I’m the Only Totem in Another World

Chapter 62: Paladin Training Plan （1）

With Rake, Paya, and Tteunteuni joining the fight, the demon worshippers were swept away.

Rake, moving freely between them, and Tteunteuni, shooting fireballs from the air.

The power of these two asymmetrical forces was enough to change the tide of the battle.

“We won!”

“Don’t let them escape!”

The siege ended in our victory.

We killed all the demon worshippers. They were nothing but puppets with no will of their own.

Even if we took them prisoner and interrogated them, we wouldn’t get the answers we wanted.

━ …

Sleepiness washes over me. I used too many blessings.

But there’s something I want to check before I sleep. I can’t sleep without knowing.

━ How did they get here?

“I’ll check it out!”

A few quick-footed soldiers move out.

I decided to wait, naturally standing next to Totem No. 1, and talk to Rake.

━ Good work. Did you take care of the lower demons too?

I forgot to mention it earlier. I was too preoccupied.

“I killed all four that were in the city. The spider-like demon called the others, so it was easy to deal with them.”

Lower demons? It probably only takes her a few seconds to kill them now, so she must have finished quickly and joined us.

As expected of Rake. She gets things done.

━ Are the warriors still fighting?

“Yes. It will take some time for them to return.”

━ Was there any particular threat?

Since the headquarters was attacked, I’m worried about the warriors in Bluethan.

“The quality of the troops there is lower than in Symphony. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

That’s a relief.

“Malak-nim!”

The soldiers who went to investigate return.

They say they didn’t come through the village. The Wheat Field Village near the castle was not attacked.

Then where did they come from? Did they fall from the sky? Sprout from the ground?

“We, we found a tunnel!”

One of the civilized soldiers who went further out came running back, panting.

No way, really from the ground?

I shifted my consciousness to Totem No. 3 and checked the tunnel with Rake.

“It’s wide. I don’t think it was made today.”

The tunnel was wide enough for four people to pass through at once.

Rake frowned slightly.

“It smells terrible. A Mole Demon… could it be something like that?”

━ It’s possible.

It’s definitely not dug by humans. It would be difficult to create a tunnel like this with the technology of this era.

When did they dig this?

“Tsk. The path is blocked, I don’t think we can go any further.”

Rake kicked the blocked path a few times and clicked her tongue.

They blocked the tunnel, anticipating we might follow them.

“Should I try to break through it again?”

━ Do you think we can track them?

“…It’s unlikely.”

━ Then it’s fine.

If Rake says it’s impossible, then it’s really impossible.

How long has he been watching us?

When we attacked Symphony? When we let the group of civilized people in?

…The attack on the city when our main forces were in Bluethan was no coincidence.

We have one more element of anxiety.

It’s not a distant threat like Karon or the Dark Cloud Demon, but an enemy close by.

For now, I named him the “Tunnel Demon”.

━ We need to expand our patrol area.

Oh, there is one piece of good news.

[There is a blessing you can learn!]

[Malak’s Domain （Lower）: Summons rain that weakens enemies. Enemies will be inflicted with status ailments such as anxiety, chills, and slowness.]

Finally, I have an area-of-effect debuff skill.

Ha.

It feels a bit weird to be complaining even though I’m getting something, but why didn’t it come out earlier…

▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

The Tribal Federation Headquarters went into a reorganization phase.

This incident taught us something. We’re good at attacking, but terrible at defending.

That’s because both barbarians and civilized people were more accustomed to running and surviving rather than defending when the enemy attacked their base.

We need to prepare a lot to stand firm in the next attack.

━ Bring the blacksmith.

The first thing we did was replace the castle gate.

This time, we’re going to replace it with an iron gate instead of wood.

We’re not going to make the whole gate out of iron, but cover the wood with iron.

I heard it’s hard to open and close if it’s all iron.

Fortunately, there was a civilized person who worked as a blacksmith, so the technical problem was solved.

“We need iron. The more, the better.”

━ Alright.

To fulfill the blacksmith’s request, I brought all the iron in the city.

Of course, only the unused ones.

We also reinforced the walls, but there was less damage than expected, so it seems like it won’t take long.

We placed jars and basins on top of the walls.

We placed them to pour boiling water when the enemy climbs up, but they can also be used for drinking when thirsty.

It was too precious to pour boiling oil on the enemy like we see in movies.

We’re also planning to install ballistae. It will take a lot of time, but it’s a necessary task.

Isn’t the ballista practically the strongest defensive & siege weapon in the Middle Ages?

If you can hit a vital point, you can even aim for a lower demon’s life.

“I can make it. It might break easily because I learned it haphazardly, but it should be able to fire dozens of shots.”

Harry knew how to make it. As expected of a wizard who has been supplying military weapons for decades （according to him.）

He’s a grandfather who’s good at everything except magic.

He said he could make it if we had enough time and materials.

━ Have we collected a lot of magic stones?

“The warriors obtained magic stones from the three magic towers in Bluethan. I think we might be able to open the Warp Gate if we gather a little more.”

The only thing we use magic stones for here is golem control.

Since we can’t make weapons using magic stones right now, we decided to invest in the Warp Gate.

Oh, we also built a palisade.

It’s like a fence made by driving wooden stakes into the ground, and it’s a facility that can reduce the enemy’s mobility.

“Why do the warriors have to do this? It’s dishonorable. I don’t like it.”

“Shut up and do it, Dodo! If you run your mouth one more time, you’ll become the ingredient for my blessing!”

It was done quickly because we mobilized the warriors as manpower.

Since it was a task that only required labor without any special process, it was completed quickly.

I did think about making something called a ‘moat’.

It’s a defensive facility that blocks the enemy’s approach by digging the ground around the castle and filling it with water.

It’s easy to think of it as a trench filled with water.

Harry insisted that we could make it by drawing water from the nearby river.

“An epidemic could break out in Symphony, no, the Tribal Federation.”

Rachel strongly opposed it.

“A moat can only maintain its original function if we continuously dig the bottom and reinforce the interior. If we don’t manage it like that, the water will easily become contaminated.

We lack the manpower to maintain a moat. To be honest, our hygiene conditions aren’t that good right now. If we install a moat, it will be a disaster.”

So, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. That’s convincing.

━ Alright.

Therefore, we decided to put the moat installation on hold.

Thus, the Tribal Federation ended up replacing the castle gate, repairing the walls, building ballistae, and installing a palisade.

━ Paya, can you write a letter?

I gave Tteunteuni the role of carrier pigeon again.

Now that we have a base, we can call in other tribes.

Since we can’t hand out mini totems to everyone, we’re going to distribute letters to other tribes so I can at least possess them.

Since he has to go to many places, I told him to just drop the letter if he sees a tribe.

It’s standard practice for a delivery person to come and go quietly.

“Tteunteuni, you understand?”

Cluck!

He’ll understand if Paya says it.

I didn’t write any important information in the letter, such as ‘We took over Symphony’, so it’s okay even if the enemy finds it.

I just wrote things like, ‘If there’s a priestess in the tribe, chant Malak’s name and pray’.

I left the patrol around the city to the soldiers and the search to Rake.

There’s a high chance that the Tunnel Demon will come back.

If Rake is nearby then, she’ll be able to kill him.

Paya and Muri are learning the Imperial language and writing from a civilized person who was a teacher.

Since they’ve already learned enough Imperial language to communicate, their learning speed is fast.

I’m thinking of having them teach the barbarians once they become proficient.

Unlike the barbarian writing, which is difficult to understand due to its lack of consistency, the civilized people’s writing has regularity.

They’re not called civilized people for nothing. They were the rulers of the world before the apocalypse.

I believe that our Tribal Federation also needs to know the language and writing of the civilized people in order to win the war and rebuild the world.

From the barbarians’ point of view, it could be seen as cultural invasion that defiles their traditions, but what can we do?

If the Loa tells you to do it, you have to do it.

Victory comes first.

So, after assigning tasks to everyone, I am currently…

“Malak-nim, shall we go to the mountain where the Blue Moss Tribe was?”

━ Sure.

…on a date with Rake.

…Well, it’s not really a date, I just moved to Totem No. 3 to help her with her patrol.

I have nothing to do after assigning tasks to everyone.

Besides this, all I can do is browse the community, but I thought it would be better to be Rake’s companion while she’s searching alone.

“…There’s a gathering of Infected. I’ll deal with them.”

━ Good.

Rake dealt with the Infected gathered in front of the cave.

“I feel a mysterious energy inside the cave. I also feel a presence.”

━ Can you tell how many there are?

Rake perks up her ears.

━ There’s one.

Wait a minute. This situation sounds familiar.

Infected gathered in front of the cave and one person inside.

Ah.

No way?

I checked the community.

There’s… a newbie who joined within 3 days?

[Petit Noah: Help me （｡•́︿•̀｡）]

Is this for real?