Terra's Thug: Victoria / Victoria: Why I Get to Be a Thug

At last, the dukes could safely lick their wounds. But a stable environment alone wasn't enough—they had to find a way to restore Victoria's supply of Originium.

The dukes' attention immediately turned to Leithanien. Its independence movement had been going on for quite some time. It was time to clean things up properly and remind the Catuses of Victoria's terror.

However, one duke spoke up. "It's not just Leithanien. The Sarkaz have done quite a lot this past year as well."

The attendants placed a document before each of the great nobles. It recorded everything Kazdel had done over the past year.

It had established normal relations with Ursus, Yan, and Siracusa, opened trade with them, signed a peace treaty with Laterano, fought a war with Kazimierz, and obtained a considerable amount of funding.

Recently, it had become even more brazen, selling transport ships at rock-bottom prices. This had dealt Victoria's shipbuilding industry a tremendous blow.

We haven't been paying attention for a while, and these Sarkaz have really grown bold!

"Looks like they need to be taught a lesson."

Duke Wellington spoke.

In the conference hall of the Sarkaz palace, Theresica was holding a military meeting to summarize some of the military issues discovered during the Siracusa War.

"Your Majesty, transporting troops by airship is still extremely dangerous. Our army is seriously lacking in ground mobility!"

Manfred said worriedly, "Hundreds of people floating in the sky, and they're all highly trained Sarkaz soldiers. If they're hit by Originium Arts, not a single one will survive. It's far too risky!"

Theresica thought for a moment before saying, "Didn't we obtain a large batch of pack beasts? Why don't we use them to transport soldiers for now?"

"Your Majesty, pack beasts are fine for transporting supplies, but they aren't suited to frontline conditions. They're difficult to care for in emergencies and would result in unnecessary losses."

"Then how do Ursus soldiers achieve mobility?" Theresica asked curiously.

"Your Majesty, Ursus transports its soldiers by ship. Once they reach the area near the battlefield, they use small land vehicles until they get close to the enemy, then switch to walking."

That sounded quite good. Theresica nodded in satisfaction, but before he could say anything, Manfred spoke again.

"All those devices use Originium as their power source."

Er... Kazdel's Originium had to be saved for exchanging for money!

After rejecting Ursus's method, Theresica began discussing the matter with the Military Committee, seeking a tool that could improve the soldiers' mobility without using Originium as its power source.

After searching high and low for a while, they ultimately arrived at an answer that left Theresica utterly dumbfounded.

Bicycles.

At this meeting, the Military Committee set a modest goal: within the next six months, all army personnel who fought on foot would be equipped with bicycles, while the army's logistics would rely entirely on pack beasts.

Just as Theresica reluctantly signed the order, someone from the Shapeshifters came running in hurriedly.

"Your Majesty! A Victoria fleet has set sail. Its general course is Kazdel!"

Theresica froze, then glanced at the document in his hand...

"F***!"

Terra's Rogue Victoria

A single landship was already a colossal object. When an entire fleet left its berths at once, there was no way to conceal the commotion.

The Shapeshifters hiding in Victoria spent several days tracking the fleet through the desert, taking a complete set of photographs before sending them to Kazdel as quickly as possible.

A thick stack of photographs lay before Theresica. With every additional photograph he examined, the gloom on his face deepened.

A massive fleet composed of more than a hundred ships—fast battleships, fire-support ships, frigates, long-range supply ships, transport ships, and scout boats—was passing through the gap between Ursus and Leithanien and entering eastern Terra.

Such terrifying strength still did not represent all of Victoria's forces. It was merely the First Fleet of Duke Wellington's naval forces.

All the Royal Courts of Kazdel had gathered in the palace's conference hall. After Theresica finished looking through the photographs, he handed them over to the others so that each clan leader could examine them in turn.

After a rustling of paper, the King of the Scavengers was the first to speak.

"Your Majesty, what do you want?"

"If Victoria declares war, can we win?"

"Yes."

The Bloodfiend Grand Duke was the one who answered. The Banshee standing beside him added calmly, "But in the end, we'll lose every member of our race—everything."

This time, the Bloodfiend Grand Duke unusually did not argue.

Compared with Kazdel, Victoria's overall national strength held an overwhelming advantage.

The leaders of the Royal Courts might be able to rely on their unreasonable Originium Arts to strike above their level and cripple one of Victoria's arms with a single blow. But Victoria could also use that opportunity to deal Kazdel a fatal blow.

Among the fleet sailing toward Kazdel, there were ten fast battleships alone, excluding the other warships. Each carried twelve Originium Great Cannons with calibers of at least 400 millimeters.

The optimistic estimate was that after three full broadsides—just over a minute—Kazdel would be reduced to ruins, leaving the entire nation as nothing more than desert bandits.

Although Victoria had only just emerged from its civil war, the country could still be described as robust. Even if Kazdel destroyed this fleet, Victoria could organize a second fleet, and even a third.

In addition to its ships, Victoria possessed a vast infantry force. Its soldiers might not necessarily be as battle-hardened as the Sarkaz, but Theresica, who had long ordered the Shapeshifters to steal their military knowledge, knew very well that Victoria's military training system was exceptionally complete.

It had military academies for officers and noncommissioned officers, specialized schools for technical troops, and most ordinary conscripts had at least a middle-school education. Victoria had operated this system for nearly a century, while Kazdel had only just begun rebuilding its own.

At the same time, the industrial strength required to support such a massive fleet was terrifying in its own right. Victoria also placed as much importance on Originium Arts as it did on industry and had established dedicated research groups.

Facing a genuine rogue state of Terra, Kazdel's current assets could put up a fight, but the slightest mistake would mean total annihilation. Even if they won, it would probably be a Pyrrhic victory that left both sides devastated. Other than making the surrounding countries laugh themselves awake, there would be no benefit. Sigh.

Thinking of this, Theresica was also rather puzzled. Why had Victoria mobilized such a force to come to Kazdel? Who would want to seize this godforsaken place?

While Theresica was deep in thought, the Absolutionist asked, "Your Majesty, how should we respond? Should we begin a nationwide mobilization?"

"No need to rush... no need to rush... They're still a long way from here."

Theresica lowered his head and muttered, as though speaking both for the Absolutionist and for himself.

"Continue monitoring the Victoria fleet's movements... A fleet this large is enough to disrupt the regional balance of power. Let's first see how the others react..."

In Saint Petersburg, Ursus, the dead of night was normally the perfect time for rest. However, a summons from Emperor Feodor sent the senior military commanders rushing out of their homes and hurrying to the imperial palace for a military conference.

The intelligence department had already organized the documents and distributed them to the commanders at the palace gates. By the time they stood before Feodor, they already understood what had happened.

"Tell me, what do you think Victoria's objective is?"

Upon hearing the Emperor's question, the general responsible for the naval forces stepped forward. He used a pointer to indicate locations on the map.

"Your Majesty, in eastern Terra, the only targets this Victoria fleet has enough strength to attack are Kazdel and Leithanien. The best route to Leithanien would be through the gap between Siracusa and Laterano, heading straight for Leithanien."

"But Victoria has instead passed through the gap between our country and Leithanien. Its target is undoubtedly Kazdel."

At those words, the surrounding commanders became animated and began urging him.

"Your Majesty! Kazdel's relationship with our country is extraordinary!"

"We should prepare for war!"

"Support our ally!"

The shouts around them were loud, and their slogans were suitably grand, but Feodor knew perfectly well that these old men simply wanted to start a war.

Vitt, standing at the edge of the crowd, understood exactly why the Emperor remained silent.

This situation could easily drag Ursus into a war, and not an ordinary one at that. It could cause His Majesty's reforms to end in failure. And if Kazdel, under threat from Victoria, leaned toward Victoria politically, that would also be a loss for Ursus.

After thinking for a moment, Vitt stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, the situation is still unclear. If we rashly make our position known, we may cause unnecessary changes. Kazdel has not contacted us, and even if a clash breaks out, Victoria won't be able to resolve the matter within a few days. We have ample time to react. It won't be too late to decide what to do then."

"...We'll do that."

Feodor accepted Vitt's suggestion. For a time, all of eastern Terra quietly watched the Victoria fleet's course.

It sailed all the way along the border between Leithanien and Siracusa. Neither country said a word; they merely watched it pass.

Finally, on November 7, Victoria's fleet reached the area between Siracusa and Kazdel, then stopped.

Just as everyone was preparing to listen for some kind of commotion, a Feline dressed in fine clothes and claiming to be a diplomatic representative of the Victoria Parliament entered Kazdel and delivered a diplomatic letter to Theresica.

It stated that on November 9, the foreign minister would pay Kazdel a friendly visit.

On the same day, Victoria sent another message over the wireless communication channels, broadcasting it across all frequencies.

'This fleet will conduct military exercises in nearby unclaimed territory from November 8 to 14.'

Victoria: Why Am I Allowed to Be a Rogue?

On the one hand, they said they wanted to pay a friendly visit, while on the other, they announced military exercises. What exactly were these Victorians trying to do?

Theresica couldn't figure out what they were scheming, but the initiative was not in his hands, and he had no way to respond.

All he could do was order Kazdel's entire military to secretly deploy in the direction of the Victoria fleet. To increase their special combat strength, he also wrote a letter to Mudrock, who had gone out wandering.

'Sis, your little brother's in danger. Come save me, quick!'

A peaceful night passed, and the sun rose as usual, bringing a new day. But today, this desolate corner of Terra known as Kazdel was unusually lively.

Boom—

Boom—

Victoria's fleet formed a battle line across the desert. They had set up stationary and moving targets thirty kilometers away, then began bombarding them with naval guns.

Naval guns of various calibers thundered without pause, and violent explosions rose one after another. When they fired their guns of over 400 millimeters in caliber in successive full broadsides to simulate a saturation bombardment, the people living on Kazdel's outskirts could feel the ground trembling faintly.

The Sarkaz sent out a large number of stealth-capable drones. They silently recorded every detail of the exercise from the sky and transmitted it back to Kazdel.

When the dust settled, Theresica saw that the bombarded area resembled the surface of the moon he had once seen. Faced with such a scene, the Bloodfiend Grand Duke displayed a solemn expression before him for the first time. In particular, when Victoria's battleships began a second full broadside more than twenty seconds later, his expression grew even graver.

He was confident that his Originium Arts could cause destruction no less severe than this bombardment. However, Originium Arts of this scale could already be considered an enormous formation-type art, and it would be difficult to activate it a second time within twenty seconds of using it once.

Even with the assistance of the Banshee and the Absolutionist, forcibly preparing a second attack would place an enormous strain on the caster, likely leaving them unable to react for several hours. Shells, being industrial products, clearly did not suffer from the same problem...

Boom—

The sound transmitted by the drone interrupted the Bloodfiend Grand Duke's thoughts. His guess had come true: Victoria's battleships had begun a third full broadside.

A strange silence filled the conference hall where all the Royal Courts of Kazdel had gathered.

After the sound of artillery fire from the desert had continued for an entire day, a man dressed in noble attire and wearing a strange white wig entered Kazdel on November 9, leading a group of people in suits under the escort of Victoria's soldiers.

These people wore the facade of a friendly visit, but when faced with Kazdel's diplomatic reception, they acted with extreme arrogance.

Every word they spoke was filled with mockery toward the Sarkaz. They covered their noses with handkerchiefs the entire time and wiped every object themselves before touching it. Their affected behavior even stunned Gladiia, who had come specifically to observe the powerful nation of Terra out of curiosity.

"What's the point of this?"

"They think it gives them a sense of achievement and satisfaction. In short, it makes them happy."

"Do you like doing this too?"

"I don't know. But right now, I really do want to recreate this scene on them."

Theresica smiled helplessly. Victoria's fleet was right beside them, so no matter how uncomfortable they felt, they had to endure it.

Kazdel couldn't go to war with them now.

The Banshee and the Absolutionist were assigned to accompany the Victoria diplomats. Theresica had chosen them because he feared the other clan leaders might lose control and attack. Yet even the two of them wore livid expressions when facing such a group.

During the formal meeting with Theresica, the group's etiquette and conduct were barely acceptable, but the content of their words was delivered entirely in the tone of an official notification.

"Kazdel should dismantle its shipbuilding facilities, then conduct import and export trade with us according to this table."

Theresica glanced at the sheet they handed over and nearly laughed from anger. The enormous table could practically be summarized in two words: robbery.

Not to mention the rest, he couldn't accept the first demand to dismantle the shipyards.

"I'm sorry, but your demands exceed our capabilities. We cannot accept them."

Theresica kept his face taut and did his best to express his refusal in a normal tone. After hearing him, the group simply gathered their belongings and left.

Afterward, Victoria's fleet added infantry to its exercises that day, in addition to naval artillery.

Large numbers of infantry disembarked from the transport ships. Coordinating with the naval guns, they advanced toward a simulated enemy city under artillery cover.

Theresica watched the entire operation clearly through the drones. Although the overwhelming power of the naval guns left Victoria's infantry with little chance to demonstrate their abilities, Zeppelin and the other old Sarkaz craftsmen were still thoroughly shocked.

"Your Majesty! Look closely at the Victoria soldiers!"

Zeppelin pointed at the Victoria infantry formation advancing in perfect order amid the artillery fire. "Your Majesty, those people aren't wearing armor!"

Theresica leaned closer and took a look. Just as Zeppelin had said, they weren't. Judging from the movements of the Victoria soldiers, the material they wore was also flexible enough to bend to some degree.