General Lao’s press conference was incredibly brief.
“Our forces have defeated the Latarnian military in the Planet Taiga Defense Battle.”
That was truly all he said.
It sent a bit of a shiver down my spine.
He really radiated that “high-tier character” aura.
To begin with, Zork and the Duke Association had countless ways to win against us. If Zork had negotiated with the Empire while he still held the advantage, prolonging the war and protecting that utterly incompetent Maro from being killed, he probably would have had the Empire in the palm of his hand within a few years.
For that matter, they could have won if they had managed to eliminate me, the academy students, and Edge right at the start. Though, in that case, the Fairy would have probably sprouted up...
Actually, I didn’t feel like anyone could win against that. The Fairy was only nerfed because she chose to be human; if she didn’t care about the methods she used, she’d be the strongest being alive.
The Duke Association also had cards left to play, like conspiring with the Grand Chamberlain to seize control of the military, then dividing our forces to pick us off one by one. In that scenario, the prerequisite for their victory would have been preventing my marriage to Wifey—assuming they could have identified me as a threat the moment I survived the battle with Zork.
I didn’t know if Zork and the Duke Association were simply too arrogant, believing they were superior, or if they just weren’t able to play their cards. But it was a fact that they were preoccupied with things other than pure victory. That was what caused their delayed judgment.
On the other hand, I wasn’t sure if General Lao was being manipulated, but his words were kept to a minimum. He completed his objectives without any unnecessary flair or distraction. At the very least, he clearly wasn’t incompetent.
“Something dangerous has shown up...” I muttered.
The Fairy immediately panicked.
“A-All forces! Brigadier General Leo Kamishiro has issued a warning! Extreme caution is advised!!!”
For some reason, an emergency alert was broadcast throughout the ship. I heard the thundering sound of running feet as a total inspection of all weapons and facilities began.
“The battle’s starting! You lot, get your heads in the game!!!”
“Sir, yes, sir!!!”
I saw the Maintenance Squad running past with Kyoko-chan at the lead. Carts loaded with spare parts went racing down the corridor.
“Wait, I didn’t say the battle was starting right now...”
“Leo-kun, your intuition has never been wrong before!”
I was really just making a comment about General Lao being a formidable character, but they weren't listening.
“Software inspections for missiles and mines are complete! Moving to manual inspections!”
“Standard fighter inspections underway! Requesting checks on the Humanoid Fighters!!!”
The ship was in a total uproar. Seriously, I didn't mean it was starting this second!
“Inspecting electrical systems!”
The workers even burst into the Conference Room. To stay out of their way, I moved to the Dining Hall with Shiyun and her brother. An electrical safety inspection was already happening there.
I recognized some of the crew from my own days doing part-time jobs with the Engineering Squad, so I called out to them.
“Good work, guys.”
“Lord Brigadier General! We’ll have this finished in a flash, sir!”
“No need to rush. Mind if we hang out here?”
“Everyone’s already inside, sir.”
When I looked in, the usual gang was all there, buried in paperwork.
“Shiyun, look, Tatiana and One-oh-one are over there. Big brother, I’m counting on you to look after Shiyun.”
“Understood!”
I parted ways with Shiyun there. One-oh-one was being watched over by the Former Steward of the Despair, while Tatiana was guarded by a female soldier dispatched from the Ogre God Nation. Shiyun also had her brother and former Taikyoku soldiers for protection. Her security seemed solid.
I headed over to Wifey, who was with Piggett.
“Things have turned into a real mess, huh?”
“It is to be expected, given the Lord Groom’s intuition.”
“Why do you have such absolute faith in it?”
“Because it has never been incorrect. Theoretically, it is defined as a ‘non-logical conclusion derived comprehensively from past experience,’ but... the Lord Groom’s talent is essentially precognition.”
“And yet the person himself trusts it the least!” I complained.
“It matters not! Besides, the inspection was scheduled for next week anyway. We have simply moved it forward a bit.”
“O-Oh, okay. Then I’ll go help out with the part-time work...”
“Sit back down! If a Brigadier General starts doing manual labor, people will stop laughing and start panicking!”
“Sure thing.”
With nothing else to do, I started on some paperwork. Let’s see, the meeting with the Latarnian side counts as a business trip... Phew. Since I was also acting as a Minister, I found myself handling a lot of my own administrative tasks. I was currently approving my own security plan and signing off on the audio transcription of my talk with the Latarnia Ambassador.
Everyone else was working like mad, too. Then, another ship-wide broadcast cut through the air.
“This is an emergency broadcast from Latarnia.”
“Again?!”
I pulled up the feed. A Huanglong-class Battleship appeared on the screen. The scrolling text read: [Taikyoku Nation Attacks Latarnia].
“Wait, that’s right near here?! How did we miss that?!”
“They caught us off guard! They managed to stay outside our sensor range! We are moving to provide support! What is the status of the inspections?!”
“Nearly finished!”
“Good!”
We immediately moved to transfer Shiyun, Tatiana, One-oh-one, and their guards to a separate vessel. We would head to Latarnia’s aid. It was nerve-wracking to separate, but they had Zork protecting them, and Tatiana was a Jester. It was as secure as it could be.
We switched to a Destroyer and accelerated toward the crisis. As we approached the designated operation zone, our radar picked up a swarm of Taikyoku Humanoid Fighters.
“Leo-kun! There are so many Taikyoku fighters out there!”
They were clearly dead set on crushing Latarnia. According to Shiyun’s brother and Old Man Woo, the Taikyoku Nation was a coalition of Powerful Clans led by various generals. The local lords basically functioned as military commanders. There was also a central “Forbidden Army,” though I wasn't sure if these units were from the capital. Either way, their killing intent was palpable.
As usual, the enemy units were lightly armored—likely a specific countermeasure against Latarnian missiles.
“Alright, I’m heading out then.”
It was time to do my actual job as a pilot. I climbed into Massacre Night-tan and launched.
In the distance, I saw a Latarnian battleship erupt in an explosion. The Taikyoku forces—or rather, the Ghouls—were perfectly equipped to fight Latarnia. Conversely, that meant they were weak against the Ogre God Nation... Wait!
“What’s wrong, Captain?” Melissa’s voice came over the comms, sounding worried.
“I... I think I just realized why the Ghouls are in such a hurry...”
“Is it because of Tatiana’s ability?”
“That’s part of it, but... it’s the Ogre God Nation.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s because we wiped out Proone! Proone was supposed to be the buffer holding back the Ogre God Nation! Their plan was to take the Taikyoku Nation, then Latarnia, and once that was done, they were going to slowly take the Ogre God Nation and Proone together.”
“So... you’re saying our meddling completely wrecked their schedule?”
“That’s exactly it...”
They had been forced to accelerate their entire plan. That was the missing piece. The dots had finally connected!