War Preparations
Three days remained until the war.
Margrave Kraus was a man called the loyal knight of the Emperor and the iron wall guarding the border even in the original novel.
A true veteran commander, qualitatively different from Count Kelrn, who was steeped in self-interest.
'If we clash head-on, we'll have to accept casualties too.'
Of course, if we were knights armed with gunlances, we could win, but...
There's no need to face them straightforwardly on open ground and accept losses.
Arriving at my office, I spread out the territory map and identified the expected route of Kraus's army.
The narrow canyon in the mountain range they absolutely had to pass through to enter Karon Territory.
'When the enemy passes through there, I'll collapse the canyon.'
Three days is enough time to prepare to destroy an entire mountain.
Besides, after this battle, we'll be using this road too, so making it flat in advance isn't a bad idea.
In my past life's military, there was an urban legend about a mountain disappearing on a division commander's orders.
'But now I'm the one in the division commander position, aren't I?'
I immediately called my adjutant and summoned all the engineer corps and miners in the territory.
"You called for us, Your Highness!"
"Ah, you're here?"
I pointed to a spot on the map toward the engineer captain and the miner foremen who had been called to the office.
"Here. We'll dig tunnels at the base of the mountain ranges on both sides of the canyon the enemy will pass through."
At that instruction, the engineer captain tilted his head and asked.
"Tunnels… are we digging caves to hide an ambush?"
"No. We're going to collapse the entire mountain."
"What…?"
The mouths of the engineer captain and the foremen dropped open at the answer.
'Hmm… if I say jump, they jump… no, that's not right. I almost became a bad boss all of a sudden.'
"I'm not saying to carve away the mountain with pickaxes. We'll dig a direct tunnel to the weakest bedrock zone that supports the mountain's weight."
I continued speaking while marking several points on the map with a pen.
"And we'll stuff the gunpowder we brought this time into those spots."
If we cause a chain reaction explosion from within to sever the foundation...
the rocky mountain will not be able to withstand its own weight and will collapse on itself.
'Even if that won't take out all the enemies,'
the battle will become extremely advantageous for us.
"B-but… how long do we have… a few weeks…?"
"Huh? We have three days left… so we should be able to do it comfortably in two days."
"What? Two days?"
The engineer captain's face turned pale.
'Should I stop teasing them now.'
I let out a small laugh and opened my mouth.
"Who said to dig only with pickaxes from start to finish? You can use gunpowder to dig the tunnels too."
After drilling holes in the rock face and blasting the gunpowder to break the bedrock,
if we just haul out the rubble, the work speed will be incredibly fast.
"Be careful not to get hurt while digging in. I've prepared plenty of gunpowder."
'Supplies are still being delivered, so we have plenty.'
"Ah…! If we blast our way through with gunpowder…"
The engineer captain and foremen nodded with expressions of understanding.
As if I would order the absurd task of digging caves with only pickaxes.
'And I'll give them compensation too.'
"Of course. Since it's a dangerous and arduous task, I'll ensure proper compensation. If you succeed in digging the tunnels and laying the gunpowder within the deadline, I'll pay all personnel five times their usual wages as a special bonus."
"Ooh…!"
"After the work is done, I'll open the territory's storehouses and provide unlimited meat and alcohol for eating and drinking."
No sooner had I finished speaking than the eyes of the engineer captain and foremen were filled with motivation.
"We'll start immediately, Your Highness! Guys! Let's go!"
"Ooh!! Booze! Let's go!"
They left the office with expressions so bright it was hard to believe they had been so gloomy just moments before.
'Three days left… I'll do everything I can.'
I rose from my seat and walked out of the office.
'Elisa is handling the supply side, and Seria is in charge of the knights.'
I should check on the soldiers.
I also want to hear feedback on the muskets.
The place I headed to was the training ground where the soldiers were drilling.
As I got closer to the training ground, the sound of gunfire at regular intervals rang in my ears.
-Bang! Bang bang!
"First row. Fire!"
"Second row. Advance and aim! First row, fall back and load the next round!"
The instructor's voice was booming loudly through the thick gunpowder smoke.
'They're working hard.'
On the training ground, hundreds of soldiers were holding muskets, lined up in long ranks, moving in perfect unison.
As I watched from a distance, the instructor spotted me, briefly stopped the training, and quickly ran over.
"Your Highness! What brings you here?"
"I came to check on the training and also to hear some feedback on the muskets. Is there anyone you can recommend?"
The instructor seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Yes. As it happens, there are two soldiers who handle the guns best."
The instructor turned around and shouted loudly.
"Eric! Mila! Front and center for the Prince!"
At the instructor's command, two soldiers hurriedly ran out from the training formation.
One was a young man with short hair, his boyish features still evident, and the other was a small woman with short brown hair tied up.
"Hail!"
"H-hail!"
The two stood before me, tense and rigid with military discipline, and saluted.
"The one on the left is Eric. He's a commoner conscripted this time. He has the highest musket accuracy among the trainees."
"Oh. Impressive?"
Muskets are weapons with very low accuracy.
For an ordinary soldier without mana to show high accuracy definitely means he has talent in shooting.
Eric, upon hearing the praise, didn't know what to do and lowered his gaze to the ground.
"And the soldier on the right is named Mila."
The instructor pointed at Mila and continued explaining.
"This one is not a conscript but a volunteer. She enlisted of her own accord, saying she must repay Your Highness's grace. Despite her small build, she trains with such diligence. Recently, her performance has been excellent."
"Grace?"
At the instructor's words, I glanced at Mila.
Unlike the frozen Eric, Mila was staring at me intently with eyes sparkling as if honey was about to drip from them.
'What did I do for her?'
No matter how much I thought about it, she was a stranger to me.
I tried to search my memory, but nothing came to mind, so I tilted my head in confusion.
Mila, as if she couldn't hold back any longer, clenched her fist and shouted boldly.
"Didn't Your Highness sell household goods to us commoners at cheap prices! Thanks to that, our lives have become incomparably more comfortable! You showed mercy by allowing us commoners to use those amazing and convenient items that even nobles would have found hard to obtain in the past!"
Ah.
'That's right.'
Within Espada, distribution costs were greatly reduced.
So I had supplied household items like beds and toilets to the kingdom's commoners at quite reasonable prices.
'But was it that big a deal?'
"Ugh… most other nobles despise commoners or don't even care about us…! Your Highness was the only one who was different…!"
'Huh?'
Hearing Mila's words as she pretended to cry, I tilted my head inwardly.
'Our kingdom's nobles despise commoners?'
In my memory, the nobles of the Espada Kingdom were generally gentle and mild-mannered thanks to their abundant capital.
Though it changes a lot when it comes to the Empire.
Besides, Brother Rowen and Father weren't the type to tolerate the tyranny of nobles.
I opened my mouth with a slightly stiff expression.
"Mila. Are the nobles of our kingdom committing any severe tyranny against the commoners? Or are they forcibly extorting excessive taxes?"
Startled by my serious question, Mila answered hurriedly answered.
"No! His Majesty the King strictly manages things, so there is no forced extra taxation. It's just…"
"Just?"
"Ugh… the stall fees you have to pay to sell goods at the market, or the tolls the territory soldiers collect when leaving the village, are too expensive. The merchant guilds all have nobles backing them, so commoners like us have no choice but to be overcharged even for daily necessities."
"Ah…"
"Also, even when monsters appear on the outskirts of the village, the knights from the lord's castle rarely come down, saying they must protect the castle. In the end, we have to drive them away ourselves with farming tools, so many people get hurt. No matter how our lives are, the nobles just don't care…"
As Mila continued speaking, her voice grew smaller, and after finishing, she lowered her eyes as if regretting it.
Eric nodded slightly, as if he sympathized with her words.
'…Really?'
Only then did I understand her words.
'The books are only clean on the surface. Behind the scenes, were they subtly sucking the lifeblood out of the commoners?'
Of course, I can't proceed based solely on her words.
There might be a misunderstanding.
Or she might be lying.
'Once this battle is over…'
The front lines will hold for a while even without me.
I should go back to the capital.
"I understand, Mila. I've been too focused on the palace and didn't know much about the outside. Thank you for having the courage to tell me. Once this matter is over, I'll fix everything. You just think about returning safely to your hometown."
"Yes! I'll keep that in mind! Your Highness!"
After calming Mila down appropriately, I brought up the main reason I came here.
"Now. Starting with Eric. Tell me freely, without holding back, about any inconveniences you've experienced while using the musket."