My regards, I am Princess Burnheart. May peace reign in Merika, except for the house of my father. May he stub his toes for as long as he reigns.
The Holy Island, USS D—er—Sir Grey has been a good friend to us thus far. I did not expect it to be so… friendly.
Aureos says that Sir Grey is actually a man. Surely, its voice is that of a man, but ships do not have genders. Rather, I would have expected it to be a woman—men refer to ships as women, which I find strange. I do not understand men. I do not understand this ship. Hm. It might actually be a man, unexpectedly from this line of logic…
It uses an arcane form of English, which even the educated Aureos could barely understand, at least, initially. Surprisingly, we only needed many days of undertaking Sir Grey’s trials and listening to his voice before we understood him almost perfectly. There are still many expressions that do not resonate with me, but it cannot be helped.
In such a regard, Sir Grey speaks like a commoner. Compared to Merika’s commoners, however, he is oddly well-versed and, dareisay, it is like he is a commoner who had been given a scholarship grant by the Royal Academy of Washington, achieving high marks, and yet could not let go of their manner of speech no matter their efforts. Hm. I was acquainted with such a personality in the Academy, wasn’t I? She was an interesting person.
A-anyway, we now have control of the Golden Port. General Ironheart of the Royal Army, and General Bulletneck of the Free Southern Army, gladly took the opportunity to rally under my flag. The two friends had been hoping for an excuse not to do battle. It seemed that even an over-righteous cause as a “Holy Crusade” was sufficient.
As the most important port in the region, the Royal Army and the Free Southern Army had sent significant troops here, as well as some of their best commanders. Had the war started in earnest before our arrival, we would have found a moat of blood surrounding the city. Instead, we now had 100,000 troops at our disposal—60,000 magic soldiers of the Royal Army, and 40,000 magic gunmen of the Free South.
Additionally, five pairs of dragon riders and knights have allied with us, while the remaining ten went home.
The dragon riders and knights swear allegiance to the interests of the Merikan people, and fight on a contractual basis under our kings and generals. Against a foreign adversary, this causes them to be united. In internal strife as this, they will each act of their own accord—to act according to whatever is best for the nation.
Rather, I am pleasantly surprised that any of them joined this Crusade. Mm, it is most likely because of Sir Grey. He is the Holy Island, after all. I will have to thank Sir Grey for his unknowing, passive influence once again.
As for the dragon riders and knights who dispersed, I asked them to spread this message:
—Princess Burnheart has raised the flag of the Holy Crusade over the Golden Port, and commands its navies and armies. She has returned with the Holy Island from legend, a floating fortress and dealer of death. She intends to reform the corporations of the north, ensure the future of the south, and arrest all those who covet power and continue to foment rebellion after all is said and done! Also, the Japanese are in on this.
Hm? What’s this? Sir Grey has snuck something on the end there! What was the purpose of including the Japanese?!
“Sir Grey! What is the meaning of this!”
I barge into the “operations room,” which we all pretend to be the source of Grey’s voice. It is clearly not, but it helps to delineate where I should bring my anger to.
{Huh? What’s up, Sam?}
“Why did you mention the Japanese! I cannot recall those dragon riders and knights! T-this is it, w-we’re politically doomed! Ruined!”
I fall upon mine knees and hit the floor. I must apologize in advance, Sir Grey, but please overlook this property destruction for the moment.
{Ohh, that! Embro was actually the one who asked about that and he decided to get on the bandwagon.}
What? The Emperor of Japan? Is that not tantamount to foreign interference?
I look up and see that Emperor Hiiro is enjoying a game of Shogi with Sir Grey. He looks at me and scratches his head.
“Ahahaaa, well, you know Princess, it is only my country’s existence that absolutely depends upon the timely resolution of your country’s disagreements.”
I—well, okay, I understand that. However…
I stand up and recover my grace and my voice. “T-then, dear Emperor, could you not have supported us secretly instead?”
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He shook his head. “We will not act dishonorably. Foreign interference this may be, we must act in earnest and show all that we have to gain and lose. This is, after all, a matter not of non-aggression, but of trust that we will not spit in the back of the Merikan people.”
I see. He is a truly magnanimous Emperor. Why cannot my father be like him? That shameless man’s fingers are stuck in the frozen sugar of the corporations’ assets.
Though, noble as Emperor Hiiro’s intentions may be…
“Will we not draw the ire of the legalists?”
Those despicable personas who are religiously constrained by the law. They are like machines who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that laws are meant to be changed with the times.
Have you ever met a person who stubbornly believes in “principles,” but those same principles were those that they had formed when they were but fourteen years of age, and despite, later in life, learning of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they stubbornly cling to those immature principles? They are like that.
“I do not wish to fight my fellow Merikans.” These are my true feelings.
“Then, let them come, and demonstrate your true feelings,” the Emperor says to me.
* * *
Two armies are advancing upon the city—one corp of 80,000 formed by an alliance of Royalist nobles, and another corp of 70,000 deployed by the Free South. It appears they have come to subjugate their respective rebelling forces.
However, how awkward. It has become a three-way.
The civil war has not yet started in earnest, and so the two armies stop short of meeting each other, and are now encamped on opposite sides of the outskirts of the city. They could attack now, but what will they do once they meet each other in the city center? Such a thought prevents them from advancing.
That is—assuming they can win.
{Warning shots! Away!}
Sir Grey’s cannons are strange. They are pointed straight upwards. When they fire, it is like thunder, and the clouds part for each shot.
After one minute, columns of soil are thrown a mile high, and 200-yard craters are left in front of each enemy’s encampment. Afterwards, I and the other five dragon pairs spread our wings over the city.
As Sir Grey artfully puts it, we are executing—one big ‘fuck off’.
In truth, it was Sir Grey who suggested this show of force. “We just need ’em to fuck off, right?” he reasoned. What a simple ship he is.
I had only once seen his cannons fire, but those shots simply vanished past the horizon. This is my first time witnessing what damage they could truly do.
As expected, each army is routed. In the first place, my fellow dragon riders and knights could each take on an army, and so what could they do against a force that could possibly defeat the demons singhandedly? I am not so conceited as to believe that, but it must have seemed that way to them.
* * *
Not two days after defeating 130,000 enemies with no casualties on any side, we have been receiving proposals of secret alliances.
Strange. I swear some of these are actually enemies with each other.
We must filter out the opportunists, but there is no straightforward method to do so. Defeated enemies are possibly more trustworthy than these fellows.
Mm. I’ve decided. I will not show favoritism. If they are happy to relinquish their armies to me, I will happily yield them some civil positions. Yes, let’s do that.