Chapter 133. Legacy (4)

Duke Meister's Aerial Battleship.

The legacy of a genius who appears once in a thousand years brought as many worries as its power.

First of all, just getting it out was a problem.

The location where Duke Meister hid the Aerial Battleship was in the underground part of the Hold.

He even excluded places that were relatively close to the surface and hid it near the source of a water vein deep underground.

It seems it was a measure to prevent other dwarves from finding it before his own successor came…

Well, he succeeded in that, but he overlooked one thing.

The situation where the successor wants to swallow this whole without the help of the dwarves.

‘Master, isn't Duke Bukrum's successor that friend William, not you?’

“……”

The successor is William, not me, but I am his rightful guardian and lord.

Which means it's the same thing.

Anyway, with secretly moving it being impossible, smuggling out the Aerial Battleship was the biggest issue I had undertaken for the past fifteen days.

The solution came simply.

‘Eyeball.’

‘Huh?’

‘You said you can teleport to any place within your line of sight, right?’

‘Uh… that’s right, but.’

The new tenant of the subspace has a very useful ability.

Its teleportation includes its equipped items.

It doesn't work on living beings, but inanimate objects like weapons or armor are possible.

Naturally, the Aerial Battleship is an inanimate object.

While staying at the Hold, I slipped out under the pretext of getting some fresh air.

Naturally, as a clone.

After securing a line of sight from behind a hill in the wasteland far from the Hold, I used my main body, which was in the Hold's underground, to teleport along with the Aerial Battleship.

The original plan was to hide it for a while, then reactivate it to coincide with the expedition's return, and have it slowly follow behind the expedition with the sacred relics at the controls.

At least, that was the plan until this morning.

“Not enough power, you say?”

‘This thing's power source is Magic Stones. Aren't they dwarves? They even have a vein so large they call it a Mana Lake. In the first place, the power unit is based on their magic stone steam engine, the heart of the Steamforge, right? So naturally, it runs on magic stones….’

The Aerial Battleship is grounded, and I, on board, am listening to the explanation from the tentacled mass.

The clone is leading the expedition, having departed from the Hold, and has already been ahead for an hour.

“So you're saying those magic stones are all used up?”

‘That's right. From the start, there was only enough to operate it once. In an emergency, it can be temporarily operated with a mage's pure mana.’

“If it's a mage's mana, how much is needed?”

‘It would probably be enough to pour in as much as would exhaust an 8th-circle mage.’

“Until we get back to the domain?”

‘No, on a one-hour operation basis.’

Damn it.

What kind of fuel efficiency is this?

I knew aircraft fuel efficiency was bad, but is an 8th-circle mage some commoner?

Just look at the mad witch of fire who was active in this battle; she literally burned thousands of orcs by herself.

Other 8th-circle mages like the Princess of Blood or the Vampire Duke have literally created undead nations.

And you're telling me that even if such a person pours in their mana, it's only for an hour?

Does that make sense?

“You should have told me earlier. The expedition has already departed.”

‘Ah, I thought you knew….’

How could I have known?

In the game, the dwarves operated the Aerial Battleship without any penalty.

Thinking about it now, it seems that's because the dwarves develop this technology in the mid-to-late game.

Naturally, by then they would have developed advanced technologies, such as improving the mining of magic stone mines.

‘Tick-tock…….’

‘Master, Tick-Tocky says it's sorry. It said it checked the fuel but should have mentioned it separately.’

“Right.”

Hoo.

Let's calm down.

It would have been better if I had received magic stone support from the dwarves beforehand, but there's still a solution.

“Open the door.”

‘Tick-tock!’

I opened the door of the Aerial Battleship and stepped outside.

A stuffy wind brushes against my face, and the red earth fills my vision.

It's not visible from here, but beyond the red wasteland, the expedition is marching, with carts loaded with boxes full of gold coins, dwarven-made weapons, and artifacts.

Various gold and silver treasures are, of course, part of the profits gained from this expedition, but in fact, the real prize is not that.

The real rewards of this expedition are largely threefold.

The dwarves' gratitude for our support and the exclusive trade rights with Everlasting Mountains Hold.

The numerous skills and traits obtained on the battlefield.

And the army.

[[Warrior’s Binding] is deployed.]

[Summoning the bound enemies.]

[Summoned Forces: Orc Chieftain (49), Orc Tattooed Warrior (172), Orc Archer (255), Orc Warrior (1015)]

[Summoned Forces: Ratmen Technopriest (17), Ratmen Weaponsmith (39), Ratmen Tunneler (41), Ratmen Slave Soldier (84)]

[Summoned Forces: Lesser Vampire Necromancer (1), Lesser Vampire Brawler (6), Corpse Pool (1), Grave Knight (48), Necro Ogre (59), Wight (55), Vampiric Bat (21), Skeleton Spearman (588), Skeleton Swordsman (591), Skeleton Archer (114), Ratmen Zombie (2), Zombie (791)]

“Uargh! Grrr! …Huh?”

The orc, who had let out a battle cry full of fighting spirit as soon as it was summoned, froze upon seeing the Aerial Battleship.

It rolled its eyes and looked at me.

As they say, the lord and his subordinates are of one mind.

I nodded my head.

“Three shifts should be fine, right?”

Of course, since the orcs are strong, they get twelve hours.

The rest get six hours each.

* * *

It has been several months since I acquired the clone and became proficient with it.

Acting differently in different places at the same time is something I got used to long ago, and even for an operation like this one, there are no major problems.

However, the only thing that still makes me pause from time to time is when a notification window pops up.

This is because achievement notifications or skill copy notification windows appear simultaneously in the vision of both the main body and the clone.

How should I put it?

It's like working on a dual monitor, doing company work on one side and secretly watching YouTube on the other, when warning windows pop up on both at the same time.

The analogy is a bit strange, but let's move on.

My vision is dizzy right now.

[Achievement Unlocked! You have successfully smuggled 100 florins worth of Imperial gold coins.]

[Acquiring a fixed trait.]

[Meeting at the Water Mill House]

[The mill is a place for secret meetings. In many ways. The possibility of smuggling via the river in the city you operate increases.]

I got a trait.

[Achievement Unlocked! You have successfully smuggled 1,000 florins worth of Imperial gold coins.]

[Acquiring a fixed trait.]

[Black Hand]

[The black hand symbolizes secrecy. In many ways. The possibility of smuggling via land routes and within the city in the city you operate greatly increases.]

Not just one, but several at the same time.

[Achievement Unlocked! You have successfully smuggled 10,000 florins worth of Imperial gold coins.]

[Acquiring a fixed trait.]

[Black Market Operator]

[The black market in the domain you operate will be activated. The black market has everything! Alcohol, food, tobacco, and… yes, everything.]

[Achievement Unlocked! You have successfully smuggled something of a value that cannot be converted into gold coins.]

[Acquiring a fixed trait.]

[Heehee, It's All Mine!]

[The domain belongs to the lord. The city, farmland, livestock, and gold coins, all of it. If you use the city funds for personal use, the likelihood of the domain's residents turning a blind eye increases.]

“…My head is spinning.”

I rubbed my eyelids at the notification windows flashing before my eyes like cheap internet ads.

In conclusion, it seems that taking out and transporting the Aerial Battleship from the dwarven hold was treated as smuggling.

Well, things like this differ depending on the standards.

I am merely transporting my subordinate's ‘rightful Legacy’ at their request.

Anyway, the important thing is that I've already accumulated several traits related to corruption and smuggling.

In fact, I already had a smuggling-related trait.

[Smuggling Expert]

[People always want to do what they are told not to. The success rate of smuggling and the quality of smuggled goods for the merchant guilds or domains you possess increase. However, public security decreases.]

I probably got that trait around the end of the civil war.

Until then, I didn't have a domain, so it didn't have much effect, but as Wolfskrig grew and the steel industry and rice farming developed, it became the cause of smugglers popping up like mushrooms.

For a while, when I was practicing handling the clone, I practiced by infiltrating under the smugglers.

Before setting out on this expedition, based on the information I gathered that way, I wiped out the smuggling organizations at once through old man Brol.

I didn't completely eliminate them, but rather placed them under the control of old man Brol's intelligence department.

‘The old man is going to be busy again.’

Even with just one trait, smuggling was rampant, so now that there are four, it's as clear as day.

By the time I closed all the notification windows, Karen approached.

“My lord, it seems an army is moving far to the east.”

“The east? You mean behind us?”

“Yes, it's not clearly visible, but a faint cloud of dust is rising. Should I send a reconnaissance team?”

“Leave the east alone.”

“Pardon?”

“It must be a surviving orc tribe. They are wild animals. There's no good in provoking them unnecessarily.”

Karen tilted her head and went back.

The main body is busy yelling at the orcs to tread lightly and move quietly.

The orcs made an aggrieved expression, as if to say, ‘How can we move lightly while dragging this heavy thing?’, but that's the army.

If you're told to do it, you do it.

If you feel wronged, you shouldn't have died to me.

Anyway, it's impossible to take the Aerial Battleship all the way to the vicinity of Wolfskrig, so it should be fine to move it just inside the domain's border.

Then later, I'll have to send a clone to hide it and charge it with magic stones.

Anyway, let's continue to sort out the rewards of this expedition.

An Aerial Battleship.

The dwarves' gold and treasures.

I secured the exclusive land trade rights with Everlasting Mountains Hold, and we decided to build the trade route within a year.

It will take quite some time to rebuild the domain I just obtained, the one I ‘received’ from the Vampire Duke, anyway.

‘It might be better to let only the Kambad Merchant Guild come and go for now, and build the full-fledged trade route more slowly.’

Rebuilding the domain properly and securing public order is the priority.

With so many smuggling traits acquired, if I carelessly open up trade, money will just leak out.

On the way to the domain, I spent time organizing what I had gained from this expedition and refining future plans.

The main body commanded the orcs, undead, and beastmen to transport the Aerial Battleship, just as the primitive people who built dolmens carried huge rocks.

And so, three weeks passed.

The color of the wasteland gradually changed from red to a normal ocher.

On the last day of the third week, in the far distance, the most recently captured domain, Kalisto City, came into view.

As the expedition approached Kalisto City, a welcoming crowd came out to greet us.

Old man Poodle and the Artisan's Guild, who had completed the supply base.

The head of the Kambad Merchant Guild and fellow merchants, who had transported various goods from Wolfskrig.

“You've worked hard! For now, everyone please wash up and get a good night's sleep. We've cleaned up the lodgings and maintained the bathhouse. Ah, the restaurant is over there…!”

“I heard the news from the messenger who arrived earlier. You've secured exclusive trade with the dwarves?”

Unfortunately, even amidst the enthusiastic welcome of the artisans and merchants, I couldn't relax my expression.

Because a person I had never seen before was standing beside the two of them.

“A pleasure to meet you, Viscount Wolfskrig.”

Pointed ears.

Large eyes.

A tall stature and long limbs.

An ear-ling.

“Ah, my lord. This person is a visitor to the city this time, an elf diplomat….”

“I know.”

For the record, I hate ear-lings.

I despise that smile.

It's not a baseless hatred.

“Oh my, I'm glad you know. I am Ashkel Meyer, from the far north. A peace-loving fairy.”

In this game, they are the villains.