Chapter 219: Why is this here?
As the war began, many people left the Vandus barony.
Most of them were merchants, but surprisingly, there were also some who came to visit.
They were the ones who wanted to profit from the war in some way.
They had diverse backgrounds, from knights sent by the royal family of Bagran, to diplomats from Zaium, to merchants from Denova.
They had one goal in mind.
To witness the surrender of the Vandus barony with their own eyes.
That way, they could confirm who had the bigger stake in the outcome.
However, not everyone was related to the war’s benefits.
One of them was Tirandel.
He had come back to the Vandus barony after finishing his investigation on the Altima cult in Bagran.
The bureaucrats, including the administrator, were nervous about what he would dig up this time, but he was surprisingly polite.
“I’ll just take a look around and leave. Don’t mind me.”
He seemed to have a personal interest in this war.
The elves who followed him hated staying in the human lands for too long, so they decided to camp outside.
The people were uncomfortable with the presence of elves, but they didn’t make a fuss since the Vandus baron didn’t object.
In the midst of that, news came that Ohamel viscounty had declared war and the visitors became relaxed spectators in the hall or inn.
However, there was something they couldn’t understand. It was the defensive posture of the barony.
“Why don’t they dig any traps? They should be preparing for a defensive battle.”
“That Zion mage who should be working hard on magic went to Denova. I don’t know what he’s thinking.”
“The Goliaths will be here soon and they’re not ready at all. The lord is nowhere to be found…”
The visitors asked for an explanation from a knight who came from the royal road and claimed to have participated in many wars, but he was also puzzled.
There was nothing to analyze since nothing had changed from usual.
“…My guess is that they’re planning an ambush.”
“An ambush? How are they going to hide a 7-meter-tall Goliath?”
“Didn’t you say there’s a mage named Zion in Denova? He could cast invisibility magic on them. It would cost a lot, but it would be worth it if they could win the war.”
“So you’re saying he went to Denova as a deception?”
“He must be hiding somewhere.”
It was an impossible tactic unless it was Elvrande who used ether stones like water.
The people clicked their tongues at the expensive ether stones used for an ambush.
They thought he was indeed a rich man.
But then one of the Denova merchants verified that Zion was in the central exchange.
“I just got a message from Mr. Philip, the market manager. He said that the Vandus barony bought a lot of securities on the winning side. The amount is so large that it affects the dividend.”
The people looked at the knight and he gave a hollow laugh.
“So it wasn’t an ambush after all.”
“How are they going to win then? They’re not preparing for battle and only buying securities. They must have lost their minds.”
“Do you think a madman could make something like this?”
The person who said that pointed at the hall building itself.
It had a restaurant on the first floor and accommodation on the second floor. The facilities were so good that even the people from the royal road were surprised.
What was more impressive was that the building had water supply and toilets installed.
The food they sold wasn’t great, but it was understandable given how barren the land was.
“I asked the administrator earlier and he said that they’re not losing money even with this kind of facility.”
“They must have a lot of visitors for such a remote barony.”
“It’s too bad that it’s all over now.”
The people who said that didn’t have any pity on their faces. Instead, they showed greed.
There would be a lot of spoils if such a barony fell.
Not as much as the powerful ones who could claim a share directly, but crumbs would stick to their hands as they handled bread.
They were already calculating how much they could get when they divided this barony.
On the other hand, Tirandel, who was quietly drinking tea in a corner, asserted that it was an attack.
‘If the lord’s combat power is beyond imagination, it would be better to go on an expedition than to conduct a defensive battle.’
But Goliaths were so huge that their intention to attack would be obvious.
There were spies from various places in this barony without knowing it, and magic was inevitably used wherever there was a possibility of battle.
As soon as Goliaths left the barony with thumping noises, they would be contacted through communication stones.
‘The only way to stop that is to use invisibility magic, but the mage himself went to Denova. I don’t understand.’
Or maybe the lord had transcendent combat power and confidence to overturn the absolute disadvantage.
Even Tirandel, who had experienced countless battles, thought so.
There was no one who could guess the true intention of Leobold.
And there was hardly anyone who was interested in the airship that was in the dock.
It was obvious who the owner would be when the war broke out anyway.
Some people went to see it, but they scoffed when they heard that they were leaving for the floating continent at this time.
“They could have used it as a reconnaissance tool at least, but the lord completely gave up on it.”
“It must be too expensive to maintain. He probably sneaked it out somewhere and sold it later.”
“It’s not like there are many places to buy it anyway.”
Airships were so expensive that there were limited places where they could be purchased.
And they had to watch out for Bagran and Zaium, so there was practically no power that could buy them.
From that point of view, the departure of the fleet was like a last struggle.
“They might be hard to track because of their high altitude, but they’ll have a different owner when they land.”
And soon after, news came that the Goliath unit had left from Ohamel viscounty and the people focused all their attention on it.
Thanks to that, no one witnessed the Goliaths with invisibility cast on them being loaded onto the airship at dawn.
Even if they knew, they wouldn’t have believed it.
It was impossible to fly with a Goliath that weighed nearly 100 tons on board.
And then morning came and three airships untied their ropes and rose into the sky.
“That’s strange…”
Tirandel looked at the rising altitude and tilted his head.
They should have been empty, but they looked strangely heavy for 700-ton ships.
Maybe he was mistaken.
He was more interested in the ether barrier facilities installed in the barony.
This barony had too many strange things for its size and level of mages.
‘Why are there ether blocking barriers everywhere? Where did they get Orichalcum?’
Orichalcum was a very rare metal that blocked ether.
To be precise, it blocked not ether itself, but its traces completely.
This made it impossible for even skilled mages to track them down.
Elvrande’s intelligence agency was also the same, so they sent troops to the mines and calculated the mining amount to prevent leakage.
‘But why is it used in large quantities in this rural barony?’
He thought he should warn them about the possibility of leakage.
If it came from the floating continent, it would be very dangerous.
He hardened his face and looked up at the sky.
He had a feeling that the destination of those ships was not the floating continent or somewhere else.
***
Usually, wars involving Goliaths start with the weaker side building defensive fortifications.
It was not easy to launch a surprise attack on such huge machines, whose power and speed were well-known.
Only the high knights of Elvrande could show amazing maneuvers, but that was impossible with the low-output Goliaths of the rural domains.
Therefore, most of the battles took place where the forces were inferior.
In that sense, the mercenaries who had just left Ohamel’s domain were not very worried about the battle.
They even had a few drinks before boarding the Goliaths, thinking that it would be easy.
“We’re just going to march for a day, right? It’s obvious that they’ll be holed up in their domain, so let’s go easy!”
The mercenary leader frowned at his subordinates’ attitude, but accepted it.
It was because they had a limit on their speed due to the lack of ether stones.
To increase the speed, they needed more ether stones, but Ohamel was stingy and reluctant to invest.
On top of that, he had to borrow an ether cannon from Lantis’ domain, which meant he had to save more ether stones.
“It can’t be helped. We’ll match our speed with the horned beast carriage. Drink as much as you want and run.”
It was an order he could give because the victory was already assured.
Not only the mercenaries, but also the bureaucrats in the domain, including Ohamel, thought so.
“According to the people we sent there, the baron is nowhere to be seen and they haven’t prepared any defensive facilities. We have practically already won.”
“We searched the entire domain, but there was nothing unusual. There was no trace of the baron.”
“Good…”
Ohamel finally smiled with satisfaction.
He didn’t know what the baron of Vandus was thinking, but now he couldn’t change the outcome.
The baron only had three Goliaths at his disposal, and it was hard to stop sixteen with them.
Even if he had an extraordinary skill, it was impossible to counter the ether cannon.
“It can take down a dragon with its firepower. A Raume-class Goliath would be incapacitated in one shot.”
That was assuming they could hit it, but with five times the number of units, he thought they could manage somehow.
“I was going to wait until the high knight of Zaium arrived, but…”
On the other hand, he didn’t have to share his stake with anyone since he had already secured his victory.
He only had two Goliaths left for defense in his domain, but that was not a big problem.
“Two Goliaths are enough for defense.”
Ohamel was proud of himself for preparing for all possibilities and looked at the map.
If he won the domain war, Vandus’s domain would be torn apart.
He couldn’t expect a big piece of land as the main actor of the war, and he had to settle for a small fragment.
“How about the dark flame mine? The count would allow it, right?”
“That should be fine.”
“Shouldn’t we get permission from Princess Eolin first?”
“She only cares about silver mines… She won’t mind who takes the dark flame mine.”
“A dress from Zaium would probably satisfy her.”
His aides agreed with him and Ohamel was happy as if he had already gotten the dark flame mine.
He went to the window and opened the curtain.
Something was coming from far away in the sky.
“What do you think that is? It can’t be a bird.”
“It’s quite big. Maybe it’s a dragon?”
“Haha, that’s too much of a joke.”
“There’s no reason for them to come here from the floating continent.”
They were all busy laughing because they were in a good mood.
But as the unidentified object approached closer, their expressions gradually hardened.
It was not an ordinary size.
Ohamel quickly looked at it with a telescope he imported from Imir Republic.
The first thing he saw was a golden dragon figurehead.
“No way.”
He realized then that it was an airship.
And not just one, but two.
“Altemaho… Vandus’s airship. Why did he send it here?”
The bureaucrats took turns looking at the ship with a telescope and started making a fuss.
“Maybe he came to surrender? Even if we split up into two ships, there won’t be more than 100 soldiers excluding crew members.”
There were only two Goliaths left for defense in his domain, but that was more than enough against soldiers.
“Maybe he wants to secretly negotiate?”
“Then maybe the baron is on board.”
He didn’t raise a white flag, which was suspicious, but considering his desperate situation, it could be forgiven.
“Well, let’s go out. We have to receive his surrender in person, don’t we?”
His aides tried to stop him, but Ohamel went out to the garden with only his steward.
A few soldiers came out to escort him, and the two airships came closer and closer.
He was a little disappointed by their larger size than expected.
“They’re quite big.”
“Don’t worry. If the baron surrenders himself, your status will rise. Maybe you’ll get an airship.”
“That’s worth at least 5,000 gold.”
It was an irresistible temptation for him who had spent a lot on the war.
There would be many competitors, but since he was the one who fought the war, maybe…
He was salivating when it happened.
The two airships lowered their altitude and started moving toward him.
And then the hatches opened and something stood up with a mechanical sound.
It was a giant mechanical doll that was seven meters tall.
“Wha, what?”
“What is that?”
The people couldn’t understand what came out of the ship was a Goliath.
It was that unexpected.
A Goliath was something so heavy that it couldn’t be transported by ship.
Ordinary ships didn’t have a chance to sail because of the shadow elf pirates, and airships had a limit on their size.
“But… But why is that here?”
“Why is it here?”
Ohamel repeated his question, but no one answered.
They just stared at the two Goliaths that dropped from the ship and grabbed their greatswords.
While the people were hesitating, Katina and Elwin were excited.
***
They proudly declared their intentions using the expensive communication device.
“We are knights of Vandus’s domain! That means we can attack this place as we please!”
“You’re not even knights yet, are you? Let me repeat myself. I warn you in the name of Leobold Vandus, the baron. Surrender. Otherwise, you’ll only face death.”
As the tip of the greatsword pointed at Ohamel, he stopped breathing and trembled.
And then he started to scream like a goblin that was stabbed in the belly.
“Defense unit, Goliaths! What are you doing! Smash them! Anyone, hurry up and…!”
The two Goliaths that were in charge of defense came out late and Katina and Elwin started to argue with each other.
“Let’s wait a bit! We can win anyway!”
“Why do we need to wait? The war is over if we kill the lord.”
Kill… kill me?
Ohamel hadn’t even thought about his own death.
The war was supposed to happen in Vandus’s domain, and he only had to receive the report of victory.
After that, there was a victory party reserved for him in the royal road, and he was going to make a splendid debut as the main character.
But, but…
“What is this!”
As the four Goliaths started a close combat, the carefully maintained garden was completely ruined.
The ground shook as the greatswords clashed.
The Viner-class was clearly superior in specs.
It had more core output and armor strength than the Raume-class, and there was no reason to lose.
But when Katina’s Goliath kicked, the Viner-class flew away unbelievably.
Why? How?
The greatsword bounced off without piercing the armor in front of Ohamel’s eyes.
With a thud, the Viner-class Goliath lost its balance and wobbled.
Elwin didn’t miss that chance and rushed toward the enemy Goliath and stabbed his greatsword long.
He couldn’t pierce through the chest armor, but instead he completely destroyed the shoulder part and one arm fell to the ground due to its weight.
“Hey! What if you completely smash it!”
“It’s not smashed yet!”
The important thing for a Goliath was its core and drive system, and it could be repaired as long as they weren’t smashed.
They happily made the two Viner-class Goliaths unable to move.
They were clearly outmatched in output, but they couldn’t lose because their living metal armor blocked all attacks.
“Haha, how about that!”
Katina slammed her greatsword next to Ohamel, who couldn’t escape in time.
His pants were soaked.
“I, I surrender…”
“Elwin, he says he surrenders. What do you think?”
Elwin changed his communication mode and said.
“It’s unfortunate, but it will be difficult to get the domain if the lord is alive. No one will question us if we say he got caught up in the Goliath fight.”
Lantis’ count would be furious, but that was their employer’s problem to solve.
“You’re too roundabout in saying you want to kill him!”
His voice was so loud through the communication stone that it was heard outside.
Ohamel realized then that he had to run away, but his feet didn’t move.
A huge shadow fell on him.
***
Emil, the high knight of Zaium, took a train to near the border and then rode a horned beast.
He didn’t have much luggage because he could summon his own Goliath through subspace, and he had no companions because he had to move as fast as possible.
Fortunately, the horned beast he was assigned was quite sturdy and endured the long journey without any problems.
He entered Bagran and ran across the plain when he saw an airship in front of him.
“The figurehead is Altema… Is it the rumored Altema 3?”
He wondered why it was here when it should be in Vandus’s domain, but Emil didn’t hesitate and summoned his Goliath.
A blue gate opened and revealed Zaium’s standard Goliath, the Vepar-class.
It was a cool Goliath with a sleek appearance and a size that was different from Raume or Viner classes in Ohamel’s domain.
Emil quickly climbed into the Goliath as soon as its abdomen opened.
Grrr.
The Goliath that was almost sitting stood up with a roar of a beast.
And then the airship lowered its altitude and opened its hatch, and a Goliath jumped out of it.
Thud.
The ground shook and the Goliath steadied itself. Emil doubted his eyes.
‘A Jagan-class…? Is it owned by Baron Vandus? How did he…?’
How could an airship carry a Goliath and fly in the sky?
Why did the Goliath jump out of it?
How come the Goliath’s drive system and frame were intact after jumping?
He had many questions, but Emil answered them by thrusting his spear at his opponent.
“I am Emil, a knight of Zaium’s Prozan domain. What is your name?”
“Leobold Vandus.”
At his short introduction, Emil’s expression turned to shock.
‘He’s facing me with a Jagan-class?’
Anyone who knew the specs of the two Goliaths would have said it was a crazy thing to do.
The core output was almost twice as different, and the drive system’s smoothness and armor’s toughness were incomparable.
In short, the Jagan-class was a model that was inferior to the Raume-class, which had fallen into a scrap for mercenaries, and it was hard to find a weaker Goliath in the whole of Astera.
He was confident that he could smash all of them without getting hit even if ten Jagan-class Goliaths came at him.
‘Is this the baron’s confidence or arrogance?’
Emil sneered and Leobold’s stick changed its shape.
Clank clank.
The long stick turned into a spear and then Emil’s smile disappeared.
A golden light burst out from the entire body of the small and insignificant Jagan-class Goliath.
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