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Chapter 282 Part 1

The four Megyn-class land warships carrying the Mundus Carnus delegation halted in the vicinity of the fort known as Nerodim to Christina and her party. Vecto and his companions, the ones tailing the ships, were from this very fort.

At first glance, this place appeared to have strange architecture, with a deep moat around the fort and a drawbridge across it. This much was still within the realm of common knowledge. The odd factor was the shape of the fort surrounded by thick and high defenses on the inside. A rectangular three-story building was in the center, with long, narrow buildings extending from four corners. Such a structure was hardly functional. 

The fort was marked by golems carrying refurbished old-style artillery and ballista, as well as golems the size of infantrymen and Belters. These golems were the reason for the size of the architecture here compared to the relatively few people stationed at this post. Storage and maintenance of these golems already took up significant space. 

Nerodim was not the only fort built in this manner. Other forts constructed at the same time had a similar layout and perimeter, with the deployed forces evenly distributed. 

In the Barony of Bern, where the forging of firearms and canons from scratch was a hurdle, old-fashioned firearms had been purchased and modified into deadly weapons. These included golems. Olivier, who had been secretly informed of the situation, had given her approval, commenting that things had reached a level of insanity, to put it mildly. 

It was certainly valid to criticize Dran for taking advantage of his position as the aide to the lord and a local to the area, leading him to adopt a too liberal stance with the planning. However, such preparations were necessary to overturn the overwhelming numerical disadvantage of the demon lord’s army and their strength. 

Vecto and his companions, the ones who had discovered the delegation’s fleet, did not enter the fort, but kept their distance as they continued to monitor the Megyn-Gil warships. They understood that in the event of an attack on Fort Nerodim, personnel would be necessary to notify others outside the fort. 

Fort Nerodim had received reports from Vecto and his companions, thus deploying their turret golems, Belters, and all other golems. If an attack were to be launched here, they would be in a position for an immediate counterattack. Even Fort Nerodim itself was a large-scale golem meant for boarding and the real trump card. That being said, it was still too early to activate it without first affirming the opponent’s intentions. 

The soldiers at Fort Nerodim were a group with little or no actual combat experience, but they were not foolish enough to launch an attack. At present, they were ready for a counterattack only due to word from Christina in Bern village. 

The assurance from Christina that reinforcements from the other forts neighboring Fort Nerodim and the Bernese Knights were ready for mobilization at any time was significant for those at Fort Nerodim. Moreover, she had also promised that one of their trump cards, the troops stationed at Caravis Tower, were also on alert. 

By the time the Megyn-Gil warships were anchored near Fort Nerodim, all possible preparations had been made at the fort. Nevertheless, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when a carriage disembarked from one of the Megyn-Gils and swung the flag of Mundus Carnus for negotiations. At least these folks would not be starting a war without any notice. 

All soldiers at Fort Nerodim—less than twenty of them—had no desire to be the first to engage the fearsome demons. That could not be helped, considering how it was only natural to yearn to protect their own lives. 

At present, Mundus Carnus only sought to establish diplomatic relations. They carried a letter of invitation (or threat) entrusted to them by Demon Lord Yaheim and notified the Bernese natives that they wished to hand it over immediately to the appropriate person. 

The fort’s commanding officer was in no position to handle this matter, leading to a request for a meeting with Christina, the Baroness of Bern, at the fort in two days. 

After Dran’s restraints had been loosened considerably, Bern had been deploying large vehicles for transporting soldiers and cargo along with the horse golems for military use. With these available for use, Christina could arrive at the fort within a day. Even without such means of transportation, Dran, Christina, and their peers could travel swiftly with flight or teleportation magic. Yet, they had asked for two days to avoid revealing any information about the distance from Bern village to the fort. 

Even if the exact distance would be known in time, Christina and her peers did not want to ruin Dran’s diligent efforts in disrupting reconnaissance attempts. 

The arrival of the lords, dearly awaited by everyone at Fort Nerodim, came less than two hours after the envoys of Mundus Carnus had returned to the Megyn-Gil. This swiftness surprised the soldiers of the fort, clearly unaware of the true strength of their own lords. 

After the emergency signal from Vecto had been received, instructions had been dispatched through all channels as rapidly as possible. The selection of the escort party had also been concluded, and the carriage pulled by Dramina’s Sleipneirs had been arranged at once. 

The party made sure that no one in the delegation would notice them by eliminating all sources of noise, movement, presence, heat, or magic power. Only then did they let themselves be guided into a fort and a room overlooking the fleet by the fort’s commanding officer who had come out to greet them. 

Needless to say, glass that had been specially modified was used within the fort to prevent anything from being seen from the outside. Measures had also been taken to prevent any form of eavesdropping magic through the air. 

This particular room was not meant for the reception of a lord, with only a sturdy desk in the middle of the room, several wooden chairs that seemed impossible to lift, and a map of the Dark Wilderness hanging on the wall.

「Are those the demon lord’s warships you were talking about? Seems like these land warships are less technically challenging than airships, but I’ve never seen such ships before.」

Christina expressed her honest opinion after glancing at the Megyn-class outside the room. 

As usual, her silvery-white hair was tied up with a blue ribbon embroidered with gold threads. She was the epitome of beautiful women in men’s attire. However, some here were still not immune to her true face, leading her to adorn the Agrilia’s Bracelet on her wrist to disfigure her appearance.

Christina was accompanied by Dran, Seline, and Diodora, as well as a small group of civilian officials and military officials. Dramina was not part of this party as she had been stationed at Bern village as a contingency force. She had also decided that she did not wish for the existence of vampires in Bern that can move about in daylight to be revealed. 

No sign of uncertainty could be seen on Dran’s face as he responded to Christina with a hand on his chin with a thoughtful hum.

「Bern village is on the verge of putting ours to practical use as well. We have something similar powered by a combination of magic engines and steam engines.」　

「If the professors knew about this, they will grow competitive. If we were to use their inventions for war, they would certainly be displeased even if they achieve greater results.」　

「That is exactly why I trust them with many things.」　

「That’s true, but their enthusiasm is so great that I feel overwhelmed by their explanations at times.」　

The civilian officers who were part of the party and the fort’s commanding officer were greatly relieved to see the two chatting without any signs of anxiety about a potential war. The openness and unassuming manners of the two reassured their subordinates.

Sinista, the commanding officer and garrison commander of the fort, had been battling an intense tension within herself up until Christina’s arrival with her party. This former adventurer from a family of fallen knights spoke up. 

「I have told the delegation that it will take you two days to arrive at the fort. They have no particular objection or protests to the matter and assured me that they will wait for your arrival.」

The painful-looking scar that ran from Sinista’s left cheek to her forehead, as well as her impeccable posture, was indicative of her many rigorous days as an adventurer. Perhaps relief had washed over her upon Christina’s arrival, but her remaining right eye was glazed over entirely with wonder.

Even with the Agrilia’s Bracelet that could disfigure even the most beautiful women, the beauty of a peerless woman like Christina had somehow saved the one-eyed female knight from the throes of her anxiety and seduced her heart. 

「Yeah, I had assumed that war would not start without a word. Fortunately, my prediction was right. Thank you, Commander Sinista, for remaining composed in such a pressing situation.」　

「Oh! I have only fulfilled my duty as a retainer, My Lord!」　

Chrsitina almost let out an unknowing gasp at the forceful words of Sinista, but she mustered all the dignity she had left in her to nod her head in satisfaction like a lord. Dramina had already told her many times that fierce loyalty of a subject would only lead to narrowmindedness, but she was still strangely impressed by the very specimen of such a subject. 

Even though Christina had not revealed her true face, she still found this situation understandable considering that it was the first crisis for the barony. 

「If those are your thoughts, then I can also take pride in the royal family that knighted me. From now on, the Barony of Bern will face harsher days ahead, but I hope that you will continue to lend me your strength.

「I, Sinista, will devote my heart and soul to the service of Your Lordship and Bern.」　

「Haha, well, I’m sure you must be tired from such propriety. Don’t forget to take breaks and catch your breath while you can. Now, let’s see what we can achieve within the two days we have bought for ourselves. Land warships? I know what I’m seeing, but we’re certainly way behind in basic technical capabilities.」　

Christina glanced back at the fleet that the delegation had boarded. Two turrets with two gun barrels extended forward on the deck and aft. Ten other gun turrets with machine guns lined both sides of the deck. Even from the outer frame, these warships were clearly different from the ones currently in operation in Arkrest Kingdom and their neighboring nations. 

These land warships were designed with the basis of cannons lining up the sides to fire cannonballs. However, they also included freely-rotating turrets for firing, and the hulls were made of metal instead of wood.

Dran had seen the history of weapon development by humans and other intelligent life forms during his time as a dragon. He had even used some of these inventions himself. That being said, he admitted that there was certainly a gap of several decades in terms of technical development here. However, whatever they lacked in scientific advancements, they had to make up for with magic. 

With the eyes and ears of others present, Dran resumed his conversation with Christina in the tone of a vassal.

「You look like you’re thinking that you could go in alone and turn everything into scrap iron in forty minutes.」