A sharp roar and tremors shook Rheinkalsen Castle as if an earthquake had struck. At the violent sound they’d heard for the first time in their lives, the princes were startled. The Count of Rheinkalsen shouted.

"What on earth is that sound? Don’t tell me you mobilized a trebuchet behind our backs!"

"Calm yourself, Count. A trebuchet, how trivial."

"Your Highness, do you know what that sound is?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Boom! Bang! Bang!

Right on cue, the remaining six cannons let out a roar. Panic erupted in the Count of Rheinkalsen’s eyes, and the Count of Selthausen and the Count of Konstanz were thrown into great confusion.

"An enormous sound. So a cannon makes a sound like this."

"Count Essenbach. So this is the sound of a cannon? I nearly toppled over."

"Heh heh heh, those two schemed together to give us old men a fright."

Count Essenbach and Count Euz, surprisingly, weren’t greatly startled. Count Belfort kept that same blank expression as ever, maintaining his usual poker face, but the fact that he was surprised on the inside is a secret I’ll keep to myself.

An aide of the Count of Rheinkalsen who had rushed to the window shouted.

"My lord! The enemy’s artillery outside the castle is firing at the old fort across the river!"

"What did you say? Damn it, Your Highness! What in the world is this?!"

The crown prince was at ease from start to finish.

"What is it? The Royal Artillery Corps is conducting a drill."

"A drill during the conference! Isn’t this a threat!"

"A threat? It isn’t even aimed at your castle, Count, so why is it a threat? This is good timing, actually. If you don’t mind, would you care to watch the artillery drill too, Count?"

Whether they were caught up in the momentum of the now-brazen crown prince I couldn’t say, but in the end the southern princes came to watch the Royal Artillery Corps’ drill firsthand. From Rheinkalsen Castle’s pride, its hanging garden, the drill was visible in full.

Across the Main River stood a small fortress, long abandoned and unused, and we had found traces of it having served as a bandit gang’s hideout. They’d all fled, though.

What’s more, beyond the Main River was Breisburg’s territory, so destroying that fortress posed no problem at all. We had the crown prince’s permission too, and it was perfect for a show of force.

With the first bombardment, parts of the old fort were utterly smashed. Being an old fortress, its walls were brittle, so when struck directly by cannonballs they crumbled all at once. It was a sleight of hand, but the effect couldn’t have been better.

The cannon sound was so loud and its destructive power so great that it delivered a tremendous shock to the southern princes. Since they were encountering cannons for the first time, I had designed this show of force to make exactly this kind of impression.

If they’d been familiar with cannons, it would have been nothing but a waste of stone shot and gunpowder, but against novices the effect was outstanding. The Count of Rheinkalsen, having steadied himself, addressed the crown prince.

"Is that the weapon called the cannon that the royal family possesses?"

"Tremendous power, isn’t it? A magnificent weapon that brought down Baschurten’s sturdy castle in a single day."

"...I think I finally understand why Baschurten Castle fell so easily."

The southern princes were skilled at hiding their emotions, but they couldn’t escape the Manager Scouter. Bewilderment, surprise, agitation. These complex emotions were breaking down the south’s solidarity.

"Is the cannon demonstration finished?"

"If you’re curious, ask Sir Streit. He’s Beren’s foremost cannon expert."

I’d suddenly become a cannon expert, but the truth was there was no noble who knew as much as I did. Schneider and Marco were down below busily cooling the barrels and preparing to reload, so I put on quite a show of bluster.

I could get away with it because my opponents were ignorant about cannons.

They’d never dream that reloading took thirty minutes.

"They’re conducting a live-fire drill at thirty-minute intervals. It’s designed to measure distance and angle precisely. If measured properly, a wall can be brought down with a single shot."

"A truly astonishing weapon. We must absolutely introduce it to Rheinkalsen!"

His pointed emphasis on introducing cannons wasn’t my imagination. It was proof the show of force was working. Any plan to hold out behind high walls when war resumed had crumbled to nothing.

To hold out even after seeing that would be like advertising your own stupidity.

Bang! Ba-bang! Bang!

The second bombardment began. Unlike the western princes, who marveled at the gradually crumbling old fort, the southern princes were gripped by the fear that those cannons might be turned on their own castles.

This show of force was aimed at completely cowing the southern princes, who were unfamiliar with cannons. The crown prince stole glances at the southern princes, whose faces had changed color, and savored their distress.

He’d spent precious stone shot and irreplaceable gunpowder on a mere show of force, but if the enemy was frightened into surrender like this, we could save the immense materials we’d have expended during a siege, so it was by no means a waste.

Crrrash!

The old fort’s spire collapsed completely. The wall that had held out for a while crumbled too, and even the keep finally collapsed entirely by the third bombardment. Through it all, the message was being delivered clearly.

The proud bearing they’d shown before the show of force was nowhere to be found.

The Count of Rheinkalsen exchanged glances with the other southern princes, then addressed the crown prince.

"Your Highness, may we confer among ourselves for a moment?"

"Confer all you like. I’ll await good news."

The crown prince watched the southern princes hurriedly withdraw, and once they had vanished completely, turned to the western princes. And the laughter he’d been holding back burst out.

"A better reaction than expected, wasn’t it? Did you see how flustered those fellows were?"

"Hmm, even I would surely have felt considerable pressure."

Count Essenbach admitted his honest feelings with a low groan.

The crown prince’s smile turned cold in an instant.

"Even sturdy walls can no longer protect a family’s glory."

"...I see. A deeply frightening thought."

That had been proven at Baschurten.

No matter how solid, no wall can hold out long against cannons.

But that only held true when materials were plentiful; as things stood now, gunpowder was scarce, so if the south set its mind to holding out, we might end up having to abandon the siege.

It was fortunate the bluff and intimidation worked before it came to that.

It was the Western Lords’ Army’s grand strategy to pour all the remaining stone shot and gunpowder not into the south but into Radensdorf, and if we ran short of materials in the most important battle, wouldn’t that be self-defeating?

And this served as a sufficient warning not just to the south but to the west as well.

Because they too were seeing cannons for the first time.

Since the royal family possessed an artillery force capable of breaching walls, it was also an implicit warning to the western princes not to do anything foolish, even if they enjoyed the status of victors. That intent was clearly there too.

So from now on, a race to secure gunpowder and cannons would unfold.

I think a Frenchman said something to that effect.

Was it that to defeat the enemy, you have to have more cannons? After the civil war ended, the princes who had witnessed the usefulness of cannons and powder weapons would undoubtedly enter an arms race.

Wouldn’t the royal family, with the most money, gain the upper hand in that fight?

A time would surely come when one had to steadily build up an army armed with firearms and cannons to keep neighboring territories in check. One must never forget the European lesson: in times of peace, beware your neighbor.

Trading blows with one’s neighbors was the daily reality of a European lord.

As the southern princes’ deliberation dragged on, the crown prince seemed bored.

And so a good idea came to me.

"Your Highness, would you spare me a moment?"

"Hm? Why all of a sudden?"

I discreetly led the bewildered crown prince to a corner. As suspiciously as possible. And in a way easily noticed by others. The crown prince seemed briefly flustered as to what this was all about.

"It seems their opinions are divided."

"They would be. Won’t revising the conditions take a while too?"

"Send the Royal Artillery Corps to Selthausen."

"...That would be good. Send them at once."

The crown prince, who’d been baffled by the proposal to send the Royal Artillery Corps, soon sensed someone listening and began playing along with my words. Quick-witted and clever as ever.

The eavesdropper was without a doubt an aide of a southern prince.

They’d been keeping the crown prince under constant surveillance, after all.

"I will move the troops immediately. After capturing Selthausen first, I’ll advance on Konstanz. I’ll wait for you there, Your Highness."

"This matter must be carried out swiftly and quietly. I’ll hold the princes here as long as I can, so you, set off in haste."

The eavesdropper vanished in a hurry.

The crown prince, once he was sure the listener had gone, said to me.

"It seems you’re better suited to a theater troupe than to knighthood, no?"

"Oh dear, but Your Highness is quite the fine actor yourself."

I couldn’t say whether the southern princes would be fooled by the brief bit of theater, but unexpectedly the effect was great. The Count of Rheinkalsen lowered his conditions from the status of victors to a guarantee of his current standing, and surrendered.

The crown prince officially accepted the south’s surrender.

With this, one pillar of the rebels collapsed completely, and the road to Radensdorf opened.