The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

White looked at the Black Iron City before him and squeezed the pocket watch in his hand.

If they haven't captured the city by the appointed time, they must retreat; this is a military order.

Of course, there is still plenty of time, measured in days. After all, the enemy's reinforcements can't fly, and the Pétain defenses may not even realize what's happening yet. White has enough time to make arrangements and prepare for the retreat.

However, based on White's understanding of the Northern Army, he still felt that the time given by headquarters was too tight; a delay of two or three days would have been perfectly fine.

After all, the command assumed that the other side would receive the message immediately and quickly march to provide support.

But in reality, even if they had received the message, let alone not receiving it, the friendly forces in the surrounding Black Iron City would probably be organizing reinforcements at a snail's pace and then arriving at the same snail's pace.

In this era, any army capable of forming a battle formation was already considered a strong army, let alone one that could march rapidly.

Those noble lords would even argue over whether or not to provide support.

Even if the enemy did arrive to provide support as headquarters had assumed, White was confident that with his equipment and nearly a thousand well-trained soldiers, he could easily defeat them one by one.

Therefore, he couldn't bring the entire Third Army. Otherwise, White felt he could have leveled the city in front of him that very day. In White's eyes, Black Iron City was barely even a fortress, let alone a stronghold.

Seeing the miscellaneous weapons and equipment of the defenders on the enemy city walls, White realized that he had been living too comfortably as a white-collar worker and had forgotten what the outside world used to wage war.

The equipment of gray-collar workers is being updated too quickly; even weapons that are outdated and issued to the militia are much better than the equipment of the city wall defenders.

White had never fought such a well-funded battle before. His weapons and equipment were sufficient to handle almost any situation, and his soldiers were all loyal, brave, and fearless. Their obedience to orders had even reached the point of muscle memory.

Question Laurie, understand Laurie, surpass Laurie! White now wishes he could kowtow to Steward Lila and the Governor. As long as the soldiers can get new equipment, he'd call Steward Lila "sister" or even "mom."

However, it's not a bad thing to be overly cautious. Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit. Besides, this is White's first mission under Lind, and he absolutely cannot afford to make a mistake.

The second type of magical siege cannon in front of us has been assembled, and the alchemists accompanying the army are conducting final adjustments.

"Magic transmission is normal, the arcane magic circle is functioning normally, the magic trigger is activated normally, you can fire!"

With this battle cry, the artillerymen, who had been waiting for a long time, inserted triangular prism-shaped containers of primary-colored sand into the slots of the siege cannons.

"boom!"

The first cannon shot struck the city wall directly, shattering boulders and scattering fragments like a fierce rain.

"Magic barrier, quick, quick!"

Keith shouted from the city wall.

Without Keith needing to say anything more, the barrier of the city wall was already activated.

"boom!"

Another cannon shot came, but it was effectively blocked by the barrier. Keith, standing on the city wall, didn't feel a tremor at all.

"Whoo~"

Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"So this is what rebellion is all about; every move they make is under my control."

Once the soldiers realized they were safe, they all started flattering Keith.

"The general is truly a visionary. Now all we have to do is wait for the rescue."

"Yes, the enemy is isolated and deep in enemy territory; they're doomed."

Just as the soldiers were about to pop some champagne while the general was in a good mood, the soldier who had initially stood on the city wall with Keith asked, "General, wait a minute, why doesn't that 'cannon' over there have any shells?"

Just as Keith was about to accept the champagne offered by the soldiers, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately went to the city wall to confirm that there were indeed no cannonballs, but instead, there were exploding fireballs.

"Third-tier? No, it seems to be fourth-tier magic?"

A spellcaster on the city wall began to ponder as a fireball flew towards him.

"Can you block it?"

Keith swallowed hard and asked nervously.

"General, there's no need to worry. It's just a matter of having or not having cannonballs."

The spellcaster then glanced at the alchemist assembling the second siege cannon behind the drawn line and continued, "As long as the barrier has a magic supply, it doesn't matter how many cannons the enemy has."

"Unless the enemy can keep firing this explosive fireball day and night, although we don't know how they manage to use magic with cannons, it obviously requires a supply of magic power. The enemy can't possibly carry more magic stones than we have in our city."

"So that means we're safe?"

“That’s right, our city walls are impregnable, General.”

As soon as the spellcaster finished speaking, the champagne in Keith's hand sprayed out.

"Alright, guys, let's pop the champagne!"

"Long live the General! Long live Black Iron City!"

The soldiers immediately joined in the celebration, and after instructing everyone not to approach the city gate, Keith happily left with his guards.

As night falls and the city lights come on, like stars twinkling in the sky, the mansions in the city are illuminated by candlelight and look incredibly magnificent.

Because Black Iron City was originally a commercial town and no castle was built there, Keith would probably be leisurely leaning against the castle window now, enjoying the distant cannon fire.

Although the war outside continues, the magical barrier remains as strong as ever.

Most of the nobles, who used to be like startled chicks at the sound of gunfire, had gotten used to it.

Keith even decided to treat the cannon fire as a victory song and hold a grand ball that night to ease the tension of the still timid nobles.

The band played cheerful music in a corner, guests mingled at the tables, and nobles exchanged dance partners on the dance floor.

Waiters carried trays filled with fine wine and delicate snacks, and people would occasionally raise their glasses to congratulate each other.

If it weren't for the occasional cannon fire that injects new rhythm into this piece of music, one would never imagine that this is a city under attack.

Several young noble ladies gathered together, whispering about the latest gossip and rumors.

"Have you heard? It's because Governor Doug assassinated that disgrace to the nobility that the rebels declared war."

"Oh? So that disgrace to the nobility, Reina, is dead?"

"No, but judging from how confused those rebels outside the city are, they're probably not far from death, right?"

"What a pity. It would have been so much better if he had been shot dead with an arrow. I saw him in the capital once. That disgrace of the nobility was so vulgar that he was hardly a nobleman. If you ask me, Lord Doug is the true heir to the North."

"I heard that the two younger brothers of that disgrace of the nobility are quite good. How did they become traitors? Wouldn't it be better to attach themselves to Lord Doug? What a pity."

In this relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the nobles' tension vanished.

At this moment, the most timid nobleman in the city came to Keith's side and asked, "General, is the barrier really strong? Are we really safe?"

As if preordained, the music in the corner abruptly stopped when the nobleman spoke, and through a pre-programmed amplification, the nobleman's question was amplified to the ears of everyone present along with the sound of cannon fire.

Keith just gave a wicked smile and said, "I'm already thinking about how to write the report of victory."

After he finished speaking, the music started again, even more exciting and joyful, and the whole process was as smooth and seamless as a perfect opera.

The nobles erupted in thunderous applause.

Like an opera singer, Keith walked onto the stage and waved to the nobles below with a smile.

Many noblewomen even threw flowers that adorned the area around the venue at Keith.

The nobles were immersed in this joy and luxury, fully enjoying the beauty and happiness of this moment.

The shadow of war seemed to be dispelled by this joy; at least for this night, their world remained as beautiful as ever.

The next morning, still feeling a bit hungover, Keith shook his head.

I was so drunk that I could still hear the sound of artillery fire bombarding the magic barrier.

Whose magical artifacts can continuously bombard the world with spells all night long?

Thinking this, Keith felt he must still be half asleep, so he hugged the girl next to him and prepared to go back to sleep.

But in his dazed state, Keith heard the guard's voice: "General, it's bad! The barrier is about to collapse!"

It seems he drank too much last night; he's even starting to hallucinate.