Chapter 69
6 a.m. on August 8.
Even on the final day I had given him, Edward ultimately failed to provide any answer.
"It seems there is some internal strife among the Eastern leadership. Grand Duke Edward... appears to have something he's relying on."
"Something he's relying on..."
There was only one thing Edward could be relying on.
Central military intervention and mediation.
In fact, if the Empire were a normal country, Edward's judgment would have been correct.
If the central government took even one step back here, civil war would be a certainty. What kind of foolish central government would grovel to a province and thereby guarantee a civil war?
In a normal country, the central army would rush in at this point and suppress the conflict before it could grow.
But in my view, the Center was not in a position to fight right now.
It would clearly take several years to prepare for a full-scale war.
Military intervention under those circumstances? There was no way they would choose that.
The Empire had probably sensed as well that a full-scale civil war was right on its doorstep.
The Empire was at the stage of preparing for a civil war, not in a position to recklessly project military force somewhere.
So the Empire's position was to buy time.
It was probably about time for an envoy from the Empire to arrive.
"Shall I order the fleet to bombard the naval base?"
"No. Let's wait a little longer."
That was why I deliberately held back the order to bombard the naval base.
The Imperial Family and the Center had clearly been on the East's side until now.
They must have been trying to mediate this matter from the East's side.
Even so, the fact that silence had come back instead of a mediation proposal meant that Edward had kicked away that 'mediation.'
The central government, which had to avoid a military clash somehow and build up its ability to wage war, could belatedly turn its eyes to only one place.
Our South.
"Because an envoy from the Center will arrive soon."
To be honest, we did not have the ability to crush the Center here and now, either.
We might be able to win a battle against the Center, but a war and a battle were two different things.
If the Marezia Republic stabbed us in the back while we concentrated all our strength against the Center, we would be destroyed as well.
However, the Center had not grasped our exact intentions.
The East and West had been smashed in a single year. Now, only the Center remained, and the South was inflating its apparent strength as though it could strike the Center at any time.
Unable to tell how much of that strength was empty bluster and how much was real, the Center would try to buy time, even if it meant handing some concessions to us.
My prediction proved to be exactly right.
6 p.m. on August 8.
At the grand ducal residence, with the sun sinking toward the horizon, an envoy from the Center arrived.
The envoy entered my office and, uncharacteristically for a representative of the Center, stated his business with a fairly humble bearing.
"The central government intends to resolve this matter through dialogue."
"Grand Duke Edward does not seem to have any intention of doing that, though."
"Ha ha, that is all right. His Grace Edward will be informed of the results of these negotiations later as well."
It sounded like a casual remark tossed out as a favor, but the meaning behind it was anything but light.
'Edward, too, will be informed of the results of the negotiations later.'
In other words, they intended to negotiate over the East without Eastern Grand Duke Edward himself.
"Hmm, the Center has made quite a major decision."
They intended to abandon the East cleanly, take whatever they could, and prepare for what came next.
And beneath it all was confidence.
The South certainly looked powerful right now, but once the Center finished reorganizing its army, it was not as though we would be impossible to drive back.
He must have been saying this out of that vain confidence.
The Empire's north also had elite units that had fought against monsters, and its population was several times larger than ours.
"Then it would only be proper for our South to respond in kind."
It was not a misconception I felt any particular need to correct.
The longer the Empire thought that way and bought us time, the better it was for us.
There were still many things we needed to build.
We had to expand the fleet and organize our ground forces. With so much to do, we would benefit from being given more time.
Building a tank factory and producing new battleships would take years at the very least.
"What mediation proposal does His Highness the Crown Prince want?"
"It is nothing complicated. Of the conditions Your Grace Kyle imposed on the East, His Highness wishes you to withdraw the second item."
"The second condition?"
If it was the second condition I had imposed...
2. Since the East may start another war, all vessels using the East's major ports will undergo a quarantine inspection by Southern inspectors.
So they wanted us to remove the only condition that harmed the Center?
In effect, the other conditions did not have any significant impact on the Imperial Center.
The naval bombardment? That was the East's problem. Whether we supported or hounded the Eastern nobles, the East would be the one to suffer, and that would be the end of it.
"What about the other conditions?"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is generous. But he is not a man who tolerates two mistakes. Eastern Grand Duke Edward, who committed acts tantamount to declarations of war twice in a row, has clearly crossed the line."
"Ha ha, that's right."
I gave the envoy an appropriate laugh while mentally working through the calculations.
The fact that I could effectively do whatever I wanted with the East was a considerable advantage. Besides, since the Center itself had directly authorized it, there should not be much trouble over it.
Of course, it was not without its drawbacks. If we did not conduct quarantine inspections, the foreign great powers would have an opening to intervene secretly in the Center.
Even so...
"I think that is something I can accept."
It was not a proposal so unacceptable that we had to reject it.
Even if we did not conduct the quarantine inspections, the Center could not openly contact foreign powers.
They would have to move in secret, and that would inevitably leave them far behind the South in terms of development.
To some extent, we had achieved our initial objective.
As long as our South kept a firm grip on the Eastern coastline, the great powers would not be able to make any 'full-scale' intervention.
"Fine. I agree with His Highness the Crown Prince's opinion as well."
Ironically, on this matter alone, the Center and our South were in a relationship where we could trust each other.
The Center was making a miscalculation because of its enormous size.
It believed that our South could be trampled underfoot whenever its army was ready.
That was precisely why it could not launch a preemptive attack.
'We can hit them once we're ready' meant that it could not attack while it was unprepared.
"I pledge this in the name of Kyle Leopold: even if a full-scale offensive against the East begins, I will not touch the Center's interests."
"Good. His Highness the Crown Prince will not forget the South's concern for the Empire, either."
Neither I, extending my hand to the envoy at that moment, nor the envoy, clasping my hand and shaking it, nor the Crown Prince who had sent him...
Not one of us meant a word of it sincerely.
Once these years of preparation were over, we were all getting ready to stab each other in the back.
The secret talks between people wearing smiling masks ended like that.
And on August 9.
The fleet stationed at the mouth of the Rheinwald River finally unleashed a full salvo of naval gunfire against Iron Port, the East's largest naval base.
***
August 8 was the worst day of Edward's life.
The Southern fleet was aiming at Iron Port from near the horizon, and there was almost nothing Edward could do against it.
Approach recklessly? They would hit him with a full salvo of naval gunfire.
Defensive magic circles were no different. If they were deployed carelessly, a naval barrage might come flying straight at them.
He was in a situation where he did not know when those monsters floating quietly beyond the horizon might breathe fire.
With the feeling of having thrust his head into the jaws of a wild beast, Edward had to endure the enormous political offensive bearing down on him.
"Your Grace Grand Duke Edward, is the Southern fleet really laying siege here because of your misjudgment!?"
"Stop being so stubborn and take responsibility already!"
"Are you planning to blow away the East's historic port because of one bad decision!?"
There was only one thing Edward could say to the people hounding him like that.
"They will never fire their naval guns. The Center would never stand by and watch it happen. As long as we hold out, time is on our side."
To be honest, even Edward himself lacked confidence in his judgment as he said this.
He could only pray that his judgment was correct.
Around Iron Port, the remaining citizens continued to flee in a steady stream. The residents no longer trusted him.
A leader trusted by neither the nobles, the military, nor the people.
Even in a situation where he could be called unfit to lead, Edward struggled to deny reality.
"I am right. The Southern bastards will not be able to fire their naval guns in the end. Common sense dictates that the Center would never stand still, doesn't it?"
Muttering that to himself all day, Edward stared at Iron Port with bloodshot eyes.
And so the morning of August 9 dawned.
The city, emptied of all its residents, stood untouched.
The fleet remained silent.
"Ha, haha..."
Only then did Edward wipe the cold sweat from his brow and shout.
"I was right!"
That was the signal.
With both arms raised high toward the sky, Edward saw flickering firelight beyond the horizon.
Half a beat later, explosions erupted throughout Iron Port.