novelraw Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter 137 : Chapter 137
Chapter : 137
-FIRE!
With the command, the heavy hammer struck the locking mechanism, and a massive boulder weighing over 100 kilograms flew into the sky.
-SWOOOOOOOSH!
With various shapes and arbitrary weights, the accuracy was terrible, but it was still satisfying. The destructive power brought by the sheer mass was enough to break the spirit of the defenders.
-CRASH!
-RUMBLE!
With the collision, the castle groaned, and dust poured down like rain. The fear that it might collapse at any moment took precedence.
-PHEW!
-CRASH!
-CRUNCH!
Once again, boulders flew consecutively from the trebuchets.
This time, they failed to hit the walls.
However, the terrible accuracy was actually more effective.
-ARGHHH!
-Oh, God! The building is collapsing. Everyone dodge-!
It was absurd, but the stray shots fell into the city, indiscriminately collapsing buildings.
“What on earth are our soldiers doing?!”
“Go out immediately and destroy that thing.”
The vassals of Count Bozen wailed as they watched the situation. While the dwarf engineering corps openly built the trebuchets, Count Bozen's territory had been idly watching with their hands off.
Normally, they might have sent a suicide squad to burn it all down, but….
“The Lord will not come out.”
“Is he still holed up in the inner castle?”
“Yes. What should we do?”
“Hah….”
Count Bozen, who should have been commanding all of this, was holed up in the inner castle, spending time with his mistress.
With the final decision-maker acting like that, the situation was truly neither here nor there.
-PING!
-THUD!
-RUMBLE!
No sooner had the words been spoken than another boulder smashed into the wall.
“Damn it!”
Clutching the shaking wall, the vassals let out sighs of lament.
So far, they had managed to hold out thanks to the terrible accuracy, but if the walls collapsed due to continued bombardment….
‘There is no way!’
A catastrophe they didn't even want to imagine would unfold.
It was already bad enough that they had cowardly joined hands with rebels to attack the Margrave of Bellua.
On top of that, the Holy See had even issued an excommunication.
If they continued to resist like this and the walls collapsed leading to the fall of the castle, everyone would die. The protection of custom guaranteed to nobles was only valid until the castle fell.
“Can’t we solve this through negotiation somehow?”
“Will the Lord accept it? Didn't he refuse last time?”
“But isn't the situation different now? Let's try to persuade him.”
“That is right! If we go on like this, everyone will die!”
Trembling in fear, everyone shouted in unison.
“Groan…. I will give my opinion for now, but do not expect too much.”
“Do not worry. Go quickly. If it collapses like this, it really is the end of everything!”
“Understood.”
Eventually, the most loyal vassal, who was Count Bozen's closest aide, headed to the inner castle to make a humiliating proposal.
Watching his retreating figure, some vassals exchanged glances, their eyes meeting fleetingly.
The fatal damage to their honor due to submission was hateful, but it was still better than death.
One had to live to take revenge.
One had to live to preserve the family.
The moment the mask of the honorable noble was stripped away, only the ugly desire to survive by any means necessary remained in the remaining vassals.
* * *
-PIIIIIIING!
-CRASH!
“It’s a hit!”
The dwarves shouted excitedly.
The projectile just fired had struck Count Bozen's wall.
-THUD!
The shock was immense enough to be felt from afar.
Indeed, it was destructive power worthy of being called ‘The Iron Mace of the Sacred Guardian of Bellua’ on a trebuchet.
The watching vassals were all exclaiming how amazing it was.
Especially our goat beastman Bishop Marco, claiming this was another miracle I had performed, approached the surrounding soldiers and was collecting donations(?) under the guise of a sermon.
“Is, is this really a miracle? Bishop? My goodness…. Well, with a rock this big flying around, it would be hard to say it isn't a miracle.”
“Baaaa. Do not worry. I guarantee it. Soldier! Mehr. Now you can go around boasting about this miracle to those around you. Meh-heh-heh-heh.”
“…….”
Watching the soldiers voluntarily taking out money to pay him made my vision blur on its own.
‘If he keeps doing that, he’ll really get struck by divine punishment someday…. Ah, did he already receive an infamy penalty last time?’
Suddenly recalling the mysterious beast called the Soul Eater I met in the City of Markel, I sighed.
Back then, I should have just watched and not saved that damned goat beastman!
“Mwah?”
Then, as expected, the quick-witted goat beastman Bishop Marco tilted his head and looked at me.
“No. Seeing you work hard makes me feel reassured.”
“Meh-heh-heh! Why praise me for such a thing. Lord!”
Leaving behind Bishop Marco, who excitedly let out the unique cry of a goat beastman, I went to find the dwarf engineering captain.
Everyone was in a satisfied mood, but I wasn't.
There was still something lacking in this trebuchet.
“Your Excellency! How is it? This Wrath of the Margrave of Bellua…. No, The Iron Mace of the Sacred Guardian of Bellua!”
“Impressive.”
“Eu-hut-hut. Is it not? I knew you would be satisfied….”
“However. It seems there is something to fix.”
“That is right! People do not know, but machines last a long time only when they are constantly oiled, fixed, and used…. Huh?”
Then, the dwarf engineering captain understood the meaning of my words and made a dumbfounded sound for a moment.
“Th…. Surely you don't mean there is something to improve by fixing, do you? Your Excellency?”
“Precisely.”
“There is no weapon without room for improvement, but…. Still, ahem….”
The dwarf engineering captain carefully opened his mouth, gauging my mood.
In the meantime, the dwarf engineering captain had seen many nobles trying to intervene in every little thing because they wanted to make themselves stand out.
Of course, I wasn't someone who put my pride on the line like those idiots, but still, you never know.
One could suffer great misfortune by not being careful with words.
“What…. should be improved. Your Excellency?”
“It seems the accuracy needs some work. Captain.”
“Ah…!”
It wasn't like playing a gacha game; the boulders thrown by the trebuchet were random.
It seemed to have a grouping of sorts, but the range was too wide.
Like this, it was clear it would take ages to destroy the walls.
Of course, this problem was something the dwarf engineering captain had also been constantly thinking about.
The dwarf technicians had put their heads together and researched it, but they had not yet found a method.
He didn't think I, a layperson noble, would find a method for a problem that even technicians like themselves couldn't solve.
“Then is there any good method? Your Excellency?”
Therefore, the dwarf engineering captain asked carefully with the utmost courtesy.
He had no expectations.
He just intended to save my face appropriately.
But then….
“Since the body of the trebuchet is already standardized, why not pay a little more attention to the projectile?”
“……??”
“If the size and shape of the boulders are all different, wouldn't the accuracy naturally drop when firing with the same force? Wouldn't it work if we carved the stones into a round shape to lower resistance and unified their weight?”
The words that came out of my mouth must have been quite shocking.
“Uh….”
The dwarf engineering captain opened his mouth wide with a dumbfounded expression again.
In a way, it was a very simple shift in thinking. The problem was that thinking from this different perspective was very difficult.
In that sense, when I mentioned that part, the dwarf engineering captain felt as if lightning struck inside his head.
“My goodness!”
A consistent size.
A uniform appearance.
And even the same force applied.
If all conditions were the same, it was clear that the boulder would fly mostly to the adjusted location just by adjusting the angle.
And if this could be formulated….
“Ho, how did you know? Your Excellency? Really…. You are amazing! This is a tremendous discovery.”
It meant being able to predict the impact point of the trebuchet and conduct efficient attacks.
It was the birth of a kind of basic ballistics concept.
‘Why make such a fuss?’
Of course, having spoken without much thought, I was bewildered by such a reaction.
Still, seeing the dwarf engineering captain happy after hearing my words put my mind at ease.
Because I had been slightly worried about what to do if he got offended by unnecessary meddling.
“Then can you do it?”
“Eu-hut-hut. Do not worry. Your Excellency! I will go and try it right away. No, this will definitely work. The calculations are already finished in my head.”
“Uh…. Is that so?”
“Yes! Once this formula is completed, I will attach Your Excellency’s name and present it. This is a great achievement!”
“……?”
The last part seemed a bit strange, but it meant he could do it, right?
So I patted the dwarf engineering captain on the shoulder, telling him to do well, and left.
And a while later.
Once again, a dazzling system notification sound popped up.
-Ding!
[You have given immense inspiration to your technician. The dwarf engineering captain has discovered the concept of ballistics after listening to your story. This discovery of a great concept will become a discipline that leads the world if refined and supported.]
[Notification: The rank of the dwarf engineering captain increases.]
[Ordinary -> Extraordinary]
[Progress: 4/10]
The dwarf engineering captain approached me with a very happy face and shouted.
“I have completed it! Your Excellency. Please look at the result! Eu-heh-heh-heh.”
Next to the dwarf engineering captain were round stone shells carved uniformly and a wooden board with various figures written on it.
All preparations to precisely strike the walls were complete.
* * *
-SWOOOOOOOSH!
-CRASH!
-SWOOOO!
-RUMBLE!
Four trebuchets fired stone shells sequentially without rest toward the walls of Count Bozen's territory.
-Concentrated fire…?
-Is it even possible to precisely adjust the aim?
-Well…. They said the Lord gave inspiration.
At first, everyone was skeptical about the dwarf engineering captain's explanation.
The only one who believed it was me.
However, as the trebuchet attacks continued, the vassals had no choice but to believe.
-CRASH!
-BOOM!
-RUMBLE!
Because the stones fired from the trebuchets were really pounding only one spot on the wall.
And not long after.
“The wall has collapsed!!”
Those thick walls of Count Bozen's territory could not withstand the attack and crumbled down completely.
As the outer stones cracked and the compacted earth poured out through the gaps, no matter how sturdy the stone wall was, it had no choice but to collapse.
“Prepare my horse! I will go out personally.”
Seeing that, I drew my holy sword and shouted. Seeing me taking the lead, the morale of the lined-up soldiers soared, not knowing how high the sky was.
-WAAAAAA!
Now the time had come to see the end of this fight. Escaping from the wretched situation of the old Elang Kingdom, a new order of the Elang Kingdom led by me would arrive.
And a moment later.
“Charge!”
“For honor!”
“Do not leave a single one alive! Screech! Death calls us!”
With my command, 5,000 elite soldiers crossed the collapsed wall and began to pour toward Count Bozen's territory.