Ch.263263. Korean Peninsula (2)

But at this point, one might wonder:

Seorabeol was a nation so interested in magic that it made the cultivation of Awakened and mages a national project.

One might think that such a nation would have at least one mage who had mastered teleportation magic, which even the Cult of Immortality knew about. Indeed, there were definitely mages in the Seorabeol Mage Society who had mastered teleportation magic.

So it seemed reasonable that they could use teleportation magic to instantly transport supplies to Seoul or deploy troops. Unfortunately, using teleportation magic for military purposes was impossible in the current Seorabeol—in the current era.

“An individual might manage it, but using it for groups requires an insane amount of magical power.”

“I thought as much.”

“Yes. It’s not just the distance. Transmitting weapons for tens of thousands of people? I’d dry up and die from magical power depletion before the spell could even activate.”

First, there was the insufficient capacity of existing teleportation mages.

The distance for teleportation magic was quite long, and moreover, the amount of supplies Seoul demanded was beyond imagination.

While food could be supplied from territories controlled by Cheongju or Kim Su-ho without teleportation magic, the weapons, clothing, and various tools required by soldiers participating in the Seoul front demanded quantities for tens of thousands of people.

The idea of moving that enormous mass and weight with a single mage’s teleportation magic was nothing more than a fantasy that ignored even the law of equivalent exchange.

“Then what about researching large-scale teleportation…”

“In this urgent situation? This is research that would take at least 10 years to show any results.”

“That’s right!”

It was also difficult to utilize the Seorabeol Mage Society’s unique research culture.

The mages in the society believed this was definitely not research that would yield short-term results, and even if the research succeeded, there was no certainty it could be commercialized.

Above all, if asked whether they felt the urgency for teleportation magic research right now, even that was questionable from the society’s perspective.

“It’s not like we have no other options. We’re managing supply just fine.”

“Teleportation magic would be convenient, sure. But even teleportation magic circles are expensive…”

Of course, since teleportation magic existed, some individual schools within the Seorabeol Mage Society had researched it for commercial applications.

The result was the teleportation magic circle, which revolutionized transportation by allowing instant movement within range. However, even this had a major problem.

The issue was that teleportation required magical power proportional to the mass being transported.

“Magical power can be supplied with magic stones, so that’s not a problem. The problem is whether the cost of those magic stones is worth it.”

“If it were me, I’d rather use public transportation than a teleportation magic circle. It’s hundreds of times cheaper.”

The magic stones used in teleportation magic circles had to be high quality, making them quite expensive even by Seorabeol standards, where magic stones were relatively common.

Obtaining these expensive magic stones was one problem, but whether using them for teleportation magic circles was worth it was another question. Using them as energy resources would be more efficient, and for civilians, using public transportation was cheaper and faster.

Even Finance Minister Lee Hyeon-a, who had once tried to use this for a logistics revolution, immediately gave up after seeing the insane cost.

“Of course, if we improve the efficiency of magic circles, reduce the required magic stones, eliminate unnecessary processes, and develop new technologies, someday teleportation magic circles might be commercialized at a cheap price. But when would that happen? Maybe in about 20 years?”

Realistically, there wasn’t enough time.

Yes, if efficiency improved, eventually the required magic stones would decrease, and it might be possible to teleport large amounts of supplies with fewer magic stones.

However, from Seorabeol’s perspective, currently engaged in war, they couldn’t rely solely on technology that might arrive at some unknown future date.

Death Knight brigades that had easily passed through the Seoul front had appeared, and half the forces established on the Korean peninsula were hostile to the allied forces in this situation.

“…In that sense, the military’s proposal to use teleportation magic circles for material transport is unrealistic.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If implemented, Seorabeol would go bankrupt before long.”

So Hyeon-a firmly blocked Jeong Dong-geon’s proposal by mentioning bankruptcy, saying they couldn’t use it.

At her statement that they really wouldn’t last long if they started using teleportation magic circles for material transport, Jeong Dong-geon swallowed regretfully.

From the military’s perspective, it would be easier and faster to transport materials to Seoul with a single click of a teleportation magic circle rather than fighting looters who constantly targeted supply lines.

The military was also aware of the potential of teleportation magic, which made it all the more regrettable, but as with everything, it required an enormous budget. The current proposal would not only exceed the budget but potentially lead to national bankruptcy.

“Use railways for supply instead. It’s thousands of times cheaper than transporting with teleportation magic circles.”

Of course, the military wasn’t just transporting with manpower alone.

Among the legacies left by South Korea was a railway network connecting the entire country. Seorabeol had actually recovered locomotives previously used by South Korea and was continuously making efficient improvements, such as converting them into cargo locomotives for material transport.

Considering that railways have played an important role in logistics transportation from the past to the present, it was perfectly natural and efficient for Seorabeol to use railways to supply materials to Seoul. Above all, the cost of a single transport was overwhelmingly cheaper than teleportation magic circles!

However, material transport using trains had a fatal disadvantage.

“The problem is looters and train robbers who damage the railways and delay transportation.”

The issue was the blatant train robberies.

Damaging railway lines to prevent cargo trains from reaching Seoul was a common occurrence, but the most troublesome were the train robbers who took advantage of these opportunities to board trains and loot supplies.

Line interference could be quickly repaired if professional repair technicians were aboard the cargo train.

But train robbers would board moving trains and loot goods, which was a real headache for Seorabeol.

They couldn’t station Awakened inside cargo containers full of goods, and moreover…

“The railway lines used by cargo trains are not all under Seorabeol’s influence.”

“I know that. Seorabeol alone can’t manage all the lines across South Korea. Even if we used all available forces, I question whether we could secure every train station on the route to Seoul.”

Seorabeol didn’t control all railway lines.

This meant that if train robbers properly planned, they could loot all the supplies on cargo trains. Jeong Dong-geon could only pray that cargo trains would reach Seoul without encountering train robbers.

“We’re taking various measures like deploying railway security forces, but whether they’ll be effective is uncertain. The fact that it’s not our territory is a major factor.”

As a best measure, they deployed surveillance-type Awakened to travel with trains to monitor train robber movements, stationed security forces to patrol railways, and made efforts to meet Seoul’s material demands.

“Then what’s the situation with road transport?”

“We’re currently pioneering the Yeongnam Expressway.”

“Pioneering, you say?”

If they tried to use roads to avoid the threats of looters and train robbers, that presented its own problems.

The roads of the Korean peninsula were in such disarray that Jeong Dong-geon explicitly said they were being “pioneered.”

“We’re subjugating undead and monsters that control the roads, and it’s a battlefield with daily combat against looters and militias who seize opportunities.”

“…Hah.”

In this era, more than a year and a half after the apocalypse, roads couldn’t possibly remain intact.

If humans didn’t control the roads, they were already the domain of undead or monsters. The military that ventured onto the Yeongnam Expressway soon engaged with numerous undead and monsters that had been eradicated in Seorabeol.

The engagements were naturally victories for Seorabeol, but conversely, the more engagements they fought, the more supplies were used, and ultimately fewer supplies arrived in Seoul than were initially sent from Seorabeol.

“On the other hand, an Awakened who has finally reached the realm of superhuman has appeared in the military.”

“In other words, the Yeongnam Expressway is such a battlefield that it produced a superhuman?”

“Yes.”

After numerous engagements, Hwarang and military Awakened who were finally approaching superhuman levels began to appear. Conversely, this meant the roads of the Korean peninsula were nothing short of hell, enough to elevate those who had been stagnant to superhuman levels.

Additionally, they had to fight looters and militias who survived that hell…

“A triple front. No, with Kim Su-ho and Yu-na in Seoul, Seorabeol is currently facing a double front.”

“No. Adding that front, plus the Cult of Immortality conducting guerrilla warfare using Death Knight brigades, it’s actually a triple front.”

“This is truly troublesome. If Cheongju hadn’t pioneered the path to Seorabeol, we couldn’t even have considered using roads for supply routes.”

Seorabeol was essentially experiencing a triple front.

From Seorabeol’s perspective, they could feel surrounded by hostile forces on all sides. In fact, the Daegu front was becoming such a frontline that Governor Heo Jin-ho was seriously considering martial law.

Thanks to their ally Cheongju and pro-Seorabeol forces between key points, they weren’t completely surrounded, but numerous forces were waiting for Seorabeol to weaken.

The fortunate point for Seorabeol was:

“They’re not touching Ulsan.”

“The moment they do, they’d provoke foreign powers, so they’d have to attack by going around Ulsan.”

Ulsan, with its various foreign interests, remained untouched.

Even the most reckless individuals knew that Ulsan had become a place of interest for various powers, and touching it would mean becoming hostile to those powers, so attacks had to be cautious.

Ironically, Ulsan, which had experienced a major disaster, had become the safest region on the Korean peninsula, and Seorabeol could be relieved that they narrowly avoided another front.

“Conversely, is there no way to use this situation?”

Jeong Dong-geon, thinking that the disadvantages would accelerate at this rate, consulted Hyeon-a.

Though she had temporarily hidden her presence after receiving Bahamut’s warning, Hyeon-a was the most ruthless person in Seorabeol, a minister who would do anything for Seorabeol.

Even if it was unethical, involved bloodshed, or was a terrible scheme, she would unhesitatingly speak and act on it. Jeong Dong-geon also judged that such a cruel scheme was necessary in the current situation.

And to Jeong Dong-geon’s question, Hyeon-a opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“There is. We expand the board, eliminating any room for neutrality.”

“What?”

“We create a massive war across the entire Korean peninsula so that neutrality cannot be tolerated. We clearly identify who is on our side and who is our enemy.”

The premise that only Seorabeol would suffer was strange from the beginning.

Hyeon-a thought that rather than Seorabeol perishing alone, it would be best if the entire Korean peninsula perished with Seorabeol, and she formulated a plan to expand the current war to the entire peninsula.

If war broke out, people would eventually have to take sides, and it would be divided by the extremely simple logic that those who follow Seorabeol are allies and those who don’t are enemies.

“Is that the Korean unification war?”

“Even if not a unification war, we make those who declare neutrality and reap benefits get caught in the flames of war. Not all forces on the Korean peninsula hate Seorabeol, right?”

Jeong Dong-geon understood this proposal as a Korean unification war, while Hyeon-a said that even if not to that extent, she intended to make all those declaring neutrality participate in the war.

And saying that not all forces on the Korean peninsula hated Seorabeol:

“Though we’ve benefited from Kim Su-ho, there are forces favorable to Seorabeol and forces that lack the strength to support Seorabeol. We nurture those forces to become counterparts to anti-Seorabeol forces.”

She proposed supporting pro-Seorabeol forces to grow them into forces that could counter anti-Seorabeol elements.

It was a strategy to support forces that opposed regional warlords and incite rebellion. Jeong Dong-geon seemed intrigued by this proposal.

“You’re saying we should infiltrate pro-Seorabeol forces into each region.”

“We have power and resources, along with legitimacy recognized overseas, and the hero of Seoul with us. It’s not impossible.”

He nodded in agreement, and Hyeon-a confidently stated that Seorabeol already had power, resources, and justification, so there was no way they could fail.

Of course, once civil war broke out in the regions, blood would certainly flow, but Hyeon-a’s ruthlessness was evident in the fact that it wouldn’t be Seorabeol’s blood.

“Please explain the plan.”

However, Jeong Dong-geon had long accepted his identity as a general of Seorabeol rather than a citizen of South Korea. While he found this regrettable, he was prepared to spill others’ blood if it meant less bloodshed for Seorabeol’s soldiers.