I thought he was a statesman, but listening to the young emperor speak like Qin Shi Huang was driving me insane.
Continental unification, you say?
Are you even in your right mind?
I thought perhaps my ears were malfunctioning, so I asked again.
“Uh… you mean to forcibly assimilate the Kingdom of Ra and the Yura Republic into the Zers Empire?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“…Seriously?”
“Would I joke about something this important?”
For a moment, my mind drifted back to my past life, visiting Andromeda in the universe of my previous existence.
Is this a sane thing to say?
Is Sylvia really speaking the truth about the emperor’s intelligence?
While I was lost in a sea of troubling thoughts, the emperor spoke.
“I can see from your expression that you’re as curious as everyone else about my reasoning.”
“Yes, I am very curious, Your Majesty.”
I truly was intrigued.
The empire was in its golden age.
If war breaks out, no matter how it happens, that golden age will inevitably come to an end.
I wanted to know what he was thinking, and the emperor started to explain.
“Do you know why my father, the late emperor, passed away?”
“I believe he died of illness.”
The late emperor, Cassius Zers Rohan III, had reportedly died from illness about 15 years ago.
At this, the emperor shook his head with a somber expression.
“That was merely the official announcement… Father passed away due to a terrorist incident during the founding festival 15 years ago.”
“What!? A terrorist attack!?”
I had heard about the ‘Founding Day Terror’ incident where the Zers Empire and the Yura Republic nearly went to war, a tragedy involving a “magic stone bomb” which resulted in dozens of casualties.
This was the first time I was hearing that the late emperor even died in that attack.
“The attack was perpetrated by those dissatisfied with the large-scale military reductions that my father advocated for peace… He didn’t wish for war to occur because of his death. So he ordered to keep everything a secret, which is why it was officially reported as an illness.”
At that moment, the emperor gestured, and suddenly a maid appeared out of nowhere, handing me a document before vanishing again.
“Recently, evidence has surfaced linking the Kingdom of Ra and the Yura Republic to that attack.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s a document that lay dormant in the crime city of Triad, detailing the specifics of the attack.”
The document was a form used in the crime city I had seen during my trip to Triad.
It detailed materials used in the “magic stone bomb” and information on those responsible.
I may not know much about international politics, but even I could tell what this document was implying.
While the two nations might not have directly instigated the attack, it was nearly certain that they had turned a blind eye to the information regarding the terrorism.
In this world where an emperor’s flesh and blood equals the state, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if this evidence came to light.
Honestly, if the Kingdom of Ra and the Yura Republic were suddenly ambushed and turned to flames, I wouldn’t even be able to complain.
“Are you planning on exacting revenge, Your Majesty?”
“Revenge is merely one of many motivations. Baron Yuren… have you ever thought about why wars never seem to disappear?”
“I’ve never considered it.”
That was a lie.
In my previous life, I had watched a lewd game called ‘PayX’ and thought about it during my middle-school days.
Specifically, the protagonist’s father’s wish to end wars had me pondering, but due to late-night shifts for a game competition, I never truly arrived at a conclusion.
“I’ve pondered this numerous times, ever since the day my father passed away… and I have found the answer.”
The emperor shone with a bright, golden gaze as if he had a major epiphany.
Could it be that he genuinely realized something I didn’t know?
With bated breath, I awaited the emperor’s answer.
“It is precisely because the world is divided into nations.”
Oh no.
That was one of the conclusions I’d thought of during my middle-school phase.
Our emperor, for sure, has caught the middle-school disease.
“Because nations are divided, enemies are created, leading to conflict, which ultimately results in war.”
As I envisioned my middle-school self, my hands and feet were curling up, almost swirling like a whirlpool.
I tried to endure the cringeworthy flashbacks with the most virtuous thoughts possible.
I had much to say, but for now, I just aimed for the most logical response.
“A lot of blood will be shed, Your Majesty.”
“Can’t you create a weapon that reduces that bloodshed?”
“The magic armor knights were so powerful due to the use of the Dragon Heart Stones…”
Before I could finish my sentence, a maid appeared before me, leaving a report behind and disappearing.
The report contained detailed analyses of the monster wave defense battle I fought while riding Alterion.
It noted that the enhancement from the Dragon Heart Stone had boosted the combat power to about 30% of its original capability.
“My advisors have informed me, and I know that the golem you controlled was temporarily enhanced by the Dragon Heart Stone, and it was estimated to only be about 30% of its original function.”
“That is correct. That golem was something quickly prepared to prevent disaster.”
“Yet even with just 30%, if you had 100 of them, it would be enough to achieve continental unification, wouldn’t you agree?”
Faced with the emperor’s words, I fell silent.
He was indeed correct.
I had created and run simulations for the magic armor knights.
What would happen if magic armor knights appeared in a battle similar to the border conflicts of the past?
The result was overwhelming.
Like when tanks appeared in World War I, the magic armor knights showcased a might that was a hundred times greater, dominating the battlefield.
If 100 magic armor knights suddenly appeared for an ambush, the command structure of the Kingdom of Ra and the Yura Republic would likely be paralyzed and unable to respond properly.
“Of course, having magic armor knights would assist your plans, Your Majesty. However, the cost of producing them…”
I tried to shift the conversation in another direction.
Even ordinary magic armor knights, without the Dragon Heart Stones, were still incredibly expensive compared to battle machines in my previous life.
Producing 100 of them would require a national-budget-level investment.
To my statement, the emperor smiled as if he’d anticipated my concern.
“Do not worry about the budget.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks to you, the treasury of the empire is more prosperous than ever. If we push it a little, the finance department estimates that we can produce and operate up to 150 magic armor knights.”
Once again, a maid appeared out of nowhere and left behind another document.
This seemed to be a financial report from the empire, detailing how increased tax revenues due to the 8 families’ tax evasion case and additional taxes collected from gaming and cultural projects meant there would be no problem with producing magic armor knights.
Unreal… I can’t believe this tax evasion incident led to this!
I had no words left as the unimaginable butterfly effect spiraled out of control.
“Well… that’s true.”
There seemed to be no way out anymore.
At the very least, I had to buy some time and come up with a countermeasure.
I squeezed my brain for every last bit of thought.
“I understand your intentions well. I will prepare to the best of my abilities. However, it will take time to produce 100 of them…”
“Just sharing the blueprints and methods will suffice. I will mobilize the platinum magical tower directly under the royal house to produce them myself.”
Is there no way out of this?
In despair, the emperor approached me.
“Baron Yuren, I consider you a loyal subject of the empire.”
“I am not that great, Your Majesty.”
“Thanks to you, the empire has become a cultural power, solving the 8 families’ tax evasion and enriching the royal treasury. You prevented the unnecessary bloodshed that would have resulted from a more detailed virtual battle simulator.”
It seemed the emperor was misunderstanding something pretty severely.
The bigger problem seemed to be that the misunderstanding didn’t end there.
“And you found the evidence regarding my father’s death that lay hidden in that crime city, creating a justification for the empire, and ultimately, you’ve provided us with the most powerful weapon to quickly end the war. What could this be if not loyalty?”
“Everything is just coincidence, Your Majesty.”
“Moreover, you possess the patience to hide your true thoughts, I know all of that. I am aware that your hometown was caught up in the conspiracies of the war and was lost, which is why more than anyone, you prepared these things in hopes of eliminating war.”
Now, I began to see some of the puzzle pieces fitting together.
The emperor believed that I had prepared all of this for my own sake.
I had done many things, but all of it was merely for the sake of creating an interesting game.
Somehow, I had helped the imperial finances, somehow contributed to war preparations, and somehow created a weapon of war.
All of this was just the result of coincidence…
Now that I put it all together, it really was all me who did it.
I could understand the emperor’s misunderstanding.
After handing him all this on a silver platter, if I said it wasn’t part of my plan, that would be a lie.
The emperor was likely viewing my current actions as attempts to conceal my true intentions.
“Baron Yuren, I wish to offer you the chance to become the chief hero of the unification war.”
“T-thank you, Your Majesty.”
What should I do… how can I stop this middle-school disease afflicted first-Emperor candidate?
From our brief conversation, I felt the emperor wasn’t a bad person.
However, he believed wholeheartedly that his methods were the right ones, and he was very serious about it.
A young genius leader, believing that his words and actions were all the truth.
I had seen many such characters in the gaming industry during my previous life.
What they needed was failure.
Failure to understand they could be wrong, that is.
As I pondered how I could make this young emperor experience failure without losing my own head, a game suddenly popped into my mind.
