187 The Dilemma of Greed
“What is that.”
Arusova’s captain, Darren, muttered involuntarily.
There’s something strange in the sky. It was clearly like a living creature, but it was made of light.
It resembles an elephant I saw once before.
But it must have been a land-dwelling animal. It wasn’t a creature that flew or glowed like that.
The creature of light resembling an elephant fluttered its ears and was gradually flying closer to Arubaso’s fleet.
It goes down as if it almost touches the sea and rises a little into the sky again. It swayed up and down as if it were a joke.
“My God, that’s a spirit.”
I heard the voice of the boatswain who was next to me to report.
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Darren came to his senses and looked around.
What savages called spirits is known to quite a few people. Did you remember that word? I was overwhelmed by all the scenes I saw for the first time in my life.
‘no. I even killed all the slaves after a long time, but this will be useless.’
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Darren straightened his back and thundered.
“That’s the enemy’s trick. Get your cannon ready! Drop that from the sky.”
You don’t necessarily have to hit it. It’s just that it’s a spirit or a messenger of God, so you just have to block the sailors’ thoughts before such words come out. You must cut off the flow before the fear dominates your head.
Sensitively aware of his intentions, the boatswain, who had been with him for a long time, turned to the crew.
“That’s a trick. The savages are playing tricks to trick us.”
The boatswain shouted loudly, and the sailors looked at each other as if waking from a dream.
“Drop it before it gets any closer!”
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Darren shouted again, and the artillery commander hurried the men to fire the cannons on the deck.
The bullets flew through the air with a roar.
But the round iron shells couldn’t even get close to the creatures of light.
Originally, the accuracy rate of cannons was not very high.
Hitting a still standing ship is possible only at close range.
The soldiers prepared their cannons again, and after a while the shells flew.
The movement of the glowing creature suddenly sped up. It’s like rushing towards a shell.
Beneath the cannonballs falling in a parabolic arc, a glowing creature stepped in.
And the moment I touched it, I twisted my body.
As if playing a joke, the creature of light flapped its ears and moved noisily.
The shells narrowly missed the creature of light and fell into each one.
‘Are you kidding us?’
A grim expression appeared on Darren’s face.
The creature of light flung itself into the air again. It continues to fly toward the fleet. You can’t fire your cannon if you come any closer. If you do it wrong, you will get hit by an ally’s ship.
“Prepare your gun.”
At Darren’s command, soldiers armed with matchlocks aimed their weapons at the creatures of light from the deck.
***
There was no sound from the ships of the Putegrin Empire. quiet. It was as if everyone had lost their voices.
A strange silence fell over the ship, which had been full of tension just a moment ago.
Suddenly, someone muttered.
“Is that a cannon…?”
The soldier’s voice spread across the deck louder than expected.
After a moment of silence, thunderous cheers rang through the ship.
“Waaa!”
Rudy grinned as he heard the sound from his back.
As if it had been contagious, cheers began to echo from other ships in the empire.
I was afraid of the new weapon called the cannon, but when I opened the lid, it couldn’t even compare to the mortar.
It was clear to anyone’s eyes that the shell had fallen without even getting close to it, let alone hit the jumbo.
Its power and accuracy were inferior to mortars, but even its range was short.
Even this side is going to use a water cannon that lowers the power of the weapon because the mortar is too strong. If the enemy’s cannons are in that state, they may not even need water cannons.
The morale of the soldiers is bound to rise.
When the cheers subsided to some extent, Rudy turned to look at the soldiers.
said Rudy, frowning in concern.
“Don’t slack off too much. This is a tough fight. You have to capture their boats without damaging them. If you think about how to get the boat intact and unscathed, you know it’s a very difficult task. I might be able to.”
The soldiers laughed loudly at Rudy’s words.
Levin quickly stepped into the crowd and found fault with the cannon. It’s a catapult that shoots rocks, or it’s so slow that if you see the enemy firing a cannon and fire a water cannon, you’ll fly back to the enemy, and that’s a joke.
Seeing the atmosphere of the soldiers brighten up, Rudy smiled.
However, as soon as he turned away from the soldiers after a while, Rudy’s expression became serious.
Without taking his eyes off the enemy ships firing cannons at Jumbo, Rudy spoke to the trap.
“The ship is faster than I thought. Captain, what do you think?”
The commander looked carefully at Arubaso’s ship.
“The movement of the sails is very accurate. To control the wind to that extent, the crew’s proficiency is considerable. It’s embarrassing, but their skills are superior to our crew’s.”
“Can we get close to the ship undamaged? I’m thinking of hand-to-hand combat.”
The captain thought deeply, then opened his mouth.
“In close combat, we lag behind in size and movement of the ship. If we approach with two ships from both sides and control the movement, I don’t know, but if we get close without damaging the opponent, there is a risk that our ship will be damaged.”
Rudy sighed weakly.
“What if I break the mast? Can I fix it and take it with me?”
“A ship has a carpenter who will repair and maintain it during the long voyage. A good carpenter will be able to repair it somehow, but I don’t know what it will be like with a completely broken mast.”
The captain continued with a pity.
“Besides, no one knows who will die in battle. If the carpenter who knows the ship best dies, immediate repairs will have to be abandoned.”
“…”
Rudy stared at Arubaso’s stomach for a moment.
I want to have all of those ships somehow. If possible, I wish all the sailors would come along with the ship. I know that greed is too much. However, considering the value of that ship, it was a waste to give up even one.
‘The ship will be loaded with gunpowder, so we can’t use mortars. Considering the mast and hull, the use of water cannons is limited.’
In the end, you have no choice but to fight with your body after attaching the boat, but if you want to get close, you are behind in the ability of the boat and its management skills. I’m going crazy and jumping.
Rudy glanced back.
Levin noticed right away and came closer.
“Levin, prepare first-class snipers. Aim for the captain, helmsman, and sailors who control the mast.”
“All right.”
Levin smiled and lowered his head.
Immediately, a flag was raised on the mast, relaying Rudy’s orders to the other ships.
Even in the Navy, there are soldiers who use sniper rifles.
But it wasn’t a sniper. simply shoot
In the past, sniper rifles were in short supply. So, only those with good skills among the general soldiers were selected and trained as snipers, but now they are also receiving shooting training for ordinary soldiers. Not just the navy, but all armies. It was because magic weapons had spread that much.
Unlike swords and bows, sniper rifles can reach a certain level with a little training. It’s something anyone can do.
And soldiers with excellent marksmanship were trained as snipers, as before.
However, there were occasional soldiers who showed exceptional ability among them. They are truly talented people who can snip even a single ant from afar.
Rudy gathered them separately to form a sniper unit, but they have never officially participated in combat.
The 1st class snipers were the soldiers who recorded the highest grades in the sniper unit.
There are two on this boat and one on several others. Because there were not many first-class snipers, the rest of the ships were occupied by second-class snipers.
However, they have never trained at sea. Because I hadn’t thought about naval battles until now. At most, it was all about handling the sniper rifle a few times while preparing for this naval battle.
‘It’s good if they do well.’
Rudy shifted his gaze back to the ship of Arubaso. This time a matchlock was being fired at Jumbo, who was flying between ships.
“…”
Like cannons, guns seem to take time to reload. It’s hard to see because it’s far away, but when shooting from the same direction, it was often fired with a little gap between them.
‘I wonder if a matchlock was shot by lighting a wick on fire.’
I know it’s an old-fashioned gun, but I don’t know exactly. The report did not include such details.
A corner of my chest felt a little chilly.
On a faraway continent, there is no magical power, but instead science is developing.
If not now, there may come a day when you will fall behind them.
When that day comes, what will happen to the Empire and other countries on this continent? Wouldn’t it be a humiliating opening to the powers of other continents, just like it was on Earth?
‘I have to prepare even now.’
We need to revitalize the fields of mathematics and science, which are lagging behind, and make the benefits of education reach more people. It might be a good idea to create a scholarship system for talented people to study in the country.
‘First of all, I have to steal that ship’s technology.’
While Rudy was still staring at Arubaso’s stomach, he heard Levin’s voice behind him.
“Your Majesty, I am a first-class sniper.”
When I turned around, there were two soldiers, one tall and one short, standing with long sniper rifles in their arms.
‘A rabbit and… a turtle?’
It feels just like that. One was thin and lanky, and the other was short with a short neck, as if his head was attached to his shoulders.
The tall rabbit sniper bowed his head. The tortoise seems to act a little slower. I lowered my head half a beat late.
For some reason, both seem a little clumsy.
Levin opened his mouth, probably knowing Rudy’s feelings.
“They look stupid, but the atmosphere changes when you actually start working on them. These kids are the ones I picked myself. They were small when I first brought them, but they’ve grown up a lot.”
Levin put his hand on his waist and smiled.
Levin, you’re just walking around doing a few things. I heard that you’re doing bards, spies, and other things, but are you recruiting soldiers now? Maybe Levin is a genius. It’s a thought I hear these days.
The rabbit sniper cautiously raised his hand.
“Do you have something to say?”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
The voice is thin. The rabbit slightly raised its gaze, but when it met Rudy’s eyes, it quickly lowered it. He seems to have a very timid personality.
“It’s okay, tell me.”
“…I work on the watchtower…I went upstairs…”
The voice got smaller and smaller.
Rudy smiled bitterly and brought his face slightly closer to him. I can’t hear my voice.
“…therefore….”
Rudy’s face seemed to become more tense as he got closer. The rabbit muttered in a dying voice.
“…It’s a little far…I’d like to go a little closer…a little bit…”
“Yes, how close can it be?”
The rabbit looked around and looked at the Arubaso boats, moving his head. Then, she stretched out her slender arm and pointed at the sea a little ahead.
“…That’s enough…”
“Can we just go out like that?”
“…yes…then…then…behind…the five ships…”
“…?”
I think I heard it wrong. As Rudy looked at the rabbit’s face, the turtle next to him spoke slowly.
“…5 ships…not…7…7 ships…possible…”
I heard it right, but it seems that my head has gone awry. Could it be that it is possible to snipe not only the ship in front of you, but also the ship behind it?
Rudy involuntarily looked back. Although he saw a ship in the distant sea, Rudy’s eyes couldn’t even see who was wearing any clothes on the deck. No, it doesn’t even matter if there are people on the deck. I don’t even know how strong.
Turning his head again to see the rabbit and the tortoise, Rudy asked.
“Is it possible to snipe not just one ship, but up to 5 or 7 ships?”
“…yes….”
“…yes.”
Levin said wahahahaha with a laugh.
“Your Majesty, the people I’ve chosen can’t be ordinary guys.”
“…”
No, this is a monster beyond the ordinary.
Rudy thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
“If, as you say, you can shoot up to five ships, I’ll grant the two of them one by one. Anything is fine as long as it doesn’t harm the empire.”
The rabbit and the tortoise looked at each other and smiled happily.
“…thank you….”
“…thank you.”
