I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 68

"This is humiliating..."

Such a mutter left my lips- one of the few parts of my body not buried underneath four solid titanium puppets.

I must look like some weird metal turtle with how only my head is sticking out.

"Squawk~"

A squawk of victory came from the top of the pile, both physically and metaphorically adding to the weight of the loss.

"... Did you really need to join the pile?"

"Squawk!"

"That's screwed up."

I couldn't help but sigh as the air was literally being squeezed out of my lungs. 

Titanium is way too freaking heavy- this isn't even fair.

That was the main material making up the puppets Mr. Flippers and I designed. Given their human proportions, each one weighed well over 600 pounds. It took some crazy engineering to design a block and tackle pulley system capable of supporting such weight in a manner that Mr. Flippers could move with his mechanical arms, yet now four chunks of that weight were pressing down on me.

I stood absolutely no chance against the puppets. Using a steel sword against opponents with titanium bodies was practically like trying to slice a dude wearing chainmail with a paperclip. Sadly, such a crazy disadvantage was needed so that I didn't destroy what Mr. Flippers had worked so hard to build. While we had several steel puppets that I usually used to practice my slicing, the penguin insisted on pushing me to my limit this session for some reason.

It was an impossible match, of course.

Although I held my own for a bit, I was completely helpless when the penguin suddenly sent all four puppets flying at me simultaneously, leading to my current predicament.

I'd be a pancake right now if it wasn't for divinity. Now that I think about it... just how much force did the sheep instructor have to use to crush those guys in class?

A shiver went through my body at the horrifying thought causing the pile to slightly wiggle.

"If you're done waddling around up there, can you please get these things off me?"

"Squawk? Squawk~"

"... Yeah, it's my loss. I surrender to the penguin."

"Squawk~"

With a celebratory voice, the penguin slid down the pile of puppets and stood looking down at my face.

"...Hi, Mr. Flippers."

"Squawk."

Although he returned my greeting, the penguin continued sternly staring down at me.

"... Is there a reason you're just standing there? Wait... you're not gonna pee on me or something, right!? Oi- this isn't funny!"

My face paled at the penguin's narrowed gaze as I desperately wiggled in a failing attempt to free myself from the crushing weight, only succeeding in causing the pile to shake violently.

"Squawk!"

Luckily, a desperate yet disappointed squawk of denial entered my ears before I caused a mini avalanche of titanium. 

"Oh... phew. You had me worried there for a second," I let out a sigh of relief, "If you're not trying to get revenge for something, what's stopping you from letting me out then? I already surrendered, didn't I?"

Silence.

"... Please don't make me beg. My ego isn't strong enough to recover from that."

"Squawk?"

"Huh? Well, I was calm before you started standing in front of me..."

"Squawk."

"That's what you're worried about?" I tried to wave my hand dismissively but failed due to the weight, "I was being dramatic on purpose because it's fun; I'm not as jealous as you think."

"Squawk?"

"Well, of course I was a little bit. What guy wouldn't be jealous if the girl he hasn't seen in forty years started talking to another dude?"

"Squawk!"

"Yeah, I know he's an Oracle, but still," I sighed, "Okay, look- think about it from his perspective. This dude was suddenly granted crazy power and tasked with saving the world by someone who can only be described as a goddess. Now he has a lifespan longer than anyone else in the realm and the only person who he can consistently talk to during that time would be this adorable goddess who chose him over everyone else in the world. Isn't that like every dude's fantasy? It's literally something out of a novel!"

Mr. Flippers stared silently at me so I continued.

"I'm not saying that Julia would catch feelings for him, but even if she views him like a son, that doesn't mean he'll view her as a mother- honestly, I'd be more surprised if he did. Like, pretend you have a cute penguin girlfriend for a second. Would you not be upset if some random penguin dude got a crush on her and she was forced to talk to him for 250 years? That's literally what could happen here."

"Squawk... Squawk?"

I rolled my eyes, "I have faith in Julia, not in a random elf dude. When'd you become so interested in relationship management anyway?"

"Squawk!"

"You're thinking too deeply about it. Obviously, I'm not gonna put my realm at risk by just choosing a random girl to be my Oracle- I might be petty but I'm not stupid, " I groaned, laying my head on my domain's floor after getting tired of holding it up to look at the inquisitor-like penguin, "If one happens to be the best option, I'll pick her. I mean, I'm gonna have to pick a girl eventually; you saw there were a few female candidates this time, didn't you? Who knows, maybe when that happens, Julia will be the one being judged by a girl Mr. Flippers under a pile of titanium puppets."

"...Squawk."

"Yeah, yeah. Will you let me out now?"

"Squawk~"

With a squawk of mercy, the penguin finally waddled off to his ice palace to soon free me from my titanium prison, unaware of the uneasy expression plastered on my face.

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"My own son, the Oracle, built such a beautiful village!"

Ruglace shifted awkwardly at his mother's praise.

"Your father would be so proud of you, Ruglace,"

He could only nod, "I think he would be too."

For the last five years, he had been building and replacing homes along the gulf. Within that time, he had managed to fully upgrade four different villages, succeeding in building every house in his current storm-resistant style. In addition to the homes, the villages themselves were remodeled; each was split into sections with various purposes and outlined by stone paths sprawling between them- a design inspired by what he observed in Rygard. Centered in the middle of each village was a large, wooden structure he designed to act as an emergency storm shelter.

These shelters were made from the thickest cherry trees he could find, whose trunks were then driven into the ground to form a solid rectangular wall of trees. A basic triangular roof framed with thin logs and filled in with woven corn husks was then attached to these thick walls and further reinforced by internal support beams. All of this was set on top of a sturdy stone foundation, of course.

Although Ruglace himself did not know this, the design somewhat resembled a longhouse from Earth.

There is no way the storms could blow down a house with walls that thick.

The Oracle looked toward the structure in the middle of the village with confidence before subconsciously glancing down at his hands.

I still can not believe I was able to carry such trees... I thought the stories were exaggerated, but they may not have been saying enough.

"Ruglace, are you really leaving today?"

The Oracle turned toward the voice, quickly seeing that it was one of the builders who he helped train during his time in the village.

"I am. I was able to stay here for much longer than I thought, but the creator of the world needs me elsewhere. Please look after everything while I am gone," he paused, "It would take dozens of storms to knock down these homes, so take some people with you to build up other villages while you can."

While the man nodded at his request, Ruglace faced his mother once more.

"It is time for me to go... please be safe, okay? I will do my best to visit before the invasion starts."

His mother looked back with glistening eyes, "The world needs you to carry it in your arms, just like how I carried you twenty springs ago."

Before he knew it, he was pulled into his mother's warm embrace.

"Do not worry about me, my son, I will be fine," she whispered in his ear, as she slowly separated from his arms, "You are the Oracle, the world needs you most."

Ruglace eyes blurred, "I will do my best. I love you, mom."

"I love you too, my son."

With watery eyes, Ruglace turned away from his mother's smile and faced the cherry tree forest to the village's north.

It is time to be an Oracle.

.

..

...

I miss the village already.

Ruglace glanced down at a spear pointed at his neck unsettled.

"... Is this really necessary?"

The young man at the end of the spear pulled it in, giving Ruglace room to breathe.

"You are the Oracle! How could we pass up a chance to see your strength?" He spoke with glimmering eyes, matching the three men behind him who nodded enthusiastically in agreement. 

"I am just here to help build... I am not a fighter."

"Not a fighter? Ha! There is no way the creator of the world would pick someone who refuses to fight as an Oracle!"

Ruglace could only look at him with a wry smile, "I can fight if I need to, but that is not why I am here. Are you not tired of living in tipis? I know a better house design with much more room to sleep in."

"Who cares about that?" the young man scoffed, "We do not need much room to sleep. Why waste time building a big home when you could be fighting? Come on, fight us!"

"Ugh."

A groan slipped through his lips as the spear returned to his neck.

"You're gonna have to fight them, Ruglace."

The Oracle flinched at the sudden voice in his head.

"Do I really have to, creator of the world?"

"Yeah, it looks like the northern tribes turned into real muscle brains since Rynn left. You'll probably need to beat them up a bit before they'll listen to you."

Ruglace sighed as the voice continued.

"You've never been in a real fight before, right? This is the perfect chance to at least get some sort of experience! Just... be careful. You'll need to hold back your strength a lot. Whatever amount you think is enough, hold back twice as much."

"A-alright," Ruglace grimaced at the caution and raised his eyes to meet those of the young man challenging him, "Fine, I will fight you, but please listen to what I have to say after we are done."

"Yes!" the young man faced the group behind him, "Do you hear that, guys!? The Oracle will fight us!"

"W-wait! I said I would fight you, not everyone!"

His desperate shouts fell on deaf ears as around twenty different people excitedly grabbed their spears and circled the Oracle.

"Let this be a good fight, Oracle!"

The young man in front of him withdrew his spear and quickly joined the others in the encirclement. 

"I just wanted to build..."

Such whimpers leaked from his mouth as he watched some of the men reach into a pouch tied around their waist.

"Now!"

"Gah!?"

His first taste of combat was not with a spear as he thought, but rather by a barrage of stones which pelted him from all sides. Ruglace reflexively shielded his face, only for him to quickly realize his mistake upon hearing a swarm of footsteps rapidly approaching.

Fighting against his instincts, the Oracle managed to lower his arms just in time to see a spear being thrusted directly at his chest.

Woosh!

Ruglace desperately jumped backward- his divinity-enhanced body flying in an arc just over ten feet in the air before landing unsteadily behind the wall of people who previously encircled him.

I did not even see the man behind me! If I jumped even a second later, I would have a spear in my spine...

A drop of nervous sweat dripped down his forehead, "Are you guys trying to kill me!? Why are you using actual spears!?"

"You are an Oracle! It would be an insult not to use our weapons!"

What kind of logic is that!?

Although he desperately wanted to argue with the single young man who was actually talking to him, he had no time before the crowd of fighters once again rushed toward him.

"At least they are all in front of me now..."

Ruglace was barely able to mumble these words before the first man reached him. Still moving at full speed from the sprint, the man jumped up with his spear overhead in an attempt to stab the Oracle's upper torso.

It was such a predictable trajectory that even Ruglace who had no fighting experience was able to easily dodge it by hopping to the side. As the man landed, however, he quickly flipped his spear around and thrusted it toward his new position.

SNAP!

The Oracle reflexively swatted at the spear only for it to instantly break in half as if it was nothing more than a toothpick. Ruglace looked at his own hands with a complicated expression as the upper half of the spear fell to the ground, but the remaining swarm of challengers' arrival brought him back to his senses.

What am I supposed to do here?

The challengers split into two groups: one rushed him with spears while the other stayed back and pelted him with rocks from a distance. 

As a rock bounced off his head, Ruglace sidestepped a spear that was thrusted at his side, quickly grabbing the shaft and snapping it in two with his thumb and index finger as it brushed passed him.

The now-weaponless man briefly froze in awe at the sight, before coming to his senses and lunging at Ruglace's legs to make an opening for the others to attack.

"You guys are making it really difficult to hold back!"

""Raaaaa!""

THUD!

Ruglace kicked the diving dude, launching him into three of the approaching men and sending them tumbling to the ground. Undeterred by this scene, the unrelenting challengers continued their assault, succeeding in grazing his arm with a spear and forcing him to take another leap backward. 

"Tsk. This is annoying."

Ruglace clicked his tongue as he looked at the shallow gash on his arm resembling a paper cut. This wound was then immediately hit by one of the many rocks being thrown at him.

The Oracle felt a vein throb in his forehead as more rocks bounced off of him, "Alright, if they are going to throw stones, so will I!"

Annoyed, Ruglace caught one of the stones and launched it toward the closest man sprinting toward his new position. 

Snap!

The stone shattered the man's spear at contact.

Snap!

The spear of the second closest man joined the toothpick club with the launch of another stone.

Crack!

"RAAAHHH!"

"Oops! Sorry!"

His aim was a bit off for the third throw, hitting the next man in the chest. A sharp crack rang out as the man let out a loud cry, collapsing to the ground while clutching the spot where he'd been hit.

This scene was enough for the rest of the charging men to stop in their tracks 

"... I-I think this is enough fighting," Ruglace eventually declared while shuttering under the crowd's accusatory gaze, "Then again, I think it is only fair for the people throwing stones to get hit themselves."

Ruglace looked toward the group who had been pelting him earlier as he said this- all of which immediately dropped the stones in their hands as the pained cries from the struck man continued in the background.

The young man who first initiated the fight approached Ruglace with a declaration of surrender, "It is our loss. The Oracle's strength really is great!"

"It was a good fight, I think. You were all very strong," Ruglace awkwardly returned the compliment, "Does that mean you guys will listen to me about improving the buildings in your village?"@@novelbin@@

"Oh, right... you did say that. I will get the chief!"

Ruglace could only give a wry smile as he watched the young man run off and disappear into a large tipi.

"... Could I have just gone in there and avoided the fight?"

"Yeah, isn't it a bit obvious that the guy you should talk to would be in the biggest house?" the voice in his head teased, "Well, it worked out in the end - now you have some real fighting experience! That wasn't too bad for your first time, but there's definitely some things you'll have to improve on. Luckily, you won't need to hold back if you do end up needing to fight the invaders."

Ruglace glanced down at the cut on his arm, "Maybe I really should train a bit..."

Not long after the Oracle slipped into thought, the young man returned with the presumed village chief. The chief looked to be in his late 30s donning both lean muscles of thick scars.

I am glad he was not in the fight....

In the same way that Ruglace was looking over the chief, the chief scanned over Ruglace; the only difference between the two was the disappointed expression on the chief's face.

"You are the Oracle? Why would the creator of the world choose someone who does not fight?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ruglace scratched the back of his head embarrassedly.

"I heard about your skirmish. You have strength but no skill," the chief stated flatly, "But that much is clear even without what they told me. Your muscles say it loud enough."

"Huh? My muscles?"

The chief nodded and pointed at his arms. "Your muscles are bulky, as if they were built for lifting heavy things. A fighter's muscles are leaner- you need speed and flexibility in a fight, something that your figure can not provide."

"Interesting..."

Ruglace found himself looking over his own body.

Well, I guess he is not wrong. I did get these muscles mainly from carrying stones for the foundations back home.

"So, Oracle," the chief continued, "What brings you to this village?"

"Well-"

Ruglace went on to explain how he was tasked with traveling the world to introduce more advanced buildings, but the chief quickly shut him down and declared he wasn't interested in the project. After a bit of pestering, he reluctantly agreed to let Ruglace show him an example, which he immediately got to work on building.

The design he decided to go with heavily resembled the type of building that his father designed. Without heavy storms in the north, Ruglace figured there was no need for any major foundations. In the end, this home was still rejected.

"It is an interesting house, but it is not worth the time to build."

"One of the guys I fought said something similar," Ruglace sighed at the chief's blunt review, "I know the tipis are pretty easy to put together, but they really do not offer much room. Would you not prefer to have room for a small fire during the winter?"

The chief shook his head, "We manage fine without it. The winters rarely get cold enough here to be unbearable. Besides, the mountain chicken hide we use for the liner keeps in heat well. Even if your wooden homes have more room, I doubt they can compete with the comfort of our homes."

"Hmm," Ruglace slipped into thought, "Do you have leftover hide after the hunting season?"

"... There is usually a bit. Even after making new clothing and repairing homes, it is difficult to use it all," the village chief pointed toward a few tipis near the village's outskirts, "We keep the extra in those. Every year, the pile grows a bit larger, but it feels a bit wasteful to burn them."

Is there really that much material!?

"Would you mind if I use some of them to try out some new home designs? I think I could at least improve on what you have," Ruglace asked with sparkling eyes. 

"Go ahead... but I have a condition for you."

"... A condition?"

The chief nodded, "Yes. I want you to train in combat while you stay in this village. You are this world's Oracle. If you are to protect this world, you will need to know how to fight."

Ruglace's excitement wavered.

I know he is right, but I really do not want to...

"... Alright, I guess that is fair. As long as I do not throw stones, I am sure those guys would want to fight again," the Oracle glanced back toward a group of the young men he fought three days prior. 

"No, it will not be them you will be fighting. An Oracle needs to train with the best- I will be your opponent."

"..."

Ruglace face paled as he once again glanced over the chief- his numerous scars seemed to be screaming at him.

... Why did I agree to become an Oracle again?