Chapter 216

Chapter 216: Preparations for Deployment

Preparations for Deployment
Chapter 216. Departure Preparations

Ferda officially announced to all the nobles of the Far East that he would go as a member of the Empire to provide support.
— The troop size has been set at 500. 100 knights and 400 regular infantrymen. Will you go with these numbers?
Asked Count Consillus, who was among his closest aides.
Ferda sensed concern in his voice and asked back:
— Is that too little, after all?
— The Empire’s side will openly show their displeasure. They will say there should be at least 30 soldiers per knight, so why are there only 4 infantrymen…?
— That is because our army possesses characteristics they cannot see. If we demonstrate that such a force is superior to an army of tens of thousands, what will they have to say?
— That is also a valid point, my lord.
Consillus expressed his concern, but even so, he did not press the matter.
Ferda was a man he could trust.
— In that case, I will simply convey that you will send 100 knights. It would be better to demonstrate it through the war situation instead of giving them a pretext to nitpick by saying 500 in total beforehand.
Do that, then.
— I will take charge of recruiting the knights.
Consillus took charge of recruiting the 100 knights to be deployed in formation, and Ferda began recruiting in Hestia Village to fill the regular infantry ranks.
The person in charge was, surprisingly, Penelope.
— You, member of Hestia! You who have walked dreaming of success! And you who can seize the opportunity to succeed right now! Grand Duke Valdrova needs you! Enlist immediately!
She shouted for recruits in the plaza like a clown.
One might wonder if such a method would work with her characteristically boisterous way of speaking, but unexpectedly, many gathered.
— It seems that stimulating those who wish to succeed and making enlistment feel light produces results.
— Mmm…
Why would that be?
She was doing good things for this village, yet the more she did, the less he liked her.
Anyway, all the enlisted soldiers were trained by William’s hand.
William had officially become a knight, and now, instead of Security Captain, he held the name of a unique knight, the Guardian Knight of the Far East.
As training commander, he repeatedly instructed tactics so they would quickly be able to do one person’s work.
‘The deployment is in 3 weeks.’
Repetitive mastery is only slightly harder than a spear, but the effect is double, so by the time of deployment, they will become soldiers who can do one person’s work.
— Ah, right.
Isabella spoke.
— There is someone who wishes to see you, my lord. You will be surprised when you hear who it is.
Isabella said the name, and Ferda was surprised just as she had said.
— Where is he?
— He is sitting and waiting in the Town Hall conference room.
At her words, Ferda headed to the Town Hall, and a man remained standing silently inside.
The reason he was standing was because the chair could not support his weight, and his attire was such that it felt natural.
What he wore could not be called anything less than a fortress.
A moving fortress, Alberto.
Too heavy even to go up to the second floor, a man who had to be received on the ground floor.
‘I heard he was staying in the village without leaving…’
At some point, he had suddenly disappeared, and the Armored Knight had been replaced by a new Armored Knight.
However, he did not help with things like village construction.
He simply made a corner of the stable his territory, curled up, and remained motionless.
He had never been seen eating or drinking anything.
Recently, there was talk that a chicken was circling him, and rumors circulated that it might be a pet chicken he was raising.
The fact that such a man had relaxed his unyielding posture and requested an audience with Ferda gave Ferda a new sensation.
Given the timing, Ferda could guess his purpose.
— I am curious to know what reason you gave for wanting to see me.
— I heard you are going to attack the demons.
He spoke in a deep voice.
— What is the purpose?
— To kill demons. That is all.
No more words were needed.
— The Moving Fortress, Alberto. You are a free spirit.
Ferda asked politely:
— You, a definition of justice and a free spirit who moves to kill demons, coming to me and saying you came to kill demons is something I find hard to understand.
If he moved to kill demons, most of the time he simply disappeared suddenly.
There was no reason for him to speak to Ferda like this.
One might wonder if he had noticed the existence of King Heinkel’s magic.
— Gokma.
Alberto summarized with a single word first.
— I moved to kill that bastard, but Gokma has magic.
— He possesses spatial magic that traverses this continent.
— Even if I have the strength to crush the skull of every demon, I cannot overcome the power of magic.
Ferda could understand what he desired.
— In short, you are interested in magitechnology.
— Yes.
— But magitechnology is an asset of Hestia. You cannot use it unless you are a member of Hestia.
— Would it work if I become a knight?
He agreed so easily that it actually provoked reluctance.
Ferda asked further:
— Does that mean you will swear loyalty to me?
— I thought you didn’t want my loyalty?
— Correct. All I need is for us to run toward a common goal.
From the beginning, there was neither the desire to extract loyalty from this man nor the conviction that he could do so.
Ferda had even used the pretext of asking him to monitor himself when he first proposed knighthood to him.
— By the way, where does this mission to kill demons originate from?
He answered:
— Why do you think we breathe?
— To live.
— It is the same. It is something we must do even if we don’t want to, something we must do even without being conscious of it.
— If the things that must be killed keep increasing, there is nothing better than that.
— Watch your mouth, Regent.
He warned in a low voice.
— Even without a mission for humanity or for the continent, I am not a slaughter maniac who desires chaos.
I apologize for provoking you.
Ferda felt the need to pry into his true thoughts, even if only a little.
— After we eliminate our common enemy, what do you plan to do? Isn’t that the same as stopping breathing?
— There is no such thing as being alive while no longer breathing.
It was a statement implying he would die in the end.
— This question and answer session is boring now. I would like to stop it. Is there anything else?
— No.
Ferda rose from his seat.
— Since you probably do not enjoy showing off everywhere, I will keep the inauguration ceremony simple. Before that, could you spare me some time separately?
— For what time?
— Shouldn’t I show magitechnology to someone who claims to be interested in magitechnology?
It was also necessary to verify if he was truly interested in magitechnology.
Ferda decided to take him to Vernel.
Valdrova Castle, Research Building.
It is famous for ongoing research and development, and for the endless sounds of explosions and screams.
— I greet you, Regent-nim. The person beside you is…?
— His name is Alberto. The man famous as the Mobile Fortress.
— Ah, is that so?
Vernel showed an attitude of vaguely recognizing him as a noble person.
At the same time, he showed distaste toward the outsider.
The nobles who had met Vernel always tried to gain an advantage by brandishing their status.
That distaste was currently amplified through Ureas.
Ferda looked up at his head and said:
— You have lost much more hair than before.
— The fortunate thing is that it’s not just me. One must endure this pain to overcome Malcolm’s Intelligence Standard.
— Malcolm’s Intelligence Standard?
That was why the screams never ceased in the castle.
Malcolm of Peach Hill.
A country bumpkin who remains a mystery even after the reason why he became an Imperial Knight was revealed.
Right now, a man who has become the nightmare of every researcher.
The only thing that idiot did while holding the post of knight was the weapons demonstration operation.
Almost all magitechnology weapons had to meet the standard of being operable by Malcolm, so for the research team, it was nothing short of a Wailing Wall.
Firepower must be good, the structure must be simple, and it must be an ideal item that does not take long to be mastered by first-time users.
Efforts for that utopia were consumed along with the roots of his hair.
Of course, Ferda didn’t feel sorry for Vernel suffering such pain.
The Vernel of the future was already bald, and right now he still had plenty of hair.
— This is an ambitious work that endlessly improved the magitechnology rifle. To reduce reload time, processed and refined mana stones are loaded and exchanged in the form of magazines, and the magic circle’s energy is also drawn from the magazine to aim for immediate firing.
Recalling what he had read in the report, it kept pace not only in performance, but also in reducing production costs and simplifying the process.
Ferda observed the improved rifle.
Unlike the initial model that had things hanging all over it, this one had a simple appearance and was even designed.
— May I try using it?
— Of course.
Vernel was full of confidence, and rightly so.
Dispelling the doubt of whether this thing actually fired, he inserted the magazine, pulled the trigger, and with a roar, a single blue trail flew forward.
A magazine’s mana stone can fire 30 mana bullets, and the process of removing the mana stone was also simple: press the safety, release, and reinsert.
“Humans who can wield 30 mana bullets…”
Even Ferda himself found the result hard to believe.
If a person carries 6 magazines, theoretically a single commoner can play the role of 36 1st Circle mages.
Mana stones made by filtering and condensing water contaminated by demonic energy constantly accumulate in the warehouse, so the power source is also sufficient.
He put on a satisfied face, then glanced sideways.
Alberto was silently watching the object.
— Do you want to try?
…..
Alberto silently observed the object, then took the rifle with his large hand.
He rested it on his shoulder and aimed with a posture even more skilled than Ferda’s.
Papapapang!
His marksmanship was also skilled, consecutively hitting the center of the target.
The watching researchers could only admire his skill.
But soon he seemed to lose interest, placed it on the table, and said:
— Weak. And light.
— T-this is not… a weak level… and it isn’t that light even among commoners…
Vernel muttered, not knowing that his life was precious.
But feeling the gaze through the helmet, he soon shut his mouth.
— Tactical infantry efficiency improves day by day. Isn’t there anything else worth presenting?
— O-of course there is.
The item presented this time was a small fruit-like object that fit in one hand, unlike the rifle.
— It is a mana grenade. Similar to the Mana Bomb you know, Regent-nim, it scatters a shockwave and pure mana throughout the area.
This time, Vernel demonstrated it himself.
The shockwave spread 20 meters, and mana sparkled across the whole area.
It seemed effective enough to halt the movements of things that move agilely.
It seems to have value as a strategic weapon for infantry.
But he was curious about Alberto’s standard.
— How about this?
— Mmm…
He exhaled, then attached the three grenade samples to his own belt.
Vernel muttered in a low voice: “You can’t take those…”
Ferda realized with certainty from that scene.
What this human needs is a single shot: firepower.
— Can’t you present something else? Something with good firepower.
— Something with good firepower… there is, but it is still a beta version and efficiency is not high…
— That won’t matter.
The object Vernel brought saying that was similar to the magitechnology rifle.
However, unlike the current long and thin barrel, this one was thick and short, and two of them were attached.
Vernel spoke of the object like this:
— It is a magitechnology shotgun.