Peace in Our Time

A hundred years ago, the Empire had been a terrifying ruler of the continent. From the frozen North to the warm South, its laws reached every corner of its vast territories.

To enforce imperial law across such an enormous expanse, that law had to carry absolute weight. And so the Empire of a century past had never overlooked even the smallest infraction.

Even a mutiny that broke out on a ship in the middle of the ocean, on an island thousands of kilometers from the mainland, had prompted the Empire to dispatch an entire fleet to crush it personally.

That iron-fisted rule came to an end exactly one hundred years ago. It was after the Princes' Rebellion nearly plunged the realm into civil war, seventy percent of the imperial family was slaughtered, and the Empire was turned upside down.

The emperor who suppressed the rebellion and took ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power, Kaiser III, had reportedly declared that such a tragedy must never be repeated.

After Kaiser III, the Empire changed course. He believed the root cause of the Princes' Rebellion had been the Empire’s extreme, blood-soaked governance.

Thus, from imperial year 957 onward, Kaiser III began dismantling the old iron-fisted system and loosening the noose that had strangled the realm. It was the so-called Era of Innovation.

The Empire of that time enjoyed unprecedented prosperity. Every kind of regulation was lifted, and new possibilities overflowed. It was also during this period that the seeds of an industrial revolution began to bloom in the Empire’s two great industrial heartlands—the South and the North.

During Kaiser III’s own reign, everything seemed to be working perfectly. Yet no matter how loudly the slogans of the Era of Innovation, the Moderate Empire, and Peaceful Rule were proclaimed… Kaiser III was still the iron-blooded monarch who had personally executed seventy percent of the imperial family to prevent civil war.

The nobles of that era did not even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dare to dream of corruption. Just because the emperor was smiling did not mean the sword in his hand was smiling as well.

If Kaiser III had lived longer—if he had been able to firmly establish the system of a Moderate Empire—the Empire might still be great today. But Kaiser III did not live long. What followed him was his thirteen-year-old son.

The emperor was far too young, and the old iron-fisted system that should have maintained discipline had already been shattered. From that moment on, the Empire began sliding into ruin.

The nobles committed corruption openly. Military discipline collapsed. Over the next hundred years, the Empire slowly crumbled.

A tower that would have fallen long ago if not for the vast territories expanded by its ancestors. A lion that had rested too long and let its claws grow dull.

And the man who now effectively ruled that Empire was a weak-willed, thoughtless crown prince.

Theodore.

The steel Empire that had once crushed any hint of civil war by immediately deploying overwhelming armies no longer existed. The Empire had become far more incompetent and corrupt than anyone could have imagined.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘let’s wait and see’!”

The elderly mage’s roar shook the entire conference room. He jabbed a finger at the noble before him and continued in a voice thick with fury.

“This is blatant treason! The Southern Grand Duke started a war with the West without so much as a word to the capital, and you want us to just sit back and watch?!”

From the mages’ perspective, it was only natural. Why had they fought so desperately to block the development of guns, cannons, science, and medicine? The advancement of firearms would drastically reduce the importance of mages in warfare.

The progress of science and medicine would hand over powers that had belonged exclusively to mages to the common people. Everything the mages had enjoyed until now—direct political power, the very sense of being the chosen ones—was on the verge of total collapse.

Yet the nobles could not back down either. Nobles who normally avoided direct clashes with mages found themselves in open conflict for the first time in ages.

“This matter can be seen as entirely the fault of Western Grand Duke Charles Raymonds. It was he who violated the Sarcen-Lutetia Treaty and ignored the mediation proposal sent by His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“This is clearly the West’s wrongdoing. The West created the cause of the conflict, while the South followed proper declaration procedures, built sufficient justification, and only then began the war.”

No matter how much power the mages held, it was ultimately the nobles who interpreted imperial law. They refused to yield an inch and systematically dismantled the mages’ arguments.

“Since the Southern army did not commit unnecessary slaughter or destruction, I believe it is reasonable to view this as a legitimate territorial conflict.”

“While it is true that the scale was large enough to require mediation and negotiations to prevent recurrence, it does not warrant military intervention.”

Of course, the nobles did not particularly like Kyle Leopold either. They knew full well that the industrial revolution the South had ignited would kill off the old aristocratic class and elevate the once-despised merchants and industrialists into the mainstream.

But that was a problem for those beyond the Arbel Mountains. It was a disaster for the Western nobles, not something the central nobility needed to worry about.

Would Kyle Leopold really commit treason? As long as there’s no rebellion and my own position remains safe, what happens in the West is none of my business.

That was the thinking of the corrupt nobles. This was a war with nothing to gain even in victory. It was not a war of conquest—it was a civil war. If they won, the spoils would belong to the emperor.

If they lost, it would be their own houses that suffered. All the nobles would receive were meaningless medals. No one liked a war that offered nothing but obligations.

Besides, what if they were defeated by the Southern army? Everything their families had built over generations would collapse in an instant. Civil war was something that must be avoided ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at all costs.

“His Imperial Majesty the Great Ancestor granted every lord the right to wage territorial wars.”

“Kyle Leopold, the Southern Grand Duke, possesses that authority as well. Strictly speaking, it is difficult to call the exercise of that right an overreach of authority.”

The mages, who wanted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to suppress the South’s development by any means necessary, and the nobles, who wanted to avoid civil war at any cost—the gap between their positions showed no sign of narrowing. The nobles in charge of the imperial army felt the same way.

“After experiencing the Princes' Rebellion, Kaiser III devoted himself to ensuring that civil war would never again plague the Empire. We, his descendants, have a duty to uphold that effort.”

For the past fifty years, the imperial central army had had almost nothing to do. It was an age of peace where only minor disputes and small-scale suppressions occurred.

Naturally, the importance of the military declined, and interest in it gradually faded. And when a group had almost no work to do, its budget was classified, and no one was paying attention—what better place was there to siphon funds?

“Would it not be better to seek dialogue rather than war?”

A clear example: on paper, the imperial army possessed winter combat uniforms for one hundred thousand soldiers. In reality, fewer than a thousand could be found in the warehouses. No matter how decayed the Empire had become, embezzlement on this scale should have cost heads.

The imperial army nobles were desperate to hide the corruption that would be exposed the moment war broke out. The Empire’s interests had long since been pushed aside in the face of their own survival.

Theodore, who did not fully understand the situation, interpreted it in a strange way.

Ah, so the nobles don’t want to fight, and the mages do? Then I just need to find a compromise between them.

Thus, the crown prince inserted himself into the heated debate.

“If that is what all of you believe, what do you think of finding a point of compromise?”

“A compromise, Your Highness?”

“Yes. I doubt Kyle Leopold, the Southern Grand Duke, wants war either.”

At least that was what Theodore believed. The last time he had seen Kyle Leopold, the man had been a fat, sly coward who lacked the courage to fight others directly. Moreover, the crown prince himself desperately wanted to avoid civil war.

In the thousand years since the Empire’s founding, there had never been a civil war. For one to break out during his own reign would be a public declaration of Theodore’s incompetence.

“Therefore, we will observe the situation as the noble lords suggest, while leaving open the possibility of military intervention as the mage lords propose.”

The compromise Theodore presented was as follows:

“This is the compromise I propose.”

At the crown prince’s words, the entire conference hall fell silent. In truth, both the nobles and the mages already knew. This so-called “compromise” was worse than doing nothing at all.

Such a vague measure would only give the South more time to arm itself. But neither side could afford to back down.

The mages could not allow the South to develop more guns and cannons. The nobles could not agree to the mages’ demands and send their own men to be slaughtered on the front lines.

The imperial army, for its part, absolutely did not want war, because it would expose all their corruption at once.

And so the compromise proposed by the crown prince was quickly drafted into an official document and sent to the South.

Exactly two weeks later, the envoy who returned from the South brought with him a single memorandum signed personally by Kyle Leopold. It stated: “The South shall engage in no further unauthorized military action.”

At the next cabinet meeting, Theodore held the paper high and declared with pride:

Few people genuinely agreed with that claim. Only the incompetent flatterers beside him chimed in.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has saved the Empire from its greatest crisis of civil war in history!”

“Hmm. I knew the crown prince was indecisive, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

In the ducal castle of the Eastern Grand Duke, a black-haired man wearing a monocle muttered to himself inside an office decorated with the opulence befitting the master of the Empire’s seas.

Edward, the Eastern Grand Duke.

He had already felt uneasy about the South’s radical military buildup and expansion. He understood better than anyone how meaningless this compromise truly was. The spineless crown prince would clearly do nothing until the South had completely swallowed the West. And after that?

Obviously, the East would be next.

Edward had no intention of meeting the same pathetic end as the Western Grand Duke. He tore the document to shreds and murmured coldly.

“Most of the South’s exports pass through our seas and our ports before reaching the rest of the Empire.”

The Southern economy ran on exports. If those exports were cut off, its economy would collapse on its own.

“Therefore… it seems I should prepare at least one card to pressure the South if necessary.”

Admiral of the Grand Fleet and master of the underwater magic beast legions—Edward. Whether anyone liked it or not, both the surface of the sea and its depths belonged to him. No matter how powerful their warships were, those ships’ cannons could not strike beneath the waves.

Staring in the direction of the South, he whispered softly.

“For example… something like a naval blockade.”