ERHARD ASBACH YELENETTA
“What!?”
He shouted, slamming his fist onto the table. The loud crash echoed off the stone floor and walls, reverberating through the room. Glaring at the messenger soldier who flinched at his voice, he spoke again.
“Report that absurd news to me once more!”
“Y-Yes! The southwestern Werner Fortress has fallen! After the Border Knights retreated, the Scuderia Kingdom knights remaining at the fortress, though only a small detachment, immediately attempted to reclaim it—but they failed! The damage is extensive, and currently, they have fallen back to the fortress city of Grosser and are reorganizing their defenses!”
“Impossible…!”
Hearing the report again, he threw a ceramic vessel in the direction of the kneeling soldier. It struck the soldier’s shoulder armor, causing him to stagger slightly.
“This is no joke! After all the preparations, to fail so miserably on all three fronts—and now our own stronghold has been taken! How could a force armed with such weapons possibly lose!?”
He slammed the table again, shouting. The soldier flinched, shoulders trembling, staring at the floor as sweat dripped from his forehead onto the stone below.
“I-I’m sorry… but the Scuderia Kingdom possessed threats beyond our intelligence. Not only the black spheres, but even large dragon types were rendered ineffective. Perhaps our intelligence—”
“Silence! I’ve heard that excuse far too many times!”
“Y-Yes!”
The soldier stammered out his reply, voice trembling. Irritation flared in Erhard as he tried to grasp the situation fully.
Originally, he had planned to conquer the Scuderia Kingdom with the aid of the Solstice Empire, the ruler of the Central Continent, and seize dominion over Grant Continent. With black spheres and cannons capable of changing the tide of battle even without mages, who wouldn’t dream of such ambition?
Of course, there was unease about allying under unfavorable conditions with the Solstice Empire, which was adjacent to the Hessel Confederation across the sea. But the recent rise of the Scuderia Kingdom demanded attention beyond that.
By purchasing large quantities of black spheres and cannons from the Solstice Empire and demonstrating compliance, Erhard had hoped to gradually seize Scuderia territory, earn their trust, and eventually obtain the black sphere production methods.
The ultimate goal was to amass sufficient power to confront the Solstice Empire itself.
Yet now, that goal seemed nothing more than a childish dream. Despite lacking black spheres or cannons, the Scuderia Kingdom had repeatedly defeated Yerinetta forces. Anyone hearing the reports would surely laugh at their nation’s disgrace, attributing it to foolish leadership.
“Why… why has it come to this?”
He ground his teeth, muttering under his breath. When Yerinetta had clashed with the Solstice Empire’s knights, they couldn’t even fight properly against the black spheres and cannons. Even the Hessel Confederation, which had allied first with the Solstice Empire, barely mattered. No, it was simply that the Solstice Empire was too strong.
The Solstice Empire’s knights arrayed twenty cannons in a single line, while their infantry wielded black spheres. Yerinetta’s top elemental mages could barely destroy two cannons before another blast struck, inflicting severe injuries.
Arrow volleys and cavalry charges were futile. Heavily armored infantry wielding massive shields could easily neutralize attacks. Any forced breakthrough would end in carnage beneath cannon fire.
The deafening roar of exploding black spheres and cannons paralyzed horses and shattered the morale of inexperienced troops. War on any meaningful scale was impossible.
The result: Yerinetta had suffered a humiliating defeat, forced into an alliance under degrading terms—essentially a subordinate state. Trade tariffs were dictated unilaterally, and demands from the empire were nearly compulsory, while Yerinetta could make almost no requests in return.
The only advantage of this unequal alliance was gaining the Solstice Empire’s support in battle. The empire promised aid to allies and sought to expand its network of subordinate states. While they did not explicitly use the word “subordinate,” they ranked allied nations: first-rank nations were directly allied with Solstice, second-rank nations were allied by first-rank states, and so on. Expanding the lower ranks meant benefits in taxation and supplies.
Eventually, the Solstice Empire would dominate the world. Knowing this, allied nations competed for the empire’s support to expand their influence. Hessel, however, had a different geographical limitation, only able to conquer small states gradually.
Yerinetta, defeated and allied, immediately marched west and northwest to smaller nations, securing alliances. These two became second-rank nations. East lay the Solstice Empire, south Hessel, west subordinate allies, and only the Scuderia Kingdom remained as a direct adversary.
Though Scuderia had repeatedly humiliated Yerinetta, the Solstice Empire’s military power was now a shield. With this, Yerinetta could become the most powerful nation on the continent, eventually surpassing the empire in resources.
If they secured black spheres and cannons from the Solstice Empire first, they could eventually challenge the empire’s dominance.
That had been the plan.
“…And yet, what is this disaster…!”
Dizziness from rage swept over him. Attempts to secure even a slight advantage over allies now threatened to reduce his territory instead, and the Solstice Empire’s knights could intervene.
If that happened, Yerinetta’s very survival could be at risk.
“…By any means necessary, we will crush the Scuderia Kingdom. That is the only path for our nation’s survival…!”
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