Chapter 660

Countless Black Iron Swords were shattered as my training continued, even after arriving at the border fortress.

The supply officer, looking utterly distressed, lamented that if I kept breaking swords like this, there wouldn’t be enough Black Iron Swords left to arm the knights. So, I ended up using something else instead of the swords.

– *Clang!*

I released the tension in my arm, muscles and tendons visibly bulging, and set down the hunk of metal I was holding. With a heavy *thud*, the ground shook slightly.

“Good heavens…”

Leonor looked at the twisted hunk of metal I had set down with a mix of awe and exhaustion. It was more like a metal pillar than anything else—thick and massive enough to serve as the central pillar of a mansion. It was twisted like a rag wrung out by a maid harboring infinite hatred for housework.

Since I didn’t need a weapon to wield against enemies but just an unbreakable training tool, the supply officer suggested using steel pillars instead. So, we gathered an enormous amount of steel and created this monstrosity.

It was so massive that it wouldn’t break easily, and even if it did, unlike Black Iron, which was hard to repair unless you were a dwarf, steel could be melted down and reused.

“There’s a limit to how inhuman you can be. How on earth do you even lift that thing?”

“Skillfully.”

I answered curtly, massaging my sore arm muscles.

It was definitely heavy. Just focusing my Life Force Technique while lifting it made me sweat buckets.

It was like Joshua’s Giant Hunting Sword had been turned into a giant metal club. The sheer size and weight were so absurd that no one else could even think of lifting it, and even I felt a bit ridiculous swinging it around.

If I tried to swing it, my entire body would just get dragged along.

*‘If I hit Or-han with this, wouldn’t he just die?’*

[He’d probably just fly backward.]

Hersela snorted as if to say, *‘Don’t get ahead of yourself.’* Well, if weight alone could solve things, someone like Hatan would’ve tried it already.

After catching my breath, I lifted the twisted hunk of metal again and infused it with Life Force Technique.

“Ooh…”

Nigel, who had been watching me—or rather, the hunk of metal—with admiration, set down the boulder he was holding and quickly walked off somewhere. Probably to pester the poor supply officer into ordering more steel weights. Compared to mine, his would be featherlight.

“Ahem…”

After Nigel left, Ja-han, who had been leaning against the wall, cleared his throat and walked over to the boulder Nigel had left behind.

“Huuuuh!”

Grabbing the boulder, Ja-han lifted it high with both hands, then let go with one hand, holding it aloft with a single arm while trembling slightly. He glanced at me and smirked.

What’s this guy trying to prove? Does he want praise for lifting it with one hand? Watching him made me lose focus on my Life Force Technique.

It’s his business if he wants to compete with Nigel, but what’s the point of showing off when Nigel’s not even here?

[That’s right! That’s my Paladin for you. We can’t let those Imperial dogs outmuscle us!]

…Okay, maybe there was a point.

As Hersela’s voice started boasting in my head, I sighed like an officer who’d just been gifted a battalion of incompetents.

It’s not a bad thing to lighten the mood, but this was just too much. It was like a bad comedy skit.

[What are you waiting for? Go praise my Paladin right now!]

Hersela even tried to drag me into this farce, implying that if I didn’t praise Ja-han immediately, something very annoying would happen.

Sure, she might just subtly disrupt my Life Force Technique, grumble in my head all day, or go on a silent strike… but any of those would be annoying.

“Sigh…”

I set down the hunk of metal and reluctantly praised Ja-han.

“Impressive. As expected of Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur’s Paladin.”

Hearing that, Ja-han smirked while still trembling.

With that bandit-like grin, he didn’t look reliable at all. It was more like, *‘Heh. What a windfall. A woman like this just fell into my lap.’*

“…Do I have to lift that too?”

Leonor muttered, looking at Ja-han with an expression that was either pity or disgust.

—

While the rest of us were deep in training, others were busy fortifying the border fortress.

Fortifying a fortress might sound redundant, but seeing the soldiers working tirelessly under the scorching sun with shovels, pickaxes, and logs made it clear that it was the perfect description.

The Dane border fortress was, to put it nicely, shoddy. To put it bluntly, it was a mess. It was more of a checkpoint than a fortress, with just one small, low castle.

When I gave Ludwig a look that said, *‘Is this even a fortress?’* he coughed awkwardly and started explaining.

“It used to be a proper border fortress. Not as high as the Barrier, but it had walls… and even a moat and inner castle. But it was completely destroyed nine years ago.”

The fortress had been obliterated by Or-han’s Ka`har forces, leaving not a single foundation stone. The rebuilt fortress didn’t receive proper support from the central government, so the construction was rushed and half-hearted.

At first, it sounded unbelievable, but then I remembered that the emperor at the time was a lunatic who died after harassing a young girl under Isabella’s influence. It made sense that no one cared about rebuilding a border fortress back then.

If it had been Ludwig’s territory, he would’ve spent his own money to reinforce it, but the Dane border area was Imperial land, so he couldn’t intervene.

After Leopold ascended the throne, there were so many urgent matters that this was overlooked.

In any case, the border fortress we arrived at looked like it couldn’t even stop Dane farmers, let alone Ka`har forces. So, Ludwig immediately started turning it into a proper defensive position.

The first step was impaling the neck of the border supervisor, who was sweating bullets while welcoming Ludwig.

Some baron or something—not worth remembering his name.

If he had just been negligent, a light punishment would’ve sufficed, but a quick investigation revealed he was far worse.

He took bribes to smuggle Dane people across the border, embezzled merchants’ goods as tolls, and if he found a particularly beautiful woman among the travelers, he’d label her a spy after a ‘personal’ inspection and sentence her to life imprisonment or execution.

All the spies sentenced to life imprisonment were women, and they served their sentences not in a prison but in the supervisor’s mansion basement. What a scumbag.

Even if Ludwig hadn’t beheaded him, he would’ve been dragged to the execution grounds once the Empire stabilized.

All the women who had been sentenced to life imprisonment participated in his execution. It was quite an enthusiastic execution, even by my standards.

I’d bet even Lacey, who once found a man rubbing himself against an Elpinel statue, couldn’t have made someone suffer like that.

After dumping the former supervisor’s remains in a field, Ludwig mobilized the fortress’s defenders and the soldiers he brought to start building various defensive structures.

They cut down trees to make palisades and stakes, dug wide and deep moats in front of the palisades, and set up watchtowers and defensive positions everywhere.

Of course, Ludwig just gave the orders while the soldiers did all the hard work.

But thanks to Joshua’s help, digging and cutting trees became much easier.

With a single swing of his Giant Hunting Sword, all the trees within a dozen meters were cut down, and digging with that sword created holes that would’ve taken a hundred soldiers hours to make.

“Ooh, as expected of Sir Joshua…!”

“The first sword of Landenburg!”

The soldiers, spared from a day of backbreaking labor under the scorching sun, praised Joshua like a savior. But Joshua, who had to dig holes with the power that proved he had reached the Realm of Heroes, looked utterly disillusioned, like a sage who had seen the truth of the world.

“I didn’t cross the wall to be used for this kind of work…”

“It’s the Lord of the Borderlands’ orders… You could consider this training…”

Heinrich, who had also been roped into digging because of his suitability for it, encouraged Joshua while shaking the earth to make it easier for the soldiers to dig.

Heinrich didn’t look particularly happy either, so I decided to keep quiet about who suggested using them for digging.

…I did nothing wrong. It’s funny, but it’s still training.

Even the Heroic Tale requires repeated use to master.

—

Ludwig held daily military meetings, discussing various strategies with his subordinates. Though there weren’t many results.

The commanders could only suggest basic tactics like forming a circular formation with soldiers and placing archers inside to counter enemy horse archers.

It wasn’t their fault—this area didn’t have the terrain for elaborate strategies.

There were no steep cliffs, no vast forests for large-scale fire attacks, and no canals to drown the enemy. The commanders must’ve been just as frustrated.

“In the end, we’ll just have to hope the Dane people fight as hard as they can.”

Someone’s muttered words perfectly summarized our situation.

—

Three days later.

“I want to meet Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur. If not her, then the overall commander here.”

A Dane man with three arrows in his back and burns all over his left arm, supported by a Dane female warrior, came looking for me.

He had a very familiar face.

I never imagined I’d meet him here.