Chapter 117 : Snot-Nosed Dwarf
Chapter 117: Snot-Nosed Dwarf
After receiving the lord’s hospitality and taking a day of rest, the subjugation force headed straight into the gorge.
As it was one of the many forbidden zones on the continent, the group remained tense, and monsters began welcoming the visitors one by one.
“Kwoooaaar—”
“Block them!”
“Deploy the barrier!”
“It’s poison!”
It could not be called easy, even as empty words. However, to Berje’s eyes, the number of monsters was small.
‘Compared to back then, it’s decreased quite a bit.’
There was a clear difference compared to when they had come to capture Vairif.
Berje knew this was a sign that things were going according to plan.
‘They’re doing well.’
Following Berje’s advice, they would be drawing in some of the monsters of the gorge and turning them into undead.
As the number of undead increased, the demonic energy would be dispersed and their quality would drop, but it was better than having the monsters spread throughout the entire gorge be picked off meaninglessly one by one.
‘Still, I wonder what they prepared.’
The Third Prince had listened to Hero Hillan Cargill’s advice and prepared something. However, until the very moment they entered the gorge on the day itself, nothing particularly special was visible.
‘A last resort, perhaps?’
Either way, as long as it succeeded, that was all that mattered. There was also a certain enjoyment in anticipating what it might be.
Since they were on the way to subjugate a Black Mage, the atmosphere might have loosened slightly, but they did not let go of their tension itself.
Even so, Berje was irritated by the fact that an annoying fellow had latched onto him.
Trista Zespine.
From the moment he had first seen him, the man who openly displayed reverence toward Hero Hillan Cargill had, from the instant they entered the gorge, blatantly stuck to his side and chattered away.
“Sir Hillan, I wish you would tell me a bit more about the Beast’s Tower.”
“The Beast’s Tower was much like a jungle or a rainforest. Some floors were humid with sticky swamps, while others greeted us with dense forests.”
“If only I could have seen that sight myself. Why am I not a hero? It is truly regrettable. Ah, the monsters were beasts, as expected?”
“Of course.”
“What was it like, the moment you slew the Demon King?”
“The Beast Demon King was a cunning one. Taking advantage of the fact that we understood their rules, he left only the bare minimum of monsters on the lower floors of the tower and gathered all his forces at the summit.”
“My goodness, and then?”
“We lost.”
“...Huh?”
“We were utterly defeated, lost half our strength, and barely escaped. The wounds I received from the Demon King at that time are still etched into my body even now.”
Trista blinked his eyes.
“...But didn’t the Beast’s Tower collapse?”
“It was destroyed on the second attempt.”
“Ah, I remember now. The Arkan faction moved recklessly..., no, the kingdom’s army moved and formed a second hero’s march in an instant.”
“Yes, it was good timing. A Demon King’s tower cannot be restored immediately. Although the first hero’s march failed, it dealt a significant blow....”
Trista, who had been about to curse Arkan, caught sight of Rozel and changed his words. Hillan continued speaking, and Rozel snorted while avoiding the prince’s gaze.
“To anyone watching, it’d look like that bastard did everything himself. It failed because of someone, after all.”
“It wasn’t Hillan’s fault.”
“Are you taking his side just because you’re on the same team?”
“He’s just stating the facts.”
It was true that Hillan bore some fault. If he had endured a bit better against Draxon, it would not have failed so miserably.
But so what? More than stating facts, Rozel Charnte’s arrogant demeanor was even more unpleasant to look at.
“Halt.”
That was when it happened.
The vanguard stopped. A flag was raised.
“What is it?”
“Is there something ahead?”
The murmuring grew louder. Up ahead, blocking the path of the gorge, stood something.
It was knights.
A knight order.
There were more than a hundred troops.
Yet they bore none of the family insignia that knights ought to have. They had deliberately erased them.
“....”
The Third Prince swallowed a groan.
It was not only them. Behind the knight order, hundreds of soldiers were blocking the path through the gorge.
They were all wearing something other than imperial attire, and every one of them had their face covered.
“Who do they seem like?”
“Well. To be honest, all three of the other imperial siblings are suspects.”
The First Prince, the Second Prince, and even the First Princess were all people capable of this.
“If it comes to it, you step in. The Third Prince must earn the greatest merit. There’s no time to be delayed in a place like this.”
“Their level is no joke.”
“You’re spouting bullshit about being weak after being fed two Demon Kings?”
“I handled one of them on my own, though....”
“With your skill, there’s no way you handled it on your own. Who did you use as a sacrifice?”
“....”
Even while Berje and Hillan whispered and exchanged idle talk, the Third Prince’s army did not stop.
As the distance closed, the knights formed a wall of shields. Archers raised their bows.
“Who are you?”
The Third Prince halted his troops. From the opposing side, a knight with his face completely hidden by a visor stepped forward.
“It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Your Highness.”
“For the first time, you say. You even altered your voice, so if it’s the first time, then it truly is the first time. Do you not know how grave an act of impiety it is to conceal your face before imperial royalty?”
“Due to certain circumstances, we had no choice but to act this way. We ask for your understanding.”
“I’ll understand. So step aside.”
“Due to those same circumstances, we ask for your understanding that we cannot comply with that either.”
The Third Prince glared at him. The knight calmly spread his fingers.
“We have no intention of harming Your Highness. We merely wish for you to remain here with us for three days. Just three days.”
“Are you telling me not to carry out the subjugation?”
“We merely hope you will take your time.”
It was utter nonsense.
The gorge was vast and wide. The branching paths extending in all directions were fairly complex as well.
But what had gathered here was far from ordinary.
Imperial royalty, their loyal retainers, and the elites of each noble house. Three days was more than enough time for them to create an overwhelming gap over any who came later.
“Do you think I’ll comply willingly?”
“If so, then we must stop Your Highness.”
“Attacking imperial royalty is treason. Moreover, this is an act carried out in obedience to the command of His Great Majesty the Emperor, so even exterminating your nine generations would not suffice.”
“There are only monsters here.”
“Who are you?”
“I do not know what you mean.”
“Was it my eldest brother, my second brother, or my sister?”
“I still do not know.”
“So you want me to personally remove that helmet and confirm it myself.”
“We sincerely hope that will not happen. It would not be good for either side, would it?”
“That’s something we’ll only know after seeing it through.”
Martin turned his horse and returned to his own lines. He immediately convened a meeting.
“Who do you think is pulling the strings?”
“They’re too exceptional to be mercenaries. They’re a well-trained standing army.”
“Then it’s my eldest brother, or my sister.”
Martin furrowed his brow. It would have been better if it were the Second Prince. When acting, he preferred using mercenaries rather than stepping in himself.
And while it was not to disparage mercenaries, compared to noble armies, they were admittedly easier to deal with.
“Is there another route?”
“We can go around, but it will cause significant delay.”
“A dead end, then.”
They had blocked the route with exquisite precision. What remained was either to break through or to waste three full days doing nothing.
“We need to be certain who they are....”
“There’s a high chance they’re one of the Lion Knight Orders.”
The lion was the symbol of the Osrian Ducal House. And the White Lion, Black Lion, and Red Lion Knight Orders, which used the lion as their emblem, were the ducal house’s symbols.
“What is your reasoning?”
“I cannot gauge the limits of the knight who spoke with Your Highness.”
At Baron Vairif’s words, everyone swallowed a groan.
If he was superior to the baron who commanded the finest knight order of the Aincheil Marquis House, then in the end, only the Lion Knight Orders remained.
“Even so, we must break through.”
Hillan raised his hand and spoke.
“To waste three days like this means abandoning the competition.”
“And how do you intend to bear the damage?”
“It is a Black Mage subjugation. Damage is something we must naturally accept.”
“A mere Black Mage....”
“Baron Otto. This subjugation is by no means against a Black Mage ‘mere.’ If it were, I would have swept everything away on my own, without even reporting to His Highness.”
“...Ahem.”
“He’s right.”
Rozel Charnte nodded in agreement. The baron’s face twisted even further.
“Sir Hillan.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Can you defeat that knight?”
“I am Hillan Cargill.”
“That inspires confidence.”
“I trusted you like that once and ended up ruined. Right?”
Rozel whispered with a faint smile. Fortunately, no one but Hillan heard it.
“Please take the situation into consideration.”
“Of course. I don’t like those bastards either. How dare they block someone’s path?”
She shouted toward Martin.
“Third Prince Your Highness? If you wish, I’ll melt all of them with my flames.”
“My thanks.”
Martin fell briefly into thought. Then he called for a noble.
“Sub-Baron Cromwell.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“We’ll have to use what you prepared.”
“Your Highness?”
Sub-Baron Cromwell’s eyes widened.
“Wasn’t that prepared to deal with the undead?”
It was something Martin had secretly had Sub-Baron Cromwell prepare, just in case.
“We have Sir Hillan and Lady Rozel for monsters. For a hero, it’s better to assign undead and Black Mages rather than humans. If we exhaust our strength against them, there’s no greater loss than that.”
“...Yes. I obey.”
“Your Highness, what did you prepare?”
Hillan asked Trista, with whom he had grown somewhat familiar. Trista smiled faintly.
“You’ll find out when you see it. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they panic.”
The soldiers of the Third Prince’s camp began moving busily.
* * *
“...My goodness. I never thought I’d see that even here.”
Berje exclaimed in pure admiration.
“Wasn’t this what Lord Pale intended?”
“Not related at all. And to begin with, I don’t feel any particular resonance. I’m not the one who went mad over that.”
“That’s true enough.”
Granada nodded.
The Third Prince placed knights at the front to block the enemy’s view and brought out a large number of items from the rear.
They were cannons. Mana cannons that fired mana shells refined from magical power. There were no fewer than a hundred of them.
“What do you think, Sir Hillan? With a hundred mana cannons, we should be more than capable of sweeping away their formation.”
“That is certainly true, Your Highness, but why mana cannons?”
“On your advice, my elder brother deliberated carefully and prepared them. They’re one of the most reliable ways to deal with undead, aren’t they?”
“That is true.”
There were three most reliable ways to deal with undead.
To erase the demonic energy itself through dimensional interference power.
To burn everything to ashes with fire.
Or to smash them so thoroughly that they could never rise again, leaving not even a trace.
In that sense, mana cannons were equipment that could erase undead more certainly than anything else.
A massive explosion burned everything away while simultaneously smashing it so completely that not even fragments remained.
Unfortunately, this time, the target was not the undead that had been the original objective, but forces of the same empire.
Hillan hurriedly ran to Martin’s side.
“Is this really all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“They are undoubtedly a ducal knight order.”
“You’re being very considerate of my worries.”
“Your Highness needs to remain safe if you are to capture the Demon King of the Ergest Mountains, don’t you?”
“That’s right. That way, I can save Kaede as well.”
Martin let out a short chuckle.
“It’s fine. They’re bandits who can’t even reveal their own house. At the same time, they’re traitors trying to assassinate imperial royalty. Even if they die, there’s nowhere for them to appeal.”
From the moment they concealed their identities, no one would be able to make an issue of their deaths.
“My brother isn’t that naive.”
“No matter what, there is such a thing as a line. Aren’t we all of the same empire?”
No matter how much tacit approval there might be from the Emperor, this went too far. Everyone would think so.
“A few years ago, there was a monster subjugation in Arkaz that I took part in. My brothers and sister were there as well.”
The justification was the same as this time. Noblesse oblige. Naturally, it was a competition.
“What do you think happened?”
“The subjugation succeeded.”
“It did succeed. But I ended up losing more than half of the marquis house troops that were supporting me. Not because of anyone else, but because I was caught in my eldest brother’s scheme.”
There was no chance to achieve any notable feats. All the credit went to the three of them, and so did the fame.
That was the decisive moment when the Third Prince began to fall behind.
“I thought I should uphold a line as well. Because we were of the same empire.”
But that was wrong. The Emperor met privately with the imperial children who had returned after completing the mission. And he mocked Martin.
“He said I lacked resolve, and that I was a fool who failed to exert myself further.”
At first, Martin thought it was simply because he had failed to earn proper merit. It was not.
“Later, I understood what he meant. His Majesty was using the succession to the throne as a pretext to keep the nobles in check.”
“....”
The curse ‘insane’ barely stopped at the edge of Hillan’s lips.
“As with any nation, the empire has always had a power struggle between the Emperor and the nobles.”
“...Even so.”
“Do not forget that His Majesty is someone who took the throne after killing all his siblings. That is why he is more wary of his vassals’ power than anyone.”
“Aren’t the nobles resisting rather than simply accepting it?”
“I thought so too, but given that there haven’t been issues so far, perhaps they’ve each found their own point of compromise.”
More precisely, it was something only they themselves would know.
“Hmm.”
Hillan swallowed dryly. To think that children were allowed to aim for each other’s lives to keep the vassals in check, and that the nobles accepted it.
‘Isn’t this country completely insane?’
How did it even become an empire, and how was it maintaining its current power and influence?
“In any case, back to the matter at hand. After smashing their formation with mana cannons, we’ll charge and wipe them out in one go. That shouldn’t be too much of a burden for you, should it?”
“...Of course.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“I will definitely live up to Your Highness’s expectations.”
Hillan gripped his sword resolutely.
* * *
Calum, the commander of the White Lion Knight Order, gazed solemnly at the Third Prince’s camp.
Those bustling movements did not look like they would withdraw easily.
“Prepare for battle.”
“Will they attack us?”
“If you were the Third Prince, would you withdraw?”
“I wouldn’t.”
Already lagging behind the other imperial siblings, if the Third Prince failed to achieve anything here as well, there was a high chance that even the remaining sliver of the Emperor’s interest would vanish.
Whether they turned into soup or bread, the Third Prince had to break through them. And regardless of how the Third Prince reacted, their mission was to delay him by any means necessary.
“They have the White Hawk Knight Order, the Blue Hawk Mage Corps, and Hillan Cargill and Rozel Charnte.”
“A head-on clash would give us no chance of victory.”
The White Hawk and Blue Hawk. The forces of the Aincheil Marquis House were not frightening. But the two heroes and their assault units were something they could never afford to underestimate.
In particular, Rozel Charnte’s large-area flame magic was already well known, and Hillan Cargill, who had slain two Demon Kings, was someone whose limits could not even be guessed.
“I’ll take Hillan Cargill. When they charge in, hold them back appropriately and then retreat. Don’t forget—the objective is only to buy time.”
“Yes.”
Calum felt his hands itch. He was a knight by nature, and battles against the strong always made his heart race.
‘There are only a handful of heroes in history who have killed two Demon Kings. If not now, when would I ever get the chance to fight someone like that?’
He slowly drew his sword and once more fixed his gaze on their formation.
That was the moment.
“They’re moving.”
“Be on guard.”
He thought the knight order’s charge was about to begin.
But they did not charge. The knights and soldiers at the front spread apart, and through the gap, something enormous revealed itself.
“...Insane.”
“My goodness.”
It was a barrel.
A massive cannon.
“...They have an idea of who we are and still plan to sweep us away with mana cannons?”
Countless cannons were pointing their muzzles toward the White Lion Knight Order and the ducal army.
This meant they intended to see it through to the bitter end. It did not match the usually mild conduct of the Third Prince.
But there was no time to think deeply.
“Mages! Deploy barriers immediately! Fall back at once!”
Calum shouted urgently. But just before his shout could reach everyone—
Bang bang bang bang—
The gates of fire opened. The mana cannons spewed flames.
“Martin, you crazy bas—!”
A rain of shells poured down upon the ducal house’s private soldiers.
* * *
Mana cannons were a product of magi-engineering.
They ignited using mana stones as a power source and fired shells condensed from magical power.
With an extra burst of acceleration at discharge and the detonation of compressed mana, mana cannons were weapons whose destructive power could never be ignored.
Even so, they were rarely used because their practicality was poor.
Though they sounded like divine weapons, the ones who first developed mana cannons were dwarves with exceptional craftsmanship.
Their forging, metallurgy, and methods of inscribing magic circuits far surpassed humans, to a level no one could even dream of matching.
Mana cannons made by such dwarves might have been everyday, commonplace weapons to them, but to humans, they were bombs that might explode at any moment and tear their own allies apart.
And there were a full hundred of those mana cannons.
The muzzles of all hundred spewed flames at the enemy at once.
Bang bang bang—
Explosions rang out.
The earth was overturned.
Horses screamed.
Soldiers were reduced to mush, leaving not even corpses behind.
Listening to that cruel symphony of destruction, Berje delivered a brief assessment.
“Compared to what Roger made, it’s far inferior.”
Reload speed, destructive power, projectile velocity—everything.
“Well, Roger is one of the finest artisans even among the Dwarven Kingdom, isn’t he?”
Granada corrected his thought.
“Is that so?”
“That’s how it is.”
It was then.
Kwaaang—
Kyaaaah—
“Save me!”
Another explosion rang out. It was not the enemy camp. It was their own formation, and it was the screams of the soldiers firing the mana cannons.
The mana cannons had failed to endure the shock of firing and exploded.
“Well now. They’re really outdoing themselves.”
Berje snorted.
“Still, isn’t that a bit much? The snot-nosed dwarf’s creations never had something like that happen even once.”
“That’s because that’s—”
Granada, who had been about to continue explaining, sighed and gave up.
Honestly, even to him, judging by Roger’s appearance back in the tower, he really did look like nothing more than one crazy dwarf.