Chapter 840

After making Ha-shal-leur the independent queen of the east to placate the Astraea Church Order and Duke Bien, Leopold had to spend days and nights dealing with the aftermath.

The nobles’ backlash could be left to Duke Bien to handle, but the power vacuum caused by the departure of the Empire’s Greatest Sword and his knights was beyond Duke Bien’s ability to resolve alone.

Before Ha-shal-leur’s independence, the Empire had seven hero-level knights: Ha-shal-leur, the Empire’s Greatest Sword; Damien and Milia of the Épée de Ciel; Joshua and Heinrich of the Sword of Landenburg; Grand Duke Valdemar; and Frederick, the 3rd Legion Commander of the Imperial Army.

However, after Frederick’s death in the war with Ka`har and the defection of Ha-shal-leur’s forces and Landenburg, the Empire was left with only Grand Duke Valdemar as its hero-level knight. The Empire’s top-tier combat power had effectively been emptied.

The only silver lining was that the 4th Legion Commander, who had been tirelessly summoned for monster subjugation, was beginning to step onto the threshold of the Hero’s Wall, much like Valenstein in the past.

Additionally, though not knights, Archbishop Elmain Staldorf and Tower Master Floheta were also said to have surpassed the wall.

However, considering Ha-shal-leur’s martial prowess, the Empire’s combat power had effectively been reduced from seven heroes to just four, including both heroes and quasi-heroes.

Grand Duke Valdemar wouldn’t even care unless it concerned the north, so in reality, it was less than four.

It was a staggering loss of power.

“Though we made a pact to send reinforcements if the Empire were threatened…”

If Ha-shal-leur had remained in the Imperial Capital, it might have been different, but now that she was stationed in the far east, even if reinforcements came, it would take days.

Thus, Leopold, as the Emperor, deeply felt the need to bolster the Empire’s military strength.

Until now, the Empire had relied on Ha-shal-leur’s power to maintain its security, but from now on, it had to endure even if her aid was delayed.

The problem was, it wasn’t that simple.

“Soldiers and knights can be encouraged to train through noble conscription, and in the worst case, large-scale conscription could solve the issue… but master-level and higher combat power can’t be cultivated that way.”

The lack of so-called “high-tier” combat power, masters and heroes.

It was a problem that couldn’t be solved unless the heavens pitied Leopold and bestowed heroes and masters upon him.

Genius recognizes genius, and Ha-shal-leur had swept up prodigies who reached high levels before even turning twenty, but Leopold didn’t have that ability.

Thanks to the Imperial Knight Order being constantly summoned for monster subjugation without a break, about seven new master-level knights had emerged… but none had crossed the Hero’s Wall.

The realm beyond the wall wasn’t something easily granted.

“Unless one is born with heavenly talent, it takes at least twenty years of rigorous training to even challenge that realm.”

Both the 3rd Legion Commander, who had crossed the wall but died in battle, and the 4th Legion Commander, who stood before the wall, left such impressions.

Leopold judged that it would take at least ten years for the Imperial Army to secure its own hero-level combat power.

“…Too late. The Empire can’t afford to wait ten years now.”

Moreover, this was assuming that those with the potential to cross the wall wouldn’t die before blooming. Relying on cultivating heroes to fill Ha-shal-leur’s void was almost wishful thinking.

Thus.

“―Summon Asha Redcooper and Floheta.”

Leopold made his decision. Instead of relying on the uncertain emergence of heroes, he would find a way to replace their power.

—

Asha and Floheta, who had been busy lately, couldn’t refuse the Emperor’s summons while staying in the Imperial Capital.

In the meeting with the two women, Leopold found the key to solving the Empire’s power shortage.

The operational doctrine of the aerial warships that achieved remarkable success in the war between dwarves and fairies, and the method to replicate dwarven firepower through magical engineering.

If he couldn’t create a single hero worth a thousand men, then making ten weapons capable of killing hundreds would suffice, right?

The idea was to replace the power of superhumans with technology and capital, rather than relying on a few exceptional individuals.

Though this was a rather alien concept to the Empire, which had been steeped in heroism due to Ha-shal-leur’s transcendent feats, it wasn’t entirely unprecedented on the continent.

The ideology of the dwarves, who occupied the southwestern part of the continent, aligned perfectly with this.

Thus, Leopold invited Asha, offering her an irresistible price and all sorts of sweet talk.

A Jin’s Silver Sword, gold and silver treasures excavated from the ruins of the Imperial Palace, and exclusive rights to a few metals.

In exchange, Leopold demanded the principles and operational doctrines of artillery. Asha, after some hesitation, accepted.

“Actually, I shouldn’t say this… but I didn’t teach you the gunpowder formula, so it should be fine…? Ah, if anything goes wrong, I’ll flee to Hestela, so you’ll have to take responsibility!”

The moment proved that even the dwarves’ constitution, which punished the leakage of core technology to other races, couldn’t withstand the desire for Jin’s Silver, a metal they couldn’t replicate.

Or perhaps, Asha, unlike other dwarves, had become particularly human-friendly due to her close relationships with the Empire’s people as a special admission student.

Regardless, thanks to this, the Empire gained the technology to manufacture artillery. Though the most crucial aspect, the gunpowder formula, was missing.

And all this technology was passed on to Tower Master Floheta, who arrived after Asha.

“Metal propulsion through explosive pressure… though various technologies have been added to improve accuracy and convenience, the principle itself is surprisingly simple.”

“That’s a relief.”

Floheta showed great interest in the newly revealed principles of artillery.

“Now I understand why the dwarves have desperately hidden the gunpowder formula. If we uncover that, we could mass-produce crude imitations with our technology.”

She immediately understood why the dwarves had kept this a state secret.

While advanced technologies like automatons, small arms, armored tanks, and aerial warships were one thing, the fundamental principle of large-caliber artillery was surprisingly simple to Floheta.

If only they could uncover the gunpowder formula, the Empire could mass-produce artillery and line the city walls with them.

Thus, the dwarves had to desperately hide the formula for gunpowder and artillery.

The reason a race with a population barely reaching ten thousand could proudly occupy the southwestern mountain ranges as an independent nation was solely due to their overwhelming firepower.

Even if other races created firearms, they would be crude mass-produced items compared to dwarven weaponry, but even inferior performance could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

If they had to endure a hundred shells for every one they fired, no amount of technology could sustain them.

For the dwarves, with their extremely small population, the moment their firearm technology leaked would be the moment of their nation’s downfall.

Thus, even though Asha was swayed by the enormous price, she only taught the operational principles of artillery, not the core gunpowder formula.

Artillery without gunpowder was ultimately just a meaningless metal cylinder.

Of course, Leopold had no intention of leaving it as a mere metal cylinder.

The reason he handed over the precious Jin’s Silver Sword and vast wealth to a foreign race wasn’t for a decorative item that couldn’t fire a single shell.

“But, the reason you’re showing this to me…?”

“What else?”

Leopold, who had been engrossed in the blueprints, suddenly felt a surge of unease and smiled at Floheta, who was looking at him with trembling eyes.

“……No way?”

“To guess my intentions before I even reveal them, the Empire’s greatest mage is also the wisest. You are truly the Empire’s treasure among treasures, the pillar supporting the Empire. Since I bestowed upon you the title of Tower Master, I had already foreseen that you would become the Empire’s hope.”

“…….”

“With Marquis Median having left the Empire’s borders, the safety of all the people on this land now rests solely in your hands. Thus, I expect you, as the Empire’s first Grand Sorceress and the Tower Master, to deliver satisfactory results.”

Floheta struggled to control the surging flow of mana within her, lest she accidentally blow off the Emperor’s head with his shameless smile.

—

According to rumors among the Mage Tower researchers, Floheta, upon receiving the order to replicate dwarven artillery through magical engineering, spent days tearing her hair out and screaming like a pterodactyl.

Yet, the fact that she somehow completed it proved her competence.