Chapter 130 - Turning Crisis into Opportunity

He had told himself he could do it, but what exactly was he supposed to do?

Even as a Ninth Circle Grand Mage, he was a complete novice when it came to governing a territory.

And what should a novice do?

"Follow the manual."

There had to be established procedures for handling wartime emergencies.

Ferda turned to Isabella.

"First, we should gather every military force stationed in the Far East. What’s the wartime manual say?"

"It states that all forces should be concentrated in Consilus County. However, those procedures were established before Your Excellency the Regent was even born, so we should consider whether they’re still applicable."

Ferda pondered for a moment before shaking his head.

"No, we’ll follow the manual. Send every dispatched soldier to the county."

Count Consilus’s castle had been designed as a fortress with wartime defense in mind.

Everything had been built according to that design, so trying to be flexible now could easily backfire.

While Isabella was transmitting orders through voice transmission magic, someone arrived at the office.

Blue hair.

Blunt horns.

It was the Master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower, Erika Iorga.

"Regent Ferda, I assume you’ve grasped the current situation?"

"I have."

"I think you should know exactly what’s happening, so let me explain."

She sat down and was just about to begin.

Knock, knock.

Someone else had arrived.

Luri personally went to open the door.

It was the Imperial Princess of the Arken Empire, Olivia Arken.

"My greetings to Your Excellency the Regent and to the Master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower. If it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, may I join this discussion?"

"This discussion?"

"I believe I may be of some assistance."

Olivia smiled gently.

From the moment Olivia appeared, Erika put on her own mask as well.

"It is an honor to meet the Imperial Princess. Just as the rumors say, you are truly beautiful."

"Oh my, you’re too kind. Compared to Lady Iorga, the great Aspect of Water, and her descendants, my beauty is nothing more than superficial."

"Thank you for the compliment. Princess, this is a matter that should be discussed among those responsible for the Far East. There will be topics that may make someone from the Empire uncomfortable."

Erika was politely telling her to leave.

"I, too, pray for the peace and prosperity of the Far East. Or is it because this matter is connected to the Empire?"

Olivia refused to back down.

Since neither woman showed any intention of yielding, Erika sent Ferda a voice transmission.

-Regent Ferda, it’s best if someone from the Empire isn’t involved in this matter.

With a glance, she asked whether they should send Olivia away.

Ferda answered.

-There’s no need to worry.

-Why not?

-Because that woman has been desperate to kill every single one of my blood relatives.

-Your blood relatives...?

Startled, Erika’s eyes widened before she looked back at Olivia.

Olivia caught the look in her eyes and replied.

"I don’t know what the two of you discussed, but I have a feeling the Regent just said something rather rude about me."

She covered her mouth with one hand and laughed softly.

Despite her cheerful tone, a sinister killing intent spread through the room.

She was like a ghost.

Since Ferda said it was fine, Erika decided not to press the matter further.

"Very well. Given the circumstances, I’ll permit the Imperial Princess to participate."

Removing her mask, Erika began explaining the current situation.

"The Empire is already aware of what’s happening. This is an invasion of Imperial territory, correct?"

"Yes."

"So we asked whether the Empire required our cooperation in eliminating the monsters."

The moment she said they had asked whether cooperation was needed, Ferda realized something.

’Blancaros doesn’t consider this a continental-level emergency.’

The Blue Eye inherited the blood of the Guardian Dragon and therefore strictly followed the laws of the Grand Ducal Council.

If they acted rashly and intervened, someone could claim their autonomy had been violated, and there would be no escaping the consequences.

"The Empire’s response was this: since it falls within autonomous territory, they believe the Grand Duchy is fully capable of handling it."

Someone might think the situation wasn’t that serious.

But Ferda and everyone else certainly didn’t.

"I contacted them myself regarding this matter. The Crown Prince answered."

"And what did he say?"

"The official response was to wait about two months."

An expression of disbelief spread across Erika’s face.

When even one week was cutting it close, two months was an absurdly delayed response.

"That sounds exactly like my scheming elder brother. To think he’d try to bring the Far East to heel during such a critical crisis."

"Then that means the Empire could prepare much faster than that?"

"Yes. It only takes two days to mobilize the Imperial standing army and reserves. Considering supplies and marching speed, they could begin advancing within two weeks at the latest."

Hearing that, Erika was momentarily stunned.

Despite speaking with the refined elegance of a noble young lady, Olivia recited the Empire’s military capabilities as though she were its commanding general.

Luri stared at her in disbelief.

"So they’re really willing to do something like that when this crisis needs to be resolved as quickly as possible?"

"Precisely because it’s such a crisis, it’s a perfect opportunity. They can claim the desperate side was at fault for not bowing its head, while later insisting they did everything they could. Besides, the collapse of the Far East isn’t nearly as important to them as you might think."

Luri’s anger boiled over.

She almost wanted to storm the Imperial Palace and tear the place apart.

Ferda turned to Erika.

"What if I request the Blue Eye’s assistance in my capacity as the Grand Duchess’s Regent?"

"Naturally, as allies, we’ll help however we can."

Unlike Erika’s confident expression, the voice transmission she sent was gloomy.

-Don’t expect too much. Even on our side, we’re lacking the firepower. We can support the Imperial Army, but we don’t have the strength to operate independently.

Iorga’s absence was something that absolutely could not be discovered.

The words Is that all you can do? rose to Ferda’s throat, but he chose to understand.

After all, if Valdrova herself were ill, he would focus solely on her as well.

"I’ll also notify the Dragons across the land and see whether they can lend their support to the Grand Duchy."

Just as Erika was about to contact the Blue Eye—

"No."

"It is humans who must resolve this matter."

The one who objected was Olivia.

Erika instinctively smiled.

Like an elegant and refined noble lady, she expressed her displeasure with perfect grace.

"Princess, may I ask your reasoning?"

Olivia met her without yielding an inch.

"As you said, this is taking place within Imperial territory, specifically surrounding the Grand Duchy’s domain."

"Correct."

"If the Grand Duchy resolves this crisis through its own strength before the Empire responds, it can protest the Empire’s delayed response and gain legitimate grounds to exercise its autonomy."

"Autonomy..."

"That autonomy isn’t merely a legal concept. It means that whenever the Empire attempts to interfere with economic or military development, the Grand Duchy can reject those restrictions by citing this incident as justification."

Looking directly at Ferda, Olivia continued.

"If that happens, Your Excellency the Regent will also be able to claim ownership of Magitech Engineering."

This meant the Empire wasn’t the only one capable of turning a crisis into an opportunity.

Ferda glanced at Isabella.

She gave a small nod, indicating that Olivia’s reasoning made sense.

"And what if things become genuinely dangerous?"

Erika asked.

"If that happens, then we’ll follow your advice, Tower Master. We may have to consider requesting the Dragons’ cooperation. But at this stage, doing so would only create an excuse for the Empire to take advantage of us."

"Even so, we don’t have enough soldiers to fight the monsters. Hestia’s standing army alone can’t field enough strength."

"There’s no need to worry about that. Haven’t quite a number of elite troops already gathered here?"

Many of the finest soldiers had assembled to escort the young men and women attending the Festival of the Beginning of Spring.

Officially, nearly four thousand people had entered, with three thousand of them being soldiers.

"I’ll persuade them."

"Persuasion is one thing, Princess, but asking them for cooperation would signal that we’ve brought in foreign powers."

"I wonder about that. In any case, they have nowhere to run. They’ll have no choice but to unite. Besides, if we frame it not as foreign intervention but as the chivalry that cannot tolerate injustice, and the noblesse oblige that everyone who sets foot on the Cerdes Continent should uphold, they’ll have no choice but to help."

She smiled elegantly.

"And above all..."

"If the Imperial Princess of the Arken Empire calls for unity, who would refuse?"

It sounded almost narcissistic.

Yet not a single person thought she was speaking nonsense.

Using her extraordinary beauty as a weapon, she possessed the rare ability to captivate and persuade people regardless of gender.

Even Erika, who had only met her today, couldn’t help but acknowledge her persuasive power.

"Imperial Princess. I apologize for underestimating you until now. You’re far superior to both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince."

"My, that’s hardly excessive praise. Compared to those two pieces of human trash, I really am better."

"However, deciding how to resolve this matter is the Grand Duchess’s responsibility. If the Grand Duchess is absent, then the Regent must make that decision."

The two women looked toward Ferda.

Faced with their opposing arguments, Ferda began to think.

’Erika’s judgment aligns with mine.’

The safest course was to end this as quickly as possible.

Even if it meant suffering political losses, that was the surest path to keeping the Grand Duchy safe.

’But Olivia isn’t wrong either.’

It was a gamble.

But if they succeeded, it could become the foundation for an entirely new leap forward.

Safety.

Or risk.

Standing at that crossroads, Ferda made his choice.

"We’ll resolve this within the Grand Duchy."

He sided with Olivia.

Erika frowned slightly before putting her mask back on.

"Wouldn’t you reconsider?"

"Facing the Demon Race with human strength alone is certainly risky. But as you said, if we’re forced to yield once, it’ll be difficult to regain our momentum."

"Hmm..."

Erika couldn’t understand Ferda.

That was only natural.

What was happening now was human politics.

And Erika was a Dragon Spawn.

However, she herself had handed the decision-making authority over to him, so continuing to argue would only be unbecoming.

"Very well. If you believe this is a matter for humans alone, then the Blue Eye will withdraw from this affair."

Erika spun around and walked away.

The forceful sound of her footsteps made it obvious she was pouting.

"Then let’s discuss how the humans remaining here should proceed—"

Knock, knock.

Just as Olivia was about to begin the meeting, someone knocked.

Luri opened the door.

The person who entered shocked everyone.

It was Erika again.

No...

It was Erika, yet at the same time, it wasn’t.

She had no horns.

No tail.

And instead of the attire befitting an Iorga witch, she wore completely different clothes.

She wasn’t the Tower Master.

She was an adventurer.

While everyone stared in bewilderment, Erika puffed out her lips, walked forward, and gave a slight nod.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"...Pardon?"

Olivia blinked in astonishment.

They had met less than a minute ago.

How could this be their first meeting?

"I’m Eri, Branch Master of the Far Eastern Adventurers’ Guild."

"..."

"Originally, I was scheduled to arrive two days from now, but due to these unforeseen circumstances, I came earlier. Given the current situation, I’ll be supporting the Far East."

"...What exactly are you doing?"

Even Ferda asked, wondering if this was some kind of joke.

"What do you mean? You said this is a matter for humans, so Dragons can’t participate."

"That’s correct."

"Then if I’m not Erika, Master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower, but Platinum Adventurer Eri, I can participate, can’t I?"

"Well... that’s true..."

"Then I’ll participate."

Erika declared proudly.

"As Platinum Adventurer and Branch Master of the Far Eastern Adventurers’ Guild, Eri!"

"..."

Olivia looked toward Ferda as if asking whether this was some elaborate joke.

Ferda quietly redirected that gaze toward Isabella.