The Vastness of Magical Destiny-Chapter 216 - 11 Military Prohibitions

Chapter 216: Chapter 11: Military Prohibitions

Chapter 216 -11: Military Prohibitions

Due to the Lord’s Mansion’s large-scale procurement, the military industry for weapons, armor, and other military supplies in Mattdam and Ugru experienced rapid prosperity. Within half a year, Maximi’s forge had expanded its production scale twice in succession, becoming the leading medium-sized blacksmith workshop in Caucasus. The number of apprentices and workers it recruited surged from less than ten to over one hundred twenty. The refining furnaces and blacksmith workshops were in constant operation, producing smoke and fire day and night. He even spent a hefty sum to hire three Dwarf masters as headmasters of the workshop, to teach apprentices and workers and improve their forging and smelting techniques, thereby producing higher quality products. Mattdam’s armor production also showed signs of scale production; several small workshops combined to establish a medium-sized leather manufacturing workshop. They not only purchased a large amount of leather locally but also established trade channels with the colonies across the Nether Sea, ensuring a sufficient supply of leather. Their main customer was the Lord’s Mansion, which not only prioritized the needs of the Lord’s Guard and the Self-defense Army but also saw Puber representing the Lord’s Mansion buying up large stocks and secretly transporting them to the Leon Region to make substantial profits.

The rise of Caucasus’s military industry even attracted the attention of the barbarians to the south, whose men, known for their love of warfare, always coveted quality weapons and sturdy, durable armor. However, for various reasons, almost every country and power surrounding them, including the races beyond Mortals, had unanimously implemented a tacit and strict blockade and embargo against the barbarians. It had been a convention on the Blue Continent for hundreds of years that no military supplies were allowed to be imported into barbarian territory. For the barbarians to acquire these items had become a luxury. To survive, they were forced to fight the Magical Beasts and beasts on the Cordillera Wilderness with inferior weapons and armor, and even these poor-quality items could only be used to equip their soldiers, while it was purely a dream for the average barbarian to obtain such items.

Komer’s show of friendliness seemed to give the Barbarian Alliance a glimmer of hope. They hoped to achieve a breakthrough in this area by improving relations with Caucasus. Of course, they were also aware that it would not be an easy task to break a taboo that had become an unwritten rule.

The barbarians’ request to lift the embargo placed Komer in a difficult position. He knew that the embargo was an important shackle that bound the barbarians. If removed, the military strength of the barbarians would grow exponentially. Perhaps his territory might be somewhat safe, but countries established by Mortals to the east and the Dwarves and Elf Clan to the south would likely face an existential threat. It was a longstanding prohibition agreed upon by all races for their respective benefits, much like the embargo on the beastmen imposed by the Northern Alliance.

Whether to lift the blockade on the barbarians sparked some debates within Caucasus. People like Puber, Ilot, Neptune, and Reese advocated opening up to the barbarians to a certain extent. They suggested strict control over the number of weapons but opening up protective equipment like armor. They all proposed that the barbarians must offer certain conditions in return for such a risky kindness from Caucasus. However, Hesse, Hozer, Zip, and Melbourne were against lifting the embargo. In their view, doing so would inevitably strengthen the barbarians’ potential for foreign aggression and expansion. Perhaps Caucasus would not see too much danger in the short term, but as the barbarians tasted success in other regions, they would inevitably turn their sights on Caucasus.

The debate on this issue put Komer in a dilemma. Deep down, Komer did not care about the enhancement of the barbarians’ military strength. As Caucasus’s power grew, along with his own Magic Power, the barbarians might have an advantage in conventional combat. But when faced with Magic Attacks, which to them were unimaginable divine Punishments, their advantages would vanish. Komer was confident that he could give the barbarians an unforgettable lesson if they dared to invade Caucasus in the future. Moreover, deep down, Komer harbored an extremely despicable and vile thought: the barbarians’ attacks against regions other than Caucasus seemed to have no downside for him. He even harbored some hope for such a scenario to occur. Perhaps the increasingly chaotic situation on the Continent was most suitable for someone in his role. If the era were always peaceful and prosperous, he feared he would be doomed to spend his life in the secluded Caucasus. Nevertheless, Komer had to consider the voices against lifting the embargo. After all, the beastmen had destroyed their homeland, terrifying them, and now they might face the scourge of the barbarians. How could they boldly aid in strengthening the barbarians’ ferocity?

After repeated debates, everyone finally reached a compromise. They agreed to a limited opening of military supplies like armor, and for weapons, they restricted sales to a very limited extent, implementing a quota system and an export licensing system. All military supplies imported into barbarian territory would be purchased by the Lord’s Mansion and then sold to the barbarians. No individual or organization was allowed to violate this order, and violators would be punished for smuggling and endangering public safety, facing confiscation of property, imprisonment, and even execution. The first batch of export licenses comprised fifty tempered iron long spears and two hundred bovine leather armors, valued at 120,000 gold shields, a price that was more than triple what Caucasus charged for exports to the colonies of the Blue Continent. However, this already thrilled the barbarians.

In return, the barbarians agreed to first open the territories of two northern tribes in their Alliance to Caucasus. They permitted those holding licenses issued jointly by the Caucasus Prefecture and the Barbarian Alliance to enter these tribal territories to explore for mines. If mines were discovered, they would be allowed to mine, and Caucasus could hold over fifty percent of the shares through investment. At the same time, Caucasians could begin businesses in these territories, operating civilian goods and service industries.

The introduction of this policy once again directed the gaze of Caucasus merchants southward. Although they still harbored doubts about entering Barbarian Territory to explore and develop mines, in the area around Bahomon, the boundary with the Barbarians had not been definitively determined. However, one thing was certain: the disputed area south of Bahomon for fifty miles had, through the boundary-marking antics employed by Komer and Puber, unquestionably fallen under Caucasus control. As for the thirty-mile stretch further south, originally Barbarian land, it had become a pending region. The area adjacent to the great Bahomon Iron Mine had turned into a hotspot for exploration. After all, relations with the Barbarians were gradually warming up, and a large number of Barbarians were entering the Caucasus. If you were to see Barbarians looking for work in Ugru or Mattdam or even Muscat, you would have no reason to be surprised.

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It was precisely this trend of harmonious coexistence and even integration of the races that allowed Komer to persuade Hesse and others to agree to a limited export of these military supplies to the Cordillera Wilderness. Moreover, the good conduct displayed by the Barbarians within the Caucasus territory was a significant reason behind Hesse’s and others’ final agreement to compromise.

Komer’s request to the Barbarian Alliance to provide the Caucasus with three to five Earthwalking Dragons and to help train a small team of Earth Dragon Guards was met with no response. However, Komer saw hope in this silence; the lack of outright rejection meant there was an internal divide within the Barbarian Alliance about his request, which indicated Komer still had a chance to push forward in this area. The possibility that such an ambitious request could succeed excited Komer immensely. He thought about how formidable his Lord’s Guard would be with a small team of fierce Earthwalking Dragons—a few of these unique Barbarian Warriors integrated into his own forces would have an incalculable deterrent effect on enemies. Of course, this would require his persistent efforts to secure. Convincing the Barbarians to agree to this condition might prove as difficult as persuading Hesse and others to agree to an unrestricted influx of military supplies into Barbarian lands.

Komer sat in the stately book room within his Lord’s Mansion, a room that Puber had specifically renovated to bolster the image of the Caucasus to representatives and guests from various races. Since Komer spent much of his time receiving guests in the book room, aside from very few occasions when the number of guests was larger, it was generally chosen as the place for meetings.

The side facing the sun featured large, bright floor-to-ceiling windows, which alone cost Puber 30,000 gold shields. Sunshine poured in, casting the entire book room in a particularly splendid light. On the hefty ebony desk lay a large stack of printed books; behind the mahogany chair hung an expansive wall map of the entire Caucasus territory, specifically commissioned by Komer after surveying and combining with existing maps, making it arguably the most detailed and accurate map of the Caucasus.

The robust man in front of him had a slightly protruding forehead and messy, sandy hair. His back was somewhat hunched forward, and his deep-set eyes contained brown-yellow pupils, indicating that he likely had Half-Beastmen ancestry. His slightly pointed ears seemed to carry the bloodline of the Elf Clan. Yet, none of this was more telling of his Mortal heritage than the humble expression on his face. From this alone, Komer could determine that this fellow was indeed an outlier among the Half-Beastmen.

This was an espionage agent Puber had painstakingly acquired from the Half-Beastmen on Komer’s behalf. Komer could tell from the agent’s keen and shifting gaze that he was naturally skilled in intelligence work, something not easily found among the overly impulsive Half-Beastmen.