Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 32 – Maximum Pressure
Relinqush their land?
Baron Wood stared at Owen in shock. That meant the lord planned to revoke all the nobles’ privileges in Bianshu Town—effectively going against the entire nobility.
But compared to his own life, land wasn’t as important. Besides, the land in Bianshu Town had been growing increasingly barren due to the curse. Giving it up wasn’t much of a loss.
With that thought, Baron Wood decided there was no point in continuing the argument. He might as well just cut ties here and now.
“Marquis Eisen, if you want to stay and die, that’s your business. Don’t drag me into it. I’m taking my family to Dongsheng Fortress to seek refuge, and no one’s going to stop me. If you want this cursed land, take it. Hmph!”
With that harsh retort, Baron Wood turned around and left. He climbed into the nearest carriage, ordered the coachman to depart, and left right in front of Owen.
Was he not afraid for his life, talking to Lord Owen like that?
Maple, standing nearby, was already gripping her sword hilt in anger. She had drawn it slightly, but Owen raised his hand to stop her. Had he not done that, Baron Wood might’ve been struck down the moment he turned around.
From behind, Owen calmly watched the four carriages speed off toward the dock, a faint smirk forming on his lips.
“Lord Owen, are you really going to let him go just like that? He literally committed treason in front of you. Executing him on the spot wouldn’t be excessive.”
Maple protested.
“Let him go. Killing him would actually cause more problems.”
Yes, executing Baron Wood would’ve reclaimed the land. But once the other nobles heard about it, they might rise in rebellion. After all, if we’re going to die anyway, they’d think, why not take a chance and overthrow the lord? If we succeed, we survive and get to divide his land.
Right now, Owen had to focus all his energy on preparing for the harsh winter. He didn’t have time to deal with rebellious minor nobles.
“Is that so? Fine then.”
Maple said reluctantly.
Since Owen had made the call, she sheathed her sword. She knew she wasn’t good at anything but fighting and trusted Owen’s judgment without question.
Truthfully, he never intended to keep Baron Wood around in the first place. What good was a noble who might flee at any moment? What he needed were nobles willing to fight against the undead at the northern wall—people like Viscount Jarvis.
More importantly, Owen had already achieved his objective.
This incident sent a clear message to the remaining nobles who were still thinking of fleeing:
“Scared? Want to run? Fine. But if you leave, your land stays with me.”
As for why he’d initially threatened Baron Wood with execution for treason—there was a reason for that too.
It was a tactic called maximum pressure, something Winston had taught him.
The method was to start with the harshest possible punishment—execution—so the target would panic. Then, when you scaled it back to something milder—like confiscating their land—they’d feel relieved and be more likely to accept it.
If he had just said, “I’m taking your land,” right from the start, the reaction might have been much more resistant. That would’ve made things far more difficult.
Later that afternoon, Owen and Maple went to the black powder storage warehouse with materials needed to make improvised explosive charges.
As soon as they entered the warehouse, a strong stench of gunpowder filled their noses.
Unable to help herself, Maple pinched her nose and frowned.
“Ugh, it smells like rotten eggs. This is unbearable.”
“What you’re smelling is hydrogen sulphide — the same gas that causes rotten eggs to stink.”
“Hydrogen sulphide? What’s that?”
Maple looked confused, her face full of question marks. She had absolutely no idea what he meant.
“Uh… never mind.”
It wasn’t that Owen didn’t want to explain, it was just too complicated — it involved chemistry and some basic physics.
First, she would have to understand the concept of atoms in order to grasp what hydrogen sulphide is — a compound made of two hydrogen atoms and one sulphur atom. Then, he’d have to explain its properties from a chemical perspective, and maybe even dive into biology to explain why eggs rot and produce that smell.
All of this knowledge had taken Owen a long time to accept and understand — within his dream realm, no less. Trying to get Maple to understand the same? Forget it — he didn’t have the energy for that.
Taking out the prepared black powder, he used a scale to weigh out a full 20 pounds on the wooden table. This amount was intended for maximum shock value during the demonstration.
With so much explosive, he wondered whether it could flatten the entire lord’s castle. Up to now, he had only run small-scale flash combustion tests. The rest of what he knew came from Winston’s descriptions of the blast potential — he had yet to witness one himself.
So naturally, he was just as eager about tomorrow’s test explosion.
Next, Owen slowly poured the black powder onto a piece of pre-cut cowhide. After emptying it all out, he wrapped it up tightly — three full layers — making sure it was firm and compact. He then bound it tightly with rope, leaving a treated fuse sticking out.
If the quantity weren’t so large, this kind of crude bomb wouldn’t have much destructive power. But since it was only meant for demonstration, that didn’t matter.
“All right, this is what will quell everyone’s panic tomorrow. Hold onto it for me.”
He handed the wrapped explosive bundle to Maple, who held it in her arms.
Feeling its weight, Maple still looked doubtful. “It’s definitely heavy… but will it really explode with a big bang, like you said?”
“Just wait and see.”
Owen replied confidently.
The next day at noon, a temporary platform had been set up on an open plain to the east of the town. In front of the platform, a large crowd of townspeople had gathered, waiting noisily for the lord to make his appearance.