novelnext Chapter 202: Greeting the Guests Politely
Chapter 202: Greeting the Guests Politely
Chapter 202: Greeting the Guests Politely
Rumors always spread quickly and get exaggerated.
The news that the Vandus domain had made a fortune with winter Sardines reached the neighboring domains.
—They say that dozens of merchants visit the domain every day, and they all load their wagons with barrels of Sardines.
—They say that even the Meyer Trading Company, which is exclusive to the royal family, rushed in.
—They say that even the dogs on the street have gold coins in their mouths.
As most rumors are, these were embellished, but it was true that the Vandus domain had earned a lot of money.
And what was really important was not the truth, but the perception of others.
The perception that the Vandus domain had a lot of money.
Money usually attracts unwelcome guests.
Relatives who had never been close would suddenly ask for a treat.
Sometimes, there would be domain wars aiming for that wealth, and it was a problem that the royal family was busy with war.
Normally, they would stop the war immediately, but they were so busy and exhausted that they probably couldn’t afford to care.
The only way to prevent this situation from the source was to increase their own military strength.
But the Vandus domain lacked troops, and the neighboring domains were eyeing that.
—The Baron of Vandus is a weak noble with no connections to the royal family or the powerful nobles in the capital. If we pressure him at this opportunity, we might gain some benefits.
—The strange thing is that no pirates attacked them during the winter. The other domains suffered a lot of damage...
—Maybe they bribed the shadow elves and silenced them? This could be considered an act of treason against the royal family.
As always, jealousy breeds speculation.
These rumors circulating in the neighboring domains were a preparation for a domain war, and Leobold and Arma knew it well.
“The nobles are delusional that it will be fine if they have a decent excuse, since it’s a rural domain that the royal family doesn’t care about.”
“They don’t know that we requested an airship and sent a royal guard for its management.”
The royal guard sent by the royal family was on his way here.
He didn’t have Goliath, but just his name alone would be enough to deter any provocation from the surrounding nobles.
The problem was the mercenaries.
After the Harpy Talon Corps was destroyed, there were several suspicious people who sneaked into the merchant ships and spied on the domain.
Their goal was to recover Goliath, but there was a high chance that money was also included recently.
Arma reported that some of the mercenary corps stationed in Bagran were likely to launch an attack soon.
“The Harpy Talon Corps was small and not very reputable, but Goliath and our money are quite attractive.”
“They’re going to attack us to take them? Don’t they care about Bagran’s royal family?”
“The whole kingdom is very busy with the war with Elvrande. They won’t have time to care. The king is even on vacation right now.”
Currently, not only Bagran Kingdom but also the entire western continent was busy with the war with Elvrande.
Most of their forces were on the front lines, and they wouldn’t have any room to care about a small domain stuck in a corner of the coast.
It wasn’t for nothing that the Harpy Talon Corps ran wild in Vandus domain.
From Bagran’s royal family’s perspective, it wouldn’t matter much if a small coastal domain was destroyed and absorbed by others.
“Mercenaries related to Harpy Talon Corps also know this. And they know that the prince sent a royal guard.”
“How come mercenaries have better information than nobles?”
“They’re closer to the center.”
You usually hear more things when you’re near someone powerful.
Anyway, Arma reported that several mercenary corps would send troops to the domain soon.
“It’s likely to be before the royal guard arrives at our domain. I expect at least three Goliaths to be mobilized.”
“That’s enough to crush a small domain.”
Goliaths had become decisive factors in wars.
However, Goliaths were so valuable because most wars were limited wars.
Arma had obtained data on magic power of various countries recently and reported it.
“The continent of Astera is dominated by ether engineering, but 200 years ago, mass destruction magic ruled over battlefields. Especially Meteor Strike magic was used well.”
“Meteor? They pulled down meteorites?”
“Yes, there are asteroid belts around Tera and Mare.”
Tera was the planet where Astera continent was located, and Mare was the planet where demons lived.
The two planets orbited each other like Pluto and Charon, facing each other with one side.
There were billions of asteroids around them.
The size of asteroids varied from tens of centimeters to tens of kilometers, and they seemed to have more resources than expected.
The reason why mining ships didn’t go there was because it was much easier to get resources from floating continents.
There were resources everywhere, so you just had to pick them up.all new stories at
“I couldn’t figure out the principle of Meteor Strike magic, but based on the ancient documents, I think they pull them from these asteroid belts.”
“...That’s awesome.”
Imagine dropping meteorites on each other’s armies and cities.
It could be said to be worse than a nuclear bomb.
It focused only on pure destructive power without radiation, so it had less psychological resistance.
There was magic for shields, but it was difficult to block a concentrated impact.
“As a result of throwing Meteor Strike magic at each other, they realized that they would be annihilated if they continued like this. After that, a treaty banning mass destruction magic was signed.”
“Currently, each country is ready to launch Meteor Strike on each other’s capitals. They have already set the coordinates, so they can activate the magic circle as soon as they call the magicians.”
“It’s like mutual assured destruction.”
No country wanted to face annihilation, so they avoided a full-scale magic war.
That was the conclusion they reached.
Thanks to that, most of the wars were limited by the use of Goliaths, and Elvrande also tried not to break that rule.
“Recently, there have been some proposals for preemptive magic attacks from places like Zium Empire, but they are not mainstream. Meteor Strike is a magic that requires a lot of preparation, so Elvrande can detect it right away.”
It was similar to nuclear power in that it required a lot of preparation beforehand.
The countries tried not to cross the line of no return, perhaps because of the memory of the near-extinction 200 years ago.
Considering that they tortured enemy soldiers and used civilians as slaves, Astera’s line might be quite high.
Anyway, the attack on the territory was becoming a reality.
Leobold had no intention of stopping it.
Why would he stop them when they said they would pay Goliath as a tribute?
“Once this battle is over, Bagran will also intervene, so it will be hard to deal with them.”
“But they will find a way to attack anyway. It would be perfect if they accuse us of colluding with the Shadow Elves.”
The more the territory grew and became stronger, the more such cases would occur, but it didn’t matter much.
Baron Vandus’s Raoum-class Goliath ran towards them at twice the speed of the other Goliaths.
The ground cracked under the weight of nearly 100 tons, and the black spear stretched out long.
It was a phenomenon of transform, where living metal changed in an instant.
It was common on Earth, but not in this world at all.
Not only the mercenaries, but also the soldiers hiding behind the barricades were startled.
“What is that?”
“The spear stretched out!”
How about the mercenaries who faced it directly?
The fallen noble saw an illusion of a spear stretching out long.
He realized that it was not an illusion when he felt a severe pain in his abdomen.
The long spear had pierced through both his cockpit and himself.
It was an unbelievable power.
“Thi...”
He tried to say something, but he spat out blood and collapsed.
A Goliath without its master was nothing but a pile of scrap metal doll.
With one gone, Jaden decided to attack more carefully.
He didn’t expect the weapon to stretch out, but he was able to close the distance thanks to the sacrifice of one.
“Draw his attention from the front! I’ll go for his back!”
He spoke in code, but anyone could tell his intention.
As two Goliaths moved erratically and approached, Leobold blocked a sword that came down with his spear.
With a light clang, the sword shattered and half of it flew somewhere.
The opponent was an experienced mercenary, so he tried to retreat back in the gap, but Leobold was faster.
Thud!
The solid chest armor of the Goliath collapsed in an instant.
Leobold stretched out his other arm and broke the armor completely.
The cockpit was safe, but the magic circle was destroyed and the opponent couldn’t move properly.
In that gap, the black spear pierced through the cockpit and killed the mercenary.
Now only one remained, Jaden who jumped from behind.
“Yaaah!”
Jaden clung to Leobold’s Goliath’s back and exerted all his strength.
It was dangerous to keep distance because of the long spear, so he decided to settle it with close combat.
After all, their output was equal, so he hoped that there would be a chance if he rolled around.
But that was his mistake.
Leobold’s Goliath was only sealing its output, not equal at all.
He could release the seal and put a strain on the drive system and magic circle, but it wouldn’t be a big problem for a while.
Squeak-
Jaden saw his Goliath’s arm being forcibly opened and was confused.
“Wha-what is this...”
Even worse, the dark part that was caught by the baron’s Goliath was about to break under tremendous pressure.
Leobold applied force to his hand and smashed his part completely.
Crack-
The dark part came off and Jaden’s Goliath retreated back with one arm missing.
His face was filled with horror, but it wasn’t visible.
“Kneel.”
Leobold finished him off with his spear and Jaden’s Goliath also lost its master and slowly knelt down.
With that, all three Goliaths fell silent.
It was an unbelievable result.
The 50 or so mercenaries who were watching from a good spot realized that something went wrong and tried to sneak away.
They had invested a lot of money in the camp, but they had to survive first, right?
But Carson’s order was faster than them.
“The enemy has lost their Goliaths and their morale! All attack! The lord will reward those who raise their flags!”
He was not a military commander, but he boosted morale by clearly mentioning why soldiers should charge and what rewards they would get.
“Woohoo!”
“Kill them!”
There were not many soldiers, but behind them was Baron Vandus’s Goliath.
The mercenaries started to run away in panic and a one-sided attack followed.
A short time later, Granen’s royal guard and his attendants visited the territory.
The attendants were surprised to see three Raoum-class Goliaths lying at the entrance of the territory.
“Are those Raoum-class Goliaths?”
“Why are there four of them in this territory?”
On the other hand, Granen guessed the situation relatively accurately like a knight.
‘It’s certain that the Raoum-class ones belong to the mercenaries. They must have come to take revenge for losing their dark mine, but they got beaten.’
‘Even though they had a numerical advantage, the baron won one-sidedly. That means his skill is extraordinary.’
But there was something strange.
No matter how skilled he was, he couldn’t show it properly by riding a Raoum-class.
Granen himself had ridden a Raoum-class many times and knew it well.
The mercenaries liked it, but that was because it was easy to maintain and cheap, not because it was good.
A proper knight wouldn’t even consider a Raoum-class as a Goliath.
‘That means he used a trap.’
That was the standard for fighting against Goliaths.
It wouldn’t work against higher classes, but it would for Raoum-class ones.
Granen bowed his head slightly as he saw Baron Vandus approaching him.
Did he smile faintly because he was satisfied with his achievement?
Contrary to his misunderstanding, Leobold was purely happy.
He finally got a talent who could lead the soldiers of his territory.