CH 155

“A pot of gold?” Siegfried doubted his ears.

— Yes, a pot of gold. I think a few Adventurers would refer to it as a mother lode[1]? Anyway, it is a very profitable offer.

Michele seemed to be well aware of the terms used by Korean gamers, but Siegfried had no idea where he had picked them up from.

“Why do you think so?”

— The Adunyadet Kingdom is on the brink of destruction.

“Really? It looks like Stone Island is the one on the brink of destruction to me…”

— It looks like that on the outside, but based on my resources, the Adunyadet Kingdom is on the brink of financial bankruptcy after its excessive investment in this war.

“How bad is it?”

— The Adunyadet Kingdom’s royal family is known for their opulence and extravagance, but they are currently auctioning their luxury items off. Not only that, the amount of military rations they have been procuring has been reducing day by day.

“How do you know that…?”

— I have been maintaining good relations with merchant companies to collect information. After all, a nation’s economy is directly related to its military might, right?

“Oh! As expected of our brain!”

— And I heard that the amount they have been paying the Adventurers has been reduced to a third of the original payment that they had promised the Adventurers.

“That sounds a bit strange…” Siegfried recalled that most of the Adventurers that the Adunyadet Kingdom had hired were useless.

‘Are they really taking austerity measures?’ 

Siegfried had an idea of what was going on over there based on the quality of the enemy troops.

“Is that why they could not conquer Stone Island despite a successful blockade? Is it because they don’t have any more money to hire Adventurers?”

— As expected, you’re quick on the uptake, Your Majesty.

“Hold on, but what about Stone Island? They have a lot of money, right? They should have been able to send out communications even if directly warping here would be difficult. They could have asked for help from other kingdoms or hired Adventurers of their own to fight the Adunyadet Kingdom, but why didn’t they do that…?”

— That is a bit complicated.

“What’s so complicated?”

— The only nations that Stone Island can send out communications to are a total of five nations, including our nation. The first thing that the Adunyadet Kingdom had done was destroy all transmission lines from the island. However, they didn’t bother with the lines leading to smaller kingdoms that did not pose a threat to them.

“Ah, so we’re small, and we’re not a threat… haha… should I be happy about that?”

— …

Michele remained silent as if he found the Adunyadet Kingdom’s evaluation of their nation a bit humiliating.

— Ehem… Anyway, they could have asked the small kingdoms to ask the Mercenary Guild for help in their stead, but…

“But?”

— The Mercenary Guild only deals directly with their clients. They never make deals with a third party. In addition, they ask for payment upfront, especially for a huge request like this. After all, it would be a huge blow to them if they ended up unable to collect payment.

“So the smaller kingdoms don’t have the sufficient military might to come to Stone Island’s aid, and they also don’t have enough funds to hire mercenaries for Stone Island’s stead…”

— Precisely.

Michele nodded and continued.

— Of course, they could have also reached out to the kingdoms with a good relationship with them using the smaller kingdoms as messengers.

“Huh? Really? Then why didn’t they do it?”

— I assume that those kingdoms intentionally avoided answering Stone Island’s communication requests.

“Why?”

— As far as I know, I think it’s because Stone Island has quite a lot of bonds with those kingdoms.

“Bonds? Are you talking about those kingdoms’ debt?”

— Yes, Your Majesty. Stone Island is a very affluent nation, so they invested quite a lot in those friendly kingdoms.

“W-wait… are you telling me that they saw the war as an opportunity to get rid of their debt to Stone Island, and that was why they intentionally avoided answering Stone Island’s communication requests?”

— Indeed. Their debts are too big, so even if they helped Stone Island, there is no way that the latter would forgive their debts.

“So they decided that it was going to be far more beneficial for them to ignore Stone Island’s plight… They will get to save manpower while getting rid of their debt once and for all…”

— Yes, Your Majesty.

“Wow… Are they thugs or what?”

— That is how diplomacy works, Your Majesty. There is no such thing as a forever ally or a forever enemy. Those who make the first move and hits the head of the other party first will profit the most.

“Let’s not try to become like those people, okay? Such methods are too despicable.

— Yes, Your Majesty.

“But hitting someone’s head does feel good…”

— …

“Anyway, what should we do now?”

— It is simple.

“Simple? How so?”

— I will tell you what you will have to do from now on, Your Majesty.

Michele then explained his plan of bringing down the Adunyadet Kingdom.

***

Siegfried went to meet Lord Angele around thirty minutes after he was done speaking to Michele.

“Alliance… I accept it,” he said.

“Really?!” Lord Angele exclaimed in response.

“Yes.”

“Thank you very much for your kindness! Thank you very much! You are our only hope!”

She bowed with the utmost respect a noble could show to someone else.

“Y-You do not really have to put it that way…”

“Stone Island will never forget your kindness.”

Siegfried felt like he wanted to hide in a hole from embarrassment at Lord Angele’s excessive reaction.

‘Hey… We’re practically getting these rewards for free, you know? It should be me who should be grateful!’ thought Siegfried while secretly feeling guilty.

It was impossible for Lord Angele to know what was going on, so Siegfried definitely looked nothing short of a savior for her right now.

“First things first…” Siegfried calmed her down before continuing. “My Minister of State is currently drafting our alliance agreement, so we can sign that later. Anyway, I have something I wish to discuss with you first…”

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“We have to know Stone Island’s capacity right now so that we can prepare accordingly.”

“Are you asking about our military forces?”

“Yes...”

“You asked me about that much earlier than I had expected…”

“It is best to be quick with these kinds of stuff.”

“I understand. I will immediately send you a report of our forces.”

Lord Angele instructed her secretary to prepare a report on their available forces.

This signaled the start of the Stone Islanders’ revenge.

***

‘What? This could be easier than I thought it would be…’ 

Siegfried muttered inwardly while reading the report.

He came to that conclusion because Stone Island had twelve battleships equipped with state-of-the-art technology hidden in a cove.

The battleships were named Great White Sharks, and they were developed and equipped with the goal of strengthening Stone Island’s naval forces.

However, the main problem was that these battleships were currently surrounded by twenty-five Adunyadet Battleships in a fan-like formation.

They could easily break the blockade, but the issue was that the Adunyadet Battleships would definitely sink the Great White Sharks one by one as they exited the cove in a single file.

“This… I will try and safely launch these twelve Great White Sharks,” Siegfried said.

“C-can you do it?!” Lord Angele exclaimed in response.

“Yes.”

“We’ll win this war if you succeed!”

However, the quest's clear condition wasn’t the destruction of the Adunyadet Navy’s blockade but the complete destruction of the Adunyadet Kingdom.

Siegfried decided to explain his other plan to Lord Angele.

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The plan involved ensuring the destruction of the Adunyadet Kingdom.

“What do you think? The Adunyadet Kingdom won’t be able to hang on if we do that.”

“Yes! That will finish them off for sure! It’s a plan that will surely send them to their demise!” Lord Angele exclaimed in joy.

“I think so, too,” Siegfried smiled and said, “Then, we’re going with this plan.”

“As you wish!”

“Alright, let us start first thing in the morning, then.”

“We’re going to start so soon?”

“I think I have already told you, but the plan has already been set in motion.”

“…!”

“I guarantee that the Adunyadet Kingdom will have a taste of hell tomorrow.”

Siegfried sounded pretty confident for some reason.

***

The next morning, there was a storm in the Adunyadet Kingdom’s throne room.

“How will you take responsibility for this?!”

“Damn it! The kingdom’s coffers are empty, and even the royal family’s coffers are about to be exhausted! How can you fail to land twelve times after using so much money?! Do you want to die together? Is that what you want? We haven’t paid our soldiers for two months now, and we can’t afford to feed them from this week onward! At this rate, all of us are going to die before we win the war!”

Maja the Second’s face was flushed red in anger, and he looked like a demon that was about to rip his subjects to shreds. It wasn’t strange that he was angry because his lifelong dream was for his kingdom to graduate from the ranks of ‘weak’ nations and become one of the continent’s powerhouses.

It was the reason he waged a war to conquer Stone Island. Unfortunately, it had been six months since then, but the war was still at a standstill.

The war had drained the kingdom’s coffers, and the kingdom was currently on the brink of ruin after running out of money to spend.

Y-Your Majesty!” Brumnat broke out into a cold sweat in front of Maja the Second as he explained, “This is all because the marines failed to bring down the enemy forts after landing, so—”

“SILENCE!”

“…!”

“Are the marines not a part of the navy? The marines are under the control of the navy, too! They’re not an independent branch!”

“Y-Your Majesty… that’s…”

“For how long do you plan to keep blaming the Marines?! FOR HOW LONG?!”

“But, Your Majesty, the navy has done all of its tasks! So, how can you say that—”

“Are you playing a game with me right now? I am not a fool! We would have successfully encircled the island and conquered the forts if you gave at least a tenth of the navy’s budget to the marines! This mess wouldn’t have happened in the first place!”

“T-That’s…”

“Trusting you has been my biggest mistake! This happened because I believed in you and gave you everything you wanted!”

The other royal subjects present in the throne room started defending Brumnat.

“B-But this is due to the marines’ inability to conquer the forts… I beg Your Majesty to rethink the issue.”

“Admiral Brumnat is right, Your Majesty. It is a fact that the navy used quite a significant portion of the budget, but the responsibility for failing to conquer the forts lies solely with the marines!”

“We cannot refute the fact that the marines were poorly equipped, but a battle is not decided with gears alone! They failed because their minds were weak!”

“Those who wish to live will die, and those who wish to die will live! Does it really matter if the enemy has superior equipment if our soldiers were to fight them wholeheartedly?”

The bribes that Brumnat had paid to the royal subjects were finally starting to pay off.

“Ehem…!” Maja the Second faked a cough after seeing the subjects vehemently defend Brumnat, and their eagerness slowly changed his mind as well.

“Now that I think about it, I believe that all of you are correct. How can a soldier of our proud kingdom make such excuses? It is a soldier’s duty to achieve victory with or without a weapon! Am I correct?”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!” Brumnat immediately responded. He looked like he had found a golden opportunity as he exclaimed, “Your majesty! Please give your loyal subject one more chance!”

“What kind of chance are you asking for?”

“Please sentence the commander of the marines, Vice Admiral Mahidon, to the gallows as punishment for his previous defeats, and Your Majesty should appoint a new commander for the marines!”

”Your Majesty has graced him with twelve opportunities, but that fool has failed to repay Your Majesty’s grace even once! I am certain that he will accept his punishment as just, and he will be more than glad to be an example to the soldiers!”

“What do you plan on doing afterward?”

“Please use the remaining finances of the kingdom to hire Adventurers. We should be able to finish them off with one final assault as long as we have enough Adventurers on our side…”

”They’re expensive to hire, but one of them is far better than a hundred weak-minded marines! I believe even a five-year-old knows that, do you not agree, Your Majesty?”

In the end, Brumnat suggested that they should use what little was left of the kingdom’s treasury as quest rewards for the Adventurers.

“It is now time to go for the kill, Your Majesty!”

”Our kingdom will not only recover our losses, but we will also gain a tremendous amount of wealth the moment we occupy Stone Island! That is the reason behind this war, so it is now time to go all-in, Your Majesty!” Brumnat exclaimed.

He was doing his best to convince Maja the Second.

“You sons of bitches!” Mahidon suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs. He was currently tied up and was on the floor of the throne room. “What bullshit are you spouting?! You people are worse than dogs!”

“Mahidon! You insolent little—How dare you raise your voice and speak such vulgar words in the presence of His Majesty?! Shut your mouth!”

“Shut up!”

“Y-You…!”

“Shut your trap with that weak-minded bullshit of yours! Don’t make me laugh, you fucker!” Mahidon thought that he had nothing to lose because he was about to die, anyway. “You didn’t even feed the soldiers properly, and you armed them with antiques that break for no reason! And now you’re saying what? They’re weak-minded?! You son of a bitch! Why didn’t you just ask us to go die instead?!”

“Hoho! Look at this guy!”

“Good luck because you are going to need it! The king is a fool, and his subjects are treacherous snakes who only know how to line their pockets with bribes! Do you really think that you’ll win this war?! You will never win!”

Mahidon’s words incurred the wrath of Maja the Second.

“A loser like you actually dares to insult me?! Guards! Grab that insolent fool and—”

“Your Majesty!” A messenger came running into the throne room and interrupted the chaos to report. “An urgent matter requires your attention! Adventurers hired by Stone Island have crossed our borders and have taken over three of our forts!”

And that wasn’t the end of it…

“Your Majesty! A dire situation requires your attention! A group of Adventurers is wreaking havoc in the following cities…”

“Your Majesty! The Adventurers have sabotaged and pillaged our trading routes!”

“The Adventurers…”

“Adventurers…”

“A group of powerful Adventurers abandoned…”

A total of ten messengers rushed into the throne room one after another, and they carried with them news about how the Adventurers were causing trouble in their kingdom.

However, the nail in the coffin was…

“Your Majesty…! Twenty-five of our battleships have been captured, and our blockade is broken!”

…the report about the destruction of the Adunyadet Kingdom’s one and only hope at redemption—the destruction of their Stone Island blockade.

1. The word here is actually honey and damn honey. Changed to make more sense in English. ☜