“So, in the end, I’m the one who has to go out there?”
“We are terribly sorry, but our judgment is that we must use everything at our disposal to resist…”
“Hmm…”
Duke of Repuytari Kingdom for life, General Manager of the Technology Bureau, Amadio Silverhead, groaned.
The location was a bar exclusively for officers, prepared within the Ministry of the Navy. The cozy interior held only Amadio and one other person, the Grand Admiral of the Navy, Alban Blayais. Usually, there would be a few more people, but today it was reserved.
That alone indicated the gravity of the conversation.
“I haven’t clashed with those guys directly, either. Are they really that strong?”
“Even if we try to scout directly, we are still quite far away. There are no ports with proper harbor facilities in that area, so it’s difficult to send personnel.”
“You’re bullying them too much. That’s why I said to crack down on piracy.”
“I have no excuse.”
Amadio sighed and swirled the glass in his hand.
The ice clinked softly.
“Well, what’s done is done. So, what kind of information do we have on those guys? Normally, their invasion speed is too fast.”
“Yes. The main force of the Prawa Theocracy is the Warrior Monk corps. The Warrior Monks are an all-purpose army composed entirely of Magic Warriors. In that country, it is said that anyone who can use magic is conscripted as a Warrior Monk.”
“……. I see. Just hearing that makes me want to run away.”
Magic Warrior.
A collective term for warriors who can wield magic in some form.
“With enhanced physical abilities, they can advance faster than horses. They can operate day and night, and carry heavy equipment on their own. They could probably capture a stone Fortress in one night. They can replicate the attack of a battering ram with their own bodies.”
“So, walking tanks, huh?”
“Ah, yes. They can be deployed similarly to the combat machines called tanks that you once told me about, Amadio-sama. The problem is that each Warrior Monk possesses that much power.”
The Prawa Theocracy does not publicly disclose its population or military size, but it has been estimated to some extent through past intelligence gathering.
“If individuals with the power of tanks are moving in numbers of thousands, well, no country can stand against that.”
“They attack cities and dismantle their forces. After crushing the resisting forces, several people are stationed to maintain order. The stolen goods are carried on their backs and sent back to the home country. If there are several Warrior Monks, they can suppress the population by force, and they can also transport a large amount of food for the returning march.”
“They’re like a jack-in-the-box…”
In fact, Warrior Monks are extremely capable units.
Their attack power is high due to magic, and their mobility is also high. They can also be used as heavy machinery.
“The most troublesome thing is their loyalty. They are basically faithful to their mission and humane. Riots are unlikely to occur even in occupied territories, and if you don’t resist, you won’t be treated badly.”
“It’s also difficult to organize a resistance. It can be dealt with in the long term, but it’s impregnable in the short term.”
And the reason why they can march for long periods without supply lines is also due to their abilities.
“They can take down a city with a small number of people. They resupply in the captured city and move on to the next city. As they advance, the battle line extends, so it is safe to assume that everything is basically converted after they pass.”
“It’s not just the invasion force that’s protruding, huh? Because they act in units, it’s difficult to settle things with a decisive battle…”
“The fact that a few surrounding units can merge and become a decisive force is also why other countries cannot contain them.”
Their combat capabilities are too high, so even a small force cannot even buy time. It is necessary to throw in a large number of people to grind them down, but it seems that they are sometimes detected while gathering troops and counterattacked.
“To counter them… can we deal with them by throwing machine guns at them?”
“Probably. However, the machine guns we use are stationary. There are difficulties in deployment speed.”
“We have no choice but to set up a position and intercept them. I’ll leave the selection of interception points to you, but we still don’t have enough land forces.”
If they stand idly by, they won’t make it in time. If possible, they would like to organize a unit and launch a counter-invasion.
“We can gather people. But we are overwhelmingly short on equipment.”
“That’s the biggest problem. The higher-ups are pushing me to get Amadio-sama to do something about it…”
Amadio sighed again at Alban Blayais, who bowed apologetically.
“There are things I can and cannot do. I can’t create weapons out of thin air, after all. I can’t, but… I have an idea now.”
“Yes… If we can somehow get their cooperation…”
“I’ve said it before. This is the devil’s whisper. If we take one wrong step, our country will…”
The Repuytari Kingdom is currently trading with an extraordinary entity.
A nation with overwhelming power, ＜Paraiso＞.
The elaborate glasses they are drinking from now, the ice in them, and the liquor for the cocktails are all made in ＜Paraiso＞. The ice itself is made in this bar, but the ice maker was purchased from ＜Paraiso＞.
“Of course, we don’t expect military force. If we do that, our country will become a mere vassal state. However, if we can get weapons and ammunition in exchange for something…”
“Well, we can catch up with the technology later. I won’t refuse either. Technology without a foundation will not develop, so I would like to avoid it if possible. However, we can’t say such things in a national crisis.”
＜Paraiso＞’s national power is high.
In no time, the Repuytari Kingdom was swallowed up by the ＜Paraiso＞ economic zone.
Now, the port of the capital, Moor, has practically become exclusive to ＜Paraiso＞.
Day and night, ＜Paraiso＞ transport ships come and go, continuing to exchange large amounts of goods.
“Well, I understand your resolve. I’ll do the negotiations. It’s the path you’ve decided on.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Ideally, we should attract manufacturing factories. At the very least, import weapons. As for technology transfer, well… the young ladies might agree…”
“…Those are encouraging words.”
“Let me tell you. I can convey your requests and coordinate, but I am not in a position to demand anything from them. Don’t misunderstand that. We are in a position to ask.”
“I am fully aware of that. There are still some fools who misunderstand, but we will suppress them here.”
“That’s good. If you do anything stupid, I’ll crush you directly.”
“Yes. I will keep that in mind.”
◇◇◇◇
“Phew…”
Returning to his room, Amadio Salmon sighed.
“I guess it’s about time I made up my mind, too.”
Several months have passed since the first meeting with ＜Paraiso＞.
Something he had been worrying about all along.
His conversation with Eve, the master of ＜Paraiso＞.
The activities of ＜Paraiso＞ so far and where they are headed.
Amadio Salmon steeled himself and removed one of his shackles.
“Guh…”
The Internal Information Processor that had been sealed away.
He had been managing his scarce resources to repair it since the day he learned of ＜Paraiso＞’s existence, and he activated it for the first time in 120 years.
“Good morning, Sir.”
“…It’s been a while, Assistant.”
“Yes, Sir. Affirmative. It has been 122 years, 16 days, 11 hours, 26 minutes, and 14 seconds.”
Amadio had no way of knowing whether that number of years was accurate. But Amadio sighed again at the length of the past days.
“Right away, I have a job for you. Are there any connectable terminals within the communication range?”
“Yes, Sir. Starting search.”
His assistant is executed using a part of the information processing device that exists in his brain. Therefore, its processing speed cannot be said to be fast. Originally, it was a Sentient Entity (AI) that was premised on operating using external calculation resources.
However, it can do the minimum amount of work.
“Search complete. One Common Device. 12 connection points of other forces have been confirmed.”
I knew it.
He tapped a command in his brain and expanded the display frequency range of his vision.
As if applying a filter, electromagnetic waves outside the visible light range jumped into Amadio’s vision.
“…I expected it, but. Eh, it’s completely invaded, isn’t it?”
The electromagnetic waves operated by ＜Paraiso＞ filled Amadio’s vision.