“How did it go, Aiden?”
Aiden swallowed dryly.
“I… I will report.”
The man opened the ledger with a trembling voice.
“As soon as the market opened today… Han-Metal’s stock hit the daily upper limit. There are no sell orders, so it is impossible to buy even if one wishes to.”
“And?”
“We… accumulated shares at rock-bottom prices two days before the announcement… so our current return has exceeded approximately 400%, and by market close it is expected to approach 600%.”
“Continue.”
“The land in Districts 9 and 10… has had its government expropriation compensation set at three times the official assessed value. However, with favorable prospects for private development added on top, actual transaction prices are surging by more than tenfold.”
Aiden shook his head as if he could not believe it.
“And Sternberg Trading Company… has been selected as the preferred negotiator for the supply of military uniforms and army tents. Its stock price is… impossible to measure.”
I smiled faintly.
“Congratulations, Aiden. Thanks to you, my retirement has become very secure indeed.”
‘Status analysis.’
[Name: Arthur]
[Status: Confusion, cognitive dissonance, self-loathing]
[Emotion: His mentality is shaken by the fact that, while trying to turn an embezzler’s money into scraps of paper, he instead made him a magnate.]
“L-Lieutenant Colonel.”
Aiden barely managed to open his mouth.
“Did you… know this information in advance?”
“Information?”
I shrugged.
“I’m a soldier, Aiden. I merely knew what was needed on the battlefield. We needed sturdy armor more than scraps of old iron plate, and we needed engines more than sluggish horses. His Majesty the Emperor simply agreed with my thoughts.”
I drove in the wedge.
“And you placed the buy orders with astonishingly perfect timing. As expected, my eye was not wrong. You are a genius.”
“……”
Aiden’s face turned ashen.
*
At the same time. Londinium.
Royal Intelligence Bureau, Director’s Office.
Director Sydney Wellesley took out a cigarette with trembling hands and put it between her lips. Her hand shook so badly as she tried to light the lighter that it would not catch.
On her desk lay an urgent telegram from the Empire.
[Imperial Economic Trends Report]
[Estimated asset value of Max Jaeger: Up 1,200% compared to 7 days ago]
[Current value: Approximately 89,000 gold coins]
“Arthur… what in the world…!”
“D-Director!”
Lieutenant Colonel Sterling stood there, his face drained blue.
“I heard it clearly. He said he would induce him to invest in garbage stocks and bankrupt him. He clearly said… he would make him penniless and put a leash on him!”
“T-That… even Major Arthur could not have predicted that the Imperial government’s policy would change so drastically. This is on the level of a natural disaster.”
“A natural disaster? Impossible.”
Wellesley’s face flushed red for an instant.
“Max Jaeger knew. What he blathered about in the conference hall became policy exactly as he said. Arthur watched all that from the side, and then shoved the man’s money into the companies that would benefit the most.”
She muttered.
“This is sabotage. Or else… betrayal.”
“There is no way Major Arthur would betray us! He is the Kingdom’s finest agent!”
“Then explain it. Why is our finest agent turning the hero of an enemy state into the Empire’s greatest magnate?”
A murderous gleam entered Wellesley’s eyes.
“Max Jaeger… The man has a talent for charming people and making them his own. The citizens of Soissons, the Emperor of the Empire, and perhaps… even Arthur.”
*
Several days later.
The Imperial Capital Eisenburg, in a strategy conference room deep within the Imperial Palace.
Around a round table on which a map of the western continent had been spread, the Empire’s great figures were seated.
“The Western Front has been settled, Your Majesty.”
Marshal Ludwig pointed to the map with his baton.
“With Operation Sickle as the turning point, the Imperial Army advanced with unstoppable momentum, and the remnants of the Republican Army are in rout. Now there is only one thing left.”
“……”
“Their capital, ‘Elancia.’”
The moment that name was mentioned, the atmosphere in the conference room changed.
The capital of the Republic. The birthplace of the revolution and the symbol of liberty and democracy.
A logistics hub through which every railway and roadway passed, and a concrete fortress where enormous steel structures stood. The industrial heart where three million people lived, and a greenhouse of ideology and learning. The undisputed cultural center of the continent.
Some called it the city of revolution, some called it the city of culture, and some called it the city of light.
Elancia.
It was the heart of the continent. A place where the golden age of the Republic and the era known as the Belle Époque itself had taken form.
“They are preparing to fight to the death.”
Chancellor Leopold adjusted his glasses and turned the pages of the report.
“They are distributing weapons to the citizens and fortifying locations throughout the city. Urban warfare against three million resisters… If the Imperial Army enters, it will be forced to suffer tremendous bloodshed.”
“Then smash it.”
Emperor Ferdinand IV muttered.
“That is the price for daring to point a blade at my Empire. Flatten it without leaving a single stone behind.”
“However, Your Majesty, the real problem is not on the battlefield… but across the sea.”
The Chancellor’s expression darkened.
“The United Kingdom of Victoria is strengthening its naval blockade. The United States of Columbia is also pouring massive amounts of supplies into the Republic. The moment we waste time in Elancia, we give them a pretext to intervene directly.”
The Empire had always been isolated.
Victoria, the existing hegemonic power, and Columbia, the rising great power, did not look favorably upon the Empire’s ascent. Though they had not fought a direct war, to them the Empire was always a potential enemy that had to be kept in check.
“Damned hyenas.”
In the end, the meeting reached a lull. Faced with a problem that could not be solved by military power, even the Empire’s renowned heavyweights let out low groans.
“Lieutenant Colonel Jaeger, what do you think?”
At that moment, the Emperor suddenly asked me.
It was rather amusing that a mere lieutenant colonel was present at a meeting attended only by the highest authorities, but almost no one ignored me anymore.
A soldier backed by the commander-in-chief and favored by the Emperor. Absolutism is convenient at times like this.
“The reason they can cry out for a fight to the death is solely because of ‘hope.’”
I spoke carefully.
“Hope?”
“Yes. The vain hope that Victoria and Columbia will come to save them.”
I continued slowly.
“We must sever that hope first. Not with guns and swords, but with diplomacy.”
The assembly stirred. Chancellor Kallenberg snorted.
“Diplomacy? Do you think those Victorians will listen to us? For the past hundred years, they have done nothing but trip up the Empire. They are the sort who will not even talk unless a blade is placed at their throats.”
I could understand the deep-rooted distrust among the Imperial leadership. But that was an outdated method.
‘Status analysis.’
[Name: Leopold von Kallenberg]
[Emotion: Anxiety over isolation, persecution complex toward foreign powers.]
I smiled faintly.
“I am not suggesting we make friends, Chancellor.”
‘Charming Speech.’
[Skill ‘Charming Speech (Lv.3)’ has been activated.]
“The United Kingdom of Victoria fears the Republic’s radical ideology spreading into its own country. The United States of Columbia is worrying itself sick that the money it lent the Republic will never be repaid.”
“You mean we need only stimulate their fear and greed?”
Marshal Ludwig asked.
“Yes, precisely.”
I pointed not to the table, but to the continental map hanging on the wall.
“Right now, the Republic is in an unstable state due to its reckless war and its unilateral breach of the armistice agreement. If even its capital, Elancia, collapses and it falls into anarchy, that chaos will only grow worse.”
Then who would gain power?
“It is a simple matter. The communists.”
“……!”
“The United Kingdom will not want its own front yard to become a den of Reds. They would rather turn a blind eye to the Empire, with whom they can at least communicate, restoring order.”
The Emperor’s eyes gleamed.
“Then for Columbia…”
“Tell them we will assume the Republic’s debt. A ruined nation cannot repay money anyway. But a victorious Empire can. We will open the Imperial market to them and throw in reconstruction contracts as bait.”
I drove in the wedge.
“We are not destroying the Republic. We are replacing an incompetent and dangerous government and establishing a new government under Imperial order. The justification is sufficient.”
Silence fell.
Chancellor Leopold’s expression had gone blank. Opening the way not with the Empire’s military boots, but with the enemy’s fear and wallet. It was an idea that had never existed in the Empire’s diplomatic history.
“Hahahaha!”
Emperor Ferdinand IV burst into laughter, striking the throne.
“Interesting! Very interesting! Yes, let my army become the cleaner of Reds, and let my treasury become the guarantee for those New World bastards?”
But the Emperor soon wiped the laughter from his face and asked, as if this one thing alone he could not understand.
“Lieutenant Colonel. Why go to such complicated lengths? We could simply sweep them away.”
“My apologies, Your Majesty.”
I bowed respectfully.
“In exchange for that effort, we can spare our soldiers’ blood and take the heart of the continent intact.”
You want me to do another round of that grueling urban warfare? The memories of Rosenheim still seemed to flicker before my eyes.
The sensation of squeezing my mana circuits dry and coughing up handfuls of blood. The moments spent hiding in a corner of a frozen sewer, waiting only for the sound of the enemy’s footsteps.
Under bombardment that came pouring down as if the ceiling would collapse, my face had been caked with mud and gunpowder, and I could not even tell whether the sticky blood on my body belonged to the comrade who had just died, or the enemy I had stabbed to death.
“The reason is simple.”
I spoke curtly.
“Because winning without fighting is the best course.”