Chapter 328
Chapter 328
Iron Emperor — Chapter 328
Chapter 111: A Moment's Peace
"Isn't this the best possible moment?"
Emperor Amelie de Can Vish spoke triumphantly toward the crystal orb. But inside the orb, Emperor Heise Kire Viahole wore an expression of lingering reservation.
[The fact that such a substantial number of elite troops have been drawn away is certainly encouraging. However, are not the preparations of both your nation and mine still rather insufficient?]
"Of course, that is a concern, but letting an opportunity like this slip away would be a far greater loss. Emperor Viahole, isn’t this precisely the time to make a decision?"
Emperor Bishu waited for Emperor Viahole's reply.
In truth, there was ample reason in what he said. The Holy Empire's fleet had taken a far wider detour than expected and penetrated into Gauri's rear.
The Maritime Empire, which had its own secret pact with the Holy Empire, knew the scale of that force even better than the Federal Empire did. For that matter, hadn't the Maritime Empire provided intermediate resupply from its leased territory?
Yet what gave the Maritime Empire pause was the difference between this war and previous ones: this time it would be an all-out offensive war waged by the Maritime Empire and the Federal Empire together.
Not defense — attack.
The implications were immense. The Holy Empire naturally could not dominate the Maritime Empire at sea. Conversely, the Maritime Empire had little hope of overwhelming the Holy Empire on land. And although it had the Federal Empire as a reliable ally, the results of their previous wars did not inspire much confidence.
The reason that the earlier Imperial Wars had repeatedly ended in stalemate, even with the two empires joining hands, was precisely a clear imbalance in actual fighting power. The Federal Empire's troops were elite — the problem was the near-impossibility of truly unifying their command structure.
The Federal Empire was, in the literal sense, a federation of numerous petty kingdoms. A federation means that each constituent member maintains its own distinct military force.
The Federal Empire had only a weak concept of a central army. Worse, waging war required going through the federal institution called the Assembly. This had repeatedly hobbled the Federal Empire and driven its ally, the Maritime Empire, to distraction.
Knowing the problem should mean fixing it — but doing so would mean forcing each of the federated kingdoms' kings to surrender or disband their own armies. And that, in turn, would mean the Federal Empire would cease to be the Federal Empire and become a strong, centralized power like the Holy Empire.
Was that simple?
Even nations that were not federations struggled mightily to forge strong centralized governance. That it would bring staggering bloodshed was a given. Merely imposing central authority over the aristocracy of a single kingdom was bound to produce bloody political struggles and warfare — so was such a thing remotely possible for a federal entity like the Federal Empire?
[Hmm. Our preparations remain far too inadequate. Emperor Bishu, you as well know the reasons. The reasons we could never secure absolute superiority in the wars before.]
Emperor Viahole’s complaint made Emperor Bishu flush slightly. He understood perfectly well what the Maritime Emperor was implying. Leading a federation had made him exceptionally good at reading implications.
"On that point you need not worry at all. The Federal Assembly has already gathered a consensus."
Emperor Bishu quickly composed himself after flushing and gave his assurance.
There was no need to drone on point by point that "our Federation will do such-and-such so such a thing will not happen."
The kings of each federated realm in the Federal Assembly were well aware of the gravity of the present crisis, so the voices of the few anti-war holdouts had gained no traction.
Moreover, ever since word arrived days earlier that the Holy Empire had made landfall in Gauri, the Assembly had thrown its support behind a lightning war. The pattern of this war made the Holy Empire's intent unmistakable. It was a strategy, beyond a doubt, of swallowing Haian by first unifying Gauri and Roselin beneath itself.
True, occupying even the Kingdom of Malin would be a stretch geographically, but the end result would be little different. The conclusion was inescapable: the coalition would have to confront a Holy Empire grown far more powerful.
This would become a war wholly unlike the local and proxy conflicts that had come before. It was a development greater in scale even than the Imperial Wars already fought.
In truth, Gauri's emergence had complicated matters, but the coming war among the empires had already been a foregone conclusion — because of Emperor Millior himself, the man who had forged the mightiest absolute authority in the Holy Empire's entire history.
[Regarding moving up the deployment date, I will consult my ministers and send you word as soon as possible.]
"Since time is of the essence, I hope your answer won’t be long in coming."
When the magic communication ended, Emperor Bishu, wearing a disgruntled expression, looked toward the Chief of Intelligence standing behind him.
"Tch. The goblin scolds the kobold, as they say..."
Whether goblin or kobold, both are undeniably lower species in the food chain. The saying means neither goblins nor kobolds are in any position to scold one another. In short, it was a phrase that matched the present situation of the two empires rather well.
"Well, but when it comes to outright looting at least, the Maritime Empire is quick to judge, is it not."
"Damned pirates."
At the Chief of Intelligence's remark, Emperor Bishu frowned and, staring once more at the crystal from which Emperor Viahole's image had vanished, let out a curse he had kept bottled in his chest.
The Maritime Emperor's ostensible worry, concern that was not quite concern, had thoroughly crushed his pride. Yet his anger arose less from the substance of it than from the fact that he had had to hear such words from the Emperor of the Maritime Empire.
The Maritime Empire, after all, was a realm of countless islands — a place where the nobles on each island ruled almost like kings in their own right. If anything, the situation there was more tangled than in the Federal Empire, not less.
Indeed, the Maritime Empire was precisely the kind of place where nobles who operated personal pirate fleets without regard for the central government's authority were legion. Of course, to some degree such activities were knowingly overlooked.
Were the Maritime Empire to stop all piracy, the blow to its tax revenues would likely be immense. But for all that, there was one occasion when the Maritime Empire's national will could unify with remarkable speed:
War, the legal instrument of sanctioned plunder.
Win or lose, seize territory or fail to seize it, plunder was an absolute certainty.
That was the purpose of the Maritime Empire's armed forces.
"Presumably, the pirates who seized control of the Central Sea starting about ten years ago have dried up their money streams. That is why the Maritime Empire so readily tore up its under-the-table dealings with the Holy Empire. Because it needed a larger target to plunder."
"Then why are they dragging their feet on a decision?"
To the Chief of Intelligence's explanation, Emperor Bishu muttered as if the whole thing annoyed him.
"Well, in their fashion they are more sensitive to the Holy Empire's movements than we are, so they will naturally weigh their options. But as I said earlier, the Maritime Empire's nobles — whose bread is in growing peril because of the pirates who control the Central Sea — will likely be in favor. You need not worry."
"They'd better be."
"So the pirates of the Central Sea prove a great help not only in checking the Maritime Empire but in such a crucial situation as this."
"We left them in place out of necessity, but they have been useful in many respects."
"Of course, the damage has also been considerable."
Emperor Bishu nodded, but the corners of his eyes furrowed slightly. The Central Sea pirates had indeed helped suppress the Maritime Empire's activities — but they had also inflicted severe harm on the Federal Empire's merchant shipping.
"They are unexpectedly organized in many ways; it was unavoidable."
"In any case, once the Imperial War ends, either the Maritime Empire or we will deal with those wretches. We only need to be patient a little longer."
"They can be used in plenty of other ways as well."
Emperor Bishu had been nodding along to the Chief of Intelligence's words when a sudden anxious thought seemed to strike him, and he asked a question laden with worry.
"Surely you don't mean to tell me the pirates of the Central Sea might have... unified?"
"Surely not. The small- and mid-scale pirate bands of the Central Sea have no history of ever doing such a thing. Not unless they received massive support at the state level, anyway."
At the Chief of Intelligence's curt dismissal, Emperor Bishu himself let out a faint laugh, realizing how absurd the notion was, and resumed speaking.
"Quite so. The Maritime Empire runs pirate fleets of its own, so such a thing is unlikely in any case."
"If that concerns you, shall I submit a formal proposal for running our own pirates?"
"That'll do."
"Pfft."
Ignoring the Chief of Intelligence’s chuckle, Emperor Bishu sank deep into his ornate chair and sighed.
"Hah, what a trial just to fight one war. Moments like this make that young Millior an enviable fellow."
Emperor Bishu's lament echoed quietly.
* * *
"You!"
"What's this all of a sudden?"
Gerard, who had been inspecting the bustling troop movements, glared at Chunsam, who was trailing behind him. At the baffled expression Chunsam wore in response to the sudden accusation, Gerard leveled a cold look and added another word.
"Night duty."
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden! What did I do wrong?"
"My ears are itching."
"......."
Chunsam's face crumpled at Gerard's absurdly unreasonable declaration.
Jang Bogo, who had been approaching when he witnessed Chunsam's retreating back ringing with a tragic wail(?), clicked his tongue and came up alongside Pale, the one who always shadowed Gerard, to ask:
"Has the hundredth been filled?"
"Fleet Commander Jang, do you have an abundance of free time?"
"Ah, n-no, I don't."
At Gerard's bristling retort, Bogo stepped back a pace and faltered. Gerard's voice reached him again.
"The ninety-ninth. It's not yet a hundred."
Grumbling as he resumed walking, Gerard moved ahead while Pale, slowly shaking his head behind him, sighed to Bogo, who was gauging the mood.
[It's true that he's been personally dumped ninety-nine times.]
"What does that mean?"
[There was an introduction set up for the hundredth....]
"And then?"
[The ninety-nine who had already dumped him first intervened and stopped that one.]
"......."
In other words, the poor soul had been rejected without ever even getting to meet the hundredth.
"You, one human and one merman over there — what are you muttering about!"
Gerard's sharp voice summoned the footsteps of the two who had lingered behind. Whether or not he knew what conversation they had just shared, Gerard's expression shifted as he furrowed his brow and fired a question at Bogo.
"Preparations?"
"To a certain degree, things are in order, but the supply of matériel and the distribution of armor and equipment to the entire force are still only about half complete."
"The lumber harvest?"
At the follow-up question, Bogo's answer came rapidly.
"The necessary quantity of lumber has largely been secured. We concentrated the logging on uninhabited islands, and when the trees ran short we expanded to neighboring islands and gathered the full amount required. Now only the transport remains."
The pirates, abruptly turned into lumberjacks, had raised no end of complaints, but Gerard's single pronouncement that this was part of an operation for their sheer survival had silenced them all, and they were now carrying out the work without further grumbling.
"Fleet Commander Jang, as you know from the reports you’ve heard, the Federal Empire is rapidly completing the assembly of its fleet. You know what that means, yes?"
At Gerard's words, Bogo's expression grew noticeably graver.
"Yes, I do."
"I've received no specific orders, but we have to remain in a state of readiness to sortie at any moment just in case."
"I'll bear it firmly in mind."
They were not unaware of the crisis facing the Gauri homeland. But even knowing, there was only so much they could do. After all, they were Gauri’s hidden card.
"Damned Buru. I wonder whether that old fellow is doing well."
Worry drifted across Gerard's face as he gazed out over the sea in the direction where Gauri lay.