Volume 2 - CH 309

Chapter 0309 Changes in the Corridor Countries

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

In the end, the ship of the Kingdom delegation did not set sail until the morning of the following day.

Because even though the sailors who were already on board the ship when the members of the delegation boarded were safe, the ones who were still in the castle were caught in the commotion, and many of them died.

They managed to even leave the next morning, partly because the Duchy forcibly ordered the sailors to set sail…

During their sojourn, which was extended by a day, the delegation spent their time as they pleased.

But of course, a certain water-attribute magician was avidly examining the information on the disassembled golem…

Incidentally, it’s worth noting that although Ryo intended it to be ‘disassembly’, it was ‘dismantling’ in the eyes of many.

The difference is, disassembly does not involve destruction while dismantling does….

“I’m starting to understand the technology behind this mana-saving aspect little by little…”

The six from Room 10 and 11 were also trying to steer clear of Ryo, who was smiling devilishly as he muttered that.

The mutual understanding was, “Let’s leave him be”.

Except when it was time to eat.

“Ryo, let’s go have dinner in the cafeteria.”

When Amon said so, Ryo looked up and stood up.

“Sure, let’s go.”

The phrase ‘Alchemy over three-square meals’ didn’t seem to apply to Ryo…

Although he didn’t miss a single meal, in the end, Ryo spent the entire voyage analyzing the disassembled golem.

Naturally, Commander Hugh McGrath approached the Duchy, and ownership of the disassembled golem was officially transferred to Ryo, albeit with some conditions.

The comment from the alchemists and mechanics that, “It’s impossible to restore it from that state”, was probably the deciding factor.

Normally, they wouldn’t hand over something that could be called a state secret to an adventurer from another country, no matter how much they had contributed…

Ryo had no intention of assembling it again… he understood that it was impossible to do so in the first place… then again, it was a good deal for Ryo as he was able to considerably increase his knowledge of golems through alchemy.

At the same time, a major anomaly was taking place in the corridor countries.

In order of proximity to the Central Nations, are ‘Ayteke-Bo’ and ‘Schulz’.

Both of these countries are city-states and can be said to be quite small compared to the ‘countries’ in the Central Nations.

Nonetheless, they have a population of several hundred thousand and, to a certain extent, have functioning governments.

However, in Ayteke-Bo, due to the foolish act of Lord Zuransu, a swarm of caterpillars attacked the city and the State House, and Lord Zuransu was killed.

Some of the key figures in the government were also killed.

In addition, the city walls, of which Ayteke-Bo was so proud, were destroyed quite extensively by those caterpillars.

That was a rather grim situation for a country located right in the middle of the Pitch-Black Forest.

Since the Pitch-Black Forest is known to have more monsters than ordinary forests.

That said, they’re still monsters after all.

Several measures can be taken to prevent them from invading the city.

As one might expect, a swarm of caterpillars like the one experienced that time would be out of the question, but such an event would occur only once every few decades or even a hundred years.

So, it was nothing to worry about.

They could just take their time to repair the walls. Or at least, that should have been sufficient enough…

Until now.

“It’s no use, it won’t hold!”

“How can those guys ride horses in the middle of the forest!?”

“They’re even shooting arrows at us while mounted!”

“Report! The First Knight Order has been wiped out…”

“The horse riders have entered the city through the collapsed walls!”

“They’re pouring in one after the other…”

On this day, after only one day of engagement, Ayteke-Bo fell.

Lord Lansui, who had succeeded the former lord, Lord Zuransu as the head of state, accepted the recommendation to surrender.

Ayteke-Bo fell to King Hahn, the new king of the Schulz.

He is the man who previously led the horsemen to invade Schulz.

He’s also the man who swore that he would never forgive Rupert, the former emperor of the Debuhi Empire, for hurting his sister.

Thus, ‘Ayteke-Bo’ became a vassal state of ‘Schulz’.

With the annexation of Ayteke-Bo, there were no more obstacles between King Hahn and the Debuhi Empire.

“I will surely keep my oath.”

King Hahn’s muttering did not reach former emperor Rupert, of course…

The fall of Ayteke-Bo reached Marquis Heinlein in the faraway royal capital of the Kingdom of Knightley, three days later.

It was also reported to King Abel.

“Ayteke-Bo has fallen… The mission will have a hard time on their way back, won’t they?”

“Yeah. They have no choice but to take a route that largely bypasses Schulz and Ayteke-Bo. But then, replenishing supplies will become extremely arduous, as will their safety. It is also reported that King Hahn of Schulz does not have a good impression of the delegation from the Central Nations. Especially His Majesty former emperor Rupert.”

“Yeah, so I heard. Because he hurt King Hahn’s sister… And now he holds a grudge, which I get…. still, this is troubling.”

Abel frowned and took a sip of the coffee beside him.

“Schulz and Ayteke-Bo are pretty far apart, right? That’s why they haven’t interfered with each other until now…”

“Yeah. Well, they have the horsemen to thank for that…”

“Mm-hmm…”

King Hahn originally led the horsemen who had been persecuted by Schulz.

Their mobility and sphere of activity were astonishingly wide.

The mobility of these people, all of whom were on horseback, led to the first battle in history between the corridor countries, Schulz’s attack on Ayteke-Bo.

And it concluded in just one day.

The king’s madness overturned the tyranny of distance…

“They really are a force to be reckoned with, the horsemen.”

“Yeah. I think it’s safe to say that the Kingdom’s mainland won’t fall under attack, but I can’t say that the mission won’t hit a stumbling block taking a major detour on its way back from the Western Countries. Looks like we’ll need to build a proper intelligence network in the corridor countries as well.”

“Currently… aren’t we already getting some pretty detailed information, but you’re saying it’s not properly set up yet?”

“My apologies, Your Majesty. I’ll get it running as soon as possible.”

“Uh, sure…”

Marquis Heinlein’s definition of ‘proper’ seemed to be far beyond Abel’s expectations…