Chapter 28
Truth be told, until just a hundred years ago, the Empire was a fearsome ruler of the continent.
From the cold North to the warm South.
To make imperial law reach such vast territory, the law had to be that stern.
So the Empire a hundred years ago never let even minor matters slide.
In the middle of the sea, even a shipboard mutiny on an island thousands of kilometers from the mainland would prompt the Empire to send a fleet to suppress it directly.
That stern imperial rule ended a hundred years ago.
It was after the 'Prince's Rebellion' nearly sparked civil war, 70% of the imperial family died, and the Empire was thrown into chaos.
The emperor who suppressed the Prince's Rebellion and took power, Kaiser III, supposedly believed tragedies like that must never happen again.
After Kaiser III, the Empire changed course.
For he believed the cause of the Prince's Rebellion was the Empire's extreme iron-fisted rule.
And so, after Imperial Year 957, under Kaiser III, the Empire dismantled its old iron rule and began loosening the noose it had kept tight.
It was the so-called Age of Reform.
The Empire of that era enjoyed an unprecedented boom.
All manner of restrictions were lifted, and new possibilities abounded.
From that time on, the seeds of the Industrial Revolution also began to blossom in the Empire's two major industrial regions, the South and the North.
During Kaiser III's reign, everything seemed to be running smoothly.
No matter how much they promoted the slogans of an Age of Reform, a moderate Empire, and peaceful rule... Kaiser III was still an iron-fisted monarch who had personally slaughtered 70% of the imperial family to prevent civil war.
The nobles of that era didn't even dare think about corruption.
Just because the emperor was smiling didn't mean the sword in his hand was smiling too.
If Kaiser III had lived longer,
if he had been able to establish the system of a 'moderate Empire,' the Empire might still have been great.
But Kaiser III did not live long.
The one who succeeded him was his thirteen-year-old son.
The emperor was far too young, and the old iron-fisted system that should have kept order had already been shattered.
From that moment on, the Empire began heading straight for ruin.
The nobles committed corruption openly, and discipline in the army loosened.
And so, over the course of a hundred years, the Empire slowly began to crumble.
A tower that would have collapsed long ago if not for the vast territory expanded by its founding ancestors. A lion whose claws had gone dull from resting too long.
And the one actually ruling such an Empire was the weak-willed, thoughtless crown prince: Theodore.
The steel Empire that once suppressed any sign of civil war by immediately sending in an overwhelming army was gone.
The Empire was more incompetent and corrupt than anyone could have imagined.
"Let's watch and wait for now"—what the hell does that even mean!
The old magician's roar shook the conference room. He pointed at the noble before him and continued in an angry voice.
"This is blatant treason! That so-called Southern Grand Duke started a war with the West without saying a word to the center, and we're supposed to just watch?!"
From the mages' perspective, that was only natural.
Why had they thrown themselves so fiercely into blocking the development of guns, cannons, science, and medicine?
The development of firearms would greatly reduce the mages' role in war.
The progress of science and medicine would spread to commoners things that had previously been the sole domain of mages.
Everything the mages had enjoyed until now was about to come crashing down. From their direct power to their elitist belief that they were the 'chosen ones.'
However, the nobles could not back down either.
The nobles, who normally avoided direct clashes of opinion with mages at all costs, were butting heads with them for the first time in a very long while.
"We can attribute this entirely to Western Grand Duke Charles Raymonz. It was Charles Raymonz who violated the Sarsen-Lutetia Treaty and ignored the mediation proposal sent by His Highness the Crown Prince."
"What are you trying to say?"
"This is clearly the West's fault. The West created the problem, and the South declared war through the proper procedures, building sufficient justification before beginning."
No matter how much power the mages held, it was the nobles who ultimately dealt with imperial law.
The nobles did not yield an inch as they refuted the mages' claims.
"Since the Southern Army did not commit any unnecessary slaughter or destruction, I believe it is reasonable to regard this as a legitimate territorial war."
"Given the scale this time, mediation and talks to prevent recurrence are indeed necessary, but it's not to the point where military intervention is warranted."
Of course, it wasn't as though the nobles liked Kyle Leopold.
They knew the Industrial Revolution unleashed by the South would kill off the existing noble class and elevate the merchant and industrial classes, which had long been looked down on as base, into the mainstream.
But that was a matter beyond the Arbel Mountains.
It was a disaster for the Western nobles; honestly, the center didn't care.
As if Kyle Leopold would ever think of treason?
As long as no treason broke out and my own position stayed safe, what did I care what happened in the West?
That was the thinking of the corrupt nobles.
It was a war where winning would gain them nothing.
If it had been a war of conquest, maybe, but this was an imperial civil war.
Even if they won, the spoils would belong to the emperor. If they lost and it was taken from them, it would be their loss. All the nobles would get was a meaningless medal.
No one likes a war that offers nothing but obligations.
And besides, what if they were defeated by the Southern Army?
Then everything the family had built up over generations would collapse in an instant.
So civil war was the one thing they could not allow.
"The founding emperors of the Empire granted each lord the freedom to wage territorial war."
"Grand Duke Kyle Leopold of the South possesses that authority as well, and strictly speaking, exercising the right to territorial war can hardly be called an overreach."
The mages wanted to suppress the South's development by any means necessary.
And the nobles were trying desperately to avoid civil war.
The gap between their positions could not be bridged.
It was no different for the nobles in charge of the Imperial Army.
"After enduring the Prince's Rebellion, Kaiser III devoted himself to ensuring civil war would never happen again. I believe it is also our duty as his descendants to preserve that effort."
For the past fifty years, the Imperial Central Army actually had very little to do.
It was an age of peace, with only minor disputes and the suppression of riots and the like.
In an age of peace, the importance of the military naturally declined, and interest in the army gradually faded as well.
And a group whose budget expenditures were classified, that people cared little about, and that had little to do?
There was no easier place to skim off the top than that.
"How about considering dialogue rather than war?"
For a concrete example, the listed reserve stock of winter combat uniforms for the Imperial Army is 100,000 sets.
Yet in reality, fewer than a thousand are actually in the warehouse.
No matter how lenient the Empire had become, if they embezzled this badly, heads were bound to roll.
The Imperial Army's nobles were too busy hiding the corruption that would be exposed the moment war broke out.
The Empire's interests had long since been pushed to the back burner before their own lives.
Not fully understanding that situation, the crown prince found the circumstances strange.
'Ah, the nobles don't want to fight and the mages do? Then I just need to find a compromise for both sides.'
And so the crown prince inserted himself between the two sides, who were in the middle of debating.
"If that's your opinion, how about looking for a compromise?"
"A compromise, you say?"
"Yes. Grand Duke Kyle Leopold of the South probably doesn't want war either."
At least, Theodore thought so.
The last Kyle Leopold he had seen was a fat, sleazy man with no courage to fight anyone head-on.
Besides, the crown prince himself also wanted to avoid civil war.
For the past thousand years, the Empire had never once suffered civil war.
And then civil war would break out in his own era?
That would be tantamount to announcing to the whole world the crown prince Theodore's incompetence.
"So we shall watch the situation as the nobles suggest, while leaving room for military intervention as the mages suggest."
So the compromise the crown prince proposed was this.
"1. The problematic Sarsen territory is to be transferred to Southern jurisdiction."
"2. In return, the South will wage no further war."
"3. If the South shows any further move toward war, military intervention will begin from that point on."
"This is the compromise I have in mind."
At the crown prince's words, everyone in the conference room fell silent.
In truth, both the nobles and the mages knew it.
That this 'compromise' was a half measure worse than doing nothing.
That such an ambiguous measure would only buy the South more time to arm itself.
But neither side could afford to back down.
The mages could not allow the South to develop guns and cannons any further.
The nobles couldn't follow the mages' wishes and get ground to dust on the front lines.
And the Imperial Army absolutely did not want war, because the moment it started, all their corruption would be exposed.
And so, the compromise proposed by the crown prince was soon put into writing and sent to the South.
Exactly two weeks later.
The envoy returned from the South with a memorandum in hand, obtained from Grand Duke Kyle Leopold.
It was a memorandum bearing Kyle Leopold's own signature, stating that 'the South will no longer engage in unauthorized hostilities.'
At the next cabinet meeting, the crown prince raised that paper high and declared,
"Within this paper lies the peace of our age."
Very few people genuinely agreed with that claim.
Only the incompetent sycophants at his side were flattering him like this.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has saved the Empire from the greatest civil-war crisis in its history!"
***
"Hmm, I knew the crown prince was indecisive, but... I didn't expect it to be this bad."
The Eastern Grand Duke's grand ducal castle.
In an office lavishly decorated befitting the master of the imperial sea, a black-haired man wearing a monocle muttered.
Eastern Grand Duke Edward.
He had been feeling pressured by the South's radical military buildup and expansion, and he knew very well how meaningless this compromise was.
It was clear the indecisive crown prince would do nothing until the South had completely swallowed the West.
And after that?
Naturally, the East would be next.
And Edward had no intention of meeting the same foolish end as the Western Grand Duke.
He tore the paper bearing the compromise to pieces and muttered,
"Most of the South's export volume passes through our seas and our ports into the Empire."
The South's economy runs on exports.
So if those exports are blocked, the economy will inevitably collapse under its own weight.
"So... if worst comes to worst, we'll need to prepare at least one card to pressure the South into acting."
Admiral of the Ocean Fleet and master of the underwater monster legion. Edward.
No matter what anyone said, the sea above and below was his.
No matter how formidable their battleships were, their cannons could not attack underwater.
Looking toward the South, he muttered,
"For example, something like a naval blockade."