Vani remained quiet.
Listening.
"The lizard race has been a longtime rival of ours; for so long, they have been fighting to claim the outer lands that we, the Darkins, have watched over for years."
That was Terra.
Her attention was focused on Vani, making sure she was reading his expression in case she sensed any type of hostility from him.
"Lately, their leader, Patroach Agis, has been tense and angry; some of our people have been killing and eating any lizard people they find in the outer land. Because of this, they waged war on us, using this opportunity to carry out the task they have always wanted to do."
She continued, her jaw resting on her hand.
"We have often tried to strike a deal with them, but they are not ready to listen to reason. Now that they intend to wage an all-out war, Shisha has decided to counter them; she plans to set her army ready before the week ends."
Blink.
Vani glanced at Alice's face.
The expression she had on was that of concern.
It seemed even she knew Shisha and her beast snakes stood no chance against them.
'Lizard people are a warrior race; moreover, they might even be in the same category as demihumans. That said—'
Glance.
He looked at Rebecca.
"Tell me, how strong are the lizard men, military-wise?" he asked.
Shaken by the unexpected question, Rebecca's cheeks turned red.
For absolutely no reason at all, she stood up.
"W-we don't have any intel on their army strength, my lord!"
"Not even on their commanders?"
"I—I am afraid not." Then Rebecca turned to him. "If you truly want to know, my lord, I can send a spy to infiltrate their forces."
'Yeah, but why wouldn't you have done that since?' Vani thought to himself.
[Because their lord was incompetent.]
Sigh.
"Yes, do that; send two just in case."
After saying that, Vani stood up from his seat.
Alice did the same.
"My lord, are you not going to finish your food?"
"There is a war about to happen; I'm sure I can eat comfortably when this is all done and set. I'll be in my room. In the meantime, I need you to bring me information on our military strength and weapons."
"Y-yes, my lord."
Alice replied, though she was unable to hide the surprise on her face.
Lord Vani was right; he did indeed want to help with the war.
…
Later that day, Vani was in his room, seated at his working table.
Placed on the table were clay tablets with information pertaining to the military strength written on them.
Rebecca and Terra had sent one person each from their forces as spies.
When said people had gathered the information, they were to report it to Lord Vani directly.
Grab.
Vani picked up one of the four tablets.
'Urgh, this is horrifying to look at,' he whispered in his mind.
'These people have not invented paper yet; while I understand why, it is still, for some reason, very infuriating.'
He didn't have a choice; regardless of whatever it was written on, he needed the information.
And so, he began.
From what he read, he realized the military strength of the Darkin nation was 16,000 men; 7,000 were under the human faction.
6,000 men were under the vampire faction.
And 3,000 were under the snake beast faction.
Compared to other nations, Darkin had the smallest and weakest.
The only reason no one had dared to try was mainly because of the former demon lord's name.
The demon lord Gargoil.
People feared him. But that was about it.
Now that he is dead, it should be no surprise that they are itching to fight back.
'I get that the snake beasts are strong, but having only them at the front line is quite sad.'
Vani placed one of the tablets on the table.
'Even though I said Shisha is by far the strongest in all of Darkin, I mean she is at least average. The others are just terrible.'
'So before anything, I need to make them win this battle first. Only then will I take whatever step I need. The first step here is getting better equipment.'
[Would you like to use five good points for an analysis?]
'Aren't you quick.'
[You wanted to ask.]
'Sure.' Vani leaned his back on the chair. 'Production of iron.'
[There are two main methods of iron production: the blast furnace method and direct reduction. The blast furnace method involves heating iron ore with coke (a form of carbon) and limestone in a large furnace.
The coke acts as a reducing agent, removing oxygen from the iron ore, while the limestone helps to remove impurities. This process produces molten pig iron, which is then further processed into steel or cast iron.]
'Next.'
[Direct reduction, on the other hand, involves reducing iron ore into solid iron (sponge iron) using reducing gases like hydrogen or carbon monoxide, without melting the ore. This method is often used for smaller-scale production or where natural gas is readily available. Both methods require significant energy and resources, but they are essential for the production of iron, which is a fundamental material in many industries.]
'Color me impressed. Getting limestone and iron ore should not be an issue at all. However, Coke might cause a bit of work.'
[Are you giving up?]
'Not even. We are starting right now!'
And so, the very next day, Vani made his move.
He ordered Alice to get some workers to gather all the needed equipment he would require.
Right after, they were to take it to the nation's blacksmith.
…
"So, what do you think? Can you do it?"
asked Vani, standing right in the middle of the blacksmith shop.
Every kiln was burning, making the entire place hot. One wrong move and one could get burned by the splashing lava.
The man Vani was speaking to was a demi-human with wolf ears; he was the main blacksmith for the kingdom.
In his hands was a blueprint Vani had given him.
The other workers were watching from the sidelines, wondering what the Lord himself was doing in a blacksmith shop.
It was unheard of and truly striking.
Hell, even Alice could sense their curiosity all the way from the back.