Justification

"The conflict between the two regions may develop into a civil war within the Empire. Therefore, our central government will mediate this matter impartially."

No one believed that the Crown Prince's 'impartial mediation' would truly be impartial.

At least, no one who understood how the world worked.

The South was now walking a tightrope with the Empire's fate, holding up the shields of justification and the threat of civil war. Naturally, there was no way the Center would look kindly upon it.

Although it was nominally called impartial mediation, anyone who paid even a little attention could tell that it was, in practice, an attack on the South.

And Kyle Leopold accepted the proposal with his head held high.

"If that is His Highness the Crown Prince's command, then I understand."

His unexpectedly courteous attitude was enough to surprise even the envoy sent from the Center.

The effect was all the greater because, judging from the South's reckless actions so far, they had expected Kyle Leopold to oppose it unconditionally.

Kyle Leopold did not stop there. He treated the envoy exceptionally well.

The South's scientific advances had changed many things. The difference was most apparent in its food and accommodations.

Cooking was also a kind of science. With the most advanced technology and magical engineering, the South was quite formidable in the culinary arts as well.

Moreover, the Southern capital, Albion, boasted a far more dazzling nightscape than the Imperial capital.

Streets lined with buildings five stories high or more. Here and there, buildings exceeding ten stories rose among them, and electric lights illuminated the streets at night.

Various luxurious-looking courses were served atop a high-rise hotel, with a magnificent view of the Southern capital of Albion at night.

After witnessing the South's scenery, which looked as if it belonged to the future, and tasting delicacies even the Crown Prince might never have sampled, the envoy's opinion of the South changed somewhat.

Perhaps the South was not so hostile toward the Imperial Center after all.

Otherwise, they would never have treated an envoy this well.

"Were your accommodations satisfactory?"

"It was the most wonderful day of my life."

Kyle even went outside to see the envoy off himself, adding a few words.

"The people of our South are loyal citizens of the Empire as well. We do not want to see the Empire collapse, either. We want to preserve the Empire's long-standing glory."

"I will do my utmost to convey those sentiments to His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Then that is a relief. However, there is one thing that concerns me."

Kyle Leopold continued, a private smile curling across his face.

"Now that His Highness the Crown Prince's command has been issued, we will no longer lay a hand on the East. But we have no way of knowing how the East will view us, do we?"

"That is correct."

"Therefore, to prevent the war from breaking out again, I would like the South to be allowed to monitor the East's preparations for war."

The envoy, whose sympathies had tilted somewhat toward the South, conveyed those words exactly to the Imperial Center.

The Imperial Court also considered it a proposal worth accepting.

"Certainly, since the East was the one that started the war, the justification is on the South's side."

The South possessed the justification at present. The Imperial Court was suppressing that justification beneath the Crown Prince's authority.

Of course, even suppressing it this way had its limits. Forcing public opinion and justification down through authority consumed an enormous amount of political power.

In that respect, this proposal was not a bad one for the Imperial Court, either.

"Surely those idiots in the East won't attack first even after suffering a complete defeat, will they?"

"Indeed. Moreover, if we accept this proposal, it will help emphasize the Imperial Court's fairness. It should also prevent people from raising objections later."

"If it is only a matter of monitoring them, then surely it is acceptable to grant permission."

Only monitoring them.

The Imperial Court dismissed Kyle Leopold's proposal that lightly.

Part of the reason was that the entire delegation they had sent had returned with nothing but praise for the South, which had left them somewhat off guard.

So the Crown Prince decided to grant permission, as though bestowing a favor.

The 'monitoring' Theodore, the Crown Prince, had envisioned amounted to sending a few inspection teams, meddling a little, and generally giving them a hard time.

And after the East had been so thoroughly defeated by the South, he hardly felt the need to protect them from a little humiliation.

"Since this matter began with the East's declaration of war, the South is permitted to monitor the East until negotiations begin."

It was the order Kyle Leopold had been waiting for.

"It's time to show them the taste of gunboat diplomacy."

Following Kyle Leopold's orders, four destroyers departed from the Southern naval base.

Their destination was the great river running through the Eastern capital of Rheinwald: the Rheinwald River.

Most of the East's imports and exports entered the Empire through this river. It was so important that it could be called the East's lifeline.

The orders given to the destroyers deployed on that river were simple.

"Inspect any vessel that looks even slightly suspicious. Fire your guns if necessary. Monitoring whether the East is importing or exporting war materiel is a right we received from His Highness the Crown Prince."

It was the diplomatic method of the twentieth-century great powers—one the indecisive Crown Prince could never even have imagined.

***

July 19 of that year.

When the four destroyers first appeared in the middle of the Rheinwald River, the East's commercial and industrial guild members thought nothing of it.

Though the East and South had each issued a declaration of war and even fought a battle, they were still ultimately parts of the Empire.

They tried to brush it off, assuming the destroyers were merely heading toward the Center.

That was, until the destroyers stopped in the middle of the river and declared that they would begin conducting inspections.

"I am Karl, captain of the Southern destroyer SDS Falcon. From this moment on, we will conduct thorough inspections to determine whether the East is preparing for war."

"What? Inspections?"

"Any vessel that refuses to comply will be sunk by naval gunfire."

As he said this, the SDS Falcon actually fired its guns at a merchant vessel.

Although it was only warning fire and did not sink the ship, it was more than enough to shock the people of the East.

"What do you think you're doing!? Does it make any sense to fire naval guns in the middle of someone else's territory?!"

"I wouldn't know about that. We are merely conducting monitoring activities regarding the East's preparations for war, within the limits permitted by His Highness the Crown Prince."

"That's only monitoring! Why mobilize warships when you could simply send an inspection team!?"

"Sometimes there is information that an inspection team alone cannot uncover."

The Southern destroyers remained unmoved despite the protests of the Eastern nobles.

The Eastern nobles were aghast as the destroyers quietly inspected every ship in sight and fired their guns at vessels that disobeyed their orders.

Most of the buildings lining the prime real estate along the Rheinwald River were the nobles' residences and commercial guild buildings.

To the privileged class that had believed it would never be challenged in its lifetime, having a foreign warship fire naval guns in its own front yard was utterly incomprehensible.

The enemy had pushed its fleet into the very heart of the East's lifeline. The nobles were suffocating.

Edward was no different.

"That son of a bitch Kyle Leopold!"

Edward had thrown away both his honorific speech and his restrained gestures, hurling objects around his office.

That was all Edward could do.

With the fleet annihilated, if he provoked them and started another war, they would be the ones who lost.

The Royal Navy that had once ruled the seas was gone. Founded before the Empire existed, back when it was still a kingdom, the Royal Navy had preserved its name for a thousand years. Its legacy had ended in Edward's generation.

Of course, it was not as though no warships remained... but now that the undersea monsters were all dead and the mages had been wiped out, they were no longer a meaningful military force.

"I... I am the Grand Duke who ended the East's history?"

He could not accept it. Faced with an unacceptable reality, unable even to express his rage, the man he had once looked down on—the man who was supposed to lie beneath his feet and make him shine even brighter—was firing naval guns right before his eyes.

Even so, Edward somehow endured it.

But this was not something that would be resolved simply by Edward enduring it.

No matter how much of an Eastern Grand Duke he was, he could not control the minds of every mage.

Besides... there was no rule saying that every mage in the East had to be affiliated with the East, either.

***

July 26. One week since the inspections began.

A magic circle appeared at the bow of the destroyer SDS Arrow, followed by a massive explosion.

The destroyer's paper-thin armor could not withstand a spell that had been prepared over such a long period. The speed of the destroyer Arrow was cut in half, and its entire forward section was blown away.

"Hah! I knew those idiots would suffer that fate sooner or later!"

"If they were going to pull something like that in the middle of someone else's territory, they should have been prepared to suffer the consequences!"

Even the nobles who had initially cheered soon realized that something had gone wrong.

Would the South really remain still?

"We're under attack! Return fire authorized!"

Naturally, the other three destroyers escorted the Arrow and began returning fire.

In truth, it could hardly be called return fire. They simply blasted every location that looked suspicious.

The nobles' mansions were smashed, and ships were torn apart.

And there was no way the East would simply leave the destroyer firing naval guns in the middle of the city alone.

Led by several 'righteous' mages, the mages inside the city hurled spells at the destroyers.

It was the moment the strange peace between the East and South came to an end.