I'm Not the Heroine-Chapter 69

When we arrived at the Count’s mansion, a middle-aged man with white hair rushed out to greet us.

"Welcome, Hero party! However, there is a matter I urgently need assistance with!"

"I understand. First, let my companions settle in, and I will listen to the details."

"Please follow me!"

Aswell gave a subtle gesture to us and led the way, following the Count inside.

The rest of us followed the servants to unpack our things and made our way to the sitting room.

"So, recently, the frequency of monster attacks has been increasing..."

"I see. Ah, welcome back."

Aswell summarized the conversation he had with the Count up to that point.

In short, the monster attacks toward the Wintergard wall had been happening more frequently lately.

"Usually, it wasn’t much of a problem with two or three attacks a day. But since a week ago, we've been receiving four attacks in the morning alone, which is causing manpower issues."

Even though Wintergard’s guards were skilled at defense, they were still human.

Considering the fatigue that builds up from just one attack, they would need to rotate in large numbers to handle it.

But doing so would cause the costs for manpower and related resources to skyrocket, which is why the Count asked the Hero party for help.

"I would greatly appreciate your cooperation in eliminating the source of the attacks."

The Count didn’t expect the complete eradication of the monsters.

What he wished for was simply for the endless onslaught to lessen.

That was the Count’s request.

Aswell pondered for a moment before responding.

Given his personality and position, he wouldn’t refuse the request.

However, that meant we had to approach the situation as carefully as possible.

How could we finish this quickly while minimizing the damage?

"We will accept."

"Ah...!"

"However, I need to discuss it with my companions. It would be better for everyone to be involved in the decision."

"Understood. I’ll inform the guards so they can cooperate with you whenever needed."

After leaving the Count’s sitting room, we gathered in one of the rooms to start the meeting.

"Why are we doing this in my room?"

I complained, sitting on the bed with Lafiré clinging to me.

It made sense since the Hero party had arrived and my neatly unpacked things had become disorganized.

"If you’re worried about it getting dirty, there’s no difference. See? The magic tools are already all over the place."

"That’s not a mess, that’s ‘organization.’"

"Sure, sure. Or is it that we’re the ones making you uncomfortable?"

I lifted my head and glared at Lafiré, who had been resting her chin on mine.

Her smirk made her even more annoying.

Lately, she kept asking "Am I bothering you?" so much, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

"I’ll finish this quickly. Sorry."

"...You don’t need to apologize to Aswell."

We had all made mistakes, so it wasn’t solely Aswell’s fault.

"Now, let’s look at the map of the walls and mountains..."

"Ah, thank you, Louis."

As the meeting started, I raised a map of Wintergard in front of us, inscribed in golden letters, floating in the air.

At first, everyone was startled, but now they seemed used to it, poking at the map and discussing plans.

"All the attacks are coming from three directions: the northern mountains, the eastern mountains, and the canyon in between."

Each direction had different types of monsters appearing, and oddly enough, the attacks didn’t overlap, almost as if they were coordinated.

"Honestly, this doesn’t seem like a natural occurrence."

"Right. If it were natural, they’d have fought each other and wiped themselves out."

Once monsters show consistent behavior, it’s safe to assume it’s not just random; something else is at play.

"I suspect it’s the demons."

Demons.

When monsters start acting strangely, demons are often involved.

Even during the Alfares incident, monsters attacking the gates had been there.

I, too, suspected demons were behind this.

‘So, how should we deal with this?’

It’s clear that demons are involved, but what kind of demons, and how do we respond?

In fact, this was the crux of the matter.

How should we allocate the party’s six members to handle this?

Since the attacks were coming from three directions, if we only focused on one, there was a high chance the other two would be overwhelmed.

On the other hand, splitting up into two groups might lead to being defeated in detail.

Plus, we had to account for the defense of Wintergard, so we essentially had four targets to handle.

"Lafiré, it seems most appropriate for you to help with the defense of the walls. How do you feel about that?"

"Agreed. If the distance is right, I can also provide support from afar. But the problem is Aria."

As a holy woman, Aria was full of divine power.

Because of that, in situations like this, where the targets were scattered, she became difficult to place effectively.

If there was only one target, it would be easy to have her join in, but with too many large-scale, asymmetric targets, splitting her off would leave a significant gap.

"If only we could divide Aria into two..."

"Eeek! I’m sorry!"

"Just kidding."

At that moment, Lafiré gently rubbed my head with her chin and asked:

"Louis, what do you think?"

"Umm..."

I didn’t have a brilliant solution ready.

"Louis, don’t overexert yourself. You’ve also mentioned a trial you need to face."

Aswell defended me, so the weight of responsibility wasn’t pressing down on me too much.

But at the same time, as a member of the party, I couldn’t ignore the situation.

Then, Aswell’s words about the trial echoed in my mind.

"Trial?"

"Huh?"

"Everyone, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Of course, Louis. I knew you’d come up with something. I believed in you."

Ignoring Serelin’s mysterious confidence, I continued.

"Leave the defense of the walls to me. Well, more specifically, leave it to my magic tools."

If I had to choose between the trial and the request, why not tackle both at once?

The first part of my trial involved creating the vessel for the entity to inhabit.

To create a vessel for a god-like entity to inhabit?

It seemed like an impossible and absurd task.

So, I had to put aside the expectation that I would succeed immediately.

And I definitely shouldn’t try to make it too close to a divine body from the start.

Although I had a lot of magical knowledge, I had almost no experience with something like this.

‘For now, I’ll probably start with a simple doll.’

I wasn’t thinking of making a body out of flesh and blood, but rather something mechanical, like the form I saw in The Record.

In the end, I had to build a mechanical device to contain the entity, so I thought I’d start with a simple automaton.

"How about I create the first prototype for the wall defense?"

"Umm?"

Serelin frowned as if she didn’t understand.

"To put it simply, it would be a magic-powered mechanical guard."

This was also an answer to a question that had been swirling in my mind ever since I learned about fate.

If a powerful member joined the Hero Party, fate would be disrupted.

But what would happen if a strong member was created within the Hero Party?

This was my answer, the beginning of the trial, and the first step toward researching mechanical soldiers as a defense measure for Wintergard’s walls.

However, this meant my companions would need to help until the first prototype was complete.

"For now, we’ll focus more on defense than on the trial, so it won’t take too long. But since the design will take time, I’ll need your understanding."

The design for the mechanical soldiers was still just an idea.

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The form, weapons, operating principles—nothing was finalized.

I would work quickly, but I had no idea how long it would take until they worked properly.

"Louis."

Aswell looked at me and asked.

"Will it take more than a week?"

"No."

It won’t take that long.

"Then I don’t mind."

He chose a week because, though difficult, it wasn’t about the time as much as the schedule.

Other villages and cities also had requests, and above all, the Count and the citizens wanted a quick resolution.

But it wouldn’t take that long.

After all, if I just made it work temporarily, it would be fine.

"Then, I’m in favor."

"I’m in favor too!"

"Me too!"

"Same here."

Finally, Aswell joined in.

"If you need help, just ask, Louis. We believe in you."

"Thank you, everyone."

That evening, I started working on the mechanical soldier prototype with my companions’ help.