Chapter 6
Until now, southern merchants had always lived by paying unfair tolls to Sarsen Territory.
Even with technological progress and easier sea transport, they could never completely give up overland transport.
The reason the merchants of the South never protested was simple.
They were weak.
The southern cities of the human lands, where there were few mages, had no power to complain to the West.
So when they first heard that Sarsen Fortress had been destroyed, none of the southern merchants believed it.
They had personally seen the fortress's might every time they passed through it over the past three years.
"Don't talk nonsense. Are you saying a natural disaster suddenly struck and brought the fortress down?"
"No, I'm telling you I saw it with my own two eyes! The place where the fortress stood, it was like the ground itself just vanished!"
"That's right. The merchants in our caravan personally saw the fortress fall. We heard the sound of heaven and earth collapsing, and it was said to be divine punishment."
But as the rumors spread, even the merchants who had initially refused to believe them began to entertain the possibility.
The South is a city of people who do not believe in gods.
The southerners built factories instead of temples and worshiped money instead of gods, so they did not believe in miracles.
And since those southerners were the ones saying a 'miracle' had happened, they couldn't help but wonder if it might be true.
"Come to think of it, didn't they say the road to Sarsen Territory had been cut off?"
It was the second day after the fortress's collapse.
While people were talking about the rumors, the Southern Grand Duke's official statement was posted.
1. The new weapon invented by Lord Kyle Leopold destroyed Sarsen Fortress. The fortress collapsed along with the ground beneath it, leaving not even a shape behind.
2. From now on, anyone who obstructs free trade will never be left alone.
3. We have wrung the following concessions and privileges from the Count of Sarsen's domain.
There was no need for flowery words.
No more being robbed of our money unfairly.
The South was no longer powerless.
That fact alone was enough to send the people of the South into a frenzy.
When the Dreadnought entered the southern military port, thousands had gathered before it.
For a moment, the crowd was stunned by the majesty of a vessel incomparable to an ordinary sailing ship.
Then, when the man who had ended three years of conflict in just five minutes appeared atop it—Southern Grand Duke Kyle Leopold—the whole crowd erupted in cheers.
- Waaaaah!!!
It was an impromptu victory parade.
The people cheering this time weren't only ordinary citizens.
"This Southern Grand Duke really is something else."
Factory owners. Capitalists who owned banks. Caravan masters who controlled great merchant groups, and more.
The ruling class, who had until now viewed Kyle Leopold unfavorably because of the 'Labor Standards Act,' also changed their minds.
After all, using force to stand up to injustice was something the South ten years ago couldn't even have imagined.
Until now, the South's development had had no center.
Within an unending competitive market, capitalists only tried to devour one another.
In a zero-sum game where everyone killed everyone else, no one could even think about unity.
And that was why, despite having massive industrial power, the world's largest financial market, and excellent infrastructure, they still couldn't speak up properly.
"But the South over the past ten years has been different."
Under the command of a capable leader, the South had begun to unite.
With the emergence of the Labor Standards Act, society stabilized.
Workers, now guaranteed at least a minimum human life, no longer had any reason to commit survival crimes as before.
As society stabilized, public order improved, and as public order improved, work motivation and productivity naturally rose as well.
Kyle Leopold didn't stop there.
With the emergence of the Labor Standards Act weakening the companies, he took the opportunity to personally rein in their sprawling operations.
By cutting away overly bloated subsidiaries and reducing useless competition, companies were able to focus on what they were best at.
Under Kyle Leopold's command, the South was reborn into a form that could fully unleash its true potential.
And the result of that was the Dreadnought.
It was the very essence of the age, containing everything the South's magic engineering, steel, chemical, optical, and shipbuilding companies had.
And when the ruling class saw that essence of technology demolish a fortress in just five minutes, they finally admitted Kyle Leopold had been right.
"I'd enjoy following a leader like that."
"Exactly. If it's Lord Kyle Leopold, I'm sure he can raise the South to an even higher level than it is now."
"Heh heh, I'd like to see with my own eyes the new era he creates before I die."
It was the moment when the once-awkward relationship between the ruling class and the Southern Grand Duke was redefined after the Labor Standards Act.
The influence of Kyle Leopold, a leader supported by both workers and the ruling class, had grown to surpass even the emperor of a declining empire.
***
The end of payback is ruin.
Even I, who had engraved into my heart the lesson taught by some German Führer as he burned Europe to the ground, almost lost my composure for a moment.
That was how much we had gained from this battle.
I wasn't talking about the concessions and privileges we took from the County of Sarsen. Those were really just a bonus.
The most precious thing I gained this time was my approval rating.
"According to the public opinion poll, your approval rating has been recorded at nearly 85%. The ruling class, including the businessmen, also supports Your Grace."
It was the first week after the fall of Sarsen Fortress.
Once the Sarsen-Lutetia overland route reopened and the tolls disappeared, my approval rating soared into the sky.
"At this rate, I can start making proper preparations for what's next."
Even in a democracy where leaders change every few years, an 85% approval rating with no manipulation would make dictatorship almost possible.
What's more, this was still a monarchy world where the emperor existed.
It meant I could do whatever I wanted.
At last, I could spend military funds with far less concern about appearances.
"Lucilla."
"Yes?"
"Prepare a cabinet meeting."
What I wanted to improve first, naturally, was the air defense network.
Needless to say, there was no way to install anti-aircraft guns at every strategic point in such a short time. There simply wasn't enough time.
I had started this with the preparations a little lacking.
It couldn't be helped. Building a ship as massive as the Dreadnought required countless laborers.
No matter how strictly we ordered everyone to keep quiet, secrets would eventually leak. Before they found out and struck first, I had to hit them first.
"We're going to improve the insufficient air defense network."
What we had to deal with using our limited air defense capability was the West's Wyvern Knights, who used wyvern mobility to launch surprise attacks from unexpected places.
Since we couldn't place anti-aircraft guns everywhere, we needed eyes for an efficient response.
Eyes that could detect enemies in the sky from dozens of kilometers away.
***
Radar is a reconnaissance device that emits electromagnetic waves to locate metal aircraft by detecting their reflections.
Needless to say, with the South's technology level, which had only just started producing warships, we couldn't make one.
That was because radar demanded a far more advanced level of technology than an early Dreadnought.
On top of that, this world's air force rode wyverns instead of steel fighter planes, so whether it would even work properly was questionable.
So why mention radar at all?
Because, of course, there was a way.
"Instead of radio waves, we just have to catch the sound."
Wyverns are noisy. The sound of their wings flapping and the cries they let out while flying are at the level of a biplane.
And devices like sound-detection magic that catch that sort of noise have existed for centuries in the form of eavesdropping magic for spies.
In short, the idea was this.
1. Set up large curved walls at fixed intervals.
2. That way, the sound waves made by approaching wyvern knights from far away will strike the curve of the walls and gather at one point.
3. Use sound-detection magic to find where the waves have gathered. In other words, identify the direction from which the sound was detected.
4. Record the direction detected by a second wall deployed nearby.
5. If you find where the two directions intersect, you can use triangulation to calculate the enemy's distance and position.
Using sound waves and triangulation to infer an opponent's location is a method that is still used often even in the 21st century, so its effectiveness is guaranteed.
The maximum range this method could detect was about 30 to 40 kilometers.
It would take a wyvern unit moving at cavalry speed at least thirty minutes to cover that distance, so we'd have thirty minutes to prepare a response.
If we placed a few of those radars along the routes they might infiltrate, it would be impossible for them to slip into the South unnoticed.
"So, Staff Office, compile the routes by which the Wyvern Knights could invade the South's major regions and submit them within a week."
"Understood, Your Grace!"
After the Staff Office commander took the order and withdrew, the Minister of the Interior, who had been waiting behind him, stepped forward.
As I handed the Minister of the Interior the blueprints for the 'radar,' I gave him a warning.
"Keep in mind that this 'radar' must be treated as top-secret information. Whether you use the excuse of building new housing or coastal fortifications, make up any excuse you like—just make sure no one knows what we're building."
"Understood, Your Grace!"
"Construction can begin in a week, based on the Staff Office's analysis."
After sending the two ministers away, I felt a little more reassured.
After all, the Wyvern Knights' attack options were limited to bows and the wyverns' breath.
Wyvern breath was only a little longer-ranged than a flamethrower, and no matter how well you shot a bow, there was no way it could reach farther than an anti-aircraft gun.
We knew where the bastards were coming from thanks to radar, and we had gained a superior range through the anti-aircraft guns.
Now, there was only one thing left.
Raising the accuracy of the anti-air gunners.
For that, I called in the presidents of the munitions companies.
I figured that if they were companies that manufactured the naval guns our battleships used, they would be able to understand my shell designs to some extent.
I unfolded the blueprints for the new anti-aircraft shell before them.
"Have any of you heard of a proximity-fused shell?"
Proximity fuse.
A name for an anti-aircraft meat grinder that explodes in midair and scatters shrapnel all around, literally shredding aerial targets to pieces.