Read I Was Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in a Different World, so I Decided to Make Bricks to Build a Castle

299 - - Nelson Wetlands

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　The Arbalest area is located in the west of Fontana territory.

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　This is a land where rivers flow in from several noble families and become even larger rivers.

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　In the past, the area was generally regarded as a well-protected noble territory with a large lake and impregnable water fortresses.

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　However, the noble domain was defeated last year by the Fontana family, who ruled the neighboring noble domain, and although it surrendered, the new head of the family died soon afterwards, and the family was forced to claim compensation, which put it in a difficult situation.

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　And now the old Arbalest territory has been carved out by the Ixes and Valles of the Fontana family.

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　The territory centering on the fortress of Palamere is ruled by the Ix family led by Ghana, and the former capital is ruled by the Valles family of Vargas.

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　Further into the Barres knight's territory, the Nelson swamps, an unexplored area of land, spread out.

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　The river that flows into the Arbalest area leads to the Nelson swamp.

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　If so, it should lead to the sea if one follows the flow of the water, but no one has ever succeeded in doing so.

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　This is because they are invariably attacked by demons and never return.

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　Because of the special location of the wetlands, there are many troublesome demons, and the Arbalest family, the former rulers of the land, even gave up the development of this wetlands.

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　But that does not mean that the Arbalest family had nothing to gain.

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　In the Nelson swamps, a rare material for a magic sword was found.

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　The material for the Thunderbolt Sword, the pride of the Arbalest family.

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　By obtaining it, which was not available elsewhere, the Arbalests had a geographical advantage to drive back the other nobles and a method of attack that was good against the multitude.

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"And what is the demon from which this material is obtained, General?"

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"Mud monsters, Vargas. Mud monsters, Vargas. Mud monsters that appear in the swamps. The nucleus that powers these mud puppets is the material for the Thunderbolt Sword."

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"A monster with a body made of mud. ....... There are such things in the world, aren't there?"

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"I hear so. I hear they're a real nuisance. Their mud bodies can't even take a scratch from a normal attack. And even if you manage to cut off a part of its body, it can regenerate using other mud in the marsh. Moreover, their bodies are made of mud, so they do not run out of energy. The Arbalest family once gave up on further exploration because they were attacked by the mud dolls when they entered the swamps by boat along the river.

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"I see. That's pretty nasty. It's almost impossible to attack, isn't it?

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Yes, that's right. So the Arbalests had to give up the fight against the mud puppets even though they lost many of their men during their long reign. Fortunately, the monster's core could be used as a magical weapon."

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"Well, what was it?　I think it's called "magic steel" or something like that, the material of the thunderbolt sword. So how do we defeat this mud doll?

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"According to the records left by the Arbalest family, if we can extract the core of the magical steel from somewhere in the mud puppet's torso, it will stop moving. It seems that they led the mud dolls that appeared somewhere in the marsh to a place where they could fight and beat them with a big hammer."

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"...... What does that mean?　Their bodies are mud, right?　Hitting mud with a hammer sounds like a lot of work."

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"I agree. That's why the number of thunder swords made in the long history is limited. But I'm going to try another way. I'm going to try to make it a little easier for you.

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　I met up with Vargas and headed straight for the Nelson swamps with him in tow.

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　Valkyrie pulled us in a warm box sled with a fireplace of flaming ore, and we talked as we headed toward our destination.

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　I was thinking of a different way to defeat the mud dolls from the Arbalest family's way, based on what Ragna had told me about the lifeless monsters, the mud dolls, that appeared in the Nelson Marshes.

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"Another way. I remember that the general had heard this story earlier, when we were fighting Memento's army. That means he's been waiting until now since he heard about it. Does that mean that they waited all the way until this cold winter season?"

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"Correct, Vargas. The Nelson Marshes are also a world of snow and ice this time of year. I think that's the key to defeating the mud puppets."

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　Apparently, they have an idea of what I'm after.

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　Vargas is right, I waited until winter to come all the way here to get the magic steel.

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　I did so partly because I was busy with other things, but also on purpose.

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　Then suddenly the box sled pulled by Valkyrie stopped moving.

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　Sensing the sudden stop, I immediately leap out of the way.

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　As I had expected, there was a monster made of mud.

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　I see a large bipedal figure of a mud doll, whose body is made up of mud mixed with tree branches and algae.

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　The figure seems to be about three meters tall, but I have heard that mud dolls come in various sizes.

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　The bigger the doll is, the bigger the magical steel is, so it seems that the smaller ones are not good targets considering the time and effort required to defeat them.

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　However, this size should be enough for the first opponent.

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　I think so because I've seen Thanatos, the giant, on a regular basis and I'm no longer surprised by such a thing, but I think it's scary enough for a normal human being.

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　The temperature is so cold around here that if you sniffle, you will freeze.

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　Observe the ground.

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　There is snow on the ground, but everything under it is frozen.

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　This area might have been a swamp in the first place if it were not winter.

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　But now there is a solid layer of ice, and it is perfectly safe to move around on top of it.

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　I shifted my gaze from the ground to the mud doll in front of me and started running toward it.

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"Burn it, Ice Flame Sword!"

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　He then slashed at the mud monster with his sword.

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　Normally, this would be a meaningless action.

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　A mere sword would just slip into the mud body, but it would not do any damage to the opponent.

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　Even if he cut off an arm or a leg, it would be regenerated by the mud around it.

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　But that did not happen.

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　The mud doll burst into flames.

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　When I heard about the mud monster, I immediately noticed that it was made of mud from the marsh.

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　In other words, the body of the mud doll is the core of the magical steel, but its apparent body is made up of the mud in the marsh.

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　If this is the case, what happens in winter?

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　It is said that the Arbalest family has fought against mud dolls only in summer when it is easier to move and fight, but it is not likely that the mud dolls hibernate in winter.

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　Then, what happens to the mud in their bodies during the winter?

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　I thought that the mud of the mud doll's body might be frozen because of the cold weather.

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　And it turned out to be right.

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　The body of the mud doll in winter was made of frozen mud.

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　It is a mystery that mud can move when it is frozen, but then again, it is a mystery that mud can move at all.

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　And, normally, it would be harder than mud, making it even harder to fight with, but if it were my magical sword, the Ice Flame Sword, it would be a different story altogether.

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　But if it's against my magical sword called the Ice Flame Sword, it's a different story altogether.

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　By burning the ice that made up his body, the mud doll was completely burned.

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　Or rather, it was so hot that it made a big honeycomb-like thing with cracks, just like a ceramic ware.

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　I hit the burnt and hardened ceramic-like mud doll again with my sword.

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　The cracks started to grow from the cracks, and the doll was broken into pieces.

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　Inside the body, a slightly yellowish lump of metal was found.

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"We did it! It worked better than I thought it would, Vargas. This is the magical steel from which the Thunderbolt Sword was made.

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"Hey, that's great! I didn't know it was this easy to defeat them with the Ice Flame Sword.

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"Well, it's only for winter. So, you take care of the rest, Vargas. Make sure you collect enough magic steel.

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"Oh, I'll do it, General?"

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That's because this is your territory, too. It's not like I have to do it, and if Vargas has the ice flame sword there's no problem with him doing it. But be careful. If you burn the ice in the swamp below, you'll probably drown, freeze to death, or burn to death."

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"Oh, yeah, that's possible. Okay, I'll be careful."

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"All right, please. I'll handle the magic steel for the first time. I'll pay you according to the amount I get.

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　The extermination of the mud dolls using the ice flame sword was a piece of cake.

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　I had thought that if this didn't work, I would have to ask Thanatos to do the rest, but it seems that I won't have to.

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　I pick up the magic steel in my hand and put a little magic power into it.

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　A jolt of electricity is released.

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　I guess this steel has the property of releasing electricity from magic power.

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　Thus, I succeeded in obtaining a substance that converts magic power into electricity.

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