by Andur
I smile and place the box on the table in front of Fingulf. Then I present the globes to him. “These are better versions of spy glasses. You simply hold them in front of you and infuse your mana into them. If you use them to aim your spells, it should increase your range enough to stay out of their reach.” I shrug my shoulders. “As for staying away. I will leave that problem to you.”
Fingulf's eyes start to gleam. “Those Phenex bastards will never see us if we don't want them to! How much?”
I start to smile. “How about a few shipments of metals and raw materials for my principality? My industrial base has to become better. I will leave the amount to you. Of course I expect that you will judge a fair price on my globes.”
30 - Fall of a nation.
Jamaian Union, Jamai-Capital
Jamaian is a very hot country. Not a desirable conquest at all.
“It's actually a little funny to see them hiding behind their walls.” I am positioned on one of the bigger dunes around the city of Jamai. The countryside around Jamai consists of desert and rocks. I wonder why they decided to have their capital in this bleak region.
Jamai is the capital of the Jamaian Union and it's currently under siege by my troops, which are spread out all around my observation point.
Someone organized a nice straw-chair and a wooden desk for me. A big umbrella is providing shadow for me. It's surely nice to be a ruler.
Two servants are fanning air in my direction. They have big fans which are made out of white feathers to accomplish their task.
It's nice that the feathers match with my white hair. But it reminds me that it lost it's natural wonderful pink colour a few hundred years ago. It's the curse of magical power.
Having such big reserves of mana is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Your body will change bit by bit if you use your power regularly.
My spy-master Tjena is sitting on a stool just three metres away. She is busy with rummaging through reports.
“Don't worry too much over it. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.” I nip on some juice, which I cooled down with magic.
“It's still infuriating! How could I overlook that a mind magician is lurking around in Norfolk. We lost many good spies!” Tjena removes another name from her list of operatives.
“When you sent them to the main continent, you couldn't have known. He was still in the Academy at that time. The spies in Mislow and the Academy got special training against mind magic. So you sent the lesser trained individuals to Norfolk. How should you have anticipated that someone from Mislow would immigrate to Norfolk? It would have never happened if not for that wish.” I shake my head
“~More importantly.~ What do you think about them?” I point to the slowly approaching delegation from Jamai. They finally decided to talk with me, but only after several attempts to chase my army away.
I reduced their troops with every new attack. Something which I originally wanted to avoid. Those soldiers are needed to refill my own ranks.
Tjena starts to fiddle with her brown hair. She has a slender build which adds to her charm as a spy. I tried several times to call her a ninja, but she doesn't like the call sign.
“My honest opinion? Execute them now and let us assassinate the ruling class of Jamai. They will probably try to kill you. Their society is deeply patriarchal. It's the greatest insult to them to be sieged by you.”
“On top you gave them the chance to surrender before killing a tenth of their troops. Another big insult in their culture. And you told them to stop slavery. Slavery is so deeply anchored in the Jamaian culture.... it would be the same as telling our people to forget about all our traditions.” Tjena shrugs her shoulders.
That's troublesome. Just by trying to be nice I insulted them? Stupid culture. I will make sure to abolish their traditions as fast as possible.
After some minutes five fat men and ten servants arrive at my place at the top of the dune. They had to climb the dune on their own. All of them are heavily decorated with golden necklaces, rings and other shimmering stuff.
I smile while looking over them with careful eyes. Finally the one with the most golden necklaces steps forward.
“I am the first minister of the Jamaian Union. We demand the retreat of your troops!” The ugly brute starts to state his demands.
“And I wish for your complete ~surrender~. All political power will be given to me, or I will eradicate your troops and take what I want with force. I hope you will consider that I don't like being here. It's hot and I am sweating. That's getting on my nerves.” The servants start to fan harder after hearing my words.
The prime minister thinks for a few seconds.“Then what about a political marriage to save face in front of the other countries.”
I start giggling. “Do you really believe I care about what others think about me? I unified a continent when you weren't even born and you wish that I marry someone who wasn't born by then either?” This guy has a problem in his head.
“So it is true?” The minister's expression turns sour and he turns to one of his colleagues.
There is no need for them to hold a useless chat. “So you will surrender? Or not?” This is becoming really troublesome.
The fat minister turns back into my direction and grabs something under his clothes. I immediately erect a barrier around the delegation.
“For the Jamaian Union!”
Not a second too late. He pulls a shining dagger out of his clothes in stabs it into his own chest in a smooth motion. He didn't hesitate at all!
Tjena jumps in front of me in a well meant gesture. But there is no need for protection. I am confident in my barrier-spells. It has been proven during countless assassination attempts.
The minister starts to scream while his whole body catches fire. It's like he is becoming a living flame. Sparks and ash are flying all around while the minister jumps forward and collides with my barrier. But it's like he was running into a solid wall.
Some of the sparks hit other members of the delegation, who catch fire too and turn into flames themselves! It's a chain reaction and there is no escape for the people inside the confined space of my barrier.
“What a nasty spell...” I watch in awe as the whole delegation is consumed. I increased the strength of my barrier when I realised that this spell feeds on everything it touches.
No a single sound can be heard while the inside of my barrier turns into a scene from hell.
A howling inferno starts to rage. “Quite a feat to cast inferno with a human sacrifice as an amplifier.” Tjena admires the wavering plasma inside my barrier.
“If your highness hadn't been here the army could have been annihilated.” Tjena bows to me.
I sigh. “It's annoying me a little that your judgement was accurate. I guess I will have to do this the hard way.”
The Inferno-spell inside my barrier loses its power and just a dark smoky atmosphere remains inside. I release the barrier and clear the smoke with a wind-spell.
The ground where the delegation stood turned to glass and not a bone remains. “At least they spared me a bloody sight.”
“Tell the troops to advance and take the city.” I wave for one of my officers to sound the signal.
“The big building in the centre is the parliament. Their highest officials and leaders are most likely there.” Tjena mentions this not without expecting something from me.
I close my eyes and gather my mana while imagining a small ball of light on my finger tip. After having gathered enough, I open them again and point at the big city gates.
The spell is unleashed and a ray of pure white light turns the gate and a large part of the city wall into dust. The city's barrier hadn't even time to flicker.
Pointing at the parliament I activate the spell a second time and the building vanishes. “There, ~done~. Any other wishes?”
Tjena shakes her head. “No, thank you. That saved me much work. It's better for the enemy leader to die during the fight, rather than b
eing executed afterwards. Executions always leave a bad taste in my mouth and it doesn't look good to the public.”
I watch my troops advancing into the city. Then I clap my hands as I remember something important. “That reminds me! What do think about sending five ships to Norfolk? I want this Ascathon captured and brought to me.”
Tjena shows surprise. “Why? Of course we could do that. But why should we abduct a single person?”
“Eh!? It's not a good idea? But I was interested in him....” I gnaw at my nail while looking at Tjena.
Tjena shrugs her shoulders and pulls out another paper. “I don't think that a married guy would take it lightly to be abducted by someone with your reputation.”
Eh!? “Married? Why! You didn't mention that before!”
Tjena sighs. “I didn't think that you were interested enough to try to abduct him.”
“It was just a whim..... but you are right that a married person wouldn't take it lightly..... What about bringing his whole family then? Send the ships and prepare for guests!” I point my index finger at Tjena who jumps aside.
“Yes! But dispel that first!” Tjena starts to scribble something into her notes.
“Oh, sorry, sorry. I guess casting this spell in such a contained form isn't enough to use up my power.” I fire the remaining gathered mana into the sky to get rid of it.
A ray of light stabs the sky and parts a cloud.
Then I watch the conquest of Jamai in silence. The fighting and dying is the job of the common soldiers. To me it's just another small battle in a long series of battles.
31 - Commoners vs. Magicians.
Norfolk, Sarn-Valley
“Warships! Five ships!”“They are almost here!”
My office is stormed by a group of panicked fishermen. They are all talking at the same time and I wince at the sudden fuss.
“Shut up!” Celestial screams. She is sitting in front of her writing table at the entrance. The group goes silent. “You! From the beginning! In chronological order!”
“What does chr... chrono... mean?” The fisherman I pointed out confirms my expectations of a fisherman's average IQ.
“From the beginning!”
“Ah. We were fishing at sea, when we saw five warships appearing on the horizon. They had a red phoenix on their sails! So we immediately set our sails and came back here. Fortunately the tide was on our side, so we may have a little time left before they are here.”
One of the younger fishermen finally manages an understandable report.
“Thanks.” I smile at them. “There is no need to panic. Our defence should be able to deal with them. You may go.”
I wave them out of my office. After thinking for a second, I stand up and walk outside. There I find Sarah, who is dealing with the fishermen. “Sarah, find Den and tell him to come to the main entrance with a carriage.”
“We need to avoid a panic.” Celestial is right behind me.
I turn around to face her. “You need to sit down. I will take care of this.” Celestial is in her ninth month and in no condition to run around in tight situations!
“Don't tell me what to do! I will not sit around while my home is in danger!” She walks past me with confident steps.
“~Sugar cat?~ Please be reasonable! Look at yourself! I promise that our defensive weaponry will shoot just ~once~ and everything will be dealt with!” A pregnant woman shouldn't run around outside! Especially in that cold weather.
But Celestial ignores me and walks outside. I hurriedly run after her while casting environmental protection on both of us.
I am one hundred percent sure that five ships won't pose a problem. The village of Sarn is located at the end of a long fjord. There are steep cliffs to each side of it. The fjord is approximately two kilometres in width at most.
If someone wanted to attack Sarn, he would have to sail up the fjord. Or he would have to anchor at one of the cliffs and climb up. That's something that not many people are able to accomplish.
The other choice is to attack from the land. But then you would have to get past the mountains.
So the first thing I did was to fortify the roads which lead through the mountains. My whole principality is as close to a fortress as it could get.
My second obvious goal was to ensure the safety of my port. So I built a series of defensive watchtowers along the fjord.
Anyone who sails into the fjord would be under threat of taking fire from both sides. Those five ships really pose no threat at all!
We arrive outside of my property where I find Den on top of a carriage waiting for us. The carriage is of course created in Norfolk-style with skis instead of wheels.
Den helps Celestial up the carriage. “I already heard about the ships. Should we sink them immediately when they get into range?”
I shake my head. “No. Wait until they entered the fjord. I want to be sure of their identity first. And if we wait, we could get all of them. I don't want them to report back to the Phenex Empire.”
Den nods and starts to whip the horses. After my first encounter with this pigheaded race of draught animals, I am certain that there is only one place where they belong.
And that's the soup pot! When I can introduce the first engines, it will be the end of these stupid animals!
Den navigates us through Sarn and up on a road which was carved out of the cliff to the left side of the fjord. I want to see the enemy ships before they are sunk.
Maybe something important can be deduced from them. Den is consulting his subordinates during the entire trip. I created some simple communication devices for all my personal guards.
Additionally we installed fixed ones into all watchtowers and custom offices. Everything that's important to defend my borders is connected. The most important thing in warfare is communication and information.
After a few minutes we arrive at one of my watchtowers. Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't call it a tower. It's just a well camouflaged position for observation. Others are hidden all along the fjord to both sides.
There are twenty people in white and gray military uniforms here. The uniforms are perfect for this environment. The soldiers here are our common troops and Den trained them with his men for two months. Everyone who was able to survive that has my respect.
All of them swore a magical oath to protect my family and my principality. It's a little cliché to do something like this, but the world works that way.
In addition all of these observation points are armed with a railgun. It's practically just a long steel tube with magical circuitry. A ten centimetre round is inserted into one end. Then it has to be aimed and an infusion of mana activates the spell, which sends the metal slug on its way.
Even commoners can do that. Every person in this world has a certain amount of magical power. It's just that the common population hasn't enough control over their power to cast proper spells.
And they don't have much of it. But if all twenty people who are stationed here work together, their power amounts to one real magician.
I get down from the carriage and walk over to the commander of the outpost, who is waiting for us. “How is the situation?”
The brown haired guy with a scarred face bows. “Four of them entered the fjord. The fifth is waiting at sea.”
“Close enough to sink the ship?” Damn. Those guys from Phenex seem to have a brain. They don't commit all of their forces and keep someone back to run home with information.
“I am not sure. From the reports ... it could be that we manage to sink them. But they are very far away. Even if we use a globe for aiming, the most we can hope for are just a few lucky hits.” Den sums up his information.
One of the soldiers hands a spyglass to me and I walk over to the railgun. The gunning crew assembles around it to infuse their mana into the artefact.
I was just in time, because as I raise the spying glass, I see four ships entering the fjord. They are big vessels. A fast adjustment on the spyglass's scale enables me to m
easure their length.
Wow. The leading vessel has a length of about one hundred and fifty metres. That's really big for a sailing ship. I wonder how much crew such a thing needs?
There are high bulwarks, which are probably meant to protect the sailors. Five masts are distributed along the ship. Another switch for the zoom gives me a better view. The deck is filled with soldiers. They are probably readying themselves to storm my city as soon as they hit land.
“What do they think they can accomplish with four ships?” This makes no sense.
“Maybe just a raiding party? They are probably trying to probe Norfolk's abilities? I heard about many attacks along the coastline.” Den offers me an explanation.
“It doesn't sound right. Why here? We are too high up in the north. And they had to know exactly where Sarn is. I don't think that they are sailing up our fjord out of a whim. There are hundreds of river mouths along the coast. Do we have a spy in our city?” I grab the spying glass tighter.
“It's possible that there are still some spies. Maybe they have navigational information from somewhere else?” Den shrugs his shoulders.
“Should we open fire sir?” The commander asks us with eagerness.
I bite into my lip. The fifth vessel which stayed out at sea is still bothering me. I would like to sink it too. But things are as they are. The ships should be too deep inside the fjord to turn by now. They are committed. “Give a thirty seconds countdown to all watchtowers. Then fire at will. The leading ship is the first target. Pick them off one at a time as they are coming.”
The commander nods and walks over to the communication device.
Again I take a look at the ships. The hulls are littered with protective runes. I hope that I didn't overestimate my guns. I could sink them with my bubble-spell. But that would defeat the point of this exercise!
This is the perfect opportunity to see if my troops of common soldiers with magical artefacts can stand their ground against magicians. For hundreds of years this world was dominated by mages. You either have magicians in your army, or you are doomed.
