Chapter 386
Chapter 386: Let’s Raise the Circle Too. (3)
For Galbarik, it didn’t matter whether Vanessa reached the 7th Circle or Alfoy reached the 5th Circle.
What filled his mind was only the thought of restoring the pride of the dwarves this time around.
The large catapult required a staggering thousand spears, making it far more intricate than the medium catapult.
Galbarik truly went around every blacksmith in the territory, personally making samples to standardize the specifications.
“Hurry up and check! Ah, quickly!”
Unable to withstand Galbarik’s urging, Ghislaine and his close associates immediately prepared for the demonstration.
The soldiers who had trained before gathered once more at the abandoned fortress. With skilled hands, they assembled Galbarium Spears to create five medium catapults.
Claude, unable to hide his annoyance, shouted.
“Fire!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
KABOOM!
The five medium catapults accurately launched stones in the desired direction. Their destructive power was commendable, even enough to damage part of the fortress walls.
Those who had looked on with skeptical expressions finally gasped in admiration.
“Oh! This time it’s accurate!”
“The power is solid.”
“To think a thousand soldiers could possess five medium catapults! That’s quite an impressive mobility!”
Everyone clapped their hands in joy; this was a significant achievement indeed.
But something truly important remained.
The sturdy and enormous walls would be difficult to breach using only medium catapults. A powerful large catapult was needed to deliver proper damage.
“Disassemble!”
With a less annoyed expression, Claude shouted again, and the soldiers busily sprang into action.
They quickly tore down the five catapults and gathered all the spears into one.
Given its large size, it was crucial to properly join the supports. The soldiers worked in teams, making each part and repeating the assembly process.
Thanks to their experience, it didn’t take long before the medium catapults were dismantled and a large catapult was created.
As the onlookers watched, they displayed mild surprise.
“Wow… it really works…”
“It’s really amazing how they disassemble and reassemble!”
“But it’s so big… will it withstand the shock?”
It was majestic, but with a mere frame made of Galbarium Spears, it looked a bit fragile.
Would that bony catapult really withstand the massive weight of stones and shoot them precisely to the desired location?
“Fire!”
At Claude’s signal, the catapult shot the stone.
WHOOOSH!
With a fierce sound, the stone flew accurately to the target point.
KABOOM!
With an enormous roar, a side of the fortress was destroyed in an instant. Considering it was a small fortress, the destructive power was staggering.
“WOW!”
“That kind of destructive power!”
“With that, we could probably take down Cardenia too!”
People leaped from their seats, cheering. With just ten of those large catapults, it felt like they could bring down any castle.
Having succeeded with the demonstration of the large catapults following the medium ones, they could certainly use these on the battlefield.
Galbarik and the dwarves clenched their fists and shouted. All their past grievances seemed to vanish.
“YAAAAAA!”
Galbarik, overwhelmed with exhilaration, rushed straight to Claude.
“Did you see! We succeeded! Did you see it? Huh? Did you see?!”
“Yes, yes.”
Claude nodded dismissively, and Galbarik exclaimed, spitting a bit.
“Do you know how hard it was because of you? Do you have any idea how worried I was about failing again? It felt like my lifespan was getting cut in real-time!”
“Life is always being cut in real-time, you know?”
“Huh?”
Galbarik rolled his eyes a bit. It was definitely not wise to engage in a verbal fight with this guy.
“Anyway! We succeeded! No more looking down on us dwarves!”
“Yes, yes.”
“Damn it! Really!”
Just as Galbarik was about to lunge at Claude, Wendy pushed Claude aside and stepped back.
Ghislaine, unconcerned by the commotion, asked her informant, Lowell.
“Are you keeping track of Marquis Roderick’s movements?”
“He’s currently busy subduing the bandits. But it seems he has too many people scattered around, so it’s quite a headache.”
“Hmmm, that’s a very good situation.”
Marquis Roderick had suffered considerable losses due to the last battle. In particular, the fact that Ghislaine hadn’t killed or captured the defeated soldiers but had let them go was the biggest problem.
Not having to act directly while weakening the enemy’s forces and creating inconvenience was the best situation for Ghislaine.
Nonetheless, Marquis Roderick was a major lord in the west and couldn’t be ignored; despite his losses, he would soon stabilize and move forward.
“First, keep gathering information without resting. Because of the Salvation Society, the nobles will reconsider which side to take, so it will take some time to start a confrontation. Marquis Roderick has to deal with the bandits too.”
“Understood.”
After giving some additional instructions to Lowell, Ghislaine spoke to his retainers.
“All production capacity in the territory should be directed towards the production of Galbarium Spear. We will finish preparing before the enemies do.”
Food, armaments, and potions were now sufficient. What remained was training the soldiers on the new catapult spears and mana convergence circles using Dragon Heart fragments.
If they could finish preparations like this, they could sweep through the enemies like a storm.
“When Marquis Roderick sets out, let’s go greet him.”
Thanks to the exposure of the Salvation Society, everything was progressing better than planned.
Ghislaine wore a very pleased smile.
*
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Marquis Roderick repeatedly slammed his chair and shouted.
“You still haven’t dealt with all the bandits? When on earth do you plan to set out!”
The main forces of the marquisate were nearly ready to depart, but it was difficult to leave their posts easily.
This was due to enormous bands of bandits running rampant near the marquisate and the vassal territories.
The marquisate had been busy capturing the larger factions, but the problem arose unexpectedly.
“Why the hell are those filthy pigs joining those guys!”
The residents of small, poor vassal territories were instead joining various bands of bandits. Hence, even if they subdued one, a large force would appear from somewhere else.
As the bandit groups were stronger than the vassal lords, it was only natural for the territory residents to make that choice.
The marquisate had no choice but to propose amnesty, saying they would pardon any soldiers who surrendered, but no one believed it.
This was the result of Marquis Roderick’s extreme cruelty towards the residents of his territory.
“Ugh… I’d rather kill them all! That damned little bastard!”
Marquis Roderick ground his teeth and cursed Ghislaine. Almost ten thousand soldiers had scattered, becoming a band of brigands; it was unbearable agony.
In Roderick’s fury, his retainers remained silent. They didn’t want to die for speaking up.
Finally, after calming down somewhat, Marquis Roderick spoke to his Knight Commander, Tenant.
“Tenant! Just kill off the big guys first and let the small fry be! I’ll deal with the rest after hitting Penris!”
“…Understood.”
Even in a rage, it was the worst decision. If they didn’t manage to subdue them properly, the number of residents joining the bandits would only increase.
If that happened, the power of the vassal lords would weaken, and eventually all the blame would fall on the marquisate.
But still, Marquis Roderick didn’t care. His personal honor was prioritized over the safety of the residents and vassals.
“Handle it as fast as possible. The longer this drags on, the more my honor will be buried into the ground.”
Under the marquis’s threats, everyone could only lower their heads.
Just then, a servant from the marquisate hurriedly ran in and delivered a letter.
“What is it?”
“There has been a significant announcement from the royal family.”
“Hah, what could a dying figurehead of a king announce? Must be more nonsense from Marquis Branford.”
Rustle.
As Roderick unrolled the letter roughly, his expression started to harden.
“The Duke Faction colluded with the cult? All four major churches have verified this and made it public?”
Whatever they had done, all the churches had sided with the Crown Prince’s faction.
This was a problem of a different magnitude than merely labeling the Duke Faction as traitors. They too could be implicated as part of the cult and turned into a target for the churches.
“What the hell does this mean! Explain in detail!”
“They captured the tails of the Duke Faction in the capital…”
The servant relayed every detail he had obtained through the marquisate’s intelligence network.
As they listened, the expressions of Roderick and his retainers darkened.
Once Tenant finished hearing everything, he said.
“This is serious. If it’s just the Crown Prince’s faction, it could be managed, but if we turn all four major churches into enemies, it will become dangerous even if we win in a civil war.”
The four major churches were essentially the spiritual bastion of the people of the kingdom. Even though the priests faced much scorn, that was just a matter for humans; no one doubted the authority of the goddess.
If they were marked as heretics by all four churches, it would become impossible to govern the kingdom, even if they were to win a civil war.
If they tried to suppress dissenters by force, kingdoms from across the continent would use that as an excuse to invade Ruthania.
It would truly become a “Holy War.”
“Wh-what… did the Duke Faction get itself involved in?”
Even Roderick had never heard of the existence of monsters until now.
He had heard that Duke Delphine hadn’t shown up for a long time, but to think he was concocting such strange schemes behind the scenes!
Even if they were allies, they had crossed a line that could not be tolerated.
The servant cautiously continued speaking.
“Marquis Branford has demanded all the lords of the kingdom prove their innocence within a month. Otherwise…”
The rest didn’t need to be said. He would become branded as part of the cult by all four major churches.
Roderick crumpled the letter, grinding his teeth.
“That bastard dares to scheme while backed by the churches…”
Asking for proof meant that he wanted the Duke Faction to step aside. It was infuriating, but there was no other option.
“If only we join forces with the Duke Faction, we could surely win the civil war. We could sweep away all four major churches as well.”
But after that, this kingdom would become a complete battleground of a “Holy War.”
As expected of Marquis Branford. To turn the tide of this conflict so swiftly. He had fallen right into his trap.
After pondering for a long time, Roderick suddenly broke into a sly grin.
“Hehehe… well, this could actually work out in my favor.”
It would not only burden him but also the other nobles. It seemed like a good opportunity to take advantage of.
“We strongly denounce the Duke Faction for partnering with the cult. So, announce our withdraw from the faction.”
“Marquis, do you really mean that…?”
“Indeed, we shall use this opportunity to topple the Duke Faction and take their place.”
The Duke Faction could certainly be said to be the strongest single force in the kingdom. But could they really contend with the entire kingdom along with the four major churches?
Roderick was convinced it was absolutely impossible.
And if the Duke Faction fell?
He could truly become the greatest noble in the kingdom, standing alone.
“Bwahahahaha! This is splendid! Change the target of my forces set to attack the capital to the Duke Faction! I’ll personally behead that arrogant Baron Joseph who commanded me!”
To ensure the Duke Faction’s complete eradication, he too needed to lend his strength. If he didn’t, he could get counterattacked.
“The heavens are helping me!”
Roderick had suppressed his ambitions due to the Duke Faction. But with signs of their downfall appearing, those ambitions started to rise again.
“And then, I will become the king of this kingdom.”
Even though he hadn’t voiced that ambition in front of his retainers, anyone who looked into his eyes could see his true intent.
Tenant nodded in agreement. It was clear to everyone that Marquis Roderick’s judgment was correct.
However, they needed to reconfirm the meaning behind the order to change the target of the forces set for the capital.
“Is the remaining one of the two legions still targeting Penris?”
“Wouldn’t that be obvious? This works out better for me. The Crown Prince’s faction won’t back the little bastard if I withdraw from the Duke Faction. I have a solid justification for waging a territorial war against them, so there’s no need to fight against me, right?”
“Indeed. They’ll focus all their strength on taking down the Duke Faction. If they fight against the Marquis now, they would incur significant losses.”
“Yes, and I’ve now decided to shake off the pressure from the Duke Faction. So now, I can move freely.”
Neither the Duke Faction nor the Crown Prince’s faction could touch him anymore. He had lifted both the political and military burdens.
Now, he merely needed to concentrate on the destruction of Penris.
“Hurry and subdue the bandits and finish the preparations for departure. I will step on the land of Penris myself and burn it all down.”
A cruel smile never left Marquis Roderick’s face.
