Veterans Are Recognized Everywhere: Ruthless Iron-Blooded Meritocracy
Veterans are recognized anywhere. Ruthless iron-blooded meritocracy. Aristocratic republic. Slavery. The Eisenreich Colonial Empire was both the enemy of the Theodor Holy Empire—the setting of the original story "Your Empire, I Shall Protect"—and the ultimate black幕 behind it all. Flags stained pitch-black. Brutal imperial legions clad in black iron armor and weaponry. And expansionism that conquered the northern and central continents through overwhelming force.
The primary readership of romance fantasy is, naturally, women. The colonial empire's coercive methods, which utterly rejected ethics and morality in pursuit of raw power and pragmatism, were bound to provoke contempt and disgust from romance fantasy readers.
"Tell me. How did you uncover the identities of our agents lurking in the Holy Empire's Imperial Capital? Even the Empire's intelligence bureau and the Baldemar family's Special Forces couldn't figure us out... For some two-bit squad leader patrolling the Holy Empire's frontlines to expose us!"
"......"
Bam! He slammed the table with a furious shout.
Purple hair cascading to her waist. Long, pointed ears. Tanned skin radiating robust health. And black eyes brimming with suspicion and defiance.
Bellesra. The dark elf beauty assigned to interrogate defectors from the Holy Empire's war heroes now served as deputy commander of the colonial empire's intelligence bureau. She was also the tragic villain who appeared early in "Your Empire, I Shall Protect," ambushing the heroine Zigrinde only to be killed by the male leads.
If it weren't for me, you'd be dead already.
I muttered quietly to myself as I stared at the dark elf beauty before me.
"Do you have any idea how much effort it took for our disguised gardener agent to infiltrate that goddamn whore's mansion... Not only did you expose him, but you used him to track that whore and her band of woman-obsessed idiots, then reveal their intent to defect."
"Steel Lorelei. Heir to the Sword Duke. Young master of the Red Tower. And peerless genius. I heard they all survived the scene. Hundreds of ships mobilized, and you still botched the hit? How the hell do you handle operations?"
"Ask the pirates. Those money-grubbing criminals... They bolted the moment they feared Holy Empire retaliation."
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting much anyway."
Ten days.
Ten days since I'd betrayed the Steel Lorelei.
We'd sailed sea routes nonstop. Finally, the transport ship reached colonial empire waters.
The moment we docked at the port city, I was hauled before this stunning dark elf with her knockout figure for interrogation.
I figured I'd get dragged to some filthy torture chamber teeming with gutter rats and forced to confess under brutal duress the second I arrived in this authoritarian hellhole... but the treatment's pretty decent.
Was it the years of being exploited like livestock in the Holy Empire? I felt dazed. Bewildered enough that I couldn't hide it.
A cozy villa with a sea view on the horizon. Warm meat soup and buttered bread for every meal. Three servants assigned to handle chores and attend me.
And the dark elf beauty conducting the interrogation in a bodysuit that hugged every curve.
What the hell. Was this paradise?
Stale, rock-hard black bread long past its prime. Trenches reeking of moisture and rot. Upper echelons demanding endless sacrifice with no regard, pay frozen for months.
If I'd defected to the colonial empire sooner, maybe my life of enduring passion pay would've been a little less shitty.
I chewed the butter bread thoughtfully and eyed Bellesra.
"Kailun von Valtenstein. Holy Empire's mad dog. The moniker stuck to you for succeeding at impossible missions. Even our colonial empire took heavy losses on the frontlines because of you."
"Didn't expect compliments from the interrogator."
"It's a warning to stay vigilant. Plenty of nobles respect you as a warrior, but just as many hate your guts. Defeat in the colonial empire means disgrace. Countless soldiers who lost to you were shipped off to the frozen wastelands."
"Plenty must see me as their blood-sworn enemy, then."
Maybe because I'd been cooperating with the interrogation? Bellesra, who'd been firing sharp questions nonstop, offered some advice.
"Today's session is over. See you tomorrow."
"Hold on. I brought proof of my loyalty to the colonial empire. Can't show up empty-handed."
"Hm?"
"Love letters swapped between the Steel Lorelei and her lovers since their academy days."
I pulled a small box from my backpack.
Ebony wood box. Packed with hundreds of letters.
True to their nature, a riot of provocative scents burst out the moment I cracked it open.
Right before deploying to Caldera Rock, I'd swiped the letter box from Zigrinde's vanity. Thanks to years of playing the compliant lackey, I could waltz into her mansion as usual and snag the love letters she'd exchanged with those noble heirs.
"Love letters? You found them in that huge mansion?"
"Just sitting on her vanity. Shoved 'em straight in my pack."
"Something that could threaten her status and position, left out in the open...? How stupid can that bitch be?"
"How do you think it felt slaving under that idiot for three months, cleaning up her messes?"
No joke. Pus was probably seeping from every pore. Scrubbing in the bath later would pour out in clumps.
"How do you plan to use them? If you hand them to our intelligence bureau..."
"No need for the colonial empire to take point. Plenty of factions hate the ones who stirred up the continent claiming to protect the Holy Empire. Especially the Hanzerbalt City Union, who surrendered conditionally to the Holy Empire. Merchant hubs like them boast top-tier printing tech."
"If Hanzerbalt's presses run day and night, we could turn it into continent-wide gossip in under a fortnight..."
"Plus, every letter's stamped clear as day with seals from the Holy Empire royals, Kreuz family, Red Tower, and Baldemar house."
I flipped the letter box over, dumping the love letters onto the table. They spilled out with a rustle, piling high.
One heroine, four male leads. The standard romance fantasy harem setup.
But unless it was a gender-bent world, a reverse harem evoking polygamy would draw public scorn and outrage.
True to his reputation as the Holy Empire's mad dog war hero, he'd unleashed a massive storm.
The Luxor family castle burned to the ground. Hundreds of nobles at the banquet perished.
And he'd left the Steel Lorelei—Holy Empire's symbol—and her noble heirs in a brief limbo of unknown fate.
The result of extreme madness fused with meticulous strategy.
Eisenreich nobles erupted in excitement, cheering the mad dog's defection.
Especially the War Council nobles handling wars and pacification—they openly schemed to recruit the Holy Empire's mad dog under their command.
"Assign the mad dog to House Edelgard. I hear the Holy Empire royals offered half their direct territory taxes as his bounty? Posting him in the colonial empire's frozen fringes, beyond Holy Empire reach, would make management easier, no?"
As all colonial nobles eyed him hungrily, a silver-haired beauty asserted priority rights to the War Council's executor.
War heroes get rational rewards. The colonial empire championed strict meritocracy and rationalism.
Thus, the silver-haired beauty—as supreme commander who'd slain the Holy Empire's Magal Palace guardian Helian von Sargus—demanded first dibs on recruiting the mad dog.
-Edelgard Inquisitor. Not to diminish your stellar achievements, but if you claim priority, won't the other War Council nobles gripe?
"Doesn't matter. I'll gladly take their complaints."
The voice emanated from the silver-haired beauty's verdant magic crystal. A receiving stone for calls.
Crackle...
Static buzzed, underscoring the bewilderment. Then a faint sigh, and the War Council executor replied.
-Understood. I'll convey your intent to the nobles.
"Where's the mad dog now? He hasn't headed to the capital already, has he?"
-Still under intelligence bureau jurisdiction. Report should come soon. The War Council nobles won't dare poach. The Frozen Wastes Inquisitor has declared priority.
"Ahem!"
Ice Executioner. War Council inquisitor. One of Eisenreich's ten great houses.
Leonora Elua Edelgard. The colonial empire war hero who'd felled the Holy Empire's Yellow Path 12 Palaces Sword Saint Helian, now supreme commander ruling the northern frozen wastes.
Leonora had demanded priority from the War Council executor via receiving stone the instant she heard the Holy Empire's mad dog had defected.
