The Warlord (6)
Once the defensive line collapsed and the fleet was annihilated, Zeltech chose only one path forward.
"We'll produce fleets for you. So... how about we stop fighting now?"
It was a strangely twisted method—something that sounded vaguely like a declaration of surrender, yet in practice was nothing of the sort.
Had Arto been watching this unfold in real time, he would have worn an extremely complicated expression and muttered something like, That... never showed up in the game...
Unfortunately, Arto was nowhere near the scene, so the two sides skipped any such idle chatter and hammered out a deal in the blink of an eye.
Whatever the process, the fact remained that the Warlord now possessed a stable rear area. Leaving behind only a small fleet for surveillance and "public order," he immediately led his forces onward, launching the next offensive toward his new objective.
That objective, of course, was Mekt-Pux—the force that had just punched a hole through the defensive line the Warlord himself had laid down and was now trying to break through the front.
"Time for revenge!"
"Remember this—mobile warfare is not your exclusive property!"
Though the losses from the war had been heavy, the Mekt-Pux fleet fought like berserkers. In response, the Warlord did not send some half-baked force; he personally led his flagship and the elite guard fleet, engaged, then withdrew.
Naturally, the moment the very source of the war appeared, the Mekt-Pux fleet lost all reason. Abandoning any thought of rear security, they threw themselves into an endless pursuit of the Warlord's fleet...
A full week had passed since I first heard that story.
"You little bastard, are you going to be a spy or not?!"
"I won't do it! Dat-ssi refuses!!"
Just as I was delivering my usual lecture on water to the spies who were slowly starting to become active again—
"Minister, a new report just came up from the eastern theater. Want to take a look?"
"Hold on... Ah, right. Deal with those guys however you see fit."
When Riel arrived with the fresh report, I issued additional orders to the agents handling the spies, then—
Beep.
—ended the call, leaned back against the sofa, and looked at her.
"Yeah, around now is when the reports should start coming in... but why are you bringing it to me?"
"Well, of course, because the Minister finds it entertaining, right?"
"..."
"Here you go."
Unable to deny it, I nodded and accepted the report from Riel, speaking as I did.
"Last I saw, the Warlord was being chased by the Mekt-Pux fleet, right?"
"Yep, assuming my memory circuits haven't developed an error."
At her words I began reading the report while forming my own predictions.
"Then this report's contents should be similar—either the Warlord got caught, or he escaped, or..."
But the moment I actually started reading, the situation turned out far worse than I had imagined.
"What? Why did Mekt-Pux suddenly get wiped out?"
They had been pressing hard enough to chase the flagship itself—how the hell did they get annihilated out of nowhere?
Could it be that the Warlord's flagship was some kind of monstrous overhaul like our Ash, capable of taking on an entire fleet alone?
Whether that thought showed on my face or not, Riel told me the detailed contents were available and to just tap the terminal.
And the truth that emerged was something a normal person like me could never have predicted.
"...So from the very beginning, the Warlord used himself, his flagship, and the guard fleet as bait?"
"Yep. Once the Mekt-Pux fleet stretched their formation and supply lines thin from the reckless pursuit, the Warlord's fleets hit them all at once and wiped them out."
"Hmm."
Reading the rest of the report, I learned that aside from a few ships that managed emergency warp escapes, the Mekt-Pux fleet had been completely destroyed. The Warlord had then reorganized the chaotic fleets and was now heading south—toward the theater where our own forces were currently engaged.
And once I finished reading, a chill ran down my spine as I suddenly thought of a certain great man and brilliant commander from my previous life.
Napoleon.
"Whoa. This is something else."
Was this how the Europeans of that era felt, forced to fight Napoleon in real time?
How do you take a situation where the overall force disparity is overwhelming, reverse the local force ratio through sheer operational brilliance, win, and then win again until the scales are evened?
And he was doing it not with some tiny detachment, but while commanding fleets numbering in the hundreds or even thousands of ships.
In the game, flashy strategies and tactics like that never even came into play.
I felt a quiet desire take root in one corner of my mind—to somehow bring this Warlord into the Empire, the same way I had with Ash and Alina.
But I quickly shoved that thought aside with the cold reality that it was impossible.
In the game, the Warlord dies no matter what you do. Have to give up on that.
Even if he somehow avoided death in fleet battles and smoothly conquered every galaxy, he would still die from some event: catching an STD from a concubine, overeating himself to death, getting assassinated—something always forced him to die.
As a result his empire would collapse, and every vassal state under him would declare independence.
...It's probably the same here. Even if I somehow dragged him into the Empire, he'd just end up dead before long.
So I erased the idea from my mind and decided to focus on solving the immediate crisis first.
At this rate, that insane Warlord was going to smash the southern allied fleet as well.
"But Minister, what exactly can we even do for them?"
"We can't do a damn thing, Riel. Go get me some popcorn."
Of course, there wasn't much we could do right now. Through the overseas spy network—while ensuring the agents' safety wasn't compromised—I ordered sabotage operations against the Warlord's forces. Then I simply settled in to watch the situation unfold, savoring the sweetness of the caramel popcorn Riel brought me.
And roughly three days later—
"Minister, the Warlord's fleet has been defeated."
"...Is that so."
Even for the Warlord, fighting two consecutive campaigns without being able to replenish his depleted fleet strength, then taking on the southern alliance, had apparently been too much.
I picked up the report on the great battle centered around the Warlord's own flagship, the Keshik fleets of his main force, and the Loirakan fleet, and immediately began reading through its contents.
Most of it was technical jargon far beyond my understanding, so I skipped ahead. Further down, the results of the battle were laid out in considerable detail.
"Let's see... When defeat became imminent, the Warlord used his own flagship as a shield while the other fleets withdrew?"
Looking at that manly after-action report, I once again felt the urge to somehow recruit the Warlord into our Empire.
"There's more."
"Mm."
But as Riel said, there was still a lot left to read, so I discarded my talent-collecting symptoms toward the Warlord and continued through the results.
"...This is good. The fleet that had been grinding down our forces in the south ended up covering the Warlord's retreat and was annihilated."
"Ah, right. And they successfully captured some of the ships, including that fleet's flagship."
"Oh, for real."
I checked the relevant section of the report, then nodded when I saw the inquiry about how to handle the captured ships and the crew aboard them.
"These captures—were they made by our fleet?"
"Yes. The Purge Squad you somehow managed to deploy earlier rammed boarding craft into the Keshik fleet's flagship, saying they were going to satisfy the Minister's talent-collecting urges."
"..."
When I made a face that clearly said I never ordered anything like that, Riel immediately bowed her head in apology.
"You haven't read that part yet, huh. Sorry for the spoiler."
"No, it's fine... Why do you only apologize so promptly at times like this?"
"Dunno."
At her playful response I shook my head and decided to attach a brief comment on the matter before sending it off.
These personnel and ships may cooperate with the Warlord again and cause trouble in the rear... Transport both the ships and the crew back to the homeland.
"Heh, so the Minister is planning to bring that admiral into the Empire too?"
"There's no need to state the obvious."
"Got it."
After reading through the rest of the report, I set it down and let out a long sigh.
"Why the sigh?"
"...Because the entire report reeks of overconfidence that we've already won?"
At my reaction Riel tilted her head as if she couldn't understand.
"Didn't we win? The Warlord ran away, and his elite fleet got wiped out."
I shook my head at her words.
"No. This war is absolutely not going to end with just this one battle."
I carried that opinion straight into the imperial council convened over the current situation—
"Minister Arto seems a bit too timid."
"He's already a spent force. Is there really any need to worry that much?"
"Indeed. At this point we should be more concerned about our interests in the east than about some Warlord."
—only to be met with the exact same reaction Riel had shown. The sight of the councilors left me gripped by the growing certainty that a catastrophe was about to unfold.