Episode 148: Dream in the game becomes reality

36. Skirmish (3)

"Did you say Duke of Lawrence? "He's a really interesting person."

Imperial War of the Brigham Empire.

Emperor Edward Noah Brigham mentioned the name of a young nobleman from a foreign country in the presence of major ministers of the empire.

This was not because they suspected Adrian of being an actor, but out of pure curiosity about his eccentricities themselves.

"I think it would have been really fun if we had succeeded in recruiting him."

"sorry. Because I'm not good enough... … ."

Count Elfrid, the beautiful head of the intelligence department of the Brigham Empire and the grand wizard, bowed his head.

However, despite her reaction, the emperor let out a low laugh without feeling displeased.

"What can we do? It's Jim's fault for being unable to prepare for anything other than the title of count. To be honest, no matter how much he became an archmage, I couldn't understand how the Kingdom of Reinharts would give a marquess to a young man who was only 20 years old."

In the end, the Kingdom of Reinharts proved that their choice was right.

It turns out that Duke Adrian L. Laurence has the best talent as a wizard, but his political acumen is no less.

"Come to think of it, Duke Francis had quite a few conflicts with him, right? "What is your impression of Duke Lawrence?"

Duke Francis, one of the two grand masters of the empire and who participated in the sainthood contest along with Adrian, answered the emperor's question.

"He wasn't usually crazy. "From the first time we met, she came at me with her head held high."

"Hoo?"

"But when you think about it later, you realize that every move was calculated. It's hard to find any of his actions without reason, and they all lead to good results in some way. He is very smart and good at fighting. "It's very difficult to gain the upper hand in a conversation with him."

In fact, much of Duke Francis's high praise should be attributed to him, not to Adrian, but from an unfamiliar perspective, this was a completely natural sentiment.

Thanks to this, the emperor could not help but be impressed.

Duke Francis was a figure who had been active in the politics of the Brigham Empire for a long time before becoming a military man, so his remarks were nothing short of high praise.

"It's truly desirable."

However, not everyone thought highly of Duke Lawrence.

Count Friedrich, Duke Francis' rival and disciple of Grand Master Duke Raphael, who holds the title of the world's greatest swordsman, set the tone.

"But isn't his eccentric journey coming to an end now?"

The Emperor, realizing what Count Frederick's statement meant, nodded, saying that it was definitely not wrong.

"No matter how great he is, it is not easy to make the Kingdom of Reinharts a victor over the Croesen Empire."

"That's right. I recognize his abilities, but there are bound to be limits to what he can do in the half-baked kingdom of Reinharts. I am confident that this war will be his last. "They will definitely try to kill him in Croissen."

This time, the Croesen Empire, full of poison, drew its sword towards the Kingdom of Reinharts.

From anyone's perspective, it seemed unlikely that this war would end at the level of a border war, but common sense dictated that if the two countries were to engage in an all-out war, they had no choice but to side with the Croesian Empire.

No matter how much it declined, the Croesian Empire did not have the title "empire" in its name for nothing.

When the emperor agreed with his remarks, Count Frederick became proud and asked Count Elfrid, the head of the intelligence department.

"Count Elfrid, what do you think the odds of victory for the Kingdom of Reinharts are in this war?"

However, the remarks of Count Elfrid, the head of the intelligence department, were very contrary to his wishes.

"Wouldn't it be 40%?"

"… … ."

The expression of Count Friedrich, who was trying to make his presence known by getting people to respond by belittling Adrian in response to such a generous evaluation, became distorted.

The emperor again showed interest in her speculation.

"It's 40%?"

"To be exact, I think it is between 40% and less than 50%."

"Isn't it Park Bing? "You evaluate the Kingdom of Reinharts very generously."

"Duke Adrian L. Laurence and King Michael van Reinchatz are very capable men. "I don't think they would have provoked Creusen without thinking."

"Hmm, that's right?"

In addition, when the woman called the Ice Flower once again praised Adrian, whom she had put down, Count Friedrich narrowed his eyes and intervened.

"No matter how great he is, he is only 21 years old. "Isn't that too much of an evaluation?"

"I don't think it's too much. "I am evaluating him based on a lot of data."

"No, that's too much. Reinharts will never win this war."

Count Frederick seemed to be forcing his thoughts on Count Elfrid, and Duke Francis, who had been listening to the story in silence, burst into laughter.

"It seems that Count Friedrich has a rivalry with Duke Lawrence."

"A sense of rivalry, am I?"

"Now that I think about it, I heard this story. Among the talented new nobles in their 20s and 30s, there is no one who has not been compared to Duke Lawrence. So, I understand your dislike, but please don't reveal too much of your personal feelings in front of His Majesty."

Count Frederick was furious, but his teacher, Duke Raphael, intervened and put an end to the situation.

"Duke Francis is right. "Stop it, Friedrich."

"S-Master."

The emperor, who was watching this series of events, smiled.

"Was it really like that?"

Upon seeing the emperor's appearance, Duke Raphael apologized on behalf of Count Frederick.

"The disciple ended up showing his ugly side."

"No. Rather, it was even better because I was able to know the public opinion about Duke Lawrence. "This makes me even more interested."

And the emperor looked like he was thinking about something, and made a statement that everyone expected.

"Then, shall we try betting on the Kingdom of Reinharts in this war?"

Everyone tilted their heads, unable to understand the emperor's intentions, but only Count Elfrit, head of the intelligence department, thought of one possibility and asked a question.

"Are you planning on clearing out your inventory?"

"Yeah, isn't it killing two birds with one stone?"

Most of the ministers still did not understand, but some nobles realized the emperor's intention and looked surprised.

"You are talking about the Sky Fortress and Vanguard equipment stored as emergency power for the Imperial Family."

"okay. "It's been sitting around for too long, so let's take this opportunity to hand it over to Reinharts cheaply and change generations."

Why the Brigham Empire is called the world's most powerful country.

The vast land, population of nearly 1 billion, and the resulting strong military power were not only military power, but the biggest reason was also the possession of an abundance of goods that could be considered to dominate the world economy.

The imperial family of the Brigham Empire does not use some of the purchased weapons and reserves them for emergency use.

As it accumulated over a long period of time, it became an amount that could not be ignored, and reached a level that could be compared to the entire power of a typical kingdom.

The emperor had now said that he would hand it over to the Kingdom of Reinharts cheaply.

Although there was a lot of older equipment mixed in, the Brigham Empire's weapons were of such good quality that they were sufficient for active use in other countries.

"No matter how much it is in the Kingdom of Reinharts, wouldn't it be difficult to pay that much money at once?"

"The timing is right, so if you promise to sell it at a lower price and even provide installment payments, you won't be able to resist buying it."

The ministers were speechless at the emperor's decision.

Although they only sold weapons, the amount was so large that it was no different from directly intervening in the war.

"But if Reinharts is defeated… … ."

"There is risk in every bet. "But if this bet pays off, we will be indebted to the emerging empire of the South."

The emperor seemed to have already made up his mind.

The Brigham Empire was a country so powerful that it could control the future of other countries depending on the mood of its leader.

* * *

"Should we say that heaven is helping us with this?"

The King's Office of Reinharts Kingdom.

King Michael looked flushed at the unexpected offer from the Brigham Empire.

This is because the Brigham Empire has proposed a weapons trade for 100 Sky Fortresses and 5,000 Vanguard equipment.

It was also cheaper than the cost of equipment manufactured in Korea.

Moreover, since it offered a 10-year installment plan at a reasonable price, it was natural for King Michael to be excited.

Although it was difficult to have a diverse mix of generations and years, there were no problems operating it in active service.

"Total purchase cost. 1,100 trillion... … ."

Even with 10-year installments, it amounts to 110 trillion won per year.

Although it was an enormous cost, it was a cost that could be easily tolerated since it was to hasten the expansion of military power that would take place over a decade.

Moreover, if we won the war, many of the Croesen Empire's assets would become ours, so it was not just expensive.

"If this power is added, our kingdom's military power will immediately increase by 25%."

"It's huge."

Thanks to this, King Michael and major nobles were excited, saying they had to buy it unconditionally.

Even if our country has its own production capacity for sky fortresses and vanguard equipment, there is a limit to the amount that can be immediately distributed to the military, so there was no better way to quickly increase military power.

"It looks like something is bothering the Duke of Lawrence."

However, because my response was lukewarm, King Michael and major nobles who were gathered in the office to review the documents together expressed their doubts.

"I know it can't be helped, but I'm not very happy with their intention to put us in debt by clearing our inventory."

The products in question were new and had never been used, but since they were mixed with older products, I tended to think of them as used products.

It looks cheap because the price was set based on a new product, but considering it was a used product, it was just the right price.

So, I couldn't help but wonder whether I should spend a lot of money to deploy a large number of weapons with a set expiration date that were certain to lose out in future competition.

"That's true, but aren't we in a position to decide between hot and cold food?"

The reaction of the Marquis of Trenton, who was also present.

However, even if there had not been this proposal from the Brigham Empire, I could not answer yes as I was confident of victory.

After thinking for a while, I made a proposal to King Michael.

"Even if we buy it, how about bringing in only half of it, or just refusing it?"

"You don't get caught just because it's old, right?"

And to King Michael's quick-witted question, I answered by scratching my cheek.

"Wasn't there an issue like this in the past?"

"What?"

"The Vanguard equipment sold by the Brigham Empire did not perform as well as it should when dealing with the regular army of the Brigham Empire. "Are you saying this is a selective downgrade?"

The Marquis of Trenton questioned my words, asking what the problem was.

There would be no problem as long as we did not deal with the Brigham Empire Army anyway.

But King Michael was not like that.

"Is the Duke of Lawrence considering a possible war with the Brigham Empire someday?"

The nobles gathered in the office looked at me with expressions that made no sense.

However, when I could not easily answer the king's question, he reacted in shock and asked if I was serious.

"It's a possibility, but I don't think it needs to be ruled out."

When the king found out about my thoughts, he stopped being excited and said that it was a good proposal.

"That makes sense."

And when the king agreed with my idea, the other nobles said they were crazy and covered their foreheads with their palms.