I had a hard time with this chapter because the author tried going with a diary style in this half of the chapter but kept on going back to his regular style. I tried rewriting/reordering stuff to make it consistent but I probably didn't do a good job…

Also, I keep on forgetting about this but if you're Vietnamese, my translations of this novel is being translated into that language by . I don't know how good it is though since I don't speak/read Vietnamese… I don't even know if they're still continuing since the last chapter they posted was on Nov. 11

P.S. The crossed out parts are the stuff Caam wrote in his journal but decided to erase/blacken out.

Chapter 47 Part 1: That time when I was stationed to help with the defenses but was actually the one in charge of odd jobs

TL: kizen
ED: Filip

I'm being openly hara.s.sed.
I was made to clean up the corpses in the moat by myself.
I had to make temporary repairs to the wall that was damaged by the catapult all by myself.
I checked the water channel leading to the moat was clogged up all by myself.
There was no one to change s.h.i.+fts with when I had to stand watch at night.
I couldn't even go to sleep the next day since I had to sort stuff out in the warehouse.
And let's not forget that they're not even giving me proper meals.
I wrote a detailed account of these things in my diary.

-1st entry-

3 days since we defeated the humans surrounding the fort

I woke up early, ate the same dull breakfast, then was a.s.signed to clean up the moat. After pulling out the sunk corpses out of the moat using my waterball, I extracted the arrows from their bodies, stripped off their armor, place them on a cart, then threw them in the area where we burned the other corpses the other day. I still need them to dry up so after piling them up, I moved on to repairing the damaged rampart.

I kneaded a mudball with just gravel and regular mud. I used that to fill in the holes located at different places of the rampart as temporary measures for the rain and the wind. They forced this task on to me by saying.

「You're just hired help so you do it. We soldiers need to be prepared since we don't know when the enemy will attack after all. And besides, your pay is already decided so shouldn't you work for it?」

The person himself brazenly said that in my face so I reluctantly agreed.

What about the prisoners you say? Unfortunately, since they've already completed their job, they already went back together with Yaoul-san and the others two days after the goods were delivered.

Although the cat-eared old man's wound was just starting to close, he was forcibly taken with them. Even most of the prost.i.tutes went back home. Only those who want to earn a bit more have remained in the front lines. The others took advantage of the carriage carrying the injured to go home so there are only a few of them left.

That's the reason why the task of disposing of the dead bodies was left to me. Keith has good eyesight so he was sent to the highest part of the fort as a lookout.

What's with this overwhelming sense of unfairness? Isn't this comparable to the black companies in my previous life? Well, I guess working in one of those companies would be better than going to the front lines.

I looked at the sun by chance while I was immersed in my work and noticed that lunchtime had ended a long time ago but I wasn't called to eat. What the h.e.l.l? No matter how you put it, this is making me want to start my own one-man rebellion.

It still took them about an hour before I was called. When I got to the mess hall, they looked pretty irritated while giving me a cold soup that doesn't have anything left in it, hard baked bread, and dried meat. Since it's already cold, I held the cup of soup in one hand and produced 【Fire】 in the other to heat it up before drinking it and eating the rest of my lunch.

It seems like they only give me my share after the soldiers have finished. Are they treating me like this because the unit who brought me is no longer here? I wouldn't be complaining if I at least have some help but since there's none I would like to say at least one. I'll just make sure to write everything down on a memo pad I'm using as a journal so I won't forget.

I also had to dispose of the corpses in the afternoon. Starting from the gate, I moved to the left going around removing the bodies from the moat. While I was doing that, I looked up and saw a familiar fox tail. It's the fox-eared prost.i.tute. So she didn't leave… While I was thinking that, she smiled and waved at me so I did the same in return. That gave me some of my motivation back.

Once evening came, I was able to finish cleaning up the corpses in the front and the left side of the moat. It's been a while since I felt this worn out from using up my magic. I was exhausted but as I thought, when I was called for dinner, I was still given the same treatment as earlier. To distract me from my exhaustion and annoyance, I'll just drink tea with brown sugar in it.

By the way, since they said there were no vacant rooms left, I'm just sleeping under the stairs so that I won't get in the way.

-2nd entry-

4 days since we defeated the humans surrounding the fort

While I was drinking tea last night, I received the announcement 【Mana Increase: 2】. Did it go up because I used up my mana yesterday? How much do I usually use anyway? I'm not really sure.

I pretty much did the same work as yesterday. If I had to say what was different, I guess I no longer had to repair the wall since I already finished that yesterday.

The corpses I gathered yesterday had already dried up so I tried asking for oil or something to use as an accelerant but they just told me:

「You can use magic so do it with magic. Don't waste oil」
「Even if it's dry outside, there's still a lot of water inside so that would be impossible」

We continued arguing about that till the sun had already set half way.

After that, I continued disposing of the dead bodies inside of the waterway until evening. Like I had expected, I was only called after all of the soldiers have eaten and it was still the same cold soup as yesterday. I was also given the same hard baked bread and dried meat.

Since I didn't use up my magic today, I went to talk with Keith. It seems like that guy gets called at the same time as the soldiers and receives warm soup.
Seriously, why am I the only one treated like this?

-3rd entry-

5 days since we defeated the humans surrounding the fort

「The humans blocked the water ca.n.a.l at the back of the fort so clean water doesn't flow into the moat. It might smell because of the stuff that collected there but it can't be helped, go and clean it up!」

I was some typical sounding stuff like that. It didn't bother me since I was planning to head there the day before anyway. Since I don't trust those guys, I'll just bring all of my luggage with me.

I walked for a while until I saw a river. A large amount of sediment has acc.u.mulated there blocking the water supply. I used magic to clear it off and after confirming that there's nothing that's preventing the water from flowing, I decided to head back. I'll just walk slowly though so that the soldiers are already done eating by the time I'm back.

Is it because it's already autumn? There's a fruit that looks like a mandarin orange growing near the river so I took some with me to eat. I'll just eat these as a source of vitamins.

I would have squeezed out its juices if I had some empty bottles with me but unfortunately, the only bottles I have already contain distilled liquor and oil so I'll just have to give up on that. If this was like my previous world, I could have just reused the PET bottles lying by the river. I guess I'll also bring the peel with me so that I can dry it and make herb tea.

I'm sure I'll get the same cold soup again so I'll just make tea beforehand. When I got back, I found out that I was being accused by the of pilfering the warehouse goods by the bald mouse-looking guy. It's a good thing that I didn't get my turn guarding it so they didn't have anything against me.1

-4th entry-

6 days after we defeated the humans surrounding the fort

They're still trying to mark me as a thief.
They've been calling me out for everything and keep on pus.h.i.+ng random work to me.
Keith also thought it was strange so he tried to talk with the soldiers but that didn't do anything. Although I think it would be nice if I get sent home, I'm not willing to do that at any cost.

□2

The guys finally stopped trying to mess with me so I was able to go stand watch with Keith.

「Iyaー, you can see pretty far away after all」
「Yeah, the vision you get here is the best」
「Shall we do our magic lessons then?」
「Oi oi, weren't you completely overworked up until now? You should just make this a day where you don't use magic」

Why are you trying to ask me to take a day off all of a sudden?

「Well, I just considered that as training. If you don't do that then you won't be able to master anything」
「……I guess that's true」

I just did as he said and sat on top of the tower cross-legged to try and come up with ideas. I thought of things and decided to create some kind of scope. An actual scope's internal structure is complex so I guess I should just go with something a bit simpler.

First, I need to make the objective lens. With magic, I produced 【Fluorite】 and shaped in an ellipse. Ahー, it's starting to look like a magnifying gla.s.s. It's also showing everything in reverse. Next would be the erecting lens that makes the image upright. The reticle is added to this part. After that is the ocular lens which makes the image visible to the shooter. What should I do about the reticle I wonder?

『Image ・ a red cross of light in the erecting lens ・ with red lines at fixed intervals below the center line ・ execute』

「Ah, it appeared. It looks exactly the same as the line you'd see when looking through a scope or ACOG」

I said that out loud without thinking. Well then, I guess I should try looking through it.

「Ahー, it's not coming into focus」

Because of that, I tried moving it around to fix it. While I'm at it, I also encased the scope in obsidian. Once it's showing the image properly, it's done.

「What are you doing?」
「It's still a secret」

After saying that, I took two thick logs and went outside then drove them in the ground until it was the same height as me and at 400 and 600 meters away from the gate.

「Hey, I'm back」
「I've been looking at you for a while now. What the heck were you doing?」

I decided to go all out and share with him my game knowledge.

「As a bow user, are you aware of a bird called a falcon?」
「Yeah. It's a famous bird for having good eyesight. It'll be able to see a mouse in the ground even though it's usually flying high in the sky」
「Then this would be easier to explain」

After saying that, I handed over the scope I made with magic earlier to him.

「Try looking through that」

Keith gave me a weird look as he tried peeking through the scope but it immediately changed into a look of disbelief.

「What's this…… What the heck is this!?」
「Let me explain. You see this small fine sand grains here?」

While saying that, I showed him the sand I gathered on my hand.

「Yeah」
「What happens if you look at this using this crystal made of fluorite?」
「It looks bigger」
「What about if you hold it like I did earlier?」
「Everything is upside down」
「It's upside down right now but if you add this 」

After saying that, I made Keith look through it with the erecting lens.

「It's upright now」
「It can even make farther objects look even bigger if you add this plate-like crystal」
「No way…… You can see things at a distance clearly……」
「That's what this is for」

After saying that, I handed the scope again to him.

「Those floating crystals you showed me are inside of this right?」
「That's right」
「What about this line?」
「That is what indicates the center of what you are looking at」
「What about the lines at the bottom?」
「You saw those logs I propped up right? The first one is 400 paces away so if you align the top of the log with the long horizontal line, the center should be at the 2nd line from the top」
「Yeah」
「If you do the same with the other one at 600 paces away, the center should align with the 3rd third line from the top」
「That's true……」
「It basically lets you know how far your target is」345
「………it disappeared」
「I made that with magic so it would disappear once it runs out」
「What's with that!」

I created two【Obsidian Knives】 and placed it on the ground.

「To put it simply, for some reason, things that are produced out of nothing using magic would eventually disappear. It does that even quicker if it receives any impact」

After saying that, I took one of the knives and used it to hit the ground. After doing that 4 to 5 times, the knife disappeared into thin air.

「It would disappear immediately if it received a strong blow so you can only use this to defend against a sword or axe once. Even if we just leave this lying here in the ground, it would eventually disappear after a while」6
「No s.h.i.+t! Can you make me one?」7
「Well, do you have crystals and transparent fluorite as well as a way to polish it while making sure that it doesn't break?」
「If it's someone from the dwarf race then……」
「It's probably impossible right? Even if they can make it, wouldn't it be really expensive? Wouldn't it be better if you just learned magic?」
「Hmmー…… I'll think about it」
「Just let me know whenever you've made your decision. You should remember that if you do decide to learn it, you'll be able to make these things even when I'm not around」

After that, I decided to test out the scope.

「Keith, don't tell anyone about the magic you'll see here. Do you swear on whatever G.o.d's name you believe in or to your parents or a respected master?」
「What the h.e.l.l are you talking about?」
「Just say whether you'll swear or not」

I said that in a serious tone instead of my usual light-hearted one.

「I don't know」
「I see. Well whatever, just keep looking at those logs」

I produced a stone bullet while Keith wasn't looking then tried looking at the flags hoisted on the corners of the rampart to check the wind direction. Since it doesn't look like there's wind blowing, I guess I'll just aim my dot sight at the center of the log then.

I hit it. I don't know exactly where but I can see that my shot caused the log break in two. I hit it just a bit below the center point I guess.

「What was that?」
「I used my magic to hit it」
「Even though I didn't see you cast anything?」
「Oh but I did. Anyway, next will hitting the next one」

The bullet dropped a bit when I aimed at the center of the log at 400 meters away so this time, I'll try aiming near the top. This log's height is quite smaller than the one at 400 meters so I placed my left hand on my right shoulder, and my forearm on my cheek as a makes.h.i.+ft gun stock. After that, I looked through the scope, aimed at the log then took deep breaths.

Suuーーーー Haaーーー. Suuーーー Ha

After the last exhale, I held my breath, counted for 10 heartbeats, then launched my 【Stone bullet】.

This time, I was able to hit the center. Good thing I didn't miss.

「How are you doing that!? The log broke again!」
「You can just say that I hit it using magic but at the same time, you could also say that I'm not actually hitting it with magic」

After saying that, I got up and brushed off the dust on my clothes.

「Well, I guess it's just like an arrow you can't see. Now let's go eat our lunch. I'll probably get warm soup if I'm together with Keith」
「……sure」

As we were about to go to receive our meal, the bald mouse approached us said.

「Caam, you're still on watch. Go back!」

Hearing that, Keith replied to oppose him.

「Let me go back then. Caam, you can just go ahead and eat before me」

After that, the bald mouse just stormed off with his face reddened.

「Haa…… What should we do with this blatant hara.s.sment?」
「Don't worry about me. Thanks for your concern」

It's been a while since I was able to have a filling and warm soup without me having to heat it so I immediately poured it into my stomach. It has been decided that Keith will be the one to change with me.

「Caam, you will be on lookout tonight! We don't have anybody to switch with you so you'll have to work hard till morning! Make sure you don't miss anything!」

The other soldiers were looking at me like they're looking at a crook.
Keith looked like he wanted to say something but I looked him in the eye while shaking my head to convey to him that he shouldn't bother.
This guy…… I could poison or a.s.sa.s.sinate him but I can't since I would immediately get blamed. I guess I'll just do it even though I don't want to.

While thinking that, I went to the highest point of the fort to come up with even more ideas for my new scope magic. I know the theory behind infrared and night-vision scopes but I'm not sure what image I have to use. Because of that, those will just have to wait until I manage to come up with an idea.

I wonder why I'm suddenly getting a.s.signed to stand watch at night without any relief.

-5th entry-

7 days since we defeated the humans surrounding the fort

I was up all night so I'm really sleepy. However, I'm not able to sleep because I'm stuck with sorting out the items in the storage room. They probably intended for me not to sleep. I'm currently at my wit's end right now because, at this rate, I'm going to be forced to stand watch tonight as well.

It's night time and as expected, I was ordered to stand watch.

There's no way I wouldn't get mad after all of that so I took some of those plants that cause addition when smoked, shredded them, then I snuck into that guy's room in the middle of the night. Once there, I lit up the leaves, blew on it until it smoke came out, then left it under his bed. It wasn't hard to do that since he didn't lock his door and there were no witnesses either.

-6th entry-

8 days after we defeated the humans surrounding the fort.

The other soldiers looked like they were starting to worry about me but they still didn't say anything. They would probably get in trouble if they did.

I'm starting to feel like the taste of the dried meat they're giving me is getting thinner.
As usual, they didn't call me for lunch while I was standing watch, but this time, they didn't even give me bread when I went there myself. Keith was really angry at that but I just didn't think about it.

Before I noticed, it was already evening.
Keith came over to tell me to sleep so I just did as he said. My head is starting to hurt.

By the way, as dawn was starting to creep in, a certain room was once again being filled thick smoke.