Chapter 110 - Chapter 13: Rat Extermination at the Fortress
The place for the rat extermination that Roberts-sama had accepted was a fortress near the Sertoria border in Medioland.
It seems a lot of them have appeared in the basement.
"Roberts-sama, Gladys-sama, I don't know how to thank you for going out of your way to bring rat exterminators from Sertoria."
The fortress commander was bowing deeply.
That's only natural. On one hand, royalty from a neighboring country; on the other, a princess of his own country. They aren't the kind of people one would consult about rat extermination.
We passed through the border checkpoint easily just by being acquaintances of those two.
"These people usually do rat extermination in Nakanohara. Even though they're called rat exterminators, they are veterans who defeated the Demon Lord's army led by Fenrir and Cyclops in the operation I also participated in last autumn."
"My, my, thank you so much for coming from so far away. I am truly grateful."
He even bowed to us.
The commander is, of course, a noble.
An elderly man named Stephens, he apparently rules the territory around the fortress. His sons, the heirs, were chosen for the Medioland King's Royal Guard and live in the Royal Capital.
Because Roberts-sama frequently visits and holds drinking parties regardless of rank, he treats even suspicious people like us properly.
"Shall we talk about the reward first?"
Beatrix immediately started negotiations.
"Indeed. However, I do not know the market price for rat extermination."
"In Sertoria, it's ten copper coins per rat."
The currency of Sertoria is the same as Medioland's. They use the same materials and make them equal in weight. That's how they ensure the stability of trade between the two countries. So, even if you go to Medioland, coins made in Sertoria can be used normally. By the way, the engravings are the same. Or so I was taught at the orphanage.
"Ten copper coins? Then, for a hundred rats, it would be about two and a half gold coins. I am fine with that."
"A hundred rats!"
We all raised our voices reflexively. Our record so far is twenty-five rats.
And even then, we usually only hit five or six at a time.
"A hundred rats is quite an increase."
Even Paul-san had a grim look on his face.
"No, it's embarrassing."
Apparently, during the war last autumn, the fortress was left empty, and the underground food storage was infiltrated. Not only was the preserved food for sieges wiped out, but a strong nest was built, and now they've become bold enough to come out above ground during the day.
"It would be one thing if we were holed up for war, but usually only a few soldiers take turns staying behind. We couldn't exactly summon troops for rats, so we were at our wits' end."
"However, with a hundred rats, it's practically a battle."
He was thinking with his arms crossed.
"What will you do, Paul?"
Roberts-sama was smirking. He had already declared he would just watch from a safe distance.
"First, the blueprints of this fortress... a simple one will do. Could you tell me the general layout of the passages and underground tunnels?"
"The fortress blueprints...?"
It's a military secret. He probably wouldn't want to show them to foreigners.
"Sir Stephens, please show them. I will vouch for these people."
Behind Gladys-sama stood four attendants. All four seemed to be well-known knights. The pressure Sir Stephens felt must have been no small matter. In the end, they were brought out.
The fortress was similar to the place where we did the bat extermination, built with a fence around a hill. There were various rooms and passages underground. There was no running water, only a reservoir for rainwater and a well. The sewage was connected vertically to a drainage channel, and the single drainage channel in the middle apparently connected to the moat surrounding the hill.
The moat was connected to a river, but it was combined with the toilet system, and the flow was poor, giving off a foul odor.
"I wish it could be a bit more hygienic."
Mary, who had participated in two rat exterminations in Nakanohara, was complaining. Compared to this, the sewers in Nakanohara are clean.
She had already submitted the clothing designs to Gladys-sama—not just the quota of three, but one extra—but she still had to participate in the rat extermination.
"Don't say that. This is also part of defense tactics."
"Defense tactics?"
"That's right, the enemy has to soak in this moat to cross over. It must surely make them lose their will to fight. They might even get sick."
"How barbaric."
"Of course. War is inherently barbaric."
Paul-san was explaining to Mary, who had a visibly disgusted look on her face.
Come to think of it, Nakanohara's trump card was something similar.
Well, there's no use complaining.
We have to think of a plan.
"The usual method. Let's lure them out with bait. Once we've reduced their numbers to some extent, we'll raid their headquarters. Sir Stephens, I'm sorry, but please gather scraps and the like. We'll use them as rat bait. Also, let's have the current food supplies moved outside the fortress for now. It'll only be for two or three days."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Let's see, lend me a few people who can do repairs on the fortress."
It seems the policy has been decided. Moving the food... is he planning to starve them out?
"Now, let's get going immediately."
He had already started walking.
Paul-san's first target was the place where food was stored. Since the original food storage was occupied by rats, they had apparently built a new one.
As soon as we entered, there were rats. Moreover, they seemed to have become thick-skinned and didn't even run away. They even went so far as to squeak and bare their teeth to intimidate us.
Everyone held up torches to prevent the rats from attacking.
"In here, please repel them with only Holy."
There's still a lot of food. We can't use fire or ice. As instructed, we fired off Holy repeatedly and exterminated the rats.
"Now, I'd like to ask you to carry out the food."
While they were carrying it out, a few more rats appeared, but we defeated them all with Holy. Eight rats in total.
"Just as I thought."
There are holes all over the walls. The rats have built their own dedicated passages in the fortress basement.
"How insolent. They were devouring the food through these holes."
"Shall we start by plugging these holes?"
We brought in soil and kept throwing it into the holes, then blocked them with stones and plastered them over with repair mortar.
"Now, let's move to the next one."
In rooms without food, we could use other magic. After pinning them down with torches, Beatrix used lightning magic and Lyudmila used fire magic to exterminate them.
We crushed them one after another, and by the time the number of exterminated rats exceeded twenty, the processing of the underground rooms was complete, except for a few places occupied by many rats.
When night fell, we went to Sir Stephens' room.
"Is the setup finished?"
"Yes. As instructed, I've dropped all the gathered scraps into the drainage channel from the very end of the piping. Since it's at the furthest point, the gathered rats will have nowhere to run when we launch a surprise attack."
The scraps used for bait apparently amounted to several buckets' worth. They had spent the whole day gathering them from surrounding villages, including spoiled ingredients.
"Then, shall we go inside?"
"Yes! This way."
When several floor stones were peeled away, a descent to the basement appeared.
"Incredible. There really is a secret escape route like this."
"You must absolutely not talk about this elsewhere. It's a military secret."
"Eeeh! It's so boring that I can't tell anyone about such an amazing experience."
Hearing the conversation between Mary and Beatrix, Sir Stephens let out a sigh.
"Someone who blabs about the secrets of castles and fortresses cannot be taken to the King of Medioland's castle. Shall you go home alone now?"
"Yes. I will absolutely not speak of it. I'll take it to my grave."
As expected of Roberts-sama. Mary's spine straightened right up.
Since there was no water flowing in the drainage ditch, it was like a sloped stone underground passage. It was high enough for a human to stand and walk.
"It's toward the upper part."
Raising his right hand high, he went up the slope while holding the glow of Light. Paul-san, Beatrix, and Lyudmila had already finished their incantations and were prepared to use magic at any time.
"It's about time."
It seems we've reached the destination.
"Here we go!"
When the light intensity was increased all at once, a large monster that couldn't possibly be a rat emerged from the darkness.
"What is that?"
"Gladys!"
"Yes!"
While the commander was surprised, Roberts-sama and Gladys-sama drew their swords. Both held silver swords. The attendants also drew their silver swords and stepped forward to protect everyone.
"Jeanne! Maximum light! Buy us time!"
"Yes!"
I thrust out both hands and gave it my all.
Beatrix split her flames and lined up fireballs in a vertical circle between the monster and us. In the meantime, Lyudmila fired off flames repeatedly. She was used to it, aiming at its feet to prevent it from approaching, gradually cornering it against the wall.
Is it a rat?
The monster, bathed in the light of Light from the front, turned its face away in pain and squeaked. At its feet, ordinary-sized rats were swarming.
Since the scraps were dropped in the corner of the passage, the rats were also huddled in the corner. Setting aside the big one, we might be able to finish off the others all at once.
"Mary! Throw the oil!"
I had Mary, who can only use Water, act as a tool assistant and carry a storage bag, but she had frozen in place, standing still.
"Mary! Pull yourself together! You are the key!"
Rebuked by Gladys-sama, Mary finally regained her composure. She thrust her hand into the bag and threw a bottle of oil toward the rats.
However, the bottle didn't break well.
"Lyudmila! Please!"
When Lyudmila hit the oil bottle rolling on the ground with a Fire Ball, the oil... didn't catch fire?
Fire did catch, but instead of the oil burning flamboyantly, sparks were flying and crackling.
This is bad, that's...
"Wind Barrier!"
Just as Paul-san's magic was completed and he pushed the rats against the wall with a wall of air along with the sparks, a roaring sound echoed from the depths of the hole.
The gunpowder Matilda had given us exploded, and the rats were blown away.
The big one seemed to be alive, but it was covered in blood, perhaps from being showered with its companions' blood.
"Roberts-sama, behold! This is the Marcelo Company's way of fighting!"
No, it's definitely not!
"Mary! One more! Do it!"
"U-Understood."
Mary, who had been surprised and knocked over, stood up and this time lit it with a flint before throwing it. When the gunpowder exploded at its feet, even the giant beast collapsed and stopped moving.
"What on earth is the meaning of this..."
Sir Stephens was staring blankly at the giant beast's corpse.
Just in case, Paul-san was slitting its throat with a knife.
"Just a little ingenuity. I cannot go into details."
Paul-san, whose hands had become bloody, was making a strained excuse.
"Do you people always do rat extermination like this?"
Roberts-sama was appalled. Of course, he must know about the gunpowder.
"No, it was just a coincidence."
"It was Mary's quick wit. Well done."
"No, it wasn't that much..."
She was fidgeting.
No matter how you think about it, the thing she threw was wrong.
Well, however, the result was okay. We successfully exterminated the giant beast, and the ordinary rats were caught in one fell swoop.
Even so, what on earth was this ghost...
"It might be cannibalism."
According to Paul-san, animals engage in cannibalism when their numbers increase too much and food becomes scarce. He says it's probably the same for rats.
"Presumably, they increased their numbers by eating the preserved food, but once they ate it all and started eating each other, the strongest one grew this big."
"Do they get this big? It's about the size of a boar."
"If it were a boar, it would be worth eating, but this thing is too dangerous to eat."
You'd definitely get sick. Only Will would try to eat it.
"However, the rats are in pieces, so I don't know how many we defeated."
If the number is unknown, it ends up being a no-count. We gathered the tails together, but no matter how we thought about it, there were few.
"There are fifteen decent ones. The ghost rat counts as one too, right? By the way, what should we do with that ghost's corpse?"
Even Beatrix was troubled.
"Want to use this?"
Mary took out an oil bottle from her storage bag, as if just remembering it.
The rats remaining in the nest were all ordinary ones. Most of them seemed to have gone to scavenge the scraps dropped underground, so we were able to exterminate them without much trouble. There was a huge hole in the floor, but Paul-san confirmed the safety by following a rope he lowered to the basement, and it was decided to fill it with soil and mortar.
The rats we defeated... those whose corpses with sufficiently long tails could be confirmed, were less than forty, including the monster rat. However, Sir Stephens insisted that the hundred rats he first mentioned was fine.
In the end, Roberts-sama told us to listen to our elders, and we received the reward for a hundred rats.
The next morning, after offering a funeral service, we used oil to burn the rats.
Since the bottles we usually use were nowhere near enough, we used oil and wood stored in the fortress to burn them grandly.
"Won't it cause a fire?"
"It's made of stone, so it should be fine. If anything happens, we'll have Mary extinguish it with water magic."
Fortunately, the piping seemed to be acting as a chimney, so we weren't engulfed in smoke in the underground waterway. It might be a mess up above, but we placed people and lined up buckets filled with water around the reservoir to prepare for the fire spreading. It'll probably be fine.
"What happens if you go down?"
"It connects to the moat."
We were all pretending not to notice, but it smells quite a bit.
"Huh? If that's the case, wouldn't it have been better to enter from there instead of going through the trouble of revealing the secret?"
"It connects to the moat deep underwater, and you have to dive through that unhygienic water to reach here."
In other words, if it becomes a losing battle, the defense tactics will fall upon oneself.
"Do you have to go that far to escape?"
"Of course. What's the point if you die?"
"No, I mean, why not just surrender?"
"How can one surrender so easily?"
"Why?"
"Think about surrendering and becoming a prisoner. I am a noble of sorts; the ransom would be quite a sum. That would become a burden for His Majesty the King."
I had an image of nobles surrendering easily the moment they seemed likely to lose, but Sir Stephens seems to be quite a man of integrity.
"Sir Stephens, I appreciate your feelings, but Medioland is a respectable country, so I believe we can manage the ransom."
"Gladys-sama, then this Stephens' pride as a knight will not stand. Firstly, Gladys-sama is already a member of the Sertorian Royal Family; I would like you to remain silent on this."
He spoke without mercy.
"See? He's an interesting fellow, isn't he? I often come to this fortress to drink, and I'm always lectured like this."
Roberts-sama was laughing as if it were amusing. Even though he was lectured, he probably didn't find it unpleasant.
But still, we also owe him for sixty rats.
"Um, Sir Stephens, may I have a moment?"
"What is it, Priest?"
"I heard that fortresses have a hypothetical enemy. Who is the hypothetical enemy of this fortress?"
"It is already decided. This fortress is a fortress that protects the Medioland border. The hypothetical enemy is, with all due respect, the Kingdom of Sertoria. Among them, it is Roberts-sama, who is at the nearest fortress."
He said it flatly despite the person himself being right in front of him.
Gladys-sama was sighing, but Roberts-sama and his attendants were smirking.
After all, it's a border fortress. I thought he'd say that.
"But, if the secret of this escape route has been discovered by that Roberts-sama, you can't escape, can you?"
"What are you saying? We will simply break through the enemy lines and escape. Surely, does the Priest also tell me to surrender?"
He glared at me.
"That's not it. If it's already known anyway, why don't we clean the water in the moat? Rather than breaking through enemy lines after going through the trouble of diving through dirty water, I think you'd both feel better if you challenged each other grandly in clean clothes."
"What, you say that?"
If it's already been exposed, there's no use hiding it. Besides, my words telling him to fight head-on seemed to resonate.
Sir Stephens' attitude changed.
"No, however, it is quite difficult. It is originally a moat and a waterway to the river dug by human hands. The flow is poor. Actually, the reason the moat water is dirty is also due to a problem with the construction when it was made. No, it's embarrassing."
I see. So the 'tactic' was an excuse.
"Why not just gather people for forced labor and do the construction?"
Gladys-sama said as if it were nothing.
"It does not work that way."
"Why not?"
"Forced labor would be a burden on the people of the territory. I am a man who only knows how to swing a spear. I am quite poor at territorial management. I have little savings of gold and silver, and even the food supplies were ruined by rats. Moreover, it has just become spring; the people have finally made it through winter and their lives have stabilized. If I were to impose forced labor now..."
I see. He seems to be a fairly good lord.
But, we have an expert in water and sewage systems.
"Paul-san. What do you think? How long will it take?"
"It would take a large amount of water to wash out this drainage channel, but if it's just to improve the flow between the moat and the river, it would take about three days."
"What, in just three days?"
Sir Stephens was surprised, but Paul-san just gave a single nod.
"As for the reward, let's see, this is the first foreign country for these girls. While I am doing the construction, could you give them a guided tour of your territory? Of course, during that time, please let them eat the local specialties and such."
It's probably in exchange for the sixty rats, but for us, it's a welcome offer.
Beatrix and Mary started smirking. Lyudmila was openly voicing her joy.
"What, with just that? Are you serious?"
"Ah, I forgot. An elderly couple I know wants to climb the mountain to the south of here. Could you let them stay in your territory until we return from Medioland?"
I see. Including the hush money, huh?
"That's perfect. Let's have that elderly couple help with Paul's construction. Sir Stephens, Roberts and I will look after the fortress, so could you guide these girls?"
Roberts-sama, the number one enemy of the fortress, said with a laugh, and our sightseeing was decided.