Lord of War (4)
With Artraia’s trust(?) secured, my actions grew even more unrestrained.
“There is not a shred of hesitation in my heart or deeds… All of this is justice!”
“That’s right, casually stirring up chaos in other nations and quietly obstructing the crisis agenda by pushing something like the Cosmic Plant Protection Act.”
“…”
“And on top of that, you’re using Rixi, our secret vassal state, to block the Grand Fleet of Ztrakhpor that was about to send support on its own.”
Perhaps it was because of the situation.
Even with Artraia standing right beside us, Riel was taking jabs at me.
“Arto.”
“Hm?”
“I like it. How should I put it… I think an empire should go at least this far.”
Artraia’s eyes as she spoke burned as if the spirit of imperialism itself had caught fire.
No—more precisely, it felt as though the word “Great” had been slapped in front of “British” imperialism.
But in that moment, I realized one crucial fact.
Supreme leader is female… monarchy… dirty underhanded schemes… holding colonies (vassal states)…
If this kept up, the problem was that the Holy Sevelian Empire would turn into the actual British Empire.
No—my empire!!
And on top of that…
“So Arto, what’s the next scheme?”
Artraia, as if possessed by the spirit of the British Empire, beamed a pure, sunny smile and demanded still more dirty schemes from me.
Seeing that, I had a strong premonition that if I pulled any further dirty schemes, the empire would darken in an entirely different sense.
“What more? If we run additional operations here, the counterintelligence agencies of other nations will catch our tail.”
“…Is that so.”
I decided to end the dirty schemes right here and perform an exorcism on Artraia, who seemed possessed by the spirit of the British Empire.
“And Artraia, the capabilities of other nations’ counterintelligence agencies are far greater than we imagine.”
“Mmm…”
“Besides, little by little, an atmosphere of suspicion toward our empire regarding the current situation is starting to form.”
“…Haven’t you already prepared a countermeasure for that, Arto?”
Perhaps because I was denying the very results I had worked so hard on—and that she herself had praised—Artraia, still possessed by the evil spirit of the British Empire, looked quite dejected as she made her final resistance.
“Of course, as I mentioned before, we’re prepared to blame Prosnak if we’re found out.”
“As expected…!”
“But as you know, even that has its limits… and if it gets exposed, this time Prosnak and the other nations will try to eliminate us.”
“…”
When I brought up Prosnak—the all-purpose panacea and space Nazis—Artraia, finally grasping reality, nodded and answered.
“Yeah… then I guess it can’t be helped.”
Contrary to what she said, there was no real chance of the agents carrying out the espionage and dirty schemes being discovered.
From the start, genetic-level physical modifications and mind-type psionic ability users had been mobilized to complete deep brainwashing.
They unconsciously performed the actions we wanted, yet truly believed themselves to be working for Prosnak.
Of course, if I revealed this story outright, that damn spirit of the British Empire would torment Artraia all over again—so it was obvious what would happen.
I carefully buried the matter deep in my heart.
“Artraia.”
“Yes?”
“And now, it’s about time to intervene not with schemes and politics, but legitimately.”
I advised the dejected Artraia, still reeling from the exorcism, that we should prepare to give those self-important pirates a proper thrashing.
“I see. Arto, you think now is the opportunity, right?”
“To be precise, since we don’t know how the current situation will turn out… I’m saying we should prepare in advance.”
Hearing that advice, Artraia’s eyes sparkled as she listened intently to my words.
Not long after, another round of condemnation and a crisis agenda regarding the pirates was raised in the Galactic Federation.
But this time, the ones who had raised the agenda—namely the eastern nations including Mekt-Pux—had their trust in the Galactic Federation hitting rock bottom.
How serious was that anger?
“If they ignore our agenda again this time and pass something like the Cosmic Whale Protection Act without any intervention, just watch.”
The moment the bill regarding the Warlords they had raised failed to pass…
The eastern nations of the galaxy would judge that the Galactic Federation could no longer fulfill its role.
And they had firmly resolved to withdraw from the Galactic Federation.
But…
“Everyone, look! Those vile pirate scum are oppressing the good and innocent! Forcing them into horrific slave lives and plundering the resources of perfectly fine nations!”
“Hear, hear! Hear, hear!”
The Holy Sevelian Empire, which had remained silent during the last Federation Council, was finally expressing its opinion in the Federation.
And not merely simple condemnation and protest against the Warlords, but pushing a full-fledged joint protest letter and the introduction of a crisis bill.
Sensing that something was different from before…
“This is our chance to help our homeland!”
“Hurry and support the Sevelian Empire’s opinion. If it’s now, we won’t have to suffer from pointless nonsense.”
With the enthusiastic support of the eastern nations swayed by that momentum, and the vassal states of the Holy Sevelian Empire also deciding to follow their mother nation’s opinion—
“The result of this council… as the approval rate has exceeded a majority, we announce that the crisis designation bill regarding the ‘Warlords’ of the galactic east proposed by the Holy Sevelian Empire has passed.”
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!!”
The moment the bill passed, cheers erupted continuously from the seats of the numerous eastern nations—including Mekt-Pux—who had been bled dry by the Warlords. It was only natural.
But regarding that phenomenon, the nomads who had been trampling the east… no, the Warlords and their subordinates did not show any particularly strong reaction.
“Come as much as you like. Do you think we would fear the fleets of weak civilized people?”
Rather, as if they cared nothing for Galactic Federation regulations or whatever else, they poured even fiercer offensives along the front lines, gradually expanding their domains.
But what it meant to be designated a “crisis”—that is, a public enemy of the entire galaxy—by the Galactic Federation, they would soon learn firsthand.
“We must eliminate the danger to the galaxy!”
“Yeah!”
The western nations of the galaxy, which until now had been unable even to send volunteer troops due to various issues, began pouring the large quantities of ships they had been preserving into the east as the borders blocked by Federation law were opened.
Even Prosnak, which had been quietly sitting in the galactic north, was forced by the bill embodying the entire Galactic Federation’s opinion… to open its borders with no choice left.
“~Ni, ni, ni…”
“Stop fooling around and speak properly, Riel.”
I pulled the etiquette injection rod from my bosom again toward Riel, who had been joking around instead of briefing.
“Okay! I’ll speak right away!”
Only after seeing that did Riel whine and begin briefing through the map.
“Then I’ll explain centered on the Warlords.”
“Go ahead.”
When Riel manipulated the screen, the northern region of the Warlords’ territory enlarged, and the fortresses, industrial zones, and fleet markers there appeared on the display.
“First, the entire northern front is in a state where the fleets of Ztrakhpor and Kar-Du that broke through the Prosnak border zone have begun an offensive on the Kerzin fortress zone.”
As Riel spoke and manipulated further, various combat videos taken by our agents floated up as attached materials on the screen.
“So the Grand Fleet stepped in directly. But it doesn’t seem to be pushed back as easily as expected.”
“That’s right. Prosnak opened the border, but they stopped right there and aren’t providing any supply or force support at all.”
“In other words, the burden on Ztrakhpor for pouring out an offensive is severe.”
“Yep, that’s right.”
Riel nodded at my words, then soon manipulated the screen and turned the view southward.
“And this is the current southern front situation. The fleet with us and the Rixi Republic as the main force has just joined the Loirakan front and is engaging in battle.”
Along with Riel’s words, the screen showed the fleets of the Warlords and the Uko`Praknar who had submitted to them.
And to counter that, the fleets of us, Loirakan, Rixi, and all sorts of small and medium nations clinging in large numbers to form the front line came into my view.
“Excellent.”
Anyone could see that we were overwhelming both in numbers and now in “quality,” so I inwardly thought this event might end rather anticlimactically.
Even fighting three nations alone had been barely even, after all.
If western nations were added on top of that, even the Warlords would have a hard time holding out.
But not long after, I was forcibly made to realize just how vicious the Warlords’ difficulty adjustment truly was.