Ch.840If There’s No Tooth, Use the Gums

======[ Leopold ]======

After granting Haschal independence as the Queen of the East to appease the Church of Astraea and Lord Wien, Leopold had to devote himself to dealing with the aftermath for days on end, working tirelessly day and night.

While he could leave the nobles’ resistance for Lord Wien to handle, the power vacuum created by the departure of the Empire’s First Sword and the knights under her command was a problem that Lord Wien’s influence alone could not solve.

Before Haschal’s independence, the Empire had possessed a total of seven hero-class knights.

The Empire’s First Sword Haschal, Demian and Millia of Épée de Ciel, Joshua and Heinrich the Swords of Landenburg, Grand Duke Valdemar, and Frederick, the commander of the Empire’s Third Corps.

However, with Frederick’s death in the war against the Ka’har, and the defection of Haschal’s forces and Landenburg from the Empire, only Grand Duke Valdemar remained as a hero-class knight under imperial command. The Empire’s highest combat forces had been completely hollowed out.

If there was any consolation, it was that the Fourth Corps Commander, who had been frantically dispatched to subjugate monsters, had begun to approach the wall of herohood like the old Valenstein.

Additionally, though not knights, Grand Archbishop Lacy Elmaine Stardolf and Archmage Floheta were also said to have crossed the wall.

Nevertheless, it was clear that the Empire’s fighting force—which had once numbered seven heroes, or at minimum ten hero-class fighters if one considered Haschal’s prowess—had been reduced to just four heroes and near-heroes.

And since Grand Duke Valdemar wouldn’t care about anything that didn’t concern the North, the effective number was even less than four.

It was a truly enormous reduction in military power.

‘We did establish a treaty promising to dispatch support troops if the Empire faces a threat, but…’

If Haschal were still residing in the imperial territory, that might be different, but being stationed at the eastern edge of the continent meant that even if she sent reinforcements, it would take at least several days for them to arrive.

Therefore, Leopold, as Emperor, keenly felt the need to bolster the Empire’s military strength.

Until now, the Empire had been able to protect its security by relying on Haschal’s power, but from now on, they needed to be able to withstand threats even if her help was delayed.

The problem was that this was no simple task.

‘Soldiers and knights can be supplemented by encouraging nobles to train private armies or, in the worst case, implementing large-scale conscription… but forces above the master level cannot be cultivated in such a way.’

The shortage of “high-tier” forces, namely masters and heroes.

Unless heaven took pity on Leopold and bestowed upon him an armful of heroes and masters, this was a problem that simply could not be solved.

Perhaps it takes a genius to recognize another genius—Haschal had been able to sweep up prodigies who had reached enlightenment before they even turned twenty, but Leopold lacked such talent.

Thanks to the Imperial Knights being so busy with monster subjugation that they couldn’t even take vacations, about six or seven new master-class knights had emerged, but…

While there were knights who stood before the wall of herohood, none had crossed it. The realm beyond the wall was not one that could be easily accessed.

‘Unless one is born with heaven-bestowed talent, it’s a realm that can only be challenged after being tempered by more than twenty years of arduous training.’

Both the Third Corps Commander who had crossed the wall only to perish and the Fourth Corps Commander who now stood before it had left behind such sentiments.

In Leopold’s judgment, it would take at least ten years for the Imperial Army to secure its own hero-class forces.

‘…That’s too late. The current Empire doesn’t have the luxury of waiting ten years.’

Moreover, this was assuming that those with the potential to cross the wall wouldn’t perish before they could bloom, making the idea of cultivating heroes to fill Haschal’s void little more than an armchair theory.

Therefore.

“—Summon Asha Redcopper and Floheta.”

Leopold made his decision. Instead of relying on the power of heroes whose emergence was uncertain, he would somehow find a means to replace them.

—-

Though Asha and Floheta had been quite busy lately, they couldn’t refuse an invitation from the Emperor while staying in imperial territory.

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

The operational doctrine of airships that had achieved remarkable results in the war between dwarves and elves, and a way to recreate dwarf firepower through magical engineering.

If one couldn’t create a hero who alone could match a thousand men, why not create ten weapons capable of killing hundreds of humans each?

The concept of relying not on a few superhumans, but on replacing superhuman power with products of technology and capital.

It was quite a novel idea for the imperial citizens who had been thoroughly steeped in heroism due to Haschal’s transcendent achievements, but it wasn’t without precedent on the continent as a whole.

The dwarves, a different race occupying the southwestern part of the continent, held exactly this philosophy.

That’s why Leopold invited Asha and offered her too much compensation and all sorts of sweet talk to refuse.

A sword made of true silver, treasures excavated from the ruins of the imperial palace, and exclusive rights to a couple of metals.

In exchange for all these resources, Leopold demanded the operating principles and doctrine of artillery. After hesitation, Asha accepted.

“I’m not supposed to tell you this… but I didn’t teach you how to make gunpowder, so it should be fine, right? Oh, if any problems arise, I’ll flee to Hestella, so please take responsibility!”

Even the Himmel constitution, which severely punished the leaking of core technology to other races, couldn’t overcome the desire for true silver—a metal that even dwarves couldn’t reproduce.

Or perhaps Asha, unlike other dwarves, had become unusually human-friendly due to her close relationships with imperial citizens as a special admission student.

Either way, thanks to her, the Empire was able to acquire artillery manufacturing technology, albeit missing the most crucial element—the formula for gunpowder.

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

“Metal propulsion through explosive pressure… while various technologies have been added to improve accuracy and convenience, the principle itself is simpler than I expected.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Floheta showed great interest in the finally revealed operating principles of artillery.

“Now I understand why dwarves have desperately concealed the formula for gunpowder. If only that were revealed, we could mass-produce crude imitations with our technology.”

She also immediately understood why dwarves had kept this as a state secret upon seeing the blueprints.

While advanced technologies like automatons, small arms, armored vehicles, and airships might be different, the fundamental principle of large-caliber artillery seemed surprisingly simple to Floheta.

If they could just discover the formula for gunpowder, the Empire could mass-produce artillery and deploy them densely along city walls.

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

The reason dwarves, whose total population didn’t exceed ten thousand, could occupy all the mountains in the southwestern part of the continent as a proud independent nation was solely due to their overwhelming firepower.

Even if other races created firearms, they would be crude mass-produced items compared to dwarf weapons, but even with inferior performance, there’s no defense against sheer numbers.

What good is superior technology if you’re hit by a hundred shells while firing just one?

For dwarves with their extremely small population, the leakage of firearms technology was tantamount to national extinction.

That’s why Asha, despite being tempted by the enormous compensation, only taught the operating principles of artillery without revealing the core technology of gunpowder production.

After all, artillery without gunpowder was nothing more than a useless metal cylinder.

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

The reason he had given away a precious true silver sword and vast resources to a different race from another country was not for some decorative item that couldn’t fire a single shell.

“But why are you showing this to me…?”

“What do you think?”

Leopold smiled at Floheta, who looked at him with trembling eyes, perhaps suddenly overcome with anxiety while studying the blueprints.

“…No way?”

“To discern my intentions before I even express them—the Empire’s greatest mage is indeed first in wisdom as well. You are truly the Empire’s greatest treasure and a pillar supporting it. From the moment I bestowed upon you the position of Archmage, I already anticipated that you would become the Empire’s hope.”

“……”

“Now that Baron Median has left the Empire’s protection, the safety of all citizens in this land rests solely in your hands. So, I expect you to show satisfactory results as the Empire’s first Grand Mage and master of the magic tower.”

Floheta struggled with all her might to control the surging flow of mana, lest she accidentally blow off the head of the shamelessly smiling Emperor.

—-

According to rumors among the magic tower researchers, when ordered to recreate dwarf artillery through magical engineering, Floheta spent days tearing at her hair and screaming like a pterodactyl.

The fact that she somehow managed to complete it anyway proved her competence.