Chapter 338 - Episode Thirty-Eight - Pope Sateria (3)
Within the day, I was manufacturing the wooden dragon Quetzalcoatl in preparation for the planned assault on the Riveras Kingdom in three days.
Originally, I had thought that the schedule would take at least a month at this stage.
However, after a thorough review of manufacturing methods, manpower, and training methods, I found a new schedule.
If things proceeded according to this schedule, Quetzalcoatl would be completed in about a hundred hours.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t do more than that, but I hoped that everyone would do a better job than I had expected, and I would be able to complete it in about seventy hours.
I’m sure they’ll be fine, and I have faith that the members of the Alchemists’ Division can do it.
I’m currently controlling eight “Eyes of Marren” at the same time to manage the whole thing, pointing out things to look out for, and solving stuck tasks with magic and manual labor.
The Eye of Marren is a monitoring Ortem that was described in a book I once found in the Chief’s mansion.
A hole is drilled in the center of the totem, and a magic ore is embedded in it, with a single-eye pattern drawn on it, using the magic ore as the pupil.
As the operator, I can receive the visual information obtained by the “Eyes of Marren” as it is.
If there is a slow-moving worker, I can stand behind him and apply pressure at will.
It’ll be feared as the “Commander’s Eye” by the members and temporary workers.
Its combat skills are next to nil, but it can still easily subdue a sorcerer in close combat.
Some time ago, it was attacked with a wood carving knife by a member of the division who seemed to have reached the limit of his stress, but it was able to successfully fight him off.
As I was running through the hall, which had become a workshop, I saw Rinoa, the former vice commander, standing in front of me.
Rinoa, who usually has no facial expression, unusually has a combination of anger and frustration on her face, with her eyes strained and her mouth twisted.
“Commander! No, this is really no good! We’re all going to die! I wasn’t even told about this!”
With trembling hands, Rinoa holds up a sheet of paper to me.
It’s a schedule for the next three days.
I was afraid that if I gave it to them from the beginning, they would complain, so when the work was in progress, I distributed it using the “Eyes of Marren” only to the important people in the alchemy division.
“I’m busy right now …… how many seconds will that story take?”
“Stop it! I want this production schedule stopped right now!”
“Look, the longer I’m held up, the slower the whole thing is going to go. At this stage, we’ve already had a one-minute delay. I’m already a minute behind schedule at this point, so you’ll have to talk to Mea, the potion distributor, first. I’ve given her a response to most of the problems in advance.”
“Stop trying to cover it up by putting people in between! This is beyond what you can cover up with that!”
…… I thought I had taken steps, but I don’t think they’re going to agree with me.
“No, you’re too quick to give up. …… Because, It’s been less than four hours since I started this.”
From here, I still have to overcome two five-minute meal breaks a day and an hour and a half of sleep a day.
I haven’t even gotten in my first meal yet, which I feared might cause some grumbling.
“I say this because we haven’t even started four hours ago and here we are! Three of us are already down! This is no good! Absolutely not! Not one of them will survive! Even Vice Commander Alta looks like she’s having a hard time with three “Commander’s Eyes” all over her!”
That’s sweet, Rinoa. Five of them are down, to be exact.
I’m always on the lookout with my Marren eyes, so I know the whole story.
“You’ll be able to get a great deal of rewards from Peter! I also told you at the beginning that the time limit is three days, and I’m sure you all agree that the schedule may change as we progress.”
“No! This is no good! This is not what I heard! I didn’t even hear about being monitored like that! Up until now we’ve been taking turns taking breaks when we see an opening, and somehow we’ve managed to turn it around! It’s so oppressive, and just being watched is making me so tired!”
“Don’t worry! I have a special potion that I prepared for this occasion! Honestly, with that, I don’t have to worry about not sleeping for three days! And I’m allowed to keep my hands to myself while I drink the potion! Besides, everyone was so happy when they heard that Peter-san was going to give them a huge reward! Let’s get over this ……?”
When I was arguing with Rinoa, I saw the visual information sent to my brain by Marren’s Eyes, and I stammered.
I can feel the sweat gushing out from the back of my body.
When I remained silent, Rinoa narrowed her eyes and asked me.
“…… What’s wrong, Commander?”
“Altami …… Alta-san collapsed, blowing bubbles.”
“The Vice Commander!?”
Altamir is the key to this project.
To put it bluntly, the project to manufacture this wooden dragon Quetzalcoatl in three days is almost entirely mine and Altamir’s.
I thought she’d be fine since she’s been holed up doing research for almost a hundred years, so we crammed the work in forcefully and kept a close watch on her, which may have been a mistake.
“What …… are you even causing the spirit to collapse?”
I saw Altamir’s fingertips explode into a small burst of white sand.
The next thing I know, the edge of her ear burst.
I’ve never heard of stress or overwork, as spirit collapse is generally caused by an excessive supply of magic power.
“I-, I’m going to go check on Alta-san! It might be pretty bad! I’ll talk to you later at …… I know, I’ll consider it! I’ll even consider aborting!”
…… After that, I nursed Altamir back to health and somehow stopped the spirit from collapsing, and although she regained consciousness, she decided against returning to the project due to her strong will.
It took half a day to take care of Altamir, and during that time, most of the work was completely stopped, and we lost a major character.
Thus, the three-day plan to create Quetzalcoatl, the wooden dragon, was called off in less than a day.
“Abel, what are we going to do about this? It looks like it’s hopeless to recover Altamir and complete the wooden dragon within three days ……”
After that, I met with Peter again for a meeting.
“…… I think we should go without Altamir and the wooden dragon this time.”
“You know, we can still postpone it, right? I know I said that at the time, but it’s not like I’m in a hurry to get rid of them. There are some delicate issues involved, and if we make a mistake in our haste, we won’t even be able to look them in the eye. Levi is not as easy to deal with as you think, Abel-chan.”
“I know that. But the collector is a useful guy, don’t worry. In addition …… I’m also considering using Zolomonia this time after all.”
The Collector is the only person who has stopped Abel ball with a sword.
It’s not a problem that he hates me.
I’ve been preparing to buy him out behind the scenes for a long time, in case I need his help someday.
“So …… if Abel-chan is so sure, I’ll leave it to you ……”