“WHEW. I. AM. BEAT!”
With the burning sun dipping below the horizon, the moon started to shine in the night sky. His duties done for the day, Wein made a beeline for his room and dived onto his bed.
“Aghhh, enough already. I can’t take this anymore. Why is being regent so exhausting? We went hard today, so let’s take tomorrow off. And the day after that and the day after that.”
“You know we can’t.” Ninym sighed, watching him roll around on the bed. “That aside, Wein, there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“My sincerest apologies, but we’re closed for the day. I’m going to sleep now, so I ask all Ninyms to please return to their quarters for the evening.”
“It’ll only take a second.”
“…You’re not gonna let this go, huh?”
“No.”
He huffed. “Fine. As long as you add meow to the end of every sentence from now until bedtime.”
“……”
“Hey, hey, c’mon! What’s wrong, Ninymeow?! Does your embarrassment outweigh your curiosity?!”
“…Fine, meow.”
“Hmm?! I can’t hear you, meow! It’ll be a problem if you don’t speak up, MWROOOOW, MY ARM DOESN’T BEND THAT WAY!”
“Don’t get cocky, meow.”
“I-I’m sorry, meow…,” he whimpered. “Well, lemme guess: You’re going to ask me why Boobies went along with my plan, right?”
“‘Boobies,’ huh…? Anyway! You’re not wrong.”
“Meow.”
“…Anyway, you’re not wrong, meow.”
Ignoring Ninym’s look of protest, he continued on in high spirits. “Do you remember the news about the Empire, the message we got right before the meeting?”
“Hmm? Yes, of course… The Emperor of Earthworld seems to be recovering, right?”
“That’s the reason.”
“What do you mean? …Meow.”
He rose from his bed.
“Listen. Our kingdom holds the key to one of the roads that link East and West, but compared to the other paths, it’s totally run-down and basically unusable. That’s exactly why the Empire dispatched their soldiers here—to prevent other countries from conquering us as they try to gain access to better roads. When the time comes, we’re going to become a vassal state to the Empire through either military force or diplomacy… Or at least that’s what was supposed to happen.”
“But their plan fell through when the Emperor become ill.”
“Right. The Imperial Court’s a mess: They’re losing control over their conquered territories and putting out the embers of an inevitable internal rebellion on their own. To buy themselves time, they have to play nice with small, weak countries like us.”
“But he’s recovered now… I don’t understand. They have no obligation to help restructure our army, especially now. I mean, they’d be intentionally strengthening a potential enemy. Or maybe they’re planning to crush us the moment after we manage to grow only slightly stronger…meow.”
Wein nodded. “They know that even if we attack them, they’ll be able to handle us with force. But that’s not really what they’re after. To the Empire, we’re nothing but a foothold: Their real endgame is conquering the West. Think about it. What does a country need to gain control of a continent?”
“‘What,’ you ask? Well, funds, food, equipment, and…” She trailed off and gasped. Her eyes flew wide-open, and she looked at him incredulously.
He flashed a quick grin. “You got it. Fyshe Blundell’s aim is…”