The Lord Of Blood Hill

In reality, the Western Federation begins to sense where the problem lies.

As the nations slowly recover from the century-long upheaval, their fear of the Western Federation gradually shifts into respect.

A single word makes all the difference.

At first, Henwell thought the Western Federation’s low profile on the continent, its influence limited to small circles, was because the church and empire deliberately suppressed it.

But after meeting Newwood and confirming the prison theory, he no longer believes that.

If the Forgotten Continent is a prison, then the wardens must assert their authority to keep the prisoners in check.

They need to maintain a strong deterrent, appearing fierce rather than letting the prisoners feel relaxed or free.

Otherwise, a rebellion is inevitable.

After Henwell’s wedding, Chick leads elite forces from the Military Intelligence Office to establish a foothold in the Western Federation, gradually sending Henwell some interesting intelligence.

Through extensive investigations, Chick discovers that the Western Federation has always wanted to showcase its strength.

But the royal families of various nations have united to resist and suppress the Western Federation’s deeper influence.

Each country has a dozen or so Iron Knights guarding their royal families and high nobles.

They rarely show themselves, deliberately applying pressure on the Western Federation.

At the same time, the royal families actively conceal and even erase information about the Western Federation and Veil.

Not only the common people, but many nobles remain unaware of their existence.

No ruler wants their subjects to know there’s a power above their authority.

Realizing this troubling trend, the Western Federation wants to change the status quo.

So when Vorry transforms, they plan to demonstrate their might.

With all the royal family members gathered, they intend to make a strong showing on the continent’s biggest stage.

Unfortunately, they run into the brute Newwood, who disrupts everything.

Instead of gaining recognition, they end up exposing their own weaknesses.

Initially, everyone assumed Newwood was part of the Veil Organization, which the church also claimed.

Later, nations discovered that Veil was actively trying to recruit Newwood.

At that point, they realize Newwood isn’t Veil’s.

The church must know this too. They call Newwood a Veil member precisely to keep the royal families in the dark, so they don’t learn the church has even fiercer enemies.

Thus, on the surface, nations openly hunt Newwood, but behind the scenes, they’re all trying to make contact with him.

At this point, Henwell realizes the continent’s situation is far more complicated than he imagined.

The relationship between the nations and the church is no longer a simple superior-subordinate one. Maybe it was before, but now it’s gradually evolving into a cooperative alliance.

Another piece of intelligence forces Henwell to rethink Peace Haven’s military development plan.

It concerns why siege weapons are so scarce across the continent’s nations.

Given that these countries have histories spanning hundreds to thousands of years, with constant warfare, the development and iteration of war machines should be rapid.

Yet the current wars lack the expected intensity.

Siege engines like catapults, arrow towers, and ladders are almost never seen.

Even ballistas appear only in defensive fortifications, rarely used in open-field battles.

At first, Henwell assumes the nobles deliberately limit these weapons.

After all, the nobles’ rule centers around their castles.

Without siege weapons, local uprisings find it extremely difficult to breach castle defenses.

As long as the castle’s lord holds out for a while, the rebels can’t sustain their assault, or reinforcements arrive.

So it makes sense for the nobles, who control the knowledge and materials, to restrict the development of siege weaponry to protect their rule and security.

But there’s a problem. If this were the only reason, then the ruling classes of each nation would still possess the technology and capacity to produce such weapons.

Yet during large-scale conflicts like the War of the Six Kings, there’s no such taboo.

Why aren’t siege weapons used in wars of that scale?

This question has long troubled Henwell.

He’s asked around, but the answers he gets feel off.

People say they’ve never even heard of such things; the concept simply doesn’t exist.

Duke Jansen, having heard Henwell’s plans for war machines, only agrees with their use in defense, not for siege assaults.

He insists they’re never used in field battles.

Jansen’s reasoning is solid.

Here, the core of warfare isn’t the foot soldiers, nor the war machines.

It’s the knights whose physical abilities surpass normal humans.

They are the most valuable asset in battle, second only to the nobility themselves.

In Duke Jansen’s words, once the core of warfare shifts, the knights, who are the most mobile and powerful attackers, no longer fight enemy foot soldiers on the front lines.

Instead, they’re organized to strike at the enemy’s devastating war machines.

Their mission is to destroy those weapons as quickly as possible to prevent massive casualties.

Naturally, the opposing knights will fiercely protect their own war machines, turning the battle into a deadly contest between elite forces, especially the knights themselves.

Clearly, this doesn’t serve the knights’ interests, they are mostly nobles after all.

They endure grueling training and tough physical conditioning not to become cannon fodder on the battlefield, but to live as lords, as superior beings, enjoying their privileges.

For the ruling class, this provides a solid reason not to develop siege weapons aggressively.

However, after Henwell becomes a Paladin, he realizes the situation is more complicated.

Besides hunting down Veil members, Paladins are tasked with monitoring and restricting the development and use of war machines by various nations.

Only then does Henwell connect the dots.

Newwood’s transformative assassination mission draws Henwell into the church’s line of sight, earning him their protection.

For a while, church Paladins won’t investigate Peace Haven.

At that time, Peace Haven’s power was already considerable, so Paladins would need to take time to check it out.

Because Henwell fights valiantly and earns the church’s favor, becoming a provisional church knight, he’s naturally exempt from scrutiny.

Henwell realizes that the higher-ups had anticipated this early on and arranged for Newwood to assist, preventing much from being exposed to the church’s gaze.

Later, Henwell’s entry into the church happens under these circumstances.

The transformative assassination embarrassed the church and made them realize they needed a proxy.

Coincidentally, Henwell arrives in the Western Federation just then.

Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to secure the Paladin position.

At that time, Archbishop Ashiburn convinces the church’s decision-makers by arguing that the church needs to expand its influence on the continent.