Duchess Nastasha had a lot to do in the Demon Realm.
If that weren’t the case, she wouldn’t have had any valid reason to travel all the way to the distant Demon Realm as the head of the Republican Party.
She could bond with the United Kingdom and observe legislative activities to witness advanced republican politics with her own eyes.
Or she could visit academic societies to proudly present the Empire’s latest theories, only to get a desk-bound critique that it had already been implemented in the legislature, and it really didn’t work.
The royalists would likely condemn her for swaggering about, claiming that the notorious duchess was picking up subversive ideas.
As someone dreaming of regime change, it was indeed important to see the situation with her own eyes.
If she were to ask the astute subjects of the Empire—who devour newspapers regularly—they might conclude that Duchess Nastasha has quite the thirst for knowledge and power.
If they probed further, she might even spark suspicions like whether she was hoping to play puppeteer above the Emperor with a constitutional monarchy. Those interested in tax evasion might suspect it was all about dodging taxes.
Naturally, this sort of performative behavior didn’t hold much significance for Duchess Nastasha. While it was free to ruminate over the public persona seen in newspapers, those writings didn’t always capture the essence of matters.
Just as the clever Governor Pastel had her doubts, it wasn’t precisely a visit made with innocent intentions.
Someone with a quick mind might just randomly mention the Duke of Bellamont.
In the Empire’s north, where Elshire Bellamont, Pastel’s so-called best friend, was engaging in a family slaughter in real-time, the local nobles were tangled in a near-civil war. The former kingdom’s succession struggle had turned into such chaos that even the imperial family and central politics found it hard to mediate swiftly.
Regardless of who became the Duke of Bellamont, the principality was bound to suffer from significant military expenditures, leading to a financial shortage.
Duchess Nastasha smiled faintly as she observed the situation. She immediately prepared for a trip to the Demon Realm to conspire with the United Kingdom, which was a key client of the Duke of Bellamont.
When Elshire Bellamont heard the news of her eldest son’s death and returned to the ducal house, Pastel was heading to the Demon Realm. The heavy Republican leader could visit not too long after because she ready to go to the Demon Realm almost instantly after hearing about the death.
If they planned well with the United Kingdom, the Duke of Bellamont’s territory, reliant on mineral exports for income, would find themselves dragged around crying and lamenting. If she handled the next Duke of Bellamont, who would lack political experience, carefully, it might be possible to sway them to the Republican side.
Most royalists caught on to this sinister plot and clicked their tongues. They said Duchess Nastasha’s greed had reached a level that stripped her of the dignity expected of a noble.
At this point, any perceptive subjects of the Empire might either marvel at the political monster whose motives were unclear or click their tongues in disapproval. This was what you’d call the perspective of the top 1%.
And naturally.
This sort of performative behavior didn’t hold much significance for Duchess Nastasha.
It’s fine to judge solely based on the visible big picture, but to believe that’s all there is would be unwise. While immersing yourself with pride in the ability to see the big picture is a fun endeavor, it’s also a basic skill anyone can grasp.
Honing only the basics to fight in a weight class is possible. However, that privilege is only available to those who start with a larger weight class due to good parenting.
Duchess Nastasha was something of a rarity in terms of supportive parents, but her rivals were the emperor, who excelled at having remarkable parents. Instead of sticking to a straightforward method, she was highly interested in faking a big picture everyone could share.
She came to confirm that in the Demon Realm.
“Princess, what is this?”
Princess Elly silently pointed at the target board. A soldier twisted the loop of the firearm device. Countless barrels rotated and spewed fire. From just one gun, bullets fired in a chain reaction. The trajectories created a ripple. The target board was shattered to pieces.
“They call it a machine gun.”
“Machine, gun.”
It was claims that Governor Pastel had invented the concept.
—Elly! Elly! What the heck? Isn’t it cheating for a terrorist to use a shotgun!
Technically, it was the concept that arose when Governor Pastel, horrified during the academy terror incident when a demon terrorist came in brandishing a shotgun, grilled her with questions about the existence of such things in the Demon Realm.
—Ugh! Why is modern technology only there! They don’t have things like machine guns, right?! Wailing! Duh-duh-duh! Pastel is going to be dead!
—What’s a machine gun?
—The first mass destruction weapon of mankind! If you stick several rifles together in a circle and have them rotate and fire alternately, it goes dududududu!
The first mass destruction weapon of humanity was, in fact, an alchemical poison gas. The first mass destruction entity was a magician.
Pastel Marquis probably meant she wanted to create something that could be called humanity’s first physical weapon of mass destruction.
Truly a dream specific to Craft.
Princess Elly accepted it that way.
“They were developing automatic rifles, but it was tough, and Craft Marquis thought it would be easier and stronger if we attached semi-automatic rifles and shot together. Since the semi-automatic rifles use gems as prototypes, we implemented the Marquis’s ideas, and indeed, it was easier than making automatic rifles.”
Duchess Nastasha was left flabbergasted.
What kind of thoughts had Craft Marquis been having while developing such a monstrous thing during her time in the academy?
“How do you utilize the gems?”
A soldier nearby handed over some materials.
Princess Elly felt a headache coming on.
“The firepower is tremendous, but the consumption is considerable. If we supply this to the entire army, the amount of gems smuggling won’t even cover regular training.”
She had focused on pure engineering to bypass the Empire’s gem regulations, but ultimately, the easiest way to achieve technological advancement was to combine it with gem engineering.
“Since Craft Marquis has acquired the gem mine, it should be manageable.”
Craft Marquis probably understood, but of course, taking over the gem mine wasn’t just about throwing money around for petty business.
The plan was to siphon out the gems through document manipulation and supply them to the United Kingdom’s military while simultaneously creating a smuggling chain leading to the Empire to import items beyond just the gems. It was so obvious that even Count McKenna or Craft Marquis wouldn’t bother mentioning it.
In fact, she had explicitly spoken to Count McKenna. But she hadn’t had discussions with Craft Marquis.
However, since Count McKenna was testifying and Craft Marquis, as mentioned during the last visit to the ducal house, had discussed their shared dreams of overthrowing the Empire, there’s no way Craft Marquis would overlook the influx of military supplies for the Republicans through the smuggling chain.
Count McKenna mentioned it to be cautious due to the monetary involvement, but it was better not to mention such dangerous matters between them. Craft Marquis was well aware of that and chose not to bring it up either.
Duchess Nastasha watched the machine gun demonstration for a while. As she watched the metal target board being pulverized, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“Princess, we should change our plan. Instead of hiding trains, let’s export them to the Empire.”
“To the trains?”
Princess Elly looked stunned at the suggestion to modify the grand strategy that focused on national strength expansion.
“Yes.”
Duchess Nastasha had indeed felt uncomfortable about Craft Marquis laying down railroads on the Sky Island.
The Empire would easily catch on to the possibilities of trains, so why would they act so thoughtlessly?
But now she understood.
“Do you happen to know that, back when countless power holders self-proclaimed as kings, building roads for the economy was a way to invite danger?”
“I’m weak on mainstream history.”
“Building roads clears forests and fields, allowing powerful foreign armies to invade all at once. It’s like voluntarily getting rid of natural military barriers with your own hands.”
The ease with which road construction became free was only possible once the Empire gained confidence in its military might.
It was the same now.
No one in this world could militarily rival the Empire. The only remaining foe, the United Kingdom, was the same.
So obvious was this premise that everyone believed that the prophecy of the Empire’s demise had to be linked to a noble rebellion resulting in a civil war.
Duchess Nastasha loved faking a shared picture that everyone could believe.
Moreover, there was great joy in realizing the genuine picture strung above that fake one better than anyone else, especially the offspring of Blossom.
“The straight distance from the Sky Island to the capital is about…”
If she connected the train just to the capital, it would be far enough to crush the capital defending forces with machine guns before reinforcements gathered from all over the continent.
She had been waiting for when Pastel Marquis would confess that the Republicans were the betrayers of prophecy while currently painting this genuine picture.
Threatening one’s allies was a low strategy that tainted the picture.
Yet making the opponent become entangled in a fake picture, even at the expense of hair-raising sacrifice, was worth doing.
“Why is Craft always like this?”
Blossom was at least somewhat decent.
Princess Elly nodded slightly.
It was a look full of empathy.
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