I Was Connected to Earth’s Black Market From Another World With The Skill [Market]! (WN)

Chapter 281

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Chapter 281 – Invisible Imperial Soldier

“Fire!”

I peered through binoculars from a small hill overlooking the Imperial Army’s Republic invasion force. A 14.5 x 114 mm incendiary armor-piercing round was fired in a fully automatic burst from the KPV Myrril was carrying.

“Impact!”

“Yeah, but… it didn’t seem to go through.”

The warheads sent a flurry of blue-white sparks of magical light at the magical barrier set up in front of the wooden golem, but if stopped there, they did no damage to the cavalry’s body. The wooden golem that attacked Casemaian earlier was hit by the concentrated fire of the KPV, and its defensive wall was breached, causing it to burst into flames.

“It seems that they are aware of our attack methods and are taking countermeasures. Did any of them survive the battle in Casemaian?”

“The soldiers must have been annihilated, so they might be keeping an eye on us.”

For starters. It’s certainly a tree-like golem, but it’s a very different shape from the ones we’ve seen before.

It had a low, flat body with a loose V-shaped bottom and six oar-like moving parts protruding from it. Maybe they had made a new body for the snow fight, or maybe it was just a new design, but to be honest, it was rather unpleasant to see it gliding along like an insect.

“It looks a bit like a T-55.”

“I thought so too.”

Except for the insect-like legs, it is a tank… or a self-propelled artillery gun from my former world. It looks like a French tank called the Saint-Chamond with legs. At the end of the body, there is a wide ladder-like girder with a magical barrier attached to it. Although I know nothing about magical technology, I was surprised by the technological advancement and flexibility of the idea, as if I were looking at a fence-like additional armor for anti-tank weapons. It was a war that the Kingdom and the Republic were on the verge of entering the medieval-to-modern era.

“The Empire is really advanced.”

“Oh, they’re moving. This is no time to be impressed.”

The wooden golem, which had been deployed in a rustling fashion, seemed to have seen us and was coming toward us in formation.

“We’d better get moving.”

“All right, let’s go to the back.”

The enemy’s main weapon is Rinko’s black powder bronze cannon. There is still a lot of stubbornness here. Is it the fault of a class society that cannot be persuaded by the stubbornness of the higher-ups who have the authority to make decisions rather than a problem with the technical staff? As a former employee, I almost feel sorry for them.

Although the rear end of the cannon is inside the cavalry, so it appears to be a rear-loading type, and efforts have been made to increase initial velocity by increasing wall thickness and making the cannon smaller in diameter and longer-barreled… the material is still bronze, according to Myrril’s observation.

“I don’t understand why they’re so fixated on bronze. Why not a stronger material?”

“The barrel of the cannon seems to have been strengthened by magic power.”

“No, then why are they so obsessed with bronze?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s the interest of the workshops and craftsmen who are divided according to their specialties?”

It’s hard to say… No, I don’t mind that. But I don’t understand why they don’t get rid of the unfavorable conditions.

“Mir.”

“Umu, I’m ready.”

Before the wooden golem could attack, we moved in behind the enemy, KPV on a huge tripod, me holding it and Myrril on my back in a rapid movement style.

The first three shots were fired. It landed where we were positioned. The aim was precise and powerful. The trajectory is flat, not mountainous.

Isn’t this a completely different weapon, except for the fact that it’s made of bronze?

There were only a limited number of places to look down on the tree-lined golem, but here, the fallen trees formed a barrier, and the chance of detection was low. I ask Myrril to keep an eye on the area and adjust the tripod on my KPV.

“…Yoshua, I understand…”

Myrril whispers in my ear after confirming that the area is secure.

“What do you mean you understand?”

“I know what it is that’s so strange. This is my intuition. I feel that they are not regular soldiers.”

When you say they are not regular soldiers, do you mean militia or volunteer soldiers? Or is it a second-line unit that is not a regular army? I haven’t seen the crew, so I don’t know who they are. I don’t even know if they’re from the Empire.

“That golem is new in terms of technology and ideas in the areas that have been modified, but its base, the cavalry itself, seems technologically old. It must have been pulled from a warehouse somewhere.”

“So some soldiers acted on their own? The Empire is full of such things.”

Regardless of their equipment, they are well coordinated. The wooden golem, having lost sight of us, turned the front part of the magic barrier to the outside and quickly went into a state of alertness. I don’t know what kind of unit they are, but they are no amateurs.

“Well, that’s okay. The only part of the perimeter that’s covered is that girder, right?”

“I guess so. Shoot it in the buttocks or the stomach and that’s it.”

Unfortunately, there are no stockpiles of homemade bombs or RPGs. Besides the heavy machine gun, we had only light weapons.

“First we stop, go around and shoot them where their defenses are thin.”

“Roger that.”

Myrril fired a point-blank shot with the KPV, shattering the joints of its hind legs. The wooden golem that had been damaged there, which seemed to be the key to its movement, was stuck on its butt. All seven riders were now just big targets, but they still remained in a tight formation, ready for our attack.

“They’re waiting for something.”

“I knew it.”

I had heard that they had crossed the border by straddling, but by the time we made contact, the infantry had already disappeared. A conspicuous golem was sent out to lead the way, and the infantry circled and crushed the force that bit at it. It was a common and reasonable strategy, but the fact that the infantry were mages who were not very good with weapons was troublesome. At the moment, there was no sign of the mage soldiers. I was sure they were not around.

I stowed the KPV and went on alert. Myrril nodded and began scanning the area, UZI in hand.

“…Yoshua.”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing. More importantly, where is the nearest town? A prosperous place with lots of people.”

We are in the northwestern part of the Western Territories. It is just after crossing the mountain range that serves as the border to the Empire.

“I don’t know, Western Territories? Could it be that the golem was used as bait and the mages went to overrun the city?”

“If the Golem’s role is to hunt prey, it is strange that the hunters have not shown up so far.”

This is true. However, it is hard to believe that the war situation will change now that about 60 mages have conquered a city. Myrril pulled out the map Rinko had made and examined its location. I’ve never been to the Western Territories, so I don’t even know the exact location.

“The Western Territories, I think it was called Keol. It’s in the middle of the Western Territories, a little to the southeast… The distance is… about a hundred or so miles southeast of here.”

The city is crisscrossed by a number of major roads and has a large river running nearby. While the elements for a city to thrive are present, the Western Territories has no industry to speak of other than gold mining, and the size of its economy is small.

“If a mage flew as fast as he could, it would not be surprising if he had already arrived.”

“I wonder if they would go that far. I have heard that the area does not have much money, people, goods, or political importance.”

In fact, when the former northern lord, a kind of fox, invaded the western territory, the target was not the territory but the gold mine.

“That might be an achievement if you were a regular soldier. But not if they were soldiers who were willing to be chased out of the country.”

“Wait a minute… you don’t think they wanted a massacre?”

“If they had a grudge against the Republic… or the Demon King of Casemaian, who is in league with the Republic… it’s possible.”

Irregular and Asymmetrical Warfare. In my former world, the wars in the swamp were usually caused by such grudges and hatreds. If the goal is not money, the war will not end, even if you take it away. It is also possible to give a reason like “to stop the cycle of hatred” or some such banal reason. It is easy to say in words. But it won’t stop.

“Will we have to fight for the West?”

“I know what you mean. It is true that we have no debts, no obligations, and no feelings. Besides, the western territories no longer exist. Then… I guess we are fighting for the Republic, right?”

It is the same thing. The only places in the Southern Territories that I would risk my life to help are Sarz and Lafan and the rest of the Nordanans. And then there’s Cassmeer, conditionally, and the capital.

Kill nameless enemies for nameless allies? Or risk harm to those you are supposed to protect by taking the brunt of it?

“Myrril, I…”

Perhaps I had let my guard down. Our vigilance had grown lax. We had lost the will to fight. We had missed the signs that had crept up on us.