Chapter 113
The aerial fortress Urkon Azgal was situated exactly half over the Kingdom of Maselin and half over the territory of the Imperial garrison.
Naturally, the Kingdom of Maselin tried to claim that it held half the rights to Urkon Azgal, but...
"The dwarves have already chosen to walk alongside the Empire. Is the Kingdom of Maselin trying to deny that outright?"
Unable to offer any rebuttal to my words, they left without a fuss.
And as for the dwarves...
"This is a disaster. With a design like this... This isn't something we can fix and use; we'd be better off starting over from scratch."
"...."
Gilbat was receiving live instruction.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
In all my life, I never expected to see a dwarf deliver a rapid succession of kicks with such nimble footwork.
"Urkon Azgal now belongs to the Empire, so we're free to dispose of it. We'll move the aerial fortress to the Empire and scrap it immediately."
"B-but...."
"Perhaps because I've been away for far too long, your spirits have become lax to an absurd degree."
"...."
"Since when have we lived as merchants? When did we start carefully watching everyone around us, deciding how to act based on their reactions?"
I knew Gilbat held the position of Dwarf King, but...
I never imagined he was a king so imposing that the other dwarves couldn't even talk back to him.
"The original design was perfect. But you changed it, entirely on your own. There was no reason to change it in the first place... Since I wasn't here, I found many traces of work that had already been discussed and should have been scrapped being forcibly pieced together and continued."
Naturally, it was decided that Aerial Fortress Urkon Azgal would be scrapped.
The first reason was that we couldn't simply use an object containing Mirne's intentions as-is.
The second was that it had diverged far too much from the original design.
Moreover.
"By attaching so many little things, we can dismantle it and make several new things instead."
Could it be because they had kept making it bigger, thinking it would never be able to move?
We had already calculated a way to make better use of the materials recovered during the dismantling process.
In fact.
[ Aerial Fortress Urkon Azgal has been slated for scrapping. ]
[ If all the materials obtained during the dismantling process are invested in magitech airships, you can gain benefits worth 2 points. ]
It reached the point where I could even feel the normally emotionless system message getting excited.
The conclusion was that the aerial fortress's bulk could be put to extremely useful purposes in many ways.
The problem was that Urkon Azgal could no longer move.
If so, we'd have to dismantle that enormous thing piece by piece and then transport it toward the Empire.
- ...Were we ultimately forced to choose the path of destroying all of it because we had no way to move it?
- What a shame.
- If only the Empire hadn't fallen apart, if only it had possessed more diverse technologies...
- We could have put this aerial fortress to good use in the Empire without scrapping it.
The moment I wondered whether the Crown Prince of the past had faced the same problem, his memory surfaced.
But the Empire as it was now had no need to worry about such things.
"Call every staff in the Empire."
"Knowing you'd say that, I, Staff No. 1 Theo, have already summoned the staffs scattered throughout the Empire! They're currently rushing here!"
"Have the beastmen join them as well...."
"I, Theo, have already told the staffs to come with the beastmen! I've also summoned everyone capable of using their strength!"
The staffs, the beastmen, and even the mana stone train stretching toward the Great Forest with insane momentum.
The various technologies the former Crown Prince had regretted lacking were now possessed by the Empire.
+++++
As Aerial Fortress Urkon Azgal was being dismantled and its materials transported to the Empire,
the Kingdom of Taewon continued reading the letter Firande had brought and analyzing the situation from every angle.
"Ha, is it because we're on different continents? It seems the Empire doesn't understand the greatness of the Kingdom of Taewon at all."
"To come all this way across the sea with such reckless audacity...."
The letter was only a single page.
Its contents were extremely simple, to the point that they could be summarized in a single sentence.
[ The Empire knows of your crimes, so it is time for you to take responsibility. ]
How dare they say something so insolent as that they would punish the Kingdom of Taewon.
Their rudeness in delivering it by carrier pigeon was even more outrageous.
"What on earth is that messenger bird? How does it kill every one of our messenger birds the moment it sees them...."
"I've heard that when they tried to capture it alive because they coveted it, it tore out the hunter's throat."
"...."
"The Kingdom of Cheongryu agreed to open the way, didn't it? Has it no pride!"
The Kingdom of Taewon continued exchanging opinions, criticizing how insolent the Empire was and how foolish a choice the Kingdom of Cheongryu had made.
"To choose an empire across the sea over us, who live on the same continent...."
"If the Kingdom of Cheongryu opens the way, they could get here very quickly!"
"Strictly speaking, that's not quite right. How many nations would actually come all the way here just because we opened a path? Especially to help our Kingdom of Taewon!"
"You make a good point."
"Besides, we've invested plenty throughout the region. If a nation from the Western Continent marches in, surely the surrounding countries will help us."
"Exactly. We've spread quite a bit of money around, and if we borrow aid from the countries here and there that owe us money...."
The Empire would not be able to come here recklessly.
Opening a path and actually coming through it were entirely different matters.
The more the Kingdom of Taewon discussed the Empire, the more its morale seemed to rise.
No, they were only an empire in the Western Continent. Were they an empire in the Eastern Continent as well?
As the old saying went, even a cur was half a tiger on its own turf.
"Besides, as a matter of course, defense has always held the advantage in war."
"Hear, hear!"
"If we close the gates and defend ourselves, the Empire that came across the sea won't be able to do much. The greater their numbers, the more they will struggle, starting with supplies, and the Empire will never be able to withstand all the various environmental factors."
"Not a word of that is wrong. At this rate, perhaps we should respond proactively as well!"
"Exactly."
The ministers discussed the matter among themselves until they finally reached a single conclusion.
A war with the Empire? The possibility of it happening was extremely low.
They had indeed been frightened by the prospect of opening a path, but after thinking it over, they realized there was no reason to be.
Because they concluded that this was merely a battle of intimidation.
The Empire was coming across the sea to punish the Kingdom of Taewon? How could that possibly happen?
Easier said than done. If they defended themselves in earnest, the war would obviously continue for years.
Even when fighting a neighboring country, supply problems were already a tremendous concern.
A war with a country across the sea? Could the Empire really handle the supplies?
No, it wasn't just because they kept bringing up supplies.
Starting with troop movements and extending to strategy....
Fighting on someone else's land was difficult enough; fighting on someone else's continent?
This had to be considered impossible.
The Empire was trying to frighten them now.
"If anything, the more they do this, the more forcefully we need to respond."
"More forcefully?"
"Why should we be intimidated just because the Empire declared war and provoked us by sending a letter like this?"
"You aren't wrong."
The more such talk continued, the more the Kingdom of Taewon wondered why it had been so intimidated.
Thus.
"We should at least issue a declaration. The Kingdom of Taewon will openly declare the Empire its enemy and call on those who share our cause!"
The Kingdom of Taewon decided to face the Empire boldly.
And at the same time.
"The Kingdom of Taewon must also prepare to become an empire!"
It declared its intention to wage wars of conquest.
The Empire would not be able to move rashly anyway, so in the meantime, they would rapidly build up their strength.
If the Empire could not bear Taewon's provocation and came here, they would swallow that too.
"Wahahahaha!"
The Kingdom of Taewon began to revel in its joy, and before long, it declared war on the Empire as well.
It was not a threat delivered by carrier pigeon like the Empire's, but a declaration made on the national level.
It was the first time a nation on the Eastern Continent had picked a fight with the Empire and challenged it to war.
++++++
"Hahahaha!"
Perhaps the news had taken longer to arrive because it had to cross the sea.
The moment I heard that the Kingdom of Taewon had declared war on the Empire, I burst out laughing like a madman.
Who would have thought they would declare war at exactly the right time?
"Things have gone even more smoothly since we seized the aerial fortress."
"Indeed."
Gilbat echoed my words and laughed just as loudly.
"I was actually wondering a great deal about how to use this after building it...."
"The problem with building a weapon of war like this is what comes afterward. It's not easy to put it to use in actual combat."
"Exactly. No matter how much you train as if it were real combat, it's still woefully inadequate compared to the real thing."
An airship was in view before Gilbat and me, flying clumsily but still possessing a recognizable shape.
It could only fly short distances, so perhaps I should call it a light aircraft still in development.
But it was nothing to laugh at.
The first light aircraft made in the Empire had emerged with the characteristic that it could not be detected until it was seen with the naked eye.
It was fair to call it a stealth aircraft.
"The aerial fortress has repaid us handsomely."
"No wonder I thought it shouldn't escape detection just because it was in the clouds and wondered why it was so hard to see. I never expected it to be using a mineral like this."
"The Empire's knights will be able to move even more covertly from now on."
An undetectable light aircraft.
I had been wondering when we'd get to use it.
"The Kingdom of Taewon is truly a blessing."
They had even provoked us of their own accord like this.
And not only that, they had formally declared war on the Empire, saying they wanted to fight.
What an incredibly grateful nation.