Chapter 99: The Führer and the Next Threat
The world is full of wars.
Even if one battle ends, the war does not end. The preparations for the next war in the name of peace are just beginning.
I suppose that, as a dictator, I don’t have any time to relax.
……Yes.
Two weeks have passed since the Battle of Thame.
We succeeded in restoring peace.
The approaching monster was annihilated, and the mysterious giant weapon was successfully captured.
There are still various things to be done, such as the restoration of the town of Thame and compensation to the families of the adventurers who suffered harm, but… That is not my job.
That was the Londeria’s domestic issue, so we will leave it in the hands of the Londeria government.
I have a lot of work to do as the Führer of the Yamato Empire.
Like ordering the Imperial Guard to investigate this recent battle, went to visit Major Nishi who was injured, or going on a uniform shopping date with Ayame-san… The dictator Eryutheia is busy.
Besides, it’s still time for the meeting.
It seems that the information about the previous battle has been compiled, so I have to receive the report.
Therefore, we are now in a room at Hellerford Aristocratic School.
A dusty room that is usually not used much was cleaned, and a few long tables were quickly arranged, transforming it into an impromptu meeting room.
It’s time for an imperial meeting with a bunch of those scruffy old men.
I am sitting in the seat of honor and Ayame-san is standing behind me as usual.
From where I am sitting, there are four or five army personnel seated on the right side of the table, and an equal number of navy personnel are seated on the opposite side.
Behind them was the blonde-haired brute of the imperial guard who had achieved the great success of capturing the enemy weapon, and Roshana-san of Celestial, who had been brought along as an expert in magical matters.
Apart from the fact that the Army and Navy are glaring at each other, it’s a perfect arrangement.
Now then.
“Well then, shall we begin the summary of this battle, ‘the Battle of Thame’. Erm…”
“Eryu-san. First of all, we will have a report on the investigation results of the battle from Heydrich of the Imperial Guard Intelligence Department.”
“Nh, thank you, Ayame-san. In that case, please go ahead.”
Yes, please, I asked, and Heydrich-san, who had been seated at the back, stood up and began his report.
“Yes, this time’s Battle of Thame. The main reason for this was determined to be the elf spies infiltrating Londeria. This spy controlled the monsters using special weapons and attacked Thame, which is the cause of this battle.”
When the report was heard, there was an uproar… The army is making a fuss, while the navy’s face freezes in a grimace.
Well, I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Heydrich-san, please stop for a moment. Recently, the defense budget has been cut due to various circumstances, so the Army and Navy are competing for the budget… Yes, it’s a sudden one.
“What is the meaning of this, Navy? This Kingdom of Londeria is an island nation. If the Navy were doing their job properly, wouldn’t they be able to keep spies from getting in?”
“This is clearly the navy’s negligence! A complacent navy that makes mistakes like this should be promptly disbanded and merged into the maritime guard or something!”
“That’s right, if something were to happen to the Führer, what would you do? This is a matter of responsibility!”
And the army, as if it had triumphantly captured the head of a demon, was merciless in its accusations…
“It is a mistake to place all responsibility on the Navy. Now the elves have gained the ability to navigate the open ocean. This means that elves can appear anywhere in the world’s oceans. It’s impossible to completely seal off the vast ocean!”
“To begin with, it is because the army is spending a large amount of the military budget on so-called toys like tanks that we cannot provide a sufficient number of warships. It is the army that should be integrated into the imperial guard, and its budget should be reallocated to the navy!”
“That’s right! And what did the army do in Londeria after the enemy landed? Could it be that they stood idly by, unaware of the existence of elves? As the navy, we believe the army also has responsibility!”
Then, the Navy counterattacks.
In front of me, about 10 old men from the Army and Navy are fiercely cursing at each other. A full-grown adult, disgracefully standing up from their seat, yelling at each other, pointing fingers, and spitting…
Sigh… What on earth are these perverts doing?
Usually, they’re arguing over silly things like how ‘the army prefers small breasts’ or ‘the navy prefers thighs’, do they still feel like they haven’t argued enough?
“Oh, by the way, I’m on the thigh faction. Did you know that?”
Amidst such a quarrel, Ayame-san whispers such a thing close to my ear. I know, and I also didn’t ask that.
Besides, Ayame-san likes other places too, don’t you?
……Well, Ayame-san’s preference doesn’t really matter. No, it’s not that it doesn’t matter, but… Since I am well aware of it, it’s not something to ask about at this point.
More importantly, we need to quiet these noisy people.
Attention! With that intention, I clap my hands and… After I say, “Please stop,” I give them a very stern look.
“…My sincerely apologize, Your Excellency. The navy’s incompetence is so disappointing that, as the army, we can no longer hide our anger, leading to such rudeness.”
“What are you saying, it’s the army that… From the standpoint of the navy, this incompetent army could not be ignored as a national defense issue, and I ended up getting quite heated. I deeply apologize.”
The old men from the Army and the Navy were looking dejected.
Hmm, as long as you understand, it’s fine, as long as you understand. Please don’t fight too much, okay?
More importantly…
“Ahem. So, what became of that elf’s spy?”
“Yes, Mein Führer. As for the elven spies, we have managed to capture one of them.”
Now that the army and navy have quietened down, so I continue to ask Heydrich-san questions.
“Um, just one, is that right?”
“There were two infiltrated individuals, but the female individual was killed by the tank squad’s bombardment. We were able to recover the body, but…”
Heydrich-san reports that without changing his facial expression.
A female individual… This person doesn’t recognize elves as intelligent beings, does he? Those are casually racist remarks.
There are many ‘perverts’ in my country, but there shouldn’t be any ‘lunatics’ of any sort…
Honestly, which German person is he? How scary.
“I see, I understand. So, did that elf leak any information?”
“Of course, easily. With our German’s…”
“…Ah, it’s fine, that’s enough.”
I cut off his words with a gesture of my hand. Because it seems to be dangerous for various reasons.
They probably used a special medicine created with the world’s best medical and pharmaceutical science to get the information out, right? You still do such ruthless things, as always.
And, this is not Germany, this is the Yamato Empire.
Then.
“…According to the information divulged by the elf, there is a plan to attack the Kingdom of Londeria in the not-too-distant future.”
“…I see, it’s something to consider. Please make sure to pass the information to the military.”
A plan to invade Londeria, huh?
It is still not clear how much invasion capability the elves possess, but… One must not be careless.
After all, the wars in this world are fundamentally ‘wars of extermination’ between different races.
Even among the same human beings, there are those who say, “Kill tens of millions of Slavs and enslave the rest of them!” Among other things, it is also the nature of ‘humans’ as beings to go to war for incomprehensible reasons. However, as different species, if it becomes a matter of ‘humans’ and ‘elves’, what would happen…
I don’t even want to imagine it.
The elves might be coming to attack. In that case, I’m concerned about their combat abilities.
In the recent ‘Battle of Thame’, some kind of amazing weapon appeared, didn’t it? I mean it’s a big robot.
“So, about the weapon that the elf brought…”
“About the large golem Stalin. Regarding that, I’ll let Roshana-dono continue the report.”
“Yes, I will provide the report.”
Please go ahead, Roshana-san.
Having her on our side really helped a lot. Since my empire is not well-versed in magical technologies, there is no one who can understand such complex magical techniques.
“This weapon ‘Stalin’, is presumed to be a weapon with extremely superior performance.”
Hmm, I see…
Hmm? Ayame-san, what’s wrong? Ah, thank you for the documents.
Um, the front armor is about 40mm, and it is equipped with a high-power magic gun. The total weight is over 120 tons, and the travel speed is up to 20 km… Performance-wise, it feels like the performance of a medium tank with the weight of a super heavy tank.
Considering it as a superweapon forcibly created by a nation in a fantasy world while ignoring technical limitations, isn’t it sufficiently high-performance?
“This weapon is equipped with the new system developed by the elves, the Mana Engine. This engine is capable of converting life into magical energy… In short, it is a utilization of the great magical power of the mana that is produced by the human sacrifices.”
Hmm?
“Think of it as a magical engine, Eryu-san. Mana is like a gasoline and the mana engine is like an actual engine.”
“Ah, I see that’s what you’re saying. As expected of Ayame-san, it’s easy to understand.”
Ayame-san had a smug self-satisfied look on her face. I don’t dislike that kind of expression.
“…Would it be alright to continue while you two are flirting? As for the mana engine, at present, it is a product that can only be realized thanks to the advanced magical technology of the elves, and moreover, there are limits to its performance.”
Miniaturization is especially difficult, and it is presumed that Stalin grew to a total height of 18 meters to carry this huge mana engine.
Roshana-san went on with her report.
Difficult to miniaturize, huh?
However, on the other hand, it means there’s no problem with putting it on something large like a ship.
I don’t know how much output it has, but… Perhaps it might become a threat to my navy.
It might be necessary to revise Plan No.3.
We may also need to move the fleet deployed to Truk to Londeria. We must prepare for the decisive battle…
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