novelraw Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
The only reason we could afford to take things easy was because the situation of those Imperial bastards wasn’t so great.
If the Imperial bastards had managed to seize control of the Levelium Region in one swoop—well.
Working with the Beastmen was a must, so they might have managed to dig through the tunnels somehow, but rebuilding the Territory of Hawrun? That would’ve been a dream beyond reach.
They would have had to focus all their efforts on fortifying the Levelium front.
Maybe they even built an enormous wall over there?
Or perhaps they expanded Johnson Castle into something even bigger.
‘They’ve got their own kind of chaos to deal with, after all.’
Even now, I kept getting reports through the Fox Tribe about the situation in Levelium—it seemed the front lines had stagnated.
Apparently, they’d decided to postpone conquering the remaining two territories for now, freeing residents to start farming again.
With the Regent’s absence for the Assembly of All Lords, and the explosion that had destroyed Hawrun Territory, they’d taken too much damage to push a rapid offensive.
Even though they hadn’t loosened their assault while the Regent was away, their efforts weren’t enough to bring down a single territory.
In short, the Imperial bastards’ plan for a swift conquest had hit a red light.
‘Well, it’s only natural—those two were the hardest to take.’
There were two territories in the Levelium Region the Imperial bastards hadn’t conquered yet.
Bollino to the west, and Darian to the southwest.
Both territories bordered the coast.
Among the monsters inhabiting Levelium, the most troublesome of all were the Naga.
The Naga along the western coast of Levelium frequently invaded human lands, making Bollino and Darian the front lines against them.
Naturally, those two were also the most militarily powerful territories in the Levelium Region.
‘But now, the Naga are all gone, aren’t they?’
The Imperial bastards had managed to launch their surprise attack on Levelium precisely because the Naga were gone—and thanks to that, Darian and Bollino had been relieved of much of their military burden.
If the Empire had struck before the two could reorganize their forces, they might have easily taken the territories. But time had dragged on, and now both had managed to recover and prepare for defense.
Unlike the other territories that had been caught in all-out war, the two that had faced the Imperial forces firsthand were preparing a thorough defense.
No matter how strong the Empire was, it wasn’t enough to capture a fortress in one go—they had to retreat for now.
“So, what are they doing these days?”
“They say the Imperial bastards are multiplying fast.”
“Multiplying? As in, they’re ferrying people by sea?”
“Seems like it.”
“That’s… troublesome.”
The Imperial bastards, after failing their short-term conquest, were now showing two major movements.
First, they were releasing residents to tend to farmland.
And second, they were bringing more Imperial citizens into Levelium.
The most troublesome part, of course, was the steady increase in their numbers.
It meant the area was stabilizing under their control.
“There’s no way to estimate how many of them there’ll be, right?”
“Not really. We’ve got no way to know how many Imperials are still alive.”
“Didn’t they say the Empire’s situation was worse than the Ribella Peninsula’s? That should make it easy for them to find people willing to migrate here.”
“Most likely. After all, the reason those bastards flew all the way to the Ribella Peninsula was for that exact reason.”
“What a headache.”
Before the Great Cataclysm, the Empire had been a massive nation with a population in the tens of millions.
The Kingdom’s population had been around ten million, so the Empire had several times that number.
Now, the southern side of the Ribella Peninsula had maybe one to one and a half million people left?
No precise count, but roughly that many survived.
If the Empire had survived at a similar ratio, there’d still be several million of them around.
“They say their factions are torn apart and at odds, but if that so-called Regent gathers even just his friendly forces, that’s at least a hundred thousand, right?”
“And if half of those settle here, that’s fifty thousand.”
“Fifty thousand Imperials are enough to stabilize at least three territories.”
“Seems we gave them too much time. I didn’t expect it to play out like this.”
“But it’s not like there’s anything we can do about it right now, is there?”
“That’s the problem.”
At least, both Darian and Bollino were managing to receive supplies from the south via the sea—appropriate for coastal territories.
Our great Lord of Vines wasn’t just selling goods to the Imperial bastards but also sending supplies to Darian and Bollino.
“Where in the world did he get the ships? You can’t just find ships that quickly.”
He was selling food to the Imperial bastards, taking weapons in return, and then reselling those weapons to Darian and Bollino—a ridiculous trade I couldn’t even imagine.
With sea routes practically destroyed, where had he found the ships? He truly wasn’t someone to be underestimated.
The Imperials were busy transporting their own people now, but once they gained some breathing room, I wouldn’t be surprised if a naval battle broke out in the region.
There’s no way they’d just sit back and watch supplies flow into enemy territory.
“A naval battle, in this age? Things sure are dynamic.”
And there was one more remarkable development—the former Territory of Hawrun.
To be exact, the Empire was rebuilding Hawrun Castle, the one we, the Black Lions and the Rabbit Tribe, had blown away.
They seemed intent on turning it into a fortress this time, constructing it solid and strong.
Apparently, a large number of Imperial citizens were already migrating there.
Just like how we were keeping an eye on those Imperial bastards, they too were wary of us crawling down into Levelium.
“That makes me wonder—where did they even get that many Mana Crystals?”
I could understand the Imperial bastards rebuilding Hawrun Castle.
It made sense for them to tighten their defenses since the castle had already been breached once.
The problem was the speed at which the new Hawrun Fortress was being rebuilt.
To rebuild a fortress that quickly meant they were pouring in an absurd amount of resources.
We knew this all too well—after all, we had built a new castle ourselves.
Without our Mana Stone Mine, such a feat would’ve been impossible.
“But they did it anyway. Do you think those Mana Crystals came from the Empire?”
“I doubt they could have hunted enough monsters to collect that much.”
“Wasn’t it said the Empire’s Mana Stone Mines are mostly in the west?”
“Exactly. Transporting Mana Stones all the way from the west to the eastern end? Anyone can see that’s impossible.”
“And it’s not like the Empire is a single united nation anymore—it just doesn’t add up.”
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone had supplied the Imperial bastards with a massive amount of Mana Crystals.
This wasn’t something they could’ve achieved through hunting alone.
Monster hunting, by its nature, always came with casualties.
Mana Crystals weren’t a resource one could simply hoard endlessly.
If anything, they were closer to consumables.
Harvesting a large quantity of Mana Crystals from monsters required vast manpower, and maintaining such an army meant a large population.
But the larger the population, the greater the consumption of Mana Crystals.
A vicious cycle—truly a miracle of inefficiency.
‘Even we can’t gather that many Mana Crystals through hunting alone.’
Someone had definitely supplied them with a massive amount.
“If there’s anyone on the Ribella Peninsula capable of distributing that many Mana Crystals…”
“New Level?”
“Most likely. The only Mana Stone Mines on the Ribella Peninsula are New Level’s and ours. And if trade with Haken has slowed, they’d have plenty of Mana Crystals left over.”
“True enough.”
New Level and the Imperial bastards.
Perhaps their shallow alliance had grown stronger now that neither side had achieved what they wanted in the Levelium Region.
It made sense that they’d maintain their partnership under such conditions.
‘But to support them that much?’
There was definitely something more to it.
New Level must’ve been promised something in exchange for supplying those Mana Crystals.
Trade, after all, only existed when both sides got something out of it.
The question was—what did New Level receive in return for providing so many Mana Crystals?
It had to be something substantial.
“We can’t exactly learn those kinds of secrets, though.”
“I’m not asking for that much. So—what’s the situation in the south?”
“The calm before the storm? Or maybe the eye of a typhoon? It’s quiet—eerily quiet—but it feels like something’s about to explode.”
“I figured as much. Judging from how the Great Lords are acting, something big is bound to blow up soon.”
Apparently, the three southern powers were still caught in a tense standoff.
The most noticeable change was the sharp decline in trade between them.
Since the Great Lords didn’t have complete control over their territories, some covert trading still happened, but not much.
“Does it really feel like something’s about to break out?”
“Not easily. The balance is well maintained.”
“Sure, but…”
“But?”
“Precisely because of that balance—if a new variable appears, everything could collapse at once.”
“A variable?”
“Like those Imperial bastards.”
If they were receiving troops in exchange for Mana Crystals, that could certainly create a new variable.
With the Levelium front locked in stalemate, it wouldn’t be strange for elite knights—operating undercover—to be temporarily dispatched to New Level.
If they could mobilize outside forces at the most critical moment, they could strike their opponents right in the back of the head.
“It’s just my imagination.”
“Not exactly a pleasant one.”
“Tell me about it. Let’s just hope nothing stupid happens.”
“And if it does? There’s nothing we can really do, right?”
“Exactly. We can’t just march our troops down there.”
Besides, if the three Great Lords were busy watching and checking each other, supply lines could become an issue.
The one who’d suffer the most would likely be Haken.
After all, Haken was the territory with the fewest resources.
“At least that’s a problem I can help with.”
“As long as we can open the tunnel, it shouldn’t be that hard.”
“Right. As long as we can open the tunnel.”
Once the tunnel opened, we’d be able to supply the missing materials easily enough.
There was a task that had to be done every season.
Clearing out the Raptor flocks wandering near the territory and the monsters around the entrance to the Monster Mountains.
I’d learned firsthand last year what happened if you ignored the Raptors.
The flocks had grown so large that even the Raptor Queen had joined them—she’d smashed the back of my head, figuratively speaking.
“But they’re handling that over there now.”
The Black Lions stationed in Hawrun Territory were taking care of the Raptors.
The Raptor nesting grounds were located to our southeast and just north of the Forest of Illusions—right where Hawrun Territory lay.
That had been one of the main reasons I’d decided to establish Hawrun Territory in that spot.
“All that’s left now is the entrance of the Monster Mountains.”
From spring to summer—
This was the season for clearing out the Monster Mountains.
We’d always gathered Mana Crystals while cleaning up the entrance area.
If we tidied it up properly without overexerting ourselves, it’d make the winter defensive battle far easier.
Aren’t the Lion Tribe helping with that?
‘Yeah. The Lion Tribe cleans out the Monster Mountains during this season too.’
With the tunnel nearing completion, the Lion Tribe warriors and our territory’s knights were hunting monsters together.
Rudick was still in charge of the mining operations, while Leisha had once again been dispatched to Hawrun.
That’s why Irene had volunteered for this mission, saying it’d be a great chance for the new Crimson Comet knights to gain real combat experience. She’d been moving quite enthusiastically.
“Thanks to that, I get a sweet break.”
But of course, such rest never lasted long.
“Lord, the tunnel has been completed!”
The tunnel connecting Johnson Territory and Rotsy had finally been completed.
It had only been a little over a month since we’d begun the construction.