"My Lord, why are you having those three families expand their private armies and strengthen their armaments? Not only are you providing them with loans, you're also offering them discounted prices on standardized equipment? Our family's reserves are barely a million gold Fordes. Steward Hansk says that if you keep spending so freely, the family will soon run short of construction funds and won't be able to complete the territory development plan."
In the carriage heading toward Professor Bob's gunpowder testing ground in the Blade Mountains, Schwarde asked.
"My Lord!" Schwarde protested, clearly displeased. "I just can't figure out why you're doing this."
"All right, Schwarde, it was just a joke — don't take it to heart." Lorist said. "There's a saying: when you see dark clouds gathering, prepare your rain cloak before you head out, so you won't end up drenched like a drowned dog halfway there. Our family is in exactly the same situation before a rainstorm — if we don't prepare, we'll get soaked to the bone.
I'm not worried about the Trikta Chamber of Commerce under the Commercial Alliance. Even if they're maritime overlords, at heart they're still merchants. I'm not worried about the upcoming campaign against the Haneabada Kingdom either — after all, they're just a bunch of pirates, slave owners, and slave traders. No match for our family's elite forces.
The one I'm worried about is the
From that surprise attack alone, you can see that the Second Prince is a capable commander, not an incompetent ruler. He genuinely has a chance of fulfilling his dream. After destroying the Redlis Kingdom, his armies will most likely turn toward the Iblia Kingdom next. In its current state, Iblia has no way to resist the Second Prince's assault.
Right now, the Northland is under the control of our four families, and we've been living comfortably. But once the Second Prince finishes off Iblia and marches on the Northland, with his domineering desire to control everything, will he let
Even if they pledge allegiance to the Second Prince, he would most likely dissolve our four-family alliance, transferring or reducing their fiefs to other locations. That way, he could extend his reach into the Northland. Our family's recently developed Xing'an Plains and the Red River Plains currently under development aren't traditional family holdings — they could easily be reassigned to provoke conflict between us and other nobles..."
"But my Lord, didn't the Second Prince once promise to appoint you as Grand Duke of the Northland? As long as our borders touch..." Schwarde suddenly caught himself, and his voice trailed off.
"Heh heh..." Lorist laughed. "When the Second Prince made that promise, he was in a weak position. He had just assumed political control of the Andinak Kingdom and still needed us to fight his battles. Of course he'd make such pledges. Now he commands over three hundred thousand troops. Once he sweeps through the Iblia Kingdom and the situation is settled, nobles will flock to his banner, and his forces could swell to five hundred thousand. Under such circumstances, do you think he'll still care about promises he once made?
Our family follows a strategy of elite troops. We may look like we have a large army now, but split between land and sea, what we can actually field for open battle is only seventy to eighty thousand. And we still need to send forces to campaign against the Haneabada Kingdom. What's left in our territory are two lance cavalry regiments, a war chariot regiment, and one knight order held in reserve as our mobile force.
The remaining forces include the horse archer battalion stationed at Wolniu Ridge — our main line of defense against mountain barbarian raids — and two guard battalions: one at Turtle Mountain Fortress, one at Bedrock Castle. Three garrison battalions guard the family storehouses, prisons, labor camps, and workshops, each with its own duties. The rest are garrison units in the towns and villages, whose job is maintaining order and protecting residents.
Look at a map and you'll see that the western Northland has essentially become our family's ranch, grazing nearly three hundred thousand head of cattle and sheep. Over the next three years, the Fisablen family will provide us with another six hundred thousand head to fulfill the cattle-and-sheep-for-equipment agreement we signed. Our three allies had no objections to our family turning the western Northland into grazing land — they can even buy cattle and sheep from us at low prices for their own consumption.
But if the Second Prince extends his reach into the Northland, he'll immediately set his sights on this livestock. After all, the western Northland isn't our traditional territory either. He could find countless excuses to seize these cattle and sheep while leaving us with no recourse — through land grants, reparations, and the like — causing our family devastating losses that we'd have to swallow in silence. Unless we were willing to defy the will of heaven and wage war against the Second Prince at the very height of his military power, just for the sake of this livestock.
With our family's strength, we could also mobilize three hundred thousand troops. We don't fear the Second Prince's massive army — we could even defeat him. But what good would that do? Setting aside the impact on our territory's civilian life, even a victory over the Second Prince would leave us with devastating losses. And he is our family's liege lord — we'd gain nothing except the stigma of being rebels.
If it comes to a direct confrontation, we'll provide support from behind. With the Mitobulo River as a natural barrier, I'd like to see whether the Second Prince is willing to bleed his armies on those two iron-chain bridges. Unless he agrees to our terms: the Northland remains as it is, with our four families having the final say. Otherwise, he can face off against our three allied families until the end of time..."
"My Lord, what if the Second Prince orders us to move against our three allied families? He is our family's liege lord," Schwarde asked.
"That's no problem. We can refuse unreasonable orders from a liege lord. He has no right to demand that we betray our alliances," Lorist replied.
...
They arrived at the valley where Professor Bob's gunpowder laboratory was located. It had been nearly two months since Lorist tasked them with firearms research, and word had finally come two days ago that they'd achieved a major breakthrough. Lorist had hurried here immediately after seeing off the three allied families — Baron Shahin, Baron Filim, and Count Kenmais.
Professor Bob, Master Heed, Master Yulin, and Master Falin were all present. After taking their seats, they began reporting their respective progress to Lorist.
The shrapnel shells Professor Bob had been developing hadn't made much headway, but he had a surprise for Lorist. He brought out a tray of bullets — bullets with brass casings.
"How was the primer achieved?" Lorist asked.
"My Lord, the primer is actually quite simple. We used fire crystal shards — grinding the fire crystal into small discs and embedding them at the base of the casing. We added a ring of flint around the base, and when the trigger is pulled, a steel hammer strikes the flint. Even a tiny spark causes the fire crystal disc to ignite, which then sets off the gunpowder packed inside the casing. The gunpowder explodes, propelling the bullet outward..." Professor Bob explained.
Master Falin opened a mahogany box on the table. Inside lay two revolvers with gilded barrels and mammoth ivory grips — one engraved with a beautiful woman's portrait, the other inscribed with delicate floral patterns. They looked exactly like the antique luxury revolvers Lorist had seen online in his previous life.
"Oh? You actually managed to produce revolvers?" Lorist was greatly surprised.
"Yes, My Lord," Master Falin said. "Based on the revolver blueprint you designed, we spent two months crafting these two pistols by hand. Even the casings were individually made by us, one by one..."
"..." Lorist was speechless. He could confirm that every component of these exquisite revolvers had been individually shaped by Master Falin's own skilled hands — a level of craftsmanship that even Master Heed couldn't match. But the problem was that Lorist wanted to find a method for mass-producing firearms, not this kind of handcrafting. Even if Master Falin worked himself to the bone, he could only produce a hundred or so...
"Can these guns actually fire?" Lorist asked with concern.
"Of course they can," Master Falin quickly replied. "We've test-fired them. The range isn't great though — within twenty to thirty meters, the lead bullets can penetrate a finger-thick wooden plank. Beyond fifty meters, who knows where they'll end up."
So, effective range of twenty to thirty meters. Beyond that, the bullets would veer off and miss the target.
"Also, My Lord, we weren't able to manufacture the revolving cylinder and trigger mechanism you designed for automatic rotation. As a workaround, we borrowed from that dwarf musket — after firing, you have to manually cock the hammer to rotate the cylinder to the next round..." Master Falin added.
No wonder the hammer seemed oversized — it was designed to be easily cocked by hand.
"My Lord, one more thing to note — after five consecutive shots, the barrel overheats and needs to cool down before it can be reloaded and fired again..." Master Yulin reminded him.
Well then. The steel used for the barrel wasn't up to standard either — it overheated after just five rounds...
"Any other problems?" Lorist asked.
"Well, My Lord, even though I personally loaded every bullet with the same amount of gunpowder and primer, sometimes one or two out of five rounds misfire. It takes several attempts to get them all going. I suspect it's because the flint sometimes fails to produce a spark..." Professor Bob added his own caveat.
Lorist was completely at a loss for words. So these two fancy-looking revolvers were really just showpieces. No wonder they'd been so elaborately decorated — they were meant to be appreciated as art objects. But regardless, these were the first and second revolvers produced by his family. The fact that they could fire and had some power still made them worth keeping as mementos.
"Did you make all these bullet casings yourselves?"
"No. We recruited over twenty craftsmen, each making a dozen or so. We selected the ones closest in size, and then Master Falin personally polished them down, ultimately producing these seventy-three casings of uniform size — all of which could be loaded into both pistols and fired. In the future, you can reload the gunpowder yourself. I also have small molds for casting lead bullets, and this press tool for seating bullets into casings," Professor Bob said.
As long as the casings survived, they could be reloaded — that was workable. No need to worry about running out of ammunition.
"Good. I'll take both revolvers, the ammunition, and the molds. You won't need to make any more of these. It's a waste of your talents to spend two whole months on this — you're not ordinary craftsmen." Lorist paid them a compliment, and the masters were visibly pleased.
"Did you encounter any difficulties during the firearms testing?" Lorist asked.
"The steel we have is all forged, making it unsuitable for barrels. Like these two revolvers, the barrels heat up easily. Moreover, crafting a single barrel is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. I'm currently working with Master Yulin on researching new material compositions. I've also decided to attempt producing refractory bricks and find ways to improve the mithril smelting furnace, so we can eventually produce molten steel that can be cast directly into long barrels..." This was Master Heed's report.
Lorist nodded. He had been too eager for results — trying to build everything on a shaky foundation. Just like the revolvers the masters had painstakingly crafted: they could be made, but at enormous cost and with numerous flaws. Master Heed was right. They needed to first figure out how to produce suitable barrel steel. Everything had to be done step by step.
"Good. Master Heed is right — we can't rush this. The family will provide funds for the steel research. Also, our current water-powered machinery only handles forging and pressing. You should explore whether you can build water-powered machines for cutting, drilling, and boring. That would save enormous amounts of labor and time."
Lorist casually sketched rough diagrams of the machinery he was describing on some paper on the table. Master Heed snatched them up like a treasure.
"My Lord, our saltpeter consumption is very high right now. With over forty bronze cannons undergoing artillery training, the saltpeter we produce and collect can only sustain about ten more days at current consumption..." Professor Bob reported.
That was indeed a new problem. Lorist thought for a moment and replied: "Here's what we'll do. Reduce the powder charge in the training cartridges — just enough to fire. Give the gunners a set number of full-power cartridges each day and have them use them sparingly. Also, I'll allocate funds to open several more saltpeter production valleys in the Blade Mountains and expand saltpeter output."
...
After leaving the gunpowder laboratory, Lorist hurried to the port city of Oxhorn Bay. Sembawood had returned with the fleet the day before, and the day after tomorrow they would depart again, loaded with the expeditionary forces bound for Shilowas Island.
Englerek and Tiger Ross would be sailing ahead on the
At the camp near the harbor, Sembawood was leading his subordinates to welcome Lorist's arrival.
"Sembawood, the day after tomorrow you'll stay here and hand the fleet over to Uncle Torlin. Let him lead them out first," Lorist said.
"Yes, My Lord." Sembawood didn't understand why Lorist was making this decision.
"See the Storm over there? That's your new flagship. You need to familiarize yourself with its performance before setting sail." Lorist pointed to the Storm anchored in the bay.
Sembawood's eyes lit up. "What a beautiful ship. But My Lord, couldn't I familiarize myself with it during the voyage?"
"No, no, no, Sembawood. This isn't like the sea vessels you're used to, which all perform more or less the same. This is Galentea's one and only invincible warship. You'll understand once you board it," Lorist said proudly.
"All right, My Lord. I'll follow your orders. Oh, My Lord — this is a war report from Knight Lunmerd in
Lorist pulled out a document folder and opened it. Inside was a war report about the Second Prince's campaign in the Redlis Kingdom. Hmm? Something didn't add up — why hadn't the Second Prince finished off Redlis's resistance forces by now?
Apart from one legion stationed at the Madras Duchy border and the garrison forces within the Andinak Kingdom, the Second Prince had deployed roughly two hundred and forty thousand troops across the Redlis Kingdom. After the surprise attack on Fedriga, he had accepted surrenders and recruited defectors — particularly the seventy thousand garrison troops in Campona Province who had capitulated, bringing his total strength to over three hundred thousand.
However, after the territorial lords in Andewov Province refused the Second Prince's offer of surrender, he personally led the army while ill following an initial failed campaign. Adopting a strategy of methodical, step-by-step advance, he ultimately achieved a decisive victory and seized Andewov Province. But the surviving lords had banded together and were now continuing their resistance in Majik Province. Worse, they appeared to have received a massive influx of military aid, growing stronger with each battle.
Strange — why hadn't there been any news of the Eldest Prince? All Lorist had heard was that he'd escaped the royal capital and his whereabouts were now unknown, vanished to who-knows-where... Lorist continued reading.
The Second Prince had divided his three-hundred-thousand-strong army into three parts. The first threatened the border of the Rulhm Duchy, demanding that the Grand Duke of Rulhm abolish his sovereign title and reintegrate into the Empire. The second was deployed throughout the former Redlis Kingdom, stripping the nobles of their wealth, grain, and other supplies to sustain the army's logistics. The third was dispatched to the last remaining Redlis province — Majik Province — to fight the rebel lords.
Seemed a bit too hasty, Lorist assessed. Then he pulled another report from the envelope — about the Glass War between the Commercial Alliance and the Trinbo Kingdom.
One glance and Lorist was stunned. What was going on? The Glass War was supposed to involve only the Commercial Alliance and the Trinbo Kingdom — how did it end up destroying the Ulobaha Duchy and the Delia Duchy? Especially Ulobaha — it was nearly a thousand li from the Trinbo Kingdom, with the Titanini Mountains and two small countries in between. How could it possibly have been wiped off the map?
...(To be continued.)