where did these come from?" Right, Annie didn't see him using the pocket dimension before this.

"You know, it's hard to explain that. It's technically coming from inside of me." This would take a while to explain. He'd have to tell her about his preparations for the battle since she was the leader, right?