Chapter 6: Opportunities and Crises Coexist
Komer was surprised that the long-awaited challenge from Saint Helena to Umma never happened even after the end of the Olympic Championships. He had thought that the Spartans, whose reputation had been damaged in the gladiatorial battles, would surely seize this opportunity to turn things around. Yet, to his surprise, the Spartans remained remarkably calm, which made Komer view them with even greater respect.
The championship title ultimately went to the Kingdom of Iberia. The Great Mystical Swordsman of Piraeus withdrew from the final due to severe injuries, setting a historic precedent—this was the first time someone had withdrawn from a gladiatorial final. After all, the highest honor for warriors in the Southern Central Seas region was just within reach, and it seemed no one had ever been willing to give it up. This victory allowed the Iberians, who had been overwhelmed by the fierce attacks of the barbarians, to boost their morale. It was unclear, however, whether the barbarians would pay attention to such a mere human sporting event.
Sitting by the riverfront window on the second floor of the Grammy, the gentle breeze refreshed Komer’s mind. The waters of the Akmon River flowed smoothly like a green ribbon along the base of the hills. In the distance, Mount Olympus stood clearly divided between black and white—its upper slopes covered in silver-white snow-capped peaks reaching into the clouds, while its lower slopes were lush green, with dense forests extending down to the lower hills. The prosperous city of Athens spread out around the hills surrounding Mount Olympus, with rows of tall buildings and houses surrounding the palace at the highest point. Although Athens’ streets were somewhat scattered, they were arranged in an orderly manner, and the elegant charm of the mountain city became even more pronounced under the morning sunlight.
Komer carefully read the letters from the Caucasus. This was the second letter sent from the lord’s estate. The first letter contained only greetings with little substantive content, but this one was a thick stack. Komer could even sense Pupber’s eagerness to tell him everything that had happened in his territory.
The Light Church remained very calm in the Caucasus, as if nothing had happened. Priest Belan and Gustav continued to travel tirelessly between Ugru and Matdan. The matter of building a Light Church in Santiago was also put on the agenda. Belan had even submitted two requests to Pupber to hold blessing ceremonies in Santiago to raise funds for the church construction, but Pupber had successfully delayed them both.
The progress of the explorations in the Little Greenland Forest is quite satisfactory, especially as they move upstream along the Nise River. Several expeditions have successfully advanced over 200 kilometers into the forest and continued to expand along both banks of the Nise River. The maps gathered thus far have provided the lord’s castle with a fairly detailed map of the riverbank area, though it is not yet complete. However, the cruel side of the Little Greenland Forest has also begun to show its fangs. Several expeditions have suffered fierce attacks from magical beasts, and some giant magical beasts that have never appeared on the Blue Continent have started showing up as well. This has increased the pressure on the expeditions but also heightened their interest, as almost everything about these magical beasts is extremely valuable. Moreover, only the places guarded by these rare beasts could possibly be the hiding place of the Natural Goddess Minto’s treasure.
At Komer’s suggestion, Puber ordered Fran to expand the army again. In addition to the 300 members of the lord’s guard and the 1,700 members of the self-defense forces, Fran was ordered to conduct the largest military expansion in the entire Caucasus, bringing the total number of troops to 1,800. Most of these troops were recruited from orcs in Leon and the Caucasus. This recruitment drive sparked an intense enthusiasm among the orcs, with the application ratio reaching an astonishing 20 to 1, forcing Dragumo, who was in charge of soldier selection, to work extremely hard.
According to Komer’s instructions, Baoling became the leader of the first thousand troops, Dragumo led the second thousand troops, and another orc warrior named Farrell, who stood out in battles and training, became the leader of the third thousand troops. The specially formed 500-strong archer unit was led by the famous half-elf archer Ikita. Ilot became the captain of the lord’s guard and, along with Javier, Bayezid, Briarnos, and Baoling, served as a member of the training group for the Caucasus self-defense forces officers. Thus, a not-so-large but relatively cohesive Caucasus self-defense force took shape, though it still lacked much in terms of training and experience.
While becoming aware of his own situation, Komer already recognized the danger of the environment in the Caucasus. Though he wasn’t sure whether news of his disappearance would be leaked by the Church of Light, such things couldn’t be hidden forever. If he were absent from the Caucasus for a long time, public morale would surely suffer, and Philip would definitely take advantage of this opportunity to cause trouble—timing was merely the issue. The threat from the Inquisition also prevented him from appearing in public for the time being. Under these circumstances, to strengthen rule internally and deter external threats externally, the only option was to expand the army, although this approach wasn’t ideal, especially as it would impose huge economic pressure.
Fortunately, with the reactivation of the port at Bruce on the Nise River and the gradual restoration of ore production in the Leon region to pre-chaos levels, taxes had risen sharply. The development of the southern markets had also led to a sharp increase in demand for various ores from the Leon region, prompting mine owners to invest more in expanding production. Once this positive cycle was established, it could bring considerable profits to the lord’s treasury.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and chaos hadn’t arisen due to his disappearance, which left Komer quite satisfied. Yet he also knew that behind this calm lay a huge crisis. The longer this peace lasted, the more violently it would erupt when it did. Komer could even predict that once Philip confirmed his disappearance in the Caucasus, he would immediately take military action—and this time he certainly wouldn’t underestimate him. If someone fell in the same place three times, it couldn’t be simply described as stupidity; it was outright idiocy.
The Gray Skulls had also sent people to the lord’s residence to inquire about the situation. Their battles with the Carr fleet in the Northern Mid-Sea were becoming increasingly fierce, and they were full of expectations for the magical firearms Komer had promised. Puber wasn’t very clear about the details of Komer’s deal with those guys and could only temporarily defer by claiming Komer was on a journey. Komer himself would have to resolve this issue; otherwise, if the Gray Skulls became enraged and blocked Mardan, the entire Caucasus would once again fall into stagnation.
The letter burned on its own under Komer’s gaze, turning into a pile of ashes after emitting a faint smoke. The situation was unclear and full of troubles—this was Komer’s conclusion about his current circumstances. The Caucasus would not pose many problems for now; Philip needed time to stabilize relations with the kingdom and to understand the true situation there, assuming of course that the Church of Light would not reveal the truth to them.
As for his own situation, it seemed quite optimistic, but it could only mean that seeds of darkness had been sown in this fertile land. It now depended on the Great Secret Cult and other dark forces to exploit this situation and unleash a wave of darkness across the land.
The Iberians could no longer resist the power demonstrated by the dark faction in these gladiatorial contests, especially their successful display of magical powers, which even dealt a heavy blow to the Spartans. The temptation of bringing these magical resources to the Iberian kingdom to counter the attacks of barbarians was one they could hardly resist.
The establishment of a mage council in the Iberian kingdom would be just the beginning. Komer believed that the Trojans and Carthaginians would follow soon. These two long-time enemies of Sparta would never miss an opportunity to weaken or even overthrow Sparta. In the past, the prestige of the Disciples of the Martial Saints had served as a great deterrent. Now, they suddenly saw a glimmer of hope—powerful magic seemed capable of countering what was once considered invincible martial prowess. Although the two Disciples of the Martial Saints showed their exceptional skills in the gladiatorial contests, the competitors from Piraeus also demonstrated their fascinating abilities. If they could successfully bring in these magical practitioners, it would at least fundamentally enhance their own strength—a temptation they could hardly resist.
The Corinthians would also not ignore the sudden rise of the people from Piraeus. This rival who had been challenging Corinth’s maritime dominance posed a huge threat to them, and they too needed to find ways to turn the situation around. In fact, they faced even greater pressure than the Spartans.
Once this trend spread, Komer believed that almost all city-states and nations would realize just how important such changes could be to a country’s or city-state’s military strength. If they didn’t hurry up and take action, they risked being left behind by their neighbors.
What Komer needs to consider now is how to channel this already ignited demand so that the needs of these countries and city-states eventually turn to relying on the support of dark forces, just like the nations of the Northern Alliance. Although there are many conflicts among them, they all agree on one thing: in the formation of their court mage councils, mages from the Light Church almost always hold a dominant position. Komer hopes to achieve the same in the southern countries and city-states, at least to prevent the Light Church from using this opportunity to infiltrate their territories.