Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 643 - 641: Wizard War

Malaga Mine, located on the edge of the Witch Forest and not too far from the Dark Forest Gathering Place, was a silver mine with a substantial yield.

When Richard arrived, he found, just as Eva had said, that an elite army was waiting for him.

The entire army had over a thousand men, all light cavalry, each with two horses, swift and well-trained. As he got closer, he could distinctly feel the killing intent on each soldier, evidently veterans of many battles and elite among the elite. He couldn’t help but think of the Royal Guard Corps he had encountered in the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, which had been protecting Princess Rose.

Richard asked a few questions and quickly learned about their origins.

According to the leader, they were part of the Northern Border Army of the Blood Radiance Kingdom, known as the first-rate First Glory Cavalry Group. Famed for their fierce combat, they had fought multiple times with neighboring countries to protect their kingdom, achieving no small feats.

A few months earlier, during a major battle, they performed a surprise attack on the enemy’s central camp to secure a victory. Although they achieved their goal, their own losses were not insignificant. Hence, they had been sent to Malaga Mine to recuperate, spending their days hunting birds and fighting Thief Groups. With winter approaching, they had expected several more months of dullness, but they suddenly received orders from their superiors not long ago. Their superiors commanded them to wait here for a few wizards and then follow the wizards into battle. And now, they had finally met Richard and his companions.

After listening, Richard nodded slightly and looked toward the troop’s leader.

The leader was a man in his thirties named Wu Long, with a face that was sharp and rugged, as if chiseled by an axe, his gaze firm and ferocious.

Richard asked aloud, "Commander Wu Long, do you know what we’re setting out to do this time?"

"We’ve heard it’s an attack on some countries to the east," Wu Long said with a grim smile, revealing a hint of fierceness in his eyes. "Seems like the Hoske Kingdom, Golden Triangle Duchy, all very wealthy. To be honest, I’ve been unhappy with them for a long time, and now we have a chance... they’ll see."

Richard’s eyes flashed. "If I’m not mistaken, these countries are all vassals of Deep Blue Castle, right? You must be aware that they each have the protection of wizards; are you confident about dealing with those protectors?"

"That..." Wu Long chuckled sheepishly, seeming a bit embarrassed. "Master Wizard, you must be joking. My men are formidable, but that’s only against ordinary folk. Face to face with a wizard, a single spell from them would cause us heavy losses. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

Therefore, a wizard is not someone we can deal with. Only another wizard can confront them, meaning, your esteemed selves.

In fact, forget even meeting a wizard, if we come across any city with robust defenses, we’re also at a loss. After all, we are cavalry, with no siege weapons, so we can’t really make a dent. Hence, matters like sieges, also require the intervention of Master Wizards. We can only be effective after you have successfully acted. Actually, what we mainly do is take care of miscellaneous tasks that you wizards may not wish to handle yourselves."

"Is that so," Richard nodded, understanding now how wars involving wizards were conducted in this world.

Logically, wizards wield extraordinary powers, and even the weakest First-level low-level wizard could inflict heavy losses upon an elite army, effectively making it impossible for ordinary troops to have a place on the battlefield.

But that wasn’t actually the case.

Wizards were powerful, but they also had their own limitations: their numbers were too few, and they couldn’t be in multiple places at once, making it impossible to control the entire war zone.

War was complicated; it wasn’t just about destroying the enemy’s army, demolishing their cities, and then claiming victory.

Without the actual complete occupation, without stabilizing the occupied areas, without securing continuous resources, and without turning those expenses into sufficient benefits, the victory wasn’t truly achieved.

In war, wizards were like the air force or navy of modern-day Earth, possessing many long-range strategic weapons, responsible for destroying the enemy’s airfields, ports, power plants, radar stations, and other core facilities, crippling the enemy’s use of strategic weapons, disabling their command, and completely negating their capability to resist.

The army of ordinary people, on the other hand, was more like the modern-day Earth’s army, mainly responsible for occupation, stabilization, and subsequent law and order governance.

In a war, if only wizards, representing the air and naval forces, were involved, at most it would result in enemy territories being bombed into wastelands. And if only the army of ordinary people, representing the land forces, was involved, they would face difficulties in advance, stalemate, or destruction by the enemy wizards.

Therefore, wizards and ordinary troops must work together to achieve the best results.

Having understood this, Richard blinked. He wasn’t overly interested in wars involving wizards in this world, although he had many tactics he wanted to try. What he was more concerned about was that with Wu Long and his men involved, and with the addition of Teddy’s four Level One wizards, mining in Yadisi Village should be more efficient.

After all, it would mean more labor to exploit.

So, what was he waiting for?

Turning his head to look at Wu Long, Richard wasted no words, "Let’s set out."

"Yes," Wu Long nodded, and without further ado, he waved his hand, leading his men to follow Richard and depart.

...

Lancaster Castle.

From early morning, Baron Lancaster had been in high spirits.

The reason was that the wizards who had occupied the castle for many days were finally leaving. They had formally notified him that today was the last day, even though it was heavily snowing, they would leave the castle and head east to partake in some war.

Baron Lancaster had no interest whatsoever in what war it was, he just wanted to quickly get rid of the wizards so he could return to his modest and frugal life, slowly save up money, and use it to fulfill his ambitious aspirations.

Therefore, when the wizards were about to leave and asked him if he wanted to leave with them and join in some war, he resolutely refused.

What a joke, couldn’t they see that he couldn’t even light an oil lamp now, that his rooms were darkened every day? During one of those times, he almost stuck it up Little Heart’s nostril, which made Little Heart ignore him for several days.

Moreover, the entire territory’s soldiers, all added up, didn’t even number a hundred. With that, he was still worried about how to solve the issue of the soldiers’ wages and their rations for the next month.

It wouldn’t matter much if their salaries were delayed for a month, but if the rations weren’t sufficient, those hungry country bumpkins would certainly chop off his head, loot the castle and flee elsewhere to join thief groups.

With such circumstances, joining any war was basically seeking death! Unless his head had been kicked by the miller’s donkey, he would absolutely not agree.

But how to solve the problem with the rations? Ask for a loan from the neighboring lord? Hmm, he had already sent someone to inquire by horseback, they should be back by now, shouldn’t they?

Thinking this, Baron Lancaster sat in the great hall of the main castle, glancing unconsciously at the doorway.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop..."

The sound of horse hooves approached, followed by a soldier staggering in, his body laden with a heavy load of white snow, like a backpack.

Baron Lancaster quickly stood up and looked toward the soldier, asking, "What did Marquis Capechi say, is he willing to lend us rations or not?"

"Marquis Capechi told me to inform you, my Lord," the subordinate replied swiftly. "He can lend us the rations, but..."

"No need to say more, I know," Baron Lancaster clenched his teeth, feeling annoyed just thinking about it, but he had no choice considering the dire circumstances. "Tell him I agree, no matter how much we borrow this month, we will repay double in the second half of the year."

"It’s not that, my Lord." The subordinate shook his head, speaking out, "Marquis Capechi told me to tell you that he can send rations over free of charge, but he has one condition."

"A condition? What condition?" Baron Lancaster was taken aback.

"He said that you must send him fifty robust soldiers, to borrow temporarily; he is going to participate in some war in the east."

"Uh? The war in the east? Again, this eastern war?" Baron Lancaster’s brow furrowed as he paced back and forth in the castle, "That old fox Capechi is always so profit-driven, yet he would participate in some eastern war? Could there be great benefits to it?

Yes, there must be benefits, and they must be far greater than the rations sent over, otherwise, he certainly wouldn’t make such a request. Speaking of which, what exactly is this eastern war about?"

In the end, Baron Lancaster was full of doubts. The wizards who had previously stayed in the castle had mentioned it to him before they left, but he hadn’t listened attentively and had completely forgotten.

The subordinate spoke up: "My Lord, you have forgotten, the Master Wizards who left had told you. They are going to attack the Golden Triangle Duchy; they are responsible for breaking through the city, while we are supposed to maintain order, guard the prisoners, and such. As for the reward, we are allowed to take as much as we can from the storage in each city, naturally not taking the resources they need and those related to spells."

"What?! Really?! Is that what the Master Wizards... ah, I mean the wizards truly said? How do I not remember? Were they so kind-hearted?" Baron Lancaster widened his eyes, looking at the soldier and asking.

"Yes." The subordinate hunkered down, nodding repeatedly, confirming, "The Master Wizards truly said that, I heard it very clearly. They also said that this was because they stayed in our castle, giving us a special reward. Others won’t get rewards as good as ours."

"With that said..." Baron Lancaster’s eyes swiftly twirled in their sockets, and after a moment, he cried out, "What are we waiting for then! Immediately gather everyone, get everyone together!"

"Baron Lancaster, you mean... you’re going to send the men to Marquis Capechi?" asked the soldier hesitantly.

"To hell with sending! I am going to catch up with the Master Wizards; I will join them in the eastern war, to loot money and rations!"

"But we don’t have many men, if they all leave, what about our lands?"

"Idiot! Go tell that old coot Capechi not to ask for men from me, I am asking for men from him! Whatever benefits the Master Wizards promised him, I’ll add thirty percent to it! And his men must join the battle under my name!

Just tell him that, not changing a single word! The old fox will certainly understand, how to act to reap the largest benefits."

"Uh, yes." The subordinate quickly departed.

In the castle, Baron Lancaster drew his longsword, his eyes narrowing as he looked eastward. With force, he swung the sword, making a whooshing sound, and declared with eagerness, "War, ha, I am coming! The time for me, Baron Lancaster, to spread my fame and revive my family’s fortune has arrived!"

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