137 The Name Mortar
In summer, it is already time for the sun to rise, but the sky is still dark. The cold air seeped through his clothes. I got goosebumps. cold. As he unknowingly vomited his breath, his breath clumped together as if it were frozen white in the air before dispersing.
As Rudy stood in front of the tent, an aide came closer. Take out a thick piece of fur from inside the tent and put it over Rudy’s shoulder.
A coat made from the fur of white foxes. It was a rare luxury product, inherited from the previous emperor.
“At this rate, you’ll be so dumb you won’t even be able to walk properly. You’re the chief.”
I’m already wearing a cloak, but it’s a fur coat over it again. When I said something in awe, the assistant smirked.
“It’s very cold at dawn. It’s a big deal if you catch a cold.”
Is it because Rudy is still a teenager? It’s something I think about sometimes, but people around Rudy worry too much.
However, he had already been on the battlefield and experienced various things. When I see myself rolling in a place like that, no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t look like I’m covering it as a child, but why do I treat it like a flower in a greenhouse in such trivial parts? They are strange people.
‘Really, I can’t understand what’s going on in these people’s heads.’
It’s definitely warm though. The cold energy that I felt a while ago disappeared before I knew it, and my whole body became warm as if I had entered an electric stove.
Rudy walked around the camp looking at the soldiers.
“Your Majesty, it’s cold and you woke up early.”
“It’s incredibly cold today, which seems to indicate our victory!”
The soldiers look at Rudy and each one says a word. I don’t know what kind of nonsense it is to say that we will win because it’s cold.
When Rudy laughed, the soldiers laughed loudly as if drawn by it.
Torches and light fixtures are lit here and there. Most of the bonfires to warm up were fire magic tools.
It’s midwinter, so it’s not easy to find branches to use for a bonfire. That’s why I purposely brought enough magic tools, but throughout the march, I was horrified to think that without magic tools, everyone would have frozen to death.
There was not a single rotten leaf on the streets of Dicoquaria, let alone a branch. It seems like they were all buried in the snow or someone dug up and took them.
A large pot is hanging over the campfire. The savory smell of soup wafted from the pot.
“Your Majesty, would you like a bowl?”
A soldier who still had a youthful appearance held out a wooden bowl full of soup.
“Oh, let’s get some. You’re hungry.”
When Rudy held out his hand, the soldier happily showed his teeth and smiled.
“It just turned out to be delicious.”
When I received the bowl, my hand touched it a little. The soldier’s fingertips are rough. Under the dim light, the cracked part was visible.
Rudy pointed his finger at the soldier with his gaze.
“If you go to the surgeon, he will give you an ointment. Get it and put it on. If you leave it alone, that finger will hurt and you won’t be able to sleep later, so be sure to go after the battle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After Rudy and the young soldier ate the soup, other soldiers rushed over. We all slurped our soup together.
Originally, there is no custom of eating early in the morning in this era. Two meals a day was normal.
However, many of the Imperial Army are enslaved soldiers without property of their own. All food, clothing, and shelter had to be received by others.
If so, Rudy orders that at least as much food as he eats, and now meals always come out in the morning. Warm soup is all you need before a battle, but it’s still better than nothing.
It felt strange to spend such a peaceful time together around a fire when a bloody war would break out soon after.
Before I knew it, the color of the sky had faded a little. The day will soon dawn.
The soldiers washed the soup bowls in jar water and packed them, and finally the display for the attack began to be prepared.
The imperial army splits into four and goes into the attack. Rudi’s main force will attack from the front, while the rest will attack from the rear and flanks.
When the dawn breaks and the main force starts destroying the castle, the attack begins.
The captains led the soldiers and moved in their respective directions.
The magicians of the main unit took out weapons from a box filled with straw. A wooden pedestal was placed on the floor, and the weapon was raised on it.
The long gourd-shaped magic weapon was quite large and long. It is a little over 1 meter long, and its thickness is as thick as a human body.
The muzzle was slightly flared like a trumpet. It was large enough to fit your face into.
There is a drawer on the hip side to put magic stones in. The drawer was long enough to occupy more than half of the body and was divided into several compartments.
Rudy redesigned a weapon that was originally dormant in the Empire’s weapon warehouse and increased its attack power.
The original weapons were not strong enough to destroy the walls. No matter how many magic stones he put in, that level of output did not come out.
If you pour Rudy’s magic, the power will increase at once, but only then will no one be able to use it after he dies.
After going through various tests, Rudy made a drawer to put the magic stones in, and connected them in series when drawing the magic circuit. Thanks to doing so, the original weapon has several times the power.
However, the number of magic stones used here was several tens of times that of other magic tools. It is possible to use a large magic stone, but even that, without Rudy, there is no one to fill in a large amount of mana.
Filling small magic stones and filling large ones are quite different for some reason. The bigger the magic stone, the harder it was to fill it.
That’s why it had to be designed by inserting several small magic stones the size used in other magic tools.
The former emperor, who was surprised to learn the amount of magic stones needed for one magical weapon, laughed involuntarily when he asked with a serious face to give birth to many children while holding Rudy’s hand tightly.
This weapon was named ‘mortar’.
Rudy was a bit nervous when he saw the sorcerers building mortars side by side towards the castle.
I’ve fired at crumbling mansions in the Empire, but it’s the first time I’ve fired at such a gigantic castle.
Suddenly, the noisy place became quiet. The soldiers were glistening their eyes at the magic weapon.
Since the equipment for attacking the castle is dangerous, heavy-duty magicians are trained in a different place than regular soldiers. When he was with ordinary soldiers, he only received normal training and did not use magical weapons.
That’s why most soldiers see mortars for the first time. The sound of gulp and saliva dripping could be heard from here and there. Rudy’s gulp was probably mixed in.
The captain of the magician unit approached Rudy.
“Your Majesty, we are ready.”
“Okay, let’s begin.”
When an aide next to Rudy gave the signal, a soldier blew the trumpet announcing the start of war. Bouu, the sound spreads in a long tail over the land where the sun has just begun to rise. And the sound of drums followed.
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Dung-dung-dung-dung, as the drums escalated tensions, the call to “prepare the mortars” sounded here and there.
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Dozens of mortars began to glow softly.
Bead-like light gathers inside the muzzle of the part corresponding to the gun barrel. The sphere, which was small like a marble, gradually grew and turned into a ball of fire.
By the time the fireball had grown to the size of a soccer ball, the gun barrel was stained red.
The magician shouted after checking the angle once again.
“Mortar fire!”
At that moment, a red orb like a fireball flew toward the castle wall in a parabolic arc.
I could see the enemy soldiers on the top of the wall moving right and left. I guess I still haven’t judged what’s going on.
When the man who appeared to be the commanding officer burst onto the wall, the mortar fire was already about to fall towards it.
Just before the sphere hit the top of the castle wall, the enemy’s commander’s clothes and hair caught fire. It was so fleeting that even a quick-eyed person could hardly see it.
Soon after, the sphere fell onto the wall, and part of the wall collapsed with a loud sound.
The magic stone used in the mortar has the property of fire. The sorcery weapon plays a role in compressing the fire energy, so the fireballs, which are as small as possible, explode with strong explosive power when they reach the target.
And anything nearby, like the sun, will burn up in an instant. Like an enemy commander burned just for being in the immediate vicinity of a mortar.
After that, the castle was a mayhem. There were soldiers who fell to the ground after being burned, and there were those who turned into black lumps of charcoal without even being able to scream.
Without a moment’s gap, mortar fireballs flew in succession and were embedded in the fortress wall.
The first thing that collapsed was the castle gate. A ball of fire fell on the connection between the wall and the door, tilting the door to the side, followed by another attack.
Half of the mortars fired fireballs beyond and into the primary walls. I’m aiming for the inner wall, but I’m not sure if it worked.
Since the radar could not be implemented, it is difficult to estimate the correct distance. For this, he had no choice but to rely on the magician’s senses and abilities.
An attack had begun on the other side, and the sound of a bang came all the way here.
Rudy narrowed his eyes and looked at the castle on the hill.
The objective of the imperial forces to the rear is the castle wall surrounding the lord’s castle.
The lord’s castle on the hill was far from the main gate, but much closer from the back. I thought it would be possible, but due to the distance, success also depended on the ability of the soldier to directly operate the weapon.
For a while, nothing seemed to change. maybe it failed Maybe it was because the hill was too high. After a bit of disappointment, I saw smoke rising from the lord’s castle.
‘It’s a success.’
“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!” among the Imperials. A short shout of soldiers began to form. The shouts that started with a few people soon spread to all.
Everyone was excited when they saw the scene for the first time. The morale of the soldiers is full. Now is the time to attack.
Seeing the complete destruction of the gates, Rudy raised his voice from his horse.
“Soldiers, follow me! Show the enemy the greatness of the Empire!”
I throw out a rough word, and the horse runs as it is.
Waaa, shouts and soldiers followed behind.
Around Rudy, the escorts who always followed him closely on horseback.
After crossing the pile of collapsed stones and passing the gate, I saw the enemy soldiers running away with their backs turned. Perhaps because they were so surprised, some of them were bare-chested without holding weapons.
Rudy ran on his horse and trampled on a few people.
An enemy soldier who seemed to have a certain position was running after striking a woman in commoner clothes in front of him with a sword.
Rudy held Excalibur high. Carl cries with a hum. The dark horse noticed the owner’s heart and ran forward vigorously.
“Ugh, ah, ah!”
He looked back at the huge dark horse that was chasing him, and he seemed to be taken aback. The enemy’s feet crossed and he fell forward.
Rudy ran, leaning sideways and scraping the floor with his knife. The floor where Excalibur touched was dug in a long line like melting ice cream.
Seeing this, the enemy soldier pushed the floor with his butt and stepped back.
However, the black horse quickly closed the distance and caught up with the enemy soldiers.
Excalibur’s shining blade splits the body of the enemy soldier in two. I didn’t have to apply more force or hit him.
Here and there in the city is broken and burned by mortar fire. People ran here and there to avoid collapsing buildings and burning flames.
“…”
Rudy closed his lips and turned away from them.
The castle has a main road leading straight to the next inner wall. Rudy rode his horse and ran towards the second wall.
The gate is intact, but the wall has collapsed in two places. Stepping on the collapsed pile of stones, the dark horse went into it.
It appears to have been the residence of nobles and wealthy merchants. The street was large and clean, and the mansions on both sides of the street were both large and splendid. A beautiful garden can be seen beyond the gate of the ornate mansion.
The number of soldiers defending the city is also large. Soldiers with better equipment than those outside the city rushed to meet and fight the enemy.
Before the enemy could reach Rudy, the guards attacked him with swords first.
Imperial snipers rushed into the city before they knew it, aiming their long weapons and knocking down the enemy soldiers one by one.
The Imperials, who were attacking the flanks, were just about to enter the second wall.
Seeing the imperial army flocking from all sides, the enemy soldiers who had been fighting bravely for a while finally started to run away.
After that, there was no battle to speak of. Just like a hunter chasing rabbits, he chases down enemy soldiers.
All that was left was the lord’s castle on top of the hill.
It was the moment when Rudy was about to climb the hill towards the lord castle where the smoke was rising.
someone shouted.
“It’s a demonic creature in the sky!”
“your majesty!”
The soldiers shouted each other and ran around Rudy.
The first to react were the snipers. Snipers raised their weapons and pointed them into the sky.
Many of the snipers had seen demon creatures in grassland warfare before. Perhaps thinking of that time, they fired their weapons straight into the sky without waiting for an order.
‘What are you kidding me about! Again?’
Rudy turned his head and looked up at the sky. Certainly, a shining demonic creature is flying.
“uh!”
When Rudi thought of a dragon, what he saw was a surprisingly cute creature.
“A baby elephant?”
