The Maritime Alliance Gets Serious

"No... Sister..." Jeanne fell to her knees after seeing her sister jump.

The scenery behind her had been familiar to Jeanne—it was the balcony

of Maria's office. Knowing the location and how high it was, Jeanne was

absolutely certain of her sister's death. Gunther, meanwhile, was still

staring in disbelief.

"...Huh?! What?!" Gunther gasped.

It was a strange reaction, and Jeanne, who had gone quite pale in the

face, looked up at him.

"Sir Gunther?"

"Just now, something large and black flew by in the projection."

"Something...black?"

Jeanne looked where Gunther was pointing in the water ball. It showed

the skies of Valois now that Maria was gone. And in that image, a coiled,

black creature was suddenly climbing upwards. Her eyes widened, seeing

the figure—that of a dragon, yet different.

I know what that is, she thought. And if it's...who I think it is...

Before her head found the answer, someone jumped down from the back

of the creature, their black cape swishing in the wind as they descended to

the balcony. Held in their arms was Maria, who had fallen.

"Sister!"

Jeanne leaned out over the edge of the fortress wall without meaning to.

She squinted at the image, but saw no evidence of any injury on Maria. The

empress had her dainty arms wrapped around her savior's neck. Jeanne said

a name she knew very well.

"Sir Souma..."

The figure in the projection was King Souma A. Elfrieden of Friedonia.

He adjusted his grip on Maria with a grunt, and she squeezed her arms

tight around his neck. With that gesture, everyone watching the projection

realized that Maria had survived. This time, a cheer erupted from the

Imperial side, and it was the Great Tiger Kingdom's forces' turn to be

silent.

Then, Souma spoke to the empress in his arms. "Proud and noble

Empress Maria, it is absolutely not true that the times we live in have no

need of you! As proof—I learned of your peril and came across the

continent for you."

His performance was a touch theatrical, but that actually had the effect

of relaxing and delighting the people of the Empire who were watching.

Souma, who couldn't have seen their reactions, turned and addressed the

viewers.

"Hear me, O soldiers of the Gran Chaos Empire and Great Tiger

Kingdom of Haan! We, the three nations of the Maritime Alliance, have

begun an intervention to stop the Great Tiger Kingdom's invasion of the

Empire!"

◇ ◇ ◇

"So this is where you make your appearance, you slow turtle!"

At that same time, Fuuga was in the main camp of the army surrounding

Valois, glaring at the projection. Despite the harsh look in his eyes, his

voice was bounding with joy. He was excited, as if he was watching the

climax of a movie.

Lumiere, meanwhile, showed immediate shock and anger.

"The King of Friedonia?!" she screeched. "Why is he here?! Why

now?!"

Yeah, why now... Something seemed off to Fuuga.

Souma's appearance seemed far too well-timed. He appeared the

moment Maria leapt from the balcony and made a dashing entrance after

saving her. This broadcast was being shown across the Empire as part of

Hashim's plan. The people who loved Maria were probably bawling their

eyes out with gratitude about now.

Still, it seemed a little strange to Fuuga. If this was all following

Souma's script, it wasn't like him. Even if he'd been planning to save her,

he wouldn't have let Maria throw herself from the balcony. He'd have been

too scared of what would happen if he failed to catch her. A cautious man

like Souma would never let her take such a risk.

That means this script is someone else's...

Maybe Hakuya the Black-robed Prime Minister or the newly joined

Julius would have proposed something like this. But they were Souma's

subordinates. No matter how good he was at delegating things to his trusted

comrades, Souma was still bound to reject a risky plan like this.

Well, who was it then... Fuuga thought. Suddenly, the words Souma had

said to him that day came back to Fuuga. "Are you sure you're not taking

Maria Euphoria too lightly?" Oh! So that's it! I get it now!

Fuuga stomped the ground.

"You sure got me, Maria Euphoria!"

Fuuga looked up at the skies above Valois to find the parachutes of the

falling dratroopers opening like blooming flowers. They had been carried in

and dropped by the wyvern cavalry. The countless parachutes descended to

the castle, floating in the wind like cotton fluff.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Urgh... This is terrible."

Also, at the same time, in the camp before Jamona Fortress...

Hashim bitterly ground his teeth. He was one of the few who instantly

understood the situation.

Gaten looked suspiciously at Hashim.

"Why the grim look, Sir Advisor?" Gaten asked. "He doesn't appear to

have shown up with that many reinforcements... Won't Lord Fuuga flatten

Souma and his troops?"

"It can't be that easy..." Hashim shook his head. "Souma said he was

intervening not just with the Friedonian military, but with the Maritime

Alliance. That means the Republic of Turgis and the Nine-Headed Dragon

Archipelago Kingdom will be getting involved in earnest. He only showed

up with a small number of soldiers there, but the number that he still has in

reserve is far greater. They'll be moving into action all across the

continent."

"That's...frightening." Gaten gulped as it finally dawned on him what

that meant.

It wasn't hard to imagine that Souma's forces were already on the move

the moment he appeared. Hashim was certain that the Souma being

projected there would soon say as much. Because that's what he himself

would do to break the morale of the Great Tiger Kingdom's forces.

And, as he predicted, the projection of Souma spoke.

"What you see here is but one of the pieces I've played. I've left the

deployment of the remainder of the Kingdom's troops to Hakuya, the

Black-robed Prime Minister. I will let him explain the situation across all

regions to you now. If you intend to continue this war after hearing all this,

then...I'll take you on," Souma asserted, loud and clear.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the same time, in a walled city in the south of Zem...

"Wh-What's that?!" shouted one of the mercenaries keeping a lookout

from on top of the southern walls.

The mountains that demarcated the border with the Republic of Turgis

looked as if they were squirming. At a distance, it appeared the trees were

falling. The soldier thought it was an avalanche, but it wasn't the season for

snow to have accumulated, and the squirming things were brown. Whatever

was happening was most assuredly abnormal.

He hurried to fetch a telescope, only to discover the writhing mass was

thousands of numoths—an animal trained as riding beasts in the Republic

of Turgis.

"It's the Republic! The Republic is coming!"

As the mercenary cried out, the others began rushing around.

There were only 8,000 men in this fortress now. The stronghold had

been built as the first defensive wall against an attack from the Republic. So

even with eighty percent of their forces having been sent to join Fuuga's,

they still had a significant garrison here.

Yet, the onrushing forces of the Republic looked even greater in number.

If there were thousands of numoths, then that meant there were tens of

thousands of Republican soldiers nearby.

The mercenary commander of the walled city gave the order

immediately.

"Send a messenger to the Mercenary King, Sir Moumei, who is

accompanying Fuuga's forces! We're no match for a force that large, and

there's a high risk they'll strike deep into Zem! He needs to come back

before it's too late!"

"Yes, sir!"

Once the order was given, the mercenary commander glared out towards

the forces of the Republic.

"We may have no choice but to abandon this city. The Republic fights

well in the snow, but they're bad at holding territory they capture. If we

make them stretch out their supply lines, they'll be easier to strike, and

recapturing what they take will be simpler."

As the mercenaries were running around, the sound of rumbling

gradually increased.

Thousands of numoths were stampeding down the side of the mountains

overlooking the fortress city. These would be the numoth cavalry, a

category of troop equivalent to war elephants from Souma's old world.

They had far more power to break through the enemy than ordinary cavalry,

but were smaller and could make tighter turns than rhinosauruses. Because

they were creatures from a frigid region, the numoths had the ability to

cross ice and snow. However, they became weaker as they moved north and

the temperature rose.

These numoths were accompanied by 50,000 beastman soldiers

belonging to the five races of the snowy plains. This was all of the forces

available to Kuu Taisei, the Head of the Republic.

Kuu rode atop a numoth at the front of the charge, shouting to his men.

"Ookyakya! All right, we're close enough the sound should reach them!

Band, let's give them a real show!"

On Kuu's orders, the band riding on a howdah atop the back of one of

the lead numoths began to play their instruments. They paid no mind to

harmony, instead focusing on making a whole lot of noise.

They played as loudly as they could, so as to not be drowned out by the

stomping feet of their numoths and to show the grandeur of the Republic's

forces.

"Urgh... It hurts my ears..."

Kuu's second wife, Leporina, who was riding with him in the same

howdah, covered her bunny ears. She'd been able to bring earplugs because

Kuu had informed her in advance about the plan, but her race's excellent

hearing was making the cacophony unbearable.

Kuu held Leporina's head against his own chest.

"Wha...! Master Kuu?"

"If I don't do this, you won't be able to hear me, right?"

"Ohh..."

Held close, with her husband whispering in her ear, Leporina turned

bright red.

"What're you two flirting for when we're on the march...?" groaned

Nike, an exasperated look on his face.

He'd nimbly jumped up on their numoth at some point and was sitting

on the edge of their howdah. Leporina became flustered when she realized

they were being watched and tried to get up, but Kuu wouldn't let her go.

Cackling like a monkey, Kuu then said, "Looks fun, doesn't it? Why

don't you find a wife for yourself too?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm so jealous," Nike said flatly. "You've got your other

cute wife Taru waiting for you back home too."

Kuu smiled wryly. "I'm amazed you can say that. I hear you're even

more popular with the ladies than I am. Bet you're getting more tail than

you know what to do with, am I right?"

Nike had been famed as a beautiful young spearman in the Union of

Eastern Nations, so he'd been looked at affectionately by many women of

different races since coming to the Republic. Kuu became jealous when

he'd noticed, and his wives called him out for it; Taru with silent fury and

Leporina with a teary-eyed lecture. The two of them had learned how to

keep their man under their thumb while they were in the Kingdom.

"I prefer to be the one making offers, not receiving them," Nike said

with a shrug. "If there was someone well-tempered and dignified like my

sister Mutsumi, I just might go after her."

Now it was Kuu's turn to look at Nike in dismay.

"They've got a word for people like you in bro's world, you siscon."

"Siscon? What's that? Some sort of title?"

"You know what, forget it... More importantly, you know what we're

doing next, right?" Kuu asked, regaining his composure as the head of the

Republic.

Nike also snapped back into serious mode and said, "Yes. We keep

intimidating them as we close in on the city, yeah? Making as big of a show

of it as we can."

"Yeah. Zem's got something like 100,000 troops in total, but most of

them are out supporting Fuuga. When you consider that they need to have

troops on their border with Friedonia too, even if that place is one of their

key defensive positions, they can't have left even 10,000 guys in there."

"And that's why we'll be able to intimidate them—acting like we could

crush them underfoot easily and getting them to run away, right? If our

enemies are smart, they'll likely pull back their defensive lines to

concentrate their forces."

"...Basically." Kuu let out a mischievous chuckle. "Bro and his prime

minister only ordered us to intimidate them. If the enemy there tells their

guys who are out supporting Fuuga that their homeland's under attack,

they'll get antsy and want to go home. That'll be our job done."

"Then is there any need to force an attack?"

"What do you mean? If I'm coming out all this way, then there's no

problem with having a city or two to show for it."

With a boyish grin on his face, Kuu continued.

"Let's call in Taru to turn the cities we take into impregnable fortresses.

She's got all these ideas that she had to give up on because of the pushback

there'd be if we did them in one of the Republic's cities. But a city we took

off the enemy? We can remodel it all we like and they won't be able to

complain much. This place looks like it's got potential for agriculture too...

Oh, I know! We'll drill a tunnel through this mountain and hook it up to the

Republic! That'll make maintaining our supply lines easier too!"

Nike's eyes widened as he realized that despite the innocent look on his

face, Kuu was steadily thinking through how he'd rule the area after the

war. As carefree as he might seem, Kuu was fit to stand at the top of a

nation, and Nike now served him.

"Well, I don't see a problem with that," Nike replied, subconsciously

tightening the grip on his spear. He was too proud to let it show on his face,

so he deliberately remained aloof in his response. "I know I'd prefer to be

somewhere less cold. That city looks like it'd fit the bill."

"Sure would. If the mercenaries defending the place put up a resistance,

I'll be counting on you to show us your stuff. Let's race up the walls

together and send them packing."

"You're going to the front line too, Master Kuu? If you don't hold back

a little more, Lady Taru is going to get upset, you know?"

"Ookyakya! Well, keep it a secret from her!"

In the middle of their friendly banter...

"Jeez! Would you two stop talking like I'm not here?!" Leporina

protested, still in an embarrassing position.

◇ ◇ ◇

Also at the same time, on the east edge of the Great Tiger Kingdom,

countless ships appeared in the open sea next to a port city on the coast...

These vessels of varying sizes, towed by sea dragons and horned

doldons, belonged to the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Kingdom's

fleet. Responding to changes in naval warfare, the Archipelago Kingdom

had worked with the Kingdom of Friedonia to augment their existing fleet

of wooden and ironclad ships with steel battleships like the Albert II. These

new ships could carry large cannons and anti-air repeating bolt throwers.

Incidentally, Shabon had said to Souma, "I would like an island-type

carrier. I will pay for it, so would you please give us one," but obviously he

had to refuse. However, Shabon had learned to negotiate from Kuu, and was

far more persistent than Souma and the others expected. To that end, they

had agreed that once enough new carriers were built and it was time to

retire the originals, she could have one. Shabon was currently developing

into a determined and stubborn queen.

Nine-Headed Dragon Queen Shabon was on the bridge of the largest,

most impressive battleship in her fleet, the New Dragon King.

"They are far too defenseless... Did they never consider that we might

attack by sea while Sir Fuuga is away?" Shabon said to Kishun, her royal

consort and prime minister. She watched the soldiers of the port city run

around willy-nilly in response to the arrival of the fleet.

"Who can blame them?" Kishun said in response. "Sir Fuuga's people

are of the steppes, masters of war on land. They have never been attacked

from the sea, so they cannot be expected to be wary of such an event. I am

sure that he simply left the task of ruling this port city to its former lord

when they submitted to him."

"Just like Sir Souma told us, then?"

In the past two years, Souma had explained the importance of sea power

to Shabon, as well as Fuuga's presumed lack of awareness about it. This

meant that the only country on this continent other than the Kingdom of

Friedonia and the Archipelago Kingdom with a proper understanding of sea

power was the Gran Chaos Empire. And he'd explained this to Shabon,

who, due to the geographical makeup of her country, best understood the

importance and was able to build her forces to take advantage of it.

If he had kept it secret, he could have built the Kingdom's naval forces

into a power unmatched by any other country's, but that would have led to

pushback, and likely the breakup of the Maritime Alliance. If the

Archipelago Kingdom would become hostile to him and start engaging in

piracy, that would be incredibly tough to deal with.

Instead, Souma and Hakuya had decided it was best to explain it to her

from the beginning and arrange things so that they both benefited. Even if

the Kingdom's fleet was not absolute, so long as they had the strongest fleet

in the Maritime Alliance, they could maintain peace at sea.

Shabon smiled a daring and regal smile. After having given birth to two

children, she was developing a dignified presence that rivaled Juna's or

Excel's.

"Then we will have to show them what it means to fight at sea."

"Indeed." Kishun nodded. "We will teach them the importance of being

able to make and act on decisions immediately."

Shabon swung her arm towards the port city. "As planned, our first

target is the artillery battery in the port. Our second is the military ships in

port. Let us neutralize them before they can come out. All ships, open fire."

"Roger. All ships, open fire!"

Boom! On Shabon and Kishun's orders, the New Dragon King's guns

roared.

With that as their signal, the rest of the fleet began bombarding the port

with their cannons, lion-dog cannons, and other gunpowder armaments. The

countless shells all slammed into the battery that had been built to protect

the entrance to the port. These were not explosive shells, but ones that

relied on pure kinetic force, so there were no showy pillars of flame or

smoke.

Still, as the buildings in the artillery battery crumbled, it was clear to see

that it had been neutralized. That was when the ships left port, possibly to

intercept them, or perhaps to flee.

"Much too slow. They lack training."

Shabon ordered her fleet to continue firing, and the New Dragon King's

main cannon roared once again. Its cannonball slammed into the largest

enemy battleship—likely their flagship. Even at a distance, they could

clearly see its bridge collapsing and falling like a crumbling tower.

"Excellent." Shabon gave a satisfied nod. "Our gunners are superb."

"Indeed. Ours have far more experience than theirs do, after all... Now

then, Lady Shabon. Our task from the Kingdom's prime minister was to

'destroy Fuuga's military vessels,' which he expected to be gathered here,

correct?"

Nodding, she replied, "Yes. As well as the destruction of any warships

under construction. Even if they failed to understand sea power, Sir Fuuga

and Sir Hashim would not be amused that we seized control of the seas. So

they had to be building a fleet at their port city on the east coast. We were

directed to seize or destroy it."

"And we do not have to take this city?"

"They have a land connection to it, after all. We would struggle to hold

it when Sir Fuuga returns," Shabon said with a shrug before pointing to the

west. "More importantly, this city is near Sir Fuuga's homeland on the

steppes, so now that we have threatened it..."

"I see. It should serve to shake up the old hands among Fuuga's forces."

Kishun let out a groan of admiration. "Then what do we do now? Their

defenses are neutralized; if we are not going to occupy the city, should we

at least destroy their storehouses?"

"No... It would be unwise to incur too much ire from the people who

support Sir Fuuga. If all we attack are their military facilities, that will

create a difference in the emotional response from the military and the

civilian population. Treating them equally will only serve to unite our

enemy."

"Very true."

"It would be best not to touch their food stores, lest people starve. I

forbid any looting that targets civilians as well, of course. See to it that

everyone has strict orders to that effect."

"Yes, ma'am! It will be done."

"However..." Shabon stuck her tongue out and smiled mischievously.

"Let us help ourselves to the weapons and ammunition that they have no

doubt stocked at the base. If possible, I would also like to drag back the

warships that are under construction, as well as ones that have been

neutralized. And all the resources they have for building more too."

Kishun stared blankly at her for a moment before smiling wryly.

"You've become quite merciless..."

"Does that hurt your image of me?"

"No, it is most reliable."

"Hee hee, good, then. I think we will have some nice souvenirs for

Sharan and Sharon."

"You mean to give the children warships as presents...?" Kishun gave an

exasperated shrug.

Their children, Princess Sharan and Prince Sharon, were currently in the

care of the former Nine-Headed Dragon King, Shana, who had been

entrusted with the rule of the Twin Islands. They'd indeed both smiled

wryly when they saw how the stern face of the former monarch softened

and he became a doting grandfather.

Shabon clapped her hands and said, "Now, let us do as a pirate fleet

should, and help ourselves to everything we can."

Having become a queen and the mother of two infant children, Shabon

had become highly reliable.

◇ ◇ ◇

At the same time, as Mercenary State Zem and the port city in the east

of the Great Tiger Kingdom were being thrown into chaos, there was great

confusion unfolding in the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State...

Thirty thousand forces from the Friedonian National Defense Force had

appeared on their border. People screamed and ran about in terror, and all

signs of life vanished from nearby cities and towns. They were all terrified

by the forces of the Kingdom, and piled into the holy city of Yumuen as

refugees.

Overrun by incoming people, Yumuen was left unable to send the

defenders they had left there to the border.

Meanwhile, the source of that chaos—the Friedonian army composed of

30,000 soldiers mainly from the National Land Defense Force—made no

attempt to cross the border. They were not firing so much as a bolt of magic

or an arrow into the country. They acted as if they were "just passing by" as

they assembled there, displaying their might to the Orthodox Papal State.

And yet what terrified the people—the true source of such pandemonium—

was the general leading this force.

They screamed his name as they ran.

"I-It's Julius! Julius is here!"

"The bloody prince Julius?! W-We have to flee, quickly!"

Everyone from the common folk to rank-and-file soldiers was shaken by

news of his arrival, and things devolved from there. They dropped

everything and ran like people who'd panicked after encountering a bear in

the mountains.

With an indescribable expression on his face, Julius watched this unfold

from the main camp of the Kingdom's forces. It was like he'd bitten into an

unpleasant food...but with a far-off look in his eyes like he had resigned

himself to something.

"The people of the Orthodox Papal State are awfully frightened of you,

Sir Julius," called out an easygoing voice from behind him.

Julius slowly turned to see Mio Carmine standing there in her armor.

Because they were mainly using the National Land Defense Force, they had

called in Mio and assigned her to be Julius's second-in-command.

Incidentally, when she got the order, she and her fiancé Colbert had this

exchange:

"Finally, a chance to serve as a warrior again! I have to participate!"

"Hold on, Madam Mio! What about the Carmine domain?!"

"I'll leave that to you, Sir Bee, my beloved fiancé!"

"Since when did fiancé mean slave?"

"I hear people talk about being a slave to love all the time."

"No, that's not very witty, okay!"

Julius looked at Mio with dead fish eyes.

"Oh, it's you...Madam Mio."

"Yikes! You look even more dead inside than usual. What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just realizing how much it hurts to have things

pushed in my face from when I was less experienced..." Julius sighed and

looked towards the Lunarian Orthodox Papal State. "It was after I took over

the Amidonian throne from my late father... I ruthlessly suppressed the

believers who the Orthodox Papal State stirred into rebellion against me.

My infamy must have made its way back to the Orthodox Papal State

proper."

"Ah... That would explain how scared they were, yeah." Mio clapped

her hands together as she made the connection.

Julius sighed. "I thought it was my only option then, and I still don't

think I was wrong, but...then Tia's face flashes through my mind. I imagine

her being saddened by the blood of all those I trampled beneath my feet."

"Perhaps... But there's more to her, isn't there?" With a deliberate smile,

Mio patted Julius on the back. "Tia looks innocent, but she's got a level

head on her shoulders. Even if she learned about your bad reputation, she

has the capacity to accept it and keep it close to her heart. She's not just

going to sit around being sad."

"Madam Mio... Heh." Julius finally cracked a smile. "I never would

have thought a daughter of the House of Carmine would say that to me... To

think I had fought against them in the past."

"Well, us military folk need to take the good with the bad. That's what

my father always told me. If you'd left the rebels to do as they pleased,

someone else would have been hurt instead, so we can't say your actions

were all bad. And, look. Thanks to your infamous reputation, we've been

able to stir the Orthodox Papal State without fighting."

"Using everything he has, including my bad reputation... The prime

minister comes up with some nasty ideas."

It was Hakuya who ordered Julius to lead 30,000 troops to go stand on

their border with the Orthodox Papal State. In light of his past suppression

of their believers, Hakuya judged this would be enough to shake them, and

was why he'd given firm orders not to take the troops across the border.

Because there was no need to invade, everyone—except Julius and a

number of soldiers like Mio who had been sent to guard him—were weak

troops who might as well have been cardboard cutouts.

Mio looked at him quizzically.

"But are you sure we shouldn't go in? The plan is for the Republic to

attack from the south, the Archipelago Kingdom from the east, and us from

the southeast. Meanwhile, His Majesty leads a unit to join up with the

Empire in the west, right? If all four prongs of our attack were serious,

wouldn't Fuuga's forces fall to pieces?"

"It would end in a quagmire..." Julius said, crossing his arms with a

pensive look on his face. "If the Maritime Alliance were to launch a serious

attack just as Fuuga was about to destroy the Empire, we could likely deal

him a crippling blow. However, were we to do that, Fuuga's supporters

would deeply resent Souma. They'd see him as the worst kind of person,

marrying Fuuga's sister on one hand, then actively obstructing his brotherin-law's dream on the other."

"That's a rather selfish interpretation of it, especially when they've gone

and destroyed Madam Maria's dreams themselves."

"Well, that's just how people are. Fuuga and Hashim would no doubt

make a lot of noise about how unfair the Kingdom's been to them. And

from there it would turn into a quagmire—an endless war that went on until

one faction or the other was destroyed. Although, Hashim likely diverted all

his forces to the Empire on the assumption that Souma would never do

something so foolish..."

"I see..."

Julius let out a sigh.

"This is likely where the real challenge starts for the Black-robed Prime

Minister."

◇ ◇ ◇

"What we need in this war is not victory. In fact, it would be

unnecessary."

At this point, Prime Minister Hakuya was in the castle at Parnam, in

front of a map of the continent, explaining his strategy to Tomoe, Ichiha,

and Yuriga.

"If we prevent Sir Fuuga's conquest of the Empire while dealing him a

major blow, that will earn us the enmity of those who lionize him. Once that

happens, even if we take a city, it will not be stable, and Sir Fuuga will

easily be able to show up to retake it. And to keep Sir Fuuga from invading

us, the Maritime Alliance would need to constantly keep sending troops to

areas Sir Fuuga is not in, forcing him to repeatedly take them back in a

game of whack-a-mole."

That was almost like the final stages of the Three Kingdoms period in

China. In order to avoid being destroyed by the more populous and

powerful Wei, Shu and Wu took turns attacking them, making them split

their forces between the east and the west. There are those who believe that

this is why Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei continued the Northern Expeditions

despite Shu having little strength as a nation.

"It would be a quagmire. The era would grind to a halt, and all factions

would be exhausted. If a demon wave were to come from the Demon Lord's

Domain then, none of our countries would be able to recover. It would be

impossible for our exhausted nations to absorb the fresh waves of refugees

while fighting a defensive war. We need to give people...the impression that

Sir Fuuga won."

"That's why you didn't order them to take any of the cities, right, Mr.

Hakuya?" Ichiha asked.

"Exactly," Hakuya answered with a nod. "It might be fine to take one

city, but if we reach for any more, it will give the impression we were

victorious over Sir Fuuga. What we are looking for is to give Fuuga's forces

a Pyrrhic victory. The equivalent of him winning by decision."

Hakuya pointed to the Empire on the map.

"What the Great Tiger Kingdom wants now more than anything is the

Empire's bureaucrats. These are the people who know how to run a large

nation. If he can get his hands on them, then the vast lands of the Empire

are only an added bonus. That's why I expect he'll use an insider to quickly

assault the Imperial capital and force Madam Maria to surrender. In fact, it

would be a problem for him if Madam Maria were to die. Should that

happen, he would invoke the wrath of her supporters and the newly

acquired Empire would be unruly, leaving him unable to assign his new

administrators to positions in the Great Tiger Kingdom. He's going to want

to take the citizens of the capital hostage in order to force Madam Maria to

surrender. However, anyone who knows Madam Maria knows that is

wishful thinking. Because she is the type who would choose her own death

over surrender if she thought that was what was best for the people of the

Empire."

"That's what Big Brother said too," Tomoe interjected. "He said that's

the kind of person Maria is."

Hakuya nodded. "Yes. If that happens, Sir Fuuga and his people won't

be able to get what they want. The Great Tiger Kingdom and the Empire

will both be harmed, and no one will benefit from it."

"Yeah. That's why I decided to cooperate with Sir Souma," Yuriga said,

crossing her arms and scratching her cheek. "I told my brother, 'If I'm

going to marry Sir Souma, I need to put the Kingdom's interests first,' but I

don't want either country to get hurt. I want to do everything I can to ensure

that both sides benefit. That said, after listening to Mr. Hakuya, I think my

brother shouldn't completely destroy the Empire right now."

"Yuriga... Are you okay with this?" Tomoe asked, worried, but Yuriga

nodded.

"My brother needs to learn. There are some things you can't get by

winning all the time."

"It may be that we would benefit from both their countries collapsing...

With the Empire destroyed and the seeds of unrest sown in the Great Tiger

Kingdom, that would serve to elevate the importance of the Maritime

Alliance."

When Hakuya said this, Tomoe blinked at him.

"No...! Then we'd be abandoning Maria and Jeanne. You and Big

Brother have been friends with them all this time, haven't you?"

"We have. But even as a prime minister, there are times when I may be

pushed to make such decisions. Madam Jeanne understands this. That's

probably why she told me I didn't have to strain myself on her account.

I...couldn't find a way to save the Empire in its current state. That being the

case, I couldn't put my own feelings first and send our people to intervene

in a war because of my personal affection for her."

"Mr. Hakuya..."

Seeing the pained look on Tomoe's face, Hakuya suddenly smiled.

"But one word from His Majesty changed the conditions entirely."

The day Jeanne had rejected his help...

"It is impossible to protect this country and maintain the Empire. If we

recklessly try to defend both, it will turn into a quagmire. No matter how I

think about it...I can't find the answer I want."

As Hakuya hung his head, Souma told him this: "There's no need to

keep the Empire perfectly intact. Maria wants the Empire to shrink."

When he heard that, Hakuya snapped his head up, eyes wide with

surprise. Souma continued.

"Maria is exhausted with the current situation where she is the only

person supporting an empire that's far too massive. All this time, she's

wanted to find a way to peacefully dismantle it. She opened up to me about

that back when we met in Zem."

"I can't believe the Saint of the Empire would say that..."

"Listen, Hakuya. You said it was impossible to maintain the Empire, but

if there's no need to, then we can choose a slightly better future, right?

After all, we've got Fuuga, who wants more land and people, and Maria,

who wants to cut some land and people loose. I'll bet you could find a way

to make this work out in a way that saves Maria and Jeanne, couldn't you?"

Then, moving to another place and showing him the preparations he'd

been making, Souma said this to Hakuya: "I want you to use that head of

yours to devise the optimal future for us."