Chapter 271: Defensive Strength
Solderin stared at the dozen or so Typhon warriors locked inside the cell—men who had been his subordinates not long ago. Though a mercenary without a formal rank in the Ansu army, as a high-ranking ranger he often commanded a steady group of soldiers. These men before him were among the few who had followed him the longest and knew him best. Now, meeting them again under these circumstances, he felt a twinge of awkwardness.
Before coming here, a conversation with Gawain replayed in the ranger’s mind:
Gawain had said, “Take those Typhon warriors with you. I want them to help defend the southern city walls.”
Solderin had been shocked. “You want those Typhon fighters to guard the walls for you, a duke of Ansu? Don’t you realize the tension between Ansu and Typhon right now?”
“I know they won’t willingly fight for Ansu,” Gawain replied, “but I want them to see for themselves the reality between the civilized world and the Gondor Wastelands.”
“Just letting them see the truth from the walls… that’s an idea. But aren’t you worried they’ll escape once freed? Or worse, cause chaos in the confusion? That’s a huge risk.”
“That’s why I’m sending you. I trust you can control them. And even if you can’t, you won’t let them cause trouble right under your nose.”
Solderin had chuckled then. “What if I really lose control?”
Gawain had smiled back, “Then I’ll publicly take off your wig.”
And so Solderin found himself here, locked in a cell, staring awkwardly at his old men.
“My lord,” one Typhon knight finally spoke, his face sheepish, “Glad to see you safe…”
“Better off than you,” Solderin sighed, feeling the weight of his wig heavier than usual. “Now you have a chance to pick up your swords and staves again—but not to fight Ansu. Don’t misunderstand. I’m not asking you to help Ansu fight Typhon. I want you to see what the real threat is.”
Later that day, Amber returned to Gawain with the latest intelligence from deep within the Dark Mountains.
After downing the tea on Gawain’s desk with a series of loud gulps, the half-elf rogue began her report: “Their numbers are definitely growing. By the time they reach the border, there’ll be at least three thousand—maybe even four thousand! The places touched by the magical tide’s corruption are barren. These monsters have carved a path of decay even larger than the last ‘invasion.’ And this time, their route is different. I scouted the terrain along the way, and I don’t think we can just blow up the cliffs like last time to stop them.”
Amber’s worry was clear.
“Blowing up the cliffs was a clever trick, but it was a one-time thing,” Gawain said without regret. “At least the mines still work. Byron is leading soldiers and laborers to lay minefields. If used right, those can be just as effective.”
Amber then detailed the monsters’ latest movements and speed. When she finished, she looked at Gawain’s calm face and couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you feel even a little nervous?”
“Why should I?” Gawain smiled faintly. “Do you think we can’t hold them off?”
“You haven’t seen it yourself! It’s a massive horde! Wherever they pass, even the rocks turn to black sand!”
“When they first attacked, we only had wooden palisades and a hundred soldiers with swords facing hundreds of monsters. Now, we’ve built cement and stone walls and towers in the south. We have over a thousand soldiers, including new recruits, each armed with thermal ray guns, grenades, and plasma swords. The monsters still outnumber us three to one, but I don’t find them frightening.”
Amber felt somewhat reassured but still worried. “It’s those huge ones… They look really tough. Their size is enormous. If they manage to climb the walls despite their injuries, our new walls might not hold for long.”
“With Solderin and me here, there won’t be a problem,” Gawain said with a faint smile. “And Kamail is here too. He’s a researcher, but do you think he’s weak?”
Amber nodded vaguely, feeling the monsters weren’t so scary after all. But then Gawain suddenly added, “Alright, to be honest, I’m still a bit worried.”
“Huh?”
“Seven hundred years ago, I never saw mutants two or three times the size of normal aberrations. Unknown types of aberrations are always unsettling,” Gawain said, looking Amber in the eye with frankness. “But I’m sitting here, so I have to appear steadier than anyone else. Understand?”
“Because you’re the lord?”
“Exactly. I’m the lord. I lead the people in building this territory, organize the city’s defenses, train the army, and arrange fortifications. When I speak, everyone listens. That means I must bear the responsibility that comes with it,” Gawain said calmly. “So I have to be confident. And not just me—you have to appear confident too.”
“Me? Why?” Amber looked confused. “I’m just a runner…”
“You’re my guard, and you manage intelligence. To outsiders, you know all the lord’s orders and the territory’s secrets—more or less. So like me, you’re someone who must never panic, no matter what. If you panic, those watching you will immediately think the lord is panicking too. Then they’ll imagine the crisis is so severe even the lord and his guard can’t handle it. That leads to panic, retreat, desertion, and chaos. And all that could start the moment you rush into the lord’s manor in a fluster.”
“I snuck in through the window! No one saw me!” Amber blurted, then frowned and muttered, “Now that you say it… being ‘high society’ doesn’t sound so great after all…”
“Because here, power and responsibility always go hand in hand. No exceptions,” Gawain chuckled, enjoying seeing the usually carefree half-elf actually thinking seriously. “Amber, you’re no longer a petty thief, got it?”
“Ugh—your tone sounds like an old man!” Amber shivered, but after a moment, she nodded obediently. “Alright… I get it…”
She stared at Gawain for a long while before saying, “I hate hearing big speeches, but when you give one, it actually makes sense… This is the first time in my life I’ve listened to a lecture without rolling my eyes!”
“That’s because most people just talk and don’t act. I act first, then talk,” Gawain smiled and stood up. “Anyway, since you’re back, come with me to the southern walls.”
Since the first aberration attack, the southern defenses had been the top priority. Though the Dark Mountains formed a natural barrier, it was clear they weren’t impassable. In this stretch of the territory, there was a known large gap and several passes through the mountains. To protect the land from the ever-present threat of the Gondor Wastelands, Gawain had begun a series of wall and tower construction projects once the territory’s productivity improved.
To be honest, Gawain wasn’t used to cities surrounded by one or more rings of walls. Open city layouts without walls were better for long-term development. But he had to be practical: given the current security situation and warfare style, walls were still essential. So the newly built Cecil territory had walls.
The southern wall was the strongest and most balanced defense.
Because the territory was still young and “Rebecca Cement” production limited, the wall couldn’t be made entirely of reinforced concrete yet. It also hadn’t reached Gawain’s ideal design of triple-layer walls with internal troop passages, underground extensions several meters deep, and direct connections to the armory. Still, for most southern noble territories, it was a formidable barrier: over ten meters high, four meters wide at the top, built from cement mixed with earth and stone. The wall had numerous firing positions for soldiers, ample medical supplies, and combat crystals stored nearby. The city’s magic network extended to the wall’s base to replenish the crystals used by the defenders. After the appearance of the Arcane Obelisks, Kamail installed two crystal towers at the wall’s foot, providing continuous magical coverage. This meant soldiers’ weapons could fire continuously without overheating or losing power.
Beyond the main wall, Gawain had ordered a series of triangular outer walls built. Each “point” of these walls had a small tower equipped with a miniature catapult.
These triangular outer walls were inspired by bastion fort designs. They ensured that any enemy reaching the base of the wall would be caught in crossfire from the flanking walls. The triangular shape also reinforced the wall’s strength, and the towers served as watch posts. As for the catapults…
Gawain knew these seemed out of place with the territory’s ongoing magitech development. But until he solved the problem of propelling solid ammunition, he had no usable “cannons.” So he settled for combining traditional technology with new magitech, using small catapults to approximate artillery on the walls.
The catapults hurled crystal bombs the size of a human head.
(End of chapter)