Chapter 99
Chapter 99
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 99
"Hmm."
A listless sigh escaped Gerard's lips.
"Lately, the flow of supplies has been pretty scarce..."
"Indeed it has."
Fleet Commander Jang Bogo was also gazing at the nautical charts with regret. None of them yet grasped the enormity of the situation they had set in motion.
No—they had refused to grasp it.
"The most important thing is that our identity must never be revealed. Fleet Commander Jang, do you have any ideas?"
At Gerard's question, Bogo only tilted his head.
Knock, knock!
"Come in."
A sailor entered, saluted Gerard, and spoke with an urgent expression.
"The Holy Empire's transport fleet is on the move!"
"What!"
After nearly a month without a payday, Gerard's voice surged with renewed energy. Startled by his intense reaction, the sailor blinked for a moment before continuing, with some reluctance.
"However, their position is a bit... problematic."
"Where?"
At Gerard's prompt follow-up, the sailor stepped toward the charts and pointed out the location. They were between the Holy Empire's concession at the far edge of the Haian Kingdom and the Holy Empire itself.
"Mm."
Anyone could see plainly that striking there would bring nothing but a world of trouble.
"Commander-in-Chief, we must give up on this one."
Bogo's regretful voice filled the air. Gerard fell silent, staring intently at the charts.
"I get the feeling that if we let this one go, the future's going to be just as rough."
"Even so, trying to loot them is out of the question."
At Gerard's deflated tone, Bogo dissuaded him once more. Gerard clicked his tongue at Bogo's words, pulled his gaze from the charts, and sighed.
"Nothing to be done. Poking at something you can't even loot is just a waste of appetite."
At Gerard's decision, Bogo offered a faint smile and added his own opinion.
"A wise decision. In any case, it will be difficult for some time. If—pardon the expression—a naval battle were to break out, there might be some spoils to scavenge, but in the present situation, simply lying low is the superior course."
"Indeed."
"Then I will step out for a short patrol of the perimeter."
Bogo saluted Gerard, turned, and headed for the door. But the moment his hand touched the handle, Gerard's bright voice stopped him.
"Let's set them against each other!"
"Excuse me?"
At the out-of-nowhere declaration, Bogo turned around to find Gerard glaring at the charts with a bizarre smile.
"The way of things is to start a fight and break off negotiations. Kekeke!"
At Gerard's peculiar reasoning, Bogo simply stood there, wide-eyed and speechless. Yet one suspicion settled in his mind: Gerard was about to do something enormous.
* * *
Swoooosh!
Five enormous transport ships, flying the banners of the Henesia Holy Empire, flanked by some twenty escort ships, were cutting fiercely through the night-dark waters.
"Yaaawn!"
"Your mouth's gonna split, Berin."
"Tch."
Beneath a dark, cloud-choked sky that hid even the moon, men fought off drowsiness to carry out their assigned duties once more tonight.
"Dammit, what's the point of this many escorts when the damned transport fleet's practically home?"
Muttering as he dug sleep from his eyes and picked his nose, Berin was answered by the man who had been scolding him, snorting in amusement as if offering advice.
"Still gotta stay sharp. Sure, these waters are safe, but we still need to be careful."
"Well, unless some lunatic's out there, nobody's gonna attack this fleet to strip it bare."
"Right."
As Berin nodded at his comrade's words, the man answered back as if giving his firm assurance. But at that very moment—!
BOOM! CRASH!
"Uwaaaak!"
"Aaaagh!"
With that exchange, Berin and the man were hurled into the sea.
No matter where you go, lunatics always, always exist.
"What the—!"
BOOOOM!
"Uwaagh!"
Flaming heavy bolts came hurtling into the fleet's flanks and embedded themselves deep. Thanks to the element of surprise, three or four escort ships were instantly engulfed in fire.
"Enemy attack!"
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
A clamorous ringing of bells erupted from the twenty-odd escort ships. Even before the bells had begun, sailors were already dashing about frantically in the firelight that turned night into day.
Shwoooosh!
BOOM! CRASH!
"Aaaagh!"
"Bring water!"
"Put those fires out!"
Lit by the burning ships, the incoming heavy bolts began to strike with pinpoint accuracy. But even amid the chaos, the silhouettes of their attackers were not hard to spot.
"That way! Bring up the ballistae!"
"On the double!"
Curses flew across the escort fleet as they hurried into a counterattack.
"Fire!"
TWANG! TWANG! TWANG!
Shwoooosh!
In moments, dozens of ballista bolts trailing fire arced into the sky. Like shooting stars, the flames soared—only to splash futilely into the seawater. Yet not all was wasted.
"They're closer than we thought!"
"Lower the angle!"
The blazing light from the dozens of ballista bolts had done its duty: it revealed the positions of the attacking enemy ships.
"Ready!"
"Set them alight!"
Whoooosh!
Their training had been reasonably thorough; the soldiers manning the ballistae moved with brisk efficiency.
"Fire!"
TWANG! TWANG-TWANG-TWANG!
Confident they now had a rough fix on the enemy position, they launched a heavier volley than before. Close to a hundred ballista bolts flew through the air.
Splash!
Splash, splash!
BOOOOM!
"A hit!"
BOOM! BOOM!
"Another hit!"
Explosions rumbled from afar and pillars of flame shot upward. Emboldened by the sight of the towering conflagration, the soldiers' hands sped up. But the enemy did not remain idle.
Shwoooosh!
BOOOOM!
BOOM!
"Uwaagh!"
Flames crashed past the escort ships and slammed into the transports, tearing screams from the stricken hulls. The enemy fire rained down, deliberately bypassing the escorts to hammer the transports.
"Hurk!"
BOOM! CRASH!
At the roar of the explosion from the transports, the escort flagship commander involuntarily whipped his head around and a cry escaped his lips.
"The Nakeubel!"
The Nakeubel, the largest and most majestic of the transports, had been struck by some twenty flaming bolts and was now groaning its way down into the sea. It was sheer misfortune. It was not a ship that should sink from twenty-odd hits, but concentrated fire had driven seven or eight bolts straight into her center.
But the true problem was the fact that the admiral of the Holy Empire's 1st Fleet, returning from overseas inspection, was aboard that very ship.
"Launch the rescue boats!"
"Save the Admiral!"
Swallowing his fury, the escort flagship commander wheeled toward the enemy—only to find the enemy ships mocking them, singling out the transports for attack. He snarled out his orders.
"The Sonaton and the Korinne are to commence rescue operations for the sunken transport! All remaining ships, concentrate fire on the enemy! Wizard, relay the orders at once!"
"Aye!"
The escort flagship commander's voice poured across the fleet.
"Destroy the enemy ships one by one, starting with the one at the very front of their formation!"
The escort flagship commander ground his teeth as he watched the enemy formation cruise at what seemed like tauntingly close range. Moments later, countless heavy bolts left the ballistae, soaring toward the enemy with the promise of vengeance.
"All ships, come about!"
As Fleet Commander Jang Bogo's voice carried through, the fireballs at the rear of the fleet began to wheel in the darkness, like sparks twirled on a stick. Across the formation, every ship painted circles of flame, and the fleet commenced a rapid turnaround. But unlike usual, the speed of the reversal was maddeningly slow. The reason was simple: the ships they had brought this time were not their own flat-bottomed vessels.
Their flat-bottomed boats resisted heavy seas, turned on a dime, and lost little power through their oars. In contrast, these ships—with their sharp keels—turned sluggishly, and their oars lost far more energy compared to the oars of the Gauri Navy.
"Dammit! When we get back, first thing's an overhaul of the oars."
A curse, uncharacteristic of him, slipped from Bogo's mouth. Just then, Gerard strode up beside him.
"Hah! We've been holding back all this time 'cause we might damage the cargo, but when you let 'em have it for real, this is actually pretty fun."
Gerard was, as ever, carefree in his assessments.
Shwoooosh!
"Incoming!"
As fireballs arced toward them, a sailor's warning rang out.
Splash! Splaaash!
Swoooosh!
The geysers kicked up by the plunging heavy bolts drenched the fleet, but none found a solid hit. It was never going to be easy for the pursuers to pin down enemies who had prepared from the start to fire a few volleys and then flee. And given their, shall we say, line of work, running away was their supreme specialty.
BAAAANG!
"A hit!"
A shout burst from the lead vessel's sailors. The lead ship of the Gauri Navy, already groaning from the previous exchange, bellowed again as flames erupted from its hull.
"Hell yeah!"
Even though it was their own ship that had been struck, Gerard's voice was bursting with amusement. The ship, now engulfed in flames, began to slowly sink. Bogo's command followed immediately.
"Cut the lines!"
Thwack!
"Full speed retreat!"
"Yeeeehaw!"
What possible reason could they have to cheer while their own ship sank? Even though it was unquestionably one of their own.
"That should make for some pretty damn good evidence."
Gerard's satisfied murmur slipped out.
Amid the cheering sailors, Gerard watched his own ship sink with an air of immense relief.
"It does seem a bit cruel."
"Hmph. Those bastards deserved to die. In any case, the sacrifice was necessary."
Fleet Commander Jang Bogo watched their lines be severed and the ship go down, exactly as Gerard had ordered. The hull had been coated in oil beforehand, so the fire spread from the enemy's ballista hits devoured the vessel and sank it into the sea within moments.
The problem was that there were more than two hundred living souls aboard that ship. They were pirates from the Slegian Maritime Empire.
No—to be precise, they were naval personnel.
The reason Gerard had sent them such an icy look was not merely that they plundered at sea. He had personally witnessed them landing on the coast, dragging off every woman they could find, stripping them naked, and releasing them on their own base to be raped like hunted game.
The women, seized and abandoned naked, threw themselves into the sea or died from the bites of venomous insects. Even those who were caught and raped were simply discarded afterward. There was nowhere for them to flee on that island. Their choices were death or survival in the manner of primitives. In this way, those naked women became a perpetual plaything for the Slegian Maritime Empire's navy, whose side duties included outright piracy. They were pirates anyway—but they had gone far beyond the pale.
Having witnessed these atrocities, the enraged Gauri Navy had subdued them, but the men were vicious, hardened types who had repeatedly attempted rebellion even afterward. So Gerard had steeled his heart and consigned them to a watery grave.
The two hundred-odd men were hauled from the prison where they'd been held, fed drugged food, and collapsed unconscious. Then they were placed aboard a Slegian Maritime Empire ship—a vessel already judged to be unavoidably wrecked in a sea battle—and set adrift at the right coordinates to serve as a target.
Because it was a Slegian Maritime Empire ship, its design and timbers were distinct from those of other nations. To complete the picture, the Gauri Navy had gone further, scattering carved wooden Slegian emblems and fire-scorched Slegian flags across the battlefield during the exchange.
"Well, we did smash one of theirs too, so we didn't exactly come out on the losing side. Kikikiki!"
As he gazed at the burning bait-ship slipping under the waves, Gerard admired the sinking of the single largest transport in the Henesia Holy Empire's fleet and ran his own private profit-and-loss calculation. The vessels in Gerard's fleeing fleet had been lightly armed to begin with, and because they had been selected exclusively from captured Slegian Maritime Empire ships, they could outrun the pursuing Holy Empire warships.
Gerard's operation—picking a fight over a prize he couldn't have—was designed to ignite a small war. By sinking the Holy Empire 1st Fleet's admiral, it had accomplished exactly that, raising the curtain on a far greater conflict.
The author of all this chaos, Gerard, savoring the long-awaited action as if it were a satisfying workout, hummed to himself while nursing strong rum, feasting on the blazing firelight.