The Bellport Naval Battle
“Ugh…”
“I-I’m retiring… I’m done being a mage…”
“Bleeeeh…”
Three days later, after several consecutive all-nighters, we finished engraving all the magic circles.
Maybe it was because I pushed myself to the brink of mana depletion several times, but my mana efficiency had increased ridiculously.
Seeing the mages’ skills improve as well, it seemed to be a pretty effective training method.
Of course, the parties involved didn’t seem to agree at all.
Empty mana potion bottles were rolling around on the factory floor, and the mages were sprawled out between them.
It looked like they had already been through a war.
“You all really worked hard…”
Even my voice lacked energy, since I had been working through the nights with them.
But seeing the finished product made the fatigue melt away.
The rifled cannons and shells filling one side of the workshop.
With this much firepower, even the Imperial fleet wouldn’t be able to stop us.
I woke Seria, who was asleep, slumped over in the chair next to me.
“Seria.”
Startled by her name, she shot up from her seat.
Seria had been watching over me until dawn, and was only sleeping because I told her to get some rest.
“Yes, yessir! My lord! You called for me!”
She must have been exhausted from assisting me for days, but she was struggling to maintain her knightly composure.
A strand of hair is stuck to your mouth.
I brushed the hair away from her lips and spoke.
“Did you call for the transport wagons?”
“Ah, yessir…! I had the wagons waiting outside the workshop since dawn. The knights who arrived last night should be waiting as well.”
“Good. Now load up all the finished cannons and shells. Not a single one left behind.”
“Yes, sir. But…”
Seria glanced at the mages collapsed on the floor, a troubled expression on her face.
“What should we do about them?”
At her words, a few of the mages lying face-down on the floor looked up at me with desperate eyes.
Their expressions clearly screamed, ‘Please just let us go home.’
But I shook my head.
I couldn’t just let go of the high-quality manpower I had gathered with such difficulty.
“No. Load them onto the cargo beds too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Gasp… M-My prince… Surely you don’t plan to just throw us into the sea like this…”
The senior mage started muttering strange things.
For such a smart person to become this… unhinged, it really shows that overwork is bad for one’s mental health.
Come to think of it, I died from overwork too.
Still, in this life, I have aura, so it’s much more bearable than my previous one.
“What are you suddenly talking about? You guys still have to prepare for the war.”
“…Huh? We clearly came here under the impression that we were only helping with the weapon production…”
“Huh? No. The Mage Corps Commander sent you here saying you’d be participating in the battle.”
“That bastard… I mean, the Commander said that…?”
“Yeah.”
It was clearly approved by the Mage Corps Commander, but it seemed he hadn’t actually informed them separately.
Well, I had no intention of having them directly participate in the combat.
“I’m not telling you to fight. We’re setting up batteries on the islands. We need interception magic circles to block long-range magic or ballista attacks from the enemy fleet. And to detonate the shells at the exact right timing, I need skilled people who can delicately manipulate mana resonance.”
“……”
The mages made sour faces at my words.
“Anyway, it’ll take a while to get to the islands, so let’s sleep until then. I’m tired too.”
“Yes… understood.”
The senior mage squeezed his eyes shut and nodded, while the mages collapsed behind him shed tears.
A few days later, the Eastern Coast.
A narrow strait that must be crossed to trade with other continents.
The defining feature of this eastern coast is the labyrinth of large and small islands tangled together.
With so many islands, the currents are also chaotically intertwined, making it a sea where even seasoned sailors cannot let their guard down.
Of course, the Empire is highly likely aware of this information.
No, they definitely know.
They’ve invaded this area so often, after all.
But knowing the terrain well doesn’t change anything.
The Empire is still arrogant, confident that they will win.
Lexion is probably coming himself, right?
He’s from the southern Empire. His speech is quite refined, but his personality is rough and cruel.
The original novel’s setting is that the Emperor of the Empire took him in when he was a pirate.
But now that the Emperor has fallen.
He’s probably on the Imperial Faction’s side, but still an outsider.
Of course, Crown Prince Kallian doesn’t look down on Lexion for being a former pirate.
Surprisingly, Kallian doesn’t have that kind of elitism.
But the other nobles in the Imperial Faction probably think differently.
A commoner.
And on top of that, a former pirate. He’s probably being subtly ostracized.
His inferiority complex would make him want to prove his worth.
And he’d want to woo Aila on top of that.
I focused mana into my eyes and stared out at the distant sea.
The weather in Bellport was clear and sunny without a single cloud.
Seria was beside me, watching the sea as well.
“Nice weather.”
“Yes, it is.”
Today marked the one-month mark that Brother Rowen had promised to buy us time by any means necessary.
I heard he stalled by making unreasonable demands, but I don’t know the exact details.
“Is the camouflage for the batteries all finished?”
“Yes, the mages built earthen mounds and used bushes and paint to camouflage them thoroughly.”
“Good. What about the loading crews?”
“The powder charges and shells are loaded. They are currently standing by on each island, and the knights can fire immediately upon the signal.”
“Excellent.”
The communication network was established by stationing the knights sworn to me on each island.
It would have been impossible if the distance between the islands had been even slightly greater.
“My lord.”
Seria, who had been keeping watch, reported in a tense voice.
“The enemy’s vanguard fleet has entered the strait’s entrance.”
As she said, hundreds of wooden ships were pouring in with their sails fully unfurled, moving in perfect unison.
At the bow of the lead flagship, a flag symbolizing the Imperial Navy was fluttering.
And the figure standing on it had long red hair reaching his shoulders and bronze skin.
It was Lexion, the Imperial Navy Admiral and one of the original novel’s male leads.
His face, visible in my field of view, was overflowing with confidence.
To enter this narrow and dangerous strait, trusting only in the power of their fleet.
The sight of the large wooden ships tightly packed together as they entered the narrow passage was truly spectacular.
I counted them. Exactly 133 ships were coming.
Of course, not all of them were warships; some appeared to be transport ships carrying troops and supplies.
133 ships… That number sounds familiar.
I’m no Admiral Yi Sun-sin. I don’t have the confidence to smash 133 ships with just 13.
Fortunately, I don’t have just 13 ships.
And I have 155mm rifled cannons.
If I lose with these, I’d truly be an incompetent commander.
If there’s one thing I’m worried about…
I don’t know what will happen if I kill one of the original protagonists.
It’s not that I’m foolish enough to think of letting him live and go free when I’ve already started a war.
It’s just that I don’t know how the original story’s flow will be twisted.
Lexion is a character who later plays a huge role in dealing with the Sea Monsters.
And above all, he’s connected to the original heroine, Aila.
The most important thing is Aila’s reaction.
We can handle the Sea Monsters ourselves, and the original story’s flow was already derailed the moment I was reincarnated into this world.
The biggest problem is how Aila will react to the Espada Kingdom if I kill Lexion.
I wonder if physical weapons work on Spirits?
I’ve never actually seen a Spirit, so I don’t know.
Anyway, what’s important now isn’t that, but the enemy in front of me.
Whether Aila brings the Great Spirit later to try and kill me, I’ll think about that when the time comes.
Thinking that, I sent a pulse of mana through the communication network to the connected knights.
[You’re all aiming properly, right?]
[Yes, my lord. The enemy flagship and vanguard group are perfectly within range.]
[The follow-up fleet is also entering the range of Batteries 2 and 3!]
[Good. Wait and fire immediately upon my signal.]
That’s a disgustingly large number.
It was the first time I had actually seen that many ships, so even I started to get a little nervous.
How much time passed like that?
[My lord. The enemy fleet is expected to reach the target point in 10 seconds.]
[All batteries, fire!]
The voice of the knight on the foremost island came through the mana communication network.
10 seconds.
Beyond my field of vision, Lexion’s face standing at the bow began to come into clear view.
He was frowning as if something was displeasing him.
Was it the intuition of someone who had reached the peak of Expert?
But he probably couldn’t recognize it as a premonition of his own death.
5 seconds.
The enemy’s vanguard fleet entered the narrowest point of the strait.
3 seconds.
The following ships also entered the space between the islands, right in the middle of the position we had designated.
1 second.
I gave the order to the knights connected through the Oath of Mana.