Chapter 122 — Royal Envoys Arrive part 2
In his carriage, Count Khalifa brooded, scowling.
Lord Corinth didn’t so much as blink when he saw me.
Rumor had it some of the Prime Minister’s spies had flipped to Corinth. If so, then that composure wasn’t an act; he’d likely known Khalifa himself would come.
So then—we should assume our information leaks to him to a degree.
A roar went up outside.
「What is it?」
His escort blurted, rattled.
「My lord—a dragon. They say a dragon has appeared!」
Khalifa glanced out the window and stilled his man with a hand.
「I see it. Quiet.」
Over the lake south of Ares, a dragon wheeled—one great dragon, leading several smaller.
「The small ones… young dragons? No—wyverns.」
Wyverns— also called ‘flying dragons’ or ‘flying lizards’—were a smaller kin. Smaller than dragons, yes, but with torsos big as an ox. They often snatched men or horses; their flight was strong.
「Are those… riders?」
Men were astride not only the dragon but the wyverns—one per back: six riders total.
「None of them is Lord Corinth. Then he’s broken wyverns to the point regular soldiers can handle them?」
Shocking. A dozen wyverns wouldn’t match a dragon in sheer force, and wyverns lack magic. But if common troopers could fly them, the picture changed. Reconnaissance. Liaison. A sky arm.
「If Lord Corinth has wyvern cavalry, our field deployments are an open book.」
「Long-range coordination between divisions becomes trivial. Maneuvering a grand army will be easier, my lord.」
His adjutant saw the danger too. One dragon you can counter. But if the enemy owns the sky with scouts, the premise of warfare shifts.
「He’s never fit inside our ‘common sense’—and now this.」
「Since when has he commanded wyverns, my lord?」
「When we faced him at Gantz, he’d have flaunted them if he had them. Which means he broke five wyverns in the last three months.」
「There’s still time before war. He may add more.」
Dragons are rare; their numbers won’t swell. Wyverns are another story; the deep forest could hold many. They lay every year. Easier to breed. If Corinth communicates with a dragon, working a lesser kin into service isn’t impossible.
「Once Burke hears, he’ll harp on ‘What’s your countermeasure?’ until my ears bleed.」
Vilis Burke was an ally of convenience—methodical to a fault. Having dumped the military on Khalifa, he’d still badger him about impossibilities: You’re the general, aren’t you? Khalifa worked with him for the clout to search for a certain object… which still hadn’t turned up.
「We’ll need more mobile ballistas. A lot more.」
「See to it.」
「At once.」
Still—Corinth had shown his wyverns cheaply. He was hiding a better card. Could the thing Khalifa sought be tucked among those hidden trumps? He’d have to watch with care.
That night, the guesthouse beside the Assembly Hall hosted our banquet. I’d summoned the nearby Gantz nobles ahead of time. Publicly, it was on the King’s orders; privately, it was a controlled way to survey local sentiment—and to splash coin around for political effect.
「You seem to favor grand gestures, Lord Corinth. You’ve shut down Count Khalifa quite nicely.」
While we waited for the guest of honor, cups flowed. I traded small talk with the deputy envoy, Lord Tristan—the same courtier who’d once clung to His Majesty’s sleeve to stop him from attempting a dragon ride.
「Heavens, no. We simply let the dragon fly as usual. Around that hour, Gloria takes the wyverns out to hunt. That’s normal in Ares. Wyverns behave like pups before a dragon, so it’s efficient to let her lead them. And Count Khalifa is a bold man; dragons and wyverns won’t rattle him.」
Khalifa had yet to leave his room—a bit of stagecraft from him as well, no doubt. If the chief envoy doesn’t appear, no one can say the banquet has begun. Making an entrance after you let anticipation stretch—very him.
「Ah—he arrives.」
A steward announced Count Khalifa. He entered with his adjutant to welcoming applause, and the air tightened—the quiet, taut presence only a true field commander carries.
「Your welcome honors me.」
He lifted a hand, magnanimous, and took his seat. Roberto managed the hall with practiced ease, seating the principal party—Count Khalifa and his adjutant; Lord Tristan and his aide—at the head table. Across from them sat me, Elna, Serena, and Sharon.
Ria would not sit tonight. It wasn’t time to spotlight her. Ursula also stayed away for the same reason—though Khalifa surely knew she was in Ares, given the recent dust-ups with the Kingdom of Cecilio.
For now, Ursula remained a ‘prisoner’, and while we held her, the settlers Roberto directed were filtering into Ares via Cecilio with zero trouble—escorted by Ursula’s cavalry. We’d won tacit permission from Prince Rouge on the logic that he was ‘allowing service to free their lady’.
「Ah, that must be Lady Elna—His Majesty’s sends his regards.」
Tristan had noticed Elna.
「I’m honored you remember someone like me, Lord Tristan.」
Elna’s voice turned unrecognizably demure—a perfect court tone. Where is that register coming from? Cat-soft, syrup-sweet.
「His Majesty is most taken with you, my lady. He has a special gift prepared; I’ll have it sent later.」
「My, how lovely.」
「Lord Corinth, you are a connoisseur of beauty, it seems,」Count Khalifa directed the focus of the conversation to me. He meant Elna, Serena, and Sharon.
「They serve me as warriors. In fact, it was Elna who felled Count Gantz.」
「Oh? How valiant! Does she wield magic?」
「She does, and she’s formidable with a blade as well. Only three here could match her in a straight sword fight.」
Aside from me: Ria, Serena, and Sharon. That’s it.
「Then the King will want her near him all the more. Do visit the palace sometime, Lady Elna.」
Tristan kept ‘pitching’ for King Amado. If Elna strolled into the palace, they’d confine her ‘for safety’ and we’d have a new ‘guest’. Is His Majesty just playing infatuated to send me a message… or is he actually serious? He might be, she’s quite the beauty, and her fiery red hair is striking; for people who like red-haired women, she would be the top choice.
(Elna, the King might be serious. Be careful how you answer.)
(I know, Alan. I’m not going to cheat—don’t worry.)
Cheat? Elna can be fierce, but she also blindsides me—like that kiss on the battlefield. I still get rattled remembering it. I’d chalked it up to adrenaline after slaying Count Gantz… but still.
「Cups have made the rounds—my lord, your toast.」
Roberto prompted me. Host opens, guest closes; that’s the custom. So first speech was mine.
「Honored guests, thank you for coming all the way to Ares. Life here differs from the capital, but we’ve prepared a humble feast. Please, make yourselves at home. To His Majesty’s health—and to yours. Cheers!」
「「Cheers!」」
After that, in theory, it’s food and pleasantries. With Khalifa here, tonight would be a probe.
「Lord Tristan, how fares the capital?」
「Quiet and prosperous. Bandits have vanished; the roads are lively. The way to Gantz felt safer by the week. Trade will flow.」
Our bandit-suppression was bearing fruit.
「I hear you’ve invited the Commercial Guild to Ares. Quick work; Ares will flourish.」
「By good fortune, the pieces fell into place.」
Khalifa cut in, straight as a pike thrust.「You’re laying rails between Ares and Gantz, then?」
I smiled. 「You’re sharp. For iron and coal transport, rails are efficient.」
「Rail carriages like a mine railway.」
The mission had come by ordinary carriage. But the rail for freight—the rail carriage line—was already complete. With the blast furnace running, mass-producing rail was no issue, and laying it proved easier than expected: leapfrog your way forward, relocating men and material along the rail you’ve just laid.
「Exactly. Heavier loads, moved more safely.」
「Educate me—what makes it better than a normal wagon?」
That question cuts to the heart of rails: why rails at all?
「As you know from your ride here, even paved roads aren’t exactly smooth. A minor rut can launch the body and make you bite your tongue. Rails give you a gliding smoothness.」
「Hm.」
「You never wander off the optimal route. No fighting bad spots. You run a dedicated way, clean and steady.」
「So: no ‘bad road’ to fight.」
He fell thoughtful. Have I shown too much? Maybe not. Without our foundry, no one can flood the world with steel. Rails are married to mass-production.
「On top of comfort, they keep speed. I’ll spare you the engineering.」
「I’ve heard wagons slow less on rails.」
「You’ve heard as much because we’re buying iron and coal from Nois, I’d wager.」
「I won’t lie.」
「Then let me make this easy. Please report Ares’s progress to His Majesty. If you like, I’ll show you our blast furnace tomorrow.」
We wrapped early—publicly to let the mission rest; privately so both sides could scheme. I decided to let them range about a bit inside Ares, and watch.
Count Khalifa was disappointed. He’d split his men to ask around, but turned up nothing juicy.
Either the thing I want isn’t here—or it’s locked down tight. As expected. Fine—then I’ll plan how to crack his proud little city.
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