Our recent capture of the Empire's magic cannons got me thinking about something. If we can take their weapons and analyse them, it is possible that it can happen to us.

These paranoid thoughts kept me thinking non-stop, what if another country learned how to make guns.

Ayumi, who was beside me, had somehow noticed the disturbed expression on my face.

"Supreme Commander, is there something wrong?" she asked.

It was scary how advanced the units were and how well they could read human emotions.

"Nothing, I was just deep in thought. Have they arrived yet?"

"Yes, our envoy has arrived at the Rebel's main fortress."

"Good, put up all the body cams on the screens."

"Understood."

Right now, we were in the central control room, observing the meeting between the Rebel army leaders and Roland, who we sent as our sort of ambassador.

He arrived in horse-pulled carriages modified with suspensions to make the ride more comfortable and protected by disguised units, who hid their guns but had swords equipped.

Our special forces team was on standby should a rescue mission be required, but no information from the espionage units stated that the Rebels had such plans.

To be honest, I had no real idea of how I wanted this meeting to go. I'm still a teenager who, to be frank, really has no goals except to live an easy life.

I had consulted with Ayumi about this, and her suggestion was world domination and a throne made of gold for me to sit on. I made her give me a real piece of advice.

Her final suggestion was to announce ourselves as a newly independent nation, which I would rule. At first, I wanted to shoot down the decision because of my lack of management skills, but I remembered that I could summon units with those skills to assist me.

Inside the fortress, the meeting room, was three men and one woman. All the men were wearing armour. Unlike the Lords with the Empire, who wore gaudy armour just to show that they had wealth, these were people who had earned their titles and respect.

"Welcome, Roland! Thank you for agreeing to meet with us." greeted Otis, who was the one who started this rebellion.

"It is nice to see you all doing well," Roland replies.

"You too; I heard that you and Aidan's territory have suffered quite a lot during the apocalypse," says Christina, the only woman in this group. From our information, she had excellent skills in doing business, despite being only twenty years old.

"Oh, yes. Indeed we did. However, we have recovered from that now."

"Ughh, enough with the chit chat; let's just get on with this!" shouts Navar, who stood over 2 metres tall; on his back was a mega-sized great sword. He's known to be a ruthless warrior and has quite a temper, apparently. 

"Relax, we'll get to it soon," says Tristan, the oldest out of this whole group.

"Roland, tell your men to leave. I want to have a private chat." requests Otis.

"Ah, that will be a problem. These are not my men." Roland responds.

"What do you mean?

"These are people sent by my benefactor to ensure that I am protected, but I have no authority to command them."

"Hmm, and which country is that? I have never seen any nation use those flying weapons before?"

"Technically, they are not a nation yet. As soon as this war is over, they will announce themselves as an independent country. Mine and Aidan's territory will belong to them as well. Those flying things are called planes apparently; I do not know how they work."

"Why not ask them to join us? If we combine our forces, we can surely dominate this whole continent!" Navar shouts.

"No, even though we have helped you, it now stops. The amount of reinforcements we have provided is not worth that tiny piece of land that you are giving us as payment, that's unless you are increasing the payment?"

"We're not increasing the payment; all of our funds are being used to support the army," Otis replies in a slightly harsh tone.

"Hmm, okay. Then we shall no longer assist you anymore."

"Roland, how much would it cost for one of those bombers?" this time, Christina speaks up; I felt something weird with her words but didn't realise what.

"I'm unsure what you are talking about specifically, but I would be happy to pass on your request?"

"Very well, hey, you take this," says Christina, as she passes a sealed letter to one of the units. "Give this directly to your leader."

"Speaking of their leader, who are they?" asked Tristan.

"Someone beyond any of our imagination." was the reply. I didn't even tell Roland to say that, but I guess I should thank him for that compliment.

"Well, that's not very helpful. Would it be possible for us to have a face to face meeting?" enquired Otis.

I told Roland what to say this time.

"No, only after the new nation is created, then they will reveal themselves."

This way, they will still have no idea about my identity; the only people who know are Roland, Aidan, and their families, who are being protected, and watched over by units constantly. But even with a name, they will not be able to find me.

I wanted it to go this way, to play a mind game. People are afraid of things that are unknown to them. It would make them think deeply about each move they make in the future or even do the opposite.

"Now, I have to return to my territory; I have some urgent things that need to be taken care of," Roland says as he leaves and climbs onto the carriage.

Through the radio, I told Roland that he did a good job and that we should have a drink to celebrate. But first, I wanted to see the note; I couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong with Christina's behaviour.

"Unit 39, show me the contents of the letter," following my command, the unit placed the note in front of its camera.

I would like to meet privately; we have a lot to discuss, especially about those bombers and jets.

Not only did she refer to the aircraft as bombers and jets, but the letter...was written in English.