Ch.205205. War Hero

Seraphina did not prolong the departure ceremony for the expedition to suppress the rebels.

Even at this moment, the rebels were advancing toward the imperial capital, and time was of the essence to stop them.

However, a departure ceremony was necessary because this was a civil war between fellow imperial citizens. There was a need to clearly establish the legitimacy of this expedition to prevent the soldiers’ morale from plummeting.

Seraphina possessed a special ability to inspire people, matching her desire for talented individuals. That ability—her eloquence—could capture the hearts of departing soldiers with just a word or gesture.

Moreover, having ascended to the position of Imperial Princess, Seraphina had learned to better utilize her inherent imperial dignity. Her departure speech dispelled the soldiers’ anxieties. Troops who had been unable to find honor or sense of duty in the grim situation of civil war cheered at her words and marched out.

The suppression force, with Seraphina as commander-in-chief, left the capital immediately after the departure ceremony. Though the procession wasn’t fast due to the need to transport massive god-machines, they moved toward their forward base at a much faster pace than other nations thanks to the Empire’s magical engineering.

The location chosen as the forward base was Tontoro, an imperial domain directly under the royal family, about a week’s journey from the imperial capital.

Being close to the capital, this domain was typically granted to the imperial successor. It was essentially a territory prepared exclusively for the Crown Prince or Princess.

Tontoro was a place where no support was spared to strengthen imperial authority for the future emperor. If this place were to fall to the rebels, it would be fair to say the rebellion would be halfway successful.

The political significance, legitimacy, and symbolism of Tontoro held that much value.

That was precisely why Seraphina established her forward base at Tontoro. Losing this place was absolutely unacceptable.

After a week’s journey from the capital, the suppression force safely entered Tontoro. Meanwhile, reports continuously arrived that the main rebel force was advancing toward the capital—or more precisely, toward Tontoro.

As soon as Seraphina entered the lord’s castle in Tontoro, she convened a meeting.

“The rebels are advancing from the southwest of the Empire toward Tontoro. We’ve received intelligence that they have occupied five domains in total, two of which voluntarily opened their gates.”

A heavy silence fell over the conference room at the intelligence officer’s words.

Only the soft sound of Seraphina tapping the table could be heard.

“Which two?”

“The Baronial House of Serpent and the Viscounty of Fullia.”

Though somewhat removed from the central capital, these were not ordinary provincial noble houses without influence.

They were houses whose names occasionally echoed in the capital, the center of imperial politics, and had maintained strict neutrality for generations considering their territorial positions.

Neither imperial loyalists nor aristocratic faction members, these two houses had not joined any successor factions, which were the core of political maneuvering.

The fact that they had aided the rebels’ bloodless entry held great significance—it marked a change in their long-held political stance.

“Is it right to judge that they have joined the rebels?”

“We’re still investigating that. Circumstances suggest so, but they might have simply wanted to avoid meaningless bloodshed. Especially since these two houses have maintained political neutrality, it’s difficult to make a definitive judgment yet.”

This was indeed a matter of debate within the intelligence department, but they had reserved making any definitive conclusion regardless of which opinion prevailed.

Given that the current conflict was a civil war, it was possible that the two houses had simply opened their gates to the rebels to avoid making enemies on either side.

“I understand. Then, Operations Chief, tell me what we should do first.”

“We must first secure the domains near potential focal points of the civil war. Among them, the Selenne domain is of highest importance. The Selenne Plains can force a choice between Tontoro and the imperial capital. If we can establish a position there and block the way, the advantage will tilt in our favor.”

Seraphina fell into brief contemplation. Even to her intelligent mind, securing the Selenne domain seemed most crucial.

“When do you expect the rebels to reach the Selenne domain?”

“With some variance, we estimate about a week from now.”

“Considering the distance from Tontoro to the Selenne domain, we should depart at least two days from now.”

It took about four days to reach Selenne from Tontoro.

Considering the size of the main force, it could take even longer.

Seraphina decided to form an advance guard to dispatch to Selenne first.

Marshal Arthur was appointed as the commander of the advance guard. A deputy commander and adjutant were assigned under him, and Gilbert was also attached to the advance guard as a key combat asset.

The next morning.

The advance guard departed for the Selenne domain under Marshal Arthur’s command.

Though reduced in size compared to the main force, their speed wasn’t particularly fast due to the transport of god-machines. Fortunately, the clear weather prevented muddy roads, making it likely they would arrive within the scheduled time.

Unfortunately, there were no domains or villages between Tontoro and the Selenne domain to stop at, so they had to camp outdoors. The imperial soldiers, trained as elite troops, had no qualms about sleeping outside.

Gilbert also had no issues with outdoor sleeping. In fact, it felt familiar since he used to go camping often when his body was in good condition.

Above all, since he wasn’t participating as a common soldier, he faced few inconveniences apart from sleeping arrangements. Even then, compared to ordinary soldiers crowded into small tents, he stayed in an individual officer’s tent, making his accommodations not particularly uncomfortable.

On the fourth day after leaving Tontoro,

the advance guard arrived at the Selenne domain.

Fortunately, they were able to enter before the rebels.

“The rebels will reach this Selenne domain soon. Our advance guard must hold this place at all costs until the main force arrives.”

Though Marshal Arthur was approaching his twilight years, he remained energetic. As soon as they established themselves in the Selenne lord’s castle, he gathered the commanders and impressed upon them the need for a desperate resolve.

After that, Marshal Arthur ordered the soldiers to rest well. Considering the upcoming battle, they needed to shake off accumulated fatigue.

Gilbert relayed Arthur’s orders to his adjutant to ensure the troops could rest, and the adjutant bowed in acknowledgment before leaving.

Left alone in his assigned room, Gilbert exhaled deeply, placed CT-777’s spirit core on the table, and collapsed onto the bed.

I shouldn’t think about Tactical Combat anymore.

Gilbert thought as he lay on the bed, blinking.

From the moment he noticed someone had interfered with the system, the future vision from Tactical Combat that he had played as a game became meaningless.

Even this rebellion was something he had never experienced in that highly free-form game. As time passed, there would likely be no overlap with the main scenario he knew.

That was indeed the case.

The moment he met Seraphina, the main scenario was updated to something he had never seen before.

Of course, even that much was quite helpful to Gilbert, who received the system’s benefits.

The system had sent a notification that the main scenario was beginning, which was crucial information indicating when the rebels would attack.

Though it might be too tight to move the entire army, at least the chance of being caught by surprise was reduced. That alone was important enough information to change the course of the war.

After lying motionless on the bed for a while, Gilbert struggled to get up. Though the bed seemed to pull at his body, he thought it would be better to wash up and rest properly.

He forcibly peeled off the laziness clinging to him, washed with hot water, and returned to his room. Though he felt slightly hungry, resting his tired body took priority.

Gilbert thus fell into a deep sleep without continuing his thoughts.

***

The next day, fully refreshed, Gilbert woke up early to check on the soldiers.

The imperial soldiers who had slept in beds after a long time seemed to have recovered their condition, looking energetic.

After informing his adjutant of the day’s tasks, he headed to the hangar where the god-machine was kept. Naturally, he had CT-777 with him.

“Captain Gilbert.”

In the army organized by Seraphina to suppress the rebels, Gilbert’s rank was captain.

Considering his age and experience, this was an exceptional appointment, but it reflected his potential, current status within the Empire, and his background as the eldest son of the Hart County family.

Gilbert returned the salute of the maintenance chief who saluted him, then headed toward the god-machine he would be piloting.

“I’ll be in charge of adjusting the god-machine you’ll be piloting this time.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

“Rather, it’s an honor to work with Captain Gilbert, who has made a name for himself in the Empire with his innate god-machine piloting skills. Please come this way.”

Gilbert followed the maintenance chief’s guidance and stood before a reddish god-machine. It had a similar appearance to the red god-machine that Horizon had piloted previously.

Horizon’s god-machine, which incorporated technology superior to the Empire’s existing god-machines, had been completely destroyed, but important technology remained in the cockpit and artificial spirit. This was used to develop an advanced god-machine.

The Empire’s top magical engineers had been worked to the bone for this, but their sweat had finally produced results.

Of course, proportional to its excellent performance, it had the drawbacks of excessive production cost and time.

Currently, even the imperial family possessed no more than five god-machines, including the one in front of Gilbert.

Two of these machines would be piloted by Imperial Princess Seraphina and Sword Saint Briana, and Gilbert would pilot one of the remaining three.

This too was exceptional, but he had a record of shooting down numerous enemy machines while piloting a general-purpose god-machine.

As he was designated as a master key for this war that absolutely could not be lost, Seraphina personally authorized him to pilot it.

“First, after you board, we’ll begin calibrating the artificial spirit with the god-machine.”

“You don’t need to worry about that part.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean…?”

“You’ll see.”

Gilbert left the confused maintenance chief and opened the cockpit to board the god-machine. He then took out CT-777’s artificial spirit core and linked it with the red god-machine.

[CT-777 ready for activation.]

CT-777, which had grown alongside Gilbert, had developed into an artificial spirit impressive enough to earn Fresia’s acknowledgment. Its performance had improved dramatically, truly deserving the term evolution.

Normally, when linking an artificial spirit with a god-machine, a calibration process called “tuning” was necessary.

Similar to a contract between an artificial spirit and a god-machine knight, it was a preliminary process to specialize the artificial spirit in controlling the god-machine.

Usually, the help of a magical engineer serving as a maintenance technician was essential, but CT-777 was already free from such constraints.

It was so capable that it could interfere with already linked artificial spirits, making tuning a simple task.

[System check.]

[Beginning drive system optimization.]

[Optimization complete.]

“What in the world!”

The maintenance chief’s eyes widened as he saw the god-machine emit light and mana condensing around it.

Though he had worked as a god-machine maintenance engineer for decades, he had never seen an artificial spirit perform tuning on its own.

His surprise was doubled because none of the cutting-edge artificial spirits currently existing in the Empire had such capabilities. If this fact were to spread in the imperial magical engineering community, it would cause an immediate uproar.

“Detailed adjustments are needed. Please help with the tuning of the joint parts I’m about to mention.”

“Y-yes, understood.”

The maintenance chief barely calmed himself at Gilbert’s words and focused on his duties.

About an hour after starting, all tuning was completed. A process that typically took two to three hours at minimum was finished in less than half that time.

“What kind of artificial spirit do you possess, Captain?”

“I was just lucky.”

“It’s a high-performance model that can’t even be compared to any artificial spirit developed so far! This can’t be dismissed as mere luck.”

“The Imperial Princess is aware of this. Is there any need to discuss it further?”

“W-well, that’s true, but…”

Though his curiosity as a magical engineer made him trail off, he soon recognized Gilbert’s stern gaze and immediately gave up. His thirst for new knowledge was strong, but not more important than his life.

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, sir! Good work.”

After receiving the salute, Gilbert left with CT-777 in his possession. The maintenance chief watched him intently before moving on to find his next task.