They had been able to locate Maxfern’s stronghold after the failed assassination attempt on Kiriha and the others. Naturally, that meant that Maxfern would want to move the main base, but it would take time, for largely the same reason it took time to gather troops. Until they could move, they would be forced to keep their guard up. An effective way to buy time was to position troops at a key point to ambush and delay. They could also use diversionary tactics in order to make it harder to launch an attack. Regardless, Maxfern would surely make some kind of move.
“So the sooner the better,” Koutarou said. “Ruth-san, when do we set out?”
“I am expecting it to be six hours after the launching ceremony,” Ruth answered.
“Excellent! Make sure everything works out, Ruth!” Theia said.
“Leave it to me, Your Highness!”
“Very good.” Theia nodded.
“Veltlion, Theiamillis-san, we should be setting out too,” Clan said. “If we’re too slow, Elfaria-san will leave us behind.”
“How hectic.” Koutarou sighed.
“But you will be able to take it easy until the launching ceremony,” Clan told him.
“Then I’ll do just that.”
As the strategy meeting came to an end, Koutarou left the command room with Theia and Clan. Since they would be taking part in a public event tomorrow, they would spend the day traveling. The event was a launch ceremony for the new Blue Knight made to replace the one destroyed in the civil war.
Having failed to assassinate Kiriha, Ruth, and Clan, Maxfern’s band of knights, as well as the Forthorthe Liberation group it was affiliated with, had made the mistake of allowing their main base to be discovered by the Imperial Army. The reason was that several ships containing commanding officers had been discovered as they got too far ahead of themselves, but they didn’t have the time to discuss that. Countermeasures had to be taken as soon as possible.
“Moving the stronghold and preparing an interception at the same time is foolish,” Maxfern bitterly spat out. He had been put into a predicament, but he wasn’t planning to go down without a fight. He had immediately hurried to make preparations to move their stronghold. But in the end, there hadn’t been enough time, so he’d also made preparations to intercept the Imperial Army. But the interception preparations had delayed the move of the stronghold, which irritated Maxfern.
“I certainly agree...but in this situation it is unavoidable,” Grevanas explained.
“How vexing,” Maxfern muttered.
“I am terribly sorry. I am one step behind when it comes to handling magic in the modern world.”
“Those damn brats!” Maxfern slammed his fist into his armrest.
Kiriha and the others had used themselves as bait to lure out his forces in order to obtain information on them. Maxfern and Grevanas had fallen hook, line, and sinker for their plan, leading to the Imperial Army acquiring crucial intel. The biggest failure of all had been using magic in space. Since mana practically didn’t exist in space, magic stood out a lot. Because of that, Grevanas had been discovered and ended up leading his pursuers most of the way to their stronghold. But it was hard to blame him for failing. Instead, Koutarou and the others should have been praised for bringing magic and modern technology together. Several similar circumstances had led to their stronghold being discovered. Maxfern’s anger had nowhere to go, so he slammed his armrest two, three more times.
“Calm down, I’ll go stop them.” a calm voice called out.
Maxfern looked with irritation in the direction of the voice and took a short breath before answering. “It’s you, Gray One.”
“The situation looks like it’s more serious than I thought,” the Gray Knight replied. He had appeared as if seeping out from the shadows in the room.
“It is my failure as an advisor,” said Grevanas. He lacked knowledge when it came to combining modern technology and magic. As an advisor for Maxfern’s forces, he had no choice but to accept that he had been defeated due to his lack of knowledge and experience—an advisor’s very purpose. His dry face twisted and he ground his teeth.
“But there’s no time for regrets,” the Gray Knight said. “We must move forward.”
“I will bear that in mind,” Grevanas answered with a serious expression. If he misstepped further, the blame would fall squarely on his shoulders, which he had to avoid.
“So, did you gather a fleet, Gray One?” Maxfern asked.
Gray Knight or not, he couldn’t stop an entire fleet himself, so Maxfern had given him the authority to form his own.
“I have...but only the minimum. That said, I can’t afford to wish for more.”
Taking the situation into account, the Gray Knight had gathered fast ships that were nearby. He felt a swift response was the most important fix for the situation. Naturally, that limited the number of ships he could use, but his intuition told him that he just barely had enough. Ships were being called up from far away regardless of speed, but it was unclear whether they would make it before the start of the battle.
“I see...then I will uphold the authority I’ve given you,” Maxfern said. “Replenish your forces as you fight.”
“I appreciate it,” the Gray Knight answered.
Maxfern was in a bad mood. They were in a tough situation, and he didn’t like that the Gray Knight had become their trump card. Even though he came from another universe, he was still Maxfern’s former nemesis. But if he could slow down the Blue Knight’s forces, Maxfern might be able to finish preparing their stronghold defenses. For that reason, he held back his bitter emotions.
“I’ll leave handling the Blue Knight to you,” Maxfern told him. “We will use the time to prepare to intercept them.”
“Got it, I’ll head out immediately,” the Gray Knight agreed, calm in contrast. Their discussion had been serious, but he sounded detached, as if he were neither concerned nor interested in the slightest.
“I will pray for your good fortune,” Grevanas said.
“What I need this time isn’t fortune,” the Gray Knight responded. What he needed was speed. There were other words that were more fitting.
Grevanas knew that as well. “Then...I wish you a good voyage.” He understood that it would be foolish to stop him, so he opened the path to the exit and saw him off.
The Gray Knight left the room without sparing either Grevanas or Maxfern a single glance.
If a large-scale battle is starting, there’s a pawn I’ll need to get my hands on...
The Gray Knight had some ideas. That was why he’d volunteered to stop the enemy. He couldn’t afford to let Maxfern lose now, for the sake of his own goals. Having finally started making his move, he was getting excited. If Maxfern had seen his expression, he might have been surprised. But there was nobody around to see it, and the Gray Knight blended into the shadows and disappeared, just as he had appeared earlier.