SWNOVELXO Chapter 204
Although it seemed like Jenis had single-handedly taken control of the Southern Region, the deputy lord Douglas Koesernis was also reaping massive benefits from Jenis. In fact, because Koesernis understood the true nature of that reward, he had tacitly allowed Jenis to aggressively expand her influence.
The ships had to be built in the Koesernis County Territory, as there was no other place to construct and store them outside Koesernis’s land. Moreover, having Geminia Koesernis, a key figure in the HMS Victory project, staying here was a significant advantage.
Geminia, having gained Jenis’s permission, gathered several excellent wizards under her command and established herself as an important figure in the Magic Tower that could not be ignored. As Koesernis became responsible for the ships crucial to Jenis’s military operations, the weight of his position increased.
While Jenis rose to become the firm number one in the south, Koesernis positioned himself as the number two, without being too greedy, in a way that even Jenis had to be cautious around him. Jeongjae’s comment to Jenis that “there’s no need to provoke Koesernis with a new banner” was not without reason.
Among those ‘ships’, the most important was the flagship ‘Victory’ that Jenis would personally board. Jenis and Jeongjae made their way to Koesernis’s territory to see it. Douglas Koesernis welcomed the two and took them to the port where construction was in full swing.
“There’s not much to see in the territory, is there?” Koesernis asked, his voice tinged with a bit of self-deprecation as he guided them. Jenis shrugged as she surveyed the surroundings.
“Well, the title of Baron doesn’t necessarily come with a responsibility to manage tourist attractions. I actually think it’s fine.”
“Indeed, as you say, but thanks to this, we now have something really ‘worth seeing’ in our territory, right?”
“Yes, that’s what we came to see. Ah, there it is.”
In the eastern port of Koesernis County, Jeongjae recognized the ship that seemed like it wouldn’t exist in this world from a distance; it was the ironclad ship from the blueprints.
Jeongjae had never seen a warship with his own eyes even back on Earth. He wasn’t from the navy, and he hadn’t particularly attended events like launch ceremonies either. Nevertheless, even someone completely unfamiliar with such armaments like him could guess that this type of ship never existed in Earth’s history.
It was indeed a bizarre ship. It looked like a gigantic sword cutting through the sea, caught between the sails of the modern navy and the designs of centuries past, creating a strange, computer graphic-like hybrid.
Though it had no sails, its hull resembled that of a typical sailing ship. However, in a bid to fit not cargo and troops below decks but instead the enormous cannons with hundreds of millimeters in caliber, the lower part of the ship was excessively bulging.
On the cannon deck, four massive holes peeked out. The concept of ‘cannon ships’ was hardly recognized in this world. In a realm where the attack power of cannons failed to penetrate the defenses of wooden warships, the use of cannons was very limited and rare.
Moreover, given how long the history of naval battles had been disrupted in this world, the introduction of a ship featuring the concept of cannons was likely to be nearly the first, marking it as a truly alien and monstrous ‘war ship’.
The iron plating that covered the front of the ship was clearly crafted to withstand attacks from the Kraken. There was no need to add shining iron plates on top of the wood just for the purpose of resisting mere enemy bow rams or boarding.
In fact, this auxiliary armor accounted for most of the funding that went into this ship. Iron was a material difficult to infuse with magic. However, since the ship was created with the expectation of battling sea dragons, it had to show fitting sincerity.
The armor of this ship, constructed by employing the finest talents from the Magic Tower, was so solid that it could potentially block any attempts at ramming from sailing ships. It was apparent. If a ship with merely enhanced defenses through break-through magic rammed into this one, the one crashing into it could be completely obliterated, or the activation of that auto-counter magic could completely destroy it.
The Demon King’s Army was unlikely to bring cannons into battle, and even if they did, inflicting damage would be impossible. Only dragons posed a threat to this ship, though Jenis was confident that, after the attack on Eramenia, the Demon King would not be able to deploy dragons recklessly.
Just as the Demon King seemed to have a profound understanding of the political mechanisms in the human world while orchestrating plans, Jenis also understood the political circumstances within the Demon King’s Army to a considerable extent. In any case, the Demon King could not move the dragons in the current situation.
This also hinted at the need to quickly capture the Kraken and strike the back of the Demon King’s Army before another political upheaval could occur that would allow the Demon King to send dragons to the battlefield.
“Jenis, that cannon is enormous, isn’t it?” Jeongjae remarked, now up close to the nearly completed HMS Victory at the port.
“After all, its original purpose was to capture dragons. Of course, actually firing at a dragon would likely have little effect.”
“That’s definitely meant for using Van Fleet, isn’t it?”
“Only when necessary. The operational doctrine of that ship is like a floating fortress, Professor. Its role goes far beyond just capturing the Kraken. In fact, that’s just the beginning.”
“So, it’s meant for amphibious support. It’s not just about catching the Kraken; it’s also meant to mimic the roles the Kraken can perform.”
“Participating in the landing defense of the Harriet territory was an incredibly important experience for me.”
Jenis nodded. She seemed to recall the time, which felt like ages ago, when she had waged a struggle against the Kraken but had to retreat in fear.
That battle from less than a year ago felt like a distant memory. If the Jenis from that time saw the current Jenis, she might just fall back in shock. The current Jenis was different in many ways—her skills, identity, and sense of purpose.
“Van Fleet magic is superb. The most important thing is suppression capability. There seems to be no better magic to make enemies lose their will to fight. And then there’s the Kraken. If the Kraken hadn’t been there to hold them back, I wouldn’t have needed to help sweep away the orcs in that battle.”
“You’re trying to substitute the role the Kraken played in that battle with that battleship, right?”
“Actually, I’m aiming to do more than that. The Kraken’s influence is excessively limited to the water. But that thing can destroy every fortress on the coast, prowling the shorelines. It doesn’t matter what defenses the enemy has; even if the Gargoyle Queen herself tried to stop it, my ship wouldn’t be halted.”
“It’s our ship, Your Grace.”
Koesernis chimed in lightly.
“Of course, I know you can claim a considerable stake in that ship. But without my strength, that ship would never float on the sea. It wouldn’t be rude for me to claim a bit of… a little bit of rights over it, would it?”
“Certainly, Baron. This is our ship, our ally’s ship, and the Empire’s ship too.”
Jenis acknowledged Koesernis’s words with a smile. Douglas Koesernis stepped back, looking satisfied as if that was all he needed.
“The ship’s condition is excellent. Once the details are refined, it could go into action immediately. How many shells do we have?”
“You said you wouldn’t need many, so we first did a trial load of 50 shells, and there were no issues. The HMS Victory should be able to carry a maximum of 20 crew members and around 100 shells.”
“20 members?”
Jeongjae frowned and knitted his brows. However, he soon remembered seeing the blueprints for that ship and nodded in understanding.
“Oh right. It needed quite a bit of space to regulate the magical energies.”
“Yes. Because of that, this ship can’t carry an absolute number of crew members. That means we shouldn’t expect the transport capability for troops. It’s a thoroughly combat ship.”
“Well then, we’ll need a lot of regular sailing ships to execute the operations.”
“At least 500 vessels. That’s the number of ships we have to prepare.”
Jenis stated. Koesernis slightly raised his eyebrows and trembled.
“There are two major challenges, Your Grace.”
“I happened to think of the same two challenges. Could you explain them to me, Baron?”
“First, we lack enough timber to build that many ships. Of course, after seeing the mages put together the materials for the ironclad, I don’t think it would take that long to build a battleship as long as we have the materials…”
“If we mobilize all the production power of the Magic Tower and bring out all the ships that are already rotting, we could finish preparations by late summer to early autumn.”
“But we lack the materials. Where on earth would we gather all that wood?”
Koesernis’s words made Jenis nod in agreement.
“That is indeed a problem. What’s the other issue?”
“Deploying such a large fleet requires more space than my territory can provide. To dispatch that many ships, we need a new port, but unfortunately, the waters controlled by our ally, no, the Empire, are only within my territory, so there’s no suitable land available.”
“The two issues can be resolved with one solution.”
Jenis nodded. Koesernis tilted his head, genuinely curious.
“May I ask for your guidance, Your Grace?”
“We will go to Eramenia and request logging permission from the royal family. Especially from the great forest in the Southern Region, adjacent to Baron’s lands. If we lease part of that territory, cut down some trees, and then build a port there, that would solve the problems.”
There were so many points to critique in Jenis’s statement that Jeongjae found it hard to even determine where to start. Just as he was about to mention one of the many points with a dazed expression, Jenis interjected.
“Professor, you saved Eramenia. And you rescued their royal family.”
Jenis jumped in before Jeongjae could even begin to speak. Jeongjae shook his head.
“No, even so, asking for land concessions and logging permission is…”
“It’s impossible if not now. The forests of Eramenia can no longer serve their function. This means that even if we give up a part of the forest, it wouldn’t be a significant loss or a meaningful sacrifice for the fairies. Ask to rent part of the forest for about 200 years in exchange for saving Princess Margaret’s life. Given that fairies have lifespans of a thousand years, it shouldn’t be that hard of a deal.”
Thinking it over, it did make sense. If it were a permanent concession, it would indeed cause issues, but as Jenis said, if it were in a leasing format for a few decades to a century, there might be a way to gain logging permissions and the approval for the port construction from the elf community.
After all, Jeongjae had demonstrated exceptional bravery in the defense of Eramenia and had successfully saved Margaret. They couldn’t simply dismiss the earnest petition from a Grand Mage.
“And this is a little personal profit of mine…”
Jenis mumbled with her head down.
“I hate to admit it, but I’m worried about that person. We can’t just leave things be. Besides… If the conflict between me and Rose deepens, the only being with enough weight to mediate us would be… that person. It’s just a safety net in that sense. Whenever you get the chance, go check on their condition.”
“Honestly, you think Margaret’s pretty great, don’t you?”
“She was the closest thing to perfect among the beings I’ve encountered.”
Jenis said, clicking her tongue in disappointment.
“If only we hadn’t gotten entangled in this kind of relationship. But this is my fate, I guess. Those I don’t want to be rivals always end up in competition with me.”
“I think… you’re probably making enemies on purpose, Jenis.”
“Ha…”
Jenis silently sighed. Jeongjae had said it half-jokingly, but for Jenis, it was a surprisingly serious concern.