Chapter 2: Scout
Chapter 2: Scout
WITH the founding of their new empire out of the way, Takuto and Atou immediately started what would’ve counted as a domestic affairs turn in-game. They sat on the stone dais and considered their first move.
“Mynoghra is a mild-mannered, peace-loving civilization that governs over evil and ruin. We need to start by basing our strategy around those facts.”
“You are absolutely correct, my king! In other words, we must avoid being detected. That’s the golden rule during early game, right?”
“Right! We don’t know where we are, but gathering information without letting anyone find us is our first move.”
“I completely agree! Your tactics never cease to amaze me, my king!”
Takuto returned Atou’s sparkling, expectant gaze with a wry smile, then took stock of their current position. About 150 feet around the stone dais was a clearing where only flowers grew. Beyond that lay a dense overgrowth of trees.
The local tree species had complex roots that bulged out of the ground, making it difficult to navigate. The trees were also monstrously tall, and Takuto had no knack for tree climbing. It was foolish to expect that from a former patient of the Intensive Care Unit for Rare Diseases.
I doubt Atou can climb either, and I don’t feel comfortable sending her to scout the area…
Eternal Nations players started the game with a base and scout units, but Takuto didn’t see anything like that around. Atou was classified as a combat unit, so she wasn’t equipped for exploration. As it was, her current stats were abysmal, and Takuto wanted to take every precaution possible.
In other words, there were only a limited number of moves he could make right now. Even in this situation, there was still a path. It was only a matter of time before the thousands of in-game actions he’d repeated gave him a hint.
“I guess our best move here is to use Emergency Production.”
Atou immediately reacted to his words. “Emergency Production? I certainly remember a skill like that.”
Takuto shifted his gaze toward her voice and nodded when she peered searchingly into his eyes.
As a strategy game, Eternal Nations has several types of main resources and sub-resources. Mana is one of them, and it is the most carefully managed strategic resource alongside Food and Materials. Basic gameplay consists of making your empire prosper by producing and managing various facilities and units with these three main resources.
Among those, Mana has similar properties to Currency and Energy in other games. Emergency Production is a skill that uses Mana to instantly produce any units or buildings. Of course, this useful skill came with disadvantages too.
“Ugh, Emergency Production is such an inefficient use of Mana. Heck, it’s a complete rip-off. I seriously don’t want to use it when we don’t have a way to produce more Mana yet…”
Takuto heaved a heavy sigh while scratching his head. The fact was, he didn’t have a better alternative. Atou was also groaning with her arms crossed, but neither could come up with an ingenious plan to overcome their present predicament. As it was, their current situation was different from the game, leaving them at an impasse.
“If we must, we must. How much Mana do you have total, my king?”
“About 200 if we go by game logic. We’ll blow right through it.”
In-game, resources are displayed with numbers. This was a video game concept, but Takuto could mentally convert what he had into those numbers. It made him dizzy to think he only had 200 Mana when he was used to having tens of thousands by endgame.
“Only 200? Then we want to make every drop count. With that in mind, what should we produce?”
“I considered a Base or a Mana Plant, but I want to start with a Scout.”
Takuto and Atou both knew complaining about their situation wouldn’t get them anywhere. Perhaps having someone else there to make decisions with was part of why they could both calmly think things through.
Despite experiencing the absurd situation of suddenly waking up in an unknown world, Takuto could adeptly form a strategy.
He chose information gathering as his first move. He couldn’t take any risks when he didn’t know what kind of world he was in. So he decided to learn more about it.
Takuto shifted his gaze back to Atou and asked, “Are you good with that?”
“Yes,” she responded.
There was no way she would ever question his decision when she trusted Takuto unwaveringly. Still, he wanted to check with her. Her opinions mattered to him.
“Here we go! Emergency Production: Scout!”
Takuto took the plunge. With his shout, a torrent of invisible energy gathered in front of him and something appeared from the distorted space. The thing appeared, covered in goo like a baby from its mother’s womb. It looked up at Takuto when it fell on its wobbling legs and let out a cry.
“GYEEEEEEEE!”
The torso resembled a praying mantis without the raptorial forelegs. Its legs were also much thicker and grotesquely longer than a mantis’s. The cockeyed creature wouldn’t stop emitting a nervous, high-pitched cry as its eyes rolled around, taking in its surroundings.
This was the Scout unit Takuto summoned—Long-legged Bug.
“Disgusting, huh?”
“It really is…”
Takuto’s immediate reaction to his first subordinate was disgust. Seeing as Atou shared the sentiment, clearly, this bug didn’t have a very agreeable appearance, even for the Civilization of Ruin.
Growing sick of gawking at the trembling Long-legged Bug with its restlessly rolling eyeballs, Takuto turned back to the girl, who was much easier on the eyes.
“Aren’t you used to these from seeing them in-game, Atou?”
“I also saw them only as you do in the game—as 3D images… The real thing is a bit much.”
“I see. Want to touch it to celebrate the moment?”
“No way! Why don’t you touch it, King Takuto?”
“I don’t want to touch it either!”
“Then why would you suggest I do it?!”
“Just thought it would be funny.”
“My King is such a bully!”
“Sorry!”
They playfully joked around. Meanwhile, the Long-legged Bug silently stood in place with its big, round eyes darting around. Of course, he—the Long-legged Bug—was only waiting for orders. But something about his grotesque appearance and huge eyes made him look like he was judging them. Realizing that with a start, Takuto and Atou cleared their throats at the same time.
“Well then, my little bug friend! I command you, in the name of the glorious Mynoghra, to go check out the area around us! Avoid contact with all other life forms. Surveying is your main task.”
“Complete your mission in a manner that does not disappoint our great king, Takuto Ira.”
“GYEGHYEEEEEEEEE!”
Long-legged Bug let out another piercing, inhuman cry before zooming off into the dark forest in the creepy-crawly way only bugs possessed. As they watched him go, Takuto and Atou both sighed with a mix of emotions.
“I was a little worried at first, but it looks like it’s following orders like a proper unit. How’s it working for you, King Takuto?”
“I can share its vision to a certain extent. The information it gathers is beamed back into my head, too… Haha, it really is like the game, but with my brain acting as the computer screen.”
The world was displayed like a 3D map with Takuto at the center in his mind. Areas explored by the Long-legged Bug became visible to him, too, just like when the grayed-out regions of a game map, covered by the fog of war, are lit up after a unit passes through.
A dry laugh escaped him over this all-too-convenient skill.
“I guess we can say things are going smoothly for now. Speaking of which, how much Mana do you have left, my king?”
“I just used up 100 and have 100 left. I need 20 just to build the first base: “Settlement.” We need to be strategic with what’s left.”
“Just because we have some Mana doesn’t mean we can afford to waste it, right?”
Forcibly producing units that required specific facilities, time, and resources, consumed enormous amounts of Mana. Units with facility and resource perquisites like the Scout cost much more than a Settlement, which counted as an essential facility at the start of the game. Obviously, they didn’t have the Mana to spare to produce additional units.
“I actually wanted to get us a Warrior in case of attack, but it’s out of the picture with our current Mana. It’s really hard to take action like this.”
“‘I will handle our enemies’…is what I would love to say, but I’ll struggle to win a fight even against wild animals right now. Running into enemy forces would pretty much mean game over.”
Atou currently had 3 Strength. That was low compared to even the non-combat unit Long-legged Bug’s 1. Her weakness was further proven by the early-game combat unit Warrior starting with 3 Strength, and the wild animal unit Wolf having a base Strength of 1.5.
In other words, with Sludge Atou as its Hero unit, Mynoghra started the game off in the precarious predicament of being unilaterally destroyed by any enemy they encountered.
“This is quite the nasty difficulty level…”
“I-It always has been. Please keep your chin up, my king!”
Sure, they’d experienced similar situations hundreds of times before—in the game. Takuto couldn’t help wishing reality had slightly easier settings. His solace in all this was Atou and her words of encouragement.
◇◇◇
SEVERAL hours later…
Takuto’s Scout seemed to be doing a good job exploring the area as the layout of their surroundings gradually dispersed the fog of war. To a strategy game player, information is an indispensable resource. Coupled with their current situation, intel was worth more than gold.
Relieved of the uneasiness and sense of impending crisis he didn’t even know he was feeling, Takuto took a breath and decided to share what he’d learned with Atou.
“How is it going?”
“Not bad. I’ve got a general grasp of the nearby terrain, but it’s just trees, trees, and more trees. Maybe we’re in the middle of a huge forest. Oh, and our bug friend hasn’t encountered any wild animals or monsters.”
Aside from ensuring their immediate safety, Long-legged Bug wasn’t sending back very interesting information. The forest just continued on endlessly without offering anything of value.
Perhaps there were still things they hadn’t discovered yet, but it was hard to tell with their current Surveying skill. It didn’t help that Long-legged Bug liked to explore in random circles, causing the map to take on a warped shape in Takuto’s mind.
“So the whole area is forest? Forest Terrains are ideal for hiding with their Concealment effect that works on normal units, but…it’s odd for there not only to be a lack of monsters, but no wildlife either.”
“There also aren’t any Food Icons. Looks like we’ll have to continue scouting for a while.”
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help…”
Atou bowed deeply with a sad frown creasing her brow. She seemed seriously bothered by the fact she couldn’t do anything for Takuto. Obviously, her looking more depressed than a puppy who just got scolded didn’t slip his notice.
“Don’t be sorry. Just you being here with me is a huge help, Atou.”
The words he selected to cheer her up seemed to hit the spot. Takuto didn’t mean anything profound by his casual remark. But as soon as she heard it, Atou looked back at him with shimmering eyes and flushed cheeks.
Takuto finally understood the extent to which she respected, admired, and adored him as her king. Atou was the type of person who took everything he said more seriously than he intended.
“M-My king… I am moved beyond words!”
“R-Really? I’m glad you’re happy.”
Takuto came face to face with how much she respected him when she leaned forward to express her joy. As someone who’d never experienced unbridled affection from a girl before, he felt flustered by it but also happy to have someone he could interact with like this. Even if that someone was a video game’s hero of destruction who commanded the forces of ruin…
Atou’s supposed to be the Hero unit of an evil civilization, but she has a surprisingly cute and playful side…
Aside from her pointy ears and blood-red eyes, Atou seemed like any other sweet and innocent girl her age as she gazed with starry-eyed fondness at Takuto. He was more than a little surprised to learn the hero of an evil civilization had such an adorable personality.
Now that I think about it, what was Atou’s personality supposed to be in the flavor text?
Takuto pondered that question for a long moment. Oddly enough, he couldn’t remember a single detail that would’ve been written about her character to add depth to the game world.
“King…! King Takuto! Are you listening to me?”
“Whoa! Wh-What was that? Sorry, I zoned out for a second.”
His doubts instantly vanished when Atou leaned in extra close to get his attention. She was too content with his attention returning to her to notice he was feigning calm to prevent her from catching on to his racing heart.
“Are you all right? Do you feel sick somewhere?”
“I’m fine. Just got lost in thought, is all. Don’t worr—Hm? Our bug scout is contacting me.”
“I’m glad you aren’t ill. Did the Scout find something?”
Takuto nodded and concentrated on the image in his head.
He had practiced sharing Long-legged Bug’s vision plenty of times before this, so he accessed it with ease now. The image of stealthily looking down from up so high in the trees that the fall would kill a weaker unit flowed into his mind. Takuto couldn’t clearly distinguish the details because the Scout’s eyes constantly darted around, but he saw what looked like a settlement and people.
Pale skin, silver hair, long, pointed ears—if memory served him well, those traits belonged to the race called Dark Elves.
“Is that a Dark Elf settlement? They seem to be grouped together in a location not far from here.”
Takuto explained exactly what he saw to Atou with his eyes closed and his attention concentrated on the images that continued to flow into his mind.
Atou didn’t bother her master with redundant questions. She drew her conclusions based solely on the information he provided her.
“I suppose we can safely assume we’re in a fantasy world now. Dark Elves are neutral but swing closer to neutral evil, so that’s a bit of a relief.”
Once he finished confirming the map marker, Takuto stopped sharing the Scout’s vision and rubbed the corners of his eyes. While they didn’t gain much insight beyond the fact there was a Dark Elf settlement nearby, that was exactly the kind of information they were after. This discovery drastically limited their options in this new world and did nothing to reduce the mountain of problems they had to tackle.
“Does this mean we really are in the world of Eternal Nations? Either way, I want to tread carefully in case of the unexpected. They could be neutral good Dark Elves, too—and they’re hecka close. We’re screwed if that’s another empire’s starter base.”
“Bordering another empire this early in the game is the worst thing possible…”
“It’s a shitty starter location, that’s for sure…”
“If it comes down to it, let’s run far away, my king.”
“I’m with you there. To run is to win. Mynoghra loves peace and quiet after all.”
“Right? War is such a barbaric thing!”
They shared a laugh and began formulating their plan.
Worst-case scenario, our lives are in danger. But what will be will be.
Takuto thought it a little strange how calm and optimistic he was in such a dangerous situation, but all his doubts were washed away by the aura of respect coming from Atou. Ultimately, he was okay with whatever happened, as long as he had her by his side.
“Okay, I’ve got a plan! Why don’t we observe those Dark Elves and get more info on them first? If they look like they’re too much to handle, we can just run for it.”
“We can just flee into the night together! I’m all for that plan, my king!”
They raised their fists into the air and enthusiastically settled on that plan. They were acting a bit like children playing House, but there was no one around to put a stop to their antics—
—until there was.
Just as Atou finished layering Takuto with praise, they heard the trees rustle, and a couple of twigs snap underfoot. Atou immediately switched gears from playing along with their lighthearted banter, sharply turning toward the source like a poisonous viper ready to attack. Takuto looked in the same direction a few seconds after she did.
“Crap…”
A group of several people stepped out of the trees. Their race looked familiar, despite Takuto seeing them in-person for the first time.
They were the Dark Elves he and Atou had just been discussing.
