Inside a dark room sat a round table surrounded by six chairs. This was the conference room of the Soviet Six, the August Federation’s highest decision-making body. The Federation was a vast and powerful nation extending from Europea to Aesia. All decisions regarding August were supposedly made here.
“You’ve come back?” Mary Ville Mehl, seated in Chair Five, addressed a young girl who had appeared from behind her.
“Hm? What are you doing here?” The young girl who spoke was August’s true ruler. She was known as the Saint.
“Nothing much. I’m new, so I was greeting everyone. Having finished that, I was taking a break,” Mary Ville replied.
“Here?”
“..................”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
Mary Ville remained silent, and the Saint didn’t look interested. That’s the way she was. She didn’t care about humans. She didn’t see human beings as her own kind. She didn’t view them as individuals with their own thoughts and feelings and unique lives. She saw them merely as a species, as a group.
“The launch of Verne 1 draws near. In five days... No, it’s four days now.” She referred to a new weapon whose very existence, if known, would cause the outbreak of hostilities. It would soon make its existence known.
“I was thinking about revealing Verne I to the world to boost anti-Wiltian momentum, but...” The Saint spoke lightly, as if considering whether to eat chocolate cake or apple pie. “But I’ve decided to drop it. Where humans live.”
“What?!” Mary Ville couldn’t believe her ears.
“Why?! Or rather... where?!”
Even if she explained why, Mary Ville would never understand the girl’s true motives. So she just focused on learning where the Saint intended to drop the weapon.
“Makstia. Right here.”
“—?!”
Mary Ville was at a loss for words. The girl was going to fire a ballistic missile at the capital of the August Federation.
“It’s the perfect place. After all, this is an old city.”
Mary Ville wasn’t a scientist or engineer, so based on what little she knew, she had no idea how destructive the recently developed Verne 1 would be. But it would be an enormous chunk of iron packed with fuel and explosives as it fell from the sky. So she could imagine the result.
“If you do that, it will throw Makstia... No, all of August into confusion!”
The missile would cause much more than physical destruction. In the recent Great War, Wiltia had surrounded the capital of August. Wiltia defeated the capital, which had natural defenses that even the Lion Emperor was unable to surmount over one hundred years ago. The loss to Wiltia had engraved intense fear in the hearts of the Augustan people.
“If we expose the capital to another crisis, this time about, imminent destruction at the touch of a button, there will be an uproar.”
“The people will panic.”
“Yes. And that’s where you come in.” The Saint spoke with a smile, as if explaining her plans for a party. “The members of the Soviet Six are decrepit already and this will finish them off. The people will cry out for help from anyone.”
If an attack struck the capital and the nation’s leaders disappeared, the thoroughly autocratic nation would be like a beast with its head cut off. Impossible to control, it would explode. In the worst case, the massive federation could break up, causing brother to fight against brother.
“That’s when you will make your appearance!”
“What?”
The Saint spoke enthusiastically, her eyes twinkling, but Mary Ville was perplexed.
“A heroine shall descend into a world directionless and wracked by confusion! As the nation’s savior, you will lead the masses in the fight against the evil empire of Wiltia!”
“.........!”
Mary Ville was a journalist, lawyer and novelist. This sounded to her like the plot of a mediocre novel. However...
It would be effective...
The methods for agitating the populace were surprisingly simple. Make it clear and easily comprehensible... That was the way to reach people eager to abandon the need to think for themselves. We are righteous and the enemy is evil. That simple scheme was enough to get people marching in step.
“When you think you’re right, you can do anything. Anything at all!” The Saint laughed in delight.
She had observed humans for hundreds of years, so—not a human herself—she understood them very well. Day after day they spouted strong, noble words, but at heart they were easy to manipulate. She knew from experience.
“Well, we’ll be busy!” The Saint clapped her hands and did a little dance. Apparently, she was having fun and eagerly looked forward to war.