A great fleet amassed around Baron Glynn’s home planet. Once all the forces had gathered, the nobles who had contributed ships to the fleet boarded the Argos in small transport vessels. After all, space aboard was still limited, even though my gargantuan superdreadnought was several thousand meters long.
The nobles gathered in a grand meeting room, where we held a buffet party to welcome them. We should really have had an actual meeting to maximize our chances of victory, but a party suited villains like us better. A pointlessly luxurious celebration that would raise our spirits before battle—now that was villainous.
“Heh… I’m more of a villain than ever,” I told myself in the party hall. There, Baron Exner and Kurt soon approached me.
“Liam!” Kurt ran over with a hand raised, looking thrilled to see me. We clasped hands and exchanged grins.
“It’s been a long time,” I said. “How’s life in the military treating you? Have you been good?”
“Yes, I’m good. I’m actually taking some time off from the military right now, though.”
“Some time off? You’re as serious as ever. You’re the heir to House Exner, you know. You should quit altogether so that you have a little time to goof off before you take over your domain.”
“Upstarts like us don’t have time to fool around.”
Kurt was the hardworking type of evil lord. In fact, he tended to focus so much on work that he neglected his personal life. I wanted to tell him to fool around a little, like I did, but he was too focused on making as many military connections as he could. Since connections were power, that was admirable of him as an evil lord.
“Well, when you go back to the military, let me know. I’ll make sure they treat you right.”
“You’re the same as always, Liam.”
I had remained in contact with Kurt, of course, but it really had been a long time since I’d seen him face-to-face like this. It was nice to talk in person.
Baron Exner chose that moment to cut in. “My, how decadent. I can hardly believe we’re about to go to battle.” Rather than being exasperated, he was actually impressed by the opulence of my ship and party hall.
Baron Exner and Kurt were both evil lords like me, but they were less upfront about it than I was. Their domain was tiny compared to mine, and although I admired the villainous spirit it took for them to squeeze every last drop of wealth they could from it, I didn’t think it should be enough to satisfy them. I felt that they could live it up a little more, rather than hoarding their wealth.
“I don’t think your flagship would be far behind mine when it comes to extravagance,” I replied.
Baron Exner shot Kurt a concerned glance. Looking apologetic, Kurt told me, “We haven’t made that ship you gave us House Exner’s flagship.”
When I gave Kurt a mobile knight—the Vanadís—that I’d purchased from Mason of the Sixth Weapons Factory, I’d thrown in a ship they built to go with it. You could apparently get a ship as an add-on if you bought a mobile knight with all the bells and whistles, which was pretty ridiculous. But Amagi had been really pissed at me for buying a whole ship without consulting her—so I’d given that to the Exners as well.
“Why not? It’s not quite a superdreadnought, but it should still be more than good enough as a flagship.”
The baron was leading a fleet of a few hundred ships, and a simple battleship would certainly suffice as the flagship of such a small force. Its specs would be fine too, since the Sixth Weapons Factory built the vessel.
Kurt looked awkward. “Well, it operates as a set with the Vanadís Frey… And, well, it’s so expensive that we can’t bring ourselves to put it in front of our other ships.” He looked toward his father for help.
The baron continued for him. “We decided to make it Kurt’s personal vessel. His fiancée, Princess Cecilia, travels with it often, which seemed a better use for it.”
It was the fanciest ship in House Exner’s fleet. If they needed to transport an Imperial princess—or even a former one—I figured using it for that purpose made sense. “Well, it was a gift. It’s not my place to tell you how to use it.”
“Sorry. As for the upcoming battle, though—”
When Baron Exner and I began discussing the war, Kurt stepped back from the conversation. He probably felt that, since he was only an heir, he should leave the discussion to the reigning lords.
“I plan to give Kurt a hundred of my ships to command,” the baron told me. “He’s not yet quite experienced enough for the front lines. I figure it’s best that he observe from the rear and learn from the fight.”
“If something were to happen to both the head and heir of your family, I couldn’t sleep easy,” I replied. “Should I lend Kurt some of my spare forces too?”
“That wouldn’t be too much of an imposition?”
A family’s head and his heir sometimes traveled on the same vessel, if it was a powerful ship like mine. In a war like this, though, they more often used different ships to prevent the loss of both individuals at once.
“No problem. I’m lending ships to several other houses anyway.”
Some nobles treasured their heirs, but plenty didn’t. Sometimes it was the heir who fought on the front lines while the lord hung back. Part of my job as supreme commander was to ensure that those at the rear were comfortable. In a sense, the nobles at the rear were hostages. Their family members couldn’t easily betray me with their precious heirs or lords in my custody.
For a moment, Baron Exner seemed unsure, but he eventually decided to entrust Kurt to me. “I’ll leave him in your care, then.”
“Please do. Let’s talk about this later, Kurt.”
When I said his name, Kurt trotted back over to me happily.
“That would help. I’m a little nervous about this, since I’ve never fought in a conflict between nobles before.” He may previously have fought in battle as an Imperial knight, but he had no experience in a war between fellow nobles.
“Leave it to me. Fights between nobles are my specialty.”