The Returned Sword King Decided to Become a Tyrant Chapter 190
Block (4)
“… … Something like this?”
I asked George, who was seriously thinking about something.
Then the guy took out a small map from his bosom and started examining the terrain.
“Just because it’s piracy doesn’t mean it has to end in one go. In any case, isn’t the important thing that Esteban’s forces occupied this place without a sound?”
“yes.”
Esteban’s forces, disguised as pirates, suddenly swarm from an unexpected location.
The prerequisite for all of this was that Esteban’s forces would occupy this place without anyone knowing.
‘That way, we can counter their surprise attacks and hide our own strength.’
That’s the outline of this operation.
So what he said was simple.
“How about we completely fortify this place?”
“Are you saying we should station troops under the pretense of being pirates?”
“To be exact, we are going to use it as a forward base. Very secretly.”
“… … Forward base.”
“Well, it would be something like this.”
As the man ran his finger along the map, a rough outline of the route of attack from the eastern part of Esteban was drawn.
But on the contrary, when I put my finger on the Fallenstar Archipelago, a shorter section was drawn than the usual route.
It was the route leading to the capital, the heart of the Federal Empire.
‘indeed.’
I wiggled my eyebrows and understood what the guy meant.
Just by building a forward base here, the path to their innermost parts will be opened.
Moreover, the soldiers training in the northern occupied territories were ready to invade the Federal Empire at any time.
Even if they have to move across the sea, they are given a total of three options along with Esteban’s main force.
Above all, these guys still think this place is on their side.
‘Then we can force them to choose which side is false and which side is real.’
In a situation where it is clear that you are at a numerical disadvantage, you can be the first to gain the strategic advantage.
And the difference will never be small.
That was the usefulness of the hidden cards.
“Are you using the strategy of those who said that troops would never come from the South to your advantage?”
“In the end, that’s true.”
“Not bad.”
If we use the remaining infrastructure here, it is not such an absurd idea.
No, considering the circumstances, it is rather a more realistic operation than anything else.
I could literally say that he pointed out exactly what I was struggling with.
“Okay, let’s do that.”
“Well, it’s been decided.”
“But there are some problems that need to be solved before that.”
“Are you talking about the question of legitimacy?”
“okay.”
The previous operation involved disguising oneself as a pirate and blocking Madra’s forces.
After that, no matter what happened, it was enough to not reveal our power.
However, if we were to establish a forward base here, we needed to plan a more detailed operation.
“There is no reason for the pirates to mess with the Madra military. So there must be a good reason for it to prevent the Federation Empire from becoming suspicious.”
“When I hear you say that, I think you have a good idea.”
“of course.”
It would be more troublesome than before, but it wasn’t impossible.
Because Esteban was no longer the man he used to be.
Rather, there was no reason to hesitate since it gave me new possibilities.
“Let’s call the dwarves. Tell the captain to come out and meet them.”
“All right.”
I turned around and gave George an order.
Then, taking in the surrounding scenery, he began to draw a picture of the future.
* * *
“It’s a forward base… … .”
As soon as the dwarves arrived at the archipelago and heard of the operation, they looked around and began to make estimates.
Should I really call him a dwarf… …
Despite the sudden situation, no one acted clumsily.
Surtr, who was in charge among them, came straight to me, as if all the designs had already been completed.
“I understand what you are saying. I assume you mean to build a place to station troops here and a defensive wall to prepare for any unforeseen events.”
“Is it possible?”
“Ahem! Nothing is impossible for our clan.”
Surtr pounded his chest and boasted.
But it wasn’t a bluff.
In fact, the know-how in fortress construction that they had acquired over time was already unparalleled.
Especially in a place where infrastructure and supplies exist.
“I already heard about the situation here from the captain. It was a place managed by pirates, right?”
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“okay.”
“Then it’s even simpler.”
As I was looking to see what he meant, the guy glanced at the map George had left behind and continued his explanation.
“Judging from the state of the blacksmith shop, they only knew how to use the captured iron, and they were not at the level of directly touching the minerals. In other words, the islands densely packed around this archipelago are all undeveloped spaces.”
“Wow, so you can tell that just by looking at the facilities.”
“Ahem… …! Anyway, if we use the resources here, we won’t have to bother procuring minerals.”
At least for the dwarves, it was faster to mine and use resources than to transport them.
Moreover, since there will be an abundance of such minerals, you can save a lot of time.
That’s what the guy was saying.
“Even these rising rocks would only be an obstacle to them, but not to us dwarves. Depending on how we utilize them, they will strengthen the fortress’ defenses.”
“How do you plan to build the fortress?”
“We will create a large cavern that runs through the center of the island. It will be in a form that you can’t tell if it’s been fortified just by looking at it.”
“I see.”
The central island of the Fallenstar Archipelago was shaped like a giant rock.
A huge rock island.
If we empty out its center, we will probably have enough space to station a large force of troops.
The problem was the difficulty of the work that would follow from there… … .
‘You seem so confident, so you don’t seem to have any worries.’
It was indeed worthy of its name, as it accomplished such a large-scale task without any magic.
“Then let’s get to work right away.”
“Huh, are you going back already?”
“Leave someone behind to coordinate the situation. If anything is needed, go through him.”
“This time, I really wanted to show off our clan’s strength… … For now, I’ll do that.”
As I left Surtr’s regret behind, George, who was distributing the work, approached me.
“For now, we will focus our manpower on acquiring the things necessary for piracy.”
“I’m talking about maintenance work on a pirate ship.”
“Well, that’s true. It’s a tough time, but it’s bad if you neglect important things.”
“That’s a good idea.”
In any case, we needed a ship of that size to deal with them.
“I guess you can figure that out yourself.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I want you to sort out the situation here.”
“… … Oh, right.”
The guy made a face and let out a groan.
“… … Is it true? No?”
“There’s no way.”
“… … .”
No matter how hard I tried to deny the situation, nothing changed.
Rather, it was as if I had to purse my lips to show that I didn’t want to leave, only to become aware of reality.
“… … Is this how it’s going to turn out?”
A solution based on long experience.
Finally, George gave up thinking and laughed.
“First, I will call the captain and tell him to prepare to move inland.”
“There’s no need for that. I’ve already sent a message to the Tower Master.”
“Is this teleportation?”
“okay.”
“Use it.”
George, who had been complaining like that, shrugged his shoulders and continued talking.
“Well, go ahead. I’ll take care of this.”
“hmm.”
Although he was a bit squeamish, I had no doubt that he would be able to demonstrate his abilities.
Above all, he must know that the work here is just as important as the work at home.
That’s also why I leave him in this important place.
“Have a nice trip.”
“yes.”
No further confirmation was needed.
* * *
Wooooow-
Pot!
“… … .”
I tore through the space and opened my eyes to a familiar sensation.
Likewise, familiar scenery began to form on my retina.
It was the King’s office, which has now become my office.
“His Majesty the King!”
Crunch-!
At that moment, the door to the office opened and a gaunt marquis came in urgently.
It was as if he had been waiting for the news of his return from the rooftop.
“Your Majesty! How could you leave without any news? And you only took along a few knights as your escort!”
“There is no mercy as soon as you arrive.”
“You can’t just take it as a joke!”
The Marquis continued to nag him for dozens of words without taking a breath.
The content was mostly along the lines of, ‘Now that you are king, you must exercise self-restraint.’
I thought the nagging would continue to the point where it was painful for the superhuman’s ears, but this time, he started begging, almost pleading.
“I haven’t been able to sleep well since then! Do you understand that I can’t even hear from you or contact you?!”
“… … .”
“If you had consulted with me, you would have been more careful and not interfered! Please, don’t act so suddenly in the future!”
“… … Don’t do that.”
In the end, I had no choice but to nod my head to the nagging that followed.
If I had left it like that, I felt like I would have laid down on the floor and cried.
‘… … Were you holding back on purpose?’
Of course, I feel a little sorry for moving without consulting you… … but since this was a matter of every second, I had no choice but to move quickly.
Since it had come to this, I thought it might be better to take George with me instead from now on.
I left the guy to do odd jobs.
“Ah, this, this is not the time!”
The Marquis, who had come to his senses, urgently held out something.
A letter that does not appear to be in Esteban’s style.
I just turned my gaze and looked at it.
“What is this?”
“Ma, this is an ultimatum from Madra! It arrived at the royal palace this morning!”
“Hoo.”
In Madra?
I can feel my interest being piqued.
After I received it, I roughly opened the envelope and looked through the contents.
[Esteban returned home and insulted the Continental Congress, which should have been faithfully performing its duties, and made a mockery of numerous nations.]
[In Madra, they spent a huge amount of money to prevent this and cooperated with the return, but all they got in return was unrecognizable formulas and ridicule.]
“What do you mean by cooperating to stop it?”
The following is… … .
[However, the country did not respond to subsequent protests.]
[If you do not disclose the correct formula and return the ill-gotten property by the first day of December, we hereby declare that we in Madra will be hostile to your country and will forcefully demand the return of your property.]
“Huh.”
A letter written without any introduction or preface, so that it could be considered an official letter sent to a country.
Even though I left some room for improvement, I knew that it wasn’t what they wanted in the end.
“The Marquis of Vidor.”
“Yes, yes?”
“Get ready to send a reply.”
“Your Majesty… … .”
The Marquis shuddered at those words.
A strange sense of unease began to creep over me, just like when I told a story about pirates.
But it was already too late.
“What should I send?”
……okay.
Because the words that should be sent were already decided.
“Something like ‘What a mess and a collapse.’ would be enough.”
“… … !”
A noble letter deserves a noble reply.
It couldn’t have been a more appropriate and fitting reply for their level.
