"The enemy is quite capable, aren't they?"
Refa spoke in a voice that sounded almost impressed.
Just moments ago, five stone blocks and a battering ram had slammed into the physical barrier nearly simultaneously. The shock of the impact had caused the Magi Machine generating the barrier to fluctuate for a split second.
"The intended output isn't being achieved because the free ether concentration is too low."
All the Magi Machines inside the fortress had been designed to operate at the free ether levels present during the Great Magic War. Consequently, the output was unstable at the concentration levels of the modern era.
That being said, the level of technology involved was so far beyond anything in the current age that, under normal circumstances, the fortress should have been completely inviolable.
"It will be dangerous if a load above a certain threshold is applied," Refa concluded.
She decided to offer her advice to Orange.
"Lord Orange, let us launch an attack of our own."
"Hmm? I'm all for that, but how do you propose we do it?"
"We shall have the golems throw rocks from the roof of the fortress."
"I see. But what about the barrier?"
"We will deactivate the barrier for a single instant, timed precisely with the moment they throw."
Orange gave a satisfied nod at the explanation.
"Interesting. Very well, do it!"
"As you wish."
The simultaneous assault by the five ballistas and the battering ram had been carried out five times now.
"It's working. The barrier seems to be getting a little unstable."
The Nostalgia technician, Chiharad Sauto, used his sharp senses to perceive the changes in the barrier.
"If we repeat this two or three more times, it will likely shatter."
"I certainly hope so," Marshal Carter replied.
But at that moment—
"Enemy golems on the roof!" a soldier shouted.
"What!?"
Looking up, they saw six combat golems lined up on the roof of the fortress, each holding a rock roughly the size of a human head.
"They couldn't possibly intend to throw those... How would they even get them through their own barrier?"
While Marshal Carter was still voicing his suspicions, Chiharad immediately realized the enemy's intent.
"Ballistas! Battering ram! Retreat, now!"
However, the ballistas were in the middle of preparing to fire and could not be moved immediately. It would still take a little over a minute before they could launch their next volley.
While the battering ram alone began to pull back, the enemy golems let fly their stones.
"D-Dammit!"
Chiharad realized that the barrier had been deactivated for that precise moment. He bit his lip in frustration, thinking that if only one more ballista had been ready to fire, they could have struck the fortress while it was vulnerable—but it was too late.
The rocks thrown by the golems struck the five ballistas. Only the battering ram managed to escape damage.
One ballista was completely destroyed, two suffered moderate damage, and the remaining two sustained minor damage.
"Forget the broken one! Pull the other four back!"
Marshal Carter bellowed at the top of his lungs, seeing the golems preparing for a second throw.
The stones flew again.
Two of the ballistas managed to retreat in time, but the remaining two were struck again and rendered useless.
"Ngh, to think they would resort to such a tactic."
Marshal Carter spat the words in frustration, but there was nothing more he could do for the moment.
"In that case, let's fit the remaining ballistas with long-range bolts and keep them ready to fire at a moment's notice," Chiharad proposed.
They positioned the ballistas at a distance of 250 meters—the very edge of their effective range—and kept them trained on the fortress.
Since the golems in the fortress had to drop the barrier to throw stones, the Kingdom Army would wait for that exact timing and fire their bolts. By leaving the operation of the ballistas to their own golems, they could remain in a state of constant readiness around the clock.
However, the forces inside Fort Crow seemed to have caught on to the plan. They left two golems on the roof with rocks as a deterrent, while the other four withdrew.
The two camps glared at each other, locked in a complete stalemate.
"...And that is the current situation."
When Laojun finished his lengthy explanation, Jin let out a soft sigh.
"Phew. Honestly, it's just one problem after another..."
"Father, let's just leave them be and build a spaceship instead."
In response to Jin's sigh, Reiko made a suggestion.
"Wait, a spaceship? What's that?" Elsa asked, reacting to the unfamiliar term.
"Oh, well, I've just always wanted to see space. You know, the moon in this world is such a mystery, and they say a long-period planet is going to pass by soon. Since we already have the 'Watcher' flying up there, I figured we could probably build a ship to go there too."
Jin looked somewhat like a husband who had just been caught buying a hobby item without his wife's permission.
"...I want to go."
"Eh?"
Jin wondered if he had misheard her.
"I said I want to go. To space."
To his surprise, Elsa also felt a longing for the stars.
"Right? You want to go too! Alright!"
Jin's excitement soared, though it wasn't quite clear what he was agreeing to.
"My Lord, I have actually already developed several new mines."
Laojun chose that moment to interject with some unexpected news.
"Really?" Elsa asked, her interest piqued.
"Yes. As you know, we have been surveying undersea resources for some time. We recently discovered several promising seabed mines."
He had apparently been waiting for the right moment to report this.
"Well done!" Jin praised him unreservedly. "With that, Elsa won't have anything to complain about, either."
"Yes. We have more than sufficient stockpiles."
"...What?"
Hearing the exchange between Laojun and Jin, Elsa felt as though she had been struck over the head.
(Me...? Is that... how he thinks of me?)
"The main resources being mined are iron and nickel. While light silver is still relatively scarce, we have already extracted more than the total amount My Lord used over the past year."
"Oh, that's incredible!"
"Yes. We have expanded the Mermaid unit to a thousand-unit system to maximize efficiency."
"I see. You've done a great job."
"Shall we begin prototyping the spaceship, then?"
"Yeah. Let's start by using golems as the crew. We'll need to thoroughly iron out the safety... and the habitability."
"Understood."
"Now, as for the specifications..."
Jin was joyfully hammering out the details of the spaceship with Laojun.
However, none of it reached Elsa's ears. She could hear the words, but her mind refused to process them.
(Me... I'm... a burden...?)
Turning pale, Elsa collapsed where she stood.