I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 65

Sling!

My sword scraped against the metallic torso of the puppet in front of me.

Woosh!

I quickly rolled backward, avoiding the pipe that swung toward my head from another puppet to my right. Hopping to my feet, I sidestepped out of the path of a third puppet's punch before thrusting at its heart with my sword.

Ding!

A small bell rang inside its torso at the moment of impact and the puppet soon fell limp onto the floor. Without leaving me any time to relish in the small victory, the two remaining puppets launched toward me with their metal pipes drawn. 

Clang!

My sword blocked the pipe of the first puppet, leaving me open to the strike of the second, but before its hit could land, I shifted my weight onto the pipe my sword was locked onto and spun the puppet into its approaching partner's path.

THUD!

There was no time for the second puppet to stop its momentum, causing a hard crash between the two of them. With tangled strings, I delivered a strong kick to their joined bodies and sent the metallic mess slamming into the ground.

"That was a bit too easy, Mr. Flippers. It looks like my skills are finally surpassing your luck," I teased as I followed the path of the puppets' strings leading up to the balcony of the ice palace.

"Squawk~"

The penguin was currently operating a simple machine we made together. It was practically just a gathering of rope that went over a pulley system and connected to the joints of the now-defeated puppets. Although Mr. Flippers had just been pulling the ropes randomly, his absurd luck somehow made his actions extremely formidable to go up against.

It was almost like going up against a master brawler the first time I battled our prototype- despite us only starting with one metallic puppet, I suffered what seemed like an endless stream of defeats.

Of course, given the three puppets that Mr. Flippers was beginning to untangle, I had clearly improved immensely since then.

With a smile, I put away my sword and went over to help him out, "Do you think we should make a fourth one? You do have four metal arms, after all~"

"Squawk!"

"Ha- You're on! I bet I could win even if you have ten of those things!"

"Squawk~"

As the two of us had some friendly banter, I glanced over toward the screen showing my realm.

"Hmmm... you might have to make it on your own though. I should probably check out the realm, it's almost Oracle-picking time."

"Squawk!"

Man, time is weird... those seventy years passed so freaking fast.

The thought of training for so long seemed equivalent to torture before I started, but I was blown away by how quickly I got used to it. The years seemed slow at first, yet they seemed to grow exponentially faster as they went on.

I guess it's kind of like how grandparents claim years pass in the blink of an eye when you're older. Oh god, does that mean I'm old now!? No... that's impossible- I'm way too muscular to be an old man.

Although I did put on some more muscle since before the training, it wasn't anything too crazy since I was already pretty toned. Rather than gaining strength, I more focused on developing my actual skills, as recommended by Tatton. I mainly focused on swordplay during this battle prep phase, as seen by my practice.

"Alright, let's go visit my priest!"

Once I finished helping the penguin untangle the puppets, I sat down at my desk and zoomed into the temple where I saw my priest twisting some corn husk strands into rope.

"Yo, Brung! They have you making rope today?"

"It looks like you are back, creator of the world," my priest grinned, tossing down the rope onto the empty temple floor, "I'm stuck in this temple, so I might as well help out with what I can."

"Don't act like I'm tying you to the temple- I've lost track of how many times I've tried to push you to explore the world when you were little."

"I had no desire to explore back then; I was so little that the plateau itself seemed to be as big as the entire world."

I rolled my eyes at his valid argument, "It was still your choice to stay, so don't start blaming me."

"So you are saying that I can choose to leave right now to explore?" my priest asked slyly. 

"... No, not now. You know it's about time to choose an Oracle."

"See-"

"Hush, you can go off exploring after that's done," I quickly cut him off before I'd have to listen to his banter, "How's the progress with scouting anyway?"

The priest's attitude became slightly more serious at the new discussion, "Everything seems to be going well so far, judging by the last round of reports."

"That's good. Is there any candidate in particular that catches your eye?"

"There are a few notable ones scattered around. I heard some scouts speak highly of two in Claymor and one near Woodrath. There are a few interesting choices here in Rygard, as well."

"Right..."

Hearing those names is still weird to me.

To better keep track of all of the villages, I asked my previous priest to name some of the major ones. When it came to naming the capital, he suggested naming it after Rynn. Although it felt a bit odd, I had no reason to refuse, leading to its current name of 'Rygard'. To match the theme, he also coined the name 'Rynntara' to refer to the plateau as a whole.

Rygard in Rynntara... that's slightly more Rynn than I was expecting, but I guess it's fine.

"Alright, Brung, I think it's time to call the candidates to the temple."

The priest shot up at my words, "Is it already time!?"

"Mhm," I nodded, "The sooner we choose an Oracle, the sooner you can go on your exploration, right?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

A smile appeared on Brung's face, "I will make sure I get the candidates here as soon as possible!"

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Chop!

"Phew. This one was tough."

After chopping off a piece of excess wood jutting out of the side of the house he had been working on, the young man stepped back to admire his work with his stone axe resting on his shoulder.

The product of his labor was a new house built in a design first created by himself. Although similar to the structures already dominating the village space, his creation varied in some key areas.

His eyes wandered to the base of the house.

Unlike the other homes, the young man's structure was not at ground level; its floor was instead a few feet below the surface with a wall of stones supporting the main trunks making up the structure's frame. He had to work extremely hard chipping these stones in ways to leave as little gaps between them as possible, with any remaining spaces being filled in and stuffed with simple mud and strips of corn husk.

The frame of the house beyond this base was left mostly unaltered, yet his style of house stood out amongst the rest for one simple reason: the lack of support beams for the walls. Having the stones support the posts underground allowed the young man to eliminate the need for the usual external supports leaning up against the structure. Even so, the young man decided to add a second layer of horizontal branches woven together to the walls to better protect the home from the storms that frequented the area.

Aside from those changes, he also modified the roof to be bonded stronger to the house's frame to better withstand the strong wind and storms that regularly pelted the coast.

"It looks like you are finished, Ruglace! That home turned out great- your father would be proud."

The young man, addressed as Ruglace, turned toward the voice and spotted a familiar village elder looking at his finished shelter with a smile.

"Thank you," Ruglace thanked the elder for the compliment as he laid down his axe onto the mossy ground, "I am getting used to making these by now. Honestly, it takes longer to gather the stones for the base than it does to make the frame for the house."

The elder nodded at his words, "I see... then I will ask some of the young ones to help you with gathering supplies from now on."

"You do not have to do such a thing-"

"Nonsense," the elder interrupted and waved his hand as if brushing off his words, "You are spending all of your time making these homes for practically no compensation other than a few meals. We can at least help you with the work. Trust me, it is the least we can do."

Ruglace couldn't help but smile shyly at his words, "Alright. I will gladly take up your offer then... thank you."

"There is no need to thank me for something we should have been doing to begin with," the elder smiled back before changing his tone, "Now, how about I get you some dinner after all of that hard work?"

"I would appreciate it."

As he picked up his axe and began following the elder back to his home, the elder spoke again.

"By the way, I hope you do not mind, but there will be a guest joining us for dinner tonight."

"A guest? Is someone new visiting the village?"

"Not exactly. She has been here for a few months, but this will likely be your first time meeting her."

Before Ruglace had time to think too deeply about it, they had already approached the elder's home which bore a striking resemblance to the shelter he had just finished building. A thin smokey haze emerging from an open flap on the structure's roof made it clear that someone had been cooking inside.

"Come on in, Ruglace," the elder called to him as he pushed aside a pad of woven corn husk covering the house's entrance and ventured inside. 

Smells fishy.

Despite his odd feeling of unease at the situation, Ruglace's hunger outweighed his trepidation and he soon found himself following behind him.

Wow...

A gust of sea scent tickled his nose as he entered causing his stomach to growl in response. Ruglace's eyes darted over to the source of the smell.

The house itself was fairly empty, furnished by not much more than a pile of woven corn husks near the wall and a small fire pit lit in the center of the room where a young woman sat cooking several large fish on sticks hovering above the flames.

Upon noticing their entrance, and perhaps the hungry look in his eyes, the young woman quickly fixed her posture and gestured for them to take a seat with her.

The elder took it upon himself to break the ice as they joined her near the flames.

"It was a bit uncomfortable allowing a guest to cook a meal, but it seems you were not exaggerating your cooking skills. I am glad I accepted your offer; Ruglace's eyes hardly glow so much when I cook for him."

"Ah- it does smell good."

Ruglace could feel his face slightly flush in embarrassment as he hurriedly tried to blink away whatever glow the elder was referring to.

"Thank you, I appreciate your praise," the woman nodded as she grabbed three wooden plates made from thinly slicing a tree trunk horizontally and began placing one fish on each plate, "Just give me one moment, I will be done soon."

Next to the fish, the woman placed a piece of roasted corn on each plate along with a slice of cooked cherry before handing a plate to both of the men joining her next to the fire.

"Thank you..."

Oh, this looks so good!

Despite trying to be polite, Ruglace couldn't help but start chomping on the fish before the others even made a move for the food.

Chomp!

It tastes good too~

As Ruglace happily swayed side to side holding the entire fish in his hands, the woman casually pushed a two-pronged wooden utensil along with a piece of dried corn husk and a sharpened stone over to him.

"Ah... thank you again."

His words of gratitude were soft and were immediately silenced by the sound of him wiping his hands with the dried husk and slicing the fish into pieces with the stone. Aside from the sound of slicing and chewing, the group stayed in a comfortable silence while the majority of the meal was being eaten. Once done, however, the woman finally addressed the young man.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"Y-yes. It did taste really good," Ruglace stuttered slightly at her sudden question.

"That is good to hear," the woman nodded slightly before gently placing a hand to her chest, "Now, I believe I should officially introduce myself. My name is Tyra; for the last eight springs, I have been exploring villages near Woodrath under orders from the priest in Rynntara to find a suitable candidate to become the world's next Oracle."

"Hang on-"

"Let her finish, Ruglace," the elder swatted down Ruglace's outstretched hand that he was using in an attempt to signal the woman to stop speaking.

Tyra nodded her head in a subtle acknowledgment before continuing, "I have spent many seasons in many villages gathering every piece of information I could about potential candidates. While there were a few who caught my eye, none had the flame I was looking for to be worthy of my nomination. So, when I heard about a kid working tirelessly to build houses in a nearby village, I figured it was a rumor I had to look into."

"Please wait!" Ruglace couldn't help but interject the moment the woman paused, "I-I am not someone who could be an Oracle! I have never even fought!"

Tyra smiled slightly as if expecting the rebuttal, "Fighting ability is just one of the many qualities we are looking for in a candidate. Fighting skills can be taught- what I am mainly concerned with are the qualities that make up a person's character. Would you not agree that building tens of new homes in the village out of pure goodwill shows your values? Can you really claim that you have no talents even outside of battle?"

Ruglace shifted uncomfortably at her retort, "Those efforts were made for selfish reasons, though. I just could not stand more people being lost to those storms."

"I was told of your past, Ruglace. Regardless of what inspired your actions, your efforts still end in a family getting a new and strong place to live. I am sure none of them would call your work selfish. Besides, I would be surprised to find someone who finds your reason to be something other than noble."

Ruglace looked over at the elder who avoided his gaze as Tyra continued.

"I have come across many in my travels who lost themselves in loss. When exposed to such a tragedy, you stood up instead of laying down. Instead of trying to get others to share your pain, you worked hard to prevent them from suffering the same burden you faced. The priest did not tell us what to look for in an Oracle candidate- he left it up to us scouts. If there is any quality I think an Oracle should have, it would be exactly what you have shown. So..." the woman paused leaning forward with her face mere inches from Ruglace, "Please be my selection as an Oracle candidate!"

The woman stared directly into Ruglace's eyes as she requested this- he could feel his eyes quiver as he stared back.

"I... do not think I can accept," the young man subtly retreated, "Even if I can be taught how to fight, there is still too much I need to do here. I have only improved a few homes in this village and there are still so many others nearby that are being destroyed in the storms... I can not leave until I finish building them."

"You are overly worrying, Ruglace."

Ruglace turned to face the interjecting elder who continued, "You will likely be gone for a year or two at most. How many homes could you build in that time?"

"I can do about three a season depending on the help..."

"Right, and how many homes do you think there are in all of the villages near the water? Even if you spend everyday working, you will not be finished by the time you get to my age."

Ruglace's eyes seemed to shake at his words, but the elder stopped him before he could speak, "But, that changes if you become an Oracle. You heard the stories of Rynn. He was strong enough to carry trees! With the power of an Oracle, you could build much quicker, could you not? With power letting him live the lives of three elders, your dream would be far from impossible."

The young man's head dropped down as he contemplated the elder's words.

"Go... follow this woman to Rygard. Your father would be proud of how much you have already done for the village- we can manage while you are gone. We will put you to work once you come back as an Oracle."

"You speak as if that is a guarantee..." Ruglace couldn't help but grin at the elder's confidence who only shrugged in return.

"If the creator of the world is as great as they say, it would be impossible for him to choose someone else."

Ruglace let his words sit for a minute with only the sound of the lightly crackling fire filling the room. Eventually, the young man raised his head with an expression of resolve plastered on his face.

"Okay," his eyes locked onto the woman who had yet to look away, "I will go with you... I will be your Oracle candidate!"