Chapter 196 - 171: The Riddle of History
Chapter 196: Chapter 171: The Riddle of History
Time flew by, and Valentino finally understood why Robson hadn’t told her his method for contaminating the water source.
As she watched the endless procession of dung carts, a foul stench permeated all of Thermopylae. Valentino, who was a bit of a germaphobe, felt her stomach turn at the sight.
Fortunately, their water was sourced from the other side of the mountains. With an entire range acting as a barrier, it was impossible for the filth to reach it.
Robson still hadn’t told her that he also planned to bring the stuff up onto the city walls to give the Beastmen a nasty surprise.
Considering Valentino’s squeamishness, Robson thought it best to handle the matter himself and not tell her about it.
In this world, magic often rendered such troublesome methods unnecessary. As a result, many tactics Robson was familiar with were considered completely novel here.
Of course, even if Valentino knew, it wouldn’t have really mattered. At worst, she would have felt physically ill; for the Franks, practicality was paramount.
As for the male nobles, they were all battle-hardened soldiers fresh from the front lines. They had seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood. What was a little filth in comparison?
Some even praised Robson’s brilliant, if unconventional, idea. Of course, there was also the concern that such a tactic might one day be used against them.
Boiled excrement... The very thought was nauseating.
Apart from dealing with the filth, as soon as the land-clearing fires were done, Robson immediately recalled the Mages and launched into the next phase of construction. They began building a cheval de frise outside the main walls and adding a barbican to the gate.
It was hard to say how much of a difference these additions would make.
After all, this world had so many Extraordinary powers and all sorts of Magic Equipment. But useful or not, it was better to have these defenses than to go without.
Unfortunately, Thermopylae wasn’t yet equipped with a City Defense Maze Lock. Although the pass was quite large, it was still just a pass. Even the smallest-scale City Defense Maze Lock would be incredibly difficult to deploy here.
The Tilia Kingdom might have been able to pull it off with a massive effort, but for the Frank Kingdom, it was out of the question.
"Sir, the enemy is now less than thirty miles from Thermopylae. We expect them to arrive tonight," Bo Yang reported, holding the latest intelligence from the Griffin Knights.
Robson looked up, his ears catching the faint, intermittent screech of a Thunderhawk.
As a Golden Tier Extraordinary, he knew he wasn’t just hearing things. The sound was coming from beyond the slopes. It seemed the enemy’s Thunderhawks had already engaged with his Griffins.
He wasn’t too worried, though. If there was one thing Thermopylae had in abundance right now, it was Griffins. They had firm control of the skies, leaving the enemy with little room to operate.
It seemed the books Prince Noah had sent him were already paying off.
Indeed, not long after Robson’s army had arrived at Thermopylae, Prince Noah had fulfilled his promise and delivered a Space Ring to Robson.
The Space Ring contained over a hundred books covering a wide range of subjects, from history and culture to various martial techniques and cultivation methods.
Unfortunately, very few were related to Magic Technology. ’Then again, that makes sense,’ he thought. ’Magic Technology is a state secret in every country on this continent. Why would they casually hand it over to someone else?’
Robson had tried out all the martial techniques he found appealing. Two of the books, however, could not be recognized by his Mount & Blade system. He wasn’t sure if Prince Noah had set a trap for him, or if there was some other reason.
But it didn’t matter. The other skills were more than enough to keep him busy for a while.
Unfortunately, he had been too busy lately and had only managed to grasp the basics of the Golden Incarnation, reaching the introductory level where he could actually use it.
He had to admit, the Golden Incarnation Technique from Prince Noah’s book was a perfect fit for him. According to Prince Noah, the Knight King himself had acquired it from the Holy See during his northern expedition.
To be safe, Robson had specifically asked Valentino about it. After receiving her confirmation, plus an all-clear from his Mount & Blade system, he began practicing the technique.
As Robson understood it, the Tree of Life in his body was like a power source, and a Cultivation Technique was the circuitry that allowed it to operate. Only with a smooth, compatible circuit could his practice yield twice the results with half the effort.
Robson had originally assumed a Golden Tier Cultivation Technique would have some grand, impressive name. He never expected it to be a standard-issue manual.
Sena Empire Clergy Standard-Issue Regulations.
The name left Robson stunned. ’What the hell is Sena? And what kind of cultivation technique is called "Clergy Regulations"?’
He had specifically asked Valentino about it. According to her, the name "Sena" had appeared sometime between three and four thousand years ago. It referred to a human island nation in the south.
Unfortunately, it was nothing like the powerful empire Robson had imagined. It was merely a city-state that existed only in the tales passed down by Minstrels. The only reason they even remembered it was because of a play from the Atlantid Kingdom that briefly mentioned a place called Sena. In the play, it was the home of a Prophet.
The play itself was based on the Atlantis Empire’s Fifth Great Expedition, some thirty-two hundred years ago. During that time, the Empire launched a conquest of the seas—though to Robson, "conquest" was just a pretty word for colonization and settlement.