Dictator From Outer Space

“What is the meaning of this?”

The person who barged into Kelodian’s office early in the morning was Piana Morian, one of the three ministers of Elvrande.

Despite her relatively young age of 160, she was proficient in finance and managed the Ministry of Finance, the Office of Administration, and the Ether Technology Agency.

Kelodian calmly asked her as she entered without knocking.

“What brings you here so early?”

“Who do you think? Why did you close the mithril mine? What is the reason for sending soldiers to the customs and confiscating the goods?”

“That’s because of the leakage of Goliath parts. What do you think Leobold used to make that Goliath called Black Knight in this war?”

“Are you saying that we leaked it? The Ether Technology Agency? That’s absurd…”

“It’s just a possibility, Minister Piana. Let’s sit down and talk.”

Piana, who was fuming, sat down in front of him.

Usually, there would be an explanation waiting behind such an unreasonable measure.

Most likely, he would also start to persuade her to cooperate with him.

He ordered his attendant to bring some good tea and only then did Piana’s scowling face relax a bit.

Kelodian took a sip from his teacup.

“I understand your concern very well. But we can’t ignore our reality.”

“Don’t lump us together. You and I are different.”

“Remember that we are both descendants of Yggdrasil. I’m talking about our common enemy: Leobold Vandus and the humans.”

As he mentioned them, Piana’s attitude softened.

She had little to do with the war, but she knew that Elvrande was in a lot of trouble after the recent defeat.

“…Fine, let me hear it.”

“In this war, we learned two lessons. The Elvrande army is not invincible as it used to be and Leobold Vandus is a very dangerous person.”

“So didn’t you put him on the public list? He’s number one. Just send an assassin or something and kill him.”

“That seems impossible. A user of Ether Blade is immune to almost all external threats. Even deadly poison and mental magic won’t work on him.”

“That’s surprising information. Why didn’t I know that?”

“Because the relevant documents are in the Infinite Library. Only the imperial family and a few members of the Council of Elders can enter there.”

“So even though you designated him as public enemy number one, you have no way to kill him. Then why did you do that?”

“We needed to be alert.”

Kelodian stood up and walked around for a moment.

An Imagine Record magic appeared around him and listed Leobold Vandus’s actions.

“He appeared in a small territory on the eastern side of the continent in winter of 1036 AC. And in less than two years, he defeated his enemies and became the de facto ruler of Bagran.”

“Bagran is not a great country, but it’s impressive that he achieved that in two years.”

“The efficiency of the new Ether engine he made, or rather came out of his territory, is something we can’t even catch up with. We’re having trouble obtaining the actual thing, so our engineers can’t analyze it either.”

“The efficiency of that Ether engine was indeed amazing.”

In fact, Elvrande was the most surprised by the information on that engine.

It was impossible to achieve such efficiency with existing Ether engines that used Ether stones to boil water.

It was obvious that he had improved it, but it was almost impossible to get the real thing because it was in a corner of his territory and he had tight security.

And now, the owner of that territory had appeared with a new Goliath and defeated an Elven Knight.

Kelodian’s voice rose at that point.

“We lost. Elvrande, which had not lost for over 100 years, lost. It’s time to be wary of him. The whole empire must confront him.”

Piana finally realized Kelodian’s intention.

He meant that they had to accept some minor losses since they had to face him with the whole empire.

“Alright. I understand that he is public enemy number one and we have to be cautious and do our best to deal with him. But why do I have to suffer alone?”

“Because it’s the first attempt. We have set up multiple traps to pressure him. The Goliath parts thing is just a small part of it.”

“I’d like to hear more about your grand plan.”

“The second one is an Elven Knight enhancement plan using God’s fragments. Tirendell volunteered for it. He said he would accept the God’s fragments.”

“The champion training plan using the Infinite Circuit… You’re bringing that up now…”

“It must have been urgent for him to agree to it. What do you think? It’s obvious that the Ministry of Finance will suffer a lot from this. But he will suffer more. If he can’t produce Goliath, where do you think his resentment and anger will go?”

“…Do you have any evidence that he can’t make Black Knight, the Goliath, if we block the ignition stones and mithril wires?”

“There is no evidence. But if he can still mass-produce Black Knight despite our measures, then he is hardly human. Then the Council of Elders won’t sit still.”

“What will they do then? They’ve been silent for 20 years even when we asked them to reduce their budget.”

“Even those old men are taking this defeat very seriously. Because it was Tirendell who lost.”

Tirendell Azus was a half-elf, but he was incomparable to any Elven Knight.

Some Elven Knights in Elvrande claimed that they were equal to him to uphold the pride of the high elves, but that was nonsense.

Tirendell was the strongest knight on the continent.

He had casually defeated such a skilled person, so the shock of the Council of Elders members was immense.

Some of them even described Leobold as comparable to a champion during the Great War.

Piana nodded her head.

“I see your point. But if these measures prove to be ineffective, they must be immediately withdrawn.”

“As you know, Goliath production is not a matter of months. I’d like to wait at least 2 or 3 years. Please understand.”

“Fine.”

The elves’ sense of time was different from that of ordinary Ains, so they didn’t care much about 1 or 2 years.

It was not for nothing that there were dozens of bills that had not been passed for decades in the Council.

But even the elves were taking this situation very seriously.

So much so that even the emperor, who seemed to have lost interest in the present world, asked about Leobold.

After Piana left, Kelodian looked out the window at Yggdrasil.

Some withered branches remained in some areas after the fire was extinguished, and that hurt the elves’ hearts.

Some elves claimed that everything was Leobold’s fault.

Nothing had gone right since he appeared.

Kelodian didn’t think it was a coincidence either.

“Leobold Vandus. Whether you are a hero from another world or you accidentally gained divinity, it doesn’t matter much. But just know this. There is no one who has survived as an enemy of the elves.”

That was not a bluff, but a history proven by hundreds of years.

The elves had weapons that could devastate the continent with great disasters and even time.

It was impossible for Leobold to overcome that.

“So stop here. Before we take extreme actions.”

***

Elvrande’s suspension of Goliath-related parts exports caused considerable pain to most of the human kingdoms.

In Astera, Goliath meant military power.

They had no choice but to rely on Elvrande’s technology for their defense.

—Mithril wire is used for the ether circuit, so the key is to make it as thin as possible. Even Zaium can’t make grade one wire.

—Only Elvrande can make the ignition stone. There’s no substitute for it.

—If we exclude those two parts and make it, we’ll get a defective product that we’re not sure if it will start or not, let alone have enough output.

—This is not a fair competition.

Some people lamented that Elvrande had such a high share in the Goliath production.

—If two parts are enough to cause an emergency in various countries, what would happen if they banned everything?

—It’s highly likely that we wouldn’t be able to attempt production at all. In other words, we need Elvrande’s permission to have proper military power.

—Then what was the war we’ve been fighting for?

People finally realized that Elvrande had not used their full power.

It turned out that even the countless battles that had taken place over 200 years since the Great War were the result of Elvrande’s leniency.

If the elves had monopolized all their technology and acted in a closed manner, there wouldn’t have been even a minimal confrontation.

Anyway, this embargo caused a fire on the heels of many countries.

Even the Imir Republic, which had relatively high technology, was in a hurry to develop ignition stones, which showed how serious the situation was.

Some of the nobles of Zaium found the cause of this situation and pointed out one person.

It was Leobold.

—There’s no doubt that he brought us victory in the war. But we need to reconsider if it was too big of a victory.

—Even if we put aside the ether blade, isn’t it possible that the Black Knight model provoked the elves’ alertness?

—Also, Count Vandus’s annihilation of the Elven Knight alone could be one of the reasons. Did he cause trouble by monopolizing too much of the credit?

The nobles who said this were mostly opposed to Prince Barak.

The prince had Duke Prozhan, Croitz Count, and Leobold on his side, so they made such remarks to check him.

Of course, this caused considerable backlash not only from the prince’s faction but also from the entire empire.

—Are you saying we should have won moderately? Have you already forgotten that we suffered terrible defeats for decades?

—Why is Black Knight a problem? If it’s a power that the elves are wary of, shouldn’t we mass-produce it and make it our force?

—Above all, the claim that he should have shared his credit moderately is ridiculous. Did he give up his pride as a knight?

As these rebuttals continued, those who criticized Leobold lowered their voices.

But everyone knew that they would open their mouths again if they had a chance.

Until when?

Until they gained power or were purged.

The voices of criticism subsided, but it was not a good sign that such a trend was prevalent in the empire.

Duke Prozhan received an order from the prince and entered into a discussion with Croitz Count and Leobold.

***

“According to our confirmation, there is almost no stock of ignition stones and mithril wires in the entire empire. If we exclude the four units on the line now, we’ll have to make Bine-grade ones next time.”

“Bine-grade is too weak… And we can’t give them junk that we’re not sure if it will start or not.”

“We didn’t know our dependence on Elvrande was so serious… This shows why they always said they didn’t use their full power.”

“What do we do? Elvrande is mass-producing Belial-grade improved models. If this goes on, the power gap will be too big.”

“It would be nice if we could mass-produce Black Knight…”

Their voices were very serious.

They realized that the power gap between the two countries was much bigger than expected and it was getting bigger, so it was not unreasonable to be nervous.

Leobold decided to ease their worries at this point.

He had to do something for his allies who were too anxious.

“There is a way.”

“What is it?”

“You always have a solution. Tell us.”

Croitz Count’s attitude changed greatly after Leobold spent a few days at his territory.

He started to respect him, but he didn’t know why. One thing was certain.

Those few days were the most blissful time she had ever experienced.

Her tone naturally softened and her eyes changed completely.

It was like treating her real husband.

Leobold paused for a moment before speaking.

“You must have seen Black Knight in the last battle. He doesn’t need an ignition stone. Mass-producing that Goliath is our primary goal.”

“A Goliath without an ignition stone? Is that possible?”

Duke Prozhan was surprised and so was Camilla.

Goliath, of course, but even the golem, which was developed hundreds of years ago, did not supply ether to the core without an ignition stone. It was common sense.

Leobold broke that.

“I need to explain the structure of the ignition stone for a moment.”

“We don’t know much about the parts of Goliath, but we have enough knowledge to understand. Just tell us without hesitation.”

“Then I’ll tell you. The ignition stone is something that gives a specific stimulus to wake up the entire core… And that stimulus is electricity.”

“Electricity? What is that?”

Unfortunately, electricity was not discovered in Asteraen.

To be precise, electricity was a natural phenomenon, so they either ignored it or couldn’t find a use for it.

It was because of ether, the omnipotent material.

The Imir Republic had been researching the commonality between natural phenomena such as lightning and electric-type magic cast by magicians, but there was little progress.

Other kingdoms were the same, and Elvrande did not even research it because of ether.

“Rather than explaining electricity in detail, this would be better. You know when you touch the armor plate of Goliath in winter and it stings?”

“Oh, that happened a lot.”

“That’s electric energy. The ignition stone amplifies that stinging thing by several times and wakes up the core.”

“That’s complicated…”

In other words, it was an ignition coil commonly used in cars.

The strange thing was that there was no battery-like thing in the ignition stone.

It was strange how ignition could happen without electricity, but that was something that the ether research institute had already researched.

In short, there were different types of ether, and one of them could store electricity.

It was the discovery of the principle of black metal battery, which was used to death in 21st century Earth.

Leobold decided to express it simply rather than talking complicatedly.

“People who are asleep wake up when someone slaps their face, right?”

“Ah, I see.”

“We developed a part that attaches to the core instead of the ignition stone. It’s very cheap and relatively easy to produce, so we don’t need to import ignition stones anymore.”

“But what about mithril wire? It’s almost impossible to process mithril so finely.”

“We use golems to produce mithril wire.”

“Gol…em?”

“The mechanical dolls that became the predecessors of Goliath?”

Golems were common in Leobold’s territory, but not elsewhere.

It was because they had many parts compatible with Goliath and their combat power was poor.

They were very good for handling heavy objects or various construction works, but the demand for golems was greatly reduced since ordinary people could solve most problems by mobilizing themselves.

Arma developed a kind of worker that used golems to perform various tasks.

It was incomparable to the workers that were commonly used in the 22nd century, but it was hard to find anything better for simple tasks.

“Mithril has the same property as silver, which is ductility, meaning it is easy to stretch. Elf craftsmen can pull it out and make it as thick as hair. It’s also possible for golems.”

“I heard that elf craftsmen repeat the same work for decades, but if a mere golem can do it, it would be a great advantage…”

“Shall we compare it like this? An elf craftsman can only produce about 30 meters of mithril wire a day. But a golem can produce more than a kilometer. It doesn’t sleep or complain as long as there is ether stone. And it doesn’t make mistakes.”

“That’s more than 30 times… That’s an amazing difference…”

They realized the usefulness of golems then.

Golems didn’t sleep or complain.

They kept pulling out mithril wires 24 hours a day, so it was natural that the production increased.

The cost would increase, but it was not that high compared to the wages of craftsmen who guaranteed the same amount of work.

“I solved the supply problem of ignition stones and mithril wires like this. I could supply them to various countries right away and solve this problem, but I want to change the ecosystem that depends on Elvrande itself.”

“Changing the ecosystem… That doesn’t seem easy…”

“If we just muddle through and move on, they will do it again. There’s no reason not to use the most effective method.”

“Elvrande knows how strong they are and they can use all means to pressure humans. So we have to be prepared to counter them.”

After a brief silence, Camilla asked.

“What do we have to do to help you?”

“First of all, I want you to rent all the available airships. Even the prince’s ones. You can exclude the ones that are absolutely necessary.”

“There’s no movement in the palace, so if we combine the rest, it’ll be about 20 ships. What are you going to use them for?”

“Those airships will carry Goliath parts or high-value products. The existing fleet is tied to the floating continent, so it’s hard to get them out.”

A new airship was being built in Count Vandus’s territory, and they were planning to expand the facilities to build more.

But they had to borrow them for now, and Leobold didn’t intend to return them.

They were anyway in a state of being deployed for reconnaissance near the floating continent without much work, so it was better to use them frugally.

They agreed readily.

“We might as well use them for something useful rather than wasting them on useless events. But I think I heard you say earlier that you can mass-produce Black Knight.”

“The current main Goliath of the empire is Ose-grade with an output of 130E. Oh, this is a numerical expression of ether output measured by the research institute.”

“You can measure the output of Goliath? That’s more surprising than what I’ve heard so far.”

“If Ose-grade is 130E, what about the rest? How about Bepar-grade?”

“Bepar-grade is 150E, Elvrande’s Belial-grade is 180E. And Black Knight was initially 205E, but we reduced it a bit and stabilized it at 200E level.”

They were shocked by the staggering numbers.

How long had it been since he took over the production line of Ose-grade that he showed such results?

And that wasn’t the end.

“If we finish our current research, we can ultimately increase the output to 250E. It will be hard for ordinary knights to handle it, so elite knights will use it.”

Duke Prozhan was so excited that he poured out questions.

“What else is different besides the output? How many can you produce? How much does it cost?”

“How about we talk about it while looking at the new Goliath?”

They agreed on the spot.

The conversation ended and Arma reported.

**

“We got a contact from Imir Republic. A diplomat is coming and she’s Skadi, daughter of Bultorn.”

“The dwarves must have been shocked too. They treated us like humans even though we didn’t get along well.”

The elves and dwarves had been fighting almost like enemies for a long time, but they kept some boundaries.

There was no war for decades, so they didn’t accumulate a history of conflict.

The elves despised the dwarves as not worth bothering with, and the dwarves boasted their pride by saying that they couldn’t touch them because the republic’s defense was perfect.

But this embargo completely shattered their fragile relationship.

The dwarves realized that Elvrande could strangle them at any time and sought measures, one of which was to strengthen their relationship with Leobold.

They were originally interested in ether engines or living metal guns, but they became more enthusiastic after this opportunity.

Leobold also thought that cooperation with the dwarves was not bad.

“By the way, what do female dwarves look like?”

“By the way, in the eyes of the dwarves, the more muscles you have, the more handsome or beautiful you are. She won’t have a beard since she’s a woman.”

“Ah… I see.”

He thought he could just imagine her as a female version of Bultorn.

“And Galisto joined hands with Pangral Archduke. He is one of the most powerful forces in Zaium that opposes the prince.”

“That’s scary. A single archduke in the empire. What’s his purpose? Probably me, right?”

“Yes. Galisto showed a reaction close to excitement after confirming your power. He seems to think that he will attack soon. Pangral Archduke is also wary of Duke Prozhan.”

“Not right now. Stabilizing Bagran is the first priority.”

Bagran was currently forcing refugees to settle in direct territories and grow new crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries, etc.

They were also rushing to produce non-food crops such as cotton and mass-produce ether engines.

In fact, that was much more important than Elvrande or the power struggle within Zaium.

Leobold suddenly remembered and asked.

“How’s Lucia doing?”

“She arrived at Mare and is building a nest.”

A hologram made by Arma showed Lucia building a huge nest.

She didn’t have to worry about being exposed by anyone, so she used her full power, which made the nest enormous.

“She is using her subordinates to build various facilities in the crater, and they are incomparable to the previous Plague Queens. They are all tense about her appearance.”

“She seems to be doing well…”

Somehow, the nest looked similar to the one that appeared on Mercury in his previous life.

Leobold hoped she wouldn’t become his enemy.