*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Is it around here?

*Knock* *Knock*

This should be the place but I disguised it so well that it's hard to find it, even though I am the one who built it.

I want to claim it as my skill to camouflage the exit of my secret passageway/magma overflow drainage but this place is far from civilization. Wild monsters travel through here from time to time and even the ocean lifeforms influence the landscape here since it's so close to the ocean. I say influence but they like to tease the land monsters by blasting them with water. If those monsters get angry, they can't do anything but growl or roar at them from the cliff, which makes them enter the lunging range for most sea monsters.

This is far enough from the volcanic region that I won't have to worry about the entrance from being buried by lava, so it must only be covered by rocks or dust.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

*...Crack* *......clink*

This is it! That crack was faint but that is definitely the sound of those flaky rocks. I made a small pocket, like a letterbox, behind the door where I keep a few pieces of those rocks. It wouldn't really matter to others when they hear, or if they can hear it, because it's normal for rocks to sound like rocks but I added a few pieces of metal there to let me know the entrance. It won't produce a very notable sound since it is mixed in the flaky rocks but it is audible enough that my hearing skill can pick up on it. I lower the number of metal and rocks inside as my healing skills get better.

[Earth Wall]

"All right, enter through here."

*Fume!*

The steam in this area has been built up a bit, better wait a bit.

There is another entrance but it's not big enough to let the carriage through. Also, you need to scale the cliff to enter through there, so you have to time it when there aren't any sea monsters. It's a dangerous entrance but it surely won't be discovered by the bandits, or other pursuers.

[Earth Wall]

It's a bit hot here but me and hornbasher already have enough tolerance for it. Him, especially since he frequents the volcanic region most of the time.

There are some vents for the steam to escape, otherwise it would all rise up to my workshop, since my volcano is uphill. It's not that hard to conceal the vents since steam rising isn't unusual in a volcano ridden area. The only thing I have to watch out for is when those vents get blocked, and they get blocked a lot, be it lava, rocks, or small animals that try to enter here but get fried because I installed a very sharp and raspy surface on the vent hose near the pipe.

"Let me just hook the carriage up to the mechanism. After that, we can head straight back to the house."
"Baa!"

*Clack* *Clack* *Tonk*

"All right, everything is set. We are in a hurry but keep in mind that you are pulling a carriage."
"Baa!"

*Rattle* *Rattle* *Rattle*

Things are working as they should. It's a bit loud but the sound shouldn't be heard from up the ground.

If only I could grease some of the moving parts here but grease doesn't do well in hot places, especially here with this kind of extremely hot temperature.

"Baa!"
"Hmm? Are we here?"

There isn't really anything else I could do here. The scenery isn't the best, despite my effort to decorate the place. It's not like I could do much since I need the materials to be resistant to extreme heat for it to last long in this place.

It's not ideal but a light nap is the only thing I could do to make me forget the heat.

"Good, I'll unfasten you now. You can head up first. Don't wander around in the meantime. The village is still under siege. Watch out for stray arrows and falling buildings."
"Baa!"

[Earth Wall]x2

The carriage elevator is a bit basic, since I don't have any way to automate anything here. I don't have the knowledge to do it and I don't have access to a reliable source of power. There are volcanoes in the area but I don't have the skill to manufacture a steam engine.

Either way, I don't have to think up a way to make modern technology here. The heroes in the past should have already done that. They might have even found better substitutes for it that is using magic instead, like that microphone the principal used during his speech or the indoor plumbing.

The carriage elevator is much simpler. I just have a small passageway about the size of the carriage and I use [Earth] Magic to open a pit above while blocking the tunnel. After that, I will simply raise the passageway to ground level.

This is the usual operation for single use but in case of emergency, when I need to lead the village to evacuate here, I can simply put a slant where all of the carriage could slide on through to the overflow pipe.

However, I have an even simpler way. I could just store the whole carriage inside my [Soul Storage] and take it out when I go above ground. The only problem is that sometimes, there are people, mainly the village chief, heading to my workshop. They clean the place and tend to my plants, so I can't really complain that much.

This is why I sent horn basher first. The passageway for him and everyone else that doesn't need to bring a means of transportation is a simple set of stairs. The exit is blocked by a stone surrounded by my iron bamboo patch but I already made a safe passage just now. Those Iron bamboo can live even on top of rock, which makes it easy for me to move them when I use my [Earth] Magic without having to worry that I would damage them.

Hmm? ..........

Looks like no one greeted hornbasher above, this means that no one is currently there. I can move my carriage quietly. I used to not mind storing the carriage in my [Soul Storage] and even if I do meet others, they won't really find out about my skill but the village chief sometimes want to come down here to help. I have to rush back down and take out the carriage before they come down here. They think I bought some 'special' products that help 'relieve' loneliness, which makes the following conversations very awkward, so I double check if someone is there before I go out.

Left? Right? All around? Good, there really is no one here.

*Place*

I'll just leave the carriage here.

*Scatter*

Scatter the materials I bought at the town here, in case someone visits my workshop later. These happen very frequently when we are under siege, so I need to have my showcase of different materials all around, otherwise they would think that I am going through rough times.

*Dump*

Finally, I'll dump the things that the villagers asked me to buy here. I don't have to deliver those to them. Once they know that I am back, they will head to my volcano and collect their things by themselves.

Let's immediately head to the defence force captain. I don't know when the bandits at the volcanic region will move but before we think of a plan to handle them, the captain of the defence force needs to know of a possible enemy attack on our flanks. No one wants the defence team to be caught off guard while I am informing the village chief's son, err, I mean the new village chief.

"The next wave is here, The next group prepares to retaliate. Remember not to attack until they stop. Don't waste any ammo and remember to be aware of the whole battlefield. You aren't only fighting your target! Attacks can come from anywhere!"

Looks like I came at a bad time but this is important information.

"Captain!"
"Brill! You are back. I'm busy right now, let me know later."

The captain already knows that I have something concerning to report. He already knows my character after all. I won't disturb them in this kind of situation without a good cause after all.

"This is relevant to the current situation."
"Vice-captain! Take over."
"Yes sir!"
"What is it brill?"
"Can I talk to you in private?"

This isn't really good news for the new recruits. I don't want to say this and cause them to be demoralised.

"These kids need to be able to stand strong even in the face of bad news. I don't want to raise a defence force that would be routed by a single piece of bad news."

Well, you are the captain. I won't argue with you on how you want to train your subordinates.

"There is a group of 50+ bandits camping in the volcanic region out back. They are currently waiting for some kind of signal from the bandits attacking us. Their location is in a small clearing near the edge of the lava hippo and rock monkey's territory."
"W-what?"
"W-we are doomed!"
"Silence!! What are you all doing buckling before feeling the blow! How do you expect to withstand the enemy attack with that kind of attitude! Vice-Captain, Take 10 people with you and reinforce the watch on the volcanic region side."
"Yes sir!"

Even Though we are under siege, the captain doesn't gather all of our forces here to defend. That would be foolish, so he keeps a few people stationed here and there in case the enemies try to get smart with us. However, the few people stationed wouldn't be enough to withstand or even delay an attack of 50+ bandits on the volcanic region side, so those 10 people reinforcements should be enough to handle things while we think up a plan to deal the most damage on them.

"Brill, I will head to the meeting area after this current wave. Inform the new village chief first and let him gather everyone."
"All right!"

Time for another meeting. I'm not really worried about the village being wiped out with the current siege. Those ambushers aren't really stationed there to deal a blow to us but more of a scouting force to feel out our strength. They have been doing this for some time in all of our directions but the volcanic region is a dicey region for us. We don't want any accidents happening in that area.

The main point of the meeting is how to thoroughly destroy those ambushers to the point that our volcanic region would be infamous among the bandits as a very bad attack point.

We need to make them regret in every fibre of their being that attacking us on that side is a mistake!