Chapter 26

The Command Center.

It didn't take long for the two Viscounts to be carried into the room on stretchers.

The sight was gruesome. One was missing his left arm and left leg. The other had lost both legs entirely. The smell of cauterized flesh and blood filled the air.

"Viscount Baroque. Viscount Rick. Long time no see," Charlo greeted them, his tone polite and casual, as if meeting old friends for tea rather than viewing mutilated captives.

"Viscount Charlo... we lost. I admit defeat!" Baroque, lying pale on the stretcher, squeezed the words out weakly.

"Viscount Charlo, we are willing to pay ransom for compensation! We only ask that you release us as soon as possible!" Viscount Rick reached out a trembling hand. "Viscount Baroque and I are each willing to pay five hundred Imperial Gold Coins!"

"There is no need to rush, Viscount Rick. Look at your injuries," Charlo shook his head with a solicitous smile. "Why not stay in Ironwood for a while? Recuperate. Receive proper treatment."

The two nobles shuddered. Everyone knew the rules of war: while a captured noble is treated well, every meal, every bandage, and every day spent in captivity is tallied up and added to the final ransom. The longer they stayed, the higher the price.

"No! No need! Viscount Charlo, I know I was wrong! Please let me go back!"

Baroque, terrified by Charlo's calm demeanor, misinterpreted the hesitation. He thought Charlo intended to keep him imprisoned while conspiring with Earl Esther to partition his territory completely.

"Besides the ransom... I will give you the eastern lands of the Iron Lion Territory! All of it!"

Baroque shouted in desperation. Losing a quarter of his land was painful, but losing his life or his entire legacy was worse.

"I am also willing to cede the southern lands of the Warhammer Territory..." Viscount Rick chimed in hastily. "Viscount Charlo, you must know that Earl Esther is not an easy man to deal with. Please consider this carefully! Release us, and we promise to help you check Earl Esther's ambition!"

Rick was attempting a political maneuver. He wanted to drive a wedge between Charlo and the Border Warden. He knew that while Charlo had the backing of two Earls in the capital, the capital was far away. Here, on the border, Earl Esther was the local emperor.

By pointing out Esther's greed, Rick hoped to make Charlo wary, creating a crack in their alliance that might allow the Viscounts to survive.

"Hmm..."

To Charlo's ears, however, this sounded like a threat. If you dare swallow our lands, we will bring Earl Esther down on your head.

For a moment, Charlo felt a flash of irritation. Mere prisoners dare to threaten me?

But as the anger subsided, rational thought returned. He realized he truly didn't have a good solution for Earl Esther.

He had crushed the coalition of Viscounts, yes. But there was still a massive gap between his forces and the military might of a Border Earl.

If he annexed these two Viscountcies entirely, he would become the largest, most conspicuous target in the Eastern Border. Esther would inevitably turn his blade toward Ironwood.

Imperial law forbade a higher noble from directly attacking a lower noble to annex them. However, it said nothing about aiding a lower noble against an aggressor. Esther only needed to send a few High-Rank combatants to "assist" the remaining Viscounts, and Charlo would be in trouble.

Earl Esther. Not only was he a Seventh-Rank Knight himself, but he had a brother—Sparrow de Smolder—who was also a Seventh-Rank Knight!

Furthermore, Esther commanded fifteen Sixth-Rank Knights and dozens of Fifth-Rankers.

Just as Clyris had warned, if Esther sent his brother leading a charge of Mid-Rank knights, Charlo currently had no countermeasures.

Even without an army... a Seventh-Rank Knight could fly.

That ability alone changed the nature of warfare. A supersonic, flying, humanoid tank could slaughter Charlo's infantry from the air with impunity.

Although Charlo had manufactured anti-air machine guns and small-caliber AA cannons, against a Seventh-Rank Knight protected by mana armor, those bullets would merely tickle. Hitting a high-speed, agile human target in the sky was nearly impossible with manual targeting.

In Charlo's estimation, to effectively counter these "humanoid attack aircraft," he needed heavy Surface-to-Air Missiles. He needed guided warheads with at least 100kg of explosives. Anything less might hit but fail to kill.

"Viscount Charlo, what are your thoughts?" Viscount Rick asked, keeping his face neutral but inwardly rejoicing as he saw Charlo fall into deep thought.

"Hmm... Very well. I accept your terms!"

Charlo snapped back to reality. He decided to take what he could get. Greed killed the snake that tried to swallow the elephant.

"Excellent! Thank you for your mercy!" Viscount Rick exhaled in relief. "We will present the ransom and the land deeds immediately. You only need to send someone to accompany us to accept the transfer!"

______________

The Border Warden’s Estate.

The War of the Eastern Border had concluded far faster than Earl Esther had anticipated.

The weakling Charlo had ended the war in a single week.

Of the five Viscounts, three fled in disgrace, while the Iron Lion and Warhammer Viscounts were captured. The result was a massive payout: 500 gold coins and a quarter of their lands from the captives, and 250 gold coins each from the ones who ran.

"Sparrow, are you certain no Sixth-Rank Grand Knights or Grand Magi entered the border region recently?" Esther put down the intelligence report and looked at his right-hand man—his brother, Sparrow de Smolder.

"I am certain, brother. The borders were watched," Sparrow replied confidently.

"Then it is strange..." Esther frowned at the post-war analysis. "The survivors speak of massive, thunderous magical bombardments. They saw knights equipped with unknown magical weapons..."

"Magical... weapons..." Esther muttered the words with intense interest. "They didn't say 'enchanted weapons.' They said 'unknown.' That implies Charlo possesses a new type of armament we have never seen."

"Is that so?" Sparrow raised an eyebrow. "High-Rank mages, Grand Knights... and new weapons? Where did he get them?"

"I don't know!" Esther looked at the map on the wall, frustrated. "Charlo has run Ironwood like a fortress of silence since day one. Whether it’s legitimate merchants or our spies, no useful information ever leaks out! His craftsmen, knights, mages, population, economy... we know absolutely nothing about the interior of his territory!"

"Then... what do we do?" Sparrow asked.

"Hmm..." Esther pondered. "Charlo, with his mysterious backing and new weapons, is no longer someone we can easily pinch. Report this to Archduke Fokk. These powers must be connected to the Iron Rose and Sharp Sword families in the capital! Let the Archduke demand an explanation from the Imperial City!"

"As for us... send more spies. Infiltrate the new lands he just acquired. He has absorbed half a Viscountcy's worth of territory; he cannot possibly manage it all perfectly yet. We will use the chaos of the transition to pry open his secrets!"

___________________________

Ironwood Keep.

A week later, Charlo returned to his castle.

This campaign had been wildly successful. Not only had he earned a ransom equivalent to six months of trade revenue, but he had also acquired over 250 square kilometers of land. Ironwood Territory now spanned nearly 900 square kilometers! It was approaching the size of a small Earldom.

But land and gold were secondary. The most important spoil of war was the massive influx of R&D Points.

With the victory confirmed, the Tech Tree System officially lit up the 20th Century node.

Although it was only the early 20th Century—the Pre-WWI era—it was enough.

Airplanes. Submarines. Dreadnoughts.

The technology for all of them was now mature.

However, entering the 20th Century meant science was diving into the microscopic and the complex. The industrial systems required became exponentially more intricate.

And this wasn't Earth. Physics here were... flexible. Earth's technology served only as a directional reference, not a blueprint.

The Reconnaissance Balloons didn't rely on hot air or helium, but on Levitation Arrays and Wind Arrays.

Steam Engines didn't boil water with coal; they flashed it with mana.

Generators didn't rely on magnetic induction; they used Lightning Generation Arrays.

Everything required research to adapt. Charlo couldn't conjure researchers out of thin air; he had to cultivate them.

The Compulsory Education Program had only been running for a year. It was still in its infancy. However, they had already identified several dozen "Magic Seeds"—children with latent talent. In the future, they would become Ironwood's first generation of home-grown mages.

As for the rest of the children? They would become Knights.

And then, they would enter the factories.

This was Charlo's grand vision: The Knight-Worker.

Even a First-Rank Knight possessed strength, dexterity, and stamina far beyond a normal human. With basic education and simple training, a Knight could become a super-skilled laborer. Their production efficiency would be vastly superior to an ordinary human's.

Imagine a factory where every worker could lift engine blocks by hand and work with sub-millimeter precision without fatigue. That was the industrial future of Ironwood.