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0197 ———————————————-

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

And the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace explained to us the situation north of the Great Prairie. There was a mix of information, some of which he only knew whether he thought he needed to pay back the value of the gold bars we received.

“Currently, the Arasa Empire is launching a powerful campaign under the absolute monarch known as Ivan IV. They have not yet reached our area, but every year they are consolidating the northern tribes and increasing their influence. Ivan IV can be described as a ferocious and wild conquering lord, to the point where he’s called the Thunder Emperor.”

“I see.”

“And the Arasa Empire is closely related to the western continent, a land referred to as the Western Regions. They often clash with a country called Poland… Anyway, it is considerably different from the Central Plains’ Huaxia civilization. There wasn’t much exchange during the Yuan Dynasty, but as their influence has grown, we’ve been hearing news more frequently. If you plan to head to the Arctic, you will inevitably have to pass through the sphere of influence of the Arasa Empire.”

I listened up to that point and asked a question.

“Are there martial artists there as well?”

At my question, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace smiled wryly.

“Well… it’s tough to say. Really tough.”

“……?”

“Of course, they have knights who can fight using Qi. However, unlike martial artists, they serve entirely loyal to their lord or ruler. Also, the trend in the western kingdoms is that the focus on hand-to-hand combat is decreasing.”

“Does that mean they train a lot of archers?”

“Not exactly. Hmm…”

The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, after pondering, suddenly went to his study. He pulled out something strange from there and showed it to me.

“What do you think this is?”

“……? I’ve never seen it before.”

I tilted my head in confusion, but Miho next to me recognized the object and narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a matchlock gun.”

Matchlock gun?

Then the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, looking oddly pleased, said:

“Ah, someone who knows about guns. You seem to be a girl, but how did you know?”

“I’ve lived in Wa Kingdom, so I’ve heard a lot about the culture of Holland.”

“I see… So the Dutch merchants must have been trading over there.”

I blinked, not quite understanding. The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace picked up the so-called ‘matchlock gun’ and explained to me.

“The western kingdoms are now changing the nature of warfare from knight combat to gun combat. Of course, it’s still hard to pierce a knight’s strong armor, but eventually, we’re headed for the age of guns. If you’re thinking of passing through the Arasa Empire, you better know about this ‘gun’ or you might be in big trouble.”

“What is this? It looks like a chunk of iron…”

When I curiously leaned in to see the long hole in the matchlock gun, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace gasped.

“What are you doing?! That’s dangerous!”

He hurriedly pulled the matchlock gun away from me. As I looked on in confusion, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace sighed and said,

“A hundred hearsays are not as good as one sight. Let me show you what this thing can do.”

He took me and Miho to a secluded square. Then he pulled out the matchlock gun and seemed to ignite something round. He put that round thing into the matchlock gun, added some kind of oil dish, and after a series of complicated processes, he aimed the matchlock gun at a wooden barrel in front of us.

Pshhh!

Moments later, something was launched at an incredible speed from the end of the matchlock gun. It moved faster than even a master’s sword strike, making me jump for a moment. It was several times faster than an arrow. That something lodged itself into the wooden barrel in an instant.

“Th-that was incredibly fast.”

As I expressed my honest impression, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace said,

“This is what a gun is, a matchlock gun that fires using gunpowder. The kind that probably made its way to Wa Kingdom is also like this.”

“Hmm…”

“As you might have guessed, loading this is quite difficult, but if a large number of troops arranged themselves and fired sequentially, it would demonstrate enormous power. It’s not something to take lightly.”

“Looks that way.”

Even if that matchlock gun were fired right next to me, I’d probably manage to evade it due to my peak expert reflexes coupled with the Soul Removal Technique. But that was only because I was an expert; for an ordinary person, facing such simultaneous fire would likely be unavoidable. Clearly, it’s an edge over a bow.

The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace put the matchlock gun back in his study and said,

“Besides, the current Arasa’s gun technology has developed even further, with gear-type guns being deployed in real combat. Although their structure is complicated, they don’t use a matchlock, so they’re much more portable, allowing cavalry to use them as well.”

“Hmm…”

“If you were to encounter a large group of gunmen without having any knowledge, it might be dangerous. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re right.”

I honestly agreed with him. I might be able to dodge bullets, but that was only because I had prior knowledge that guns were ranged weapons with tremendous straight-line speed. If I had no knowledge at all, I would probably just be staring blankly and, in that case, a sudden attack might hit me despite my Soul Removal Technique. The knowledge about firearms the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace passed on was certainly worth its weight in gold bars.

Miho, who had been watching, spoke up.

“Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? I acknowledge that an ordinary person could potentially take down a martial arts master, but I don’t think it would be effective against a peak expert or a heavily armored knight.”

Though she was making a counterargument, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace smiled cheerfully in response.

“That’s true. It may struggle against light armor, but it still lacks strength to pierce the heavy armor of knights. And catching up with a master’s divine techniques or physical abilities is quite a challenge. However, if it came down to a fight involving thousands of soldiers, it would showcase enormous power.”

“That might be true…”

The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace sat down and savored his wine again.

“Right now, the Ming Empire’s pride in overthrowing the Yuan Dynasty has never been stronger, leading to their arrogance concerning Huaxia… But from what I see, this arrogance is likely to become a major misstep. Even as we speak, the western nations are engaging in numerous local wars, developing their war technologies, and at the forefront of that is firearms. In hundreds of years, the gap in firearms will become unbridgeable.”

“……”

He chuckled lightly.

“Well, worrying about this won’t change anything… Still, you need to be careful of the gunmen in the Arasa Empire. No matter how much of an expert you are, if you get hit by a bullet, you’ll likely die instantly.”

“Thank you for the explanation.”

“It feels strange. The Arasa Empire wasn’t originally such a powerful nation, but in the last twenty years, it has suddenly grown…”

While the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace mumbled, I organized in my mind the information I had gathered from him. Then, I asked a really important question.

“So, you said the Arctic is a frozen continent. Can humans not live there?”

“I heard it’s not entirely impossible. I’ve heard that some tribes live there, but I have no idea how they manage to survive. Why would anyone barge in there in that cold? There’s no communication or war happening…”

“So they do live there.”

“They haven’t managed to form a country. They’re just a small tribe.”

Though the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace spoke lightly of it, I felt that this information was crucial. After all, there’s a significant difference between whether humans can live there or not. Given that I had a means of making a return trip to a previously visited place, simply locating that tribe’s living area would make it easier for me to return to the Arctic next time.

I asked consecutively.

“Then, do you happen to know which route would be best to take to get there?”

“Eh? I haven’t thought about it… Hmm… I guess I’ll need to think about it since the value of gold bars is at stake.”

“Sure.”

The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace pondered and said.

“… It seems best to go to the Arasa Empire first and gather knowledge from the people there.”

“Isn’t the Arasa Empire far northwest from here? Wouldn’t that be going in circles?”

“The maps and geographical knowledge related to the north should all be available there. Sure, heading straight north would be the shortest route, but I can firmly say that you’d be passing through some of the most perilous terrain imaginable. No matter how incredible an expert you are, you wouldn’t reach the Arctic without any preparation.”

“Hmm… I see.”

“And surprisingly, the capital of the Arasa Empire isn’t that cold. It’s completely an inland region, so it’s quite livable. I visited around there when I was younger, and it was actually less cold than here, haha.”

Miho next to me asked.

“Do you happen to know the Arasa language?”

“I know basic conversation and grammar. Not just me, but anyone from the bloodline of the North Sea Ice Palace learns it.”

“Why is that?”

With puzzled looks, both Miho and I stared at him, and the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace further explained.

“The North Sea Ice Palace originally belonged to the Arasa clan, which happened to move down near Liaodong, learned martial arts, and settled here. Our true roots are in the west… That’s just how it is.”

“Could you perhaps teach us the Arasa language?”

“It won’t be difficult. Let’s wrap up our deal with that.”

“Understood.”

Miho and I became guests of the North Sea Ice Palace to learn the basics of the Arasa language and script. During our stay there, we had the opportunity to see the appearances of the North Sea Ice Palace’s clan members, and indeed, most of them had white skin, golden hair, and blue eyes, typical of colorful-eyed people. However, there were also many with black hair, confirming that they had mixed blood with the Liaodong ethnic people.

‘ Intonation and emphasis are exceptionally important in this language.’

Thanks to having a tool that facilitates language acquisition, Miho and I were learning faster than average humans. Nevertheless, the Arasa language was quite challenging, especially in its characters.

“What’s with this curly character?”

“That’s Cyrillic.”

“Cyrillic?”

“It’s a bit hard to learn, but it can’t be helped. Even clergy from Arasa struggle with that script.”

Clergy?

Surprised by the unexpected remark, I asked him.

“Are you talking about demon sorcerers?”

Somehow, this Cyrillic script looked similar to certain scripts I knew, and hearing about clergy made me think of otherworldly faiths. However, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace seemed to have no knowledge of otherworldly beings and tilted his head.

“Hmm… I don’t know what that is, but clergy are clergy. They believe in monotheism.”

“Monotheism, huh…”

“Anyway, the people of the Central Plains really know nothing about the western side.”

Grumbling a bit, the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace continued.

“It’s completely a new world over there. If you approach it with prejudice, it’ll only be a loss for you.”

Around three months had passed like that. Miho and I had managed to grasp the Arasa language considerably with the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace and seemed to have reached a level where we could communicate to some extent with locals. The Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace, surprised by our rapid acquisition, said,

“You’re learning incredibly fast. Impressive.”

“Well, we’ll be on our way now.”

“Anyway, I hope you find that treasure.”

As he bid us farewell, I knew it wasn’t genuine. He probably half pitied us, thinking that humans couldn’t properly survive in the Arctic in the first place, and that’s why he shared his knowledge with us. I left the North Sea Ice Palace with Miho and said,

“Miho, I’ve wanted to ask this for a while.”

“Yeah?”

“So, do they use matchlock guns in Dongyoung as well?”

“The ones that the Dutch merchants brought were improved by Oda Nobunaga, and it became the matchlock rifle. It played a significant role in ending the nationwide chaos of Dongyoung. And even now, the Tokugawa Shogunate operates gunmen as their main troops, so how could they not know?”

“A nation using matchlock guns…?”

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. Of course, my martial skills weren’t something to fear from a bunch of matchlock riflemen, but I realized that in a war between nations, the effectiveness of that matchlock brigade could be overwhelming compared to traditional spear or infantry troops. As my expression turned serious, Miho laughed lightly.

“Toyotomi Hideyoshi abruptly died while trying to invade Goryeo, leading the moderate Tokugawa Ieyasu to call off the war. So matchlock guns have barely reached Goryeo and the Ming Dynasty. However, during her stay in the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace, this maiden must have seen plenty of guns.”

“I see.”

“Uhoho… Perhaps the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace wasn’t too far off in his thoughts.”

“That doesn’t sit well with me…”

I muttered.

That was understandable, for distance in battle is of the utmost importance. A spear’s strength over a sword mostly lies in its range, and the reason why the bow remains indispensable in war is akin. Most troop types compete with their respective ranges, displaying a multitude of powers varying according to the commander’s tactics.

However, guns are different. With a range that’s hardly different from a bow, once fired, they can kill targets with amazing speed that even peak experts might find hard to evade. If such weapons were unleashed in a barrage, the nature of warfare itself would be turned upside down.

‘ And if guns evolve even further…’

The end of martial beings.

I felt a strange tightness in my chest but shook my head to dispel it. No matter how it was, matchlock guns took a while to load and had a high chance of misfire, so any seasoned peak expert could easily take down four or five men by themselves. Right now, such a weapon was far from enough to overturn the martial world.

“Alright, let’s go!”

We’re heading to the capital of the Arasa Empire!

And it was the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace’s advice to seek out the Orthodox Church, which supposedly has the most extensive knowledge about Arasa. The Orthodox Church might have a map to the Arctic!

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