Every time news of the war reaches my ears, the situation seems to deteriorate further.

Thousands of more dead with nothing achieved. Oh, there is some pearl clutching and finger pointing in the Senate, but nothing really changed after the most recent battle. The propaganda remains the same: setbacks are expected before inevitable victory.

Did no one understand the severity of the situation, or did they not want to understand it? Probably a mix of both. Stilicho and Victrix claimed they knew senators who both genuinely supported the war effort and those who supported it because it was expected of them. Any public counter argument against 'Saderan Victory' could be labeled as treasonous defeatism and result in being stripped of their seat in the Senate if they were lucky, and simply vanishing if not.

For my part, I was doing everything in my power to not end up lined up against a wall or seated in a courtroom for being associated with the obvious war crimes the Empire has committed.

Thanks to Gaius and Remus I've been able to track down fifty-two captives taken from Japan, all Japanese. The strangest captives were three young adults I found who were not taken as slaves but shut away in a villa outside the city, complete with servants and regular deliveries of food.

I even had to invoke my name a few times to get past the guards, who were more minders than wardens.

It took only thirty seconds after meeting them to realize what happened: they were cosplayers who the legionaries must have mistaken for Japanese 'nobles', set aside from the rest of the rabble and placed in accommodations befitting their 'station'. The plan was probably to ransom them back to their families. Of course, I'm not going to correct this 'mistake' because it means there are three less people I have to worry about dying from overwork or malnutrition.

The only small mercy, beyond the three 'nobles', was that no non-Japanese seemed to have been taken, or at least none of the people rescued mentioned being with a foreigner before getting captured. I can hardly imagine how bad the situation would be if a foreign national got caught up in all of this, or worse an American got taken.

Yanks with tanks were far more threatening than just the Self-Defense Force itself.

Scratch that. Even Dacia, with its outdated tactics and strategies even compared to its Great War contemporaries, would have more than enough power to overwhelm and conquer the Empire if given enough time.

And peacetime as it was, the JSDF was still a modern force. A modern force that hasn't fought an offensive war in most people's living memory, but a modern force nonetheless with appropriate armored, naval, and air power to project power with.

Speaking of modern, that was another thing that threw me for a loop. All the people taken through the Gate, that I've been able to speak with, say that the year is 2015.

Which is strange.

Strange because, while my memory may not be perfect, being twenty-six years after my first death, I think I would remember seeing something about a magical gateway opening up with a roman-esque fantasy army marching out on the news at least once. It would have been one of those 'where were you' moments in Japanese history. The fact that it's two years before my death in 2017, and I absolutely don't remember something like this happening in my first life, only reinforces a theory I've been building.

And that is that this Japan is not my Japan. If this was 'my' Japan, and assuming time moves at an identical pace, the year ought to be 2043. Thankfully, everything else seemed to line up about right: Great War, Inter-War period, World War 2, Atomic Bombing, Cold War, Post-War Economic Miracle followed by a crash in the 90s, etc.

Those last few questions got some really strange, but understandable, looks from the people I was interviewing. I'd probably have the same expressions of confusion if some random kid started asking me about my nation's geopolitical and economic policies when we apparently don't understand the concept of a car yet.

Still, even with an alternate variation of my original world, I have no doubt that by this point in time the Japanese Diet will have already enforced the Mutual Defense Treaty to bring their United States of America in to aid them. It's only logical that they would want the aid of the world's global hegemon to deal with an extraterrestrial (which the Empire is in the strictest definition of the word) threat.

While I hardly doubt a million Americans will come pouring through, a joint Japanese-United States deployment is probably underway already. Perhaps other nations are involved. Not China or Russia for obvious reasons, but New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, and so on. But that's highly speculative.

Regardless, with such military power opposing the Empire a conventional victory, by Falmart standards, is impossible. Given that I've heard from Godasen that he and his fellows are still trying to wrap their heads around guns, which they adamantly still call 'staves', I have little faith they will uncover a solution to modern combined arms warfare.

If by some miracle Sadera had access to some form of computation orbs, even those primitive clockwork behemoths from the Napoleonic Wars that were the size of unwieldy crates and crank operated, I'd give them a slight chance of victory. But even then, I'd only give them a 15% chance of victory; and that assumes a Vietnam/Afghanistan situation of a protracted war that revolves around turning public sentiment against the conflict.

But since the Empire launched a war of aggression, that is probably not likely. Experience has taught me that human beings are spiteful creatures when they feel wronged, worse still when such feelings are objectively legitimate.

The best thing I can do right now is position myself to have the best possible negotiating hand in the post-war government. There is a zero percent possibility Sadera will remain as is following its defeat (the Americans alone will have a field day over the 'slavery' issue) so if I want to maintain my level of comfort as is right now, I need to have my house in order before the drone strikes in the capital start.

This means as many people taken as slaves being located, shepherded to safety, and handed over to the JSDF as quickly as possible. Doing so will paint me as the peaceful moderate who just wants to end the fighting, and not face any war crime trials for technically owning slaves myself by the standards of the contemporary world.

Best case scenario from all of this is me keeping my standard of living and wealth, though I will concede that keeping my life is the highest priority. If that meant I would be forced to live in exile in Japan or America, and suffer the indignity of First World convenience and comfort, that would be a sacrifice I am willing to make.

--
--

"Your majesty, the war has developed in a direction not necessarily to Sadera's advantage."

"Speak plainly and dispense with the propaganda, Lucian," Molt growled, rubbing his temples, "this is hardly the time to be mindful of our words."

Between Molt and the Magister Millitum was a map of all Falmart. Laid across its length were wooden figures representing Sadera's legions and other military forces across the continent. Ships, vassal states, irregular detachments, axillaries, mercenaries, and so forth.

While bitter at the situation, Molt actually approved of Lucian's leadership of the Empire's forces for the most part. While so corpulent the man had to ride an exotic beast from the colonies as a mount rather than a normal horse, he had that wonderful mix of competence and pedigree that was required to run the Empire in any reasonable manner. And he has been ever faithful to Molt, and his father before him, that he would be hard-pressed to remove such a man unless this failure with Alnus was of his own design.

Though he doubts that his Praetorian Prefect, Regulus, had as positive an opinion of the man as his liege did. The praetorian saw knives and deception from every shadow. The man had confided in his Emperor that he thought the Magister, rather than the barbarians, was the cause of Sadera's defeats so far. If he'd have his way, Lucian would have been strung up and hung until death for those failings.

Not that Molt expected less, this was the primary duty of the guard to sniff out such things and encourage a certain degree of fear in the normal ranks. The man's presence at this meeting was designed to impress as such upon Lucian.

"As you say, your majesty," the man took a moment to wipe his sweaty face with a cloth. "If I may be frank, should our losses continue at this rate, the Legion as a fighting force will be spent by the end of the year."

"Ridiculous," Reglues growled. "This man should be made an example of as a warning to the others-"

"His majesty asked me to speak plainly, and so I shall,"

"Silence both of you," Molt raised his hand, giving a quick gesture to his Prefect that he had played his role masterfully. "Continue Lucian, what is the current state of our forces in Italica? How soon can we mount a new offensive?"

"Offensive? Not after the losses they've suffered," Lucian waddled his way to the side of the table and pointed to the figurines around Alnus Hill. "After the battle, much of what remained of the client states' armies returned to their own lands, leaving us scant few men to use. Combined with rampant desertion in the face of collapsing morale, our forces barely number thirteen thousand strong. A force ten times this size barely slowed the barbarians."

"If not fight, then what? Dig in and hold what we have?"

"Your majesty, the most likely path the barbarians will take is north," he tapped Italica on the map. "If our forces garrison the city and get caught in a siege they will be eradicated, leaving us with no forces in the region.

"So your plan is to cede an entire province to barbarian occupation?" Regulus scowled at the man. "Hide behind the walls of Rondel as the countryside burns?"

"Rondel? No," Lucian shook his head, moving the wooden pieces around on the map. "The safest option would be to retreat to Bellnahgo, many leagues north of Rondel. From there, they can be reinforced more safely."

"And when our forces are done running, what then?" the Pretorian pressed the Magister Militum.

The magister groaned at Regulus's proding and pointed across the map to the other blocks representing Legion forces. "Horselord attacks have escalated in the past fortnight, with no fewer than three whole cities being sacked, northmen raids have become more frequent along the northern shores, and banditry has become a significant problem across large tracts of the roadway as our garrions are stretched thin to patrol them. We don't have the manpower to attack."

"Then our first concern should be replenishing our manpower," Molt reasoned. "Tell me, Lucian, how many men do you believe will be needed to fight this foe?

Lucian hesitated for a moment, wringing his pudgy fingers together. "With your consent, I would recommend no fewer than two million men be called up to serve the Empire. Anything less, and I cannot guarantee the safety of even our core territories by the end of the year."

'Two million men?' Over half again as many men that already served the Empire. Gods, the thought alone made his stomach turn, not that he showed his discomfort. He looked over to his aid, "Can the treasury bear such an expense?"

Marcus stepped forwards, the quiet man hummed as he recalled the numbers in his head before nodding, "Yes, though it will dig deep into our coffers. Special war taxes, encouraging charitable donations, and selling some of the grain reserves can offset this by a certain amount. Though I am personally uncomfortable with the last option, given that the harvest in Italica will not be collected given the conflict."

"We have enough grain stored away and enough farmland further east and north to make up for the shortcomings," Regulus countered Marcus's pessimism. "And even if food becomes scarce, then I guess we'll simply have to make do with fewer peasants."

"And if the barbarians destroy civilization as we know it, I doubt it will matter if we starve or not," Molt looked to Marcus and nodded, "Make the necessary preparations and send notice to all the lords and senators of the struggle we are facing. Encourage them to give generously and deeply from their coffers for the sake of the Empire."

"As you command," Marcus nodded, making a note to execute the Emperor's will.

Molt turned back to the Magister Militum. "What else is there to do?"

"That depends on the barbarians themselves," Lucius cleared his throat, looking to Molt for a nod to continue. "The barbarians have only a handful of directions they may advance further. Ideally, we should hope they march south into the vassal states or west, into the lands of the Korinthean League," he tapped the map. "Smash through everything in their path, put the vassals to the torch, maybe even keep marching until they hit the tip of the Korinthean peninsula. Regardless of their foul magic, it will still take them time to subdue or eradicate the populations there and give the Legions time to regroup and provide us ample examples of how they fight."

"And the odds of this ideal situation happening?" Molt questioned.

"Too soon to say," Lucius mumbled something under his breath and moved several of the wooden pieces representing the barbarians on Alnus Hill. "My gut feeling tells me no, however. Our forces are in full retreat. It would be foolish, even for barbarians, to not pursue a fleeing foe to eradicate them before they have a chance to regroup."

"If they march north," the magister continued, moving the barbarian block to Italica, "the city will fall. It is inevitable. And with it, the main road networks and highways connecting the east and west of the Empire."

Molt grumbled to himself as he mulled over the full weight of what Lucian was saying. The Empire's greatest strength has always been its unity. Split it in two and…well…how can a house stand when one of its support beams is sawed off?

"What if they trek over the mountains," Regulus questioned, pointing to the long chain that separated Sadera from Italica and Alnus. "They'd be a stone's throw away from the capital."

"Apologies, but that is impossible," Lucian rolled his eyes. "One cannot simply 'trek' over the mountains. They're too steep and the paths too narrow for any invasion force to cross. The only way through the mountains is through these narrow corridors," he pointed to the collections of forts along the winding roadways. "All of which are guarded by fortifications centuries in the making."

"And by air?" Regulus proposed, looking at the pieces representing wyverns and other arial creatures in the Empire's employ. "They have those metal beasts, surely one, or a dozen, could fly over and wreak havoc."

"Technically, yes," the Magister begrudgingly admitted, "in such a scenario the barbarians could use creatures to fly over the mountains and raid the heartlands themselves, but they wouldn't be able to hold anything, superior magic or not. No one can sufficiently supply a garrison in the middle of enemy territory by air alone. Lighting raids, perhaps letting off some men to harass our supply trains, slaughter famers, loot for sustenance, but nothing more. Anything larger and they would lose the element of surprise necessary for raids."

"Could they attack the capital?" Molt questioned, staring at Sadera on the map. As Regulus said, they were but a stone's throw away.

"A distinct possibility, your majesty," Lucian noted. "Of course, any who partake would die in the assault, but the damage men can cause when they've accepted their own death's is truly staggering. Nevertheless, and moving to a matter I wished to get to, the defenses of the capital must be strengthened to deter such attacks. The walls are lined with ballista, an ample supply of munitions for our ranged forces, and the arial garrison must be expanded for the foreseeable future."

"See to it immediately," he didn't even look over the parchment when he issued the command. "What else?"

"Continuing on from before, the only other way they can march is to the south-east," the Magister gestured to the Blue Sea. "Build or claim whatever ships are at port, use them to harass our trade routes to the colonies, and even threaten our southern shores with invasion."

The meeting went on longer than Molt thought it would. Pessimistic projections, cold truths that would snuff out the fires of the most ardent jingoist, and all the other myriad of issues that came with war. Yet for all their planning and strategies one truth was hammered home: The Empire simply didn't know enough of their new foes to properly fight them.

Thankfully, that issue may be at an end soon enough. A cohort of praetorian speculatores were dispatched a fortnight ago to begin observation and reconnaissance of the barbarians. With any luck their findings may provide invaluable information on their dealings, and if there are any weak points to chip away at…

And then there were Pina Knights. While he doubted they would excel in the same way the speculatores would, there was always the possibility his daughter would surprise him. She has before, why not again?

--
--

"You're holding it wrong," I didn't even have to look up from my letter to know Gaius was holding the rifle wrong. Again.

"Are you sure, this staff feels good in my hands like this," Gaius replied, holding up the lone rifle the Legion had retrieved from the other side of the Gate. He held it by the stock and barrel, no attempt to even touch the grip. It was dented and scratched up, but it still worked. It only had a few rounds left in the magazine, which was not in the rifle for obvious reasons.

A staff indeed. Still, he was curious and I didn't really see an issue with letting him handle the empty rifle for a while, even if he refused to hold it correctly.

"Yes, I'm sure," I tried to not roll my eyes. "Remember, I said to try and hold it like a crossbow, not a spear."

"I've seen the force this thing has when you loose its munitions. If I don't hold it like this, how can I keep it from flying right out of my hands?"

"Use the grip," I must have shown him a dozen times, I swear…

"And that would be-"

"The thing that looks like a handle," I repressed a sigh. He doesn't know any better…

"If you say so…Ah! I see. You were right, it feels much better in my hands now," he still wasn't holding it right. While his hand was around the grip he propped up the stock above his shoulder, giving the impression he was holding a rocket launcher.

"…close enough," I pinched the ridge of my nose. Still better than Cordelia, who held the damn thing like a club.

And if babysitting my personal assistant who was fascinated by the military hardware wasn't enough to focus on, I had a recent letter from Myui giving me some unexpectedly candid information of what is going on near the frontlines.

A long, multi-page ensemble that basically boiled down to: her father was dead, the lands of Italica were being ransacked by bandits and deserters, a dragon of all things was burning down everything in its path, and she was being propped up by her sisters as the new head of the family because each one wanted to rule through her. Her letter was both a friendly message and a plea for not only political advice but also moral support.

Ugh…I was never good with children. Under normal circumstances, I would just write a boilerplate condolence and leave it at that. But given that I have no intentions of going close to the Japanese lines until I have enough tribute to give them in the form of freed citizens and useful intelligence, she was the only link I had to the battlefield right now. Unfiltered, and potentially misunderstood, as it may be.

I had to write more than just 'I'm sorry for your loss' and actually engage in a dialogue with her.

Yet everything I wrote just felt so stilted. Anyone reading it would know that I was just fishing for information. Three hours and a dozen sheets of paper later, I was no closer to writing a reply. I'm pretty sure every time I did get something down I realize it was just something I would have written to my Germanian troops to reinvigorate their loyalty to the fatherland.

Maybe I ought to get Gaius to do this. He has experience writing these sorts of things to people, moreso adults than kids, but I could check over what he wrote before sending it to make sure it sounds like something I would write.

Though speaking of Gaius.

"Please stop clicking that," I looked at the excitable man as he kept pulling the trigger to his 'staff'. It didn't do anything beyond making a clicking sound. It was like hearing one soft noise in an otherwise quiet room when you're doing work.

"Forgive me, I feel like a boy with a new toy," he put the rifle down on the table. "And you say all of the barbarians have weapons such as these?"

"Their soldiers do," I correct Gaius, "it's standard issue, equivalent to the swords we give our legionaries."

"If this is just a sword I'd hate to see what they consider a pike, or what their crossbow is like," he patted the weapon's frame. "May I ask a question, your highness?"

"You already have," I crumple up a wasted sheet of paper and grab a fresh one.

"Hmm, I suppose I did," his face turned serious. "In all honesty, how long do you think it will be before the Empire cannot fight back any more?"

"I thought Imperial victory was already guaranteed," I quote a message I heard from one of the news speakers out in the streets. "That our losses were but minor setbacks along the path to inevitable victory, and that we shall soon destroy their cities and sow their lands with salt."

"Children are allowed to have their fantasies," Gaius joked before he looked out the stained glass window. "But for the adults, we have to contend with cold reality and bitter truths. So, how long do you think?"

"…six months to a year," I gave him my honest opinion. "Less if we keep throwing our men a quarter of a million at a time."

"Dear god…" he mumbled. "Sounds more like a plague than a war."

"How long did you think it would last?" I question him back.

"A few years at least," Gaius ran a hand over his smooth head. "The Empire is simply too big to quickly subdue, but you make it sound like they'll be at Sadera's gates in a matter of weeks."

"They probably will," though I wonder if it'll be via airstrikes or a ground assault, maybe a mix of both. "But before that we-"

"Apologies, your highness," Remus burst through the door, the young man panting as held out a note to me. "A courier from the Order of the Rose caught me while I was out and asked that I deliver this to you."

I looked at the paper, Pina's seal still in place. "Did they tell you what it was about?"

"No," he shook his head, "just that it was from her highness and you needed to receive it as soon as possible."

I hummed, breaking the seal and reading through the message. It was short and simple.

I felt the onset of a migraine as I put the paper down.

--
--

Months in this world and Maki still couldn't decide if this place was a high fantasy or a low fantasy.

She was leaning towards low fantasy, but every time she was about to make a definitive decision something would surprise her and make her reevaluate. It had elves and beast-people, but they weren't that different from humans. Magic was a real thing, but only a few people could use it; like the kid she was working for now.

Actually, was she working for the girl, or were her parents paying for her to work for the girl? Maki never asked the other girls which was the case. Probably the latter. The high schooler didn't know any kid who could manage a small villa all by themselves.

For goodness sake, her cousin was a grown woman who barely kept her apartment together without her ex's help.

Speaking of other girls, it was so cool that a few were actually not human. Well, they looked human enough, but some had little animal bits on them that made them different. One of the girls helping Maki adjust to her current predicament, Reenes, even let her pet her wolf ears.

They were so soft~

Still, this whole situation was quite the adjustment. From the first world to a medieval one besides, there was also the language issue. The outfit she had to wear wasn't that bad, it didn't look any worse than what her friend wore while working at that maid café. The other girls were nice of course. They knew Maki was the 'new girl', so they helped her out wherever they could.

Maki doubted she'd be doing as good right now without their help.

They even helped her deal with the…panic attacks…and…

And…

It was so clear even now…the girls in the basement…lined up like cattle….who were-

Nope! Nope! Don't go there.

Stay here, now, in the present.

She wasn't going to end up like one of them. Chained up like some animal and…used…like the others….

No, she wasn't!

She wasn't!

She wasn't!

She wasn't!

She wasn't!

She wasn't-

'THUD'

The sudden noise made Maki jump in her skin, someone had just slammed a door shut on the floor above her. Footsteps came next, growing louder as someone descended down the stairs. Maki put her head down and back to dusting the bookshelf. Humming softly to herself, she did her best to just blend into the surroundings.

Nope. Nothing to see here.

"I can't believe her!"

Maki winced at the voice. Crooking her neck, she saw the young blonde rich girl march down the hall with two others in tow, a man and a human/animal hybrid. "Does she really have no sense of self-preservation?"

"Recklessness does that to a person," the man commented, they were speaking too fast for Maki to catch it.

"No Gaius, there's reckless and then there's stupid," the girl huffed. "She wants to prance around like some fairytale knight in the middle of a warzone. Do you understand the blow back that will ensue if she gets killed or worse, captured?"

The rest of the conversation went in one ear and out the other as she laid eyes on him. The cute wolf boy that every woman here was silently swooning over.

He wasn't a meathead like those other men she saw going about, looking more like a swimmer than a bodybuilder. Midnight black hair and crystal blue eyes. Sure, he might not be a cat boy (how the hell is Maki in a fantasy world and has yet to see a cat boy!), but those ears and that tail are so fluffy she just wants to touch them. And those eyes…She could get lost in how blue they were, like little gemstones.

Why were her cheeks getting so warm?

The wolf boy stopped and quickly turned around to where Maki was standing. Embarrassed that she'd be caught staring, she quickly dove into an open door to get out of sight. Bumping her head into a wall for her trouble.

"What is it?" she heard the older man, Guy-us, ask.

"I thought I saw someone," oh no, he even sounded cool.

She heard the man sigh. "Of course you saw someone. They're called the staff."

"No, I mean, it felt like someone was staring at me," Maki might be a tad out of the loop for the language, but she had picked up enough to know he did catch a glimpse of her.

"Well, were they wearing a maid outfit?"

"Yes."

"Well then it's self-explanatory why a young woman would be looking at you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand," she heard him mumble to himself. "….but at first it was just a few of them Now it seems like all of them are staring at me when I'm around and they think I'm not looking. Am I doing something stupid, something wrong, or are they just gawking at a demi-human?"

Maki heard the man take a deep breath and sigh, "…boy, I am going to sit you down later and we are going to have a long talk about this."

"Thank you Master Rax, hopefully I can clear up any misunderstandings with them, if it is something I am doing."

"Oh, I can assure you they mean you no harm…depending on what you consider harm I suppose."

"Master Rax?"

"Oh nothing, nothing."

As the pair walked away, she could hear the man, Guy-us, saying something to himself, but it was too quick for her to understand.

Ugh, why couldn't they just speak Japanese or even English if they had to speak another language?!

This whole new language thing was total immersion learning, sink or swim. While she was now able to understand it to a degree and speak it, she apparently had a very noticeable accent. Noticeable meaning bad, since whenever she asked the other girls how she sounded they just deflected and reminded her about how months ago she couldn't speak a word and now she could hold conversations.

She had to hammer in that her name wasn't 'Ma-Key', but Maki. It wasn't that hard to pronounce!

Then again, she made the same mistake with Miss Octavia (Oct-Aveya) and Reenes (Reen-iys).

Still, with the last of the last footsteps going away, the door closing softly behind them, Maki was left alone.

Well, back to work, she supposed. Wonder what all that fuss was about.

--
--

"You're going to the frontlines?" This had to be one of the dumbest possible decisions Pina could have made. Thankfully I managed to reach her Order's primary lodgings, the Jade Palace, before they left on this fool's errand.

Apparently, the Emperor was allowing Pina and her order to go to the Italica region for reconnaissance. Some few dozen knights against what amounts to an industrial military force.

What were they thinking?!

"I am," Pina replied, angling herself so her chest plate could be properly fitted. Did she really see no problem in all of this?

"Have you not heard of the mass casualties the Legion suffered?" Even the propaganda didn't pretend like we were winning, so there's now way for her to claim ignorance as an excuse. "A quarter of a million died in the previous battles, and you think you can change the balance of power by yourself?"

"It's because of that that I volunteered my order to aid in the war effort," she explained, tugging at her armor to see if it was properly secured. "I'm not going to win the war, but to uncover as much as I can about our enemy. Their greatest asset is our ignorance of them, their strengths, their weaknesses, everything. We don't even know what gods they worship. How can we defeat them if we don't know a thing about them?"

"But…"No Pina, their greatest asset is their modern military! But how can I explain the concept of it to a person from a medieval point of view who hasn't even seen any of these things? And your knights are a ceremonial unit under the personal patronage of the Emperor himself! There is no need for you to go out and look for battle!

There is wanderlust, and then there's insanity.

"Don't worry, I have no plan to fight them in a pitched battle," Pina said, attaching her blade to her side. "This is just scouting. No big battles to decide the fate of the Empire. We'll be back before you know it."

"But…" I really didn't know what else to say. Pina's knights were an official order, meaning only their leader or their noble patron could order them around. Since their leader was Pina, and their patron was the Emperor, literally no one could legally order them to not go.

Before I could get another word in, another started to speak.

"All preparations are complete, your highness," Pina's page announced. "We're ready to leave on your order."

"Thank you, Hamilton,"

"Just don't die out there, alright?" I don't think I can imagine a worse case scenario for the Empire than a royal getting killed in battle. Her death would inflame war support in the Empire, and make Sadera trudge along slightly longer than it would have without the death of a member of the royal family.

Also disheartening to see a young life wasted, but hardly the absolute worst thing that could happen to a woman on the battlefield.

"I promise," she replied.

She was on her horse and out the gates minutes later, her banner billowing in the breeze as her knights marched off to war.

An unwinnable war, but still a war.

She's probably going to be alright in any case.

If she encounters any Japanese unit, assuming they bother to have a translator on hand, they'll probably assume she's a noble's daughter and take her into custody. They might not even take her as a threat given the whole armor set up.

Still, the best case scenario is that she gains enough intelligence to convince the Emperor to end the war prematurely and sign a peace treaty. Save everyone a lot of death and destruction.

Most likely, her results will be somewhere in-between both extremes: something neither overly damaging or helpful.

If not…well

"What else could happen today?" I joke to myself.

I barely noticed Gaius awkwardly clear his throat, and awkwardly shuffle over to me with another note.

--
--

The day got worse.

Zorzal invited me to a dinner at his home for some good old 'Family bonding'.

And by family bonding, he of course meant 'you, me, and all of my enabling sycophants'. So I sat beside Zorzal at the head of a long table, surrounded by those very same people.

Actually, while I call it a gathering of sycophants, in truth it's a pointless waste of time. Even before sitting down I can chart in my head how all the conversations will go. Either Zorzal says something that everyone around him agrees with, or someone says something that they think Zorzal will approve of and much the same thing happens in turn.

It gets worse after they've had too much to drink. Then whatever filter anyone might have had just vanishes and the truly insane talking points crop up.

Such as 'what if we just killed all the non-humans?' or 'why do we even let other countries exist?', those sorts of things.

So why do I subject myself to such…torture? Simple: to nip the worst of these ideas in the bud. I've found that every time I refuse to come to one of these gatherings he does something crazy/foolish that not only embarrasses himself but, by extension, me as well!

Since he doesn't interact with any of our other siblings and the Emperor has seemingly written him off as a lost cause, it has seemingly fallen to me to make sure he doesn't do something stupid.

That fact that the staff, the menial staff that is, not the guards, for his palace are entirely composed of women in varying states of undress left me with no illusion of what must happen here when I'm not around.

"Those generals should be executed for incompetence," Zorzal argued, digging into his steak with all the manners of a wild boar. And of course, they were talking about the war. "Tens of thousands dead to barbarians? It's disgraceful!"

"Of course, your highness," one of his yes-men noble 'friends' agreed. "Our noble Legions have no place for such failures."

"Failure is an understatement," Zorzal agreed, chugging a mug of beer to wash down his meat. "Over a hundred thousand dead to barbarians? If I was in charge of the Legions our banner would be flying proudly over their cities. Their people would already be flooding our markets, and their lands riddled with salt to prevent anything from growing afterwards."

"Here, here! Such is the fate of any who would dare defy our Empire!" Some of the sycophants raised their mugs in a mock toast to Zorzal's 'sterling' belief.

Ah yes, how dare you defend yourselves and fight back…Ugh.

Everyone here was just feeding Zorzal's ego. Zorzal always had a holier than thou opinion of himself. His victory over the bunny warriors (ugh…I still feel it's a stupid name) only fed this and the private rebuke from the Emperor (as I heard nothing publicly, but Zorzal is seemingly not allowed into the palace without being summoned) only made him dig his heels in and say it was the Emperor who was a fault.

While the Emperor has seemingly taken steps to keep Zorzal out of any real power, that didn't stop him from using his own personal wealth and power to make himself feel strong.

"Actually, that reminds me. Tyuule! Get over here, I have a question for you!"

The men hooted and hollered as the former queen turned slave walked over to the head of the table. Her expression betrays nothing but serene calm and a soft smile.

"How can I be of service to you, my prince?" Her words sent a chill down my spine.

"Tell me, what would you have done if instead of me, those fools who lost Alnus Hill were the ones who invaded your lands?" Zorzal questioned.

"I can't really say, your highness, since I was defeated by your genius, I have no concept of a incompetent general," the slave queen replied, a serene smile on her face as she cheerfully explains her point.

This woman…

I still don't understand how Zorzal's falling for this 'submissive slave' charade the former queen is pulling off. From her body, or more specifically the bruising and marks all across it, I'm sure she probably gave him quite the earful in those first months. After that, she probably realized what she needed to do to get him to lay off on the abuse. Feed his ego and he'll essentially roll over.

The constant praising, agreeing with everything he says, the fawning over him, it would honestly be more believable if she just had a neutral expression all the time and followed his commands without a word. Silently going along with his orders rather than openly praising him at every possible opportunity. More believable than a woman who is seemingly in love with the man who slaughtered her people and treats her like trash.

Then again, the mask does slip on occasion.

"What about your own generals?" Zorzal countered, pulling the woman into his lap. "I can't believe you let those bitches lead your warriors into my traps over and over again! Their failures go beyond the excuse of merely being women."

And there it was!

Tyuule's carefully crafted mask cracked ever so slightly. Her pupils dilated and a small bit of her lip twitched, as if she had bit into it on the inside of her mouth to use the pang of pain to keep herself emotionally centered.

Then the mask was restored as quickly as it was moved.

"They only suffered such defeats to your forces thanks to the unparalleled brilliance of your own generalship," the woman smiled jovially to Zorzal.

"If that's true, why didn't you dismiss them?" One of the cronies questioned. "Did you keep them around for other reasons? All those women, not enough men, Hehehe~"

"I remember asking them at the time the very same question, and they told me they had never seen such unexpected tactics before in their entire lives," she continued, not raising to the bait.

Heh…unexpected where they?

"It caught them off guard, it caught me off guard," she explained. "In the end, stupid demi-humans like us were simply no match for the leadership of our glorious prince."

While she says that I see that glint in her eye as she hears the men laugh around her. I reflexively moved my seat slightly away from Zorzal's. The feeling I get down my spine always puts me on edge when her charade slips. It makes me want some distance so I can have enough time to raise a barrier or shield between us if she were to lunge at me.

"Fair enough! But don't sell yourself too short, I doubt any other general would have destroyed your forces quite so easily as I did!" Zorzal let out a laugh at that and smacked the woman on her ass, the sound echoing over the jeers of his 'friends'. The fact he held his hand there for a moment, almost grasping the thin strings called clothing he forced the woman to wear, made it all too clear he wanted to do much more than just smack her.

His eyes lingered on me for a second before pulling his hand back.

Guess this is one of the few times my age and gender worked in my favor.

"So, sister," Zorzal moved to change the subject. "What's this I hear about Pina taking her knights out?"

"What have you heard, exactly?" I questioned. I only knew about it since Pina told me.

"Only that she and her women have left the capital today."

"She went to father asking how she could aid in the war, and he sent her on a reconnaissance mission to Italica," I shrug, not understanding the decision all that much myself. "Nothing more to it than that."

"Ugh, has that man gone senile!" Zorzal slammed the table. "I'm a proven general and yet he sends women to battle?!"

"Reconnaissance…" I try to correct him, but the conga line of affirmations and sycophantic agreements started to roll in.

"Right you are, your highness! Women have no place on the battlefield!"

"Indeed! A women's place is at home!"

"Here-"

I loudly clear my throat. Zorzal looked like a deer caught in headlights, while the man who was about to toast quickly put his cup back down.

"Oh sister, don't listen to them," I yelped as Zorzal wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. "You're worth more than any of those baseborn women or lower-class harlots."

"Yes, her highness is the greatest and most beautiful princess in the Empire!"

"No man in our Empire deserves the right to wed her, she's simply far above any of them!"

"Princess Tanya is the example for which all women should follow!"

Weren't you the one who was just saying women belonged in the kitchen?

"Indeed, your highness," I flinch as a cold hand comes down on my head, the albino rabbit woman looking down at me with that fake smile of hers. "You are truly cut from a …different cloth then one would assume."

Why do I get the feeling she wants to twist my head off like a corkscrew?

"Actually sister, why don't you ever bring your bunny over with you?" Zorzal questioned. "I've said you ought to bring her over, show the boys here a matching set. Or even let the girl see her sweet aunt."

"I don't bring her with me because I'm pretty sure she'll try and kill you," as Cordelia has said and claimed she will do repeatedly and often. I groan as my warning seemingly fell on deaf ears as Zorzal laughed.

I could see Tyuule smirk, it looked more real than any smile she's ever given Zorzal.

"You should bring her anyway. She's more than welcome to try. I already made her supposedly great warrior queen aunt my bitch, I doubt a little girl would prove a challenge for me. And don't worry, I wouldn't kill her in the struggle since I know how fond you are of your bunny girl. I'll simply teach her to mind her manners the same way I taught her aunt."

My breath hitched as I felt sharp nails faintly push into my scalp.

"Oh, your highness, there's no need for that," Tyuule commented, her sickly-sweet smile on full display. "Cordelia is so much weaker than you that, with your great strength I fear you might end up hurting her beyond repair. It's better for all if she were to remain where she is, if only to not sadden her highness if you had to slay her companion in righteous self-defense."

"Like I would hurt my little sister's feelings like that," Zorzal looked like he was about to continue, but then a look of realization appeared. "Wait, Tyuule, are you afraid that I'll like your niece more than you? Or are you just jealous of other women getting attention from me?"

"Oh no, am I that obvious?" the former queen replied, concerned Zorzal had 'seen through' her 'act'.

Just another run of the mill family dinner.

Ugh, I feel like I need a bath.

Or three.

--
--

Life had changed a lot for Itami. First there was the attack in Ginza, then the Battles of Alnus Hill, getting his own Recon Team, and now saving a village from a rampaging dragon. If he hadn't actually lived through it all, he'd say this was the perfect set up for an isekai story.

But real life is a bit more boring than what light novels or manga will tell you. After all, you see the main character and his party save the day, but you never see the after-action reports they have to write or the dressing down they get from their superiors afterwards.

Well, maybe the latter, but not the former.

And no less than a day later he and his team were about to travel boldly where no man (from Japan) has gone before. Lelei, the blue haired mage they picked up from Coda Village, had proposed using the scales of all the wyverns they killed in the prior battles of Alnus Hill to help provide funds for the refugees. Beyond the scales taken for research purposes, it seemed like General Hazama was fine with that.

So Recon Team Three's destination was a large trading city to the north, Italica. They were hardly taking all the scales at once, just two bags to show any potential buyers what they had and get an estimate for their sale value.

But just as they were all about to head out, Itami remembered that thing he wanted to question Lelei about.

"Hey, Lelei," Itami glanced over to see the blue haired girl getting into the Humvee, thumbing through some book he lent her. "Can I ask you something?"

"Certainly," Lelei replied, still amazing Itami with how fast she was learning Japanese. And he thought he picked up the imperial language fast, meanwhile Lelei was already speaking near fluent Japanese.

"Well, when we were rescuing the people from Coda Village, there was a guy that everyone seemed like they were avoiding." He recalled, scratching his chin. "And even back at Alnus, if he sat down at a table, everyone would just up and leave him. So, is there something that happened with that guy beforehand or am I missing something?"

"I don't believe so, or at least I'm sure one of the townspeople would have told me if he was a criminal when we evacuated Coda Village." Lelei hummed to herself. "If I had to guess, I would say the man is a monotheist, so their aversion is understandable."

"A mono-what?" Takeo questioned, taking the words right out of Itami's mouth as he got into the driver's seat.

"A monotheist," the blunett repeated.

"And those are?" Itami asked leadingly, wondering if this was going to be one of those super obvious things that even kids here knew and he was going to look like some meathead for not knowing it.

"Monotheists are those who refuse to worship any god but their own," the team's resident demigod, Rory, explained, taking a seat next to Lelei in the back. "Some even go a step further and outright deny the gods exist, claiming their own deity as the sole divine presence in the world."

"But those other gods do exist, right?" Takeo waited for Tuka to get in before starting the engine up. "Like, aren't you some kind of priestess to one of them or something?"

"Of course," the gothic lolita replied with a smile. "And not just 'some priestess', but an Apostle of Emory himself; the god of war. I am his chief instrument in Falmart, carrying out his will across all corners of the world. But beyond that, the Gods do interact with the people of the world in the form of providing blessings to their faithful. For example, for being a follower of Ral, her blessing is the reason why dear Lelei here was able to so quickly learn your language."

"Wow, so you just follow a god and you get super smart? Wish it worked like that on Earth. Would've converted to Ral-isim if it meant I scored better in high school!" Takeo joked as the rest of Recon Team Three got into their vehicles.

"You'd hardly be the first. Many in academics, student and teacher both, seek out Ral and Elange's blessings to further their education," Lelei shrugged, not offended by Takeo's casualness with her faith.

"But those mono…mon… those people don't believe they exist," Itami gave up saying the word, he'd check the manual later to see how to properly pronounce it. Still, he tried to work through the logic of people in a world with literal gods claiming that said gods didn't actually exist.

"Not that they don't exist, merely that Emory, Ral, Hardy, and the other deities are not gods, but merely god-like beings," Lelei answered.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Takeo quipped.

"No," Lelei shook her head. "A god-like being implies massive power but no divinity. Monotheists believe that their One God is the sole divine figure in the world worthy of worship.

"So, when are you going to expel him from your base," Rory interrupted, almost gleefully. "I'd be more than willing to assist."

"I'm sorry, what?" Did Itami hear that right? "Why would we expel him from Alnus? He's a refugee."

"He's a monotheist," the gothic Lolita corrected. "His mere presence will soon cause discontent amongst the Coda Villagers, and any others who venture to this new settlement you're building. Best to send him away sooner rather than later."

"I'm sorry Rory, but that's not how we do things," Itami told her in as serious a tone as he could muster. "In Japan, we have laws protecting freedom of religion. So long as he stays in Alnus, and doesn't break any laws, those same laws will protect him as well."

"Freedom of religion?" the demigod looked as if she swallowed something sour. "What does that mean?"

"It means the freedom to worship as one pleases without restrictions," Lelei answered, poking her head up from a book. "It also extends to protecting the lack of worship, if an individual declines to worship anything at all."

"Really?" Rory sounded surprised. "And your world's gods don't have any issue with that? Letting apostates run about and do as they please?"

"Well, they're a lot quieter than your gods seem to be," he wouldn't deny it was a little awkward for an irreligious person like himself to be talking about gods. "But Lelei's right. So that means so long as he isn't breaking any laws we aren't going to kick him out because of his religion. That's just how we do things."

"And if I were to force the issue," in a blinding motion, Itami found himself face to face with the flat side of Rory's halberd taking up the space between the driver and passenger seats.

"Hey, hey! Don't go swinging that thing while I'm driving!" Takeo snapped, straightening out the car that veered slightly to the side out of shock.

"What then?" Rory continued, smiling. "Are you saying the JSDF would be willing to fight an apostle, a god even, over a single man?"

"It's the Defense Force's duty is to protect the people from threats of violence, it's the whole reason why we're here in the first place," the lieutenant grabbed the pole of her weapon and slowly pushed it back towards her. Or more accurately, she was letting Itami push the weapon back since he'd seen how strong she was. If she wanted to keep the halberd in place, there was nothing he or Takeo could do about. "So I suppose if you or your god pushed the issue then yeah, I guess we would be willing to fight back."

Rory stared into his eyes for a second before sighing and pulling the halberd back. "Fine. I suppose I can overlook his presence so long as he is under your charge. Or any other monotheist that crawls out of whatever rock they hide under. But I would keep an eye on Lelei here, after all, monotheists tried to burn Rondel to the ground not so long ago."

"Wait, really?" the Takeo asked.

"It happened hundreds of years ago," Lelei countered, not looking up from her book. "And it wasn't the whole city, just the Great Library. Nothing of the sort has happened since though, so I'll defer to your laws and customs on the matter."

"Oh dear," Rory gave a mock expression of shock. "I wonder what your Goddess would say if she heard one of her followers talk about the burning of her city with such casualness?"

"I would think she would ask that I continue my studies into Japan, to learn, then to focus on past events," the mage quipped back, not taking the bait Rory was putting out.

"Eh, most likely," the apostle gave a soft chuckle, seeing she wasn't going to be getting anything more out of the bluenett.

Tuka, bless her soul, was quietly sitting in the back throughout that whole incident. Poor girl didn't seem to know what to say, and seemed shocked by the use of force Rory was threatening to use.

After all, what's the worst that could happen during a simple visit?