I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 77

"What the heck was that, Mr. Flippers?" I groaned, leaning back on my chair.

"Squawk..."

"Yeah, a disaster might be an understatement."

To be fair, the mission as a whole was far from a disaster when looked at objectively. After all, it ended with my realm getting access to three new lifeforms, including my long-sought-after grass, while suffering only 57 casualties in the process. With just these factors being judged, it would be difficult to call it anything other than a massive success. 

So why the heck would Ruglace rush in like that!?

This was the question I'd been repeatedly asking myself ever since the surprise attack took place, culminating in him suffering immense damage from weird, poisonous bubbles. Of course, I could tell it was out of some sense of responsibility over his army, but I had no idea what triggered his emotional decision to go rescue the last soldier.

Even though he's an Oracle, going against an entire army is impossible- especially if they have a divine weapon. If the soldiers didn't go back to rescue him, Ruglace actually would've died there.

My heart was still racing a bit from my panic between when my Oracle's eyes closed and when he appeared back on my screen, being dragged out of the portal in my realm. Since I could only see out of his eyes while in the toad's domain, I was completely in the dark, both literally and metaphorically, once his eyes closed.

Even now, as I watched him softly sleeping in a tipi on my screen, I couldn't help but be anxious. Yet just as I was about to switch my view, the Oracle suddenly began to stir.

"Ugh... I am hungry," the Oracle sat up, holding his stomach.

"Whoa!"

"Squawk!!"

He actually woke up!

The penguin and I jumped at the sudden awakening; I hurriedly fumbled to press the icon that let me talk to him.

"Of course you're freaking hungry- you've been asleep for over three days, you idiot!"

"... Three days?" Ruglace blinked in shock, slowly looking around the tipi to process his surroundings.

"Yes, three days! Do you have any idea how worried I was!?" I scolded, "Seriously, you're lucky you were still barely able to swallow stuff while you were sleeping, or you might've died from thirst while you were out!"

As I said, the poisonous attacks were enough to leave my Oracle locked in a coma for several days. His condition was rough, to put it lightly, with the soldiers having to leave small amounts of snow to slowly melt in his mouth just to get him some fluids. 

Despite my mind being cooled with relief after seeing him awaken, I wasn't done reprimanding him, so I continued, "After all of these years of you talking about how much you were looking forward to living your life after the battles were over, why would you go and do something so reckless!?"

Through my interrogation, Ruglace simply mumbled, "I did not want them to lose their chance to live life, either... are the soldiers okay?"

"The ones who weren't hit by that first bubble attack are," I said somberly, "We lost 57 men there, but there's another dozen in a similar state as you... though your condition is worse than most of them."

Ruglace clenched his trembling fist at the number.

"That is fifty-seven people who should not have died... did the one I threw through the portal make it?"

"Yeah. He wasn't looking very pretty after getting touched by their poisonous hands, but he's recovering fine."

"Good. It was worth it then-" he paused, suddenly noticing his skin, "Are my eyes broken, or are my arms and hands yellow?"

"No, they're actually yellow, but it's funny you should mention that because your eyes are yellow, too."

"Huh!?"

Shock filled his face, easily disrupting the guilt that was previously plastered on it.

"Your body is seriously damaged from all of the poison," I explained, "It's only natural that you'd be having some weird side effects."

His eyes and skin being yellow definitely means he has jaundice... his liver is shot.

A sigh left my lips as I reflected on everything.

The liver is one of the only organs that can regenerate, but even it has its limits.

Honestly, I had no idea if it would even be possible to recover after taking that much deadly poison, but him finally waking up was a good sign.

"What were those things?" Ruglace asked, reflecting back on the attack, "Those bubbles that they made... they were not like anything I know of."

Ah- the inevitable question has been asked.

"Some creatures can do weird and powerful things in other worlds. When I made this world, I put counter-measures in place that would mostly prevent them from using those things here, but I sadly can't protect you all in worlds other than mine. Of course, even I have no idea what to expect when you're out of my world."

I had a strong feeling that Ruglace would ask this question, so I settled on this answer after being careful of the Academy's monitoring. Up until now, magic, or mana in general, was unknown to my realm. Only Uunga had been exposed to it before this battle, but he perished before getting to tell the tale.

With this in mind, although I probably already met the requirements to speak about mana, I still had not told Ruglace, or any other one of my humans about it, out of fear of getting smited by a technicality in the rules. Now that hundreds of soldiers had witnessed magic firsthand and would inevitably spread word of its existence, I was confident I could finally at least vaguely acknowledge its existence as long as I didn't reveal more than they could reasonably know.

Ruglace relaxed a bit at my words, "So they really can not attack like that here?"

"No- not normally or without some crazy restrictions," I denied.

Unless the attacking creatures had mana storage organs, they could not use magic in my realm. Even for those who did, there was nothing they could do to regain what they lost, meaning they could likely only get out an attack or two at most.

I'm just really glad I decided not to add mana to my realm back then. I don't even want to think about what could happen if an Oracle with a divine weapon came through that portal and attacked.

While not enabling my humans to get and use mana themselves may feel like a missed opportunity to grow stronger, I could easily foresee thousands dying in massive magic battles every battle phase had I gone that route.

Even if my humans could throw fireballs or something, a fight between magic users seemed like an environment where only decomposers would come out on top.

"That Oracle... he did not chase after us, right?" Ruglace shivered.

"He did not, luckily. Not a single toad followed you through- those things really can't handle the cold."

Ruglace relaxed a bit at my words and attempted to stand to his feet, only to immediately fall back down once his legs began rapidly shaking.

"Ow-"

Shoot- he's really in bad shape.

"... Just try to take it easy," I softly ordered. "Focus on resting for now, it's gonna take a while before your body can recover."

As I finished these words, the front flap of the tipi was suddenly opened and a soldier eagerly peeked inside. His eyes lit up upon seeing the Oracle.

"You are finally awake! I knew I heard something!" he beamed, before quickly turning back and shouting to the rest of the army, "Everyone- the Oracle has woken up!"

A commotion was immediately heard from outside the tipi, and when I shifted the screen's view to his current temporary campground, I could clearly see hundreds of soldiers eagerly rushing toward his shelter. 

Ruglace was not oblivious to this fact either, as the sounds of cheers rang out around the camp.

"It looks like you'll have some company while you rest," I teased.

Ruglace grimaced as soldiers bursted through the flap and surrounded him; the small shelter was filled with cries of relief and shouts of celebration, while the Oracle was powerless to do anything but lay there as they shook him excitedly.

I could only smile at the scene, "I'll leave you to it- have fun, Ruglace. I'm sure Brung will love to hear you're awake, so I gotta tell him the news~"

"How come you get to leave... I am way too hungry for-!?"

Slap!

His whimper was immediately silenced by a soldier with a red rash on his face, dropping a grilled fish kebab on his face.

"We saved you some fish from the last supply delivery, so eat up," he said flatly.

Rugalce awkwardly took a bite, "... It is cold-"

"Then wake up earlier next time!" the soldier shouted, "Everyone, the Oracle is hungry! Get him some hot food!"

Another round of shouts broke out.

"Let us make him a feast!"

"We need more fish!"

"Anything for the Oracle!"

"W-wait-"

I desperately held back my laughter at his overwhelmed expression.

A feast probably won't be too great for his body right now... hmmm- he's an Oracle, I'm sure he'll be alright.

.

..

...

After secretly watching the scene for a few more minutes, while Mr. Flippers wandered off, I shifted the screen over to my temple, where an old man sat peacefully inside, cradling an infant.

"Hey, Brung! Are you trying to steal the youth from babies again? I already told you that it's impossible."

The old man rolled his eyes at my sudden tease, "I am just holding him while my great-granddaughter is cooking."

"He is really cute... but that means you're holding your great-great-grandson? Does that make you feel as old as you look? Seriously, what are you doing taking care of a baby when you're the one who should be taken care of?"

"Wow, you are out for blood today," my Priest grinned, "I can take care of myself; doing this makes me feel younger if anything- it brings me back to when I was first raising Tyra... though she is getting pretty old now, too."

"She's about 70, right? It's hard even calling her old when you're five years away from 100. For someone who wanted to be gone before the invasion started, you sure don't seem to want to rest."

Brung smiled, "At this point, I may as well stay to hit that milestone."

"From what I know, you're already the longest living Priest of mine. You gotta keep kicking it to make the record impossible to beat!"

"I will see what I can do."

The two of us fell into a comfortable silence for a few moments. Eventually, however, my Priest finally spoke again as the infant slept in his arms.

"So, did you just come to check up on me?"

"Ah- right. I wanted to tell you that Ruglace finally woke up. He's definitely in rough shape, but I think he'll make it back."

 "That is good," Brung's expression brightened, "You know, it is odd; when you told me about his injuries, I was thinking about how it would be such a shame for someone so young to pass on, yet he really is about the same age as my daughter." 

"Yeah, but if he can make it through this, he'll still have a lot of life in front of him. The dude still only looks like he's in his early thirties," I noted.

"Time works differently for you two," Brung looked back down at the baby in his arms, "He might even see this boy's grandchildren live full lives. Well, I am sure even that seems like nothing compared to how many generations you have watched over."

"Oi- don't go turning it back at me!"

"Ha! It is just interesting for someone as old as the world itself to talking about age."

"At least I still look young..."

The Priest grinned smugly at my defeated mumble.

"So, creator of the world, have you figured out where you want to put the creatures that the soldiers are bringing back with them?" he asked, tossing me an olive branch by changing the topic.

"Yeah, I think I've kind of settled on a plan now."

I worked out all of the details while I was waiting for Ruglace to wake up.

Grass was the easiest thing to figure out; the soldiers were able to harvest and bring back thousands of seeds during their week-long heist. It would be easy to just have villages set up small grass farms in random areas around my realm to use as chicken feed. Of course, the seeds from the grass could then be used to expand the farms if needed.

Still, a large part of me was a bit divided on whether or not I wanted to discourage the full-scale spread of grass in the wild. Although it was much more useful than moss, it would be a massive change to the ecosystem that had dominated my realm since its creation.

Well, grass is bound to spread eventually, regardless of what I say. Sadly, I think farming corn could become much more difficult with grass growing everywhere.

The grass in the toad's realm seemed a bit different than the grass I was familiar with on Earth, and it grew to a massive height.

Maybe if its growth speed is as fast as I'm imagining, it might not be too bad. They might be able to just rip it without needing to lay on the ground and pick through the dirt.

I knew it would be a nuisance regardless, though.

Sorry, my beautiful farmers! Hopefully, it'll be worth it if we're ever able to get some type of large livestock in the realm.

Putting their potential tears aside, I moved onto the next lifeform: the swamp vines.

Swamp vines are the massive stemy plants that grew in the swamp waters of the toad's realm. They seemed to extend in a manner almost resembling plant roots, except above ground and bending in and out of pools of water. These giant, green, and winding stems were super thick and sported beautiful white flowers that the buggy boys seemed to love resting on.

Honestly, I don't exactly know what its uses are, besides being a habitat for the buggy boys, but I don't really see it causing any harm to my realm, so it should be fine to add.

The plant seemed to thrive in wet areas based on its swamp habitat, so I planned for the soldiers to plant the seeds in some of the wettest areas in my realm.

While there weren't nearly as many swamp vine seeds harvested as grass seeds, there were still enough to start some populations in a few well-suited areas. I settled on three regions in particular: the canyon where the massive river originally flowed, the lowest points in the southern mudflats, and the lakes just north of the desert, which experienced nearly constant storms. I figured that if the plants were to flourish anywhere, it would be in those three spots.

With those out of the way, that just left the buggy boys. These adorable, chubby caterpillar-like things would be a new source of food for my realm. According to the soldiers who tried them as a taste test, they were extremely juicy and had a somewhat tangy taste.

Whether my humans have the heart to eat those cute things is another story, though.

Even if they don't take off as a new food source for my humans, I could definitely see them being extremely popular with the chickens, so I knew they were worth having.

The problem is that we only brought back a few dozen of them.

It was too small of a number to make splitting them up feasible; I would need to pick a single place to keep them.

If it wasn't for Ruglace's stand against the toads, I'd be much more worried about whether or not keeping a population of them would even be possible. Luckily, he bought enough time to get all of the ones the soldiers collected through.

With this in the back of my mind, I weighed my options.

The buggy boys clearly had some sort of symbiotic relationship with the swamp vines, so I felt it was best, if not essential, to put them in one of those regions. That left the mudflats, the canyon, or the lakes north of the desert.

 If I'm going for a swamp-like environment, the mudflats are easily the best choice.

The mudflat's extremely hot climate and standing water made it perfect for imitating the toad's realm.

But is that really the best option here?

While this was by far the most optimal environment, there was a major issue with putting the creatures there.

There's almost no one living that far south in the mudflats where I'd want to put them.

Sending someone down there to sprinkle around swamp vine seeds was one thing, but having people actively managing the buggy boy population would definitely be an issue. If the chickens just got to them early on, they could be gone in a single day.

Regretably, I had to eliminate this option for this reason, leaving only the canyon and the lakes as potential suitors.

Either one should be fine.

There were people in both locations who I was confident would be able to keep an eye on the new creatures. The lakes and the canyon were fairly equal in terms of the environmental pressures. The climate at the canyon was stable, but also much cooler than the storm belt, which might pose a concern depending on the buggy boys' ideal temperature range. Fortunately, the lakes were inland, so the storms they faced weren't anywhere near the strength of the hurricanes on the coasts. I was confident the buggy boys would be able to withstand them.

Either cool and calm or hot and turbulent... their pros and cons kind of cancel out. I'll just choose based on need, then.

After a bit of thinking, I came up with a selection.

The population density near the temple is by far the highest in my realm, so it only makes sense to give them first access to a new food source to support them.

With that, the distribution of all the looted creatures had been decided.

After I explained all of this, Brung spoke, "I was always curious about how the world might change after I leave. Do you think I will be able to see some of the creatures on their way down? I especially want to see that small one you told me about- you said it is very cute."

"Squawk..."

An annoyed squawk came from behind me, but I brushed off the penguin's pout and focused back on my Priest, "That's definitely fine; I'll ask Ruglace to have the soldiers swing by Rygard with a buggy boy and some grass seeds. I don't think the swamp vine can really grow where you are, though- you'll probably need to visit the lakes later on if you want to see them."

Brung smiled, "I am looking forward to it- thank you."

"Of course. There's no way I'd leave you empty-handed after eagerly waiting half a century for this," I teased.

"That is so nice of you- giving me an excuse to travel again in my later years. Perhaps kindness grows with age?"

"... We're not doing this again."

Our banter continued for a bit, but we eventually said goodbye and I stood from my chair, stretching.

Man... I don't think I've left my desk since Ruglace passed out.

Circling my arms, I looked over to the penguin who was currently in the process of welding some beams together with a makeshift blowtorch I designed.

"That's the new range training thing, right? You need a hand?"

"Squawk?"

"... Yes, I know you have six, but I'm bored and want to help," I groaned at his curt response.

"Squawk~"

Fortunately, he accepted my offer and I quickly trotted over. Just as I turned my back, however, I noticed a blue glow shining out of the corner of my eye, causing me to freeze in place.

With wide eyes, I turned around- my heart pounded a bit in my chest when I noticed the source of the light on my desk.

No way...!

The crystal ball was glowing- for the first time in almost fifty years, Julia was calling.