Chapter 196

Aegir POV

Commence the test firing .

On Leopolts command, fire bursts out of 10 cannons and the targeted rocks blow up with a loud boom .

The production of cannons is an ongoing process and these 10 just arrived from Lintbloom after being completed during the war .

Leopolt, Myla and myself are conducting a trial run of the cannons to determine whether they can be used in battle .

Tristan didnt come, so Ill reduce some of his pay .

Number 4 is damaged! Number 7 and 9 are experiencing a significant drop in accuracy .

So about a third of them cant be used

Myla and I slump our shoulders while Leopolts eyebrows lower slightly .

The cannons which broke after the first shot are out of the question, and those which cant shoot far enough are a risk to hit friendlies so they cant be used in battle .

The only way to use them is to leave them on the walls of the city, pointing outwards as a bluff .

Its a big improvement though . Initially, we would have considered it a huge success if only half of them can be used .

Leopolt says its an improvement, but Myla and I are both not satisfied .

In this case, wouldnt it be better to prepare more catapults and ballistae?

There is some logic to this point .

Cannons require a specific set of requirements to be met before they can be used in a field battle .

Even so, they are our trump cards for fighting siege battles, something we used to be less proficient at . Ballistae or catapults cant demolish castle walls after all . We should continue to better the quality of our cannons .

I understand . But this is the limit of what the craftsmen in our territory can make . This is the outcome after using good quality steel too .

Presently, were using the best steel and commissioning the best craftsmen to make the cannons, so we cant reasonably expect them to perform above what theyre already doing .

Are the cannons we saw the Federation use against Magrado so much more different than ours?

The Federation fired their cannons from ships and they seemed to be able to shoot a distance several times greater than ours, plus they could accurately hit the city they aimed for .

The structure should be fundamentally the same though, is there something we are overlooking?

With that said, Leopolt and I arent familiar with the technical aspect, so we dont know too much about whats wrong .

I dont think we can come up with any good suggestions even if we rack our brains right now .

If were going to have them produced in Lintbloom anyways, why not get those hairy hairy tiny-

The Dwarf tribe .

Right, the hairy dwarves .

Lets try asking those guys for help . They should be reliable when it comes to tinkering with metal .

Contrary to their crude appearance, theyre skilled with their hands .

When I look at my spear again, I can see how sturdy they made it as well as how much attention they paid to the tiniest details in the intricate designs .

It makes me feel a little grossed out when I picture Balbano working away at crafting it .

They allow us to mine iron, but they dont seem to want to help us .

We can probably do something about that . Gather some strong booze and greasy food and well take it to them .

Dwarves have a matchless love for alcohol, so Im sure we can negotiate a deal if we let them drink something nice .

As for food, they can only get rats and mushrooms in the cave so they should be overjoyed when they receive any kind of food from the outside world .

And Leopolt, dont go .

I dont think the dwarves would get along with him at all .

If he went to meet them, Im sure they would get into a conflict .

Haah then Ill just choose some random people .

Also bring some women so they can pour the alcohol for them .

Muu Myla makes an unhappy face .

Being the formal girl that she is, she probably dislikes this kind of ploy, but this method has been the most effective way since ancient times when asking a man for a favor .

Even if the request seems unreasonable, it would sound better coming from a womans lips, at least to me .

Then, lets select a few beauties for them .

No, beauties are not good . Choose ones that are short, chubby and hairy if possible .

Their definition of beauty is different from ours after all .

Even now, the hairy sensation I felt when I slept with their beauty still comes back in my dreams .

Is everything else besides the construction of cannons going smoothly?

Yes, pretty much . However, it would take a certain expense and some time for us to recover from the loss of over 10% of our forces . I guess we should refrain from entering any major wars for now .

Their training is becoming harsher too, although honestly they are inferior to the soldiers of Aless .

Comparing to those guys each of the hundred men we fought were hand-picked from a group of elites but were all individually as strong as Irijina .

Its impossible from the beginning to try and create another group like that, so we should only do as much as we can .

I heard from Gildress that while they only equipped themselves with swords and shields in our fight, they could really use any kind of weapon from spears to bows .

How many years would it take to develop soldiers of that caliber?

Im sure they could only do something like that because they lived their lives as a warrior at a very young age .

Similar with the bow cavalrys skill, it isnt something we can replicate with hasty training .

An army ultimately operates as a collective body, each individual soldier doesnt need to be a master at their craft . The outcome of the fight we had with them was inevitable based on the fact we were forced by politics to fight in a cramped location with such a large force .

Leopolt doesnt seem to falter on his own theory .

Well, he is the best military mind here after all .

We dont have to reinvent the way we do things . Tell them to do some personal training if they want, itll make it harder for them to die too .

Understood . That way, payments to the surviving families wont be stupidly big either .

Myla glares at Leopolt as if saying thats not the main focus .

I believe this battle will also affect how we bring together the soldiers and reserve army .

The currently low salaries arent appropriate if a tenth of the soldiers will die, Im guessing?

The soldiers wages arent especially high, being slightly better than that of physical labor .

Even considering the necessities of life, which are provided to them free of charge, it may not be attractive enough for them with how prosperous Rafen is now .

They might need something which creates a good impression of themselves like fame or honor .

Leave that to me . Besides, we arent going to be organizing a large-scale expedition any time soon .

I have something to say regarding Mylas peacekeeping forces too .

I heard youve been going a little overboard .

with what?

Seizing every single street prostitute . Stopping any kind of in-house gambling between companions . Knocking down both parties of a drunken brawl and throwing them in jail . Ive heard about stories like that .

Mylas security unit is slowly becoming a group who is feared by the entire city .

All of those activities got what they deserved according to the law! Prostitution outside the brothels is illegal, a gambling ring consisting of more than five people requires prior approval, and it is unforgivable for drunk individuals to disturb the peace of the city .

Myla sticks out her chest with pride, insisting that she didnt do anything wrong .

Youre certainly right but you wont make anybody happy by being unnecessarily strict .

This isnt a problem about being happy or not! This is about order!

Isnt it better to be a little strict? The closer the guards are to the inhabitants, the more likely they will act based on their emotions, leading to bribery and corruption . We shouldnt have to worry about that if we have the security unit .

Leopolt chimes in .

The security unit is a military organization led by Myla, in other words an army deployed within the city .

Their chain of command is different from that of the guards, so even if someone tried to win the guards over, the security unit can be mobilized without being affected .

They are technically under my direct command too and should have a higher standing than the guards .

Its a sound argument . While the city will be kept in order if I let Myla and Leopolt handle this, the city would have a really strict and stuffy atmosphere .

But you know, the citizens are telling me that they feel suffocated .

The citizens so who do you mean?

Mylas face encroaches closer to mine .

There should be no effect on the average citizen . If they dislike what Im doing, then it must be from drunkards or delinquents, or perhaps

I avert my eyes and attempt to whistle, but no sound comes out .

It is just as Myla guessed, the street prostitutes came to me in tears complaining how its harder to do business .

Feudal lord-sama, do something about that woman~

I would be happy if I was captured by the feudal lord-sama and teased, but I dont like that woman~

Thats what they said to me as several girls licked my entire body, so I couldnt get myself out of helping them .

A-anyways, you could put off arresting those who arent harming anyone . More importantly, what about the kidnappers and bandit-like organizations within the city?

Rafens population has grown quite a bit and these kinds of criminal factions will naturally start forming .

The bud has been cut . Two of those kinds of groups have been crushed after we came back .

Thats good .

The security unit is extremely effective on the aforementioned criminal organizations .

Myla cant be bribed and the soldiers are heavily armed so its difficult for anyone to oppose them .

Cavalry have also been gathered so the criminals can be chased down and routed even if they escape outside the city .

Prioritize those cases then . As for the trivial incidents like street prostitutes in particular, just let them off easy .

Everytime a street prostitute gets captured, theyll be slapped on the ass before getting released . Both parties of a brawl will be required to work one week of hard labor for free . Is that fine with you geez, not even being bribed but done in by a womans body .

As is the fate of a man .

By the way, I dont see Celia and Irijina . I thought they were supposed to be in the maneuvering grounds .

Celia especially would normally have dropped anything she was doing and come running as soon as she saw ame .

Oh, those two are training .

At the end of where Myla was pointing, Celia and Irijina are crossing swords .

They are so engrossed with their training that they didnt even notice I came over .

Both of them are using weapons which favor Celia a one-handed sword which are specifically designed for training purposes with a dulled edge and wrapped in cloth, but would still hurt if it hit the body .

Yah! Taaaah!

Hahaha, Celia-donos attacks are light!! It wont hurt even if the hits landed!!

Irijina is casually blocking Celias strikes with a confident expression .

Celia fiercely darts around and attacks from all over the place, however Irijina is also skilled with weapons besides a spear so she isnt easily defeated .

Ill be attacking next . Take that!

Instead of dodging Irijinas attack, Celia decides to block it .

Aah, not good .

Celias body is lifted into the air after she took the attack .

Irijinas strength surpasses even some men, so despite Celia having matured and added some muscle to her body, she couldnt block the attack completely .

Irijina chases after Celia, who rolled to the ground .

In battle, nobody would give the opponent time to recover and get into a stance again .

It looks like theyre simulating actual combat .

Kuh!

Celia deftly rolls on the ground to dodge the weapon swung down at her .

It looks as if the victor is decided?

Itll hurt if it hits you!