Published: January 12, 2026
He looked to be of a respectable age, but was full of strength.
That was the impression I had when I saw King Dino, the ruler of the country.
By the way, standing behind him was Prime Minister Marquis Aperta, who had a slender and somewhat mean-looking demeanor. For some reason, he kept wearing a sly grin, which was quite unsettling.
And then there was another person—an exquisitely handsome boy who could easily be mistaken for an Elf. The boy, who looked around with curiosity, clearly bore the blood of King Dino. His name was Pista En Tsora Berlinate.
A prince, huh. Damn it, he’d look great riding a white horse, and that made me jealous.
Thinking that, I led the king as he immediately ordered me to show him around the village.
First, we headed to the Origo Tower, the watchtower at the entrance of Seato Village.
“It’s quite tall,” King Dino remarked.
“It’s at a high altitude, so it’s useful for getting a full view of the village,” I replied.
The king said, “I see,” and silently followed. His entourage consisted of Aperta, Pista, a stern-looking man who seemed to be the captain of the royal guard, and Panamera.
On my side were Til, Kamushin, Arte, and Dee. Espada looked like he would die if he had to climb the tower due to his poor stamina, so I had him stay behind.
Breathless, we reached the observation deck where we could see widely around us. The sky was almost cloudless, and the view was superb. The highway and grasslands stretched out before us, with a forest and a majestic mountain range visible in the distance.
There was also the newly built adventurer town, a neat star-shaped fortress wall, and the square fortress city in the center. Beyond that was the lake where Apcaluru lived.
Looking at it all again like this, it surprisingly looked like it could work as a tourist destination.
Hmm. Maybe I should introduce it to King Dino as a tourist spot.
“Well, the small village you can see from here is Seato Village, where I initially became the lord. When I first arrived, it was full of wooden fences and dilapidated houses, but now it has a decent level of defense. The castle walls, gates, and moat are the key defensive features, and the ballista installed atop the walls serve as the main offensive element.”
“Ballista, huh. Some castles and forts have them as a defense base. But I don’t think they’re that practical,” King Dino said.
Aperta, who was also out of breath, nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. Ballista are designed to attack targets of a certain size and distance, but the reload time after firing is not negligible. They’re not exactly easy to handle.”
Despite expressing negative opinions, King Dino and Aperta looked at us as if they were watching something interesting.
I wondered what they were expecting.
“...Well then, let’s try it out.”
With that preamble, I looked down at the castle wall.
“Bola! Fire one shot toward the forest!”
Giving the order, Bola, who was on top of the wall, raised his fist in response.
Then, Bola fired two arrows in quick succession toward the forest. The sound of launching and the whistling through the air echoed clearly. The arrows roughly felled trees in the forest again.
Several large trees toppled, and the ground trembled.
To be honest, it was quite plain. It might be more impressive if armored lizards came, but that rarely happened.
That’s what I thought, but surprisingly, the gallery’s excitement rose.
“...Indeed, the power and range are astonishing. And firing two shots consecutively is unexpected.”
“This is interesting. Being able to attack that much without relying on top-class archers or magicians is wonderful.”
The two were clearly enthused. Incidentally, Pista was also delighted by the view of the walls and the ballista.
Good, this is a solid start.
“So, what else is there?”
“Anything else?”
I asked back instinctively at King Dino’s question.
That was about it for village defense. There wasn’t much else.
While I was at a loss, Aperta cleared his throat lightly and pointed to the ground.