Chapter 73 - 73 Kingdom of Merda
Margrave Remington was once again stunned by Steve's abilities.
In just one day since capturing the Cameron father and son, he had eliminated the agents who had infiltrated the nation. Moreover, he had captured them all alive.
"Well then, what shall we do next?"
Steve asked Margrave Remington.
"Since we have accomplished so much, we shall demand appropriate compensation from the Kingdom of Merda."
"Understood. May I borrow a ship?"
"A ship?"
Margrave Remington could not understand Steve's intention to borrow a ship.
"I am thinking of boarding the Kingdom of Merda now. We are going to demand compensation, are we not?"
"That is so..."
What Margrave Remington meant by "compensation" was reparations. He had intended to send an envoy to the Kingdom of Merda to protest and extract appropriate reparations. Of course, diplomacy is a matter of state, and Margrave Remington could only get involved up to that proposal.
However, if this became a war, it would be within the Margrave's authority.
Steve had meant "compensation" with that intention in mind.
Noticing the mutual misunderstanding, Margrave Remington finally rejoiced that his own region had finally come to the same situation as the Western and Northern regions.
"In that case, the ship used by the slave traders would be best. With that, the enemy likely will not be on guard until they reach the port."
Margrave Remington proposed that, and Steve accepted it.
He immediately gave orders to select crew members, and departure was decided in no time. All the crew members were marines of Margrave Remington's territory. Those who would board the Kingdom of Merda together with them were Steve, Nancy, and Bella.
The captain felt uneasy about departing in a rush without loading water or food.
The captain spoke to Steve, who was already on the ship waiting for departure.
"What are you going to do without water or food? This isn't a day trip."
"That is being prepared by Lord Remington now, so I will go get it."
"From the middle of the sea?"
"Yes."
The captain had been told about Steve's teleportation magic, but seeing the real Steve, he still felt uneasy at his appearance as a child. He might be a powerful mage on land, but there was no track record on a ship. Especially as a child. If not for Margrave Remington's orders, it would have been a voyage where they laughed it off as a joke.
Steve also sensed that the captain did not trust him, and as if to say "proof is better than words," he used teleportation magic right before his eyes and brought back some of the supplies that were being prepared.
"See? Supplies can be procured at any time like this. Right now, time is precious. I want to board before the enemy realizes their plan has failed and crush them before they can get their defenses in order."
"I apologize for doubting you. This puts me at ease. I will tell the crew myself."
"Please do. If we try to show off our strength here, there will be injuries."
Saying that, he looked toward Nancy. She was signaling that she was ready at any moment. Since boarding, the crew's curious gazes had been directed at Nancy, who was beautiful and had a good figure. She found this very unpleasant and had asked Steve to let her beat up two or three of them.
Of course, Steve stopped her.
On the other hand, Bella, who still retained her youth, had no popularity. Thus, the crew's gazes were monopolized by Nancy alone.
Some time after departure, when other ships had disappeared from view, Steve decided to teleport the entire ship using magic. It was for the sake of shortening time.
Using the perspective of the sea bird he had made into a familiar, he teleported as far as possible, and by the end of the day, he arrived near the port of the Kingdom of Merda.
The captain spoke to Steve with a dumbfounded expression.
"If so, we didn't need supplies after all."
Since the ship's teleportation was finished, Steve had brought supplies from Margrave Remington's territory onto the ship.
"But, as expected, I'm tired. Let's anchor here today and land tomorrow. Keep the ship here as is."
"That is fine, but what should we do tomorrow?"
"When I land and subdue the port town, I will teleport Margrave Remington's army here. If by any chance something happens to me and they retreat, I want you to send them back on this ship. Otherwise, just enter the port once it is safe. I borrowed the ship from Margrave Remington for the trip there, so there is no contract for the return trip."
Hearing that, the captain scratched his head.
"After experiencing such a voyage on the way there, there will be nothing but complaints on the way back."
"Shall I send you back too?"
"I would like Your Excellency to do so, but if it becomes a round trip like that, they will become lazy. They will kick their asses and move the ship by themselves."
The captain grumbled that the sailors had been treated like passengers and sailed to another country, so they seemed to be developing a habit of laziness.
"Sea travel is comfortable."
"Bella, normally you get tossed around by the waves much more."
Bella, who had not experienced the hardships of sea travel, misunderstood. The captain agreed with Steve, who corrected her.
"Usually, everyone gets seasick the first time. Well, if you have the chance, I will show you around the sea slowly."
"I want to try eating fresh fish."
"Your Excellency, actually freshness and taste are not the same. The meat of the fish tastes better if you eat it on land after returning rather than on the ship."
"Oh, is it like how beast meat becomes delicious when aged?"
"Probably so."
Fish meat is also protein, and it feels more delicious when it becomes amino acids. Not everything is best when freshly caught.
The next day, Steve, whose mana had recovered, moved to subdue after reconnaissance as before. However, the Kingdom of Merda had also studied the cases of the Kingdom of Forest and the Kingdom of Pasture, and if the Kingdom of Cascade were to attack, they had taken measures for the port town that would be attacked first.
When Steve infiltrated the military facility managing the port town and took the top official into custody, the mage accompanying him fired a fireball into the sky. That was the signal for an enemy attack, and a mage waiting at a location unrelated to the military facility saw the signal and teleported to the Royal Capital.
In the Royal Capital, a defensive posture was immediately established, and the King teleported with a mage to another location and evacuated.
By the time Steve made the mage confess to confirm the meaning of the fireball, Steve's invasion had already been exposed.
The General commanding the port town, who was detained, laughed at Steve.
"If the invasion is discovered, it won't go as smoothly as before. What will you do?"
"Rather than worrying about me, you should worry about your own status as a prisoner."
Steve could not understand the General's ability to laugh in this situation. He did not think that even if the invasion was discovered, anyone could stop Steve and Nancy. When the prisoners were delivered to Margrave Remington, soldiers were brought along to occupy the area instead.
"I get excited thinking that the enemy is waiting for us."
"That is only Nancy."
Steve gave a bitter smile at Nancy's combat-crazy mindset. To her, enemies who were waiting for an ambush were more satisfying than those who were surprised, and she desired such battles.
And the soldiers outside the military facility were asked by Nancy to subdue them. The soldiers guarding the harbor also knew of the invasion due to the fireball earlier, so it was not a surprise attack, but there were no soldiers with the power to stop Nancy, and they were easily subdued.
After that, a detailed map of the Kingdom of Merda was found in the military facility, and knowing the direction of the Royal Capital, he took lords of various regions hostage by teleporting as usual.
However, from a certain point on, the lords were no longer in their castles. They had hidden their whereabouts somewhere. Even so, the defending soldiers were still in place, so by capturing them as hostages, he placed stationed soldiers in their place instead.
Of course, this was because the information brought by the teleportation mages was relayed via smoke signals, and the lords evacuated just like the King. However, lords who did not have teleportation mages could not evacuate far away.
This strategy might have worked if Steve's mana amount was slightly high, but for Steve, whose mana was incredibly high, it was meaningless.
After subduing the royal castle, Steve realized the King was not there and went on to occupy other territories one by one. Even if the lords had already evacuated, if the soldiers were all detained and transferred to the Kingdom of Cascade, it would be difficult to even eliminate the occupying army.
Then, Margrave Remington's occupying army issued an order that if a lord was found, even a commoner would be rewarded. Like a hunt for fallen warriors occurred in various places, and nobles were captured and brought in one after another.
The King of the Kingdom of Merda moved from place to place, losing his controlled territories one by one, until he was finally told that the mages had no more places to teleport to.
The mages had been teleporting alone to check the situation of the destination, but the Kingdom of Cascade occupied them one by one, and the territories controlled by the nobles and royalty of the Kingdom of Merda disappeared.
In the urban areas, bounties were placed on the royalty and nobles, so the three of them—the King, the Prince, and a mage—were left alone in the mountains, just gazing at the sky out of hunger and misery.
Just recently, they had lived in a luxurious castle, eating dishes made of the finest ingredients gathered from the whole country, and sleeping on warm, soft beds. But now, they were struggling to find food, exhausted by a life of sleeping with stones as pillows. His age was over 50, and this escape life was hurting his body and mind.
Seeing the King like that, the Prince decided it was time to reach a conclusion.
He was still young, having just become an adult. Many children he had were assassinated one by one in the struggle for the throne, and the only one left was this Prince.
That was why he had evacuated with him.
"Your Majesty, at this point, you must decide whether to seek asylum in a neighboring country or surrender."
"Abel, where do you think I went wrong?"
The King did not answer the Prince's question but asked the Prince in return.
"If I may offer my opinion, did you not make a move against the Kingdom of Cascade? That nation expanded its territory solely as a counterattack against invasions. I believe this time it was also a retaliation for the invasion plan they devised, which involved teleporting into the Kingdom of Cascade's interior and theft being exposed."
Prince Abel's opinion was correct. If it were just human traffickers, negotiations might have sufficed, but since the plan to teleport soldiers and conduct operations was exposed, the current counter-invasion occurred.
However, the King could not accept that opinion.
"Whatever the reason, if a neighboring country's territory expands, we must be wary that their ambition will eventually turn toward us."
"There might have been a way to break that ambition by causing chaos within the enemy's territory, but wasn't there also a path to peace through negotiation?"
"Then we would never know when the other side would bare its fangs."
"Yes. Therefore, I believe it is necessary not to neglect vigilance, but there is no need to necessarily conduct operations ourselves."
"What benefit would a neighboring country that is expanding so rapidly have in making peace with us?"
The King dismissed the Prince's opinion, but the Prince offered his thoughts on that as well.
"That is precisely why. Looking at the Kingdom of Cascade, the Western and Northern regions expanded all at once, and it seems there is a shortage of personnel to manage them. Just like our country, if our controlled territory were to double, there would be a shortage of officials to manage it. People cannot be trained in a hurry, so even if they had ambition, it would be difficult to expand their territory further. If they can make a rational judgment, invading our country should be put on the back burner. If that is the case, our country should have used that time to build up its national power to resist."
The King was surprised that the Prince he thought of as a child had such a solid opinion. And he regretted it.
"When this strategy was presented, I should have listened to Abel's opinion. It is too late now."
"Perhaps. The Kingdom of Cascade still lacks the power to fully possess our country. The proof is that the Kingdom of Forest and the Kingdom of Pasture are still intact, are they not? I think the King of that nation is a person who can calculate. Depending on the negotiations, the royal family might be able to remain. If we seek asylum, our lives will be saved, but in this situation, there is little hope for the royal family to recover."
The King accepted the Prince's opinion and decided to surrender and negotiate with the Kingdom of Cascade.
And he ordered the mage to teleport to the royal castle.
Steve learned that the fleeing King had returned to the royal castle two days later. He had been flying around inside the Kingdom of Merda looking for the King, but since the Kingdom of Merda could no longer take organized action, he decided to end it, went to the stationed army at the royal castle, and learned of this.
Here, Steve's invasion of the Kingdom of Merda comes to an end.
It was an event that took only two weeks from the discovery of the infiltration.