Tenochtitlan
In the year 3859, six years after declaring war on the Aztecs, we completed a fortress fourteen li south of Ara.
“Now we head for the mountains!”
“Start cutting down trees!”
Our firepower was more than sufficient. The problem was securing the supplies to deliver it, which meant yet more construction.
“Just flatten it out and lay down gravel!”
“Don't get fancy — let's do this fast!”
Unlike the railway construction, the road was packed down at a remarkable pace. There was some deforestation involved, but since a road or railway would have to run through here eventually anyway, we could simply build it right on this spot later.
“There are so many trees….”
“It feels like they just keep multiplying the further south we go.”
“Tell everyone to watch out for sickness. There are way too many bugs, too.”
“You should worry about yourself, my lady.”
True enough — I was the most popular one out here. Whether it was my scent or some connection to the way animals took a liking to me, I'd crossed paths with more bugs and beasts than anyone else.
“Maybe it'd be better if I just stayed off to the side?”
Did I have some strange power that drew animals toward me?
“Could it be a floral fragrance coming from your body that attracts them?”
“A floral scent? We're not honeybees.”
“There's no other explanation, is there?”
That was my theory too… except it wasn't something I could switch on and off.
Ugh… I'm tired.
“Still, the pace is incredible.”
「KWA-KWANG!」
“Yes. Whenever we hit an obstacle, we just blast it away like that.”
Yep. We were carving our way forward with ruthless efficiency. Whenever we ran into bedrock like that, we actually needed to haul in less stone, so the crew was delighted.
Maybe blowing things up was the better option after all?
The only catch was the supply lines. Running a railway all the way up to the mountain peak felt like a waste for now, so the plan was to advance while building a fortress every two li.
「BANG BANG-BANG」
“Raid! We're under attack!”
“Workers, to the center!”
We kept shields positioned at the middle of the column, and whenever a raid like this came, the workers had to gather there and shield themselves with their bodies. They wore no armor, which left them terribly vulnerable to arrows and poisoned darts.
“How dare you look down on us!”
“Die!”
“Taste my axe!”
Somewhere along the way, the sword-wielders had dwindled one by one, until nearly everyone carried an axe instead. I'd asked them why once, and the answer was just "because I like it" — nothing more to say to that.
「CRACK! SPLIT!」
“Ghhk….”
Ugh, that savage sound. An arm went flying; a skull split open.
Watching them fight, they were truly vicious about it. Natural, perhaps, when lives hung in the balance — the natives threw themselves at us with everything they had.
“Urk! Somebody get this guy off me!”
Wow, that was dirty — six of them swarming a single soldier. Latched onto his limbs like that, even one of our kids would struggle alone.
“On it!”
They were hanging on, trying to tear off his helmet or armor by force, but the clasps kept it from coming off easily. Still, someone needed to help him fast. If the armor came off, it would be genuinely dangerous.
「THUD! THUD!」
“GRAAAH !#$!!”
“Ghk….”
Under the children's axe blows, the natives fell away one by one.
There was no choice in the matter — you had to cut off their breath entirely. Who knew how many drugs they'd swallowed before charging, because their eyes were all rolled back with madness.
“By the way, aren't you scared? Go hide.”
“My lady? Are you really going to leave us exposed to those arrows?”
“No, that's not what I meant….”
I was blocking the arrows and darts with telekinesis, but this girl had nerves of steel. Honestly, standing next to me might be safer than hiding behind those shields.
“!#$!#$”
“!!#!”
“&#%#”
「BANG! BANG! BANG!」
I was holding a pistol. The only rapid-fire weapon in existence.
A custom piece, built in the workshops of the Original Continent. Rapid fire was such an overwhelming advantage that the engineers were apparently straining themselves trying to apply it to rifles, but for now, one person firing like this was the limit.
With hundreds or thousands of soldiers firing continuously, you might as well be shooting blind — smoke alone was enough to white out everything around you after just three shots. Visibility dropped to almost nothing.
“Wow….”
“Oh? Right — Mose, you're going to keep following me around like this, aren't you?”
“Yes!”
“I should get you a weapon for self-defense, then.”
I'd have to give her a pistol. She wouldn't need it often, but in an emergency, nothing beat it.
“Oh….”
She'd apparently been coveting it all along — she kept staring at my pistol like that. And it really was a beautifully made piece.
Should I give her the original one, without rifling? No — if I was going to give a gift, it ought to be one that actually worked well.
「CLICK」
“Carry this with you.”
“OH!!!!”
What are you, five?
Wait — didn't you grow up in a Jewish household? It's been about fifty years since you came to Daehan, and you're already completely assimilated!
Not that thinking hard about things is fun. It's exhausting, after all.
“Now, buckle this leather belt around your waist and carry it tucked in there.”
The rifled version had been custom-fitted for me, but for some reason, they'd sent two — one gold-plated, one silver. I'd been using the silver one, and since I'd never wear both at once, the other had been sitting in storage. I'd dug it out for her.
“It's so beautiful!”
“You'll need to practice a lot…. Always use both hands.”
I'd grown taller and stronger over the years, and I still couldn't manage one-handed. The recoil was brutal, and pulling the double-action trigger took far more finger strength than you'd expect.
「CLICK-CLICK」
“Oh! So this is how it works!”
What is wrong with you? How does that come so easily? My hands were shaking all over when I learned!
That's why I pull with my left and fire with my right…. Do you have any idea how hard I practiced!
“I'm so jealous….”
“Jealous of what?”
“I can't do that. It's too hard for me.”
You can do it — your hands just shake too much to aim….
We repelled the native raid without any real losses, but somehow I was the one left feeling drained….
Over the following three months, we weathered dozens of raids, piling native corpses along the roadside, and built six fortresses — until at last we stood right at the enemy's doorstep.
“There it is.”
“If we can see it towering above the trees from here, how enormous must that city be?”
“We'll find out when we get there.”
The enemy, perhaps driven to desperation, now raided us around the clock — day and night, without pause. But conversely, whether their control was slipping, the number of tribes surrendering to us was multiplying exponentially, which was a mercy.
It meant fewer people we had to kill.
“I wonder what they're preparing.”
“Arrows and poison darts, probably?”
“Hard to say…. Everything we've seen so far has exceeded imagination, after all….”
Once, we'd found bodies strung up and hung from a tree — and from the deep grooves worn into the ropes, it looked like they'd been hung alive, their limb tendons severed.
Who knew how long they'd thrashed before dying.
“I'm debating whether we need to leave traces like that standing.”
“Even if you crush every one of them, who's going to complain?”
“Right?”
Now it was time to march on their capital. Surely they hadn't slunk off to some hiding place like cowards?
“Is everyone ready?”
“Yes!”
“Let's go!”
One day should be enough.
“Open the way!”
The road here had been thick with fighting, too. The shores of this vast lake had once brimmed with small villages, but after fighting us or surrendering, only empty ones remained.
All that was left was the enemy's stronghold on the island visible in the distance.
The lake wasn't very deep, apparently, because they'd built earthen causeways to travel back and forth. We could simply walk right down onto them.
“The western and southern causeways are all destroyed, correct?”
“Yes. We handled it yesterday.”
So that was why the explosions had been so noisy yesterday.
“Then we only need to push down this one northern causeway.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Let's move at once.”
For all their effort, the causeway they'd built wasn't half bad. Was this decent engineering, by local standards?
Come to think of it, even the ancient Shang Dynasty had that strange custom of human sacrifice…. But why bother pondering the reason? Today, these people were going to be destroyed.
“OOGAH OOGAH!”
“HIYAAAH!”
A band appeared on the far shore, making bizarre noises that might have been meant as threats. Standing out in the open like that? Not a good idea.
「BANG BANG-BANG BANG」
The soldiers pulled their rifle triggers without hesitation, and dozens dropped at once.
“GYAAH!”
“UGH!”
You could've stayed in cover, but instead you charge out into the open like that? I'll never understand. Do you like lead that much?
“Clean this up and keep moving!”
The road was only wide enough for about ten soldiers abreast, so we couldn't advance in force — and the lead company commander, chafing at the bottleneck, began urging his men forward.
“We can't see a thing through the smoke….”
“Ah….”
There it was — the smoke. Always the problem.
“Huh? What's that?”
As the smoke cleared, a strange sight came into view.
“Are they taking hostages?”
A crowd of people who looked like captives had been dragged out and were kneeling in plain sight.
“!#!#$!#$”
“!#%!@”
“&##@”
What are you even saying? We don't understand your language.
“They say they'll kill them all if we come any closer.”
“Hah….”
With so many natives having joined our ranks, someone had apparently understood them on the spot — that was why they'd shouted the warning.
Did they really think that would work on our kids? Have they met them?
“Soldiers! RUN! If you do, you can save even one of them!”
“CHARGE!”
“UWAAAAH!”
Wasn't this the obvious move? These natives couldn't even fool their own kind with a bluff like that.
「DUDUDUDU」
Clad in full plate armor, their footfalls thundered almost like galloping horses.
“Death to all these savages!”
“Cowards! So this is how you killed my family!”
Some of our soldiers were Daehan-born, but others were natives who'd enlisted and marched south with us — and those voices were thick with rage.
Across the lake, the enemy seemed to panic. They couldn't even put their hostages to use before being swept away.
If only they'd had catapults, they might have posed some kind of threat…. But against men in plate armor wielding primitive weapons, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.
“GYAAAH! 1!#$!”
“….”
“@$!$^!@”
The defenders, rushing out in a desperate bid to hold the line, were mowed down like reeds along the very path the Daehan troops took — and the lakeshore piled higher and higher with corpses.
Once this small island fell, the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan lay directly ahead.
A grim city, stained with blood.
“The island is secured.”
“Once we breach the gate and enter the city, you will move in squads at all times and watch for ambushes!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Everyone come back alive — not a single injury, you hear?”
What worried me most was urban combat. With high-explosive shells, we could form an artillery corps and turn the place into a field of weeds — but we didn't have those yet…. I wished we could just avoid going in at all.
“FIRE THE CANNONS!”
「KUNG KUGUNG! KUNG! KWAGAKANG!」
“It collapsed in a single volley.”
How could a thin wall of timber and stone ever withstand cannonballs? It simply crumbled at the first hit.
“Stay sharp! Once we're inside the city, check your surroundings at all times and advance only along the wide streets!”
「CLANK CLANK CLANK」
Tension began to settle over the soldiers as they advanced, step by measured step.
Fighting at range, they could cut down the enemy before they ever got close — but if they were dragged into an alley and isolated, no amount of armor could guarantee their lives.
“They're preparing for urban combat — they mean business this time!”
Not a single arrow or poisoned dart flew at them. The silence was more unnerving than any assault.
What greeted the soldiers of Daehan as they entered the city's grim, foreboding streets was a scene of utter devastation.
Corpses lay strewn in every direction, and here and there people lay scattered, moaning in agony.
“What happened here?”
“Some kind of plague?”
At a glance it looked like an epidemic, but some of the bodies seemed entirely whole.
“What kind of sickness does this?”
“Advance with caution!”
Watching their surroundings warily, the Daehan troops pressed on toward the towering structure rising at the city's heart.
「PADADAK」
Far away from them, another group was hurrying about their business.
The Aztecs, an axe clutched in each hand, were busily moving to and fro — just outside the sight of the Daehan soldiers.