Prosnark's Eastward Advance (3)
The Hand of Prosnark
Coincidence? The moment you voiced opposition to war with Prosnark, an envoy from Prosnark arrived.
Just what reason could have brought the Prosnark envoys here?
It had been ages since I’d last seen an event message this utterly useless.
For a split second I nearly shouted Quit screwing with me, damn it!! out loud.
I managed to swallow the outburst, forced my focus back into place, and kept the tension coiled tight as the great doors of the throne hall swung open mid-audience and the Prosnark delegation stepped into view.
What followed hit harder than expected. Four hulking figures in heavy-armored power suits lumbered in, each shouldering a massive, coffin-shaped apparatus of unknown purpose. Yet even that spectacle paled beside the figure walking quietly ahead of them—someone whose entire body was wrapped in robe-like cloth so thoroughly that their shape was impossible to make out.
The instant I saw them, my mind flashed to the hijab-wearing women of the Middle East from my previous life, the ones who used to cry Allahu Akbar, and the tension drained out of me before I could stop it.
Whoa, no. Not now.
Letting my guard down in an official setting—especially right after I’d been giving something that almost counted as a speech—would have been pure insanity. I straightened my posture and tried to claw the tension back…
Only for the Prosnark envoys to stop dead and stare straight at me.
I froze, wondering what I’d done wrong, and stared back while my brain scrambled for answers.
“…”
“…”
“Ah.”
Then it hit me. I’d been the only one still standing on the briefing dais. My mind went blank.
Well, shit.
At that same moment, elsewhere in the hall…
“My daughter, your role in this war is of the utmost importance.”
“I will fulfill the command I have been given.”
She had come to the very heart of the Seveli Empire to complete the mission entrusted by her “father,” and a strange mix of emotions was swirling inside her.
So that man is Duke Arto, the one they call the Guardian of Seveli?
She had heard the rumors often enough—how he had made fools of the Coalition’s finest diplomatic strategists, how he supposedly pulled the strings of the Galactic League from the shadows. Meeting him in person, however, left her with an entirely different impression.
Common sense says they should have allied with those Kerzin scum and come charging in during this war.
Even if Seveli joined the fight, her faith that her side would ultimately win remained unshaken. But the damage such a conflict would cause would throw serious obstacles in the path of their grand design to dominate the galaxy. That was why they had come bearing the long-ignored compensation owed to Seveli.
Better than expected.
With her own clear eyes she had watched the ever-arrogant Kerzin trash leave the throne hall looking thoroughly deflated the moment the audience was announced. Through specialized spy equipment she had even learned what had transpired inside.
This man could become the single most important piece we need to complete our great work.
He had refused the war, yet the gaze he turned on her and on Prosnark itself held no fear—only a cold, assessing clarity. At the same time she remembered the brief flicker of relaxed tension when he first looked at them. All in all, he was a difficult man to sum up in a single phrase.
Perhaps Father planted him as a deep-cover agent… No. That’s going too far.
Possessing one of the sharpest minds in all of Prosnark, she reached her conclusion quickly.
First priority: approach him and build a rapport.
So she decided to greet them with a courtesy utterly unlike the usual Prosnarkian manner—the most respectful tone she could manage.
“Greetings, Your Majesty the Emperor of the Seveli Empire, and to all present.”
The linguistic rudeness was still leagues beyond anything the Kerzin had ever managed, yet perhaps because we had just endured their barely-veiled threats…
“Yes… good to meet you.”
Our Emperor answered in a voice that seemed to have shed maybe ten percent of its usual loathing for Prosnark.
That was as far as any “friendly” reaction went, of course.
“How dare you set foot in this place!”
“Have you come to declare war on us this time?”
From the surrounding ministers and high officials poured an unrestrained torrent of pure hatred aimed at Prosnark.
But the other side had at least made a show of courtesy. If we alone continued to be rude, the negotiations that followed would start under a heavy debuff.
“Everyone, please calm yourselves for a moment.”
I flicked my fingers and drew every eye. The monkey-like frenzy of the crowd subsided into an uncomfortable silence.
“My thanks for your consideration, Duke Arto.”
“You know who I am?”
“Of course. There are… not many in our Coalition who do not know of you.”
Damn it, the way you phrase that makes me sound like some Prosnark spy.
The moment the robed figure finished speaking, several people in the audience shot me distinctly odd looks. My mood grew even more complicated.
Fortunately the Prosnarkian seemed to notice the shift in atmosphere. She gave a small nod and continued.
“Let us set aside trivial matters. To get to the point: I have come as the ambassador of the Prosnark Coalition, granted full plenipotentiary authority over all affairs concerning the Seveli Empire.”
“That is fortunate. Had they simply sent some nobody to waste our time, the conversation would have taken a very different turn.”
Even under Artraya’s curt reply the Prosnark ambassador showed no reaction and pressed on.
“As for our purpose in coming… originally it was to prevent the Seveli Empire from allying with the Kerzin side in the present war. However…”
She paused and shot me a sidelong glance.
What? What?
I was still stuck halfway down from the dais with my arms crossed, so I simply stared back until she returned her gaze forward.
“…the fact that the Seveli Empire itself has chosen to affirm its neutrality has given us the impression that your empire rigorously abides by its treaties.”
“Hmph.”
Artraya merely snorted at the ambassador’s words.
“There is, however, another reason for our visit…”
With that she turned her head and gestured. The four power-armored soldiers carefully lowered the massive coffin they had been carrying.
Thud!
Even set down with the utmost care, the weight of the thing was unmistakable—proof that the coffin was every bit as heavy as its size suggested.
But what the hell did they bring that for?
That question remained unanswered, and it was clearly shared by Artraya and every high official present. All of them stared at the coffin now resting in the center of the hall as though it might contain a bomb.
“What exactly is that?”
“This,” the ambassador said, “is the recompense the Prosnark Coalition offers for the Irtelan Treaty.”
“…!”
As the words left her mouth the coffin opened, and the thing revealed inside left every face in the hall frozen in pure shock.
Clank! Whirr…
And no wonder—because what lay within was something no one could possibly have imagined.
Bubble… bubble…
Who in their right mind would have expected a vast interstellar empire to bring, as compensation for a ten-year-old treaty, a young girl sealed inside a test tube and connected to a tangle of hoses and pipes?
“Well?” the ambassador asked, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.
That blank indifference, directed at the stunned officials, was enough to ignite their fury.
“Th-this is an insult! He is mocking us!”
“Your Majesty! After seizing more than ten resource systems they wait ten years and then offer us this?!”
“Even if we are a class-based society, there are lines that must not be crossed!!”
“Your Majesty! We must declare war on Prosnark at once!”
Ministers and assembly members alike were shouting. Even Artraya’s hand was clamped on the armrest of the throne with enough force to crush it. At this rate war could break out right here and now.
But…
“Your Majesty… may this servant speak?”
“Speak, Minister of the Executive Ministry.”
“Prosnark has paid the price for Irtelan. It seems to me there is no longer any reason to fight.”
My words painted every face in the audience—including Artraya’s—with pure disbelief.
“Have you lost your mind, Minister?!”
“Your Majesty, the Minister is acting like a traitor!”
“His lack of experience is making him ready to surrender imperial interests for the sake of some worthless notion of human rights!”
Artraya, for her part, seemed to be laboring under a particularly strange misunderstanding.
“…So that is your type, is it?”
Whatever else I might let slide, that particular misconception needed correcting immediately. I opened my mouth to speak—
“As expected of Duke Arto. You alone recognize its true value.”
—only for the Prosnark ambassador’s catastrophically timed remark to slam the door on my explanation.
“Even if no one else notices, I was certain you would.”
“Uh… yes.”
While I stood there stunned into silence, the ambassador swept her gaze around the hall.
“And unlike those vermin of the Trade Coalition, the Prosnark Coalition does not stoop to petty tricks.”
“How are we supposed to believe that?!”
“Exactly! How can we trust someone who will not even reveal their own identity?!”
At the accusations leveled against her, the ambassador simply nodded.
“Indeed. In a way, those words cut to the very heart of the present situation.”
Then she reached up, pulled back the hood that had hidden her face, and let a cascade of shimmering sky-blue hair fall free. Turquoise eyes gleamed as she spoke.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am the Prosnark ambassador to the Seveli Empire, vested with full authority.”
She drew a breath, then continued.
“My name is Jad Samiya Halabi'dus, daughter of Fern'dus, Supreme Commander of the Prosnark Coalition.”
It was as good as a formal certification, delivered to everyone present, of just how serious the Prosnark Coalition truly was.
And her bombshells were not finished.
“As for the true value of this gift… it seems Duke Arto understands it best of all.”
“…Hm?”
“You are every bit as remarkable as the rumors claim. Therefore… I shall entrust this to you.”
“???”
Why the hell are you giving it to me?