Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Fland, the Ambiguous City
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When Sion first fell into this world, he came in a bit overprepared—almost stark naked, really.
The basic clothes and boots given during character creation, plus a single shortsword—that was all he had.
So, assuming other users followed the lore of AWS's world, they would arrive under the same conditions.
Of course, their weapons would differ.
Some might carry a bow, others a spear. A pervert aiming to become a noob could pick a whip or a tree branch.
But no matter what, the basic issued weapon wouldn't last a few months.
In the end—whether buying, stealing, or killing and looting—they'd have to acquire other weapons and armor in this world.
And not just once, but periodically, for hundreds of thousands—not even that many.
"Millions of them."
It was from over ninety years ago, a distant memory, but he still remembered it clearly.
- A fantasy world where over 100 million NPCs each act independently and freely!
- A groundbreaking server handling 10 million simultaneous connections without issue!
The promotional slogans for AWS (Another World Saga).
At first glance, he'd dismissed them as hype.
Over 100 million NPCs? Come on, exaggerate moderately.
But living long in this world had taught him otherwise.
"And yet, it actually happened!"
He hadn't counted them personally, of course, but factoring in the approximate population of the Obla Kingdom, the inland sea's city-states and great territories, and other kingdoms, the math shockingly suggested the total population might truly exceed 100 million.
That meant users could number in the actual "tens of millions."
"Though in reality, probably a million at most."
But if even a fraction of those millions of users—or some of them—used equipment made in the Sion Dukedom?
What? If it were a real game system, users would chase legendary or unique gear drops, right?
Then just slap "legendary" or "unique" on it.
If anyone could easily get such items, why had Sion gone through hell to acquire his current weapons and armor?
And the most important point.
"Equipment from our dukedom is better than most rare items anyway. Dwarves aren't that easy to come by."
Even among humans, there were exceptional blacksmiths, but a skilled human artisan from a minor territory couldn't match an ordinary Iron Mountain dwarf blacksmith.
Iron Mountain teemed with such ordinary blacksmiths, and it had several even more elite masters.
In short.
Even standard gear not made from monster byproducts—Sion Dukedom products were tier 1.
So, in this world facing an era of upheaval, not only knights and mercenaries, but users too would have no choice but to want Sion Dukedom gear.
"Hmm. Still, just in case, I need to educate Vodka a bit more."
His abilities were decent, but his greed was too strong. Without periodic "education" (beatings), who knew when he'd stray again? Sion steeled himself.
"What was that, sir?"
"Hm? Nothing."
Piot, having overheard the mutter, asked cautiously, but Sion shook his head.
"By the way, Grandfather, about that Big Tusks."
Piot lowered his voice as he spoke.
"What's with him?"
"Those of us who know your true identity accept Big Tusks's behavior. But the other troops seem to find it strange."
An ogre kneeling to a stranger, eating grilled meat offered, taking leftovers home, even taking on some unclear role like hunting ground keeper or mountain warden—who'd just go "Ah, makes sense" about that?
"Oh, that? No need to worry."
Sion understood Piot's concern but shook his head.
"I was planning to gather the troops tonight and explain properly anyway."
"Ah... Yes, sir."
Piot didn't know what explanation, but he worried if it'd work.
Surprisingly, that evening at the camp near the relay station, Sion's explanation to the assembled troops was effective.
"Big Tusks can see the divine oath too."
"Gasp!?"
"Yeah. He's part of the Sion Dukedom now. But the other mid-to-large monsters aren't. That's why they attacked us."
"Aha!"
Even those harboring doubts about Sion all understood at once.
"As long as we don't venture deep into Big Tusks's territory in the Brandin Mountains, we won't see him again.
So just leave him be. He'll regulate and manage the numbers of other mid-to-large monsters in the mountains as our dukedom affiliate. Alright, no more issues?"
"Yes, sir!"
A few minor doubts lingered, but all nodded.
"Then get some early rest. We leave at dawn—we need to reach Fland by tomorrow midday."
Sion's next stop was Fland, another city he'd scouted with Rozin before shoving its boss's head in with his eldest brother's.
* * *
Fland was the Sion Dukedom's fourth-largest city and the line maintaining the boundary called a "city."
Its registered resident population was around 12,000, swelling to about 20,000 with the surrounding area. Fland was, well, ambiguous in many ways.
Shionia was the dukedom's capital and hub; Paloma was Shionia's satellite city and premier port; Rozin sat at the southern tip of the peninsular dukedom, a mandatory stop for merchant ships heading from the inland sea toward the Obla Kingdom.
But Fland, positioned along a river lower downstream, had a port but no standout specialties. Merchant ships had no need to struggle upstream.
And while it took half a day plus by land from Rozin to Fland, ships hugging the coast took only four to six hours.
The problem? Fland to Paloma by ship was also just four to six hours.
So ships stopping at Paloma or Rozin could reach the other in half a day of hard sailing—leaving no reason to bother with the "awkwardly" placed Fland.
Land travel was the same.
Rozin, Shionia, and Paloma were linked by the "Sion Road"—a national highway begun in Sion's era and completed under his firstborn Theo's reign.
But Fland lay about 20 kilometers off the Sion Road. Without the intensive construction and maintenance of that well-kept highway, it was just a rural path in poor condition.
Moreover, Sion Road had relay stations every 5 to 10 kilometers at most—some mere huts, but most developed into proper relay villages.
So unless couriers or residents absolutely had to go to Fland, they'd rest at a relay station or village rather than trek the extra "awkward" hours there.
Everything else followed suit.
Its regional population was ambiguous, farmland middling, fisheries and livestock just enough to sustain the city—nothing more.
Thus, despite its central location in the Sion Dukedom, Fland became an "ambiguous" city in presence.
"No wonder even I visited the more southern Rozin first."
Riding Blackie along the national highway his successor had embarrassingly named "Sion Road," Sion felt an odd sensation. Back when he started building it, it'd been just a road.
In hindsight, there'd been no real need to pioneer a city here.
Yet no territory or nation left their central lands vacant.
Of course, Fland's spot was a bit ambiguous for "dead center."
Anyway, hugging the river with decent positioning and farmland too good to waste (ambiguous, as always), Fland was built.
But these guys had ambiguous attitudes too.
"Any unusual movements from Fland?"
"No, sir. They sent couriers daily when you and the Sparrowhawk Unit headed to Rozin, but it's been dead silent the last few days."
The ranger from yesterday's camp relay station answered Sion's question.
He was the guide who'd led them through winding paths without signs—barely distinguishable as human or beast trails—toward Fland.
"Starting a few days ago. Maybe they heard we wiped out the monster horde at the dukedom's southern end?"
"Doubt it, sir. I only heard from you yesterday myself."
The Sion Road's importance demanded constant maintenance (repairs and patrols), with relay station rangers handling that duty.
Commonly called "highway rangers," they got all dukedom news first.
If they hadn't known until yesterday, Fland surely hadn't heard of the subjugation either.
"Got it. Ah, is that Corinth Forest ahead?"
"Yes, sir."
"I know the way from there, so head back to your station. Thanks for the hard work, ranger."
"No trouble, sir. With monsters prowling near the Sion Road, we were worried, but you and the Sparrowhawk Unit took care of it. We're relieved. Thank you, sir."
The ranger saluted crisply and rode his gau back the way they'd come.
"Monsters reaching highway vicinity means things were seriously bad, Grandfather."
Piot remarked, watching the ranger recede.
"Yeah. Everything—people, goods—relies on the roads. The whole dukedom nearly ground to a halt."
Of course, it probably hadn't actually.
Each relay had 10-odd rangers on rotating shifts, patrolling in groups of 5-6 by day.
Small monsters, even in packs of dozens, never attacked mounted, armed rangers.
That'd be like middle-school edgelords charging fully geared mounted police in open fields.
Yeah—suicide.
"But Fland going from frantic couriers to total silence is suspicious."
"Mm."
Sion agreed something was off.
Fland sat on a river over a kilometer wide downstream, dotted with large and small islands thick with reeds and pampas grass.
Sion had once thought it resembled the Han River from his ancient past.
Sure, the modern Han (last he remembered) had only Seonyudo, Bam Island, Nodeul Island—but before channelization, sandbars abounded, or so he'd heard.
Fland's river and surrounds matched that.
Meaning plenty of freshwater ecosystem animals and monsters.
They'd surely been hit by this incident too, prompting Fland's desperate pleas for aid via courier.
For those guys to suddenly clam up overnight?
"We'll see when we get there. Let's hurry—three or four hours tops."
"Yes, sir."
Three hours later.
Sion and the Sparrowhawk Unit arrived at Fland, the dukedom's final ambiguous city, past forests and river branches.
What awaited them.
"Hahaha! Welcome! I'm Zaitz of the Galen family. Ah, we're from the Gooselander Kingdom."
A noble from the Gooselander Kingdom, midway between Sion Dukedom and Yajan, with numerous knights and hundreds of troops.
This "foreign" noble had entered the Sion Dukedom without permission or notice.
(To be continued)