Published: July 3, 2025
“Your Excellency, I have a few reports to make.”
Lumber's expression was dark.
There were troubling reports mixed in.
“Let’s hear them. Did they find the body of the Duke of Inberri?”
“No... Last night, we received reports that a flying battleship from the Empire flew from near the City of Fion towards the border of the Kingdom and the Federation.”
“What!?”
Even Lord Aubrey could not hide his surprise.
He knew that the Empire possessed a massive flying battleship floating in the sky.
There were rumors, whether true or not, that due to the use of a gigantic magic stone from ancient dragons, the Empire could only construct one ship. Regardless, it is a fact that the flying battleship is treated as a highly valuable vessel in the Empire.
If that flying battleship took off from the City of Fion, there could only be one conceivable reason for this situation.
“The Duke of Inberri has sought asylum in the Empire...”
He had indeed considered the possibility of seeking asylum in the Empire.
However, he had concluded that it was practically impossible.
The reason being the method of transportation to the Empire.
If there was to be an asylum to the Empire, it would likely require a return to the Kingdom first before the final transfer. That was conceivable.
However, the unfolding situation surpassed his expectations.
The Empire—or rather, the Emperor—was deploying such a valuable flying battleship to the battlefield.
Moreover, to a battlefield that had nothing to do with their own safety.
“Truly, the Emperor's wisdom is to be feared. I had accepted that I could not compete politically, but... to think I would be outdone even on the battlefield.”
He smirked with one corner of his mouth and muttered self-deprecatingly.
“With this, the Empire has gained a pretext to intervene in the Federation at any time. The Duke of Inberri himself might be hard to handle, but his two daughters...”
Lumber did not hear the latter part of his words.
“Ah, Lumber, there’s more to the report, isn’t there?”
“Yes. The other report concerns the adventurers from the Kingdom. It seems they have already left the vicinity of the Fion plains. Though we have yet to receive any reports of them crossing the border...”
“I see. We’ve made sure that our interference is unnecessary, right? It would be best if they left quickly. We can’t afford to have casualties among our troops due to any reckless actions.”
The occupation policy was yet to begin.
They needed to allocate military resources to maintain public order.
He wanted to avoid losing even a single soldier.
“Really... War is truly a foolish resolution. No one wants to engage in war; that’s obvious.”
“Eh...”
Even Lumber was taken aback and speechless by Lord Aubrey’s statement denying the idea of war.
“What? Did you think I enjoyed going to war?”
Lord Aubrey frowned and looked at Lumber.
“No, I didn’t think that... It’s just that not only you, but military personnel tend to gain merit and rise through the ranks in war...”
“Well, that’s true. But think about it for a second. You send subordinates you’ve cared for so much into the jaws of death. If they die, all the time, effort, and everything else spent up to that point vanishes. Could you bear to see your beloved subordinates die right in front of you?”
Lord Aubrey asked Lumber seriously, not as a joke.
“Indeed... that’s painful.”
“Those who want to fight are typically those who have never stood on the battlefield—bureaucrats and politicians. Well, Lumber is a bureaucrat, and I am a politician, after all.”
As he said this, Lord Aubrey smiled ironically.
“Winning without fighting. Indeed, that is the ultimate victory. Our Federation, due to the losses from ten years ago, is still unable to achieve that state. It would be great if we could resolve political issues without resorting to war... but that is quite difficult.”
The impact of the Great War still weighed heavily on the Federation even now, a decade later.