Goran stayed like that for a while . He was thinking about whether or not he should allow Serulis to go .
As we knew it was a serious matter, the rest of us remained quiet .
However, Grulf alone looked happy as he lapped at my hand .
And then Goran opened his eyes .
“Locke . Eric . ”
“What?”
“She will slow us down…are you fine with that?”
“…I don’t mind . You decide, Goran . ”
“I don’t mind either . Serulis is a good fighter . ”
“I’m sorry . ”
Then Goran looked at Serulis .
“Let me be clear . I don’t think that you are ready, Serulis . ”
“Yes . ”
“But if you still want to come with us, you have to understand what that means . ”
“Yes! I do!”
“Then you can come . ”
“Thank you!”
Once that was settled, I turned to Kathe .
“What about you? Will you come, Kathe? Or will you stay as part of the defense team?”
“Indeed… It is a tough decision . ”
Kathe said as she looked towards Leea, Grand Chamberlain Morris and Nia .
“Hmm . We don’t know how large a scale this attack will be, or if there will even be an attack… But I am sure your team will be fine, Locke . Considering all the possibilities, I think I shall stay here . ”
“I see . It will be a great relief to me to know you are here . ”
“Indeed . Indeed!”
Kathe said with satisfaction .
Leea also looked happy about this decision .
“So Sister Kathe is going to stay with me?”
“Indeed I am! And Nia can play with us too . ”
“Yes . ”
Nia said with a smile . Dorgo looked conflicted .
He wanted to scold her about wanting to play at such a time, but it was hard for him to do so in front of Nia .
“Your Majesty . Please show the appropriate amount of gravity towards the situation . ”
After mulling over it, he decided to admonish her not as his daughter, but as the ruler .
“I know that . Now, I would also like for Grulf to stay with us . ”
“Grr? Groof!”
But Grulf clearly wanted to go with me .
He now wrapped his paws around my right hand .
“Well, it looks like he’d rather come with us . ”
“I see . That is truly unfortunate . ”
I took Grulf’s paw and looked at him .
“Grulf . Are you sure? There will be lots of running you know?”
“Groof!”
“And lots of enemies…”
“Groof!”
His resolve could not be shaken .
After that, we prepared to attack .
Shia contacted the chiefs of the beastkin tribes and they made their own preparations .
Dorgo and Eric chose a shield and began the work of turning it into a teleportation device .
I called Philly from the mansion and she helped them .
Eric tried picking up the shield .
“It is a little on the heavy side…”
“Still, if we made it any smaller, it would not be usable as a teleportation circle . ”
Dorgo said . And he was an expert in such things .
“I see… Well, it cannot be helped then . I should be able to manage, even if it is a little heavy . ”
“Your Majesty, may I speak?”
Philly said in a very nervous voice .
“Philly . Say whatever you want . This is not a public place . You do not have to act like that here . ”
“Thank you . If we were to use a shield that was made of an orichalcum and mithril alloy instead of steel…”
“I see . Yes, that would be lighter without compromising its strength… Still, it will take too long if we had to buy one or search for one now . ”
“I have a shield from before that I made as a test . I can bring it to you now . If you wish it…”
And so it was decided that we would use an old test shield Philly had made .
In the meantime, I went with Leea and Grand Chamberlain Morris to inspect the area surrounding the settlement .
As I was sure that Grulf would run around and get tired, I made him wait at the palace .
“I have enhanced the intruder detection magic for now . ”
“Thank you . ”
“But it might get annoying, as it will detect every little weak monster that gets in…”
“Considering the circumstances, it is no problem . Thank you . ”
“However, it cannot detect deactivated magic machines, so please be careful . ”
“Yes . We will be very cautious . ”
I enhanced the magic and connected it to the bracelets that Leea and Morris wore .
“Thank you, Ruck . ”
“You be careful too, Leea . ”
“I will!”
And then we returned to the water dragon palace .
“Oh, Ruck . You’re back . ”
“Is that the teleportation shield?”
“It is . Pretty nice, eh? I think Philly has a knack for smithing as well . ”
Eric held the shield up and swung his sword in the air .
He was testing it to see how it felt .
It was a simple, undecorated shield that was practical and in a beautiful platinum color .
The teleportation circle that was connected to the shield was placed in a small shed outside of the settlement . It was then surrounded by magic barriers, just in case the enemy got their hands on the shield .
Just then, Shia came running .
“I have additional news from the beastkin tribes . It is about the location of the enemy base . They wanted me to tell His Majesty . ”
Shia pointed to the place on the map .
“Oh?”
“Not only is this area protected by lots of concealing magic, but vampires are crawling all over the place . ”
“Well, there is clearly something there . In any case, we can figure that out after we have crushed them . Give my thanks to the beastkin . ”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Shia began to talk to someone on her bracelet .
Apparently, the beastkin had them too .
I watched her and then said,
“Well then, we should hurry . ”
“I can take you on my back as a dragon . ”
Dorgo was fast enough that even if the enemy saw us coming, they would not have enough time to prepare .
“Let’s go then . ”
And so it was decided .