Chapter 128 - The Basis for Her Confidence
"Ahhh, what a sinful thing to do… To turn an entire bottle of whiskey into such a tiny amount of liquid…"
Commander Shield said this as she used the magical pitcher that removed only water to transform an entire bottle of whiskey into a concentrated liquid with all its water content extracted.
She tasted a mere spoonful of the liquid. The intensely concentrated aroma of liquor and the alcohol itself hit her throat and nose with such force that Commander Shield froze, her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth hanging wide open.
"Guaaaaaah! It's strong… Way too strong… Ah, this won't do as it is.
Even after being concentrated this much, its aroma remains clear and refined. What superb quality… If I spread just a little of this over some chocolate and eat it…"
After eating one, Commander Shield threw her head back, overwhelmed with emotion and brought to tears.
The whiskey's exquisite aroma, the chocolate's sweetness, and the powerful alcohol blended together, creating a divine delicacy.
"Hmm, but perhaps I should let the sweetness of the chocolate spread across my palate first, then savor the flavor of the liquor? Maybe I should melt the chocolate and encase the whiskey inside instead."
Commander Shield immediately melted some chocolate in a double boiler, then carefully encased the highly concentrated whiskey inside it, leaving the chocolate to harden naturally.
And so, ultra-high-alcohol whiskey bonbons were born.
After making a whole batch of these whiskey-bonbon-like creations, Commander Shield eagerly began to sample them.
Delicious. Almost too delicious! Unable to resist, she immediately reached for a second chocolate and slowly savored its exquisite taste.
But just as she was about to reach for a third, she noticed that her face had already grown slightly red and warm.
…Eating just one of these chocolates might be equivalent to downing a glass of strong liquor.
"Ugh… This won't do. They're delicious… Far too delicious, but it seems they deliver too much alcohol all at once.
If I let ladies with a sweet tooth eat these as freely as they pleased, they might get drunk and collapse in no time."
With a will of steel, Commander Shield stopped herself from reaching for the third chocolate.
It might have taken her a full thirty seconds to finally pull her hand back.
"Now then, what other uses might there be for this…?"
"Commander Shield!! I'm sorry to interrupt your rest! We need you to deploy immediately! It's an emergency!"
A subordinate's voice came from outside the room.
It was her first day off in ages. At long last, she'd finally obtained this magical pitcher that separated water, and today was supposed to be the long-awaited day when she could indulge in her favorite hobby of enjoying fine liquor to her heart's content. What on earth was going on?
Her subordinates should have understood that perfectly well. Yet the urgent request for her deployment came without even a hint of the usual awkwardness or apologetic hesitation that would accompany an interruption like this. Their tone was far too tense for that…
Commander Shield immediately sensed that something was seriously wrong.
"What happened?"
When she opened the door, her subordinate, visibly tense, glanced around warily before speaking in a low voice.
"Apparently, there's a high chance that the Kingdom of Dolpins is about to invade the Kingdom of Sepans.
Whether we choose to stay out of it or side with one of them, remaining here in the Kingdom of Sepans puts us in an extremely dangerous position.
We should return to our homeland of Marponwear and seek King Sod's judgment."
"…Where did this information come from?"
"From a spy we've planted in the Kingdom of Dolpins."
"But we've known for about a year now that King Span of Dolpins harbors ambitions to seize the Kingdom of Sepans, whose dungeons have been growing rapidly, and use it to build up enough strength to stand against the Kingdom of Claps and our own kingdom. Why now?"
"They say they've completed new weapons using materials that have only recently become available… If that were the only development, they might not have made any major moves until mass production of those weapons was complete.
The real problem is that former King Filamet, who had been holding them back, has reportedly died of illness."
"Died of illness…?"
Not long ago, Commander Shield had seen a Marquis from the Kingdom of Dolpins come to bathe in the Medicinal Spring.
If the former king had been on the verge of dying from an illness, why hadn't they brought such a critically ill patient along with the Marquis?
If their purpose had been to assess the Medicinal Springs' effectiveness or check how dangerous the journey to the hot spring might be, a Marquis would have been far too high-ranking for such a preliminary mission.
The fact that the Marquis had come to treat his own chronic illness before the war began and made trips to the hot spring impossible suggested that they had already been planning to start a war at that point.
Then why hadn't they brought the ailing former king with them at the time?
After thinking it through, Commander Shield arrived at a single conclusion.
"Could it be that King Span assassinated former King Filamet, who had been opposed to invading other kingdoms?"
"What?"
Her subordinate exclaimed in surprise at Commander Shield's sudden conclusion.
"Former King Filamet was always a moderate ruler. Rather than pursuing invasions and wars, he preferred to prioritize trade.
They probably couldn't launch an invasion while he was still alive."
"B-But they only started making their move because he died of illness, didn't they? Why assume it was assassination? …Ah!"
"Exactly. The Medicinal Spring. Most likely, this discovery forced them to eliminate the former king, whose views conflicted with theirs.
If he had bathed in that spring, who knows how many decades might have been added to the former king's life?
Besides, with the former king on his deathbed and a hot spring available that could cure him, they couldn't possibly choose to leave him untreated until he died.
So what would they do in that situation?
…They'd have no choice but to make it look as though they simply hadn't made it in time."
"So they originally intended to sharpen their fangs and prepare for the invasion while waiting for him to die naturally, but the appearance of the Medicinal Spring forced them to move up their plans…
…If that's the case, then the Kingdom of Dolpins probably hasn't had enough time to prepare properly either?"
"If the new weapons made from the newly discovered materials were only completed recently… then surely they haven't had enough time to mass-produce them in sufficient quantities yet, have they?"
"Then… according to your assessment, Commander Shield, the invasion won't happen immediately… is that right?"
"No… It wouldn't be surprising if they attacked at any moment.
Knowing the current king, King Span… well, um, you see… yes."
"…Well, yes. Exactly…"
Commander Shield and her subordinate both trailed off, struggling to find the right words.
Even if he was a foreign king, speaking too openly ill of royalty was probably something they hesitated to do as knights.
"…Let's return to the Kingdom of Marponwear first.
Gather all our members. In the meantime, I'll inform Queen Yuzha of the situation."
"You're going to inform Queen Yuzha? Is it really all right for you to make a decision that could be seen as taking the Kingdom of Sepans's side, Commander Shield?"
"It's fine. From the very beginning, I've been ordered to act in the Kingdom of Sepans's favor if either the Kingdom of Claps or the Kingdom of Dolpins starts making suspicious moves."
As she spoke, Commander Shield covered her mouth and nose with one hand, breathed out, and sniffed her own breath.
…It reeked of alcohol.
It was hardly appropriate to appear before Queen Yuzha in such a state, but this was an emergency. She had no choice.
Commander Shield straightened her clothes and headed for the royal palace of the Kingdom of Sepans.
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"Very well, I understand. Given your position, Commander Shield, it would be unwise for you to remain here. You should make preparations to return home at once."
Queen Yuzha remained calm as she listened to the report.
Her complete lack of surprise made it seem as though she had already obtained the information from another source and was now simply receiving confirmation from a separate organization.
Commander Shield had no idea what methods the Kingdom of Sepans used to communicate, but its information network was frighteningly fast at relaying information between countries.
"I appreciate your consideration, Your Majesty. It seems you had already obtained this information yourself."
"Yes. However, the fact that you have also conveyed this information to us so promptly is, itself, worth a fortune.
It clearly demonstrates that the Kingdom of Marponwear is taking the Kingdom of Sepans's side in this matter."
"I see."
In other words, there was virtually no chance that the Kingdom of Dolpins and the Kingdom of Marponwear would join forces to attack Sepans.。
If anything, Marponwear was more likely to strike Dolpins from behind while the latter was attacking Sepans.
Indeed, that was information worth a fortune to the Kingdom of Sepans.
Even so, something still bothered her.
Queen Yuzha's almost unnatural composure struck Commander Shield as odd.
Could anyone really remain this calm after learning that an enemy with more than five times their nation's power was preparing to attack?
The Kingdom of Sepans certainly had the advantage of possessing a large number of soldiers hardened by the waters of its famous Hot Spring Dungeon. Even so, overcoming a nearly fivefold disparity in troop numbers would be an exceedingly difficult feat.
Sepans's soldiers might be able to overwhelm ordinary troops with ease, but the Kingdom of Dolpins also possessed numerous extraordinary elite soldiers who had been honing their skills day after day by conquering the Thread Dungeon.
"Haah… Honestly, what on earth is that foolish king thinking?
"I can understand wanting to invade another kingdom to get its dungeons, but given the nature of our dungeons, launching an invasion for that reason is beyond foolish…"
"Even if they managed to conquer the kingdom, the people could ultimately barricade themselves inside the very dungeons they wanted to seize, leaving the conflict at a stalemate… Is that what you mean?"
"Hmph. So you've given some thought to how an enemy might attack us.
Indeed. Anyone would want a dungeon that produces an unlimited supply of food. But if the enemy barricades themselves inside it, how exactly do they intend to take it from them…?"
Indeed, the Kingdom of Sepans's dungeons could, if necessary, accommodate its entire population and allow them to remain barricaded inside indefinitely. The conclusion was that it would be virtually impossible to seize the dungeons by force.
That was one of the main reasons the Kingdom of Marponwear had maintained friendly relations with Sepans rather than provoking a conflict.
No matter how far they pushed Sepans into a corner, they would ultimately be unable to seize the dungeons they wanted. All they would accomplish was losing access to both the Hot Spring Dungeon and the No-Hunger Dungeon forever.
To make matters worse, every citizen who swore revenge would become a berserker inside the dungeon, eventually emerging as a united force bent on killing their enemies.
It was a situation they absolutely wanted to avoid.
However, a prolonged siege within the dungeons was a scenario that the Kingdom of Sepans itself would only consider in the direst of circumstances—a last resort when pushed to the absolute brink.
It had nothing whatsoever to do with Queen Yuzha's strangely calm demeanor.
Queen Yuzha was not the sort of ruler who excelled to an extraordinary degree in one particular area, such as military strategy or domestic administration.
Rather, she was a wise queen whose abilities were well balanced and consistently high across the board, from military strength and domestic affairs to commercial acumen and the qualities required of a ruler.
Her only real weakness was that, because she was capable of handling almost anything, she tended to take on too many responsibilities and overwhelm herself.
There was no way a queen like her would fail to grasp the situation properly or seriously misjudge the disparity between her own forces and those of the enemy.
In other words, she must have another hidden trump card comparable to the force led by Captain Touji, whose soldiers had been strengthened by the Hot Spring Dungeon.
"Then, if you'll excuse us. …May fortune favor you in the coming battle."
"Indeed. It's been a long time since I've fought a war. I do hope I haven't grown rusty."
Queen Yuzha had not requested reinforcements or any other assistance from the Kingdom of Marponwear.
…This was something she ought to report to King Sod.
She would have to make certain they kept a close eye on how this battle unfolded.
Not to determine which kingdom would emerge victorious, but to find out what lay behind the Kingdom of Sepans's confidence.
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