It was a winter morning in Baron Zeon's territory, and it was a cloudy day.
Laing was still resting in the master bedroom, but Olica had already woken up. She struggled to get up and put on the maid's clothes with trembling legs.
She could feel that her body was full of magic power again.
Olica tied up her waist-length black hair with a headdress and a headband. She changed into a new set of maid clothes. Taking advantage of the fact that Ryan hadn't woken up yet, she quietly walked to the bed and let Ryan lean against her.
Olica, whose soul was severely damaged, knew that if she wanted to cast spells, she could only rely on Laing to provide her with magic power. Through this method, she could slowly use magic to repair her soul. She had no magic power of her own.
The fire in the master bedroom crackled, and the dark elf shouted in a low voice, "Master ~ Master? Wake up, today you're going to see the dwarves test the latest cannon. "
"… Yes, today I'm going to see the dwarves test the cannon." Laing slowly woke up. He buried his head in the dark elf's plump chest and asked, "Olica? How do you feel? "
"How … How do I feel? It's very comfortable … "The dark elf blushed. Recently, Veronica's energy was still focused on the wizard tower. She usually slept with Laing at night, so naturally, she was also responsible for taking care of Laing and taking care of his needs.
After a morning kiss, Laing got up and changed his clothes. He suddenly asked with great interest, "By the way, Olica, what is the siege weapon of the dark elves?"
"It's the Thousand-Pound Siege Ballista, master." The dark elf helped Laing wash up. She continued, "This powerful siege ballista is blessed by the warlocks of the Herkati Warlock Association. It has great power. Anyone who is hit by it will be crippled, if not killed."
"Can you make ballistas like the dwarves?" Laing joked.
"The technology to create this Thousand-Man Ballista has been lost for a long time, Master," Olica said helplessly. The dark elf held Leon's hand from behind. "Maybe the high elves still have them, but we don't have them in Duruqi. All the Thousand-Man Ballista are closely guarded, and they will only be taken out when there is a need for war. And … many people believe that only Hydras and Black Dragons are enough to attack a city."
"Well, I'm going to check the ballista. Do you want to come with me?" Laing changed his clothes and washed up. He was ready to go out.
As usual, the dark elf was unwilling to leave the castle.
When he came out of the door, the sorceress Theresa was standing at the door with a purple staff in her hand. She was wearing a purple robe with a black leather jacket and pants underneath. When she saw Ryan come out, her tone was indescribably strange. "You're finally willing to come out?"
"Oh, please, my dear Teresa. I also need time to get up." Laing said helplessly, "Didn't you want to go out with me to see the ballistas?"
"Yes, I've seen a lot of ballistas from Nord and the Empire, but I've never seen the heavy ballistas of the dwarves." At this point, the sorceress also showed an interested expression. "It's said that the most powerful ballistas of the dwarves are comparable to forbidden spells."
Thirty minutes later, at the chosen location in the wilderness.
Four dwarven heavy cannons were lined up in a row. Behind them was an even more strangely shaped cannon. This cannon consisted of four smaller cannons placed side by side on top of a large cart.
The dwarven engineer Dugan Ironman walked out, stroking his beard that had become thick and smooth. He was wearing a rather comical set of heavy clothes — dwarven clothes that the tailor in the collar had specially made for him. Dugan was wearing a round hat with a feather on it. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up. "I've lived up to your expectations, my baron. I've made four dwarven heavy cannons for you, as well as an accordion cannon."
"These cannons cost me almost 700 crowns. My brother, you almost made me bankrupt, do you know that?" Laing reached out to touch the heavy ballistas. The heavy body of the ballista and the huge black muzzle made Laing feel quite satisfied.
"Sigh, our ballistas are indeed a little more expensive to make, but don't worry, my lord. The ballistas we make are completely different from those of the humans of the Empire. Their ballistas are prone to exploding or turning into duds, but our ballistas don't have that problem!" Dugan also reached out to touch his ballista. He couldn't help but smile. "It's worth it. You get what you pay for, my friend."
Gunpowder was the embodiment of the dwarves' might at their peak. Touching the black barrel, the dwarven engineer felt a deep sense of comfort and a sense of kinship with it.
Laing also reached out to touch the heavy ballistas. Without a doubt, the appearance of gunpowder changed the course of the war. He had already seen the power of the Empire's ballistas, and now he had the ballistas of the dwarves.
The ballistas were undoubtedly more powerful than the ballistas of the Empire's Nur and Brunswick. They had a longer range, but they were also more expensive to make.
With cannons, the following battles would be completely different. Unlike the large catapults, the dwarven cannons were easy to carry and travel. The cannons were equipped with huge wheels and could be pulled by pack horses or pushed by manpower. Compared to the catapults that needed to be dismantled and packed into several large carts and took a few hours to assemble, the dwarven cannons were much better than the catapults.
"For each ballista, we have four to five of our brethren in charge of the whole process from loading to firing. We can fire one ballista every five minutes. The dwarf engineer, Dugan Ironman, continued, "At the same time, dwarves are also warriors. Once an enemy approaches, we can also pick up weapons and fight. But my Baron, I still want to emphasize that it is far better for us to use cannons than to fight with weapons."
"Don't worry. Brittany has the strongest knights in the old world. Your flanks will be protected." Laing nodded in satisfaction. With Brittany's knights and the ballistas of the dwarves, the future strength of his army could not be underestimated.
"Speaking of which, what is this?" Sorceress Teresa asked curiously as she walked to the special ballista behind the four ballistas.
"This is the Accordion Cannon, my lady." The dwarven engineer laughed when he talked about his proud work. "This is my big treasure."
"Accordion Cannon?" Laing also walked to the ballista cannon. He had to admit that the four ballistas did give the illusion of an accordion.
"The Accordion Cannon is made up of four smaller ballistas." Dugan walked to the front of the ballista cannon and began to explain its uniqueness. "Compared to the heavy ballistas, the Accordion Cannon has a shorter range, less power, and a more unstable hit rate …"
"Then why do you still make this?" Teresa frowned subconsciously.
"… Let me finish, beautiful sorceress." Dugan kept laughing. There was a hint of mockery in his laughter, but the words he said were not particularly harsh.
The dwarves had strange tempers. They were obsessed with their reputation, valued promises, and were greedy and vengeful. Diplomacy and speaking were not their forte, but some dwarves were more talented in this aspect compared to their brethren. Dugan and his people had been wandering the mountains for many years. Compared to the dwarves who had a temper like stone, he was better at speaking (especially to the dwarves).
"The Accordion Cannon has a shorter range, less power, and less accuracy. However, it has a larger firepower area and a greater volley power than the heavy ballistas of the dwarves," Dugan explained. "As long as it's operated properly, the four ballistas cannons can destroy an entire group of enemies in a single volley. This is something the cannons can't do."
"So we can place the cannons behind the camp, but the Accordion Cannon can be placed slightly forward?" Laing immediately understood the relationship. "The Accordion Cannon can quickly destroy approaching enemies. As long as it's protected properly, it can be used continuously."
"That's right, my baron. You have the talent to be a commander." Dugan nodded.
Leon was very satisfied with the test firing of the cannons. The few stone houses that were used as targets were blown to pieces by the cannonballs. Since the cannonballs could blow up such thick stone houses, it was naturally not a problem for them to destroy the city walls.
"Very good." Laing nodded. "With this, we don't need catapults anymore."
"Of course. We dwarves are almost out of use for things like catapults." Dugan raised his head. "My baron, don't worry. Leave it to us. We'll hit wherever you want us to."
"Deal!"
"Deal!"
Ryan's hand clasped with the dwarf's.
The baron spent the whole morning testing the cannons. When Teresa and Laing returned to the castle, the sorceress said with great interest, "I didn't expect you to be able to persuade the dwarves to make cannons for you. Do you know how difficult it is to serve the dwarves? In Nord, I haven't seen any dwarves outside of the capital. "
"There are very few outsiders in Nord. It's normal to not see any dwarves. The dwarves don't like to leave the mountains. If they really want to leave the mountains, they don't want to go to Nord." Laing laughed. "Even I can't stay in Nord, let alone the dwarves."
"So now I'm here too. To be honest, I like this place, Laing." Teresa walked beside Laing. The dirt road in the baron's territory had been replaced by a stone road. "It's a little hot in the summer, but other than that, it's pretty good."
"Is it? I thought you wouldn't like this place, especially since your temper hasn't been very good recently. "Laing's words sounded meaningful.
"Of course! It would be better if you could let Veronica take her things and get out of here. Also, when did she have the money to make her own wizard tower? " Sure enough, when it came to this, the sorceress gnashed her teeth. "Tell me, Laing, is her … that valuable?"
"???" Laing's face was a little confused. "I don't know which one you're talking about."
"… Forget it, Laing, I also want to have my own wizard tower!" Teresa's silver eyes shone through the black butterfly-patterned eyes. "You should build one for me too."
"You need money to build a wizard tower, my lady." Laing complained. "I'm so poor to make cannons. Almost half of this year's taxes have been invested in this."
"Building a wizard tower for Veronica will give you money? Building one for me will give you no money? " Teresa gritted her teeth. Her veins and snowflakes began to appear on her forehead. "Don't lie to me. Veronica's wizard tower is the most luxurious one I've seen in a while. She spent nearly two thousand gold denars on the first floor alone. It's called gold crowns here, right? Where did she get so much money? Didn't you give it to her? "
"I didn't give her the money. She left it with me. The last time we completed the mission to kill the Fallen Hunters in Marlin Castle, we got a lot of money." Laing explained the origin of Veronica's wealth, then continued, "She built the wizard tower all by herself. At most, I gave her a place."
Teresa's little hand, which was wearing a white lace glove, clenched the reins tightly. The sorceress' heart was very unconvinced.
All of this should have been mine! So should the wizard tower! So should his love!
I was the one who came first!
Remembering her mother's teachings, the sorceress calmed down and said, "Then can you give me a place?"
"Yes, but you have to choose for yourself." Laing nodded. "Also, there are already two towers near the castle. You'd better choose a place further away."
"I understand."
As soon as Laing returned to the castle, he had an unexpected visitor.
It was the half-elf Astaire! The half-elf was wearing a deerskin cloak and a wood elven robe. He carried a recurve bow on his back and a short sword at his waist. When he saw Laing return, the half-elf took the initiative to greet him. "Good afternoon, Laing."
"Good afternoon, my friend, Astaire. Why are you looking for me?" Laing jumped off his horse and shook hands with Astaire. He then noticed that there was another half-elf behind Astaire. "This is …"
"He is my friend, called Dais." Astaire introduced to Laing. "He is a forest ranger. He used to work for the Woodland Council. In the forest, he was responsible for eliminating corruption, evil, and malicious Dryads who were hostile to the elves … and other secret jobs."
"Hello, Sir Laing Macado. I have heard of your name and know of your great deeds." The half-elf was wearing a dark green cloak with exquisite scale armor made by the wood elves. His face was covered with a mask and a green hood. Only his eyes could be seen. "It is an honor to meet you."
"It is also an honor to meet you, Mister Dais." Laing shook hands with him.
At the same time, a series of strange thoughts popped up in the baron's mind. Only disloyal people would hide things, have secret circles, and wear strange green hoods.
"I have something to say, my baron." Astaire sighed. He blushed and said, "Dais and I … want to rely on you. Can you take us in?"
"This …"
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