When he saw Castor eagerly awaiting some scheme by his enemies, even though he might soon be in a serious crisis, Tolman held his temples. “Master, I simply cannot understand that sense of yours.”
“Ha ha ha, you don’t really need to understand it. Actually… Tolman, don’t get involved in this battle,” Castor said, suddenly taking on a serious expression.
Tolman was shocked into silence, but after a moment he regained his composure. “…Why is that?” he asked. “I am prepared to serve you to the very end, you realize?”
“If something happens to me, and then you die, too, who’s gonna lead the Air Force? Besides, I’m concerned for Carl, who I left with Duchess Excel,” Castor said, wearing a somewhat lonely smile as he did. “Duchess Walter has sided with King Souma. Even if something happens to us, I’m sure she’ll have Carl, who I’ve cut ties with, inherit the House of Vargas. But Carl’s still young. Accela can’t handle things all by herself. That’s exactly why I want you there to watch over Carl. You know the House of Vargas well, after all. That’s why… no matter what happens, you have to survive. That’s an order.”
“…You do give cruel orders,” Tolman said, wearing a bitter smile with a tinge of loneliness. However, he quickly took on a serious expression. Standing with his back straight, his feet together, he saluted. “I have most certainly received your order.”
“…I’m counting on you.”
As the master and servant were having this exchange, Castor’s daughter Carla rushed into the room, out of breath.
“Father! Souma’s forces have appeared!”
When he heard those words, Castor stood up, full of vigor. “He’s here, huh! So, how big’s this force he’s leading?”
How many troops Souma had brought would determine whether Castor would be able to show him his pride. Was it 5,000, or 10,000? Castor had hoped for a large force, but Carla’s next words made him doubt his ears.
— The enemy force was… one ship!
“…Are you serious?”
Having come up to the walls to look, Castor saw a battleship advancing across the plains towards them. Red Dragon City was built halfway up a mountain in the middle of the plains. There were no rivers near it that a battleship could traverse. However, that battleship was running along the ground, not along a river or anything else.
“Father, that looks like the battleship Albert,” Carla said, looking through a telescope.
“The Albert? What’s that thing doing running across the land?” Castor asked incredulously.
The battleship Albert. Named for the former king, it was the sole ship held by the Forbidden Army, and also the flagship of the Royal Navy. While its shape was similar to the Mikasa, the flagship of the Combined Fleet at the time of the Battle of Tsushima, instead of being propelled by an internal combustion engine, it was drawn by two sea dragons.
However, it wasn’t sea dragons that were pulling the Albert now.
“Ah! Father, look. The Albert is being drawn by rhinosauruses.”
When Castor took the telescope from Carla to see for himself, he saw that the Albert was being drawn by three of the large, land-dwelling creatures called rhinosauruses.
When he looked closer, he noticed that the Albert’s keel had been modified. There were what looked like wheels on the sides.
“They put wheels on it so they could force it to run on land?! After a modification like that, there’s no way it can go back to being a ship! Do they plan to throw away their flagship here?!”
“It’s not like we had much choice,” said a transmitted voice. “We’ve already got a shortage of manpower.”
“?!”
When he turned to look at the sudden voice which had responded to his questioning, he saw Tolman standing there holding a simple Jewel Voice Broadcast receiver. Standing behind Tolman were a number of Castor’s subordinates who had, for some reason, brought a Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel up onto the wall.
The image of Souma Kazuya was displayed on the simple receiver Tolman was holding. It was too dark to see what was behind him.
“We just received a letter from King Souma requesting to speak with you by Jewel Voice Broadcast, so we made the necessary preparations,” Tolman explained.
Hearing this, Castor said, “…I see,” with a nod. “And? Why’s the Albert all this way inland?”
In response to Castor’s question, Souma just shrugged. “Don’t underestimate the Forbidden Army’s transport capacity. If we use paved roads and rhinosauruses, carrying around a modified battleship is easy.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking why you went to the trouble of bringing it all this way.”
Castor wasn’t asking about how, he wanted to know why.
Souma told him the answer without any theatrics. “To attack and take Red Dragon City, of course.”
The next moment…
Booooooom!
…there was a loud noise. Then, only seconds later, there was crunching sound as a great tremor shook the wall. As he stumbled forward due to the tremor, Castor looked around the area.
“What?! What happened?!”
“W-We’re taking fire from the Albert! It appears to have landed a direct hit on the walls!”
“We’re taking fire?!..Ah! I see! Cannons, huh?”
Firearms had not developed very far in this world with magic.
Within the kingdom, only the Army had cannons that were meant to be used inland. However, because all types of magic other than water tended to be weaker at sea, battles on the water were mainly fought by ships firing at each other with artillery. Of course, warships were loaded with large cannons. This was also true of the Forbidden Army’s Albert.
Souma had brought the Albert out so that he could use its cannons.
“Since it’s hard work attacking a mountain fortress like Red Dragon City,” Souma explained. “We don’t have much time to spare, either, so I relied on weapons that could attack from long-range.”
“You’re saying you remodeled the battleship for that?” Castor demanded.
What will this guy think of next, Castor thought, feeling as if he was watching a stage magician at work.
If he’d had modern knowledge, he likely would have just thought, All you did was use a battleship like a railway gun. (Which were weapons made by loading the usually large and difficult to transport cannons on a train, making it possible to move them long distances.) However, for the people of this world where there was not yet any concept of a railway gun, Souma’s idea was enough of a shock on its own.
Castor stood dumbfounded for a moment, but soon began to laugh out loud. “Ha ha ha, not bad! I never thought I’d see a ship running across land!”
“You like showy tricks like this, don’t you?” Souma asked, to which Castor nodded.
“I think I’m in love. You may just become one hell of a king.”
“It’s not too late for you to surrender. It’d make this easier, you know?” Souma said, but Castor shook his head in silence.
“Sadly… I can’t do that. I can’t do something as pathetic as folding this late in the game. Now that it’s come to this, let me be the wall that stands in your way. If you have what it takes to be king, climb over me.”
Seeing Castor brimming with the will to fight, Souma narrowed his eyes. “…That is truly regrettable, Castor.”