Ch.75The War Lord (7)

# Chapter 75: Lord of War (7)

And just as I expected.

No, just as I had experienced in the game.

“I have returned.”

“Holy fucking shit.”

Our Warlord announced his continued existence by broadcasting it across the entire galaxy.

“AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!”

Thanks to that, the galaxy, which had been sinking into a festive mood thinking the Warlord had disappeared, had to experience another great chaos.

“Minister Arto, your prediction was indeed correct.”

“I actually believed in Minister Arto from the beginning.”

“…”

In the royal council meeting held immediately afterward, I had to endure the constant flip-flopping of the council members.

But since that wasn’t what was important right now, I brushed off the courtship(?) of the clingy old men and decided to formally expound on the dangers of this Warlord in the meeting.

—————————

In the meeting that promptly began, judgments about the Warlord were largely divided into two camps.

“The Warlord is no longer invincible; that fact has been proven by the Warlord himself.”

“The councilor is correct. Hasn’t the Warlord’s fleet, which had been winning consecutive victories, been defeated by the allied fleet formed by the willing nations of the South?”

“If a defeated person returns in the same manner, they will only suffer the same defeat.”

One faction believed that even though the Warlord had returned, he couldn’t boast the same strength as before, having already suffered a major defeat.

“We all know well that his problem isn’t simply the strength of his fleet, don’t we?”

“A fleet can be rebuilt, but rebuilding lost personnel is extremely difficult.”

“Unlike us, don’t forget that most of the Warlord’s fleet members succeeded in preserving their personnel.”

And opposing them was the faction saying we shouldn’t underestimate the Warlord.

Of course, due to my special position, I was still maintaining neutrality whether I liked it or not, but…

“Minister Arto, since your opinion proved accurate before, I was wondering if we might seek your wise counsel this time.”

“…”

Perhaps because my previous prediction had turned out to be correct.

The eyes of the council members attending the meeting were filled with anticipation about what I might say.

Faced with such expectations, I tried to take my usual step back.

“I don’t think I have anything particular to say, but…”

“Anything would be fine. Why not share your opinion once?”

Of course, as soon as the old councilors started trying to make me their obsession, I inwardly sighed while adjusting my posture.

Then, as calmly as possible, I spoke in a way that suggested “this is all I know.”

“If three problems are solved, our allied fleet has a high chance of winning even if the Warlord has returned.”

“Three problems? What problems are you referring to?”

Inwardly thanking the councilor who took my bait, I spread three fingers and then immediately folded one as I continued.

“First, since Zeltech, which was the galaxy’s greatest economic power, has knelt before the Warlord, its vast wealth and resources are being provided to the Warlord’s fleet.”

“Then the others…”

At the councilor’s question, I folded another finger and said:

“Unlike the time when the Warlord and our allied fleet clashed, we now lack the forces to wear down the Warlord’s fleet.”

The Mekt-Fuks fleet, which should have created a second front to disperse the Warlord’s forces, had long since been transformed into a former fleet.

Like Joseon suddenly experiencing the Battle of Chilcheollyang.

Having lost everything built through war, Mekt-Fuks was left with only a tiny patrol fleet.

Hearing this far, the councilors’ faces were filled with dismayed expressions.

“Are you saying there’s yet another problem?”

“Yes.”

And I folded my last remaining finger.

“Riel, bring that.”

“Yes.”

I asked Riel to bring a pre-prepared work report and projected it into the air as I spoke.

“According to a report from the Roirakan Republic, due to the loss of most of their battleships in the decisive battle against the Warlord, it’s impossible to implement the existing strategy.”

Our tank lost its shield, so we have to block with our bodies.

When I explained it this way, the councilors initially seemed unable to understand what my intention was.

But the moment they heard my words, the members of the Defense Committee and the Minister of Defense:

“Hmm…”

“Ahem.”

They understood what I was saying and expressed their discomfort with various groans.

“What’s wrong?”

And seeing this, the nearby councilors bombarded them with questions.

The officials, suddenly receiving the barrage of questions instead of me, sighed deeply and suppressed their uncomfortable feelings as they spoke.

“What Minister Arto is saying is that if another battle with the Warlord begins… our Empire’s fleet will have to stand on the front line.”

“You understand correctly.”

After I finished explaining all the reasons and stepped back, the atmosphere of the meeting instantly changed to that of a limp rag.

That damp and humid atmosphere didn’t change until the end of the meeting.

The next day.

And the day after that, the atmosphere in the meeting room, where holograms and actual people were mixed, was dominated by a gloomy and depressing mood.

Because of this, Artraia, who couldn’t stand watching it anymore, exceptionally gave a break time during the meeting.

“Let’s all take a short break for now. It seems like nothing will come out if we just keep focusing too much.”

“Your Majesty’s grace is immeasurable.”

During that break time… while the councilors and high officials were away.

“His Majesty is calling for you.”

“No, I’ll walk there myself, so please let go of…”

“That would be a waste of time, so we can’t allow it.”

I was kidnapped along with Riel as a set by the imperial guards and dragged to Artraia’s private room.

“Hello, Arto.”

“…We just saw each other in the meeting room, what kind of greeting is that?”

“What does it matter? It’s the first time I’m seeing you this close today, isn’t it?”

Seeing Artraia responding while casually drinking tea as if nothing was wrong, I plopped down on the sofa and said:

“Don’t tell me you brought me here to ask how we can minimize our losses in the upcoming battle…?”

At these words, Artraia, who had been leisurely sipping tea, momentarily paused…

*Clink*

After placing the teacup on the table as naturally as possible, she turned to me with a bright smile and said:

“As expected of you, Arto! You can read my mind so quickly!”

I couldn’t help but inwardly smile bitterly at Artraia’s misunderstanding(?).

[Event: A Good Person’s Worry]

[With the fleet battle against the Warlord approaching, the Emperor is losing sleep trying to somehow reduce the significant damage to her subjects and fleet.]

[Therefore, the Emperor holds hope that you might have some effective strategy for preserving the fleet, no matter how small.]

[Reward: Increased goodwill from the Emperor toward Arto Virtorius Sebel (additional event will proceed if at maximum)]

‘Who would believe me if I just said the event message told me so…’

And it was an unusually rare quest event that even revealed the reward in advance.

But regardless of the reward, I opened my mouth to Artraia as if I found it absurd.

“Artraia.”

“Yes? What?”

“Just to be clear, are you asking me because you think I might know something about strategy and tactics?”

If nothing else, I could say this one thing with certainty.

Strategy? Tactics?

I don’t know such complicated things.

If she wanted to ask about such things, she should ask the Tactical Information Manager at the Department of Defense.

Or the Strategic Advisory Agency at the Orbital Defense Command.

I couldn’t understand why she would ask a non-expert like me about such things, so I posed that question to Artraia.

Seeing me like this, Artraia momentarily showed me her rarely seen dumbfounded face.

And then she burst into genuine laughter, something she hardly ever showed even when alone with me.

“Heh… hahaha!”

[Pause]

The moment I saw that, I paused time and spent what felt like a week contemplating why Artraia had reacted that way.

And having finally reached a conclusion, I unpaused and spoke to the hysterically laughing Artraia.

[Unpause]

“Hahahaha! Oh Arto, as if I would ask you for advice on such matters! Hahahaha!”

“It was a joke, so don’t laugh too much.”

Artraia, who had been laughing for quite some time, wiped the tears from her eyes and continued the conversation.

And in that brief time of conversation with Artraia.

We were able to come up with quite a few measures that would help in this situation, more than I had expected.