Chapter 308: Assuming the Role of Country Lord
During the previous research, the two Bachelor of Arts guests, though curious, stayed at a distance to avoid suspicion. Now that the finished product was ready, there was no need to avoid it any longer. The two of them gathered in front of the flying magic ship, marveling at it.
“What a great invention! After the Great Arcane Empire and the Magic Empire, this might be the third major advancement in magic, born on the land of Dalaran!”
Although Albarno’s words were exaggerated in praise, Donald’s designed flying magic ship indeed surpassed most modern magic-alchemy devices in terms of theory and functionality.
Meanwhile, the young Randolt kept writing diligently, clearly determined to record this historic moment of the invention’s first voyage.
Confident in his creation, Donald ordered everyone to pack up and prepare for departure. All members boarded for the first test flight, leaving only the Night Knights who had mounts to travel on foot.
Concerned, the second prince, Duri, went to ask Donald, who reassured him with a smile, “Don’t worry. Even if something goes wrong, the magic ship won’t crash. It’s equipped with spells like Falling Feather and Floating, and it won’t fly too high on its first attempt!”
Duri was still uneasy, but since Donald insisted, he said nothing more.
The magic ship, carrying nearly 300 people, slowly rose thanks to the floating air bags. When it reached a height of 30 feet above the ground, Donald activated the propulsion array. The power of wind elements gathered at the stern, and amidst the cheers of those on board, the massive ship began to glide through the air like a vessel on the sea, heading forward.
At first, the ship moved slowly, almost at the same speed as a person walking. But as the test flight proceeded without issues, Donald gradually increased its speed. Now, it matched the pace of the Night Knights’ warhorses at a trot. At this rate, what might have taken two months could be shortened by half—likely taking less than half a month to cross the northern territories of Gardrel and reach their destination, the Principality of Siren.
The history of the Duchy of Siren is well-known in the countries of the continent, as it happened just over two hundred years ago. At that time, Siren was still a province in the northwest of Gadré. Most of its territory was ruled by the Cardochi family. However, this ancient and renowned knightly family, for certain reasons, fell into conflict with the ruling royal family and several major families in Gadré. In anger, they declared independence, giving rise to the Duchy of Siren.
The Cardochi family proclaimed themselves grand dukes, and more than half of Gadré’s forces supported the campaign against the rebels. But due to opposition from the military and some remaining nobles, and because the Cardochis, although declaring independence, were still technically a duchy under the Gadré kingdom and did not go to extremes, they gained support from some members of the royal family. Public opinion gradually sided with the Cardochis. With internal factions in Gadré checking each other’s power, many verbal battles took place, but no actual military action was taken. This allowed the newly established Duchy of Siren, which had gained a breathing space, to weather the turmoil and stabilize its situation.
Later, when the Gadré royal family realized the situation was irreversible, they understood that attempting to eliminate the Cardochi family would cost them much strength, leaving the country vulnerable to external threats. Moreover, the first grand duke of Siren was originally one of the kingdom’s most distinguished marshals, and acting against him would likely have severe consequences within the kingdom.
For these reasons, the Gadré royal family chose compromise, accepting the existence of the Duchy of Siren and issuing an official decree recognizing the Cardochi family’s right to rule over Siren.
Over the past two hundred years, despite internal turmoil in Gadré, the Duchy of Siren has maintained stability by upholding the spirit of chivalry and establishing itself through military strength. It has continued to thrive to this day, until now, when an inevitable event has occurred.
The current grand duke of Siren has no sons and only a daughter, yet the lineage of the Cardochi family must continue. This means the heir to the duchy’s power can only be chosen between the grand duke’s daughter and her future husband. Thus, this jewel of Siren has become the target of competition among the duchy’s elites and even many powerful figures in Gadré. This has led to numerous incidents, including the highly publicized case of the genius knight Jack Black’s treason a few years ago.
It is obvious to anyone that Jack Black, a rising star in the knightly order who came from humble orphan origins, was simply too bright and lacked sufficient backing, which made him the envy of others and led to his becoming a victim of political struggles.
It’s a pity that the young knight’s defection has already been proven, and even if some feel disheartened, there’s no need to risk offending certain forces in order to clear his name and bring trouble upon oneself. Yet, starting from today, this incident took an unexpected turn. For over a month since the outbreak of the magical disaster, news of the front-line efforts to fight the demons had kept the atmosphere in Serein heavy. But today, many civilians gathered in the streets, their faces filled with excitement and joy they hadn’t seen in ages. The reason for this was that reinforcements from the kingdom of Celt in the north had just arrived in their capital, and these civilians went out spontaneously to welcome the Celts who had come to assist Serein in fighting the magical disaster. Similar to how Celt’s capital, Kosovo, represented the entire Central Province, Dariq City, the capital of the Duchy of Serein and known as the City of Dragon Knights, covered nearly two-thirds of the duchy’s territory and housed half of Serein’s population. Prince Serein VII, who had been informed in advance by messengers, arranged a grand ceremony and led his people to greet the reinforcements at the city gates, offering them the highest honors. Such a grand gesture was not only because Celt, located farthest in the north among all the countries that had requested aid from Serein, was the first to arrive, while there was still no news from other continents, but also because Celt’s international status was equal to that of Serein’s suzerain, Gardrel. As a duchy with independent sovereignty but a slightly lower status, Serein had to show sufficient respect. Moreover, setting aside political factors, the supreme commander leading this expedition was the Duke of Serein’s own nephew, Prince Durian of Celt. Under normal circumstances, there would be no need for such formalities, with all ducal officials and nobles gathering at the city gates to welcome them, but since the Celt delegation carried the heavy responsibility of aiding in the fight against the magical disaster, Serein had to make a proper display of respect. When dark shadows appeared in the sky, massive magical ships flew in from afar, and hundreds of black knights rode swiftly toward them, everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned. Clatter! Hundreds of knights arrived at the main road leading to Dariq City gates, suddenly stopping neatly and dismounting in perfect unison. Their strict discipline and skilled riding skills impressed the many officials and nobles from Serein, a country of knights, who were experts in these arts.
It’s similar for the top three knight squads in the Siren Knight Order as well—these knights are slightly less powerful, but they all appear to be young men in their early twenties. With just two or three years of training, they should be able to form another strong squad of Bronze Knights.
After the Dark Knight Order stopped marching, aside from the panting sounds of their warhorses, they remained completely silent due to their strict discipline, standing there like cold statues.
Then, the magic ship moved forward to the front of the knight order and slowly descended.
Not to mention the commoners gathered in the open spaces around the city gates, which of the upper nobles in Siren had ever seen such a large ship flying in the sky?
As it descended, the griffins that had been perched on the deck let out a loud roar and, along with the knights on their backs, took to the air, circling above Darick City.
Although Donald wasn’t particular about such formalities, he was now representing the Celt Kingdom, and this mission was to fight for the throne for Prince Duri. Naturally, he needed to show off the kingdom’s power and that of the second prince.
Normally, a kingdom’s honor guard was composed of well-trained court knights, but this time, in order to resist the invasion of abyssal demons, they wouldn’t bring along those showy figures who only knew how to perform superficially. Those court knights were the face of the royal family, but in terms of actual combat strength, as Donald put it, they were utterly useless. Those guys were best at courting noble ladies and acting tough in bed; putting them on the battlefield would likely make them faint with fear!
So Donald decided to showcase the griffin knight squad, which was originally planned to serve as aerial scouts, as their honor guard instead.
Surprisingly, the appearance of these ten griffins, equivalent to level 5 magical beasts, really intimidated the officials of Siren.
For every level increase in a magical beast’s strength, three times as many of them were needed to match its combat power.
Even the most famous Earth Dragon Knight Order in Siren had less than a hundred adult earth dragons. These large sub-dragons were only level 4 magical beasts, yet it was these earth dragon riders who gave Siren its reputation for invincible land-based assaults.
Moreover, aerial cavalry held even greater strategic value than land cavalry. If these flying magical beasts could form a force of dozens, they would likely become a terrifyingly powerful army.
“My little Duri has grown up now. The last time I saw you, you were just a 15-year-old kid without even a beard!”
Grand Duke Siren appeared even younger than one might expect; in his forties, he looked more like a man in his early thirties. If it weren’t for the beard he had deliberately grown to appear more mature and dignified, he might have looked even younger. At that moment, Grand Duke Siren hugged Duri with tears in his eyes, knowing that the bond of blood could not be severed even across the ocean.