Chapter 88. Territorial War Preparations (3)
Not bear gallbladder.
A gallstone.
Judging from the black color, it probably was not a cholesterol gallstone.
Regardless, a gallstone was basically a lump formed when bile hardened.
Under normal common sense,
it was a completely useless rock.
“Uh... Isn’t this your grandfather’s inheritance? Is it really all right for me to take it?”
I tried to escape.
Maybe he would give me something else.
I heard humans love these. You may sell it, so do not refuse.
My escape failed.
I had also never heard that humans liked bear gallstones.
Whoever told the Brown Bears that humans loved gallstones had probably been torn apart and eaten long ago.
Then I heard Raul speaking through almost closed lips.
“Ta, ke, it.”
What? Raul knows something?
I had no idea what it was, but I decided to accept it.
“Thank you, Blago. It might make a good gift for another King or Emperor.”
Good. Lord of the southern land, visit sometimes. Come to my hundredth birthday next year too. When will you turn one hundred?
“Eighty years and two months from now.”
Young. Stop chasing different women and produce children first.
Even by my standards as an old-fashioned man,
Blago sounded like an old-fashioned old man.
This time Raul stepped forward.
He wanted advice in case we had to fight the orcs someday.
“Lord Blago, do you know the orcs who live far to the east?”
I do. About seventy years ago, I fought the Great Chief of the Green Orcs once.
“Oh! What happened?”
I am still alive, am I not?
Meaning the Great Chief was dead.
“Could you teach me some special method for driving those orcs away?”
What are you talking about? Even I cannot do that. There are far too many of them.
“Ah... So even you cannot.”
There is one thing I remember. When I breathed fire, they did not know what to do.
“Ah... You breathe fire. Is that why you are called a Brown Bear?”
I do not think that was the reason.
Anyway, Raul kept saying nothing but “ah.”
He clearly had no idea what question to ask next.
So I asked instead.
“Are orcs weak against rapid temperature changes?”
Hmm. Now that you mention it, perhaps they are. Then if I breathe fire and burn their entire village, would they all die?
“I do not intend to burn down the entire Great Forest. Still, thanks.”
We said goodbye to Blago and began the journey back toward the lord’s castle.
We had given away all the donkeys and grain.
That made traveling light.
Bixby complained because he had suddenly lost the donkey he had been riding.
Once we were far enough away from the Brown Bear territory, I asked Raul why he had told me to accept the gallstone.
“My lord, you really did not know? Bear gallstones are extremely popular as virility medicine.”
Why people ate rocks was one issue.
I still did not understand why Raul was making such a big deal about it.
“That’s all? There is no other reason?”
“What do you mean, ‘all’? That alone is enormous.”
I used [Convenient Lesser Appraisal].
[Brown Bear Gallstone. Contains large amounts of Mojo, a virility-enhancing substance. Recommended dosage is 5g per use. Gallstone of Blagoslovenne Bury Medved I.]
The gallstone weighed around ten kilograms.
At five grams per dose, that was about two thousand uses.
I would store it safely.
Still, if I was receiving a gift anyway, I would have preferred something more useful.
“What a disappointment. At this point, I should have received some legendary opportunity.”
“Legendary opportunity?”
“You know. Some weapon that goes, whoosh, spear! Or slash, sword!”
Raul’s face twisted.
He looked at me like I was some unemployed middle-aged man hanging around the neighborhood.
“...My lord, how old are you really?”
“Secret.”
Around the time the Ecrins Brown Bears began pushing the Long-Armed Blue Trolls toward Ronalp,
I started planning an operation to transport the Brown Bears by ship and attack the lizardman territory.
The canal was essential for the operation.
So I sent a letter summoning Tower Master Gaston again.
Construction speed differed greatly depending on whether Gaston was present.
The moment he saw me, Gaston clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. You cannot even handle one Ronalp woman without making everything complicated?”
“She is another man’s wife. Do not call her a woman like that. She is a... never mind. Anyway, how did you know about this?”
“Karin Ronalp is moving around Le Capital trying to get approval to declare war on you. She seems to be persuading other capital nobles and Tower Masters too.”
“Are they leaning toward approval?”
“The Queen Mother and Chatillon are still fiercely opposing it. But approval will probably come soon. The nobles supporting it are not weak.”
Did Karin intend to finish the territorial war quickly at the beginning of next year?
Times like this made me want to support centralization with all my heart.
“Who is supporting the war strongly enough to trouble the Queen Mother?”
“If I had to name the most important one, Count Calais.”
Calais was north of Le Capital.
Farther north, it bordered the Lowlands.
It had a port, but maritime trade was not especially large because ships traveled along the river running through Le Capital and northern Franche.
“Count Calais is the King’s father-in-law. Why would he support something that weakens royal authority?”
“That bastard does not care about royal authority. He only wants more power for himself. He wants to turn the young King into his puppet.”
That was new to me.
The King’s maternal family and in-laws were fighting for power.
“So Count Calais also intends to use this territorial war as justification to expand his own lands.”
“Probably.”
Expanding toward the Lowlands would be difficult because the region was divided among several lords.
Was he aiming at Britannia across the sea?
Anyway, I understood the political situation well enough.
Time to focus on my work.
“Please finish the canal as quickly as possible.”
“Planning to build a navy and attack Ronalp?”
“I considered it, but rejected the idea because we do not have cannons.”
“What is a cannon? Anyway, you have another plan.”
“Yes. I am preparing a strategy of killing with a borrowed knife.”
Gaston frowned.
“Stop using difficult words. Do you think that makes you look educated?”
“Tower Master, you are just too ignor... Never mind. Please finish the canal quickly.”
