Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 148
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 148
36. Skirmish (3)
"Duke Lawrence, was it? What a truly amusing figure."
The Imperial great hall of the Bringham Empire.
Emperor Edward Noah Bringham uttered the name of a young noble from another country before the Empire's principal ministers.
It was not because he suspected Adrian of being an Opportunity Seeker, but out of pure curiosity about the eccentric behavior itself.
"If we had succeeded in recruiting him, it would have been quite pleasant."
"I apologize. My inadequacy caused this... "
At that, Count Elfried, the Bringham Empire's beautiful Intelligence Chief and a Grand Mage, lowered her head.
But even at her reaction, the Emperor let out a low laugh without any hint of displeasure.
"What can be done? It is the fault of this one, who had only prepared a Count's title. Honestly, even if he had become a Grand Mage, I could not understand the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' decision to grant a Marquis title to a young man of only twenty."
In the end, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts proved that their choice was right.
Duke Adrian El Lawrence was not only top-tier in talent as a Mage, but it had been revealed that his political acumen was no less impressive.
"Come to think of it, Duke Francis had quite a few clashes with him, didn't you? What is your impression of Duke Lawrence?"
At the Emperor's question, Duke Francis one of the Empire's two Grand Masters, who had participated in the Saintess contest alongside Adrian answered.
"He was no ordinary madman. From the very first meeting, he came at me with his head held high."
"Oh?"
"But looking back later, you realize that all of his actions were calculated. It's hard to find any action of his without a reason, and everything somehow led to good results. He is an extremely clever person skilled in strategic maneuvering. Gaining the upper hand in conversation with him is very difficult."
In truth, a large portion of Duke Francis's high assessment should have been attributed to the Myriad Mirror he possessed rather than to Adrian himself, but from the perspective of someone unaware, this was a perfectly natural impression.
Thanks to that, the Emperor could not help but admire him.
Duke Francis was, before being a warrior, a man who had operated in the politics of the Bringham Empire for many years, so his words were tantamount to high praise.
"Truly desirable."
But not everyone held Duke Lawrence in high regard.
Count Friedrich, the rival of Duke Francis and a disciple of Grand Master Duke Raphael who bore the title of the world's strongest swordmaster dampened the mood.
"But perhaps his eccentricities are now coming to an end."
The Emperor, realizing what Count Friedrich's words meant, nodded that it was certainly not wrong.
"Indeed, no matter how remarkable he is, making the Kingdom of Rhinehearts the victor against the Croysen Empire is no easy task."
"That is correct. I acknowledge his ability, but the ambitions one can pursue in a mediocre country like the Kingdom of Rhinehearts are bound to have limits. I am certain that this coming war will be his last. Croysen will surely try to kill him."
The Croysen Empire, now thoroughly enraged, had drawn its sword against the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
By anyone's view, this war did not seem likely to end at the level of a border conflict, and by common sense, if the two nations waged all-out war, one could not help but favor the Croysen Empire.
No matter how much it had declined, the title of Empire in the Croysen Empire's name was not there for nothing.
As the Emperor agreed with his words, Count Friedrich grew emboldened and asked Count Elfried, the Intelligence Chief.
"Count Elfried, how high do you think the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' chances of victory are in this war?"
However, Intelligence Chief Count Elfried's answer was far from what he had hoped.
"Wouldn't it be around forty percent?"
"...."
At such an overly generous assessment, Count Friedrich's face twisted he had intended to draw people's approval by belittling Adrian and make his presence known.
The Emperor once again showed interest in her estimation.
"As high as forty percent?"
"To be precise, I believe it is above forty percent and below fifty percent."
"Isn't that a near tie? You are evaluating the Kingdom of Rhinehearts very generously."
"Duke Adrian El Lawrence and King Michael van Rhinehearts are exceptionally capable individuals. I do not believe they would have provoked Croisen without any thought."
"Hmm, is that so?"
Furthermore, as she called the Ice Flower once again praised Adrian whom she had previously belittled, Count Friedrich narrowed his brow and cut in.
"No matter how remarkable he may be, he is still a young man of twenty-one. Is that not too generous an assessment?"
"I do not think it is overly generous. I am evaluating him based on a great deal of data."
"No, it is too generous. The Rhinehearts will never win this war."
As Count Friedrich seemed to force his opinion upon Count Elfried, Duke Francis, who had been listening in silence, finally let out a scoffing laugh.
"It seems our Count Friedrich holds a sense of rivalry toward Duke Lawrence."
"A rivalry? Me?"
"Come to think of it, I've heard something like this: among the capable new nobles in their twenties and thirties, there is no one who hasn't been compared to Duke Lawrence. I understand the resentment, but do not show too much personal emotion before His Majesty."
Count Friedrich grew indignant, but his mentor, Duke Raphael, intervened and brought the matter to a close.
"Duke Francis is right. Enough, Friedrich."
"M-Master."
The Emperor, who had been watching the whole exchange, gave a sly smile.
"So that's how it is?"
At the Emperor's reaction, Duke Raphael apologized on behalf of Count Friedrich.
"My disciple has shown a shameful side."
"Not at all. On the contrary, it was all the better for learning how the public evaluates Duke Lawrence. This makes things even more interesting."
Then the Emperor appeared to ponder something, and made a statement no one expected.
"Then shall we place a bet on the Kingdom of Rhinehearts in this war?"
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion at the Emperor's intent, but only Count Elfried, the Intelligence Chief, grasped one possibility and asked back.
"You intend to clear out the stockpiles?"
"Yes. Killing two birds with one stone, isn't it?"
Most ministers still did not understand, but a few nobles caught on to the Emperor's intent and wore shocked expressions.
"You are referring to the Heaven-Piercing Fortress and Vanguard equipment stored as the Imperial Family's emergency reserves."
"Indeed. They've been sitting too long let's sell them cheap to Rhinehearts and use this chance to usher in a new generation."
The reason the Bringham Empire was called the world's strongest nation.
Its vast lands and population of nearly a billion, and the powerful military that came with it but above all, its overflowing wealth was the greatest reason, to the point that it could be said to dominate the world economy.
The Imperial Family of the Bringham Empire set aside a portion of purchased weaponry as emergency reserves without using them.
Over many years, those reserves piled up into a quantity too large to ignore, reaching a level comparable to the entire military strength of a decent-sized kingdom.
The Emperor was now saying he would sell that to the Kingdom of Rhinehearts at a low price.
Although many pieces of equipment were of older models, the quality of Bringham Empire's weaponry was so high that they were more than sufficient for active use in other nations.
"Even for the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, wouldn't it be difficult to pay such a large sum all at once?"
"Given the timing, if we promise to sell at cost with installment payments, they won't be able to resist buying."
At the Emperor's decision, the ministers were struck silent.
It was merely selling weapons, but given the scale, it was practically direct intervention in the war.
"But if Rhinehearts were to lose...."
"Every bet carries risk. But if this bet succeeds, we'll have the fledgling empire of the south owing us a debt."
The Emperor's demeanor suggested his decision was already made.
The Bringham Empire was a nation so powerful that it could decide another country's fate on the whims of its leader.
* * *
"Should we call this heaven's help?"
The King's office in the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
King Michael wore a flushed expression at the unexpected proposal from the Bringham Empire.
The Bringham Empire had proposed a weapons deal involving no less than one hundred Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and enough Vanguard equipment for five thousand units.
And at a price cheaper than the production cost of our own domestically made equipment.
Moreover, offering a favorable price with a ten-year installment plan, it was only natural that King Mikhail was excited.
Even though the mixed generations and model years were a concern, there was no problem in operating them in active service.
"Total purchase cost... 1,100 trillion, is it...."
Even with a ten-year installment plan, that's 110 trillion per year.
It was an enormous cost, but it would accelerate a military expansion that would otherwise take over a decade, so it was a price worth bearing.
Moreover, if we won the war, countless assets of the Croysen Empire would become ours, so it couldn't simply be called expensive.
"With this added strength, our Kingdom's military power will increase by 25% at once."
"Remarkable."
Thanks to that, King Mikhail and the major nobles were eager, insisting we absolutely had to buy.
Even if our nation possessed the domestic production capability for Heaven-Piercing Fortresses and Vanguard equipment, there were limits to the quantities that could immediately be turned over to the military, so there was no better way to rapidly bolster our strength.
"It seems Duke Lawrence has some reservations."
But because my reaction was lukewarm, King Mikhail and the major nobles gathered in the office reviewing the documents together voiced their doubts.
"I understand it's unavoidable, but I'm not exactly pleased with the intention of clearing out their stock to put us in their debt."
Those products were new and never used, but many of them had old model years, so it was better to think of them as secondhand.
They made it look cheap by pricing based on new units, but if you considered them as used goods, it was just a fair price.
So I couldn't help but worry about whether we should spend a fortune to deploy a large quantity of weapons with a set service life that would clearly leave us at a disadvantage in future competition.
"That may be true, but we're not in a position to be picky."
That was Marquis Trenton's reaction, who was present.
But for me, who was already confident in victory even without Bringham Empire's proposal, I couldn't answer yes to that.
After pondering for a moment, I made a suggestion to King Mikhail.
"If we do buy, why not bring in only about half or simply refuse altogether?"
"So it's not just because of the old model years?"
And to the perceptive King Mikhail's ensuing question, I scratched my cheek and replied.
"Wasn't there an issue like this in the past?"
"What kind?"
"When Vanguard equipment sold by the Bringham Empire faced the Bringham Empire's own regular army, it failed to perform at full capacity. Wasn't that called a selective downgrade?"
At my words, Marquis Trenton expressed doubt, asking what the problem was with that.
After all, if we never faced the Bringham Imperial Army, there was no issue.
But King Mikhail was different.
"So Duke Lawrence has in mind a possible future war with the Bringham Empire?"
At that, the nobles gathered in the office looked at me as if I was talking nonsense.
And when I couldn't easily answer the King's question, they reacted with shock, asking if I was serious.
"It's only a possibility, but I don't think we can rule it out."
Upon learning my thoughts, the King set aside his earlier excitement about what a great deal it was.
"That makes sense."
And after the King sided with my view, the other nobles covered their foreheads with their palms, saying I was mad.