Jujutsushi Wa Yuusha Ni Narenai

Chapter 121.2 : Jungle Tower’s Defense Plan

「Yeah, because I know from experience that we might be able to get easter eggs from this dungeon if we could read the ancient language. For example, the water fountain of fairy plaza can become a magic circle for alchemy to upgrade our weapon.」

「Eh is that so!?」

「But then, it’s meaningless for anyone without that particular skill to read ancient language.」

But something like Higuchi’s sacrifice altar might be a good thing.

「Then, well… can I teach you about that ancient language when I understand it?」

「Sure, by all means.」

Like that, I began taking ancient language lessons from Yamajun-sensei.

At first, I thought that a non-skills holder wouldn’t be able to read the ancient language, but it seemed my worries were unfounded.

Ancient language turned out to be a proper language and anyone could decipher it as long as they could read it. It seems the abilities of 『Ancient Language Decoding・Beginner』 was enabling its owner to read short pieces of a sentence and telling the meaning of particular words.

That’s why, as long as Yamajun taught me the parts and the letters which he could read… Heck, I could even get the complete pseudo skill of ancient language decoding and read the entire sentence by relying on manual transcribe in my notes!

「Somehow, it seems like I just discovered an extremely amazing secret, but are you really okay with this, Yamajun?」

「Doesn’t matter, I’ve no intention to keep it for myself anyway. I mean, it can’t be helped since I’m the only one who can read it amongst us. Moreover, I’m glad to be able to help you with something, Momokawa-kun.」

「I see, thanks.」

Truly, thanks a lot for your goodwill and honesty, Yamajun.

But we’d exhausted our stamina after heavy manual labor today. In short, we’re really sleepy right now. I felt bad for Yamajun, but I don’t think that I’d have the willpower left to learn about ancient language tonight.

「Fufu, let’s leave the lesson for tomorrow, shall we?」

「Agreed, sorry about that. Please teach me more about the ancient language later.」

「Ready when you are. Well, I’ve to prepare a note and write down the words that I can read.」

「Thanks a lot, Yamajun. There’s nothing I can do but thank you.」

After he said 「G’nite」 to me, who was about to collapse from sleepiness, Yamajun returned to the fairy plaza.

The matter of him visiting me could be to relax my tension a little bit. I mean, I did enjoy our idle chatter just now and realized that it helped me to loosen some of my tension.

There’d be a huge harvest waiting for us as long as I learn the ancient language.

「Haah, somehow, I get the feeling that he’s the one who helped me out.」

If this operation was a failure, I’d be the butt of harsh criticism for sure. Or everyone might end up dead should we failed.

「That’s why, in order to save my life during that dangerous moment… hahaha, I really am the worst.」

Moreover, my top priority for preparing the saddle and stirrup was to allow me to make full use of Raptor Rem’s mobility to escape when push came to shove.

I won’t ask for the other party members’ forgiveness. I’ve no intention to die along with those guys, to begin with.

「That’s why I’ve to prepare for every single possibility.」

All my effort would pay off as long as this operation was successful. It’s enough as long as everyone is happy―― I couldn’t believe this but I started to hate myself for my underhanded preparation to save my own a*ss.

===

Five days had passed since then. Perhaps it’s thanks to Reina’s effort in crushing those observers, or because those Gomas were simply too stupid to notice, but nothing happened in these last five days.

「Haa… these kinds of things happen sometimes.」

We completed the best front gate and blockade in the last five days. Though we were just normal high school students, a complete amateur in carpentry, without proper tools, and lacking aesthetic beauty, we still managed to erect a robust and thick front gate.

That’s why, one thing we completed was piling up the logs that were longer than the gate, making it impossible to pass through it. In short, this entrance was a perfect barricade that allowed no one to pass through whether they’re trying to pull or push the logs from the entrance.

But then, that also meant sealing our escape via the entrance and passage towards the entrance. Our only way to enter the tower was by climbing the rope ladder braided with my black hair bind.

Reina had been whining something along the「I can’t go down like thi~s」 lines with her usual annoying tone. But now she seemed like she was fully enjoying the feeling of gliding down the tower’s window by grabbing on Ramdein’s feet.

Today as well, after Reina departed to do her extermination job, we began the prep work for various things aside from the already completed gate.

First, we began from the area in front of the entrance. We drew a set of 『Hexagram』 and the offering around the tower. It was for the preparation to invoke 『Rotten Bog』 for our first stage of the operation, escape from the tower. If those idiots were coming with a large army of gomas, they would be plunged into 『Rotten Bog』 for sure since there’s barely any room for them to maneuver around. To put it simply, this bog would narrow their attack range even further and chip down their force.

In addition, we were also piling up large amounts of dry grass and dry wood until they formed a small hill. We set this both inside and outside of the tower.

Naturally, they’re meant to be ignited.

Anyhow, I meant to sacrifice Rem the 1st, 3rd, and 4th in the tower defense. Though these preparations turned the area around the tower into a sea of flames, I hoped this strategy would bring down a large number of their army. But of course, I had no idea whether those idiotic gomas were brave enough to cross the sea of flames or not.

「Rem, how’s the condition?」

「GAGA!!」

The area behind the tower was transformed into Rem’s archery range. When I peeked to see the situation, Rem was in the middle of cheerfully drawing the goma’s bow tie to the limit―― followed by a sharp and thick sound a moment later.

The arrow struck right in the middle of the target dummy.

「That’s an amazing improvement.」

I patted her hard skull to praise her for her effort.

To be honest, I was quite surprised upon seeing Rem’s archery skill had improved by leaps and bounds. She wouldn’t just land a lucky shot if she sniped her enemy with her bow. The same went for 3rd and 4th, their arrows also hit the bull’s eye.

Come to think of it, Rem’s spearmanship had also increased compared to when she wielded the spear for the first time. The same went for the other skills such as peeling the snake’s skin, retrieving the monster core, and kindling fire. Rem’s proficiency in those areas had definitely improved even though I never specially ordered her to master those skills even further.

That’s why I thought that her proficiency would increase if I ordered her to practice archery but once again, she had surpassed my expectation. Perhaps Rem was blessed with archery skills like the elves.

Or maybe, she was simply following my order to practice archery without a moment of rest after I gave her the order to train her archery skill. I mean, Rem was a semi-permanent doll who ran on a battery called magical power. She could move forever as long as there’s a source of mana, she didn’t need something like food or sleep either. That’s why I was sure that she was fully devoted to her training without resting. It was the kind of Sparta training that was impossible for a normal human.

In the last five days, the only time Rem stopped her training was when I tried to improve the power of her bow.

Because the already fragile ‘Made in Goma’s fortress’ bowstring would snap if kept under non-stop usage. Since the entire bow string would snap if she continued this kind of Sparta training, the only way for her to continue her training efficiently was by replacing the bowstring with a black hair bind.

It turned out to be a huge success.

Since normal black hair had the same feeling and texture like that of hair, it was definitely ill-suited for the bowstring. The one I needed was a tough yet elastic string. As a result, I who had mastered spider thread after learning it from Arachne Rem could reproduce such texture as much as I wanted. Well, after a long trial and error though.

I asked Rem to try the bow and made improvements after hearing her impression(?). Naturally, Rem couldn’t speak. We’re communicating with simple sign language.

I told her to make a circle with the finger of her hands for “Yes” or “OK”. X for “NO” or “NG”. Triangle in case she had no idea which impression she had to tell me.

Well, I could understand her to some extent since I was always together with her until now but thanks to teaching her a clear hand signal, the precision of my communication with Rem had taken another giant leap. It was thanks to her input that I could create a durable yet flexible black hair bowstring.

「Defense preparation is almost completed. Rem has become more skilled in using her bow. What’s left is just icing on the cake…」

We’re lucky since the Goma’s Army had yet to arrive during our preparation. There’s almost nothing left to do to strengthen our defense after all.

Though there’s some anxiety in several parts, let’s say that all was well for the time being.

「Well then, ready when you are, Goma.」