Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 165

Gathering

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Tishredon.

A naval base located at the southern end of the Human Empire.

Though called a naval base, it was originally a city built by connecting two islands. It was the capital of the Cesena Republic and the largest trading port in the southwestern peninsula.

However, it was conquered by the Empire, and the island became land. The majority of the original citizens were forcibly displaced, and the vacant spots were filled with soldiers and technicians.

Having been conquered by a country that engaged in neither diplomacy nor trade, and with its very constituents replaced, it was only natural that the city no longer resembled its former self.

Now, half a decade after being incorporated into the Empire, Tishredon had transformed from the largest trading port in the southwestern peninsula into the Empire’s largest naval base.

Thud! Bang! Bang!

“To the right! They’re below the ramparts too!”

But it was hard to say that was a good thing. The Empire was fighting all sorts of enemies, and it had only been about ten years since its founding.

“The ones far away can wait! Target the ones close by first!”

“They’re coming up! Be careful!”

Ten years.

The time it takes for even mountains and rivers to change.

Ten years was not short, but there were limits to change.

Even though the Empire had achieved remarkable growth during that time, even though it had mobilized ideal officials, technicians, and laborers through Familiars [magically created beings bound to serve the Empire], even though it had used the unrealistic means of magic, the distance it could advance in ten years was limited.

The fact that the Human Empire had only one naval base, Tishredon, was proof of that. Shipyards were built throughout the Empire, but Tishredon was the only base fully equipped for military operations.

The enemy was well aware of this, and…

Thud! Bang!

…therefore, battles were constantly ongoing.

“Hit!”

“Cease fire! Cease fire!”

Soldiers of the Imperial Army, stationed on the eastern outer walls of Tishredon, lowered their guns. They scanned the area below the ramparts and the nearby sea, frowning.

Bubble, bubble…

Bloody foam rose from the sea, and several corpses floated to the surface.

“Tch! Damn water snake bastards.”

They were a demi-human race called Nagas and Naga variants, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish.

“Phillip, go down and clean up the bodies. It’ll stink if we leave them.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the youngest, Phillip, cleared away the bodies of the Nagas and their variants scattered below the ramparts, the remaining soldiers grumbled as they looked out at the distant sea.

“That’s the sixth time today.”

That was the number of battles that had occurred that day.

It wasn’t even halfway through the day, and they had already been attacked six times.

“Did they spread honey here or something? Why do they keep coming?”

“If they have to come, can’t they at least wait until we’re done eating?”

The tone was light, like a joke, but it was a heartfelt sentiment. The frequency of enemy attacks was increasing, and even the lowliest soldiers felt the approaching threat.

“At this rate, we’ll hit double digits for the first time—“

Dong, dong—

The seventh drumbeat echoed from the spire.

“Again?”

“It’s from the docks.”

The docks were located on the northwest side of the city, almost directly opposite the soldiers’ position. They hurriedly ran, listening to the increasingly rapid drumbeats.

Two warships were approaching Tishredon.

Since the Empire did not engage in trade, there were only two reasons to launch ships: to send reinforcements to the Mycenaean Empire or to suppress pirates appearing off the coast of the Human Empire.

The two approaching ships were the latter. They were warships that had been captured from the Representative Assembly [a former governing body] and modified, and the soldiers remembered seeing them set sail last month to suppress pirates.

“Good heavens, what is that?”

But there was something attached that they hadn’t seen back then.

“Now I’ve seen all sorts of monsters.”

A sea monster was clinging to the lead warship. The sea monster was a giant octopus, a Kraken, and it was wrapping its eight arms around the ship.

Crack…!

The mast broke. The Kraken wrapped its arms around it and pulled, splitting it in two. One had already been broken, and now another one was broken as well.

Now the lead ship had to navigate with only one mast.

Bang! Bang!

The warship following behind fired its cannons. It was trying to draw attention as if to say, “Look over here!” but the Kraken didn’t even pay attention.

Moreover, the Kraken wasn’t the only enemy. Fighting continued inside the ship. The sailors fought fiercely against the Nagas and their variants who had infiltrated the ship, and smoke and gunfire leaked out as evidence of the struggle.

“Get closer!”

“Faster!”

The city’s defenders shouted from atop the ramparts. They had finished reloading, ready to fire the coastal artillery when the lead ship got closer.

“What if we hit the ship?”

“Is that the problem? We need to get rid of that monster first!”

But the plan went awry.

The lead ship began to retreat just before reaching the coastal battery’s range. A headwind was blowing, and the Nagas and their variants were pushing the ship from underwater.

Slowly but surely, the ship retreated.

“No!”

The defenders lamented.

The ship was getting farther and farther away. Crack, crack, the hull broke apart as water poured in, and the ship looked as if it was being dragged down into the sea.

Boo—

Then, a horn sounded, signaling departure.

“What?”

A warship emitted white smoke as it left the harbor.

That warship was very different in appearance from the two warships in front. The surface of the hull was not made of wood but of iron armor, and it even had a large chimney in the center of the deck, spewing steam.

It was an ironclad steamship.

“The Serdet? It hasn’t even been commissioned yet?”

Someone muttered.

That was because the warship called Serdet had just been launched this morning. The cannons were still being loaded, so its armament was weak, yet it was going into battle?

Whoosh—

The Serdet unfurled its sails and smoothly glided across the sea. The wind that had been a headwind for the lead ship was now a tailwind for the Serdet, and the steam engine kicked in, increasing its speed.

Bang! Thump! Bang! Bang!

And when it was level with the lead ship, it fired its cannons.

Screeeeeech!

The Kraken shrieked and wildly swung its arms. The Serdet’s side was struck by the giant octopus’s arm, but it didn’t even scratch the armor made of Olympus steel.

“Fire!”

The captain commanded from the deck of the ironclad.

Thump! Bang!

The Serdet was designed to be armed with 67 cannons.

However, since it had not yet completed its commissioning, it was not even half-armed. Instead, there were seven massive new cannons on board.

These were new cannons installed from the time of construction, large cannons with a caliber of 18 cm, and they were the first breech-loading cannons in the Empire to adopt a breechblock [a mechanism for sealing the rear of the gun barrel].

“Keep firing! Smash it to pieces!”

Boom! Bang!

The 16 cannons on the lower side and the three large-caliber cannons on the side of the deck fired relentlessly at the Kraken.

Screeeeeech!

The sea monster screamed and released the ship. Instead, it lunged at the Serdet like a spider. It stuck with a thud and bit the ironclad with its hidden teeth.

Crunch…!

What good would that do?

No matter how hard the teeth were, could they pierce steel?

The teeth cracked and broke, and it screamed for the third time.

“I heard octopuses are smart.”

The captain sneered.

Getting close only made it easier to bombard.

It was too late when the Kraken realized its mistake.

Boom boom boom!

The cannons fired in rapid succession, piercing holes all over the monster’s body. The Kraken spewed blood, then slipped limply into the sea.

“Move over!”

“Catch those snake bastards and kill them!”

After dealing with the Kraken, the Familiars gathered on the Serdet’s deck and crossed over to the deck of the lead ship. The enemy, unaware of the situation outside due to the chaos inside, was slaughtered with their backs turned.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

The defenders of Tishredon cheered at the Serdet’s performance.

Most of them knew that the Serdet had not completed its commissioning. Because of that, they were worried that it would become food for the monster, but the Serdet showed overwhelming power and saved their allies.

“A successful debut.”

And Admiral Horatio watched this scene and said.

“It was an unexpected simultaneous launch and commissioning.”

“We should be satisfied since it showed that much performance, Admiral.”

A Familiar officer dispatched from the Military Affairs Department answered from behind him.

“Admiral, my foot.”

The two Familiars were in the building that the Cesena Republic had used as its government office. The government office, where the Council of Ten once resided, had been transformed into the naval headquarters, with the admiral’s and mayor’s offices at the top.

Horatio looked down at the shipyard and docks through the window of his office.

“The future is the problem.”

“The future?”

“The losses of warships are too great because those old god bastards keep creating and sending monsters. Ships with wooden hulls are not even worth launching.”

Horatio gestured with his chin at the lead ship being towed by the Serdet. Even if you excluded the damage caused by the Kraken’s attack, there were clear signs of damage everywhere.

“Who would think that thing was commissioned half a year ago after seeing that?”

“Hmm…”

The cause of the damage was the sea monster attacks. Sea creatures affected by the magic of the old gods were attacking the Empire’s fleet.

“That’s why we had to cancel all the ships that were about to be launched and change the design.”

“Well, it was a successful transition, even though it took time.”

Horatio sighed and scratched his head. His gaze turned to the shipyard. Two ironclad ships that were almost finished were on the slipway, and supervisors were walking around, doing the final checks.

“Yes, it was a successful transition.”

The supervisors were Familiars. They were highly skilled technical experts in shipbuilding, supervising the work on-site and sometimes doing the work themselves.

“It feels like we’re finally seeing some light. The construction that had been delayed is finally coming to an end one by one. I don’t think I’ll die without doing anything.”

The adjutant chuckled at Horatio’s grumbling.

“They say in Delfburg and Oldense that they will adjust the schedule to commission one ship per month for the next four months.”

“Huh, that’s fast?”

“My father had quite a few shipbuilding technicians among the siblings he created recently. I heard they are even planning to make the entire hull out of steel instead of putting armor plates on a wooden frame.”

Suddenly, Horatio remembered. The image of a warship one step further than the ironclad ships there, and then one step further from that.

“If ironclad ships come out, battleships will be here soon.”

Horatio shrugged.

“Anyway, good. Because we can finally do our part. Tell Edar that our navy is ready.”

###

“Is that so.”

I closed the Military Affairs Department’s report and handed it to my secretary.

“The Navy seems very satisfied.”

Pasimea, who was next to me, shrugged.

“Of course, they should be. The Navy no longer has any qualitative problems. They just need to increase the quantity by improving in stages. Developing from ironclad ships to battleships and increasing the number.”

“The demand for manpower will increase quite a bit. How about that side?”

“That side is fine too. The military academy is running, and you’re picking good kids, right?”

“Hmm.”

The manpower shortage that had plagued me since I acquired the Familiar Creation skill had been resolved. It was thanks to the skill’s rank rising to 8 stars. The creation cycle was reduced to 1 hour, and the level of the Familiars created outside of the cycle also greatly increased.

To put it in terms of the Navy, it was like creating navy lieutenant commanders or frigate captains instead of pirates or boatmen. The titles had become more specific and diverse than before, and the level and rank of the Familiars had also increased.

“Welders are a bit difficult, though.”

She added in an absurd tone.

“When you were creating straw mat makers, shoemakers, and threshers, it was one thing. But what are we supposed to do if you suddenly create specialized technicians who demand technologies we haven’t even reached yet?”

“It seems like some kind of restriction has been lifted.”

When the skill reached 8 stars, all sorts of occupations appeared.

There had been several unique occupations before. Indulgence sellers, dreadnought advocates; at the time, they were practically worthless or so few in number that they could be crammed into research institutes under the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry.

But now, there were so many capable Familiars that there were enough to spread throughout the Empire. Half of the Familiars created each day were specialized technicians, so it was inevitable that technological innovation would come to the Empire.

“The steel mill built in Tershnoering will make railroads. We’ll install lines in Olympus and Lagoa as a test.”

I listened to Pasimea’s explanation as I walked through the backyard of the Olympus Imperial Palace. The backyard was a place reminiscent of an expo. Things made by the research institute for demonstration purposes were lined up.

Bang!

A researcher set up armor right in front of me and fired a musket.

“I didn’t know that Orichalcum smelting would take longer than steel mass production.”

The armor was made of Orichalcum [a mythical metal].

“Unlike steel, Orichalcum and Mithril [another mythical metal] require magic to be smelted, so it is greatly affected by the individual. Humans who are insensitive to magic are fundamentally difficult to become artisans.”

Pasimea thumped the armor with her fist.

Even after being hit by a musket at close range, there wasn’t a scratch on the armor.

“We managed to find some talented people by searching the whole country, but we can’t beat the dwarves’ craftsmanship. Still, this should be enough. As you can see, muskets can’t penetrate it even when fired at close range. It would be dangerous to be hit directly by a cannon, though.”

Orichalcum and Mithril are not abundant. I know of several undeveloped mountain areas within the Empire that I am developing, but the gap between supply and demand is large, and there is no sign that the gap will narrow.

From my perspective, having heard the news that the dwarves are supplying gunpowder weapons, the supply must be sufficient, even to protect the Familiars.

“How much can you produce?”

“Right now, maybe one Familiar regiment on the front line? It’s not a matter of time, it’s a matter of materials. I wish there was a place with overflowing reserves.”

– Amazing.

Tiamar in the pendant exclaimed.

– In the old days, knowing how to handle Orichalcum was the standard for civilization. If the Representative Assembly had worked properly, humans would have received some respect.

“I don’t need that kind of recognition.”

Pasimea snorted.

“Okay, next is chemistry—“

She stopped talking.

It was when a thought reached me.

All the Familiars in the backyard stopped like her.

“So it wasn’t just the Nagas who moved.”

Pasimea muttered, reading the thought.

It was a report that the Lizardmen were consolidating their forces. The forces of the two Incarnations were gathering into one and concentrating near the Nerup Plains. Also, news that the dwarves and elves had withdrawn their expeditionary forces from Mycenae.

“Looks like their preparations are complete?”

There had been no major movements since the subjugation of the orcs and goblins. Apart from a few old gods with low patience like Barmet hiding, large-scale activities at the race level had stopped completely.

This was peace, but it was not peace. They were each building up their strength, preparing for a final battle. But now, movements had appeared. Unlike before, all races were moving. The slaves of the old gods, slaves who did not know that fact, were beginning to move.

In the opinion of the slaves’ master, they had completed all preparations.

I know what they have completed.

The pendant trembled slightly in my hand.