The Rise and Fall of the Empire
Mitsuha gave the senior scholar one of her email addresses that the Wolf Fang captain managed on her behalf─not the one she gave to the World-to-World Meeting attendees, but the one she shared only with important people so their emails wouldn’t get buried by all the spam. This way, the scholar would be able to reach out to her if he needed to. A few others knew the email address like the person who endorsed her when she set up a Swiss bank account and the liaison of the country where Gold Coin was located.
If the scholar’s message was urgent, the captain would notify Mitsuha on her smartphone, which he’d set up under his name. She’d see the message as soon as she was back on Earth.
I’m constantly jumping back to Earth. In fact, every time I use the bathroom or take a bath. I do have a toilet at Mitsuha’s General Store, but uh…it’s not exactly my home in Japan.
So yeah, I always carry two smartphones with me when I’m on Earth: one for “Mitsuha Yamano, the Japanese citizen” and one I’m borrowing from the captain. That includes when I just go to my house to use the bathroom.
If I didn’t make a habit of it, I’d probably go for days without checking my notifications. People need a routine, and I definitely don’t trust myself!
“Mitsuha, we have a problem!”
As usual, Sabine was waiting at the general store. She had a key now, so Mitsuha found her on the third floor playing games instead of waiting in front of the shop. And as usual, Chii and Leuhen were there too.
What is this, a daycare center?!
But wait… Sabine looks like she’s in serious mode. Seems like she actually has something important to tell me and was only playing games to pass the time until I got here.
“What’s the level?” Mitsuha asked.
“C-6.”
“Wow… Really?”
Asking for the “level” of a problem was a way of testing Sabine. The young princess knew not to mess around when her friend mentioned the word. This was a symbol of trust between them.
Level C meant that the matter affected human lives on a nationwide level, but not their kingdom’s. The number represented urgency. Six meant that nothing was going to happen within the next few days, so there was no need to panic yet. This was also a foreign problem, so it wasn’t something they could step in to interfere with.
Level B denoted that the problem concerned their own kingdom, while Level A meant it concerned their kingdom and other surrounding countries or potentially the entire continent. Level S indicated that the problem posed an existential threat to humanity, at which point there was nothing Mitsuha could─or was willing─to do.
The problem at hand concerned another country but could escalate and affect their own land eventually─like an invasion from a powerful nation, a monster stampede, or an epidemic.
“Fill me in!” Mitsuha demanded, engaging serious mode as well.
Meanwhile, Chii and Leuhen were glued to the game and munching on candy.
Are you two sure you don’t wanna show a little more decorum? You’re both ahead of Sabine in the line of succession!
“Suspicious activities have been detected in the empire,” the third princess said. “They’re strengthening inspections along the border and at fortified cities, moving around troops, and transporting food and military supplies.”
Yep, that sounds like a typical invasion prep.
The empire Sabine was referring to was the same one that invaded their kingdom with three ancient dragons in tow: the Aldar Empire.
“Hold on,” Mitsuha cut in, “Didn’t they just suffer a heavy blow from their failed attempt to invade us? They should still be busy licking their wounds. They need to rebuild their army, replenish their lost weapons, stock up on new provisions, raise money to make up for their immense losses, hire new officers and recruits, regain the trust of their people─”
“Isn’t that exactly why they’re closing in?” countered Sabine, “With one major victory, they could fix all those problems at once. Only the truly desperate would take such high risks; they have no other choice.”
“Ah…”
That made sense. No one in a dominant position would bet on an all-or-nothing gamble that had little chance of success.
“And you’re saying that this time, their target is someone else…” Mitsuha suggested.
The empire wouldn’t be dumb enough to attack Zegleus again after how poorly the last attempt went. Aldar staged that invasion fully prepared with monsters and ancient dragons and yet they were still devastated. There was no way they had fully recovered from it.
To make matters worse for them, Zegleus and the other countries had raised their defenses since. Each country had likely sent spies to pose as regular citizens of the empire for frequent updates.
Unlike on modern-day Earth, it was utterly impossible in this world to pull off a surprise attack when your country was under surveillance. There was no hiding the movement of thousands of soldiers or the gathering and transporting of military supplies. Mobilizing an army took time, too.
“Who’s their target? You said Level C-6, so it must be another country.”
“Judging from the movement of resources and soldiers, it’s probably the Kingdom of Dalisson,” Sabine answered.
“Dalisson?” That name sounds familiar. “Dalisson, Dalisson… Where’s that?”
“It’s our neighbor! It was literally the first country we went to on our trip!”
“Huh─oh, you mean where Princess Kak-Kak-Kak lives!”
I totally forgot the name of that country…
“The king is ill, and the crown prince is still a little boy. Remia is currently in control as the princess regent. She’s lower in the line of succession, so I can see why the empire would think Dalisson is politically unstable.”
Sabine was right about that. At first glance, the situation seemed like a perfect opportunity for a disloyal subject to attempt to elevate the young prince for their own interest. But in truth…
“…Dalisson’s been there, done that!” Mitsuha and Sabine quipped in unison.
That matter had been nipped in the bud.
Word about the failed rebellion had surely spread throughout the continent by now, but the empire may have assumed that more ploys were going to spring up. They likely still believed the kingdom was in tatters because of the dismissal of so many important political and military leaders, and deemed that the nobility wouldn’t be loyal to Princess Remia. The other nations, however, didn’t know about the promise Mitsuha and the delegation made to the princess privately, and how it would almost certainly prevent anyone else in the nobility or military from trying to betray her.
Princess Remia demonstrated her boldness as royalty. The Kingdom of Zegleus─and its king personally─pledged their support for her. In addition, Mitsuha promised as a friend to keep her safe.
Loyalty toward Princess Remia was actually pretty high among the populace, the nobility, and the military right now. The Aldar Empire, on the other hand, was on the verge of collapse.
I guess that’s why they’re plotting this reckless invasion…
The empire’s army was in shambles after the brutal one-sided defeat. The wyvern troops and monster battalion they worked so hard to develop were wiped out. Their people must’ve been livid and despondent. Many noble officers who participated in the war seeking glory ended up dying in battle or ruining their reputation by getting captured as prisoners of war. The imperial government was forced to bail them out with massive ransom payments. It was a huge blow to the economy. As the final nail in the coffin, they were denied entry into the Great Alliance, which united most of the continent under a military pact.