After Yamato's declaration, the emissary left almost immediately, his answer being clear enough to report back to their emperor. Even though Yuki fully supported his actions, she could not help but wonder if the timing was right.
"Congratulations to yo ur ascension to emperor, Master. Though our current land and population hardly qualifies as empire… Might I ask how you intend to survive a war against the Holy Empire? Even if I can defend large amounts of invading troops or even strike back here and there, leading a whole invasion does seem a bit much even for me… Not to mention the image it creates of our state, having a deity fight a war for you is politically out of the question, no matter how much I would love to… To that comes the state in which we find ourselves in right now. As I'm sure you are aware of, war is economically very challenging. We lack funds and durability for… Well any sort of conflict really."
"Everything you just said was spot on. Of course, our demands are laughable considering we have no means to enforce them. The empire would be foolish to even consider being absorbed by another faction that only has a single town with a population of 20.000 as territory.
But you are forgetting that we were left with little choice to begin with. For example, what answer do you think would avoided a war between us and the empire?"
"I see… Well, if you put it like that, I suppose their demands basically forced our hands. Probably because they thought we would just submit anyway. Meaning they did not actually prepare for a war. However, now they have to."
"That's right. We should have some time now to make preparations of our own. It's too bad that I don't know where their capital lies, but I'm sure Lucy will have that information for me. In addition, since we were to fight anyway, we might as well go all the way now."
"But that still doesn't address the economical problem, or the approval of the citizens…"
"Let me worry about that. I do have a task for you. It needs to be done as soon as possible, but I already started researching it during our school time. So it's just a matter of building and installing it now."
"Whatever it is, I will finish it today, I assure you."
"That would be great. Take a look at these and get to work. I will be here if you need anything."
"Oh?"
Yuki took a stack of blueprints and texts which Yamato had prepared.
"Originally, I planned to sell these to another state… But I believe they will be much more useful to us now."
"Oh, I see… You remain just full of surprises even to me, huh~? My master is a little inventor~ To think this is what you did in your free time while I wasn't looking…"
"Now that you've seen it, do you think it is possible to implement without problems?"
"It might scare some here and there at first, but it shouldn't be a problem at all. I could build and install these in two hours, I think."
"That quickly? In that case… Get right to it. You should find everything you need in the treasure chamber."
"I'm looking forward to your next surprise, Master~"
Yuki left skipping out of the room. Just as Yamato was about to take a short break, the door opened again. But not Yuki entered, but Petrisha instead. Wearing traditional maid attire, which Yuki probably forced her to do.
"Pardon the intrusion, your majesty. That's the right way to address you now, right?"
"I guess… What is it, Petrisha?"
"Oh, nothing much… I just figured you could take a break right about now…"
"I was going to… Why?"
"Well, I am here to serve, am I not? If there is anything I can help you with to relax, just say the word. And I mean anything~"
"This is my chance! To think that angel would stay at his side constantly… But now that I finally got them separated…"
"Anything, anything, huh…"
"That's right~ I'm sure mistress Yuki has been busy the last couple of days. I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't find time to properly take care you in some regards… so if you help me, let's say, have her treat me a little better, I might treat you a lot better too… I'll let you do anything you want with me~"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, really anything~ I'm sure that angel is stuck up on some things, being all religious and stuff. I promise you I don't have that problem. I will fulfill all your deepest, darkest fantasies, no questions asked, if you just keep her at bay. So, what do you say? We have a deal~?"
"Bad, bad, bad."
Petrisha abruptly curled up into a ball and put her hands above her head in a protective manner, shaking heavily as she sobbed and cried like a scared child.
"Argh!?!?"
"Wow, that really does work. That's hilarious."
"W-why…? Why would you do that?!"
"I'm gonna tell Yuki about your little attempt here. I'm sure she will be happy to hear that it failed. Though she will be dissatisfied with it regardless. And for your information, in a contest about who fulfills my desires best, you don't stand a chance against her."
"I-I thought… You were the nice one…"
Yamato's cold gaze pierced through her fragile sense of self worth, which gradually declined as her life with them continued.
"Well, thought wrong. Yuki told me all about her little therapy with you. I honestly thought it was fascinating… To think she'd achieve such results. Well, that one spell really seems like it's made for it. But then again, only through her creativity was it possible to use in such a way. Now get me a tea. Or was there something else you wanted?"
"Y-yes… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… There was something else… Lady Lucy has returned and wishes to enter…"
"And instead of letting her in you bother me with your feelings? That's bad."
"Argh…! I'm sorry…. I said I'm sorry… Please don't hurt me…"
"Go let her in and wait outside the door if you aren't needed elsewhere."
"Y-yes, Sir…"
Petrisha slowly exited while looking at the ground, knowing she would have to face Yuki again for her misbehavior. Maybe it was time to give up, she thought, more than once by now. At least now Lucy could finally hand in her report.
"I've returned… Uhm, what was with her?"
Lucy looked back at the door where Petrisha waited.
"Well… You could say she talked back to Yuki again and waits for her punishment now."
"Oh… I see."
"You don't feel bad for her?"
"No, she is a demon, and should be thankful her life was spared. Her continued attempts to challenge authority and the punishment that follows are her own fault."
"…That's kinda racist."
"Lady Yuki said demons are by definition distinct from humans and deities in moral worth, and therefore any form of discrimination against them is merely a reminder of that fact."
"…At least be nice to Marneras please."
"Understood. If you deem him an exception, I understand he must be a special case."
Yamato let out a sigh at that and decided to drop the topic.
"Anyway… Please report what you found out about the Empire…"
"Of course. I will summarize and give you a more detailed report on paper. Now, the Empire is amongst the more powerful nations on the continent. It while it is not as large as the Great Naru Empire, it dominates in military strength, official numbers being 600.000 foot soldiers. Of which are at least 200.000 mages, all able to cast spells of the 6th tier. 50.000 of them are even able to cast spells of the 7th tier. However, that is not the reason why their military strength is so feared. The true reason is a person called Nakahara Hana. Rumor has it she is able to use magic up to the 13th tier, but that is just an estimate. Apparently, she and the emperor are very close, but if they are in a romantic relationship I was unable to find prove of that. Both rarely leave the imperial capital Vancia, which has a population of one million people, excluding military forces, so only civilians."
"Ah… What would I do without you…"
"I'm glad to be of help. But is my information truly relevant? It's not like we are to fight the empire any time soon. Or are you planning to form an alliance with them?"
"Oh, right you weren't there… About that, we are pretty much at war. I mean, unless they accept my demand for them to submit to me in the following week. But since I'm hearing the numbers now, that really does sound unlikely. Too bad. Many lives could have been saved that way."
"Excuse me…?"
"Oh, and I'm emperor now. But that title holds little weight with an empire that only consists of a single town… But don't worry. It will grow soon. You can now stand a proud member of the Absolute Empire though."
"…With all due respect, I left for a week…"
"Well, you could have left today and would be just as surprised. It all happened today."
"…What does Yuki have to say about this?"
"She had her concerns, as is her right. But overall I'd say she was rather ecstatic about it…"
"Of course she was… Might I say that I find this ridiculous…"
"You may do so."
"Thank you… So what now? The woman called Nakahara Hana can, if you believe the rumors, probably rival Yuki. Am I right in assuming you thought Yuki to be our only defense for now?"
"I have."
"I see… Then we are doomed. I suggest we give up the city and people in it and retreat. As long as nothing happens to you we can start over."
"Why so pessimistic, Lucy? Even though Yuki is our only active defense, thag doesn't mean we automatically lose once a person equal to her appears."
"Unless I'm missing something, that's exactly what it means… Because Yuki and Nakahara Hana with a little help would cancel each other out, and the rest would be on us."
"First of all, they don't even know anything about our strength, so they will hardly come at us with everything they have. But even if they do, trust me when I say I have a contingency plan for that."
"If you say so, your majesty… I was never able to follow your thought process anyway. Oh, and since she came up so often now, where is Yuki at the moment? Because I would advise you to keep her by your side as much as possible."
"She's taking care of something very important. She will be back soon though."
"Then I will stay here until she returns… You really shouldn't be left alone in a time like this though. In all your foresight you behave so carelessly in that regard."
At Lucy's rational protectiveness, Yamato could not help but smile ever so slightly, as it reminded him of Yuki. Though it seemed, many of his surroundings did that lately.