A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

82 – Battleship VS Aircraft Carrier

Selene’s wedding was held.

She wore the wedding dress designed by Linghem and had the wedding ceremony. I broadcasted this scene extensively on TV. A live-action version of the Glass Princess story.

And it ended with a happy ending.

With such high public attention, high viewership naturally followed.

And what effect would that lead to?

The effect was a rise in attention to Linghem and his glass palace business.

How so?

Like this.

“Linghem, I’d like you to make my wedding dress.”

“Linghem, nice to meet you. I’d like to place an order for a wedding dress.”

“Please make it similar to what Selene wore.”

A week-long honeymoon.

Linghem returned looking haggard. It seemed like he had been drained by a succubus. However, despite that, what was pushed onto the guy who was smiling happily was a staggering number of requests for wedding dress designs.

And Linghem was a guy whose mind worked very, very well.

“Lord Randor, not having my wedding dress has become something I can’t live without.”

“Is that so?”

“Let’s issue tickets and make them. However, for the Glass Palace VVIPs, let’s prioritize production regardless of the order. How does that sound?”

“VVIPs would naturally have to pay a bit more for membership, right?”

“That’s right.”

That Linghem guy.

As expected, he was a guy who had been around in the capital’s social circles for over a decade, so he was not lacking in perceptiveness.

And so, the immortal wedding dress design that Linghem dedicated to Selene became a trend.

Although imitating someone else’s design lacked original artistic flair, the incredibly stylish and beautiful design ignited an irresistible desire in women, causing the dresses to fly off the shelves.

And so, Linghem spent busy days squeezing at night and making dresses during the day. Sometimes, I would send him supplements that were good for the body and I would indulge as well. Comrades must take care of each other.

That’s how it went.

With Selene’s wedding event, the Merchant Guild completely dominated the luxury goods market of the capital’s social circles.

And around that time.

“Heuk………. Heuk. How about that? You little sh*ts like dwarf turds. There wasn’t a single mistake in this job.”

“No mistakes? Didn’t you see the scratch marks on the scapula?”

“…Damn it. Can’t just let it slide. Alright. Then I’ll concede this round to you guys.”

“Fine. Let’s carve our names together. We get that kind of scratch every day. I understand why you’re called a great being. Truly remarkable. Bronze Dragon.”

“I acknowledge your passion as well.”

The dwarf and the Bronze Dragon came to respect each other amidst fierce competition, and in that heartwarming atmosphere, the final ironclad ship ordered was completed.

The launching ceremony of the battleships was held. Adran personally smashed the champagne to push the ships into the sea.

4 Kiyo-teen class large battleships.

7 Kaldaran class medium battleships.

And 1 Deroga-class aircraft carrier.

In addition, up to 13 Felican class small battleships measuring 150 meters, known for their high mobility.

With extreme efficiency, rotating officials and strictly enforcing taxes, the imperial treasury had enough gold coins to mass-produce all of these.

Adran gazed excitedly at the Empire’s steel battleships floating on the sea.

“Commander Baracil.”

The heart of the Imperial Navy.

A sailor whose determination had clashed with the pirates of Lawless Harbor for the past 20 years.

A man with an eyepatch, missing one eye, resembling the typical image of a pirate.

“Give me your orders, Your Majesty.”

“It is commanded. Eliminate the pirates in Lawless Harbor and return.”

Commander Baracil saluted with a smile reminiscent of a pirate.

“I will obey your orders.”

“Damn. Still playing around today. You might end up becoming a fisherman at this rate.”

In recent years, there had been a lack of work for the pirates in Lawless Harbor.

Previously, there were always ships heading towards Karamba, which they would plunder for profit, but for some reason, those ships had disappeared completely.

As a result, the pirates in Lawless Harbor had found themselves with little to do lately. They resorted to smuggling goods along the eastern coast, stealing money to buy food in secret, just barely scraping by. The glorious days of their prime seemed to be long gone.

“Those damn Imperial bastards aren’t sending ships anymore…”

“Captain! A ship spotted at 11 o’clock!”

After a long time, news of an approaching ship reached the lookout on the mast. Upon hearing this, the pirate captain took out his telescope with a grin.

It was indeed true.

A ship could be seen approaching from afar.

“Alright! Unfurl the sails! Full speed ahead!”

The captain hoped dearly that the approaching vessel was a merchant ship. And good news came from the lookout.

“Captain! There are several more ships behind it!”

“hahahahaha! Looks like they’re carrying valuable goods on that merchant ship! Normally, when they carry expensive cargo, they’d request an escort from the Imperial Navy!”

“hahahaha! Seems like it!”

“Spread the word to the other brothers with signal flares!”

“Yes, captain!”

Signal flares flew high into the sky. Upon seeing them, the other pirates would unfurl their sails and head in this direction.

“To think they’d try to stop us with just a few Imperial merchant ships. Foolish. How many hungry pirates are here now!”

With a confident smile, the pirate captain began to sail at full speed towards the ship appearing closer to the horizon.

But as time passed.

“Cap… tain.”

“What is it?”

“The ship… the ship is too big.”

“What?”

“And it has no sails.”

“What nonsense is this?”

“This, this is strange! Captain! Steel ships without sails are approaching!”

The lookout began to sound alarmed.

The captain urgently took out his telescope again, gazing beyond the horizon.

“………Damn? What is that?”

He, too, realized that something was off.

Steel ships without masts.

The absurd object was actually floating on the water and approaching.

Moreover, it was approaching at a speed that was incomparable to their sailing ship.

They seemed to have noticed themselves as they were charging something on the deck.

The distance was approximately 800 meters.

For a pirate captain with makeshift cannons, it was a distance where they could not expect to be shot.

“What the hell are those guys doing……”

Before finishing his sentence, the chief gunner of the Falcon-class warship, Arkane Cannon, spewed fire. Unlike other large battleships, there was not just one Arkane Cannon mounted, but even with just one cannon, firepower could be projected.

Flying 800 meters away, a Ninth Circle disaster spell struck the pirate ship, hitting it directly in the sea.

It wasn’t a warning shot. They genuinely tried to hit, but it was just a misfire due to the first real battle. However, even with that misfire, the pirate ship had to endure a devastating blow.

With a tremendous roar, a column of water soared up to 30 meters and then fell.

In the aftermath of the bombardment, all three masts broke, and the sails all tore apart. One side of the ship caved in, and under the terrifying firepower, even the lower hull was ripped apart.

Though it wasn’t a direct hit, the pirate ship was rendered combat ineffective in one go.

The captain and crew couldn’t say a word as they watched the slowly sinking ship.

What kind of power was this, exactly?

“Run, you bastards!! Run!!!”

There was no way to win against that.

They should have warned the pirate brothers who were likely to come rushing here upon seeing their signal flares, but with the ship sinking, they couldn’t fire the signal flares.

In a desperate moment, as they hurried to swim away in the sea,

the Falcon-class finished reloading mana and fired another shot.

This time, it hit right on target.

“Where the hell did that come from!……”

The pirate captain, who thought they were using makeshift gunpowder cannons with wooden sailing ships, was about to unleash a fierce curse against those bastards who brought weapons of Ninth Circle disaster spells against steel ships. But the disaster spell hit faster.

The pirate ship shattered into pieces and exploded.

A tremendous shockwave shook the surrounding area, and those who were swimming in the water were killed by the shockwave that ruptured their brains and internal organs, while those on the ship were torn apart and exploded into pieces.

The captain also met his end in that way.

Becoming fish food, so to speak.

But thanks to that, the captain would not witness an even more terrifying sight.

Behind the Falcon-class warship that had destroyed the ship with just two shots of the Arkane Cannon,

there were scenes of other Falcon-class ships and large battleships equipped with 4 or 3 Arkane Cannons, 12 Falcon-class ships, 200 dragons, and a DeRoga-class aircraft carrier with Red Dragons approaching, cutting through the water.

The Empire’s Legion Commander showed no sign of sympathy whatsoever.

“The only good pirates are dead pirates.”

As he joyfully rushed to what he thought was a sailing ship to plunder, only to see the pirate ships sinking after being hit by Ninth Circle disaster spells, he felt no sympathy at all.

He was well aware that the pirates were the kind of people who looted the sailing ships, threw the men outside, raped the women, and then threw them away.

Upon seeing the pirate ship, he immediately issued an order to shoot it down, and the Legion Commander Barasillo, along with his subordinates who had spent years protecting Empire merchant ships and witnessing all kinds of atrocities by pirates, followed the Legion Commander’s orders thoroughly.

The Imperial Navy, which had crushed roughly five large and small pirate ships, secretly advanced towards the lawless port.

As someone who had fought pirates for many years, General Barasillo had a good grasp of the movement patterns of the lawless port.

“Tonight, the lawless port will come right before us.”

The navy dropped anchor in one place and anchored.

Then, they extinguished all lights on the sailing ship and quietly lurked in the darkness of the sea with only the Arkane Cannons in operation.

The clouds were thick, obscuring even the moonlight in the intense darkness.

And it was around 2 a.m. that day.

“Uwaaa. Why aren’t those five ships that went out on a mission coming back?”

“They probably got tired of waiting and went to smuggle goods on the eastern coast. They say merchant ships don’t come this way these days.”

“Why?”

“I heard that a guy named Randor opened up a trade route on land, so there’s no need for them to come this way anymore.”

The moving mysterious island.

The lawless port was approaching from a distance.

It wasn’t difficult to recognize.

With so many lights on, it was clear that no one had even thought there might be enemies waiting.

“Commence firing.”

A cold command was given, and all the Empire’s ships, informed of this fact through magical communication, began aiming their arcane cannons at the lawless port.

“Huh? Wait… Are those ships over there?…”

It was too late for the pirates of the lawless port to realize this fact.

The arcane cannons on all the steel warships began to fire simultaneously.

And the dark night began to be illuminated by the dazzling flames of explosions.

“What the heck! Where are the enemies coming from!”

“W-What are they shooting at!!”

From Noble mtl dot com

“What kind of power is this!! aaah!”

The lawless port began to be destroyed. The ships anchored at the port were all destroyed and scattered, and the port itself was reduced to ashes in an instant by the overwhelming power of the 9th-circle magic.

Countless pirates died in an instant.

“To the village behind the mountain!”

The surviving pirates urgently moved towards the mountain behind.

It was a decision made under the judgment that even a 9th-circle magic, no matter how powerful, would not be able to melt a mountain located in the middle of the high mysterious island.

And that judgment was correct.

Even a 9th-circle magic would require a considerable amount of time to melt a mountain. The mountain was an excellent shelter.

“Lord Red Dragon.”

“What is it?”

“Could you please move?”

“Why don’t you just go and burn them all down?”

“Understood.”

But there was another way.

If they couldn’t hit them with the arcane cannons, they could hit them with dragons.

Above the dark sea at night, the roar of the Red Dragon echoed chillingly.

“Kill them. Kill all the pirates!”

Issuing commands to the dragons, his subordinates, through telepathy, the Red Dragon took off from the aircraft carrier.

Along with him, all 200 dragons on the aircraft carrier took off.

They easily flew over the mountain and descended upon the village where the pirates, protected behind the mountain, were stationed.

“W-What, what is that…”

“How can there be dragons!!”

Many pirates left behind various astonishments as their wills.

The mouths of the dragons and red dragons widened.

And flames of ultra-high temperature, more terrifying than a 9th circle catastrophe magic.

The dragons began to breathe out.