Chapter 111
Chapter 111
The Iron Emperor — Chapter 111
Bang, bang, bang!
"Quiet, for now."
The sound of a wooden gavel striking the desk quelled the uproar inside the Council Hall.
"Tsk, tsk. How can they fail to reach a consensus like this?"
A tongue-clicking sound echoed from the ornate seats on the second floor of the Council Hall chamber. At that, the room grew even more silent.
"Settle this by tomorrow. If war breaks out over this, what then!"
The heavyset middle-aged man who had clicked his tongue barked the order and rose from his seat. Everyone in the Council Hall chamber fell to their knees and shouted.
"May His Majesty Amelie de Can Vish, Light of the Federation, enjoy peace and health."
"Damn it. The only time they're all in agreement."
After one more irritable remark, the Federal Empire's Emperor Bishu strode out of the chamber.
The Federal Empire was no fool. Everyone knew full well that the incident at sea had grown into a sensitive issue given the current situation. But crucially, no pretext or conditions had materialized that would allow the Federal Empire to move.
Once the Holy Empire completed its annexation of the Roselin region, a shift in the delicate balance among the three empires was a foregone conclusion, and to prevent that, the Federal Empire needed an opening to intervene.
However, when the Slegian Maritime Empire warship first blew away the Holy Empire's fleet admiral and the Maritime Empire's influence waned, things became troublesome.
But now, with the Maritime Empire's envoys attacked on their return journey and the incident deftly turned against them, the situation had swung the other way again.
"Hmph. And those are supposed to be councilors."
The Federal Empire was originally founded upon multiple city-states. Ten cities that had sworn a mutual compact rose up and proclaimed the founding of the Federal Empire, subsequently absorbing small and medium-sized cities afterwards.
As a result, although an emperor existed, the leader of each city still exercised independent rule.
The centralization of power in the emperor had grown stronger with the needs of the times, yet compared with the Henesia Holy Empire or the Slegian Maritime Empire, the emperor of the Ameri Federal Empire still seemed relatively weak.
But conversely, having been the first to open its eyes to trade—to commerce, in other words—the Federal Empire enjoyed the greatest wealth on the entire continent.
"The matter itself is inherently rather difficult, so please do not take it too much to heart."
"Hmm. See here, Prime Minister."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Emperor Bishu's strained voice reached the Prime Minister, Joshua Paul, who was accompanying him. Paul bowed his head and stepped alongside the Emperor.
"What would you do, Prime Minister?"
"The best course is to intervene, even if we have to push a little. The Maritime Empire will welcome our involvement rather than oppose it."
At Prime Minister Paul's words, Emperor Bishu nodded and continued walking as he replied.
"The problem is that we have no reason to intervene."
As a troubled expression settled on Emperor Bishu's face, Prime Minister Paul leaned in close to the Emperor's ear and quietly whispered.
"Something that has happened twice—could it not happen once more?"
Emperor Bishu's expression shifted strangely at the whispered words. His steps halted, and he slowly turned his head toward the Prime Minister. The two middle-aged men exchanged knowing smiles.
"And then all we have to do is ready our forces to resolve this crisis."
"Indeed. The task of orchestrating peace on the continent falls to our Federal Empire."
The two middle-aged men's oily grins mingled, forming a strange atmosphere.
* * *
The ships of Phillian Gerard and Jang Bogo, who had raced through the pitch-black darkness as though the night itself were their hunting companion, were tilting their heads as they watched a distant midnight fireworks display unfold.
"Are they insane?"
"Exactly what I was thinking. They don't seem normal."
Upon hearing that about twenty ships had appeared, Gerard's party observed from a distance. But then, ten or so ships abruptly spread apart and began attacking one side unilaterally. It looked like both sides were attacking each other, yet it was unmistakably clear that one side was being subjected to a one-sided assault.
While the attackers' assault was well-coordinated, the defenders were visibly floundering, plain to the eye. In a word, it was a one-sided massacre.
"They were definitely the same group, you said?"
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief."
"Then why are they doing that?"
"......."
Gerard tilted his head, but since Jang Bogo couldn't quite grasp the situation either, all he could offer was an awkward smile.
"We'd better pull each of the fleets back a bit."
"Yes, sir."
As the flames illuminating the dark night seemed about to reach Gerard's fleet's position, they preemptively withdrew the ships. Of course, striking now seemed like it would be easy, but something about it smelled off.
Just as the flames were gradually subsiding and the screams dying down, the attacking fleet pulled back. Only two or three surviving ships remained, seemingly scrambling to rescue those who had fallen into the water, but even those two ships were taking hits that looked like they would sink at any moment.
"The shape of the ships retreating over there looks exactly like Holy Empire military vessels. Of course, the ships that have sunk, and the ones over there about to go under, are Federal Empire military ships."
"Yet they came amicably together from the direction of the Federal Empire."
Gerard's expression shifted oddly.
Gerard's hand slowly pointed toward the sinking ship. Bogo raised his voice.
"All fleets, advance."
"Advance!"
"Signal that we are coming to rescue them!"
An odd smile played across Gerard's face as he climbed onto the ship's rail. He looked just like a mischievous boy who had secretly uncovered someone else's secret.
"Save us!"
Crackle, crackle, crack!
The cacophony of burning wood filled the air. Hope welled up in the eyes of the people floundering in the middle of the sea.
The hope that they could live.
It was like a lifeline arriving at death's very edge.
Perhaps because they felt that, in this situation, these people were not enemies but souls to be saved, the Gauri sailors were doing their utmost to pull them aboard. As they hauled them up, they saw many people with varied appearances, from those who looked uniformly starved to those with diverse physical traits.
"Save my child first!"
"Kyaak, Mommy!"
People who had no business being there—people who naturally should not have been aboard—were screaming.
"Women and children?"
"Hurry, pull them up!"
"The ship is full!"
"Lash even the water barrels together and float them!"
The screams of women and children burst from the hold of the sinking ship. By this point, Gerard and the Gauri sailors' movements had become desperate themselves.
"This was never a military vessel—it was a civilian ship all along!"
"This won't work. There are too many people. It looks like there are twice the average number of passengers."
"Call in every ship for immediate support, and until then, collect the drifting pieces of wood and make rafts if you have to. Hurry!"
Even amidst Gerard's shouts, women and children and frail men sinking beneath the surface caught his eye.
Only now did Gerard understand the incomprehensible, massacre-like battle from earlier. Watching the sailors working even more frantically than they had during battle, Gerard ground his teeth and muttered.
"Damn it all, if I'd known this was the case, I would have intervened earlier."
As if sensing Gerard's fury, Bogo approached and offered words of consolation.
"Who could have known they would commit such an act. It is not your fault, Commander-in-Chief."
"Damn."
Thud!
Gerard's fist merely pounded the innocent ship's railing.
The screams died down as night passed into morning. Gazing at the deck, which now resembled an evacuation ship, Gerard watched the sea, where corpses drifted, with a dark expression.
A child and its mother, swept away by the current, clutching each other tightly—perhaps because the night sea had been cold....
The half-burned corpse of an old man....
As he looked at the bodies of young men, eyes wide open as if in bitter resentment, Phillian Gerard said nothing.
He was no stranger to war. He had seen far worse corpses than these. Yet Gerard was slowly shaking his head from side to side.
"This is wrong...."
"......."
A faint smile appeared on Jang Bogo's lips as he watched Gerard mutter to himself.
The sight of him angry, yet swallowing that anger inside.
Before he realized it, Gerard too was assimilating into a Gauri commander. Bogo felt that Gerard, who had always seemed a bit flippant, would only grow more admirable.
"Fleet Commander!"
"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!"
Something resolute shone in Gerard's voice.
"From now on, we will expand our forces in earnest. Contact home and inform them that a portion of the supplies we were to secure will be redirected toward strengthening our armament."
"Aye!"
"In addition, reduce the number of personnel we send back home and train them as sailors. Fleet Commander Jang will oversee that. The objective is to build a fleet capable of dismantling at least one imperial fleet without difficulty."
Unshakable conviction bled through Gerard's voice.
"We will seize complete control of the Central Sea."
"Aye!"
Bogo's heart swelled with Gerard's goal. Gerard, who had left the continent and come to the sea. Right at this moment, his eyes suited the sea better than ever.
Chapter 30 — Like a Gale They Came...
The announcement of the annihilation of a civilian transport fleet by the Federal Empire's rogue fleet decisively hobbled the Holy Empire.
The revelation that the rogue fleet's identity matched Holy Empire military vessels drew fierce backlash from the Holy Empire, but when the Maritime Empire quietly backed the claim, the rift between the empires only deepened.
Consequently, exerting direct influence over South Roselin became even more difficult.
Perhaps thanks to that, the North Roselin offensive, which had been secretly supported by the Holy Empire, temporarily lost momentum. Moreover, with twenty thousand troops having evaporated, the North Roselin formation's movements became visibly more cautious.
Ordinarily, wizards in battle were considered assets who could be turned with enough persuasion—making capture the preferred strategy—whereas the Gauri army, dismissing them as mere Spellcasters, made them the top priority for execution. That, too, was part of why word from the battlefield had not spread. Yet that only meant it had stalled; the overall war situation could not be said to have improved.