Ch.65Eliminating the Options

[Question] Fuck, they say if we hit Fahrenheit with a food embargo, we’ll win.

-Who the fuck spouted this bullshit? Right now, Fahrenheit’s Sword Master is chewing through five units and breaking down the city gates, goddammit.-

This type of post was the most common one seen in the Polistory community.

The best way to shake Fahrenheit was indeed an embargo, but the forums were full of newbies who didn’t realize that once you provoke them, you’ll face the consequences of their retaliation.

And such posts were typically followed by veterans’ mockery and advice.

-Are you stupid? Didn’t you build defenses? Just place two ballistas on top of the gate with sequential firing procedures and you can kite them down.-

ㄴLooking at his post history, he was handling ballistas and catapults well, but it wasn’t just the Sword Master attacking—foot soldiers came too, making targeting impossible.-

ㄴI just checked and he really is an idiot. Who sends five units of swordsmen against a Sword Master? Not spearmen or archers, but fucking swordsmen?lol-

ㄴOh shit, I just saw it lol The poster really is a moron. Who sends sword fodder against a Sword Master? lol-

ㄴ LMFAO “Sword fodder” lmao LMAO –

Comments like these were usually mocking, but some subtly conveyed useful information like “don’t engage a Sword Master in close combat.”

-Did you work on relations with neighboring city-states? How many joined your embargo?-

ㄴ-(Original Poster) Not many. 17 participated-

ㄴ-Load a save and get at least 20+ countries to join. If you impose an embargo with a mediocre number, the aggro won’t be distributed and you’ll be the only one getting pummeled.

ㄴ-(Original Poster) Building relations is so hard… I keep taking losses… Not many events triggered so 17 was the best I could do…-

ㄴ-Bad RNG then. But if you keep sending letters whenever your political power fills up and gift excess resources every month, you can build relations well. Looking at your setup, you’re running five swordsmen units—you might be better off establishing a state-sponsored mercenary training corps to earn money.-

ㄴ-(Original Poster) What’s that? DLC?-

ㄴ-Yeah. Which DLCs do you have?-

ㄴ-(Original Poster) -Just the base game…-

ㄴ-Oh dear… Then open your troop management screen and send your best-equipped units on long-term expeditions. You won’t earn much money, but you’ll gather various resources you can send as gifts.

ㄴ-Thanks a lot.

Comments like these provided information about embargoes, which were crucial before engaging Fahrenheit in battle.

-Looking at your post, your troop composition isn’t suited to defeat Fahrenheit. You’re lacking in numbers, and you should have developed longbowmen for rate of fire instead of crossbowmen.-

ㄴ-I beat them fine with crossbowmen. What are you talking about? Longbowmen have poor penetration.-

ㄴ-True. Fahrenheit’s troops aren’t conscripts but armored soldiers, so their armor is too thick for longbowmen.-

ㄴ-Ah. I went down the steel bow tech tree and won with an all-archer meta… With wooden bows, crossbowmen are probably viable.

ㄴ-Steel bows are legit.

ㄴ-Steel bow meta is too OP. How the hell can one steel bow card destroy two cavalry cards?

ㄴ-Steel bows are OP? I always skip them and go straight for musket tech.

ㄴ-Muskets aren’t that great. It’s easier to just counter infantry with steel bows and focus gunpowder on cannons.

ㄴ-Absolutely. The cost of gunpowder and pyrite, plus those random gunpowder explosion events are infuriating.

And then there were comments from people who understood the current game state, though they weren’t particularly helpful.

These were memories from when this world was just a game, something that can no longer be seen.

*

“Where is Ignatz?”

“He’s still training.”

“Is that so?”

“The humiliation from before must have wounded his pride deeply. Many knights are already suffering from exhaustion.”

“Tsk tsk. Even knights can’t keep up with the Knight Commander.”

Since the Knight Commander represented all knights, Ignatz was the strongest warrior in Amurtat.

Seeing a real Sword Master in person must have been good motivation for him, still at the Expert level.

“Then who’s guarding me?”

“The knights will take turns.”

“Well, whatever.”

With Ignatz unavailable, I had to make do with these budget versions of him.

I could have ordered Ignatz to come immediately, but what if this training actually helped him become a Sword Master?

Knowing this, even the knights who should have been insisting he fulfill his duty as Knight Commander were awkwardly covering for him by taking turns guarding me.

While it was understandable now, it wasn’t ideal. Whether he became a Master or not, I’d have to scold him a bit when his training was done.

“Anyway, has there been any contact from Fahrenheit yet?”

“Not yet, but there have been multiple diplomatic exchanges with other cities.”

“And?”

“Well, the usual statements. They’ll add bonuses if we resume food exports. They’ll pay more gold, and so on…”

“Hehehe… They must be starting to feel the heat now.”

Fahrenheit is a great power.

No one can deny that.

But if six cities with a population of 4 million… what happens when thirty cities, including Amurtat, unite?

The combined population of cities that have cut trade with Fahrenheit now exceeds 20 million.

As they say, many drops make an ocean. Fahrenheit was now experiencing the simple truth that even insignificant entities become powerful when united.

In fact, the 300 years hadn’t been wasted. The other cities, fed up with Fahrenheit’s arrogance, had formed quite strong bonds with each other.

Unlike chaotic rulers like Elisia, they had frequent exchanges due to trade complications with Fahrenheit, preventing misunderstandings from festering.

Their solidarity was particularly strong because they shared the experience of living next to the same powerful neighbor. Until now, Fahrenheit had been somewhat attentive to external affairs, and could break up any suspicious alliances with just a clearing of the throat.

But as the dungeon economy persisted and Fahrenheit became completely absorbed in it, the upper echelons, including Grand Duke Marcus, gradually lost interest in external affairs. As the leadership rotted, the lower ranks began to decay as well.

And that process took 300 years.

It’s a long time for a country to hold hegemony, but plenty of time for a nation to decline.

“Tell the army to be vigilant. War could break out soon.”

Honestly, even heightened vigilance wouldn’t stop a Sword Master, but Fahrenheit couldn’t use military force.

Because they simply couldn’t.

Even with imports cut off, Fahrenheit had already absorbed all the earth core fragments it could and was large enough to be self-sufficient in feeding its citizens.

Of course, luxury goods would have skyrocketed in price, and numerous administrative orders would have been issued to prevent market chaos, such as releasing reserves.

Cutting off interest in the outside world meant, conversely, that they could maintain their country without external connections. There would have been debates about the unilateral trade cutoff, with opinions sharply divided.

Those who believed they should mobilize the army immediately to teach a lesson.

Those who thought they should establish negotiations first.

They would have split into these two factions… commonly known as hawks and doves.

But raising an army now would be diplomatic suicide.

Why? A deeper look reveals the answer.

First, all thirty nations, including Amurtat, are sovereign states, not colonies.

As sovereign entities, no other country has the right to dictate who they trade with. Especially not Fahrenheit, which had generously—or stupidly—included no poison clauses in their contracts.

Second, these thirty nations, while cutting trade with Fahrenheit and exchanging gifts among themselves, had formed no explicit alliance.

This meant there was no firm alliance, which ironically became an advantage.

Since there was no social hierarchy with a leader, Fahrenheit would have to deal with thirty different countries individually to resume trade.

The moment someone claimed to be a leader or principal monarch, they would face Fahrenheit’s military might one-on-one, which everyone wanted to avoid.

Maintaining this ambiguous state would eventually plunge Fahrenheit into internal strife.

The hawks would become increasingly agitated about the lack of response to the trade cutoff, while the doves would grow exhausted from the inefficiency and uncooperativeness of dealing with thirty different countries.

And if Grand Duke Marcus’s anger was added to the mix, it wouldn’t take long for Fahrenheit’s citizens to abandon their homeland.