Chapter 311 – Tier 3 Trial Part 7.

“Shields up, don’t let the enemy archers hit you!”

“Protect the battering ram with your life, it has to arrive at the enemy walls.”

“Archers, fire!”

A plethora of somewhat generic-sounding voices echoed through a large battlefield. The source was a varied group of puppet soldiers that were wearing more intricate armor than the regular foot soldiers. The former were bunched up in various formations performing the acts that these captains and commanders were ordering.

‘Hm… it looks like I can watch for now, the golems should be enough…’

Their leader was right in the back and the only person on horseback. His body was clad in full body armor that was covered in runic symbols. Some of them were glowing in a pale blue light which easily illuminated the darkness of the night. This was a stark contrast to the wooden animal he was sitting on, just like all the wooden men around it was not made up of flesh and bones but lumber instead.

From behind him around four mechanical contraptions emerged that took on the form of spiders. They were made out of pure metal and were quite eye-catching in this field of battle. Their legs continued to speed through the grassy plain with their cannons pointed upward. Just like their creator, they possessed a plethora of runic symbols on their metallic bodies. Each time they activated their cannons that were attached to their abdomens they would glow in a similar pale blue hue.

These cannons were constantly firing concentrated orbs of mana toward the rocky ramparts of this fort. The archers that were stationed them were unable to do much about it due to being outranged by the mechanical contraptions. Even when an arrow collided with the metallic body it was bounced back by a thin layer of mana that was protecting the golem’s body. There were only four of those spider contraptions on the battlefield but the magical attacks they were capable of were a real game changer.

‘I should be able to get more deep steel to make more spider drones after I capture this fortress. It’s good that I was able to bring my own technology into this place…’

While the siege continued Roland, who was sitting on the strange-looking wooden horse, thought back to the time he drove the Lumberlings back. These were the same ones he was sieging now after he was able to recreate the spider drones that he had grown accustomed to. It took some time but he was able to recreate which might have been the most important component of winning this trial.

…

A month earlier.

“It’s all fine and dandy that I have decided to put more resources into conquering but how will I get an edge against the enemy encampments? Can I really win against someone that was put in a location with a strategic advantage over me just with lousy war tactics?”

A somewhat annoyed Roland was sitting on his throne while looking through all the various window screens. On one he could see his new encampment that had been conquered by his forces. Even though he had gained a new one it came at the price of a few soldiers and the need of leaving a small force behind for its protection.

Currently with himself in this fort he didn’t really need protection for it but in the future this would change. His next point of interest was gaining a new safer location to spread his influence on. This main base that was given to him as his first headquarters was probably a dead end. It was open to attacks from all sides, when concentrating on defensive measures it was possible to counter this placement. However, with his past knowledge in his head it was obviously the wrong tactic.

“My lord, the scouts have come back from their mission.”

“Good.”

His aid was waiting outside and would shout out to him from time to time. The information he relayed would then be presented to him in one of the windows as an update. Normally in real life, a scout would need to give this information to some kind of administrator. They would then either draw up a map with the information or directly give it to the lord. Here on the other hand the process was pushed onto the world map in the system to which he had access.

‘This actually looks promising, from all the other forts this one looks the best.’

It had been a few days since he was able to defeat the Lumberlings. The soldiers that had been placed in the dungeon were about to go through the process of conversion which would bolster his forces. This didn’t mean that he wasn’t turning some of his villagers into new soldiers either. His army was steadily growing each day as he just needed to create new residential buildings to increase the population limit.

His scouting unit had increased and he was able to discover two other forts in the area. Their population wasn’t large but not all of them seemed to be as aggressive as the Lumberlings were. Roland theorized that this was part of the test. It simulated different factions with varied abilities and characteristics. Ones would bunker up just like he did before while others would continue to attack until either they were dead or their enemies were.

This had to be taken into consideration as he would know where to allocate his resources to. If for instance the fort that had appeared in the west was primed for defense it could actually act as a buffer zone. Anyone arriving from that side would have to go through them first before arriving in his lands. It might have actually been even better to leave such a faction alone as they would not attack him without a reason.

‘I wonder if the winning conditions really need me to conquer everything I see, or if it’s something vaguer… Would it be enough if the people in the lands think of me as their lord even if they aren’t necessarily part of my faction?’

Roland had not tried it yet but perhaps there was an option of a diplomatic resolution. What if it was possible to create trade routes with other forts and get better deals on things? In real life not every kingdom was the enemy, some even formed pacts to combat dangerous empires that started threatening others on a larger scale. What if this would be his fate if he was too aggressive?

‘If that is the case, then if I start threatening everyone they might attack me together… but that won’t be a problem if my forces are just stronger or if I could get them to be a vassal.’

Creating vassal states might have been a possibility. There were many types and it depended on the one in power on the exact rules. Most of the time a vassal in this sense would offer some kind of tribute in the form of some resources. For that, they would be exempt from getting raided by the ones in power and even helped by them if they were being attacked by an outside kingdom. There were pros and cons to these relationships but they could be positive for both sides in some cases.

‘Hm… should I sacrifice a scout to figure it out?’

This was still in the beginning stages of the trial and he didn’t have all the information. The hole in his memory had expanded as he had no idea what had happened before. In his mind, he could only see a few blurs and then the last enemy boss smacking his head with a giant mace. If it was trouly possible to do business and ally himself with other factions then he needed to give it a try.

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“Aid.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“The small settlement to the southwest, have one of the scouts go there and offer them a treaty.”