— Hikari —
[Height : 5.7 metres]
[Weight : ~5 tons]
Hikari steps out of her chambers.
She stretched herself and did several high knees.
The salamander armour supports her joints and compresses her muscles.
"Time to go."
She reaches the gate facing the train station.
Carts were lined up for her. Two columns of ten. Twenty in total.
It would take two or three dozen horses to pull them.
She would be back to the estate before a late breakfast.
The carts contained her enchanted musket balls and steel sheets which the forge could now refine.
A cartful of rifles and armour and many more that the primarily agriculture kingdom needs.
She could produce more than the RazenHeir army at the front needed to repel sporadic ghouls and hold on long enough for her to show up for the larger waves.
But Herdial seemed to need a never-ending supply.
The wheels rumbled against the gravel as she set up.
She returned to the starting point. The morning sun was up but it was not yet noon.
The merchant handed the RazenHeir scribe a chest with a satisfied grin.
Another pair of columns was ready for her to tow.
She chewed down her dried rations and got ready.
…
She returned to her chambers after a long day.
Ten back and forth trips between the RazenHeir estate and the train station.
Carrying tons of supplies back and forth.
It was the most physically intense day she has had. The extra muscle she put on made this possible. Her stamina had improved a lot from all the physical labor.
"Ria."
She blurted out into an empty chamber.
Her eyes checked around for any signs of life. She raised her mana sense.
Ria is a pure blood knight whose form wouldn't escape her senses.
Nothing.
She stripped off her armour, took a shower and went to bed.
…
"Scout master. What's all these?"
Hikari looks at the crate of curious devices.
"Traps. You enchanted them, didn't you? It's hard to cover a large frontage with scouts and riflemen as ghouls can kill them. So I want you to drop some traps. One trap is enough to kill a ghoul and save a farmer or two."
"I see."
"The areas around the strongholds are already laid. We are going to fill the gaps with mines."
Hikari nods.
…
She arrives at the front in just under two hours.
Opening one crate, she hurled the contents and scattered them with a telekinetic blast.
The lopsided contraptions land on their tip and stick themselves into the ground.
She could sense the RazenHeir mana. When a ghoul crawls past, the trap will ignite the beast with its flames. The RazenHeir flame would consume its flesh before it could go much further.
"Meow."
She could hear the faint sound of a wind vortex.
Steps. Heavy ones. Sounds like a horde of ghouls.
She drew her dagger.
The horde soon came into view.
As she was just about to release her dagger, she noticed a beastkin running at the front of the pack.
Hikari could see a cluster of RazenHeir mines directly in the way of her path.
"Watch out."
She projected her voice. She was sure the beastkin could hear her.
But it kept running.
Just before it hit the mine cluster. It engulfed itself in a vortex of wind, lifting itself off the ground over the mine field.
The ghouls following her trigger the mines, setting themselves on fire.
The beastkin only had to run for a little more distance before the RazenHeir flames consumed their flesh.
Once the ghouls were dead, the beastkin clawed into their flesh and pulled out their mana stones.
"Oh meow! It's Hikari!" The beastkin pressed her nose close to the ground, sniffing out and avoiding the mines Hikari had just laid.
Her nose touches the tip of Hikari's boot.
"Lady Camilia."
The beastkin purred as she crawled around Hikari's boot, rubbing her fur against the wyvern skin.
"It's dangerous."
"Well, that's because you drop these mines all over the place. Is that da bounty man's idea? It's setting my fur on fire more than those ghouls."
"Ah."
Camila scratches the back of her ears with her hind legs. Then she leaned her nose onto Hikari's boot and sniffed, seemingly unfamiliar with the smell.
"Anyways, Meow still thinks those mines are useful. But tell you what. Put them in a cluster."
Hikari focused in. Telekinetically, she pulled out the mines she just laid and placed them in a tight cluster around her.
The beastkin sniffed around the area. She picked up a sign board and scratched a picture of a skull and two bones into it before hopping back to Hikari and sticking the signboard onto the ground.
"There! Now my pack can find the mines. The stupide ghouls can't read what da signs say and run into them haha."
"Nice."
…
You're doing great Hikari. Your transportation services cleared months of delivery backlogs. The ammunition you produced is letting me hold my front well. You won't find me in my escape pod anytime soon. I read the farm progress report. Based on the acreage you cleared, I doubt we can lift rationing, but I don't believe we would be starving. I think your Lady can return and find the territory in good shape. Signed Rey hearthstone.
Hikari towed the plow across the field.
Her boots offer her better grip across the soft ground.
"Another field done."
She picked up her plow and started moving to the next field.
The holes where she uprooted the tree stumps the day before were still there.
No matter, when she steps across the field, her boot prints would leave sinks to be covered later.
Strange. She could hear the singing of a marching troop approaching.
As she began her plow, the RazenHeir recruits in their training attire appeared.
"Look straight! I know where all of you are looking. You better squeeze those legs tight or I'll squeeze them for you!"
"Drill master."
"Oh hello there Hikari. We see how you have been plowing the fields every day. This will be our training regime from now on. Truth be told, I always knew that plowing the field is great for the body. I just can't find a good excuse to make them do it. So good job there Hikari! Hahahah!"
The recruits began work on the fields.
Hikari's plow had mostly softened the ground but her large size had left the fields rather uneven.
The recruits filled up her boot prints with their shovels.
They brought shovels of a dark mix supplied by the Rothenmore house and plastered them in neat rows in the field.
They pierced holes into the moles.
A squad of young girls showed up soon after they had moved on to the next patch with small bags of seed.
Carefully, they dropped the seeds in and closed up the holes.
"Time for lunch."
Hikari picks up her plow and begins walking back.
The earlier fields she had plowed had already sprouted.
The farmers were busy building fencing around them.
"Ah! Holy Silora's Butt! Those rodents are here."
Hikari turned her head and saw a family of brown rodents peering through the fence.
They darted off as the farmer rushed them with his shovel.
She kept marching. It wasn't a problem she could deal with.
"Gidiyup horsey! Meow."
"Lady Camilia?"
She was riding a wooden cart.
There was a wooden box behind her. Wide breathing slits carved onto its sides. Hikari could sense movements from inside the box.
"Oh hey, Hikari. You've been farming beans haven't you?"
The wooden box behind her rattled.
"Hey! keep it down back there!"
She kicked the box.
"Ria just sent word to me. Heh. she knows she can count on me."
Meow. Meow. Meow. Squeaks came from the wooden box.
"Alright! Alright! We're here. Remember! Before I let ya all out, remember! Be back before dark. Do not wander too far north. Or the big bad flesh monsters will eat you!"
Meow. Meow. Meow. More excited squeaks came from inside.
Scratching sounds against the wood.
Clink! Camilia opens the lock.
Like an avalanche, a swarm of furry windranger younglings pushed down the door with their weight. They scurried off into the fields and forests.
"Remember to bring them back to meow! We'll roast them before eating. So meow doesn't get tummy pains!"
…
The sun was setting.
Hikari was walking back to the estate.
She put her plow back in the shack.
As she neared the estate, the head maid was waiting outside.
Her smile had gotten rather sarcastic of late.
"Welcome back Hikari. Though we greatly appreciate the work you do for the estate, it is also important to maintain good hygiene. So! Please take a detour into your hanger station. Your pit crew is waiting. After that, we are ready with a fresh change of clothes for you."
"Yes, madam."
She entered the station where she would be sanitized after returning from the front. There was no need to scrub her of possible poison.
It was just the usual mass produced soap and cold water much like the one she uses in her own chamber.
But it at least cleans off most of the stench from her sweat.
She lifts her boots one at a time to allow her pit crew to scrub off the mud trapped between the seams on the bottom.
The fresh set of clothes floated off the carts and assembled themselves on her body.
"Gosh, your clothes are really heavy. I'm sure glad that we have no shortage of recruits willing to volunteer for the task."
The head maid scoffed.
"Now, chop! chop! Get the laundry to the wash bay asap. Oh, and Hikari? Keep your boots on and go air your socks in your own chambers. Toast them on the stove if you need to. I bet the smell is enough to wake the statues of the spire city after you have worked in the fields the whole day."
Hikari walked back to her chambers. Her legs and feet were actually sore from working in the fields all day.
She bent forward and touched her toes.
She wriggled her toes in her boots as they felt a little numb.
The curtain to her chambers opened.
She walked in.
[physique : 1000+ -> 1000+ (+30)]