Negotiations Collapse, Eastern Ambush

Word arrived that production on Cheonmu Unit 1 had finished, and Units 2 and 3 — already near completion — had rolled off the line in rapid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠succession.

The first Cheonmu project currently in operation called for a production run of thirty vehicles.

Under ordinary circumstances the dwarves would have been too busy mining across the West to throw this much manpower into weapons manufacture. But Southerners rounded up for racial discrimination crimes had taken over the labor in their place, and that made the whole thing possible.

Of course, humans did not mine with anything like dwarf efficiency. The newly opened Aoz Mine, however, held such absurdly rich deposits of rare ore that the math still favored pulling the dwarves off extraction and putting them on weapons development, even with the hit to yield.

The dwarves building vehicles and the dwarves building missiles had been cleanly split into two specialized camps, and Cheonmu units and missiles poured out at a staggering pace. Tens of thousands of finished missiles and all thirty vehicles now slept in Western armories, waiting for the day they would be called to sortie.

While weapons development proceeded without a hitch, a mountain of protest letters from every corner of the Empire piled up on my desk.

"Lord Isaac. Letters addressed to you. Thirty-six in total. Shall I tell you where they came from?"

I shook my head at Lumina's question.

"Where they came from doesn't matter. The contents do. Hand them over. I'll read them myself. Not that I expect any surprises."

I tore open the letters Lumina passed me and skimmed only the opening and closing lines of each.

Dozens of letters, each differing only slightly in the middle passages and the sender's name. Read the opening and the closing and they were all the same.

Ever since the Imperial Court received Eleanor's letter and word spread across the Empire that I was holding her, I had been taking abuse from every direction on a daily basis.

Central bureaucrats, nobles holding office in the North, the East, and the capital — there was hardly a man among them who had not sent me a letter that was half invective.

Every last one of them was the sort of interchangeable male lead number one who, in a romance fantasy world, firmly believed Eleanor was destined to become his woman.

The major supporting cast had, of course, already burned with outrage and lodged their protests long before.

I flung the letters — different wording, identical substance — into the fireplace behind me, and the flames swallowed them into kindling.

Having watched me burn the lot, Lumina delivered the next report.

"Next report, Lord Isaac. A message from the Great Rainforest gate on the Eastern border. Archduke Edmund of the East has come in person. He says he has business with you."

"The Eastern Archduke? When?"

"Two hours ago, apparently."

"So he intends to show up without so much as coordinating a schedule. For an Archduke, he has all the manners of Harth. Still — he came himself. That puts him a notch above Harth, at least."

"What should we do? Shall I send word that your schedule is full and you cannot see him?"

I shook my head and rose from my seat.

"No. I'm curious what he wants to say, so I'll meet him once. He's already emptied a letter full of Eleanor at me — I want to hear what still wasn't enough that he had to make the trip in person. Tell them not to prepare any protocol or formal reception whatsoever."

"Understood."

A few hours later I received word that Archduke Edmund of the East had arrived. I waited a full fifteen minutes after being told he had been shown into the conference room before I made my entrance.

Late on purpose.

The same petty power play some president of some country used to pull — a cheap way of announcing, I outrank you.

Of course, they had barged in without the slightest consideration for this side. If I accommodated that, I would be the one bending to Edmund. So this was also a contest of position between the two of us.

When I finally walked in late, Edmund slammed the table and shot to his feet in a fury.

"Keeping a guest waiting fifteen minutes — just what kind of man are you, Isaac?! Do you not even know the most basic rules of courtesy?!"

"Oh? Etiquette lessons delivered personally by the Eastern Archduke who arrives without a word of schedule, without so much as a by-your-leave, and simply demands I come out because he has something to say. How generous. With such a fine instructor, I'm sure my manners will improve by leaps and bounds."

I laid the sarcasm on thick. Edmund grumbled, sat back down, and went straight to the point.

"Neither of us wishes to look at the other any longer than necessary, so I will speak only of the matter at hand. The Imperial Court is extremely angry that you have imprisoned Eleanor."

"Imprisoned? Someone overhearing that might get the wrong idea. She chose to stay here of her own free will."

"Spare me the transparent nonsense! Do you think anyone fails to see that you have worked some scheme?! Hand Eleanor over to me this instant, before the Imperial Court marches an army here and turns this place into a sea of fire. Comply with that single demand, and the Court has agreed to look the other way regarding this entire affair."

"And if I refuse?"

Edmund ground his teeth.

"…Just as I had heard. Utterly lawless. Refuse if you like. If you continue to deny us Eleanor, the East will designate you the ringleader of a rebellion and launch a full-scale offensive to retake the South. Countless Southern civilians will suffer because of you."

"Choose your words carefully, Archduke Edmund. In the South right now, anyone who simply obeys the single iron rule against discriminating against other races pays half the taxes they used to, and regions that actively pursue coexistence receive even greater reductions and benefits. Approval is overwhelmingly higher than it ever was under Harth. Who is the one stirring up a place that runs perfectly well on its own and dragging it into war — me, or you?"

"If not for your warmongering lust for conquest in the first place, none of this would have happened!"

"None of it would have happened if the South had simply accepted our demands. And none of it would have happened even earlier if the Imperial Court had heeded the counsel that there was no longer any reason to keep elevating Eleanor."

Bang!

Edmund shoved back his chair and stood.

"I will take those words just now as treason against the Imperial Court."

"That's quite the leap."

"I understand your position well enough. My presence here is the East's final ultimatum. Do not forget that everything which follows ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from this point is your responsibility, Isaac."

"The East's combat strength is relatively weaker than the South's or the North's. Watching you pick a fight so confidently with the people who crushed the South and its Iron Vanguard, I have to wonder — do you have something to lean on? Perhaps you've taken the role of enforcer for an Imperial Court that cannot move openly, with support arranged behind the scenes?"

In that moment I did not miss the brief flicker in Edmund's eyes.

I saw no reason to confirm that I had caught it. Edmund recovered his expression almost at once and played dumb.

"Have you developed paranoia now as well? This is nothing more than an Archduke of the East acting out of loyalty to the realm — to punish a traitor who imprisons a key figure of the Court and runs around playing warmonger."

"Hmm. So no support from the Imperial Court, then. Well, if that is the official position."

Edmund glared at me as if he meant to kill me, then kicked his chair aside with his foot and made to leave the conference room.

I spoke to his back.

"You said it yourself a moment ago, Archduke. Everything that follows from this point is my responsibility. I do hope you are the sort of man who can apply those words to yourself as well."

"Hmph. If you judge our East by surface combat strength alone, you will soon lose everything and be destroyed. Remember my warning well."

Several days after that meeting — which had been nothing but a fight — a string of unexplained raids broke out in regions near the East.

Mysterious attacks concentrated on other races out on patrol left a growing list of wounded, and eventually the dead as well.

They were armed with modern weapons, but those weapons did not make anyone immortal. In a bad situation, this kind of thing could happen. That much was only natural.

"Lord ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Isaac! Orcs patrolling the Great Rainforest were ambushed — three dead, eleven wounded! They returned fire with miniguns, but the enemy kept ducking behind trees and the effect was limited… This is already the fifth raid this week alone… They searched the gear of the enemies they managed to kill in the exchange, but nothing turned up."

"No mystery where this is coming from. The Easterners have decided to treat the Great Rainforest as their own base and grind us down from the outside in. Their home ground, is it."

The Great Rainforest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stretched between the South and the East, vast enough that a considerable number of cities fell under its indirect influence.

There were too many outposts inside the rainforest that still needed managing; we could not simply stop sending people. And every time we did, perpetrators very strongly suspected to be Eastern troops hit us.

Leave it alone and the body count would only keep climbing. I made my decision.

"Lumina. Contact the Western dwarves. Issue combat rifles to the Tigerfolk and the Leopardfolk. Load the missiles onto the trains, and bring every last Cheonmu this way."

I closed my eyes briefly in mourning for the dead.

"And prepare the largest square we have. I intend to give a speech."