Chapter 251: It’s a Ridiculously Cool Place! (1)
With an unbelievable weight, the soldiers wore doubtful expressions. Come to think of it, the color of the armor wasn’t the shiny silver that knights usually wore.
It was a matte silver, which looked a little more luxurious and subdued, but that just raised more suspicion.
It was clearly made from shoddy materials. Thinking it was just a prank, the soldiers began to mess around with the armor.
“Hey, hey! Give this a shot!”
At one soldier’s shout, another soldier drew his sword and swung down. If they got caught by their superior, they could just say they were testing what they received.
If sending the armor was indeed a prank, they could just laugh it off.
Clang!
“……?”
The soldier holding the armor, the one swinging the sword, and the soldiers watching all blinked in disbelief.
If the armor was fake, it should have been dented or pierced where it was struck. However, there wasn’t even a scratch on it.
Particularly, the soldier who wielded the sword looked at his own hand, displaying a face of disbelief.
“This… The shock was almost the same as hitting real armor, wasn’t it?”
Since he was just playfully attacking, he swung hard without a second thought. The impact transferred directly to his hand.
His hand was tingling with pain. This felt exactly like hitting a solid plate armor.
As everyone stood speechless, the sergeant of the light infantry rushed in, sweating.
“Pant, pant, sorry! I took too long because I was busy! Did everyone receive their armor?”
“This… is this really for us?”
“Yeah, the lord has ordered that all soldiers’ armament be changed to this. From now on, no more wearing shabby armor.”
“……Wow.”
It’s a well-known fact that when the lord spends money, he goes all out.
But there are 3,000 soldiers in this territory right now. He wants to change the armament for all of them?
Such generosity was never shown even by the royal family.
One soldier raised his hand and asked, “But why is this armor so light? Is it enchanted with some kind of magic?”
“No, no. It’s a new material developed by the dwarves this time. So while its defense is on par with traditional armor, its weight is less than half.”
“Wow….”
The soldiers then broke into big smiles.
Plate armor is said to be the pinnacle of metallurgy. Unless you crush the armor with a blunt weapon or target the gaps at the joints, it’s tough to kill someone wearing plate armor.
When facing knights, its effectiveness varies depending on the opponent’s skill, but against regular soldiers, plate armor boasts overwhelming defense.
Yet, they had reduced the weight of such heavy armor down to that of leather armor. This was beyond amazing—it was a miracle!
The weight has been reduced to that of leather armor. This was nothing short of a miracle.
“Whoa whoa whoa!”
Everyone cheered joyfully.
What soldiers fear most on the battlefield is ultimately death. But what if they fought clad in full plate armor? They could take down several enemy soldiers on their own.
Even the cavalry and archers in training were just as thrilled. The lighter the armor, the less fatigued the horses would become.
As the production capacity for armor increased, more and more soldiers donned the new gear. It was hard to tell who the knights were just by looking at their appearances.
The calm silver armor bearing the emblem of the Red Wolf on the left chest.
This had now become the symbol of the Penris soldiers.
Weapons made of Galbarium, such as spears, shields, and swords, were distributed according to each soldier’s specialty.
The soldiers were once again unable to contain their admiration.
“Wow, the weapons are super light!”
“I won’t get tired carrying this all day!”
“With this, I could swing it around all day!”
While the bludgeoning weapons had only been slightly lightened, the cutting weapons had become far lighter and easier to handle.
The happiest were the heavy infantry. They had to carry large, thick, and heavy shields throughout the battle, making them one of the toughest soldier types.
But after receiving the new shields, everything changed.
“Charge and attack with your shields!”
As the instructors shouted, the shield soldiers swung their enormous shields with one hand while running.
Now the concept of heavy infantry no longer existed in the Penris Territory. The only differences were the types of weapons and the sizes of the shields; everyone was equipped in heavy gear and could move faster than light infantry.
Moreover, everyone was also training to ride horses, so the concept of cavalry was on the verge of disappearing as well.
However, just because they had good equipment didn’t mean the soldiers were more comfortable. The training they received grew increasingly intense day by day.
“More! Swing more and move! Don’t rely on your gear! You need to be strong enough to kill an enemy with your bare hands!”
Despite Gillian’s shouts, soldiers began to fall one by one, looking like they were dying.
“Ugh!”
“I feel like I’m going to die!”
“Why does it get harder even though we got incredible gear?”
The equipment would only provide the best efficiency in actual combat. In the end, if the user was weak, they couldn’t harness its true power.
Humans themselves must grow stronger. That was Ghislaine’s creed.
And here was someone ready to flawlessly execute Ghislaine’s orders.
“What are you doing! Move more! Move, you fools! If you move like that, you’ll die before the fight even starts! If you don’t get up right now, I’ll break your legs!”
You’d think he was a former mercenary; typically quiet Gillian was like a demon when in charge of the soldiers’ training.
Well-fed and with increased stamina, the soldiers rolled around every day until they were on the brink of death.
“This place is hell! They’re all demons!”
“This is crazy. Do they intend to make us all knights? What a truly insane territory.”
“I’m well-fed, getting plenty of money, and everything’s great, but something feels off! I want to run away!”
Contrary to the mixed emotions of joy and despair inside the soldiers, the hearts of the territory residents only held pure joy.
Most of the iron tools they once used had been replaced with tools made of Galbarium. The residents praised the new tools until their mouths ran dry.
He spilled out praises until his throat was dry.
“Farming tools are this light! They’re tougher than wood and way lighter than iron!”
“With this lightweight pot, it’s so much easier to move around, you know? You don’t even need to secure it when using a big one.”
“The same goes for the iron plates. This is seriously a ridiculous product!”
Of course, tools like hammers and picks didn’t change much since their weights were actually helpful. But tools where weight wasn’t really an issue quickly started getting replaced with Galbarium.
If tools are heavy, they’re hard to handle and a pain in the neck. A single person’s change seems like a small convenience, but if that shift spreads across the entire territory, the story changes.
As the productivity of the Territory Residents increased, the productivity of related industries also grew. The transformation Galbarium brought to the territory was truly astounding.
Everyone was busy joyfully praising the Lord and the Dwarves who created such a new material.
“Truly our Lord! This is also a technique that the Lord taught us, right?”
“If it weren’t for the Dwarves, we wouldn’t have succeeded.”
“They say it’s called Galbarium because Galbarik was mixed in? Someone said that.”
Ghislaine watched the changes in the territory with satisfaction.
But it still wasn’t enough. There were still plenty of resources lacking in the territory.
Resources that are hard to get even with money, just like horses, were still remaining.
Now it was time to go fetch those.
*
Claude said with a serious face.
“We have a problem.”
“I know.”
“…Really?”
Ghislaine replied in a nonchalant voice.
“The supply of leather is becoming difficult, isn’t it?”
“That’s correct. How did you know?”
“Of course. Since developing Galbarium, the production capacity of all items has increased, so the demand for leather must have gone up as well.”
“Well, I wish you’d prepared for that in advance. Or maybe reduce the production capacity a bit now.”
When Claude spoke as if he was interrogating her, Ghislaine made a face that screamed “Are you serious?”
“Am I a clone? I originally planned to get leather as soon as I got horses. Galbarium was completed first, so that took priority. I have no plans to reduce production, so we need to resolve this before it becomes a bigger issue.”
Leather is one of the most commonly used resources. It’s used for making clothing, shoes, gloves, and for protecting items.
Leather components are also included when making weapons or armor, and leather straps are mainly used for connecting things.
Since starting to use Galbarium, equipment and tools have been produced in bulk, so the demand for leather has naturally increased.
When Ghislaine mentioned she already had something in mind, Claude became curious.
“So how are we going to get it? Can we just whip it up like cosmetics or Galbarium?”
“No, am I a god? How can I just make leather?”
“…Then do we steal it like we did with horses or iron ore?”
“No, am I a robber? Just because we need it doesn’t mean I’ll just steal everything. How do you see me? I’m not that kind of person, you know?”
‘Why does talking to this guy always get me so frustrated?’
The lord always pulled nonsensical knowledge out of nowhere whenever a problem arose. If not that, he’d just beat someone up to steal the necessary items.
So, naturally, she thought he’d either pull out some knowledge this time too or suggest stealing from somewhere.
But instead, he turned the tables and criticized her, which heated her up.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Claude asked again.
“So what will you do? It’s becoming increasingly hard to obtain leather. It’s getting tougher and tougher.”
“What are you going to do? It’s hard to find leather these days. It’s getting tougher and tougher.”
“The shortage of meat was due to the drought that caused many livestock to die. With fewer livestock, there’s naturally less leather to be obtained from them.”
“Still, the supply situation is a bit better than food or meat. That’s because there are monsters all over this continent.”
Ghislaine pointed that out.
“We need to take down some monsters to at least get their hides. For now, it’s tough to get them and hard to steal from others.”
“…That won’t be easy.”
After all, there aren’t that many monster habitats within the Ruthania Kingdom. Humans have been continuously hunting monsters to expand their territories for a long time.
Thanks to the long-standing policies of the kingdom, the number of monsters had significantly decreased. It’s not for nothing that Ruthania is called a major power.
With the drought arriving, the number of monsters further diminished. The remaining ones were getting harder to find as they were being hunted by people with their eyes peeled.
Especially in the north, they had nearly wiped out all the monsters even before the drought. They were that poor.
Claude continued with a look that said, “What on earth are you thinking?”
“It’s really hard to see any monsters in our territory. We’ve already hunted down all we could find. The other territories are probably in the same boat. If there are no monsters, we can’t capture them, can we?”
“So we need to go to a place with more monsters.”
Claude nodded as if he realized something from Ghislaine’s answer.
“Oh, you mean the Forest of Monsters?”
“No.”
“Not that? Thinking about it, it might be okay to go in there. Didn’t you say you succeeded in hunting at the entrance before?”
“It’s not cost-effective. There are more monsters that aren’t worth skinning than those that are. Plants that eat people or pudding trees—hunting those won’t get us anywhere. Chasing after those for their hides is just not worth the time.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to hunt the Forest of Monsters again last time?”
“I do plan to. But not right now. We need to go with enough skill to minimize losses.”
Initially, they had hunted in the Forest of Monsters because there was a Runestone nearby. Back then, it was the only way to make a significant amount of money.
However, going there to hunt in the current situation would only be a loss. Ghislaine’s plan was to gather resources when they could overwhelmingly clear the forest.
Hearing that the Forest of Monsters wasn’t a solution, Claude slapped his forehead. It was clear what crazy idea he was cooking up.
“Are you trying to go outside the territory again like when you fought the barbarians?”
“That’s right. You’re catching on now!”
“Haah, this time you’re going a little farther, aren’t you?”
“Oh, you’ve already figured that out?”
“Of course. If there’s a lack of monsters, you just go where there are more. That’s your style, Lord. Now I understand everything.”
Hearing Claude’s words, Ghislaine broke into a big smile. It’s true that the longer you spend time with someone, the better you get to know them.
With a satisfied smile, Ghislaine said, “That’s right. We’re headed to the Shadow Mountain Range of the Turian Kingdom. It’s a place overflowing with monsters, so wonderfully insane!”
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