Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 684: The Enemy Approaches

TL: Rui88

“A toast, General.”

“A toast, Duke.”

The crystal-clear glass goblets touched lightly, making a crisp, pleasant sound.

Schroeder and the Duke of the Northwest, Henry Ferdinand, each drained the wine in their cups.

The Alda Expeditionary Army had just reached Center, the capital of the Duchy of Manda, to rest briefly.

As soon as Schroeder entered the city, Henry threw a banquet to entertain him.

Although he himself thought it was inappropriate for the times, Schroeder couldn’t very well refuse the Duke’s gesture, so he dressed formally and attended.

However, the banquet was not all about eating and drinking.

A contingent from Manda was to set out with the Alda army, and the Duke needed to discuss the relevant matters with Schroeder.

The Ferdinand Family, holding the title of duke, was nominally the highest-ranking family in the Northwest Bay. With the kingdom in peril and the incident occurring near his own lands, the Duke had an obligation to lend a hand.

“Come here, Garrett!”

A young man was called before the Duke. The young man looked at Schroeder with admiring eyes.

“General, allow me to introduce you. This is Garrett Ferdinand, the most outstanding young man of our family’s new generation. He will be following you on this expedition. Please feel free to command him as you see fit.”

Garrett clicked his heels together and gave Schroeder an Alda-style military salute.

“General, I will serve you faithfully.”

Schroeder patted his shoulder and offered some encouragement, “I look forward to you distinguishing yourself in the upcoming battles.”

In fact, during the preparation phase for the expedition, many families in the Northwest Bay wanted to place their young scions into the Northwest Army.

Viscount Derrick Heller of the Heller family, for example, was the first to express such a wish, and finally succeeded after much persistence.

Young noble scions like him, hearing the news, were eager to try. They upheld a thousand-year-old tradition, yearning to establish merit in war, to seize greater glory and higher titles for themselves and their families.

Although Schroeder, with his experience fighting the orcs, had repeatedly warned them of the potential risks, he could not dampen this powerful enthusiasm.

In a way, this was also a kind of trust, a trust built on the combat effectiveness of the Alda army.

Lakeheart Town had no choice but to create an auxiliary combat system for this group. Although it was auxiliary, to facilitate coordination and command, the naming convention was kept as consistent with the Alda style as possible. Many independent armies were named after their territories of origin, such as the so-and-so Independent Company.

Of course, they did not accept the scions and armies of just any family. They had to swear on their family’s honor to abide by the various regulations of the Alda army and be willing to bear severe consequences for any violations.

At the same time, they also had to prove that they had the ability to handle their own supplies, or pay a large sum of money for the Alda army to handle it on their behalf.

After discussing official business, Henry began to chat idly with Schroeder, mentioning a few interesting recent events in his territory.

“General, do you still remember Marltz Kent?”

“That usurper, what about him?”

“Isn’t he buried in Center? Just a few days ago, we had a thunderstorm, and a huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky, actually striking his grave. After the storm, that scene… tsk tsk tsk, you should have seen it.”

Henry took a sip of wine and said happily, “Marltz’s entire tomb was completely flattened. There was just a big pit left, and the coffin and burial goods were all turned to dust.”

Schroeder found it somewhat unbelievable. “Such a thing happened? Could it be the work of grave robbers, who then staged the scene afterward?”

Henry said with certainty, “It’s absolutely true. The tomb keeper saw it with his own eyes. He’s a dutiful, honest, and reliable man. He wouldn’t lie.”

Schroeder shook his head, “Truly astonishing.”

Henry, however, was extremely satisfied and overjoyed.

On a personal level, he had nearly had his ducal title seized by Marltz. On a public level, it was precisely because of Marltz’s antics that the Ferdinand family’s prestige had plummeted, losing its former status in the Northwest Bay.

He raised his eyebrows and said, “What does this show? It shows that this fellow Marltz was so wicked that a simple death was not enough to atone for his sins, so the Lord of Light sent down a bolt of lightning to continue punishing him.”

“If I had known this would happen, I shouldn’t have given him a grand burial for the sake of decency. What a waste of money.”

“Your Grace!”

Henry was about to continue insulting Marltz Kent when he was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a servant.

“What happened that’s made you so flustered?”

The Duke, who was in high spirits, was very displeased.

“A knight, claiming to be from the Royal Knights, requests an audience with you. He says he has come from the Blackstone Plains with important intelligence.”

Henry and Schroeder exchanged a glance.

The Royal Knights, and from the Blackstone Plains, the implication was obvious.

“Have him wait for me in the small reception room.”

Half an hour later, a suppressive atmosphere filled the small reception room in the ducal mansion.

There were only three people here: Schroeder, Henry Ferdinand, and the uninvited guest from just now, a knight named Misso.

The knight had finished speaking and had fallen into an anxious silence.

Schroeder’s expression was stiff.

“I didn’t expect to be facing such a dire situation before we’ve even left the borders of the Northwest Bay.”

Henry, on the other hand, was already panicking, gesticulating as he demanded:

“No… are you kidding me? Those prairie barbarians who don’t even have a written language were actually able to defeat the Royal Knights? Oh, and what about that whole bunch of lords from the Blackstone Plains? You… you all just lost like that?”

Seeing the knight Misso nod wordlessly, the Duke was on the verge of collapse.

In the man’s words just now, he had painted a terrifying picture. After defeating the kingdom’s army in Sunset Valley, the orc army had used their superior cavalry to drive deep into the territory, letting their troops plunder at will. The lords of the Blackstone Plains were no match for them at all; they either died in battle, fled, or… surrendered, allowing the orc army to grow stronger like a rolling snowball.

“They often appear from unexpected places, picking your weakest point to launch a fatal blow. Sometimes you have already set up your battlefield, but the orc cavalry has long since circled around to your rear to carry out a massacre, and the army on the front line falls into chaos.”

“When we can finally face them head-on, although the kingdom’s soldiers are brave, the orcs’ repeated rounds of mounted archery will wear down their will, magnifying the fear in their hearts a hundredfold, leading to the collapse of the entire formation.”

From the knight Misso’s helpless and fearful expression, one could imagine how terrible the kingdom’s army’s recent experiences had been.

Schroeder looked at Henry.

“Your Grace, we must speed up. We must stop the orc army at the border.”

“General, you are right!”

Henry agreed wholeheartedly.

After all, Manda was the easternmost land of the Northwest Bay.

If they could not repel the enemy beyond their borders, the Ferdinand family would be the first to face the storm.