Vol 3 Chapter 8 (1/2)

“Dare I ask how your Majesty intends to address this unprecedented disgrace and destruction?”

The Senator as also a patrician, Marquis Casel, directed these unsweetened words to Eustus, seated on his throne a

Once, this place was a darkened hall, but noas an open-air amphitheater

It was hard to tell if the draer pieces of debris were already gone, so now it looked like either a ed amateur’s attempt at a theater backdrop Either way, it resembled a waste heap

A gentle wind ruffled the Senators’ togas

Some of them sneezed as their noses were irritated, and powdery dust dirtied their sleeves

The night was dark and full of terrors for them; they had been shaken out of bed and their sleep ruined by the earthquake, and then the aftershocks frightened thehtly relieve their unease, but nobody could sleep before the sun caain

And so, after sohten up The I, and its people could finally breathe a sigh of relief

Just then, al accompanied the first rays of dawn

It was a thunderous report that felt like it would split the eardrums of anyone who heard it

Two gigantic swords slashed across the sky, du four objects behind the, perched on one of the Imperial Capital’s hills, and the sturdy structure was thus neatly demolished

The Senate Building, the symbol of the Empire’s poas destroyed in an instant

Of course, this was a precision bo mission conducted by JSDF troops hidden in the capital with laser designators However, the people who did not know this simply took it to be a show of the Gods’ wrath after the earthquake Gripped by fear, the people began quietly circulating the ru to offend the Gods

The intellectual elite of the Empire, the Senators, did not think it was the wrath of the Gods, but a man-made phenomenon Yet even that was only possible because of their positions

That being said, the Senators were still crushed by the destruction of the building that symbolized their authority

On the other hand, one had to consider that if this was not done by the Gods, but by men, then one had to wonder hoerful these men were, who could reduce sturdy stone walls as thick as a grown man’s outstretched arms into tumbled ruins

The Senators’ seats, sundry items, carved bas-reliefs, tributes froe statues of divinity, all of theround

Everyone who thought about it could not help but shi+ver

What if the Senate had been in session when this occurred?

Or, what if the enemy used this power to conduct indiscriminate attacks on the Imperial Capital?

Because the speaker’s podiuone, the Senators had no choice but to sit on convenient stone chunks, or directly on the floor Some people even listened to Marquis Casel’s words fro position

“And another thing All this was because our men captured some of the other world’s residents to learn about thery, and apparently, Crown Prince Zorzal was involved in this otten any part of that wrong?”

The Crown Prince in question sat beside the E in pain

The fact that he had been “brutally beaten” was evident to anyone orking eyes

Although he looked like he had been savagelyby these wounds, the Senators were shocked to hear that all this had been inflicted on hile female soldier

People heard that the soldier was “fere or a Troll of some sort But the truth was that she was merely human, and a petite-bodied woman at that It was almost unbelievable that someone like her could beat Zorzal into his current state Much like a squirrel defeating a bear, if word of this got out, Zorzal would be a laughingstock

Therefore, Zorzal could not lend any truth to these rumors

“These injuries were not caused by a person I fell down the stairs during the earthquake”

“Could all these have been caused by falling down the stairs?”

“They were long stairs, and I fell all the way down”

Without his two front teeth, every word he spoke was acco whistle, but he still tried to make excuses for himself

If truth be told, once he adirl, he would have nowhere to hide his face When people said the naot his ass kicked by a girl”, so every ti him

Of course, Zorzal could not allow that to happen Otherwise, he would lose all his authority as the future Eth The events of the audience chaainst the japanese a to save his people, while Zorzal wasto defend the slaves that he owned

His desperate attempts to save face made Marquis Casel look scornfully at Zorzal They had finally obtained a truainst a member of the Imperial family, but because someone wanted to save their face, they could not play it By protecting his personal interests while sacrificing the nation’s well-being, Zorzal had only compounded his failure More importantly, he was still too stupid to realise his hable

“I heard that the enemy ambassador visited Lord Cicero several times in order to speak with the Empire As such, as Truthfully speaking, I was also introduced to hi in the near future

But what happened here? Why would they get so angry over a h she was a ? If so, please explain in detail”

Everyone looked at the ground after hearing Casel’s question

nobody here knew the full picture Lord Cicero and Marquis Ducie understood the nature of the japanese emissaries, to an extent But they did not knohat had caused last night’s outburst

As the s, Count Marx was quite well infor about japan or its emissaries

The name of Piña, who knew both sides, was mentioned

And then, Piña was summoned to address the Senate for the first time in her life

Piña stood nervously under the weight of 300 pairs of eyes Those eyes see her

She orrying about how to atone for the sin of bringing soldiers of the ene it up Instead, they asked Piña to share what she knew about the country of japan and its people

“I, I wish permission to address the Senate and speak of what I know”

The Speaker for the Senate nodded, giving her permission to speak

Piña coughed twice and then started fro, or when she had first met the JSDF

“I first met them at Italica”

And as she spoke, the politicians slowly realized the kind of people they were at ith

The enemy’s weapons could strike frohtered soldiers with overwhel power And then they even attached blades to them In the face of these weapons, the Imperial soldiers were destroyed where they made contact with the JSDF

This also illustrated the reasons behind the defeat of the Imperial and the Coalition Armies

Quite a nu suspicious as Piña narrated her fanciful tale However, Cicero, Marquis Ducie, and the other Senators who had attended the garden party knew that what she spoke was the truth After all they had fired those very weapons personally, and they could allay their fellow Senators’ suspicions

Piña continued speaking She spoke of the hellish scene when the JSDF’s iron pegasi exter below them like vermin

Sitting as they were inside the carcass of the Senate Building, they could not bring themselves to doubt her tale

“The enemy is a country called japan They come from beyond the Gate, from a land that surpasses the E towers These towers stretch as far as the eye can see, and they extend up to the heavens The dark depths of the earth, where we bury our dead, are brightly lit streets in their world, and people live there Their society is orderly and clean, while filled with art and ample literature”

And then, Piña overniven her when she had accepted the position of intermediary

“Forgivethis from you until now, but this book lists the names of all the captives taken by japan that are still alive”

The Senators iht out

“You see, Norris! It’s your son’s name!!”

“Derkins’ name is here too Did you say all these people are still alive? Piña-dono? Is it true that they’re all alive?”

“My son is still alive! This is wonderful!”

The Senate Building resounded with joyful cries But at the same time, there were those who could not find their kin, and fell back into despair These alternating scenes of joy and sorrow threw the Senate into chaos

“The people in this book are now prisoners of japan Part of the payht to select ten or so people from that list to be unconditionally returned to the Empire Naturally, I chose the family of Lord Cicero and Lord Ducie, due to assistance rendered in the facilitation of negotiations”

“That’s too unfair, your Highness! What about the rest of us? Must we inaw our nails?”

It was only natural that those people whose relatives were not picked by Piña would feel that way However, she wanted to offer an inducein the peace talks quickly, so she had to give priority to the cooperative Senators

Of course, if she actually said that, the Senate, filled with pro-war Senators, would break out into interference and all sorts of attacks As a result, in order to ensure the success of the negotiations, she had to carefully pick and choose her allies, and everyone present understood that Also, if the talks went successfully, they could also negotiate for the release of other prisoners So in that sense, Piña’s choices were only to be expected

However, now that the situation was at this stage, there was a need to discuss how to get back the rest of the captives But how much ransom money would they require for that?

“The representatives from japan have said that their country does not practice ransouarantee the safety of the prisoners whether or not a ransom is paid If the Ee for acan be worked out in future negotiations”

“They don’t practice slavery? They don’t take ransoms?”

“H out in future negotiations, that’s as good as a ransoe in those deals”

“That being said, it’s a mercy that they won’t be sold as slaves We need to free them quickly!”

After the Senators finished speaking, Piña continued

“I feel I knohy the ambassador of japan was so wrathful”

The Senators urged her to elaborate

“Their country did not take our patrician sons and brothers as slaves, and they were treated well as captives They do not do this for any particular gain, but because it is their nature I feel this is what his Majesty saw, their love for their people If they knew of the mistreatment of their own people as slaves well, I trust you knohat happens if you snatch away a griffin’s cub?”

Piña opened her arms to emphasize her point

They were surrounded by the re The walls and pillars were pulverized and tu was blown clean off, and they could see the clouds floating by overhead

Without a place in the Senate, Zorzal quietly retreated fro, he was back in his own room

His face was covered in bruises, and it was not just his lips that were swollen There were lumps everywhere on his body andteeth made him wheeze with every breath, which deprived his voice of its authority

He was the picture of a defeated soldier

As he passed through the door, he ran out of strength and collapsed His slaves and subordinates hurriedly lifted him up

Without wasting a word, Tyuule lent him her shoulder, and helped lower him onto the bed She cooled his body and face with rare and precious ice cubes

“It looks like the peace lovers are going to make up a majority of the Senate The probleh the negotiations We need to do soood, don’t you think?”

The speaker was a youngcarried to his bed

When he noticed, Zorzal turned his swollen face to look at hi man looked to be of patrician stock Instead of Zorzal’s brutality, he had an air of refineent look in his eyes

“Diabo”

“Ani-saht Don’t push yourself too hard”

The young man called Diabo entered Zorzal’s bedroom and looked at his older brother’s face as he lay on the bed

“Hmph Showoff”

“I could say the same”

Zorzal tapped his swollen face and said, “This was ”

“I do envy that naive ine how someone as proud as you is still alive Father did kill the man as our elder cousin, you know”

“Father was young then That’s why he took in the orphan of the previous E on in years He should be thinking about a successor now, and we’re the ones who carry his blood”

“So you were planning to take the throne while I was playing the fool?”

“Ani-sama, it was because of your idiot act in front of Father that I could freely take action I must thank you for that”

Because of that, he had a chance of taking the throne However, Zorzal pointed at the shrugging Diabo, and indicating his naivete

“The one ill be the next Emperor is not you, but me”

Diabo could not iine his older brother as “Your Majesty” It felt like talking to someone else

“And what of it? Ani-sama, do you have a way to hold on to the throne? I don’t think so”

“Is that why you think you can easily gain the throne? When this war ends, the E strings once he steps down He’ll give the throne to a know-nothing like me so he can play me like a puppet and hold the real power behind the country That’s probably what he was thinking You showed too much of your talent The Emperor already knohat you’re up to”

Diabo’s eyes ide

“But then, what’ll happen if Father dies? It would be too irresponsible to leave the Empire to you”

“Oh ye of little faith Do you really think I’m that useless?”

Hiding his fangs and claws in front of the Emperor forthat a useless man could not do that much

“Tyuule, where are the other people fro with Noriko?”

Upon hearing the question, Tyuule bowed deeply, and switched to her soft, powerless expression, with a smile filled isdom and power

“Yes There are two more people They were sold to the mines as slaves, and we know their location The first one was called Nogaretfully he perished in a mineshaft collapse The other one is called Matsui fukui She is currently alive and working in the sa her back and protect her What shall I do?”

“Bring her back right away It was a good thing I didn’t sell Noriko off Well, it was largely due to my interest in her anyway, but if I’d known earlier, perhaps I should have been nicer to her?”

Zorzala mass of pain

“No, my Prince, what you did was fine After all, she was an unskilled woone to a brothel to service countless men It was an honor for her to receive the attentions of the next Emperor”

Diabo watched fro open in shock

He had hidden his claws until now Could it be that they would only be allowed to shi+ne for such a short time before the situation was decided? Indeed, the Emperor would probably be made to step down after the peace talks started, but the Senate would not accept Zorzal as the successor, right?

“Ah, so that’s the objective of the people of japan They want Zorzal to find the slaves beforetheir entrance… ere tricked!”

Enslaving captives was a co that aspect of life would be very foolish If they ed to find a captive and successfully return them to japan, it would be a success for the pro-peace faction Now that the pro-peace faction coht well be the shortest way to the throne

“Since the E the talks, now should be the tirew unexpectedly, she’s also an eneh she’s far too close to those japan people… ah, well Dealing with japan will be iht as well let her handle that”

“Then, Ani-saoes on, the talks will end up being a surrender”

“What’s to be scared about the ene, but they did it at dahen nobody was around If we can’t beat theht unfairly The E about that e me and think about which side you want to stand on”

After Zorzal finished, he called Tyuule to his bed and ordered Diabo away He blinked as he realised there was nobody around him Zorzal’s subordinates and women had already left

“Then, your Highness, please take care of your body”

“Like you care… though I wish I could forget about this pain…”

“Your Highness, that can’t be helped, ah…”

The large transport helicopter, a CH-47A Chinook, returned to Arnus Hill

Mochizuki Noriko looked outside frohtened

After leaving the Ied from orchards and farmland, to pasture and barren wastes, or sometimes a sea of trees, and then in the distance she could see an airport in the distance, along with a group of concrete buildings surrounded by a six-pointed star fort

That place felt like japan

“I’m home”

She was so moved that the tears flowed freely down her cheeks

Since last night, she had cried several times Of course, she orried about her lover Hiroki, but at the same time, she was happy to be able to return home She believed that the JSDF who rescued her would also be able to rescue her lover

She wanted to meet her parents as soon as possible

Seated on both sides of Noriko were Kurokawa and Kuribayashi+, who had taken very good care of her She was given clothes to wear, food to eat, beverages to drink, a of chocolate and other faic that she wept again

Itami and the others did not ask her about her time in captivity They would leave that aside for now, so Noriko could forget those painful days and rejoice that she could go home at last

After receiving Sugawara and Itami’s reports, General Hazaion Expeditionary Force, ordered them to return with the kidnapped person to Arnus immediately In addition, he requested two F-4 Phanto mission to strike fear into the heart of the Emperor and his officials

What this ht away” The method they chose was similar to how one would treat an aniThus, as they pondered the lesson of a short, sharp blow to the Eets

The Defense Minister approved the airstrike, provided civilian casualties were kept to a minimum

When Morita’s cabinet called up Natsume from the Defence Ministry, the usual cold reply was, “Go ahead But ood show”