Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

Morning smoke curled over Dunmere City.

If not for the soldiers running back and forth through the streets, Simon would’ve almost thought he’d returned to the mountain village of his childhood.

Having lived here for some time now, he felt this place wasn’t so different from the countryside.

In the past, he’d imagined imperial life to be like that shown on television dramas. Only after coming here did he realise that royal meals were no different from those of an average household in the modern world.

It wasn’t just a matter of resource scarcity; it was the level of technology.

Simon hadn’t slept all night. With a massive cold weapons battle looming, he wasn’t yet strong enough to remain completely unshaken.

He quickly ate the bowl of rice porridge and meat pie that Joan brought him, then donned his custom-made armour and ascended the city wall.

At that moment, every soldier was already stationed in position. Many townspeople had also gathered at the foot of the wall, ready to assist if needed.

Last night, Liam and Lancelot had reported that the first wave of the reaver assault on Dunmere was imminent. ”My Lord, they’re coming!”

Before noon, a black cloud rolled over the northern horizon. Benjamin pointed toward the north as he called out.

Simon raised his telescope and looked. The magnified image revealed a sea of reaver cavalry.

Lancelot and Liam immediately headed to their respective posts.

Since the wall stretched far and wide, each section was under the command of a separate captain, with Benjamin overseeing the entire operation.

”Our traps are probably useless now.” Simon sighed as he lowered the telescope.

Aiden, standing beside him with his own telescope, said. ”They’re driving forward a huge number of slaves. The traps are finished.”

In front of the reaver cavalry were rows of slaves, bound together with rope. They looked just like the people of the Eldorian Empire because they were.

”They were once our citizens,” Aiden said bitterly.

Benjamin said. ”It can’t be helped. Reavers always drive slaves ahead of them before attacking. Your Highness, now is not the time to show mercy. Yes, they are our people, but behind you are also the people of the Eldorian Empire.”

”Back when Prince Augustus defended against them, he faltered at the last moment and let these driven slaves into the city. He didn’t realise that some of them had already pledged loyalty to the reavers. That’s how the gate was lost and the cavalry charged in.” He added.

Simon nodded slightly. In the wars of history, such tragedies had happened more times than one could count.

The reavers grew closer, one thousand meters, eight hundred meters, five hundred.

Finally, at the five-hundred-meter mark, the cavalry came to a stop. Silence blanketed the battlefield. The defenders on the wall stared intently at the enemy, while the reavers glared right back at the silver-armoured soldiers.

After a long moment of stillness, a sharp horn echoed from the reaver ranks. Their cavalry dismounted, and the slaves began unloading gear from the horses with practised ease.

”They’re setting up camp,” said Benjamin.

The Alkamite tribe was a purely nomadic people. Wherever their herds roamed, they followed. This time, they had brought slaves and cattle along.

”Looks like they plan to lay siege to Dunmere.”

Simon glanced toward the cannons wrapped in black cloth on the walls. The cannons he’d produced this time had a range of three to four miles, and the enemy was currently well within range.

One shot could send them scrambling, but no matter how itchy his fingers were, he had to restrain himself.

The key players hadn’t arrived yet. When the reaver father himself appeared, that would be the time to unleash hell.

The reavers leisurely pitched camp. The soldiers on the walls could only watch.

They had no choice. Mounted, the enemy were cavalry; unmounted, they were infantry. If they sent their own cavalry out now, they’d be facing twenty thousand mounted archers. It would be suicide.

”Slaves are approaching,” Benjamin said suddenly.

Simon looked again. From the reaver camp, several slaves were being herded toward the city.

The slaves walked in single file, step by step, drawing closer.

Aiden clenched his jaw. ”These reavers have no humanity at all. They don’t even treat our people as people.”

”They don’t. Do you know what they call the people of the Eldorian Empire?” Benjamin asked.

”What?”

”Two-legged sheep.”

Simon’s brow furrowed slightly. He had heard that term before in modern history. The ’two-legged sheep’ were, quite literally, sheep with two legs.

”When the barbarians invaded West Ham, they faced food shortages. They turned to eating people. That’s how the phrase came to be.” Benjamin explained.

Aiden’s hands clenched into fists. He had never imagined the reavers could be so savage.

”Aaaah!”

A scream echoed across the plains. One of the slaves had stepped into a trap and fallen. Cries of pain followed from the pit.

Laughter erupted from the reaver cavalry behind them.

On the wall, the soldiers clenched their weapons so tightly their knuckles turned white.

They knew what the reavers were laughing at. Their painstakingly dug traps had only served to kill their own.

Simon stared in silence. This was war, a battlefield devoid of mercy, where every method was fair if it meant killing the other side.

The slaves, panicked, began to hesitate. They stopped.

The reaver cavalry was furious. They swung their curved blades and hacked at the unwilling slaves.

Shrill cries rang out across the empty field, and the slaves began marching again, trembling.

Trap after trap was destroyed. By the time the reavers halted two hundred meters from the walls, only about a hundred of the five hundred slaves remained.

The cavalry then took out their bows and forced the slaves forward once more.

”My Lord, we can’t let them continue. If we do, every single trap will be lost.” Aiden gritted his teeth. This was raw cruelty at its peak.

Staring at the cavalry standing just two hundred meters away, Benjamin took a bow and arrow from a nearby soldier.

”My Lord, now is not the time for mercy. A single trap can determine the course of a battle.”

”Do what you must, General.”

Simon’s voice was solemn. ’So this is what it means to defend a city’

Swish! An arrow sliced through the air. A scream rang out. Simon clearly saw blood explode from the chest of the lead slave.