Blacksmithing Is Child’s Play for a Dark Mage - Chapter 93

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 93
The reception hall.
The herald sent by Harundel Marquess rose from his seat and offered a courteous bow.
“It is an honor to meet the Maker Baron. I am Aolen, a baron in service to the Marquess.”
He was a handsome man, appearing to be in his early thirties.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Baron Aolen. I am Tay, the Maker Baron.”
The two barons exchanged formal greetings.
Then.
Rant’s voice rang directly in Tay’s mind.
-Master. Allow me to illuminate this man’s background.
Voice of Spirit.
A Black Magic spell that produced an effect similar to the message magic from his previous life—a technique for conveying one’s voice only to a specific person, unheard by others. Through this incantation, Rant, standing off to one side of the reception hall like a chambermaid, was feeding information to Tay.
-Baron Aolen possesses no Domain of his own. Instead, he is a Hereditary Noble who passes down his title through generations—an Administrative Noble, you might say. Think of him as a vassal house under Harundel Marquess.
A baron without lands.
Not all nobility were created equal. There were Territorial Nobles who held actual Domain, and then there were Hereditary Nobles who merely inherited titles and official positions. Baron Aolen, it seemed, fell into the latter category—an Administrative Noble handling bureaucratic affairs.
-One thing, however. By noble law, to hold the rank of baron, one must be at minimum a 2nd-Class Mage or an Aura User. Baron Aolen is indeed a 2nd-Class Mage. Yet even as a 2nd-Class, his abilities are hardly remarkable. He merely meets the qualifying threshold.
Tay marveled inwardly.
‘This Rant. He learns and discovers all manner of things I never knew. Impressive.’
Rant possessed such intricate knowledge of noble society, all its subtleties laid bare. As a commoner by birth, Tay lacked such understanding himself—but having Rant at his side to fill in the gaps made him the finest advisor imaginable.
Tay gave an inward thumbs-up to Rant, then continued the conversation with Baron Aolen.
“You have traveled far. What matter brings the Marquess to send a herald?”
Baron Aolen straightened his posture and broached the main topic.
“The Marquess wishes to propose a formal Alliance with you, Baron Maker.”
“A formal Alliance, you say?”
Tay’s eyebrows rose.
This was no trivial offer.
Tay was an independent lord who had risen to the rank of baron through pioneering untamed wilderness. When he established his Domain, he had received no patronage from Harundel Marquess, nor had he entered into vassalage.
He could have become the Marquess’s vassal had he wished, but he chose otherwise.
Now, the Marquess himself was proposing a formal Alliance.
This was different in kind from vassalage. A vassal became completely subordinate to the Marquess; an Alliance, by contrast, ranked higher than vassalage. In name, it was a relationship of equal cooperation.
Of course, true equality was impossible.
The power gap between a Marquessate and a Barony was that of heaven and earth. A Marquessate of millions against a Barony of three hundred sixty thousand could hardly be called equal. Alliance or not, the Marquess would be the strong hand and Tay the weaker—that much was clear.
Having thought this far, Tay asked: “Why does the Marquess suddenly wish to forge an Alliance?”
Baron Aolen answered with measured calm.
“The Marquess intends to invade Salcatna County.”
“Salcatna County?”
Tay’s eyes narrowed.
Salcatna County.
The name rang a bell. Was this not the territory where the Domain dispute had occurred—the conflict in which Tay himself had fought as a mercenary? The territorial dispute between Baron Haldun and Baron Balbon, nominally a matter of Dungeon ownership, but in reality a proxy war between Count Salcatna and Count Kolando.
At the time, both sides had denied it was a proxy war, yet the stench of proxy conflict was unmistakable. And Tay had reaped considerable profit and advantage from that war.
Now, Harundel Marquess intended to devour all of Salcatna County whole.
“Why Salcatna County, and why now?”
Baron Aolen resumed his explanation.
“The Drought that has persisted since last year has thrown the entire Empire into chaos—surely you are aware of this, Baron.”
Salcatna County suffered especially grievously from it. The Count himself manages to endure, but his subordinate baronies and viscounties are completely collapsed. They plunder and war with one another, beyond even the Count’s control.”
“The interior is festering, then.”
“Precisely. In such a state, external invasion alone would be sufficient to seize the territory. The Marquess’s judgment is that one more push would topple a dyke on the verge of collapse.”
There was logic to it.
A Domain torn apart by Drought was extraordinarily vulnerable to external assault. With everyone inside fighting each other, there was no capacity to repel invaders from without.
“I have one question: are there no obstacles from the other great lords?”
Swallowing an entire County was a significant matter. Other Marquesses or Dukes in the region would never stand idle.
“The other nobles are also in flux, restructuring themselves.”
Baron Aolen answered with pointed meaning.
“Faced with an unprecedented calamity like this Drought, they are all preoccupied with finding their own path to survival. They lack the leisure to contest another’s territorial expansion. Indeed, some seek to expand their own holdings while opportunity knocks.”
This was the Chaotic Era.
Before the great disaster of Drought, the old order trembled and fractured. Through that chaos, ambitious men began to move, seeking to enlarge their territories. The age of those who would turn crisis into opportunity had begun.
“Hmm……”
Tay folded his arms and fell into thought for a moment.

This was not a matter to be answered on the spot.
“I’ll give it some thought and provide you with an answer by tomorrow.”
“Yes, understood. I look forward to your response.”
Aolen bowed formally and left the reception room.
* * *
The moment the door closed, Tay turned to Rant.
“What do you think?”
“We should participate.”
Rant answered without hesitation.
“Why?”
“It’s simple arithmetic.”
Rant spread his fingers as he explained.
“Think about it. If the Marquess wins this war, he won’t look kindly on us for not participating. We proposed an alliance and refused it—we’d fall out of his favor.”
“Mm.”
“And if the Marquess loses? He still wouldn’t look kindly on us. Who likes those who turn their backs when times are hard? Whether he wins or loses, refusing will damage our relationship with him either way.”
The logic was impeccable.
Win and we’re resented for not helping; lose and we’re resented for not helping. Refusal meant certain loss.
“So the smart move is to participate, contribute to victory, and share in the spoils. Our domain’s forces are strong enough to play a significant role in the war, so we secure both a voice in the proceedings and our share of the plunder.”
Rant shrugged.
“Besides, we have nothing to lose. Skeleton Soldiers can be remade if they fall, and they need no supplies. Other domains stumble when they field an army, but we can march to war like we’re simply going to work.”
Tay nodded.
“You’re right.”
The calculation was clear. Refuse and suffer certain loss; participate and gain certain advantage. There was nothing left to deliberate.
“And if it’s Salcatna County…”
Tay’s lips curled upward.
He’d gone there as a mercenary once before. He’d made a tidy profit then, but this time he’d be joining as an ally of the Marquess—the spoils would be on an entirely different scale.
“Tomorrow I’ll tell Aolen we’re participating.”
Tay made his decision.
The Chaotic Era belonged to the ambitious.
And Tay had chosen to wade into those waters.
* * *
The day after deciding to participate, Tay moved swiftly.
After informing Aolen of his intention to join, he ordered preparations for deployment and set out for the Marquess’s domain himself.
There were two reasons for going to the domain directly.
One was that as an ally, he needed to meet the Marquess in person and follow proper procedures; the other was to hire mercenaries for this opportunity.
Harundel was the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild, and no better place existed to supplement his human forces for war.
He left deployment preparations to Partan.
The forces he would mobilize this time were staggering.
Five hundred standing troops from the domain. And ten thousand Medium Skeleton Soldiers.
There was a reason ten thousand was possible.
Thanks to training numerous Black Mages and running production at full capacity, Skeleton Soldier output had reached two thousand per month. As a result, the domain now possessed twenty thousand Medium Skeleton Soldiers.
Twenty thousand.
At this point, the Skeleton Soldiers ought to be counted in the population census.
In any case, he would deploy ten thousand of the twenty thousand and leave the remaining ten thousand for domain defense. No matter how assured he was of no attack, he couldn’t leave a domain of three hundred sixty thousand people completely unguarded.
However, Partan could not accompany him on this campaign.
He had the critical duty of defending the domain. While the Lord led ten thousand troops away from home, someone had to remain and protect it, and Partan alone was suited for that task.
“My Lord. I regret that I cannot attend you.”
Partan spoke with a regretful expression. The instinct of a knight eager to distinguish himself on the battlefield stirred within him.
“I can fight with peace of mind because you’re protecting the domain. This is the more important duty.”
“…Thank you, my Lord.”
Partan’s eyes grew moist again. The man clearly had a low threshold for emotion.
“And one more thing. While I’m away, recruit a few more knights. With our domain’s current size, capable knights will be eager to serve.”
“Understood. I’ll scout out talented individuals.”
As the domain grew, so too did the need to strengthen its human forces.
A Black Mage is far too easy for the blacksmith to produce.
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Automaton G
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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