23. Chapter 22: Falmart in turmoil

CHAPTER 22: FALMART IN TURMOIL

« Turn to the left here. "

"Yes sir!" answered Kurata, obeying Itami's order.

The Toyota truck veered to the left, taking a dirt road which, according to the early recon by drone that had been done, led to a small lake. The lieutenant yawned, already bored to no end.

"Man, I'd wish they put an internet connection at the base already… I've missed the last two episodes of Mei-com…"

Kurata, who didn't expect his commanding officer to have such interests, was quick to reassure him.

"Don't worry sir! They're fillers! You're not missing much of the story!"

The lieutenant smiled in response.

"Just call me Itami, we don't need honorifics, do we? If they're fillers, then I guess you can tell me what happened!"

"I'd feel bad about spoiling you, but the new opening is bangers, I even learned it just before we left Tokyo! I can even sing it!"

Before six pair of ears that weren't otakus could be assaulted, Kuribayashi (who was already tired of her lieutenant after a single day) was quick to interrupt the two.

"Lieutenant! Can you tell us about the scientists in the Type 73 truck? Sasagawa told me he could barely reach his gunner position in the LAV because of all the crates of stuff they've brought!"

Itami sighed. He had finally found another otaku. Oh well, he would speak with Kurata later.

"Bunch of American and French scientists I believe. From what I've understood, they have to take samples to analyse, and they want to do the analysis on the spot because they fear that the samples would deteriorate or something. All the crates are the machines they need. We just bring them to the spot, and protect them while they do their stuff."

One of the team's riflemen, Tou, woke up from his daydreaming at the mention of science.

"What are they working on precisely? Do you know where they worked before lieutenant?"

Itami smiled uneasily, scratching the back of his head.

"That wasn't part of the mission report I got, but what makes you so interested?"

"Well, because that's what I want to do later! I joined the JSDF so I could fund my studies, but I want to join my brother in his marine wildlife work."

Now that Tou mentioned that, Itami did remember the rifleman spending a lot of his free time hunched over a complicated-looking book yesterday. So he was studying…

"I guess one of them mentioned sampling the local water. Maybe they want to check if it's drinkable? Would make it hell of a lot easier if we could draw our water from here instead of relying on Tokyo."

The rifleman took some time to think, before asking a question.

"Could you assign me to their guard, lieutenant? I'd like to see what they're doing."

"Sure, I guess…"

"Thank you, lieutenant!"

Satisfied, Tou got back in his seat and resumed his daydreaming of the alien world through the window. Itami looked ahead, looking for a landmark. The road they were on was bordering a forest and the lake was just a little bit deeper into the woods.

"All of you, eyes on the right! There should be a small path, we won't be able to drive our vehicles through so we'll have to grab the scientist's boxes and bring them to the lake."

There was some grumbling at the thought of having to do this chore, but the path was soon found and the engines stopped. Itami got out, stretched his limbs and observed the path. Just like the report said, it was way too small to drive a car through, much less the large military vehicles the recon team had.

"All right, Tou, Tomita, Kurata, Mari, Higashi and Kastumoto will come with me and the scientists to the pond, the rest of you stay with sergeant major Kuwahara at the vehicles!"

A bunch of "yes sir" was his answer, and Itami made his way to the back of the LAV where the crates were. As soon as the boxes were in safe hands, the seven soldiers and five scientists disappeared into the path.

"Alright! Sasagawa, get on the 50cal on the LAV and keep watch! Kuribayashi and Tozu, get on top of that hill over there, I'll stay with the vehicles!" Shouted Sergeant Kuwahara.

"Yes sir!" answered the three soldiers who quickly got to action.

Kuribayashi could only dream of having Sergeant Major Kuwahara as a lieutenant instead of Itami, but life was just like that. Sometimes life put a damn otaku with no muscles as your leader rather than a manly and prideful male.

Followed by Tozu, she made her way up the hill facing the path Itami took. Reaching the ridgeline took them a little less than ten minutes, offering them a good view of the plains bordering the forest. And a sight immediately made them duck back behind the ridge.

"Did… Did we just see the same thing?" Asked Tozu, uncertainty in his voice.

Kuribayashi didn't answer, she crawled up until only her head was sticking out and took a closer look.

An army. Between them was a few hundred meters of grassland and a large river, but a goddamn column of men was walking up the river

"How in the hell did we miss them?!"

"We were focused on the right side of the path, they're on the left. Plus, we would have to drive to a higher altitude to see them from the cars…" Answered Tozu who had joined her in the observation. Both had their binoculars out.

"Warn the sergeant!"

As Tozu picked up his radio, she took a closer look at the banners. She recognized one of them as one of the armies that surrounded them before the Dragon came, but didn't take part in the fighting. They had purple banners, with a purple eagle in a white diamond in the middle.

The men mostly wore mail and plate armor, and had a variety of weapons, although spear and poleaxes made up the majority of the armament. The horses had a harness with half representing the country's banner, the other half all had different symbols. Most likely their personal colors, she mused.

Soon enough, Sergeant Kuwahara came crawling, taking a position between the two riflemen.

"So that's the army, heh?"

As he focused, Tozu looked at him with worry in his eyes.

"Shouldn't we be more careful, sergeant?"

Kuwahara answered without even looking away from the army.

"There's a river and a good distance between us. Even if we were to be spotted, they wouldn't have an immediate way to cross the river before we left. And they likely don't have the range to hit us from their position. I warned the Lieutenant, they didn't even reach the lake and they're coming back right now."

Tozu wasn't convinced. After all, the Flame Dragon came literally out of nowhere. No one could have predicted its existence. Nevertheless, he gulped uneasily and kept watch around them in case someone was trying to sneak.

Kuwahara took a small red book and a pair of glasses from a breast pocket, put the glasses on and started to go through the pages.

"What's that, sir?" Asked Kuribayashi.

"A book with some intel and language about the world we're in, we got a few early copies made thanks to some willing prisoners. You troopers don't have one yet, officers got the priority. If I'm correct, the army in front of us should be from Elbe. Apparently lead by a King Duran."

The trio looked as the column walked forward, reaching what seemed to be an abandoned village. However, it was abandoned only in appearance. Suddenly, men started pouring out of the houses, charging at the unsuspecting soldiers from Elbe. At the same time, a war cry sounded from the back of the column, where the tree soldiers couldn't see.

And from the hill above the Elbian soldiers, a banner appeared, quickly followed by hundreds of soldiers who had been waiting silently in ambush and ran towards the panicking Elbians.

"And that…" Kuwahara flipped through the pages. "Would be the Empire's army. They're called the Saderan empire, I believe."

The three watched as the Empire's army put in motion a perfect strategy against the Elbians. The army from Elbe was way more numerous in total fighting strength, but lengthened over a large distance. The Empire used its surprise advantage to get a local number superiority and deal as much damage as possible.

"Shouldn't… Shouldn't we do something, sergeant?" Asked Tozu.

"Should we, private? Japan hasn't allied or anything. Not yet, at least. We don't know who are the good guys, the bad guys, or even if there's good and bad guys. No, we remain on the sidelines and leave as soon as the Lieutenant is back and the scientists safe."

The fighting went on, and slowly but surely the Elbian soldiers managed to organize, forming a frontline against the Empire's troops. Seeing that the number of enemy soldiers was starting to rise dangerously, the Imperial commanded made a wise move and ordered his men to retreat before any lasting damage could be dealt to his troops. A bugle horn sounded three times, and the legionnaires started to retreat in proper order.

However, it seemed that today wouldn't be a victorious day for the Imperials.

From the back of the column came a man on horse, dressed in a crimson armor. He was followed by horsemen, all protecting three carts each covered with a piece of cloth.

He raised an arm, ordering for his men to stop, then pointed at the retreating imperials. A few of the horsemen, seemingly unarmoured and unarmed, got in the three carts and lifted the cloth.

And what was underneath made even the stoic sergeant open his mouth wide.

Gatling guns.

They may not be americans, but anyone who joined any kind of armed corp had to have some kind of interest in firearms. And if there was one firearm that no one could be ignorant about, it was the Gatling Gun. Father of all the modern machine guns, and the weapon that revolutionized warfare just like the musket did in its time.

"How in the hell did they manage to…" started Tozu, before cranks were turned and the machines of death spewed lead at the retreating imperials. The orderly retreat soon turned into a panicked route, the Elbian soldiers cheering at such a sight.

In the few minutes it took the imperials to go back behind the hill they came from, their numbers had been halved, if not more.

With a thunderous war cry, the Elbian cavalry spurred their horses forward in pursuit.

Even Kuwahara wasn't so stoic anymore. Guns? In the special region? Who would have thought?

"Kuwahara, we're leaving."

Itami's voice startled Kuribayashi, who didn't expect the otaku lieutenant to sneak like that. She didn't even hear him come! He was lying with the three soldiers, his binoculars sported in the direction of the crimson-armored man.

"Lieutenant, have you…" Kuwahara's voice was cut by Itami, who had a serious tone in his voice the soldiers clearly didn't expect.

"I've seen enough. General Hazama needs to learn about this. The scientists didn't get their samples, but to hell with it. We're not safe here."

The three soldiers nodded, and followed their lieutenant back to the convoy of the third recon.

The three soldiers were assaulted with questions by the rest of third recon about what happened. What could turn their usually goofy and otaku lieutenant into a… Well, a lieutenant who acted like a lieutenant should?

When they heard the answer, they too turned gloomy.

"That's another ambush repelled my King! These… Gating?"

"Gatling." Corrected the arms dealer at Duran's side. He wore a traditional Elbian robe, but he wore as if he didn't understand what the meaning of the clothing was. It was blue in color, meaning he was a merchant, that was correct. But the rest didn't make any sense. The number and colors of bracelets at his wrists didn't denote his status, and the silver ring had no engraving or stone of any kind. Plus, his men wore simple black clothes, and had the strange black staves Duran had seen in the men in green's hands back at Alnus. He told his name was Gara, but it was most likely a fake name.

"These gatling guns, they sure are something!" Finished one of Duran's personal guards. Duran nodded, pleased with how things were going.

"How long until you can teach my men to use these weapons perfectly?" Asked Duran to the Gara, who observed how the few selected men to be taught were handing the weapons.

"At this rate, they will have full knowledge of the gun in about a week. All of these repeated battles are speeding up the process, I should say."

Duran took some time to think, before giving an answer.

"Good. I think we'll be able to eradicate all imperial presence in Elbe within a few days then. However, can't you really sell us more of these guns? Three over here, three sent to help the coast of Elbe against the imperials, they may be powerful but they're still vulnerable. In particular against wyvern riders."

The arms dealer showed an apologetic look, smiling weakly.

"I'm extremely sorry, King Duran. The nation I serve doesn't see it eye to eye with Japan, these six Gatlings were the only we could sneak in without their knowledge."

Duran simply nodded to the man. He had learned much within the few days that he spent with him. The Gate opened in a nation named Japan, and many of the other world's nation wanted to go to the other side. The arms dealer in particular didn't say from which nation he was, but he had made it clear enough he wasn't Japanese to begin with. He learned many other things about the other world too, but it was clear some things were intentionally left in the dark.

As the Elbian soldiers recovered from the Imperial ambush, Gara raised his voice once more.

"However, I could convince my superiors to sell you the blueprints for the weapon as well as the ammunition."

Duran looked at him with confusion.

"Blue-what?"

"Oh, I forgot. I mean, we could sell you the method to craft these weapons, as well as the ammunition."

The king didn't even hesitate.

"What would your price be?"

A short moment was spent in silence as Gara focused, but he ultimately raised his arms in defeat.

"I'm not a politician, King Duran. You've already sold your silence about our presence in Elbe as well as information about magic. I assume any higher price would be actual mages to learn from."

The King certainly couldn't sell his court wizard. The woman was too important on magic matters in the country, and she was also the teacher for all official Elbian wizards.

"What about the slaves, my King?"

Duran turned to the royal guard who just spoke, with a mildly confused expression.

"What do you mean, soldier?"

"My family's estate used demi-human as laborers last time I went to them. One of them knew magic."

Selling slaves? That could certainly be done. Slavery was less harsh in Elbe than in the empire, for the simple reason that Duran didn't want to bother with slave uprisings every few months. Also, by allowing the same degree of citizenship his human citizens had, he got a very thankful and loyal population of hard-working demi-humans. He still needed to separate human and demis populations, but over the course of the years, both slowly but surely came to accept each other.

Slavery was still a thing for the simple fact that it was very lucrative, but also more regulated. Slave owners in Elbe were obligated to see that their slaves were getting a minimum wage with which to buy freedom with eventually, as well as a place to sleep and a minimum of a meal per day.

"Like I said," continued Gara, "I'm no politician. I'm only a man of action. I can relay this proposal to my superiors, and you would have an answer within a few days."

"Perfect." Responded Duran.

He got off his horse, walking up to the carts which were getting covered with the cloth once more, and picked up a brass casing from the ground. The metallic surface was smooth, so much so that once he wiped it with a piece of cloth, he could see his reflection. Crafting such things would prove hard… Maybe by combining a smith with a mage? A magesmith? Only a few dwarves were rumoured to have those kinds of skills. Gara saw Duran observing the brass casing, and quickly understood the issue.

"Do not worry, King Duran. We also know how to craft paper bullets for the Gatlings. It is less effective than the metallic ones and requires more maintenance, but your craftsmen will surely be able to make them. And the guns will only require minimal modifications."

Once more, a problem solved. This Gara and his wares were a godsend for the King. All of that for some dusty books, a few slaves and his silence? He expected a catch somewhere, but the fact of the matter was that the people from the other side simply didn't know about magic.

Selling knowledge about magic, an art that was barely used outside of Rondel, against the means to craft a weapon which could single-handedly turn the tide of a battle? A weapon that could make the imperial overwhelming numbers meaningless? And even more so, a weapon that only needed a little more than a week of training?

He was all for it. He suspected Gara didn't say from which nation he came from because he feared the Japanese discovering the operation, but that would be discovered in time. Duran didn't give too much information either.

For now, his task was to drive out the Imperials from Elbe. And once that would be done, he would muster the surviving former imperial vassals and march on Sadera.

He watched with a satisfied grin his horsemen coming back after slaughtering the surviving imperials, then ordered his troops to march forward.

Hello there, author here,

Alright, this was the last chapter in which Duran was "active". Next chapters will move on to other characters, and the war of the former vassals with the Empire will mostly become a "background thing".

Major simi: I thought I made it clear that the weapons weren't made by Falmartian hands. First of all it is the Empire who has the few guns the mercenaries brought back, and second of all, of course they wouldn't be able to make an perfectly working automatic weapon in less than a month.

archive4465: Who knows if they're american? One thing's for sure, they're not Japan's allies. Plus, Duran is smart enough to understand that having a few gatling guns won't make him able to take on the Japanese.

rmarcano321: There is no "main hero". More like a cast of characters I focus on which all have varying degrees of involvement with the main plot. I'm pretty sure I already answered to your second question at least once, can you stop copying and pasting these please? But just to be very clear with it: I don't have a frekkin idea how long it will be. I do have an "end goal" I want to reach with the plot, but I don't know yet if it'll take me five or twenty chapters to reach.

DownTownAlpha: "We took down some kind of crazed figher who kept demanding for our heads and claimed he was named Toyohisa. Turns out, bullets are faster than he can move."General Hazama, just after reading the report and facepalming. "Do these people have no sane mind?!"

BartGirl: is the inventor of the Gatling gun, which the most successful early automatic gunpowder weapon. The gun was sold worldwide.

Custo117: The mercenaries aren't out of the story. Velgard chose to help the Sisterhood of Clear Water which was coerced into healing the Emperor's troops, and Olva is still unconscious. She took a few bullets as well as a grenade exploding near her so yeah, still in intensive medical care.And I still have plans for both of them.

HyperionATLAS, MadClawDragon and everyone sending these kind comments: Thank you infinitely!

That will be all for now, so I hope you liked what you read, and see you next week!