Reincarnated Prince just wants a quiet life

Part 7: A Gods Request

The news that Whilhelmin had invaded spread like wildfire and soon the capital city became a beehive of energy. At any given moment you could see soldiers rushing about their duties, citizens rushing to lend a helping hand and ships full of people leaving the port. Blacksmiths, Fletchers and Engineers worked around the clock to produce weapons and armor. Trebuchets were being produced en masse and positioned all around the city along with barricades. Outside the city, workers tirelessly dug a moat and filled it with spiked logs tipped with a strange orange poison that the merfolk assured us was extremely deadly. Each day our defenses strengthened, turning the once peaceful city into an almost impregnable fort.

I, however, kept busy by researching more into this world and learning as much of its history. In addition to my research I had been taking regular magic lessons with Darcia. The concept of magic in this world relied on having a clear image of a spell one wished to cast. Those who struggled with imagination often struggled with magic. Since I was a Creation Magic User I could conjure up almost anything so long as I had a clear image of the item and the mana to do so. I practiced by creating everyday objects such as bowls, forks and chairs at first. After I got accustomed to creating objects we next practiced on creating multiples of the objects. We wanted to find out if I had a limit to how many objects I could create at one time, and it turns out that it did not look like I had a limit. Darcia surmised that this was due to my extremely large mana pool. We also found that whatever I created became a normal object in the sense that it was no different from something that was made without magic. However, we found that once I created something I could 'un-create' the object, but if I did nothing then it would stay within the world until it is destroyed by normal means.

I was shocked to find that after all of my practice that I had leveled up quite a bit. I was equally as shocked by the monotone woman's voice that rang out in my head each time I reached a new level. Upon reaching a new level the voice would call out:

You have reached level... Congratulations.

It was surprising at first, but after a while I began tuning it out. When it first happened I had asked Darcia about it and was told that everyone hears the same voice. This had come about as a bug of sorts in the system that the gods created. Apparently even the gods themselves were unaware of why or how the bug came about but they had collectively decided that it was of little importance and left it be. Unbeknown to Darcia I practiced my magic at night, well after she had fallen asleep. Only the things I created were objects from my previous life. At first I was just curious as to whether or not I could make them and if they would work in this world. I found that for the most part the items would work unless they required certain outside elements like electricity to run. However, I made a mental note to see if there was a way to make them work if I were to combine the items with electric based magic.

As I trained in secret the looming threat of the Wilhelminain army weighed heavy on my mind. I was not a fighter, even in my previous life I would avoid confrontation at all costs, but I found myself wanting to protect those around me, to protect this country. I didn't know the first thing about fighting a war let alone one that would involve magic. I had played many strategic games before in my previous life and was even considered rather good at them but there was a difference between making a decision in a game and one where lives were at stake. Could I send men and women to fight knowing that some or all of them will die? I wasn't sure of that answer and even less so of whether I could be of any use in a fight.

Many nights I laid awake searching for a way I could help and the solution I kept coming back on was one that I wasn't very fond of. I had knowledge of advanced weaponry that was used to fight modern wars back on earth but I was reluctant to use them. I knew the damage even one of those weapons could cause and if the wrong person got ahold of them and I didn't even want to think about the repercussions. However, I knew of no other way to help. I didn't have the time to learn how to fight with a sword or a bow and even if I did, one more sword would not change the course of a war no matter how strong it was.