Ch.199Radiance of Fury (2)

“Such despicable scoundrels!”

General Wellington pounded his desk in great anger.

Though he was no longer a general having been dismissed, he had barely survived by keeping a low profile on the outskirts of the city during the few days when the country had been turned upside down.

“Calm yourself, General Wellington. Your country may have fallen, but it is my duty to ensure that justice from above is realized below. I need your help for proper retribution.”

“Grrrr…”

“He’s right, General. With the city’s leadership purged, despite your fatal mistake, you’re the only one with experience commanding large-scale forces of tens of thousands.”

In this small room were gathered Wellington Cheshire, the inspector who had been with me, and high-ranking government officials who had barely survived the recent tragedy.

It was a rather pitiful fact that they could be counted on two hands even when gathered all together, but wasn’t it fortunate that at least they were here?

“Those bastards are still delaying their departure, stalling. They must think there’s still more to plunder.”

“They’re probably waiting to load payment for the military equipment they sold. From what I can see, they’ve collected enough money to lower their waterline.”

At the inspector’s words, the atmosphere in the small room heated up.

Naturally, the Coastal Federation Council had promised “financial support,” which could obviously be interpreted as meaning they would collect and provide funds from other nations.

The wisdom god Logos greatly despised such fraudulent schemes that exploited legal loopholes, as did everyone gathered in this room.

“Two nations masterminded this incident. ‘Avalencia’ to the south of our Zirconia, and ‘Ferington’ to the north. Both cities are similar in size to our Zirconia… in their desperation to win the competition, they’ve committed unforgivable acts.”

“Then they must rightfully pay the price.”

“Hmm…”

At those words, the mood in the room deflated once again.

Making them pay sounded good, but how exactly could we accomplish that?

Our army had already been crushed, and there were no allies who could provide any real strength.

The Coastal Federation Council would be more mindful of the votes of two cities rather than one.

However, that council might also be our way out.

“There’s something called the principle of good faith.”

“…”

“It’s a principle that when fulfilling contracts, one ‘naturally’ swears to maintain good faith and fulfill the contract sincerely. And all cities in the Coastal Federation have sworn to step up whenever cities belonging to the Federation are in danger.”

“That means…”

“In short, the Coastal Federation’s credibility has hit rock bottom. This credibility is, surprisingly, a very important commodity. If there’s a national federation that fleeces its member states, who could trust an organization like the Coastal Federation?”

When Simon hit the nail on the head, the inspector and diplomat’s eyes lit up.

At least in this aspect, they could leverage their expertise.

“They’ll likely argue as follows: that the property they took was confiscated from rioters, and they did indeed deploy troops to eliminate Zirconia’s infected. They can’t restrict individual soldiers’ economic activities, and it’s difficult to prove that foreigners intentionally seized Zirconia’s property or artwork, so the charges won’t stand.”

“A difficult argument to counter. It’s true that Zirconia’s citizens did riot, and as a result, numerous artworks and properties were indeed taken out.”

“Then how should we overcome this?”

To the diplomat’s question, I thought for a moment before answering.

“First, let me ask… are all the foreign troops deployed here regular army?”

“Most likely. They wear uniforms and have a systematic rank structure. Even if not regular army, they’re at least paramilitary organizations.”

After the inspector said this, I pointed to several ships anchored at the harbor, still overlooking Zirconia.

“Those ships weren’t designed for amphibious operations. General Wellington, you can tell, can’t you?”

“…That’s correct. Amphibious operations require at least air support or naval gunfire support. But those massive transport ships are severely lacking in landing craft needed for amphibious operations. Evidence they came with ulterior motives from the start.”

“The Coastal Federation only promised ‘financial support,’ not troop support. If moving troops was Avalencia and Ferington’s unilateral decision—moving an army unilaterally? Without proper support vessels? How can we not press this issue?”

When I asked this, the inspector and diplomat exchanged glances and began whispering something to each other.

“Though the Coastal Federation’s constraints are loose… the council’s authority is surprisingly powerful. Member states must comply with the Federation’s investigation requests; failure to comply results in various economic sanctions, and in severe cases, expulsion.”

“Then how should we submit this matter to the council?”

“As you mentioned earlier, ‘unilateral military deployment,’ ‘removal of artwork without Zirconia government permission,’ ‘unauthorized military contact with civilians’… these should be enough to build a case.”

“I thought the government had already collapsed. Can we still use that angle?”

“The absence of a government doesn’t mean the state ceases to exist. That might be true for an absolute monarchy, but Zirconia is a representative democracy. If the government has fallen, we simply elect new representatives and a new speaker. And regardless of another country’s condition, the fact remains they didn’t obtain permission. No proper nation allows artwork displayed in museums to be arbitrarily taken abroad, so once the Coastal Federation’s investigation team deploys, those two nations will be sweating profusely.”

“Is there no possibility they’ll smuggle things out secretly? With magic, it would be simple…”

When I asked this, Simon cleared his throat and addressed my question.

“Magic may be convenient, but it’s not omnipotent. Even teleportation magic leaves traces. Finding those traces and investigating makes backtracking as easy as eating cold porridge.”

“That’s right. Moreover, the Federation’s investigation team is notorious for their ruthlessness. Since they’re used to determine membership fees, they’re infamous for finding every last grain of rice.”

“I see tax authorities are the same everywhere!”

I smiled faintly while tapping the desk.

Indeed, when educated people gather, plans become more concrete. This is why we have parliaments and speak of collective intelligence.

“You’ve already collected all the evidence?”

“Yes.”

When I asked, the inspector pulled out a bag and showed thousands of photographs.

No matter how severely we were hit, not every personal camera was destroyed. The inspector, along with the diplomat, had rallied and mobilized citizens to secretly take photographs proving that Zirconia’s artwork and property were on the two nations’ ships.

I thought it would be extremely difficult, but ridiculously, when citizens said they “wanted to take pictures of the heroes,” permissions were granted immediately with mouths agape.

What fools… Of course, in the corners of photos where they proudly posed, museum artworks were clearly visible.

“Witnesses?”

“We’ve persuaded some rioters with the promise of amnesty. Since they were among those who turned into looters in the early stages, they’ll be helpful in testifying about the overall situation.”

“Excellent. Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Leave it to us. We’ll rush to submit the case to the council.”

The most important thing here was having people who could formally submit complaints to the council. With the inspector and diplomat who held key government positions going together, there shouldn’t be a problem. They were high-ranking officials directly appointed by the speaker.

And after that, General Wellington’s responsibility was crucial.

He would take on the role of controlling the crowds and, if the plan went awry, commanding the citizen militia.

“General Wellington. Can you do it?”

“Leave it to me. Though I may be disgraced in heaven, on this earth I’ll throw this old body into the screw to stop the enemy.”

“A determination to fight to the death. Not bad.”

I nodded and then looked out the window.

“It should be about time for it to blow…”

As I muttered this, a massive explosion occurred at the stern of the ship, and from a distance, shouts and hurried footsteps began to be heard.

“Perfect.”

The goal of this operation was to recover Zirconia’s property, and for that, the property needed to be within our reach.

And since that property was on the ships… wasn’t disabling the ships the first priority?

“Dwarven underwater bombs really are reliable. Their performance is guaranteed.”

I smiled and then left the room to prepare to meet my comrades.