Chapter 99: Scenery Change

‘The destructive power is great. But how much could this change a battle?’

Vasen Lak Orazen got lost in his thoughts for a while.

‘It takes too long to put in the gunpowder and the shell, put in a wooden stick to compact the gunpowder, and light the fuse. And it takes even more time to turn the cannon around. It would be enough to kill a few enemies in a chaotic battlefield, but while getting it ready, the enemies would already reach us. Still…’

Vasen evaluated the power of the cannon highly.

‘If there isn’t just one cannon, but many of them, that would be enough to defeat an enemy from a distance. No matter how good of a warrior they are, even an Astacidea or an Ogre, it seems that no one would be able to survive getting hit by a cannonball. And what about cavalry? Being able to knock down the cavalry before they reach the infantry would be a great feat by itself.’

And there was another advantage.

‘What about in a siege? A cannon of this size would be enough to break down a weak fortress wall, but its weight would make it difficult to move it. Thus, the key would be whether or not we could get the cannons to the desired location faster than the enemies.’

But according to what Hwee Ravina Muel said, the weapon would first get a test run somewhere else.

‘At sea? Needless to say, we can’t rival the pirates in shooting arrows, so we’d have to get onto the enemy’s ship. But if we have a cannon, we might be able to sink their ship by firing at it and making a hole.’

Vasen didn’t know too much about the structure and strengths of a ship, so he was careful with his evaluation, but he was more right than he thought. On land, the enemies would be able to charge at the cannon, while that wasn’t possible on the sea.

Vasen sensed the change that the cannon would bring about.

‘The scene of battle will change.’

***

At the secret arsenal in Sashian, someone was sitting on top of the roof, listening in on Vasen’s thoughts.

“That’s right. But there’s still a long way to go.”

It was Sung-Woon.

Eldar said from next to him, “A muzzleloading cannon using black gunpowder is impressive, but…it’s not that great compared to the weapons that would appear later on, right?”

“The loading speed is too slow, and the bore needs to be wiped after every launch. Above all, the cannon is too heavy. Several people would have to be assigned for only one cannon. And they would also need official training.”

“Wouldn’t it also be harder to use if it rains and becomes humid?”

“Black gunpowder is highly absorbent and hardens once it absorbs water. Trying to force apart hardened gunpowder could lead to an accident.”

“Hm, but Kyle is a genius, and that Dwarf named Rumf is also very talented. They might create a next-level gunpowder weapon, don’t you think?” asked Eldar.

Bemused, Sung-Woon shook his head.

“No, they won’t.”

“Huh? Why do you think that?”

“Because they’ll be satisfied with what they have for now.”

“Ah.”

The appearance of the cannon itself granted them a technological advantage over those who didn’t have the invention. Therefore, rather than developing the technology in a new direction, they would think of ideas to use the existing technology more broadly and safely.

“Just because a particular invention is optimized doesn’t mean the next stage would suddenly come on its own, does it?” said Sung-Woon.

“That is right.”

“But I don’t think it’s going to take too long for new technology to be developed either. All over the continent, there are already footholds for the next stage of development.”

“Footholds?”

Sung-Woon clicked on his system window.

“Things like this.”

The window Sung-Woon opened showed several prototypes of cannons.

“I see. If an enemy has the same weapon as us, then…”

“They would try to create new weapons beyond the current optimized version.”

“Are you certain they’re going to go to war with us?”

“Almost.”

Black Scale was relatively far away from the Alchemist Tower, so their recent development of cannons only allowed for them to not fall behind too much given the weapon was already emerging in other countries of the third continent.

‘But of course, there is lots of sulfur in the area south of the wilderness in Black Scale, and in the north there are high quality trees. They have also purchased niter. If Hwee Ravina Muel is able to adjust the gunpowder formula and increase efficiency, they would be better than the other four countries.’

The other four countries Sung-Woon was talking about were Lunda’s Red Fruit, Crampus’s Danyum, AR’s Golden Eye, and Jang-Wan’s Mangul. Sung-Woon didn’t think of Wisdom’s Asbestos as easy competition.

‘It seems that he’s very determined.’

Wisdom had recently been producing resources by pressuring the minor species within Asbestos. It wasn’t the best strategy since complaints would accumulate in the long run, but it was very effective in the short run. He did it to quickly increase war supplies.

‘It’s now okay to say that the game has entered the middle stage. And while maintaining the current bloc is viable, we could end up falling behind in the intercontinental war.’

Sung-Woon thought Wisdom was trying to make a winning move.

‘I’ve also taken my measures though.’

But the most urgent problem at the moment was the Southern Archipelago.

“Let’s wait and see for now.”

***

A few days later, on the deck of The Humiliiation of Pirates.

Theone Itimo looked at Ravina from the back as the woman leaned over the railing. SHe muttered, “Team Leader, that Human over there with antlers on her head wouldn’t be dangerous, right?”

“Before that, I have a question. Can I ask that first?”

“Go ahead.”

“It seems to me that there isn't much of a difference between Elves and Humans, so why do you call them Humans?”

“Are you joking?”

“Hm?”

“It also seems to me that there isn’t much of a difference between Lizardmen and Frogmen.”

“No, that’s not true. We even look different.”

“That’s what I mean.” Theone pointed at her pointy ears. “We’re also very different.”

“...No, not really.”

“And above all…”

“Above all?”

“No children can be born between the two species. In that sense, Humans and Elves are as different as Lizardmen and Frogmen are.”

Vasen wanted to argue that Lizardmen and Frogmen were as different as Lizards and Frogs, while Humans would be no different from Elves if they just put on some pointy ears. However, it was too much work to explain, and he didn’t really want to compare his species to lizards.

So he simply said, “...Alright.”

“So what about Ms. Ravina?”

“She’s a normal person. She is cursed, but she isn’t crazy.”

“No, I like the fact that she has antlers on her head. But there’s a more important fact.”

“What is it?”

“She’s a non-believer, isn’t she?”

Vasen bluntly asked, “What’s wrong with being a non-believer?”

“...Isn’t one of your brothers a priest?”

Vasen nodded and felt that this part needed some explanation.

On The Humiliation of Pirates and the military ships, there were already cannons and gunpowder, as well as officers from the technology department who could teach the soldiers on board about the technology. Kyle had given Vasen and Theone a secret order to join the soldiers on the southern coast of Black Scale. And the one who had delivered the secret order was Ravina. Therefore, although Vasen could accommodate Theone’s discontent about Ravina to some extent, he felt the need to correct her when she was wrong.

“Captain Theone Itimo.”

“Yes?”

“I believe everyone goes through a moment of doubt.”

“A moment of doubt?”

“Let me share with you a true story. I once paid a blacksmith to make me a sword. And after a few days, a nice-looking iron sword was brought to me.”

“Isn’t there someone who can make swords at the palace too?”

“I was very young at the time. And I couldn’t hold a real sword because that would be too dangerous. Therefore, I asked a left-minister for a favor and sent him there.”

“So?”

“But the sword he brought back was actually bad. I only struck a tree a few times, but the blade quickly chipped, and soon after, it cracked. I couldn’t use it anymore. Anyway, it was an insignificant matter, but the incident made me wonder if there was no God, and I felt such a great regret.”

“How old were you?”

“Around nine years old?”

“.....”

“I regretted asking the left-minister to leave the task to a bad blacksmith, so after that, I decided not to ask others to do something for me as long as I could help it. But anyway, this is a moment of doubt. You may find yourself questioning the existence of God for an insignificant matter, but it would only be for a short while.”

Theone, who had been nodding while listening, replied, “But what does that story have to do with Ravina?”

“I’m just saying that Ravina has quite a lot to question.”

“What kind of nonsense…”

Vasen felt somewhat humiliated that Theone didn’t agree with his reasoning, but fortunately, the silence didn’t last long.

One of the sailors above the mast looked at the horizon and yelled, “Captain! Unidentified ships are approaching!”

“Look carefully at the shape of their sail! Is it not a military ship?”

“No. It is very fast! You should be seeing it from below now.”

As the sailor said, ships were emerging from the distant horizons, and there were more than a couple of them.

“Six? Seven? No, it looks like more than that.”

One of the passengers grew petrified.

“I…it’s Yaboon’s Pirates!”

Theone and Vasen turned to the person who said that. It was the Astacidea, Godan.

From committing piracy to going as far as holding a hostage, Godan should have been punished by death according to the laws, but as Vasen expected, Godan knew lots of information about Yaboon’s Pirates. Therefore, Vasen persuaded the prefect into letting him take Godan to the Southern Archipelago. The prefect gladly agreed to do that in exchange for Vasen staying silent about his mismanagement of the criminal. Unbeknownst to the prefect, however, Vasen had sent a letter to the palace later that night saying that the prefect should be punished by the law.

Vasen then asked Godan, “What are you seeing that makes you think they’re Yaboon’s Pirates? They might just be ordinary pirates, no?”

“I’ve seen the shape of their ships. It is very different from the ships we ride on. They aren’t a subordinate pirate group from Black Scale or Danyum, but the actual Yaboon’s Pirates from the other continent!”

Theone carefully examined the ships on the horizon and asked the crewmen if they had even seen the ships before. True to Godan’s words, the answer was negative.

Thenoe then said, “I think he’s right. We should prepare for battle.”

“Hm, this is good.”

“Pardon?”

“No, I was just talking to myself. I would like for us to use the cannons during the battle, what do you think?”

Theone looked at the cannons on board with doubt. She had seen it being fired before, but she couldn’t help but have reservations since it was a new weapon.

“I guess we would have to rely on it as the enemy has ten ships, which is more than twice our number.”

Godan was terribly frightened and sank to his knees in front of the railing.

“Oh my, I’m doomed. I should have stuck to being a pirate.”

Theone roughly smacked the back of Godan’s head.

“You fool, you would’ve died a long time ago if you stayed a pirate.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Go and help move the cannon over there.”

“Yes, Sister.”

Vasen was concerned by what Godan had made a fuss about. The pirates came from another continent and looked especially grotesque. It seemed that they were similar to the species called Deep Ones that was talked about in the coastal areas.

‘But there’s no need to be afraid before the fight even starts. We need to face them first.”

Rather than running away, The Humiliation of Pirates and the military ships turned around, and the crew arranged for as many cannons to be aiming at the pirate ships as possible. With the first shell loaded, nervousness spread across the ship.

As the pirate ships came closer, their excited shouts about looting could be heard.

“What luck! There are four ships!”

“Yaboon will compliment us tonight! Haha!”

“They aren’t moving. Are you afraid, you grubs?”

The members of the pirate group looked exactly as Godan had described. They had swollen faces as if they lived in deep dark waters, dark-colored scales, and sharp frightening teeth sticking out of their mouths.

“Take aim!”

As the soldiers were part of the expedition team, Vasen would be the commander in this battle as the Team Leader.

A Deep One who appeared to be the captain of the ship with a red bandana tied on their head shouted from the deck, “Those who surrender will be killed painlessly!”

Vasen thought to himself.

‘It’s close enough.’

He lowered the flag he was holding.

“Fire!”

Boom!

As the first shell fired, the Deep One who seemed to be captain got their head crushed.