Naturally, Duanmu Huai had no idea what Bishop Oz and Chancellor Stisser were thinking. So when he learned from Lia that the AL Church and Herman actually dared to make a move against the Inquisition, his first reaction was—oh, alright then. If you're not afraid of dying, come on over.
This was completely normal. In fact, many players had encountered similar situations. In the game, plenty of NPC factions initially didn't take the Inquisition seriously at all. Some tried to make use of the Inquisition, while others even planned to wipe it out and take it for themselves.
What could the players do in response?
Only slap them across the face and let them experience the Inquisition's "love."
A new emperor brings new ministers?
That didn't exist.
No matter the era, your granddad was still your granddad.
The Inquisition was still the Inquisition.
If you weren't afraid of dying, then come.
When the time came, they'd all be killed.
After all, the Human Empire was already finished. The authority of the Inquisition… the authority of the Inquisition was never upheld by the Empire in the first place, but carved out through ruthless methods.
The enemies the Inquisition faced were almost always those who desecrated and mocked imperial authority. If you weren't ruthless enough, that would be truly disastrous.
So Duanmu Huai quickly gave his answer.
"No need to make things so complicated. I'll take a few people and deal with Herman."
"Huh?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's response, Lia was somewhat surprised.
"Deal with it?"
"That's right. If I remember correctly, you said Herman is full of uprisings everywhere right now, didn't you?"
"Yes. Kanami sent word that many places in Herman are suffering under noble oppression… hmph, Herman really is Herman—always the same old crap."
As she said this, Lia curled her lips in disdain. Lias's ancestors had risen up precisely because they could no longer endure the oppression of Herman's nobility, eventually breaking away and successfully gaining independence. Naturally, Lia held a deep grudge against Herman. And now seeing Herman still behaving exactly the same way—honestly, Lia almost wished a few more figures like Lias's founding ancestors would appear and just tear Herman apart completely.
"That makes things easy, then."
Duanmu Huai nodded.
"I'll find an uprising force and help them take down Herman. Since this Herman doesn't behave, we'll just replace it with another one."
This was actually a common method used by many Inquisitors and Space Marines. People often said things like "one Space Marine and one Inquisitor can wipe out an entire planet," but aside from Exterminatus, that was basically impossible. Not because they couldn't fight—but because there was no need.
As some TV dramas put it, even if you lined up two thousand pigs and let you kill them, it would still be a huge hassle.
Space Marines and Inquisitors were still human. Who had the energy to kill them one by one? You'd be annoyed to death.
So alliances, manipulation, and proxy wars were all basic tactics.
You don't listen? Then I support someone who does and have them kill you. Simple and convenient. After all, neither the Inquisition nor the Space Marines stayed in one place for long, so there was no need to consider consolidating territory. Space Marines might have recruitment worlds—
the Inquisition, on the other hand… had no such need at all.
"Why don't we have Lias send troops to help you take Herman, darling?"
Even now, Lia still hadn't let go of the idea of wiping out Herman.
"No need. Lias doesn't have that many soldiers anyway. And are you sure you want Herman? That place has nothing. What would you even take it for?"
What Duanmu Huai said wasn't wrong. Herman was vast but sparsely populated, and located in the north—basically a giant Siberia. Producing a few fierce warriors was one thing, but as for food crops and mineral resources, it wasn't particularly rich.
Of course, in an industrial age, maybe you could drill oil there. But right now… it was basically useless.
"Then… alright."
Hearing Duanmu Huai say this, Lia could only nod helplessly. As Queen of Lias, she understood this well. That godforsaken land—she wouldn't want it even if someone paid her. If they conquered it, aside from gaining a bit of manpower, what else would they get? In the end, wouldn't Lias still have to subsidize Herman with its own money?
When she thought about it that way, the enthusiasm quickly faded.
The reason Duanmu Huai chose Herman first instead of the AL Church was because the order had come from Bishop Oz. While Oz was currently indeed the number-two figure within the AL Church, there were still three others of equal standing. This couldn't represent the entire AL Church. If the Pope himself had issued the order, Duanmu Huai would've turned around and smashed the AL Church's holy city immediately.
A heretical cult daring to act out—are you tired of living?
For now… he'd deal with Herman and that Bishop Oz first. The rest could wait.
If the AL Church really had no sense, Duanmu Huai wouldn't mind letting that goddess Alice taste the thunderous wrath of the Inquisition.
As for now, Duanmu Huai obviously wasn't going to sit idle. Since the AL Church was looking for trouble with him, he would let them see that the Inquisition was not to be trifled with.
And this time, what Duanmu Huai planned to mobilize was the Inquisition's direct force—the Night Wardens!
"Huh? Are you really calling all those giant knights over?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Shizuka was stunned. She had been to the Inquisition and had seen the Night Knights before. Even in her eyes, those knights were terrifying existences. If they were all brought over, they would probably flatten Herman outright.
"Of course I'm calling them—just not all of them. Herman is just a small country, not worth full deployment. About ten Night Wardens will be more than enough."
"Uh… so you're planning to bring ten Night Wardens and storm the Herman royal capital?"
"If that were all, it'd be more convenient for me to go alone."
Duanmu Huai shook his head.
"Since Herman and the AL Church have already clearly shown hostility toward the Inquisition, then the Inquisition obviously can't just sit here obediently—"
"Sir Knight!!"
Before Duanmu Huai could finish speaking, a voice rang out. Then Anne appeared in front of him, bringing Guleya along.
"Anne?"
"I heard the Inquisition is going to war with Herman?"
"How did you find out… never mind, that's not important. Yes, that's correct."
"That's great!"
Anne clapped her hands happily.
"??? Great???"
"Yes! I was just about to tell you, Sir Knight—we at Manaria are planning to organize a magic unit to serve the Inquisition. So why don't we go along this time as well? Oh, right—Guleya also pulled together a team of Dragonkin!"
"You're serious??? This isn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea, right?"
To be honest, Duanmu Huai was quite surprised by Anne's suggestion.
"Of course not. Guleya and I discussed this earlier. After all, the Inquisition needs manpower too. And now that the Inquisition is going to war with Herman, isn't this the perfect opportunity for us?"
"Hmm… no problem."
After thinking for a moment, Duanmu Huai nodded. He trusted Anne and Guleya quite a lot and knew they wouldn't mess things up when it came to major matters. And for Duanmu Huai, if Manaria and Regnis were going to send troops to join the Inquisition, then this was indeed a good chance to coordinate. Herman wasn't particularly strong—using it as a training ground was actually quite suitable.
"In that case, call Maria as well. Let her observe how mechanized units advance."
Since Anne and Guleya were joining, Duanmu Huai immediately changed his plan. Originally, he had intended to personally lead a group of Night Wardens to assist other resistance forces. But given the situation now, having the Inquisition directly clash head-on with the enemy seemed like a pretty good option too.
"Darling, darling!!"
Hearing this, Lia jumped up as well, desperately raising her hand in front of Duanmu Huai.
"Lias can too! Lias can also send a guard unit! Since you don't plan to let us launch a full offensive, sending a guard unit to help should be fine, right?"
"I'll also ask my father to have Seth send a magic unit."
Magiko hurriedly added. Seth was currently in a reconstruction phase and didn't have the strength to send a large army to clash head-on with Herman like Lias could, but a small team was no problem.
Good grief… are you people trying to form an Eight-Nation Alliance?
Looking at everyone in front of him, Duanmu Huai's eye twitched.
"Alright. No problem."
Anyway, it wasn't his headache. Why should he worry?
Once the plan was confirmed, Duanmu Huai no longer needed to concern himself with the details. The girls all returned to their respective homes to mobilize manpower. For them, this really wasn't much trouble. Gathering an army of several thousand might require a lot of deliberation, but if it was just a small team of dozens, it was easily within their authority—basically just needed the king's approval.
Soon, reports came in from all sides.
Anne assembled a team from Manaria's soon-to-graduate students, led by the student council president Hanna. Most Manaria Academy students entered the royal city or local garrison forces after graduation anyway, and Hanna—aside from being student council president—was also Anne's personal guard captain. Having her lead people over couldn't have been more appropriate.
Guleya found some Dragonkin within Regnis territory. Because of their status, these Dragonkin hadn't been living particularly well there. Hearing Guleya say they could join the Inquisition, they naturally agreed without hesitation.
Lia, of course, wasn't going to be outdone. She dispatched a guard unit from Lias, also joining this coalition.
Magiko returned home and requested that King Gandhi send a magic guard unit as well. Clearly, she had no intention of sitting on the sidelines.
Even Shizuka, who was somewhat reluctant, made a trip back to the Free Cities Alliance and brought back a logistics and supply team.
And on top of that, there were the Inquisition's own forces under Duanmu Huai…
Well… how should one put this…
Duanmu Huai could already foresee the utterly miserable fate of Herman being crushed without mercy.
(End of Chapter)