Chapter 139: The World Thinks What It Wants of Us (1) The Zeronica Mine was completely destroyed. It had been reduced to ashes, leaving nothing left to restore or defend. At the news, a heavy silence fell over the Republican command.
"…Did the Crown Prince and those rotten bastards in the Parliament actually permit such an atrocity?"
"Yes. In fact, they are reportedly offering their full support."
Frank, the Commander-in-Chief of the Republican Faction, slammed his fist onto the desk.
"That vermin!"
The Zeronica Mine was practically the symbol of Zerpa. It was the primary reason Zerpa could even nominally be called a 'Mana Stone State'—the economic heart responsible for over forty percent of the entire nation's mana stone production.
The Royal Family had blown it up with their own hands.
"Incompetent."
Thud! Frank struck the round table.
"Moronic."
Thud! He growled, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
"Vile piece of trash…!"
Thud! Frank lowered his head as if spitting blood. Sighs of simmering anger rose from every corner of the room, heating the air in the briefing hall.
Finally calming himself, he looked around the room.
"…What was the strength of the Durkon Legion?"
"They were stronger than expected. Their speed, equipment, manpower—and above all, the new weaponry they developed…"
"What is the situation in the capital?"
A staff officer replied with a grim face.
"According to our internal moles, the regular army's coup was suppressed by the Imperial military, and it seems the discipline of the Royalist military has been firmly re-established."
Frank pressed a hand to his forehead. Zerpa was now perfectly split in two.
The Royalists, who had been driven into a corner and were on the verge of suffocation, had turned the tide by riding on the back of a devil called the Empire.
"That Crown Prince probably doesn't even realize what he's done."
The boy had sold his country to a devil. From now on, the Zerpa Monarchy and its poor citizens would be squeezed even more relentlessly.
"Maximilian."
Frank spat out the name as if chewing it.
Originally, the Empire had no intention of intervening so aggressively in the Zerpa Civil War. To begin with, Zerpa was nothing but rugged mountainous terrain; it was a land with significantly low resource value or territorial merit—a place that 'didn't provide a return on investment.'
That was the consensus.
And yet, the only person who had moved a massive army into this barren battlefield, prodding the Imperial military all the while, was that knight who was less than a dog.
"What is his motive? From start to finish, it was a decision that made absolutely no financial sense!"
At Frank's furious voice, the generals glanced at one another.
Just as they were all rolling their eyes, clearly having no clue—
"For now… actually, we have received some intelligence," an intelligence officer spoke up cautiously.
"Intelligence? Then speak."
"It is… according to a report from our spy embedded in the capital… Crown Prince Alonso's persistent persuasion was effective…"
The officer dragged out his words as if he found the content hard to believe himself.
"Also, it seems that the knight, Maximilian, felt a sense of personal respect and… sympathy for Crown Prince Alonso."
Frank's face went blank.
"…Personal respect? Sympathy?"
"Yes. According to the intel, that is the case. The two were reportedly seen several times taking walks and drinking tea together, sharing a bond. That knight is a man who rarely smiles, yet he was seen smiling frequently…"
"What?"
"Well, even within the Empire, Sir Maximilian is very famous for being an elitist and a classist. Therefore, it is believed he felt a great deal of affinity for the royal bloodline itself. Since Crown Prince Alonso possesses a humble and unpretentious side unlike a typical royal, it seems he was drawn to that…"
Frank rubbed his temples.
Bullshit.
It sounded like utter nonsense, but if no other reason could be found no matter how much they thought about it, they had no choice but to accept it as fact.
"He poured his own fortune into Zerpa and moved the regular army for a reason like that?"
"Yes. As of now, no other motive has been… discovered… well, there was one, but since he destroyed the mine with his own hands… yes. That is how it stands."
It was absurd. It was so ridiculous that he couldn't even muster a hollow laugh.
"…."
Frank stared into the empty air with hollow eyes.
"Status. Birth. Royalty."
Because of such trivialities as bloodline bonds, their noble revolution—the cause of the Republic they had prepared for decades—had been trampled so pointlessly.
"Truly…"
Frank thought of the arrogant Imperial noble, Maximilian von Ebenholtz. He imagined that filthy face, the supposed paragon of the Aran people.
"…He is a man truly befitting the Empire."
Grit. Swallowing his boiling hatred, he clenched his fists until they bled.
* * *
"It's completely collapsed."
Engineers from Lorenzo Technology visited the Zeronica Mine, which had been reduced to ash by the bombardment.
"Is restoration possible?"
"Yes. It will require quite a lot of manpower and expense, but it's not impossible. However, there is a major issue with profitability."
"In what way?"
"We would have to clear out all the existing facilities that have turned into scrap metal and rebuild from scratch. But since Zeronica is a mine that has been drilled for a long time, it's uncertain whether the remaining mana stone reserves will exceed the costs."
Of course, if one only considered the visible reserves, they were right. However, deep within Zeronica, a resource unknown to the world still lay dormant.
This was the real reason I had intervened so deeply in the Zerpa Civil War and flown here so aggressively amidst the chaos of the Imperial Palace's political feuds.
"It's fine."
Knowledge of the future, from before my regression. A headline in the mana technology section of a newspaper: 'Room-temperature Liquid Mana Stone discovered in Zerpa.'
Because it maintained a highly viscous liquid state even at room temperature, miners often didn't even realize what it was when it leaked from rock crevices during excavation.
"Instead, try digging much deeper than the existing tunnels."
This mana stone contained a concentration of mana unique to Zerpa.
A hollowed-out terrain surrounded by rugged mountains. Room-temperature liquid mana stone, which had richly absorbed the dense mana and natural energy accumulated in the earth over thousands of years.
"Who knows? Something else might come out."
Mana stones are just mana stones. Currency is just currency. I don't know much about economics or money, but I do know that they aren't 'tangible goods' in the end—they are merely a promise.
In a war where all promises collapse, only tangible goods matter.
This is why room-temperature liquid mana stone is an extremely important strategic resource.
Ordinary solid mana stones are used as energy sources, and if the purity is high, they are processed into ultra-expensive items like high-level artifacts, equipment, jewelry, or luxury goods. But liquid mana stone cannot be used that way.
Its true value lies elsewhere.
When diluted with water and sprayed onto the earth, the mana seeps densely into the ground, drastically increasing the soil's fertility. It means even depleted soil can be instantly transformed into fertile land, allowing for an explosive increase in crop production.
"Yes. Understood. However, we lack the immediate manpower to mobilize…"
"There are plenty of able-bodied, strong soldiers scattered all over this place. What are you talking about?"
When I gestured toward the rear, Major General Schweitzer and his adjutants, who had been watching from the side, wrinkled their noses in disapproval.
"…Sir Knight. We are soldiers."
Schweitzer stepped in, expressing his displeasure.
"Soldiers don't do menial labor meant for miners. Would you be happy if we told you to sit at a desk and write paperwork?"
Schweitzer is always acting up. No matter how many times I press him down, he stubbornly crawls back up to try and act as my equal.
I suppose it's thanks to this foul temperament and bellicosity that he reached this position.
"Menial labor? This is a vital national industry for the future of the Empire."
At my words, Schweitzer snorted, and just as his adjutant was about to agree with him—
Vroom— Vroom—
A convoy of trucks arrived in a cloud of dust from the distance.
"It's a special reward package," I said, gesturing toward the trucks.
"It contains a small cash bonus for all personnel who participated in the operation, premium cigarettes, and snacks, chocolates, and whiskey brought in from the mainland."
"Wh-What?!"
The adjutants' defiant postures changed in an instant.
They were already prepared to put the soldiers to work, but there was one more thing left.
"I have also brought letters from the families back home for the soldiers of the Durkon Legion."
Before my regression, I had read interviews with soldiers who had gone to war.
It was a truth that needed no proof, but the treasure those soldiers held most dear in the hellish battlefield—the thing they would risk their lives to protect—was a single letter from home.
"…Do they really need something like letters?"
Human mechanics, something Schweitzer—who lacked a certain degree of empathy—could never fathom.
"No! No, Major General! They need them!"
Startled by Schweitzer's indifference, the adjutants jumped in.
"We will go and take volunteers from the troops right now. I'm sure… it will be full in an instant."
I told them to do so, and indeed, thirty minutes later.
Almost every soldier of the Durkon Legion, excluding the essential sentries, had gathered at the Zeronica Mine.
…
The reconstruction of Zeronica began immediately. After leaving the site to the engineers, I returned to the capital of Zerpa and sought out the Crown Prince.
"…."
Crown Prince Alonso was lying in bed, looking haggard and ill. To begin with, even his condition was incompetent. He was a man who utterly did not suit such turbulent times.
"Are you alright?"
A slightly slow but kind-hearted human… I kept seeing my pre-regression self overlapping with him.
Alonso looked at me with hollow eyes and nodded weakly.
"I am fine."
His face said otherwise.
"Thank you, Sir Maximilian. I owe my life to you."
"…It was nothing."
"The loyal subjects who were by my side all lost their lives trying to protect me… and the military that I trusted and followed stabbed me in the back."
Alonso murmured, shedding tears of self-deprecation. I approached his bedside and spoke quietly.
"There are still people who remain loyal to you, Prince Alonso."
In any case, the vacancies left by the agents who had exited by faking their deaths would be filled with more of my people.
New Zerpa officials, either bribed by my capital or brainwashed by the power of the Empire. They would continue to shield the Crown Prince's eyes and ears, slowly coaxing him along within a false cradle.
"…If there is anything you desire, name it. I wish to give anything to the man who protected me and this country."
It was a sincere offer from the Crown Prince.
However, if I were to accept such one-sided favors indefinitely, it would soon become extortion.
Zerpa must continue to serve as the most important bridgehead and railroad for the Empire's advance into the Western Continent.
Wasting time and supply lines by bypassing Zerpa's rugged Alberon Mountains every time a war broke out would be too inefficient.
Therefore, I desire coexistence.
Before my regression, the Empire exploited the surrounding countries it occupied. However, it wasted just as much—or more—trying to control resistance groups and independence factions.
It was a foolish endeavor.
"Prince Alonso. I have already received enough."
I pulled a document from my coat and held it out. It was a negotiation guideline regarding the distribution of profits after the recovery of the Zeronica Mine, which the Crown Prince's financial officials had prepared and handed to me earlier.
[ It is clarified that the ownership of the Zeronica Mine belongs to the Zerpa Royal Family. The royalty also holds the exclusive right to profits from the veins currently being mined…
However, in the case of new veins discovered through future exploration, the Empire, or a company designated by the Empire, shall bear the full cost of initial development and facility investment, while the resulting profits shall be distributed in a ratio of 40 for the Zerpa Royal Family to 60 for the Empire (or the designated company)… ]
After checking the document, Alonso shook his head in confusion.
"…No, Sir Maximilian. The situation has changed. You practically saved this monarchy. For something like this to be all—"
"Let us proceed as written. This is enough for me."
I cut him off firmly. For a moment, Alonso's pupils trembled, and then they were filled with deep emotion.
"I did not come to this harsh battlefield to squeeze or exploit anything from you, Prince."
Once the liquid mana stone is discovered anyway, I can easily pull out more than double the investment cost. The Empire will be purchasing the entirety of Zerpa's liquid mana stone, after all.
"Then? What did you see in this… insignificant little country that brought you here?"
The Crown Prince asked back, his voice thick with emotion.
I pondered for a moment. It was an unexpected question, but well.
"…You are different from the greedy nobles of the Imperial Palace."
Reasons could be manufactured easily enough.
"Being able to stand with someone as sincere and precious as you, Prince, is enough for me. So please, rise from your sickbed soon."
"…Sir Maximilian!"
With glistening eyes, Alonso tightly grasped my hand.
"However, Prince Alonso."
There are a few more things I would like to request.
The high-quality cattle of Zerpa that I discovered without even trying, and the unique ingredients, including mushrooms.
Since Zerpa is mostly mountainous, many interesting raw materials are produced here.
"Those mushrooms from Zerpa were quite delicious."
The mushrooms I had happened to taste at a private house in that canyon before. They were simply grated over meat or added to soup, yet the flavor was incredibly distinct.
"Mushrooms?"
"Those wrinkled mushrooms. They had a scent unlike anything I've ever smelled in my life."
"Ah~"
The Crown Prince wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled.
"I know what you mean. In the Imperial language, they would be called something like 'wood mushrooms.' In the Zerpa language, we call them 'Truffles.'"
I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. I am hoping for the qualification or commercial rights to distribute and exclusively manage such local specialties in the Empire."
I would contract the exclusive distribution rights for these ingredients under the name of Maximilian von Ebenholtz, not just the mana stones from the mines. Truffles and Zerpa beef would surely drain the pockets of the nobles who were obsessed with luxury.
In fact, before my regression, Zerpa had gained fame as a gastronomic nation.
Of course, I couldn't go there back then, having been ruined.
"Ha… Maximilian, you really are…"
The Crown Prince looked at me as if he couldn't believe it, then let out a short laugh.
"You are quite something."
He seemed to be under the illusion that I was acting purely for his sake.
In his eyes, I was a saint who took only cattle and mushrooms instead of shares in the mine.
However, those cattle and mushrooms would soon become rare and valuable, and above all—
"…Is this not also a testament to your capability, Prince Alonso?"
I had to elevate Crown Prince Alonso into a 'not-so-bad monarch.'
Because Zerpa had to maintain its position as an ally of the Empire until the war began.
They still had much more to give me.
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