Night had fallen over Graymont when Edmund finally finished his duties for the day.
The residence was much livelier than usual.
Brogur, Victoria, and Tristan had arrived a few hours earlier, and since then, they had had enough time to exchange stories with Edmund, meet his family, and discover how much the life of their former companion had changed.
But now they were gathered in one of the rooms of the residence.
Several maps of Graymont and the surrounding territories were spread across the table, along with documents containing accounts, reports, and production records.
Edmund stood on the other side of the table.
Jhon was seated to his right, while Barov occupied a chair slightly farther away. Edmund had updated them on the situation in the region and how they would soon face serious problems if they did not find a solution. Ellaria, Victoria, Brogur, and Tristan sat opposite them.
Edmund’s mother had preferred not to participate in the meeting, although she had made it clear that she wanted to know about any important decision before her son left Graymont.
Edmund placed both hands on the map.
“Before we talk about Khazid Nekewukas, I want to explain what I plan to do with Graymont over the next few weeks.”
Brogur raised an eyebrow.
“Can’t we talk about how we’re going to save my clan first?” The desperation in his voice was obvious. Victoria and Tristan had already had a hard enough time convincing him not to leave without first hearing Edmund’s plan.
“We can. But if we don’t solve some problems here first, we won’t have enough men or resources to help you, let alone for me to go there myself.”
Brogur grunted but did not argue.
Edmund pointed to several locations on the map.
“The first problem is the bandits, then,” Jhon said, knowing the locations Edmund had pointed out. He had been preparing for weeks to carry out the task Edmund had given him. “We know where most of them operate.”
“How many groups?” Ellaria asked.
“At least five major groups. There are probably some smaller ones.”
Victoria studied the map.
“I think we dealt with one of them on the way here,” she said, pointing to one of the locations. “They saw our group and thought they had an opportunity, although we could only finish off twenty of them.”
“Those must be most of them.” Jhon was somewhat impressed, but he could have expected it. The group had to be that capable if they were so confident that they could help with something this dangerous.
“That saves us some trouble. For the next two weeks, we’ll focus our efforts on reducing the remaining groups.”
Jhon looked at him with some surprise.
“Two weeks?”
“We don’t necessarily need to eliminate all of them in that time. We need to reduce them enough that they stop posing a threat to our routes and we can move through the region without worrying about an ambush every few miles.”
“All right, I think I understand where you’re going with this, but according to what Ellaria said, you’ve only managed to train thirty of your men over the past few months.” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“Thirty?” Brogur was surprised this time. “They’ll be enough to deal with simple bandits, but not to help my people.”
“I don’t intend to conquer the mountains with them.” Edmund was beginning to grow annoyed at everyone interrupting him while he explained his plan.
He pointed to a small mark on the map indicating the dwarven settlement, then traced a path from it to Graymont with his finger.
“Our objective will be Khazid Nekewukas.” His tone no longer held the same patience as before. “If your clan can’t hold out indefinitely and reinforcements from other fortresses don’t arrive in time, we need to get the civilians out before the settlement falls.”
“They won’t abandon their home.” Brogur noticed the change in Edmund’s attitude and softened his tone.
“I’m not saying they have to do it forever.”
Edmund pointed at the map.
“I’m saying we need to get them out while there’s still a safe route. The fighters can stay and defend the settlement if that’s what they choose. But families, the elderly, and the wounded shouldn’t have to die simply because the others want to preserve their pride.”
Brogur lowered his gaze to the map, ignoring the last comment, which would have offended any dwarf. He had left the mountains decades ago and knew how foolish they could become because of their pride.
“That still leaves us with a problem,” Ellaria said.
“How do we secure an escape route?” Edmund guessed.
“Exactly.” Ellaria sounded somewhat nervous under Edmund’s irritated gaze.
“That’s why we can’t take a large group. The mountain passes we’ll be using are narrow.” Edmund pointed toward the elevated mountain passes, narrow paths that were only used by solitary travelers.
Brogur raised his head.
“Even if we go through the cliffs, we won’t stand a chance in a confrontation. The five of us could survive, but anyone accompanying us would be doomed.”
Edmund stood up and walked toward a cabinet at the back of the room before opening its doors.
Inside were several weapons covered with cloth. He picked up one of them and returned to the table, placing it where everyone could see it.
“With this, we’ll be able to fight our way through any problem.”
Victoria immediately recognized it as a firearm, but frowned when she saw it. The weapon looked different from the musket everyone had seen. It was more compact and simpler, with a metal mechanism located behind the barrel.
Brogur studied it curiously. His people had invented gunpowder weapons, but he was still surprised by how Edmund was capable of surpassing them in so many ways.
“What the hell is that?”
“A bolt-action rifle.”
Victoria carefully picked up the weapon, and Edmund pointed toward the mechanism he wanted them to pay attention to.
“After firing, pull this piece backward. It ejects the spent casing and leaves the chamber open. Insert a new cartridge, close the bolt, and fire again.”
Victoria slowly moved the mechanism, understanding how it worked, and seemed to handle it intuitively.
“Much faster than reloading a musket.”
“It’s still worse than your rifle. Couldn’t you just make a few more?” Brogur had seen the thing in action. It could fire hundreds of projectiles in seconds without needing to reload, and its power was enough to pierce a troll’s skull. Visit NovelPing for the full chapter.
“No.” Edmund’s answer was firm.
“Why?” Ellaria was the surprised one this time. Her image of Edmund was that of a prodigious mage who found very few things difficult.
“Because I can only make two of these a day, let alone something like my rifle, which took me an entire month to build, not counting the time required to gather the materials.”
The dwarf’s face filled with astonishment. He had expected it to be difficult to manufacture, but even so, he had hoped they could have a few of them before they left.
“You can only make two of these?”
Edmund thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Two. Three if I’m lucky.”
Edmund placed one hand on the weapon.
“The design is relatively simple compared to other things I could build. The problem is manufacturing every piece with the necessary precision, and I have to do everything from scratch by myself.”
His hands pulled a piece of iron from his pocket, and he demonstrated with it.
“Chamon allows me to work metal with much greater precision than an ordinary blacksmith. But it still requires concentration. I can’t spend the entire day manufacturing weapons.”
He looked at the documents on the table.
“Besides, I have to deal with the mines, iron production, warehouses, construction, merchants, taxes, and everything else involved in governing a barony.”
“And you also have to manufacture the ammunition,” Victoria added, noticing that the bolt did not seem to use lead projectiles like Edmund’s rifle.
“Exactly.”
He took one of the cartridges he had prepared and placed it on the table.
“The weapon isn’t much use without this.”
Brogur picked up the cartridge between two fingers.
“Couldn’t a skilled blacksmith make it?”
“Although it would be difficult, there aren’t any blacksmiths in the territory skilled enough to do it, and that isn’t even the biggest problem. What matters isn’t the metal casing, but the fact that it doesn’t use conventional gunpowder either.”
“You plan to save the dwarfs so you can get more skilled workers.” Tristan, who had remained silent the entire time, was the one who spoke.
Edmund smiled. “Not only will I give them shelter and food, but I’ll also give them work.”
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