The soldiers wore doubtful expressions at the unbelievable lightness. Now that they thought about it, the armor wasn't the glossy silver typically worn by knights.
The silver was closer to a matte finish, making it look more refined and subdued, but that only deepened their suspicions.
It was surely made of subpar materials. Thinking someone was playing a prank, the soldiers began to fool around with the armor.
"Hey, hey, try hitting this!"
At one soldier's shout, another unsheathed his sword and struck down at the armor. If they got caught by a superior, they could simply say they were testing the gear provided.
If sending this armor was a prank, nobody would care if they pranked it back.
Clang!
"...?"
The soldier holding the armor, the one who struck it, and those watching, all blinked their eyes in silence.
If the armor had been subpar, it should have dented or pierced where the sword struck. But there wasn't even a scratch on it.
Especially the soldier who had swung the sword—he stared at his own hand in disbelief.
"This… the impact felt almost the same as when I hit real armor!"
He had swung casually, without much thought, since it was a joke. Yet the shock from the strike had been transmitted directly to his hand.
His hand throbbed with a tingling pain. It was definitely the same as hitting solid plate armor.
As they stood in stunned silence, the light infantry's commander came running up, sweating profusely.
"Huff, huff, sorry, I'm late. Got held up… uh, in the latrine. Everyone received their armor, right?"
"Is this… really for us?"
"Yes, the Lord ordered that all the soldiers' equipment be replaced with this. No more shabby armor from now on."
"…Wow."
It was well known that the Lord spared no expense when spending money.
But outfitting all 3,000 soldiers stationed in the territory with new gear? Even the royal family couldn't show such extravagance.
One soldier raised his hand to ask a question.
"Why is this armor so light? Is it enchanted or something?"
"No, no. It's a new material developed by the dwarves. It provides the same level of defense as the old armor but weighs less than half as much."
"Wow…"
At that, the soldiers broke into broad grins.
Plate armor was considered the pinnacle of metallurgy. Unless one used blunt force to crush the armor itself or targeted the joints, it was almost impossible to kill someone wearing plate armor.
When fighting knights, its effectiveness depended on the opponent's skill, but against regular soldiers, plate armor was an overwhelmingly strong defense.
And now, this heavy armor has been reduced in weight to the level of leather armor. This wasn't just surprising—it was a miracle.
"Woohoo!"
Joyful cheers erupted from the soldiers.
On the battlefield, the greatest fear for any soldier was death. But wearing full plate armor into battle? That would let one soldier kill several of the enemy.
Cavalry and archers in training were equally delighted. The lighter the armor, the less fatigue the horses would experience.
As armor production increased, more and more soldiers were equipped with the new gear. Just by appearance, it became hard to distinguish who was a knight.
The armor was a calm silver hue, adorned with the emblem of a red wolf engraved over the left chest.
This became the new symbol of Fenris's soldiers.
Weapons made of Galbanium, including spears, shields, and swords, were also distributed to each unit according to their role.
Once again, the soldiers couldn't help but marvel.
"Wow, the weapons are so light too!"
"I could carry this around all day without getting tired!"
"With this, I could swing all day!"
Weapons where weight was as crucial as strength, such as blunt instruments, had only slightly reduced in weight, but bladed weapons had become much lighter and easier to handle.
The happiest of all were the heavy infantry. They had one of the most grueling roles in battle, having to carry large, thick, and heavy shields throughout.
But after receiving the new shields, everything changed.
"Attack while running with your shields!"
At the instructors' shouts, the shield-bearers ran while swinging their shields with one hand—shields large enough to cover their entire bodies.
The concept of heavy infantry no longer existed in Fenris's territory. Weapons varied, shields differed in size, but everyone was so well-equipped they moved faster than light infantry.
On top of that, everyone trained on horseback, so even the idea of cavalry was becoming obsolete.
But having excellent equipment didn't mean the soldiers' lives became easier. Their training grew increasingly intense by the day.
"More! Swing harder and move faster! Don't rely on your equipment! Become strong enough to kill your enemies barehanded!"
Despite Gillian's shouts, the soldiers fell one by one, collapsing with expressions that looked like they were about to die.
"Uweeegh!"
"I-I think I'm going to die."
"We got such amazing equipment, so why is this even harder?"
Equipment helps maximize efficiency in actual combat. But in the end, if the user is weak, they can't fully utilize that power.
The person must become strong. That was Ghislain's creed.
And here, there was someone determined to carry out Ghislain's orders to perfection.
"What are you doing? Move more! I said, move more, you idiots! If you move like that, you'll drop dead from marching before you even reach the fight! Get up right now, or I'll break your legs!"
It was obvious he had once been a mercenary. Usually taciturn, Gillian turned into a devil when overseeing the soldiers' training.
Well-fed and with increased stamina, the soldiers were pushed to their limits every single day.
'This place is hell! They're all demons!'
'They're insane. Are they trying to turn us all into knights? This is truly crazy territory.'
'I'm full, well-paid, and have great stuff, but somehow this all sucks! I want to run away!'
While the soldiers' hearts were caught between joy and despair, the hearts of the territory's residents held only pure joy.
Most of the iron tools they'd used before had been replaced with tools made of Galbanium. As they used the new tools, the residents couldn't stop praising them.
"To think farming tools could be this light! They're sturdier than wooden ones, and much lighter than iron!"
"It's so convenient now that pots are lighter! Even with the big ones, I don't have to stabilize them."
"Same with iron plates. This stuff is unbelievable!"
Of course, tools where weight was an advantage, like hammers and pickaxes, hadn't changed much. But tools where weight wasn't critical were quickly replaced with Galbanium versions.
Heavy tools are hard to handle and tiring to use. Replacing one person's tools might only provide a small convenience, but when that change spreads across an entire territory, the story changes.
As the residents' efficiency in their work increased, the productivity of related industries rose as well. The transformation Galbanium brought to the territory was remarkable.
People were thrilled, busy praising both their lord and the dwarves who created this new material.
"As expected of our Lord. They say this technique was something he taught them?"
"They say it wouldn't have been possible without the dwarves."
"Someone said it's called Galbanium because they squeezed Galbarik into it, or something like that."
Ghislain observed the changes in the territory with satisfaction.
But it still wasn't enough. There were still resources the territory lacked.
Resources that couldn't be bought with money as easily as words suggested.
Now, it was time to acquire those.
***
Claude spoke with a serious expression.
"There's a problem."
"I know."
"…Really?"
Ghislain continued in a nonchalant voice.
"Leather supplies are getting tight, right?"
"That's correct. How did you know?"
"Isn't it obvious? Ever since Galbanium was developed, production of all kinds of goods has increased, so demand for leather must have gone up just as much."
"If you knew that, couldn't you have prepared in advance? Or at least reduced production for now?"
Claude spoke as if blaming him, and Ghislain gave him an incredulous look.
"Do I have two bodies? Originally, I planned to secure leather as soon as I got horses. But Galbanium was completed first, so I prioritized that. Well, I'm not planning to reduce production, so we'll need to fix this before it gets worse."
Leather is one of the most widely used resources. It's used to make clothing, shoes, gloves, and also to protect items.
It's also used in the creation of weapons and armor, as well as for making straps to connect various components.
After adopting Galbanium, the mass production of equipment and tools naturally led to a surge in leather demand.
Seeing that Ghislain already had something in mind, Claude grew curious.
"Then how do you plan to get it this time? Like with cosmetics or Galbanium, can you just make it?"
"No, am I a god? How would I make leather?"
"…Then will you take it from somewhere, like you did with horses or iron ore?"
"No, am I a bandit? Do you think I just steal whatever I need? What kind of person do you take me for? I'm not like that!"
'Why does talking to him always piss me off?'
Whenever a problem arose, the Lord would either pull out some absurd new piece of knowledge or beat someone into submission to get what he needed.
So naturally, Claude had expected him to either introduce some new trick or take it by force again this time.
Instead, he was scolding him as if he were at fault, which only made his temper rise.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Claude asked again.
"Then what do you plan to do? Leather is not easy to obtain these days. It's getting harder and harder to find."
The shortage of meat had been caused by a drought, which killed off many livestock. With fewer animals, the leather supply naturally decreased.
Still, the supply situation was slightly better than with food or meat. This was because monsters existed throughout the continent.
Ghislain pointed this out directly.
"We'll just have to hunt down monsters and use their hides. For now, that's the only option, since it's hard to obtain or take it from others."
"…That won't be easy."
In the first place, there weren't many monster habitats left within the Lutania Kingdom. For years, humans had been subjugating monsters to expand their territory.
Thanks to the kingdom's long-standing policy, the number of monsters had greatly diminished. It wasn't for nothing that Lutania was called a powerful kingdom.
With the drought on top of that, the monster population had decreased even further. The few remaining monsters were quickly hunted down by people desperately searching for them, making them increasingly scarce.
In the North, in particular, the monsters had almost completely been stripped away even before the drought. That's how desperate the situation had been.
Claude spoke with an expression that clearly questioned her sanity.
"In our territory, monsters are already incredibly rare. Every single one we see is hunted down, and we use every part of them. It's the same in the surrounding territories. We can't hunt what doesn't exist, can we?"
"That's why we'll go where the monsters are."
At Ghislain's response, Claude nodded as if he'd realized something.
"Ah, you mean the Forest of Demonic Beasts, right?"
"No."
"No? But if we go there, it should be fine, shouldn't it? Didn't you say before that the outskirts of the forest had already been successfully subjugated?"
"That place isn't worth it. There are more monsters there that don't yield usable leather than those that do. Things like man-eating plants or pudding trees—hunting those is pointless. Hunting everything there for leather would be a waste. It'd take far too long."
"Didn't you say you'd subjugate the Forest of Demonic Beasts again someday?"
"I will, but not now. We need to be strong enough to minimize losses before we go back."
The initial subjugation of the Forest of Demonic Beasts had been driven by the proximity of a Rune Stone. At the time, it had been the only way to secure a large sum of money.
But in the current situation, subjugating the forest again would be a loss. Ghislain's plan was to sweep through it overwhelmingly and extract resources when the time was right.
Hearing that the Forest of Demonic Beasts wasn't the solution, Claude rubbed his forehead. It was now painfully obvious what she planned to do.
"You're planning to go beyond the territory, like when you fought the barbarians, aren't you?"
"Exactly. You're getting quicker to catch on."
"Sigh, so this time, you'll go even further away."
"Oh, you've already figured that out too?"
"Of course. If there aren't enough monsters here, you'll go where there are plenty. That's your style, isn't it? I know you by now."
At Claude's words, Ghislain laughed heartily. Indeed, spending a long time together allowed people to understand each other better.
Ghislain smiled contentedly as he spoke.
"That's right. We're going to the Shadow Mountains of the Turian Kingdom. It's overflowing with monsters—an insanely awesome place."
[T/L: Please support me and read 320 extra chapters: https://ko-fi.com/revengerscans ]