Chapter 49
We have been demanding an apology and compensation from the South for the sinking of the 4th-rate ship of the line Iliad for the past month.
However, the South has offered no apology whatsoever, and has even made the outrageous demand that we reimburse the repair costs for their vessel, the RMS Stella Marine.
Therefore, the East Grand Ducal House, the East Royal Navy, and the East Merchant Guild Alliance hereby declare that a state of war exists against the South as of Imperial Year 1026, May 30.
All seas north of 17 degrees latitude shall be regarded as war zones, and ships that attempt to evade inspection by our vessels may be attacked by the undersea monster legion.
The East, which had ruled the Empire's seas for a thousand years, had issued a declaration of war.
The East Navy's declaration of war, backed by hundred-meter-class undersea monsters, did not manage to make the Southerners tremble in fear.
That was thanks to the Southern citizens' faith, born of experience, that Kyle Leopold would never do something like this without preparation.
Moreover, the entrepreneurs also had some idea of the new weapons the South was preparing.
Last winter, intelligence agents had visited the entrepreneurs.
"I'm Anne from the Intelligence Bureau."
One hallmark of Intelligence Bureau black agents was having such a common name you could practically find it rolling around on the street.
Because the names of those who had abandoned their past as famed aura users and become the South's shadows were classified information.
That was why the entrepreneurs hesitated quite a bit before accepting the file.
"What's this?"
"It's top secret, so I can't tell you exactly what it is. I don't even know what's in this file myself."
"...Hah, it seems Lord Kyle has entrusted us with another grave mission."
The entrepreneurs had seen this pattern before.
Lord Kyle had once assigned confidential component designs to the South's leading arms manufacturers, optics companies, steel companies, precision mechanical engineering companies, magical engineering companies, and so on.
At first, they didn't know what they were making, but they followed orders because he paid them a lot.
And what emerged was the Dreadnought.
Since they knew very well what role the Dreadnought had played in the conflict with the West, they guessed this blueprint would be something similar.
"The contents of this top-secret file must not be disclosed to anyone, including your family. Please share it only with the personnel absolutely necessary for designing the parts."
"We will."
"If this information leaks outside, and if His Grace notices it, he will be quite displeased."
The displeasure of the Southern Grand Duke, Kyle Leopold.
There wasn't a single entrepreneur who didn't know what that meant.
Ever since Kyle had appeared like a comet along with the Labor Standards Act, every one of the South's companies had been on his leash.
"We will never disclose it. I promise you on our company's reputation."
"Very well. His Grace said that if you win the conflict with the East, he'll see that you receive your due share."
The reason the companies accepted the proposal anyway was simple.
Designing a special-class warship like this was always a company's biggest career achievement.
The companies that took part in building the Dreadnought later enjoyed an enormous boom. It wasn't merely that Kyle Leopold gave them more support.
The title of "the company that built the strongest warship" made for an excellent portfolio item that would never be looked down on anywhere.
So the entrepreneurs returned to their homes with excited hearts and opened the blueprints.
"Hah..."
And without exception, they all let out gasps of admiration.
Because the blueprints they had received were parts of a weapons system they had never once imagined could be possible until now.
A periscope. An oxygen generator using batteries. A hull capable of withstanding the pressure of the deep sea. And a torpedo.
They were separate blueprints, but even looking at any one part made it clear they were trying to develop a vessel for underwater use.
"So the Intelligence Bureau and the Design Bureau had been hiding something like this all along."
If they were already distributing the blueprints to companies, that meant development was already complete.
Kyle Leopold was already thinking about humans dominating even the waters.
It was technology the companies wouldn't even dare dream about.
No matter how much money they poured in, they still couldn't catch up to the world's best engineers, who had gathered because they loved research.
"...As expected, what the Design Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau are hiding is truly extraordinary."
"They've got technology accumulated over the past hundred years, after all."
"I see. Then we'll have to do our best too."
The entrepreneurs steeled themselves and began preparing the production lines.
In just one year, dozens of submarines were produced.
More than ten destroyers were also added.
However, no additional battleships were built.
That was because naval warfare was mainly a war against the undersea monsters.
And the Dreadnought was the lead ship of a new class that ushered in a new era. As with all lead ships, it had plenty of rough edges.
We had already gained enough experience operating battleships with this ship.
The Empire's surface fleet wasn't even strong enough to require us to field three battleships.
Besides... to deal with foreign countries that had some understanding of our technology, we also had to stay one step ahead.
"We'll delay the construction of additional battleships a little longer. Until gun technology improves and we can build even larger ships."
Once the conflict with the East was over, I was thinking of trying something bigger than a 305mm naval gun.
Because for me, who had been a true ship nut in my previous life, a 305mm naval gun just wasn't enough.
Right. Once the conflict with the East was over.
First, I needed to finish what I was already doing.
"Lucila, are our submarine fleet preparations complete?"
"Yes. Over the past half year, we've gained enough operational experience, and I believe our understanding of the main force's wolf pack tactics is also sufficient."
"Good. Then we can start soon."
I said, turning to Lucila.
"Call Parliament into session. They've declared war on us, so we need to answer them in kind."
This time, I didn't need to give a grand speech like last time.
Last time, it had been because we were facing the huge event called war. More importantly, I had to extend working hours under the pretext of total war.
We had already experienced victory in war once, and working hours had also settled to some extent.
Right now, it was enough to explain the justification for the war.
***
May 31.
I stood at the podium in the urgently convened parliament, cleared my throat once, and began to speak.
"Honorable members of Parliament. I am Kyle Leopold, Grand Duke of the South. Yesterday, the East Grand Ducal House, the East Royal Navy, and the East Merchant Guild declared war on us. The pretext they used was the collision incident involving the RMS Stella Marine and the 4th-rate ship of the line Iliad."
Sailing ships that rely on sails are vulnerable to stormy weather.
Therefore, under imperial military regulations, ships of the 4th-rate ship-of-the-line class or below should never have set sail in weather like that.
By contrast, the RMS Stella Marine was a 30,000-ton passenger liner.
It was one of the most advanced passenger ships of this era, capable of sailing regardless of the weather.
If you ask whose fault it was, it would be an accident that was 100 percent the East's responsibility.
"However, our passenger ship, the RMS Stella Marine, did its best in that situation. Even in the extreme conditions of foul weather, it launched lifeboats to rescue the East's sailors, and the injuries sustained by our Southern sailors in the process were not minor."
Even in that situation, our passenger ship did its best.
And yet they dare blame us?
Honestly, I couldn't completely wash my hands of it either, but on this collision issue I was in the clear.
So I could say it confidently.
"The root cause of this issue lies in the East's control of the sea. The East's arrogant obstruction of maritime passage is a clear violation of imperial law and an unreasonable, underhanded act aimed at our Southern companies."
It was the East's fault.
And I couldn't just stand by and watch those bastards shamelessly declare war on top of that.
"Just like the Count of Sarsen in the past, the East is trying to steal the fruits of our South's sweat and blood. If we back down on this matter, next time the East bastards will demand something even bigger."
I brought up the past on purpose.
By bringing up Count Sarsen's attempt to extort money from our merchants, I emphasized how unreasonable the East's maritime blockade was.
The capitalists who had to pay tolls for three years still shudder at the mere mention of Count Sarsen.
"The South is no longer so weak that it must yield to this kind of unreasonable pressure."
"We have the largest fleet in the world, and our military has already completed preparations for a new weapons system to take on the East's undersea monsters."
By casually mentioning the submarine unit, I also eased the members' underlying anxiety.
'I can't say it, but there is a solution.'
If an ordinary person said it, it'd be dismissed as empty talk, but the weight of my words was different, because I had secretly developed the Dreadnought and blown Sarsen Fortress to pieces.
Even the members who had looked doubtful until just then nodded as if persuaded.
"So if the East bastards want war, I will gladly answer with war. Just as the arrogant Count of Sarsen yielded, just as the incompetent Charles Raymonds fell, I will make them kneel before the South!"
My final shout echoed through the parliament hall.
The moment the voice that had been circling the grand hall faded, thunderous applause from the members erupted.
May 31, 6:00 p.m.
To hunt the East's giant undersea monsters roaming near Southern territorial waters, ten submarines set sail from the South's harbor.
It was the arrival of a wolf pack to take on the sea monsters.