Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 103

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 103
Yet Tay had applied that expensive glass without hesitation across all four sides of the carriage.
In short, it was a full-glass panoramic luxury carriage—open views in every direction, unobstructed.
What’s more, the interior was fitted with Thermal Preservation Magic running at full strength.
Outside was the deadly cold of below-freezing on the Snowy Plain; inside the carriage, it felt like a perpetual spring day.
To appreciate the magnificent vista of blizzards sweeping from all sides while sipping a warm cup of tea oneself—now that was indulgence.
In essence, it was a one-seat observation limousine with full heating options, walled entirely in clear glass so that every direction could be observed.
“Truly, Master! A full-glass carriage cutting through the Snowy Plain—this is surely the progress of an emperor itself!”
The dialog box perched on his shoulder grew animated again, rattling off flattery with unbridled enthusiasm.
The forces deployed for this campaign numbered fifteen thousand Skeleton Soldiers.
During those months spent stabilizing Gehenna Earldom, the main base had worked tirelessly to produce and supply them in steady streams.
It was the fruit of mass production—the Dark Magic Factory running at full capacity, churning them out methodically.
Those fifteen thousand mass-produced Skeleton Soldiers advanced in silence, cleanly ignoring even winter’s murderous cold.
Of course, living soldiers couldn’t be driven like Skeleton Soldiers.
The servants attending Tay and the Black Mages accompanying the campaign were transported in specially crafted carriages.
With Thermal Preservation Magic layered thickly and drawn by undead horses, those carriages were warm means of travel with no frost to fear.
From the outside, the Undead Army appeared as bleak as anything could be; yet peering inside, one found a surprisingly warm and luxurious march.
* * *
After setting northward from Gehenna Earldom and pushing through blizzards for several days.
Tay’s Undead Army finally arrived at their destination: the Dain Barony.
And as soon as they arrived, one truth became apparent—the Dain Barony was in utter chaos.
Small wonder.
In the depths of winter, no one in the Dain Barony had anticipated an army advancing head-on through the blizzard itself.
By conventional wisdom, winter is the off-season for war.
Supply lines freeze, soldiers develop frostbite, roads vanish under snow.
So everyone must have been huddled by the hearth, basking in warmth and assuming peace until spring.
But what was this?
Gazing out the windows, fifteen thousand skeletons stood arrayed on the horizon, plain as day.
‘There’s no shame in being startled. I’d be startled too.’
Tay sat within his full-glass carriage, sipping warm tea, and thought as much.
First, Tay decided to observe propriety. He selected one of Partan’s retainers to serve as an envoy, sending him toward the fortress.
The message was simple.
A surrender ultimatum.
A relatively merciful proposal: lay down arms now and the matter would end without bloodshed.
Not long after, the envoy returned.
“They refused, Master.”
“Is that so?”
Well, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
However sudden the ambush, a lord by title couldn’t let pride permit him to raise the white flag before even raising his sword.
“Then there’s no help for it.”
Tay shrugged and issued a terse command.
“Begin the assault.”
The moment the order left his lips, the Undead Army surged forward in unison.
The sight of white bone sweeping across white snow was a spectacle worth witnessing again and again.
Like an avalanche in reverse, rolling upward toward the fortress.
The Skeleton Soldiers reached the fortress walls.
The defenders mounted what resistance they could, stationing soldiers atop the ramparts.
But their condition was dire.
They were barely equipped at all.
Men with armor half-fastened. Men with helmets worn backward. Some who appeared to have grabbed pokers instead of proper weapons.
The surprise attack had worked perfectly.
And the cold—what of that?
Every soldier on the walls had skin a raw, flushed red.
Cheeks, noses, hands—all had turned an angry scarlet and shook uncontrollably.
Even counting their fingers seemed a task too much; actual combat was beyond imagining.
Tay’s Skeleton Soldiers, meanwhile?
Cold? What was that, something to eat?
They had no flesh to freeze, no skin to frostbite, no muscles to shiver with, no morale to crumble!
A winter war between the living and the dead—the outcome had been determined before it began.
“Tsk tsk.”
From inside the carriage, Tay watched the spectacle and clicked his tongue. At this rate, it wouldn’t be a battle at all—just one-sided plunder.
“Master! I’m simply dying to know—are those tremors from the cold or from terror? Probably both, yes? Ahahaha!”
The dialogue box perched on his shoulder was chattering away with delight.
“Both, most likely. A pity, though.”
From the shadows, Ars poked his head out and added a comment.
“Contractor. Those humans on the fortress walls—I can scarcely sense anything that could be called fighting spirit. From a demon’s perspective, a rather dull meal indeed.”
“We’re not waging war for entertainment. We’re here to make money.”
And with that, the siege warfare began.
Partan took command.
“First unit! Get those ladders up against the wall! Second unit, prepare to cover with arrows!”
Under Partan’s direction, the Skeleton Soldiers began hauling the Bone Ladders against the fortress wall with practiced efficiency.
They’d done this once before in Gehenna, so the bones clicked into place with familiar precision.
Arrows dribbled down from atop the wall.
Dribbled.
Yes, dribbled was the word.
There was no way arrows could fly true from soldiers whose hands were frozen stiff. Their fingers had gone numb from the cold and wouldn’t obey, so how could they possibly aim?
Even the arrows that did fall through mostly just whistled harmlessly between the Skeleton Soldiers’ ribs.
Because the target was bone—wide-open gaps between the ribs!
Expecting arrows to stop them was a futile request from the start.
The Skeleton Soldiers swarmed up the ladders like ants. An endless white tide, just as they’d seen in Gehenna.
There was some resistance from atop the wall, but it was pathetically brief.
Swords swung by frozen hands couldn’t harm the Skeleton Soldiers, and even if they did shatter one, the next was already filling the gap.
The fortress wall turned white in an instant.
And not long after, the gates swung wide open from within.
The same scene they’d witnessed in Gehenna. A perfect rerun.
From the start of battle to the opening of the gates, so little time had passed that the fighting begun at dawn was finished before lunch.
Soon after, Dain Baron was dragged out.
Utterly crushed by the surprise assault, the cold, and the sheer weight of the Undead Army, the elderly nobleman’s face had already surrendered.
“I yield.”
“You should have done so earlier. Then your men on the wall wouldn’t have suffered so needlessly.”
Tay accepted the surrender with courtesy, but his words carried a sting.
What came next was swift.
First, he disarmed all the barony’s troops. Then he herded them all into a single building.
Dain Barony’s forces amounted to only three hundred soldiers and two knights—a large building was more than sufficient.
That building he then surrounded with a thousand Skeleton Soldiers.
Containment secured.
You won’t die.
But don’t think of escaping.
That was the message.
With a thousand skeletons standing outside the windows day and night, no one could harbor fantasies of escape.
Besides, Skeleton Soldiers never slept and required no relief. Twenty-four-hour surveillance with no days off!
What came next was.
Legitimate plunder!
Tay began systematically and methodically stripping the barony of its wealth.
Gold coins from the treasury. Grain from the granaries. Equipment from the armory. Anything worth money was seized.
With Skeleton Soldiers serving as pack animals, he ran a moving company without spending a copper coin on labor.
He didn’t go so far as to fleece the common folk, though. He wasn’t desperate enough to strip them bare.
After about ten days of thorough plundering.
Tay left behind a thousand Skeleton Soldiers and two of his knights as custodians, then departed Dain Barony.
And moved on to the next domain.
Bit Barony, arrived.
The same sequence repeated exactly as it had in Dain Barony.
Send an envoy. Get refused. Conquer in a day. Lock up the troops. Plunder for ten days. Leave a garrison. Depart.
At this point, wasn’t it less a war and more a touring show?
So it went through the winter, circuit after circuit, until at last spring arrived.
By then, Tay had conquered all four baronies.
And as the weather warmed, he gathered all the troops he’d imprisoned across each domain and sent them to Harundel Marquess.
“You said you needed soldiers, didn’t you? Here they are. Delivery charges collect.”
Something to that effect.
The Marquess was pleased to have his forces reinforced, Tay was rid of the headache of guarding prisoners, and everyone was happy—a win for all parties!
Now Gehenna Earldom and all four baronies had fallen into Tay’s hands.
But there was one point worth clarifying.
Only Gehenna Earldom had been fully conquered.
The remaining four baronies had been thoroughly plundered, nothing more—they hadn’t formally become Tay’s territories.
He hadn’t sent administrators to establish actual control, nor transferred ownership through official documents.
It was merely stripped, held down, and watched over by sentries. Less an occupation than a prolonged parking arrangement.
Still, it didn’t matter.
The haul had been enormous.
Gold coins, grain, and supplies equivalent to four domains poured directly into Tay’s coffers, and he’d even earned the Marquess’s gratitude through managing the troop situation.
He’d made all the money worth making, and claimed all the prestige worth claiming.
A single winter’s work it may have been, but it ranked among the finest harvest seasons on record.
And that wasn’t all.
The Black Mage’s level had risen!
Now at six.
Though since it wasn’t an odd number, no new skill had been drawn.
That was a small shame.
Black Mage is too easy compared to Blacksmith.
Author |
Automaton G
Publisher |
(주) Samyang C&C
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
Published by |
(주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books
Address |
7F Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsaro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260511100
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
This book’s contents may not be used in any form or by any means without written permission from (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————