New Wave (4)
“So in the end, they mean to set their sights on the Empire.”
“Then why not just wage a preemptive war?”
Yurgel the Fist King slammed the table with one of those enormous fists unique to the giant race, fury written all over him.
Preemptive war. Sure, it sounded fine on paper.
Crush them before the White King could gather his strength. A solid choice. But maybe that was exactly why the Emperor had ordered them to keep quiet.
“Have you forgotten the Caern Treaty?”
Argon the Great Scholar shook his head at the Fist King’s ignorance.
The Caern Treaty. Caern was a trade city near the Tranos River that divided the Empire from the South, a commercial hub under the heavy influence of the Merchant Coalition.
Long ago, the Empire’s expansionist pressure had made the southern petty kingdoms feel threatened enough to form a league. The Merchant Coalition, hungry for the Empire’s vast markets, had stepped in to mediate and pushed the treaty through at Caern.
The Caern Treaty bound the Empire never to cross the Tranos and strike the southern states—preemptive war included. In return, the southern states swore not to push north across the river either.
The Armeria Empire, still young in its role as a true great power, had desperately needed southern trade and accepted the terms. Later that same treaty left it helpless every time some petty southern hegemon decided to take a swing at the Empire and got smashed for his trouble.
Even if they wanted to tear the treaty up, they could not ignore the Merchant Coalition’s influence—and the demons were always a threat. Provoking the South by ripping up the agreement would leave them unable to fight the Demon Realm at the same time.
The nobles complicated things further.
“The war’s going to break out anyway. Better to march in and wreck them all.”
Yurgel really had no brains at all.
That was why, for all his raw power, his head was empty and sound judgment was beyond him.
Right now they might actually get away with chucking everything and charging in… but in this field, the Great Scholar knew more than I did. I had mostly wandered the North and the kingdom’s borders—Ashtar Territory, basically.
“The kingdom took heavy losses this time, and we spent a fortune on war expenses ourselves. With trade with the Merchant Coalition still vital, casually voiding the Caern Treaty would kill that relationship too.”
“Then we just wreck them as well!”
That was exactly what they could not do.
I decided to keep quiet and watch. I was the youngest here; butting in would only get messy.
“Even with the blessing giving us enough food, we still lack the conditions for a real expedition. Two of the Four Heavenly Kings are still holding out, after all.”
“Same as always. Some idiot will come charging in and crash and burn again.”
“Can we afford that kind of leisure? We cannot simply ignore him. The White King has unified the southern league faster than any previous conqueror of the South.”
“So we just hand him the first strike?”
“This time we might finally be able to settle the Caern Treaty for good.”
Argon the Great Scholar had said something promising.
This war really did feel different—like it might actually resolve things.
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Caern Treaty was driven by the neutral Merchant Coalition. What if that same coalition has thrown in with the White King?”
“Those bastards switched sides?”
“Come on, nonsense. Why would a pack that stayed neutral for ages suddenly do that? Do you have proof?”
The Merchant Coalition was a city-state of merchants, run by merchants, its entire economy spinning on commerce.
That was how I understood it. Because of that nature they kept no real military and lived purely by trade, clinging to neutrality.
“We have already scouted the region with magical beasts several times. Exchanges between the Merchant Coalition and the Atlan Kingdom have increased of late.”
“Hmm.”
So the Seven Stars had not been sitting idle after all.
In short, the White King of Atlan was pouring money into military preparations in earnest. If the Merchant Coalition was breaking its long neutrality at a moment like this, it meant something strange was stirring inside the coalition itself.
“If it were simply to feed a population starving after endless wars, that would be one thing. But a man who always won short decisive battles has gone far beyond that. It looks exactly as if he is preparing for a long war.”
“A long war is something only the Empire can sustain. And if the Merchant Coalition has joined him? That means—”
“It becomes grounds to break the Caern Treaty. The problem is that if they simply deny everything, the justification flips and lands in their hands instead.”
So the Empire was stuck with a ring through its nose, forced to take the first blow.
They never should have signed something like the Caern Treaty in the first place, hard as it would have been.
Or maybe not.
Without that treaty, who knew whether the Empire would have left the South alone? Even if they unified the continent, there was no guarantee the Empire itself would not fracture.
Perhaps things were only this stable precisely because of the treaty.
“So since nothing else works, we just have to take the hit?”
“Above all, we still have the Four Heavenly Kings left.”
“A real mess, then.”
The Seven Stars were thoroughly realistic.
Even Yurgel the Fist King only snorted in frustration.
“However.”
“What? Is there still another topic left?”
Why were Argon’s eyes suddenly sliding toward me?
No—now the whole pack of them was staring at once. The dean had simply watched the entire time.
I shot him a subtle glance; he turned his head as if to say handle it yourself.
That bastard. Was this revenge for me taking a vacation while the students went feral?
In the end I had no choice but to face the Seven Stars.
“Why does the Empire’s Taesa remain silent?”
“Now that you mention it, the Taesa they call the Emperor’s woman has been quiet this whole time.”
Argon the Great Scholar and Keihon the Gunsmith looked me over with open interest.
“Oh-ho. Looks alone are certainly outstanding.”
“Not just the looks. Performance is outstanding too.”
Yurgel the Fist King and Natalia the Light Sword. Both of them talking about me like that left a bad taste.
“Forget the Emperor’s woman. What could someone like me possibly say in a gathering of such exalted personages?”
“Hrm. Still, you are the foremost contributor to the recapture of Crad Castle, are you not?”
“You are also the Empire’s Saint, and the Taesa acknowledged by the Emperor himself.”
Empire’s Saint. Taesa recognized by the Emperor. The Seven Stars no longer saw me as an ordinary young noblewoman.
“Come to think of it, you trained Attelina’s students and massacred the anti-imperialists in the Plant family’s territory, yes?”
“With that record you could take the field yourself.”
“No, I merely—”
“What is your view?”
My own wishes seemed irrelevant.
These damn people had dragged me into the conference and now demanded answers from me.
Why? Why were Noah’s memories surfacing now of all times?
Forgotten fragments of memory rose one after another.
—Hey, mage. Give us the answer.
—Why the hell should I?
—Right. A mage from the Hero Party who traveled so many foreign lands…
—And he has the specialty for it, too.
I never imagined it would come to this. Was my history just repeating itself?
“Whether I think about it or not, I am the elite-few type. Strategy and tactics are not my strong suit. I am not like all of you—old enough to have decades of combat experience.”
“Hah. So that is how you want to play it? This is not a seat you earn by age. And by that logic, what does that make the oversized fool over there?”
“Are you talking about me right now?”
The Great Scholar needled Yurgel the Fist King, and Yurgel bristled.
I had seen this exact scene more than once before.
“Who else is there besides you?”
“Enough, both of you. She is not wrong. This Olivia has shown exceptional ability. She played the villain for her little sister’s sake, then executed even that sister for the Empire—a true patriot.”
Wait, that was how they were reading it?
“True enough. It was strange that someone of her caliber was openly called the villainous young lady at Attelina. If it was all an act, it makes sense.”
I needed to refute that, but Celia took my hand beside me and shook her head.
Was she telling me to shed that image completely while I had the chance?
In a setting like this I tended to forget my surroundings. Right—Celia was here. At least she was on my side.
No. One look at her face showed she was grinning, clearly enjoying my discomfort.
Natalia the Light Sword was smirking as if they had coordinated it.
Those damn women. Just wait.
“All right then. Speak. Tell us what we should do.”
“Preemptive war or whatever else—right now defense is better.”
“Hah, so even she wants us to just take the hit.”
No, for fuck’s sake, the phrasing. Could someone please fix that bastard Fist King’s mouth?
I wanted to argue. I seriously wanted to argue. Yet my lips would not move.
I was afraid that if I opened my mouth even a little too much I would blurt out that I was Noah.
Old ties were better left in the past.
I carefully managed my expression and spoke.
“That phrasing is a bit much, but if the Seven Stars and the local noble armies are stationed along every approach, can we not hold them well enough? The Imperial army has new weapons now, after all.”
“New weapons are state secrets. Even if we clamp down hard to prevent leaks, they may already have reached the enemy. Moreover they are a force tempered by the Warring States era. We have experience fighting demons, yes—but that is mostly the northern armies. The southern armies have almost no experience of full-scale war.”
This time the Light Sword spoke.
No—you do not get to talk back to me like that.
“Even so, mass-producing what leaked would take them a long time. Meanwhile the Empire would pull further ahead and field even better models. If they invade, the White King’s army is the one that will take the heavier losses. With the Empire’s new weapons, not even the White King’s battle-hardened force from the Warring States era will cross our lines lightly.”
“Relying solely on weapons is unwise, is it not?”
Now it was Keihon the Gunsmith.
Do not rely on weapons? Even if personal martial power was high, this man depended on weapons more than anyone.
And he had the gall to lecture me about relying on weapons? Was that really something he should say?
If I had still been the original Olivia rather than who I was now, I would never have been able to answer properly in this seat.
Not because she was stupid—she simply had never studied this field. Military matters were not something an Imperial young lady was expected to learn.
An Ashtar might be different, but that was the norm.
“We select elites from the northern armies that fought the Demon Realm—including the Ashtars—and dispatch them as officers to train the troops in the southern territories. That solves it. The Four Heavenly Kings are the real problem, but the Seven Stars can handle them.”
“And the Demon Realm’s armies? If the war takes an unexpected turn we will have to pull even the northern noble forces. Then the Four Heavenly Kings can send large armies of their own. Even if we keep the Demon Realm in check, each of the Four Heavenly Kings commands a personal host. Are you saying we must stop those as well? Even as Seven Stars we fall short of the old Hero Party. To fight a Heavenly King you need two or three of us matched to their affinities.”
That worry, at least, I did not share.
“The Demon Realm’s armies have Ribelt.”
“If they offered, we would be grateful—but will they move? Those brutes are simple and will not commit troops without absolute certainty.”
I had expected that answer. Surprisingly, though, the promise would be kept.
Ribelt had already given me a firm answer.
“It will be fine. I already received their confirmation.”
“Huh? Truly?”
“Yes. The family head told me personally.”
“Can we trust that Ribelt bastard?”
Judging by what they themselves got up to, they were the ones harder to trust.