Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1)
England, London - Clock Tower.
After returning from the Royal Family's visit, Asterion returned to the Clock Tower without much delay and as he expected, a Parliamentary session was underway. All Twelve Lords of the Clock Tower were present, as were all the Senators.
"Three wars in less than a century... Do we really want to take part in that war?" Amelia Bones, commented with a tired tone and full of hesitation towards the new war.
"Stop hesitating, Senator Bones, the world is already covered in the flames of war, we cannot hesitate in our actions." Aurelius Greengrass, the Greengrass Patriarch and Asterion's father-in-law, replied with a cold and calm tone.
Because of the resources of House Greengrass, Aurelius had practically become one of the most important people in England at this time with his countless resources in the manufacture of potions and other magical medicines.
As Aurelius had said, it didn't take long for the Russian government to declare war on Germany, and Dmitri exposed the entire French-German conspiracy for the world to see, even exposing the existence of Organization R for the world to see the true face of this organization for the first time.
Soon after the shocking news of the war between Germany and Russia, the world was even more shocked to see other countries allied to Russia declare war on Germany and even more shocked when the same thing happened to Germany's allies, who declared war on Russia and its allies.
"England's magical population is in serious decline, young people no longer want to get married so soon or even have children. Add to that the wars we've suffered and we have a major birth problem on our hands." Amelia responded to Aurelius' words with a strong tone. In her eyes, England could become neutral while they passively defended themselves!
They had Albus Dumbledore, The Most Powerful Man in the World and Asterion Black, The Black Prince and also Rose Potter!
Three Special Grade Wizards. Although Rose Potter wasn't as famous as Asterion and Dumbledore, she was still a Special Grade and Asterion was worth four Special Grade Wizards with his more than twenty Special Grade Cursed Spirits. Any nation had to be prepared to be destroyed if it declared war on England with these two Special Grade Wizards.
"Amelia, you're naive. Do you think that this Organization R and these countries will leave England alone if we don't get involved in the war? Everyone will be weakened by the war, no one wants to see anyone preserve their strength. We'll be attacked from many sides no matter what we do." Aurelius sneered at Amelia, a member of the Democratic Faction.
Asterion, sitting on his throne above the stairs, alongside other men and women, watched the whole discussion with a disinterested look on his face. He didn't really like politics, more specifically, he didn't like the bureaucracy and the delay in making decisions by Parliament.
If he had been king, he would have declared war on France in the first instance and then, in the middle of the war, declared war on Germany. Although he could fight on many fronts with his Special Grade Cursed Spirits, he had to preserve his strength.
However, he couldn't decide something like this alone as a member of Parliament, it wasn't just Amelia Bones who was against taking part in the war, there were many others, including in the Neutral Faction, the Democratic Faction and the Aristocratic Faction. Many didn't want war for various reasons.
War means losing a lot of money and a lot of deaths, deaths that could be the heirs of those people. War involved a lot of things and people didn't like to bet on luck. Especially when it involved the continuation of their Houses.
Dumbledore, who was standing to Asterion's right, cleared his throat loudly enough for everyone to hear, a silence formed, everyone looked at the main throne of the Wizard Marshall of the Clock Tower.
"As Lord Greengrass said, we go to war." Dumbledore said with a calm tone. "That is inevitable, we will be forced to fight in that war."
The Clock Tower Marshall continued: "I know some of you are scared. I am too, we're talking about the Third World War, but even if England falls like Rome and Constantinople, we can get back on our feet, just as we always have for a thousand long years."
Dumbledore's words silenced Parliament even more. His words were like a punch in the stomach to the people who didn't want to go to war, waking them up from their state of nervousness and fear about taking part in such a big and important war.
Rose, being her first time participating in something like this, looked at everything with a certain curiosity, seeing the people who made the most important decisions in the country deciding something that would affect the lives of billions of people made her realize why Asterion and Dumbledore fought so hard for something as illusory as political power.
That kind of power to decide who dies or lives was not unlike being a God, albeit a God she could easily kill.
Still, for some reason, she felt she wanted similar power, not to abuse it like some present, but to protect the people who would suffer because of corrupt and incompetent politicians in power.
Asterion didn't know what kind of transformation was taking place in Rose's mindset at that moment; if he knew her thoughts, he would have wanted to thank Dumbledore for doing something like that. Rose taking an interest in politics was an extremely good thing in his eyes.
"Before I come to this parliament, with the power given to me as Marshall Wizard, I have already ordered the creation of barriers and spells against Apparated at strategic points along the coast of our country, castles will be erected and we will begin to mobilize our troops." Dumbledore said, after a brief silence, letting everyone absorb his words calmly.
With the decision to take part in the war, the mentality of many changed, everyone knew that in times of war, no one could hesitate, hesitation meant dying.
Dumbledore, seeing that everyone was focused on the war, nodded and spoke in a calm, confident tone. "A General Staff of War will be established to lead the course of the war."
Everyone was not against it, it was normal in times of war, if there was too much bureaucracy, it would get in the way of some important decisions, so everyone tactically agreed to the General Staff being established.
"Lord Black will be the War General of the European Front." Dumbledore spoke again, his voice carrying throughout Parliament. Again, everyone was not against it. Asterion had already fought in the Civil War and was part of the central decision-making government at the time, so he had the experience for the job.
Besides, in the eyes of everyone present, he was a weapon of war with his strength. More than twenty Special Grade Cursed Spirits will be the nightmare of England's enemies.
However, Dumbledore's next words made many frown. "Rose Potter will be the General on the French front, defending our left flank."
Many had fought with Asterion and knew what he was like. Even though he was a fourteen-year-old boy, he was mature and didn't act impulsively, something that every General had to be, but Rose Potter was completely different.
They knew Rose's personality very well and didn't think she would be suitable for the role of general, especially for the French Front, the place closest to England.
Any problems on the Left Flank meant that they were exposed to enemy attack. No one thought they were exaggerating, they weren't joking, they were at war and not just any war; they couldn't afford to make mistakes.
Rose, seeing that many frowned upon hearing her designation, couldn't help but look at everyone who frowned and wrote down the names one by one in the notebook in her mind. She would take her revenge when the time was right and make these people suffer a little at her hand.
Dumbledore, who didn't seem surprised by the actions of many, brought the cup of tea to his lips and after taking a sip, spoke in a calm, indifferent tone. "As Rose is inexperienced, the French Front will have two Generals, you can decide who will take the post of General."
His words calmed everyone down, although Rose was inexperienced, everyone knew that to defend the border, it had to be someone powerful and Rose was perfect for the role, with a more experienced General by her side, no one was against the decision anymore.
Seeing that everyone had agreed with Dumbledore's decision-making, Asterion couldn't help but cluck his tongue in admiration. This was a parliament, not a monarchy, where the king could decide anything and everything.
Dumbledore's prestige was very high in the world, especially in England. Asterion could see that everything was so smooth because Dumbledore existed and was the Most Powerful Man in the world, at least in the eyes of the World.
If it were him, he could imagine that he would have to use a bit of force to get these people to listen to him.
"Let the war begin." Asterion muttered to himself as he watched everyone discussing the war and possible strategies.
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Next Chapter of the Third Volume: Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 228 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 229 - Preparations for War (1), Chapter 230 - The French Battlefront (1), Chapter 231 - The French Battlefront (2), Chapter 232 - The French Battlefront (3), Chapter 233 - The French Battlefront (4), Chapter 234 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (1), Chapter 235 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (2), Chapter 236 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (3), Chapter 237 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (4), Chapter 238 – Battle Between Special Grade Wizards (5), Chapter 239 - Occupation of the Principality of Andorras (1), Chapter 240 - Occupation of the Principality of Andorras (2), Chapter 241 - City of Calais (1), Chapter 242 - City of Calais (2), Chapter 243 - City of Calais (3), Chapter 244 - City of Calais (4), Chapter 245 - The Grindelwald Plan (1), Chapter 246 - The Grindelwald Plan (2), Chapter 247 - The Grindelwald Plan (3).