Translated by Cadmar

2/2 chapters

Chapter 270 - Safety Myths

"Hey, hey, General. Are you sure we can beat the Mementos?"

“Eh, Vargas. Don't start talking like that after we're already in the field."

“Well, who wouldn't have these same thoughts? The Memento family has an army of 40,000 men, right? And they are claiming to have 100,000 troops. Everyone must be thinking, 'Can we really win with the 2,500 or so of our troops?'"

“I don't think we could win if we were going to do this the normal way."

"Right? But, I know you have some unique ideas. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to advance with my army and attack the Memento family. That's all I'm going to say for now~"

“Don’t you have a... plan?"

“Of course, I have a plan. It already started, and the Mementos should have lost control of the situation a bit by now, don’t you think?"

“It already started? Are you referring to the fact that the other day you yourself set fire to the Memento army's food storages?"

"Yes, that's right. I have already taken other measures besides just setting fire to their food. Maybe they are working even as we speak."

"......Heh, I knew you were going to assault them from the very start of the war, General. What is the strategy you are using?"

"It's simple. I just did the same thing we did when we exterminated the dog people who had nested in the mines."

"The dogmen? ... I believe you used poison, right?"

“Yeah. The Memento Army should be highly affected by the poison. I originally spread it to gain time, but it is still effective when we are attacking them now."

　The 2,500 troops of the Barca army marched toward the army of the Memento family.

Vargas, who was in command of the troops, rushed toward me and spoke.

Apparently, he wanted to ask me what I was going to do about the fact that we were going to launch an attack on an opponent with far greater numbers.

　I was grateful that he followed me without complaint when we set out, asking me only after we started our mission.

　Without wasting any time, I began to talk to Vargas about the outline of the mission.

　* * *

　I built a kind of airship and used it to scout the Memento family's army.

　The airship itself was able to operate properly, flying well in the sky and allowing me to get a complete picture of my opponents.

　I then burned down the food gathering points in order to slow down the Memento family's advance.

However, I could not burn all of their food.

　This was partly because I had run out of mana to use for the ice magic that had been the source of the flames.

　This did not mean that I did nothing to the food that I could not burn, though.

For the other rations, I sprayed them with poison.

　The Memento family lost nearly half of its food supply.

　Carlos said that a noble family as powerful as the Memento family could temporarily cover the lost food, but as expected, it would be difficult to respond immediately.

　They would manage to eke out a living with the food that remained, while using their overwhelming influence as a backdrop to collect food from the surrounding area.

　I knew that was all they would be able to do for a certain period of time.

　That is why I sprinkled poison on the remaining food.

　Perhaps the soldiers of Memento's army are eating it right now.

　This is the same situation as the dog people who lived in the mines.

　They split up the food they thought was safe and ate it all together.

　However, if there is food that has been burned and food that has been left behind, normally one would think that the remaining food would be considered dangerous.

　Especially since this time a mysterious flying object passed overhead and sprayed something.

　The Memento family would have taken precautions.

　But even so, I still think the probability of success of this poison-spraying operation is quite high.

　This is because there is a "safety myth" in this world that did not exist in my previous life.

　That is, most people have been strongly imprinted with the perception that food is safe as long as it is not rotten.

　In this case, whether or not food is rotten is judged by its color and smell.

　In other words, food that is not discolored or does not smell rotten is considered safe.

　Why is this so?

　In fact, this perception is largely due to the [Washing] magic given by the church.

　It is a spell that removes dirt from an object.

　If a person's body is [Washed], it will be so clean that he or she does not need to take a bath.

　Even more so, if you clean your house, it will be as clean as new in the blink of an eye.

　This [Washing] is also used for food.

　When food is [Washed] before cooking, all contaminants that could affect the human body are removed.

　Although Barca has not yet created a microscope, so I am not sure how accurate this cleaning process is, this world’s inhabitants' experience to date has been that food cooked after [Washing] has not caused food poisoning.

　This is not the case when the food itself is old and rotten.

　If the food is so rotten that it smells bad, it will harm the human body even if [Washing] is applied.

　So if you smell the food and it does not smell rotten, you can eat it safely as long as it is washed.

　In fact, this is also a countermeasure against poison.

　As long as you do not eat poisonous food itself, food that has poison on it is almost always safe to eat as long as it is [Washed] before cooking and the dishes are [Washed] as well.

　This world’s common sense allows you to think that even if some mysterious ship from overhead were to spray some kind of substance on your food, simply [Washing] it would help avoid any problems.

　However, what I sprayed was a poison that slips past the [Washing] effect.

　I had been working with Mimi to create a spell called [Poison Nullification] to deal with poisons, and we had learned of the existence of poisons that could kill by ignoring the [Washing] spell.

　The poison was something that could only be obtained under very rare conditions and could not be prepared in large quantities.

　Still, it was possible to prepare it in Barca.

　The secret lay with my younger brother, Kyle.

　This was made possible by Kyle's contract with a tree spirit in the northern forest.

　The tree spirit was able to mass-produce a special poisonous herb that ignored the effects of [Washing].

　They were not very strong poisons if ingested in small quantities.

　At most, it would cause a period of belching, followed by diarrhea and dehydration.

　I had loaded the airship with them, thinking it could be used to buy time so that their troops would not be able to move.

Unlike the dog people, though, the Memento family was able to avoid eating food covered with poison.

The scouting party ahead of us contacted us. It seems that Memento Army is moving very sluggishly."

"I think we've hit the nail on the head, Vargas. The opponent's movement is slowing down. We should be able to close the gap caused by the difference in numbers. Let's go."

"You're still a fiend, General. Well, that is exactly why we have survived so far. Alright, everyone follow the General. Let's strike them!"

「「「「「 Hai! 」」」」」

　And so, Barca launched an attack on the unmoving forces of the Memento family.