Chapter 139 – The Other Nobles Arrive One After Another

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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His Majesty, Jalpha, and Mulsia ended up lodging in Seat Village, and after they had toured the star-shaped fortress, the ballistas, the dwarven furnace, and so on, they also held a meeting regarding plans for both the defense against and invasion of Yerinetta.

Apparently, Scudetto and the other territories are each sending out knight orders and mercenaries for their own defense. And the plan, it seems, is to gather the elite of each knight order and make a surprise strike on Yerinetta.

Normally, it is only natural for it to take one or two months from preparing for war to assembling provisions and finally getting moving. In fact, by the time one actually reaches the enemy territory and hostilities begin, it would not be strange even if three months had passed.

But His Majesty is probably trying to enter Yerinetta territory within a month. The proof is that there is no sign at all that he intends to remain in my territory for long.

“Count Ventury has arrived! Also, what appears to be the Ferdinand count house knight order is approaching from behind them!”

“Okaaay.”

“Viscount Panamera has arrived! Also, many other noble house banners!”

“Okaaay.”

And so, while I was in meetings with His Majesty and Jalpha, one knight order after another assembled, and before I knew it, more than thirty thousand troops were waiting outside Seat Village.

“Long time no see, boy!”

“It has been a while, Panamera-san.”

The very instant we met, Panamera greeted me while roughly ruffling my head. It is a little embarrassing, but she does not mean any harm, so I simply greeted her back honestly.

“That large bathhouse truly impressed me! You had even prepared ample food supplies for us! Thanks to that, it looks like our stay at this base will be a luxurious one!”

Jutting out her chest as if to flaunt that dynamite body of hers, Panamera laughed heartily. What a terrifying weapon she possesses.

“The dwarven furnace is finished too, so please go take a look later.”

“W-What did you say…? No, at the very least, that much I would like to see right now…”

The instant they heard the name of dwarves, the gathered nobles visibly stirred. But His Majesty, approaching from behind me, stopped them there.

“You all understand this as well, but first comes retaliation against the Yerinetta Kingdom.”

The moment His Majesty said that, the nobles and knight-order members including Panamera knelt on the spot.

“Your Majesty, we had not realized you had already arrived.”

“It is fine. I happened to have business here by coincidence. I merely arrived early by chance.”

When His Majesty said that, everyone raised only their faces and looked at him. Nodding to those gathered gazes, His Majesty folded his arms and spoke.

“We shall hold a war council! This retaliatory battle will require speed! I regret calling on you so soon after your arrival, but I want all those who command the various knight orders to come into Seat Village!”

“Yes, sir!”

Obeying His Majesty’s orders, Panamera and the others swiftly entered Seat Village accompanied by the commanders and vice-commanders of their respective knight orders. Panamera aside, the other nobles all walked along while looking around the village with keen interest.

“Boy, where is this dwarven furnace?”

Perhaps because she was so curious, Panamera came up beside me and asked in a small voice. I silently pointed toward the smoke rising in the back of the village, and she looked that way with shining eyes.

“Would you show me a sword forged by the dwarves later?”

“Understood.”

While the two of us whispered like that, His Majesty, Jalpha, and Ventury, walking ahead, looked back at us in silence. It felt like being students caught in mischief. One would think everyone would become bloodthirsty with war drawing near, but for the time being, those gathered for this strategy meeting seemed no different from usual.

Only Count Ferdinand alone kept fidgeting and stealing glances at me the entire time. He probably wanted to say something, but he never called out to me. Could this be unrequited love? Is he looking at me as if to say, let these feelings reach you?

While I was wondering what was going on, we ended up arriving at the lord’s residence. Come in, come in, I said, showing everyone inside and offering the great hall as a meeting room.

“Will tea be all right?”

“Yes. Let’s go with tea and pancakes.”

“Understood.”

Till, putting on a slight act, took the order with the air of a cool beauty.

Ah, she nearly tripped. That is what happens when you do something you are not used to.

As I watched Till leave the hall, Jalpha cleared his throat and glanced at me. I quickly straightened my posture.

Facing forward, there was a large round table, and beyond it sat His Majesty. On his right sat Jalpha, Count Ferdinand, and Panamera, and on his left sat Count Ventury and the nobles who seemed to belong to his faction. Incidentally, I was seated next to Panamera.

Eight people surrounded the table, and in addition, the nobles and knight commanders who could not sit there were seated in chairs around the room, watching over the war council. It was rather oppressively hot. Hotter than a sauna contest.

There were only two or three women, even counting Panamera. A sad state of affairs.

By the way, Dee and Kamushin were standing by behind me, contributing to the overheated atmosphere.

“…Now then, are there any questions on what has been explained so far?”

Jalpha, who had been in meetings with me and His Majesty from the beginning, briefly explained the situation to those who had arrived later. Then Panamera immediately opened her mouth.

“I understand the intention behind this being a lightning offensive, and behind deliberately avoiding a direct advance on Scudetto, which Yerinetta is probably fortifying. Certainly, next time Yerinetta attacks, they cannot afford to lose. They would naturally aim for Scudetto, which they must surely want to seize. However, that is a prediction, and in reality it may not happen that way. In fact, I have heard that Count Ferdinand’s territory was in quite grave danger. Even without taking Scudetto, might they not aim instead for Count Ferdinand’s territory, or the Fertio marquis territory, or even this territory of Baron Van…?”

When Panamera voiced that doubt, His Majesty looked this way and spoke.

“As for that, after hearing the reports from the recent defensive battles in each region, I judged there to be no need for concern. Is that not so, Baron Van?”

The subject was thrown to me so suddenly that I gave a vague, “Ah, yes,” while looking back at His Majesty, then looked in turn at the others and opened my mouth.

“First, we have taken Prince Unimog, who was commanding the Yerinetta army that attacked my territory, prisoner. At that time, we extracted from him an invasion plan in which they would seize Scudetto and use it as a base to occupy the Fertio marquis territory. Also, in the battle to retake Scudetto last time, we took Prince Freitliner prisoner and obtained information regarding the current Yerinetta Kingdom army.”

“What? I was told Baron Van withdrew, saying he would not go out to the front line.”

In the middle of my explanation, Ventury remembered something unnecessary. With a wry smile, I lightly supplemented it.

“I withdrew while confirming the state of the battle from afar, but in doing so I discovered a detached unit. The one commanding that detached unit was Prince Freitliner.”

“Hmm… with so few men, he defeated Yerinetta’s detached force? No, if he had the ballista that dealt a fatal wound to that red-bronze earth dragon, then certainly…”

While Ventury sank into thought, I returned my gaze to the others and continued.

“With the cooperation of Prince Freitliner, we possess a great deal of information. First of all, the core of Yerinetta’s new weaponry is an explosive called the Black Sphere that drifted in from the central continent. It requires no magic power, and allows even people who cannot use magic to unleash attacks equal to intermediate-level fire magic. Yerinetta equips ordinary soldiers with this Black Sphere and breaks them into small groups to increase their breakthrough power.”

“Black Sphere…”

“So that explosion was it. That truly is dangerous. It is like making it possible to use fire magic easily with a mere motion like throwing a stone.”

When Panamera and Ferdinand, who had taken part in the previous battle, replied so, the other nobles also tightened their expressions.

“Such a weapon…”

“The fact that anyone can use it is frightening.”

They are understanding the usefulness of gunpowder faster than I expected. Since they understand how terrifying fire magic is, perhaps they are imagining it in those terms and grasping it that way.

Now then, how am I supposed to get my hands on that gunpowder? With gunpowder, I could do this and that…