Dictator From Outer Space

In the spring of 1038 AC, a special envoy arrived from the Imir Republic.

She had the typical appearance of a dwarf, short and sturdy. 

Her name was Skadi.

She was the daughter of Bultorn, who worked in Leopold’s territory, and currently a special envoy of the Chumilwon.

Her purpose was to closely examine Leopold and Bagran and see if they were worth forming an alliance with.

That was after she confirmed that the elves were a bunch of untrustworthy bastards.

She was furious that they suddenly cut off the export of Goliath-related parts, which had been going on secretly.

―Those Denovans treat contracts like toilet paper! There’s nothing more we can do with them!

―We never trusted those pointy-eared freaks in the first place! Zaium is better!

The truth was, the dwarves didn’t like either elves or humans very much.

In their eyes, elves were troublemakers who interfered with technological progress and picked fights over everything, while humans were scammers who tried to rip them off at every opportunity.

The only thing that made humans a bit better was that they tried to coexist with the dwarves.

The human kingdoms, including the Zaium Empire, might have bothered the Imir Kingdom, but they didn’t meddle with their internal affairs.

On the other hand, Elbrangde regularly sent diplomats to inspect their ether engineering technology and find faults with it.

―Ether engines can’t be improved any further. I don’t understand why they invest so much budget in it. Is this the limit of the dwarves?

―Are they obsessed with the sky because they are short? No matter how many floating stones they install on their airships or how much they increase their propulsion output, they can’t reach that high.

―Therefore, I recommend that the dwarves stop wasting their interest in ether engineering and stick to digging the ground as they always do.

With such words coming from someone who claimed to be a diplomat, it was no wonder that the dwarves, who were already grumpy, wouldn’t stay still.

There was even a time when a fistfight broke out between Elbrangde’s diplomat and the Iron Council members, and the situation escalated to the brink of war.

Even without such an incident, the relationship between dwarves and elves was bad enough, but it worsened as time went by.

“We dwarves have taken a mediator position between humans and elves, but now it’s time to end that. Anyway, keep your manners in front of Lord Vandus. He is… different from ordinary humans.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The airship carrying Skadi and her delegation arrived in Bagran’s airspace.

She admired the large and clean mooring station.

Did Bagran plan to operate airships on a full scale?

“This facility can accommodate up to 10 airships at a time, don’t you think?”

“That’s what it looks like to me, ma’am. Bagran seems to be a rich country.”

“It changed a lot after Lord Vandus took office.”

The change was not only in the mooring station.

There was vitality in the faces of the people walking on the streets, and new buildings were being built everywhere.

Skadi tilted her head as if her memory was wrong.

“This city of Rozelon was famous for being an unchanging city for decades, but it changed so much in such a short time. What is that building?”

The official who guided the delegation said with a reluctant tone.

“That’s the new palace. Lord Vandus ordered it to be built, but as you can see, it has nothing to do with its original appearance.”

The official seemed to dislike the new palace, but Skadi felt differently.

In her eyes, that building had a very functional and efficient design.

Unlike the oppressive and majestic palace, it showed that it considered the convenience of the people who worked inside from the outside.

“Did Lord Vandus design that building?”

“Yes. He even called in architects and unified the blueprints. It’s unusual for His Excellency to care about such things.”

This lord was definitely different from others.

Instead of going to the palace, the delegation was guided to a train station.

The meeting was scheduled to take place in one of the direct territories.

It was a factory where they manufactured new Goliaths, and Skadi chose to spend some time looking around Rozelon.

The result of wasting time was not bad.

Beep beep―

A train came running from afar with a horn sound.

Skadi marveled at its speed and length.

How powerful was the ether engine mounted on the train that it could pull so many cars?

It looked faster than an average airship even though it was pulling almost 20 passenger cars and freight cars.

“Bagran’s technology is amazing.”

“The ether engine is impressive, but the mechanism that transfers the power to the wheels seems to be excellent as well.”

“It looks like they connected multiple connecting rods, but are there two ether engines?”

Dwarves were a curious race.

If they saw something interesting, they had to unravel its secret to satisfy themselves.

For them, Bagran’s train was a fascinating thing.

They used the same method of boiling water with ether stones and using it as power, but why was the efficiency so different?

Some dwarves even sketched the wheel part of the train that had completely stopped.

People looked at them with curiosity and Skadi got angry.

“You! If you came here as a member of the delegation, don’t you have any shame? Can’t you come out right now?”

But the dwarves had thick skins and they insisted on sketching the entire drive shaft.

Even after boarding the train, they acted like children who wanted to touch everything.

“I don’t understand why it’s so fast! Is the quality of the ether stones made in Bagran much better?”

“The boiler is also small in capacity, but it seems that they have arranged the pipes well.”

“Huh? Huh? Is it getting faster?”

As someone said, the train sped up as soon as it left Rozelon.

Skadi admired the scenery of the direct territory being developed.

It looked like cotton at a glance, but she didn’t understand why they planted so much.

She called the official who was dozing off and he also looked puzzled.

“According to His Excellency, it’s called Siviri cotton and it grows in the floating continent. He said that if you make cloth with it, it has very good insulation. You can also produce edible oil by squeezing the cotton seeds. Well, how much can you believe that…”

“Does it need a lot of water? The irrigation system is amazing.”

“I don’t know about that.”

Anyway, Bagran was changing a lot.

Skadi recalled when she came here long ago to meet her father.

She had heard that Bagran was an unchanging kingdom, almost the same as during the Great War, but it had undergone such rapid changes.

“Did one person change all this…”

And that too in a very short time of less than two years.

She couldn’t believe that he was an ordinary human, and he was either a hero from another world or a being who had obtained some transcendental power, as claimed by the Holy State.

“Well, I’ll find out when I meet him!”

The train carrying her and her delegation ran diligently on the rails of the direct territory.

***

Several buildings and factories were being built in the direct territory near the royal capital of Rose Ron.

They were related to the production of Goliath.

It was quite serious, considering that they were building not only a train station, but also an airship mooring station.

Many people gathered there, and most of the Goliath-related personnel in the royal capital came here.

Some nobles from Zaium, such as Duke Prozhan and Countess Croitz, arrived here.

It was a huge fleet of airships, totaling over 20 ships.

The mooring capacity of the existing station in the direct territory was far from enough, so they had to make temporary facilities.

Leopold greeted them with Arma.

“This is the production factory of the new Goliath model, Black Knight.”

“I pride myself on having visited many factories, but this is the first time I see such a large-scale one. Does that mean you are confident?”

“The Goliath ecosystem in Astera will change completely after this contract.”

That would be the case if the Black Knight model was mass-produced as planned.

On the other hand, Camilla looked at Arma, who was waiting with her hands clasped next to her husband and Duke Prozhan.

She had promised several times to allow one maid, but she couldn’t help feeling twisted when she saw her beautiful appearance.

Unlike her, who was plain and dull, Arma had a white skin close to milky white, and her body curves could not be hidden by ordinary clothes.

It would be understandable if she only looked like this, but she was also said to be very capable.

She was the core of the core staff who discussed everything with Leopold.

‘I hate her… everything about her…’

She couldn’t see Arma comfortably in a situation where she had spent a few nights with him and promised a future.

But Camilla was a person who knew how to distinguish between public and private matters, so she decided to ignore and move on with a little discomfort.

A train came from afar, and Leopold said.

“A special envoy from the Imir Republic has arrived. His name is Skadi, a diplomat.”

“The dwarves seem to have decided to join hands firmly on this occasion.”

“That will be revealed in this factory inspection.”

Leopold wanted to join hands with the dwarves because of their technology.

He couldn’t handle everything by himself with artificial intelligence like in the 21st century, so he needed help, and the dwarves were perfect for that.

They didn’t have much population, but they were all technicians, so it would be much easier to have them as allies in the future.

The train arrived and the delegation, including Skadi, got off.

“Hello! Nice to meet you. I’m Skadi, a special envoy from Chumilwon.”

“I’m Leopold Vandus from Bagran. I’m currently holding a regent position called Prime Minister.”

Skadi was a dwarf woman who looked short and lively.

They didn’t waste time, as they had no hobby for it, and decided to go straight into the inspection.

The guests and people followed their master in droves.

“This is the production line of the Black Knight model. By the way, there is no ignition stone in the Black Knight model.”

“It looked so when I saw it on the battlefield, but it’s quite big when I see it here…”

As Camilla said, the Black Knight model was much taller than the Goliath next to it.

It didn’t spread sideways, so it weighed much less, and it even adopted living metal armor, so it ended up being only 60% of a normal mass-produced machine.

“The reduced weight guarantees that much efficiency. Even an ordinary knight can get twice as much operating time.”

“Really…”

Skadi couldn’t come to her senses.

She thought that the new Goliath production line was moderately improved, but this was a level where everything was built from scratch.

From the frame to the drive system and armor plate, core, there was nothing new.

And what caught her eye was the process where golems pulled out mithril wires long.

“By Jurt! Golems pull out wires!”

“Let’s go and see together.”

As confirmed, golems were really pulling out wires long.

Skadi shouted Jurt repeatedly and looked at the samples.

It was not inferior to Elvrande’s mithril wire in terms of thinness or quality.

Since many golems pulled it out, the hourly production volume was enormous.

Duke Prozhan and Camilla, who confirmed it directly, also stuck out their tongues.

They never imagined it would be so serious.

Leopold lifted up a bunch of mithril wires.

“The reason why mithril wire is so scarce and expensive is because it requires human touch. But here, as you can see, golems pull it out.”

“This alone will increase the output of the core! What about ignition stones?”

“Ignition stones are not used in our core. Instead, we use this.”

It was a small part that was called a black metal battery on Earth.

Skadi shouted and looked around the factory, then met her father, Bultorn.

“Father!”

“My daughter! What are you doing here?”

It was a pleasant sight to see the father and daughter reunited.

But Leopold had a more important problem.

He took the other two to a secluded place and talked.

“You must have talked about it before. I will supply this Black Knight model to the whole of Astera. Except for Elvrande and some other countries.”

“A Goliath that boasts more output than Belial? I understand your confidence, but I’m worried that it might be too much.”

“You don’t have to worry. The export version will adjust the output appropriately. I plan to supply the original version to you and the crown prince.”

“Do you mean that you will supply 250E to excellent knights, and 200E to ordinary knights?”

“That’s right.”

“How much will it cost?”

The price was actually the most important thing.

Goliath was cheaper than an airship, but it was still an expensive item that cost more than 1,500 gold for a standard model that was only 120E.

If it was the Black Knight model that boasted twice the output, they were afraid of how much it would cost.

“Since you brought an airship, I can’t charge you a high price. I will supply the 200E version at 3,000 gold.”

“3,000 gold… It’s a reasonable price compared to the output, but…”

Duke Prozhan seemed to feel ambiguous.

It was better to persuade him by letting him operate it directly than convincing him that it was not expensive here.

“I’ll provide you with one Black Knight model each. Please judge for yourself how much combat power it can exert.”

The two nodded eagerly.

There was no lie if they said they didn’t want to ride the Black Knight model, which had twice the output as knights.

In fact, what Leopold really wanted to say was from now on.

“With this Black Knight model, you won’t have any problem supporting the crown prince. Whether it’s Grand Duke Pangral or the Northwind Alliance, you can sweep them all away.”

“I won’t have any difficulty in gaining military power. You must also be able to achieve your goals…”

“The crown prince will get the throne. But what do you get?”

At Duke Prozhan’s words, Leopold answered with a smile.

“Didn’t I get you? A trustworthy person is more important than anything else. I’m satisfied with joining hands with you.”

“You…”

Camilla’s eyes were moist with emotion, and even Duke Prozhan nodded repeatedly.

He had been a bit calculative about Leopold, but he thought he had to change his mind if he came out so devotedly.

But Leopold had a different goal.

He had no intention of giving the throne to Crown Prince Barak.

‘I need the chaos in the empire to continue until I expand my territory.’

Supplying the Black Knight model would make the chaos bigger and louder.

Grand Duke Pangral and Galisto, who were alienated, would not stay still.

After that, various treaties and contracts were concluded in a very smooth atmosphere.

With this, the Kingdom of Bagran and the Imir Republic became friendly, if not allies, and exchanged various resources and goods.

And soon after, the Black Knight model was mass-produced and supplied to various countries.

The trouble started then.

***

The first Black Knight model that arrived at the Zaium Imperial Palace showed its combat power directly in front of many influential people, including Crown Prince Barak.

In a huge circular arena, Duke Prozhan personally controlled the Black Knight model and fought against two High Knights.

The result was shocking.

The Black Knight model easily made three Bephar models controlled by High Knights inoperable without any damage.

And it happened in less than a minute.

The crown prince smiled at the overwhelming victory, and the nobles were speechless.

“It’s more than overwhelming. This is not even a fight between an adult and a child, isn’t it?”

“How high is the output to block a Bephar model with one arm? It’s not even a contest of strength.”

“Even so, they are High Knights…”

Duke Prozhan was an excellent knight, but he couldn’t guarantee a victory against three High Knights.

Crown Prince Barak stood up and applauded the count.

“Excellent! With your martial arts and the new Goliath model’s power, what can you fear? Look, I’ll have a banquet today! Get ready!”

After that, there was no end to the talk about the Black Knight model in Zaium.

Even though Elvrande stopped exporting some parts, it had no effect at all.

They felt relieved that they could cut off their relationship with the elves completely.

—I don’t have to listen to their arrogance anymore. It’s refreshing.

—They must have cut off the parts supply to checkmate Count Vandus, but what will they do now? A Goliath that can’t be compared to anything else has popped up.

—The war hasn’t been over for long, but the Black Knight model is mass-produced. What kind of person is Count Vandus?

The Black Knight model was supplied not only to Zaium, but also to various places such as the Kingdom of Gram and the Imir Republic.

The price was a bit high, but it could overwhelm the existing Goliath, so it was not expensive in the end.

Especially in the Imir Republic’s Iron Parliament, they decided to bring in the Black Knight model on a large scale after reading Skadi’s report.

—It’s not just high output. The Black Knight model surpasses the existing Goliath in every aspect.

—The light weight is not a disadvantage. The living metal weapon can crush the enemy without having to wrestle.

—Above all, there is no inconvenience in controlling the Goliath. It moves as soon as you think of it, so you can control it very comfortably.

The knights who controlled the Goliath always had to keep in mind the unique delay.

There was a slight time difference between the knight’s control and the Goliath’s movement, which was an insurmountable problem even for Elvrande.

But those who controlled the Black Knight model were amazed that the Goliath moved as they wanted.

As the new Goliath model was supplied, the problem of ignition stones and mithril wires naturally sank below the surface.

Now each country had to visit Bagran to get the Black Knight model.

However, four forces that had taken an opposing stance against Leopold did not receive even one allocation.

They were Elvrande, Grand Duke Pangral of Zaium, Northwind Alliance, and Galisto.

The other three places were fine, but Elvrande was hit hard by this.

It seemed like they had been waiting for it, nullifying their sanctions and mass-producing new Goliath models to exclude their influence. 

It was not an ordinary skill.

Kelodian had to go to the Grand Council and listen to fierce protests.

“Didn’t you assure me that everything would be fine if we closed down mines and research facilities? But what is this? Our exports have plummeted and they are getting out of our influence.”

“We didn’t know where or what specifications of Black Knight came from. What is Intelligence doing?”

“We thought we should wait for two or three years, but we have to revoke our measures in just two months.”

Kelodian lost his sanity after listening to the ridicule of Piana Minister.

This was a serious problem for the whole of Elvrande.

They had an overwhelming advantage of 7:3, or 8:2, compared to the entire human kingdom.

But that was turned upside down by the Black Knight model.

The production speed of 20 units per month was not something to be tolerated.

The chief of staff who attended the Grand Council said that there would be almost no power gap in two years and expressed his concern.

“By then, we may have to admit that we are no longer the dominant race of the continent. This is a time when special measures are needed.”

“Special measures… I guess we have no choice.”

Drizden Featherwood, the chairman of the Elder Council, was the oldest among the elves.

He had been active in the Great War, and Leopold was nothing more than a nuisance to him.

His old lips moved.

“Call Tiren and Delfina. I have to give them God’s blessing.”

The Champion Training Project was finally activated.

Kelodian sent his last farewell to someone far away.

‘You won’t get away easily now that the Elder Council has moved. No matter what power you have.’

No one who became an enemy of the elves could survive.

That was like a law of Astera that had been going on for hundreds of years.