Cent. Calendar 06/06/1639, Third Foreign Affairs Department, Esthirant, Parpaldian Empire, 13:30

“Today has been greatly hot, even though it’s spring...”

Wiping the sweat from his brow with a piece of cloth, Third Foreign Affairs Department Chair Kaios tiredly remarked as he walked back to his office. While the Third Foreign Affairs Department ranked last among the three departments that make up the Foreign Affairs organ of the Parpaldian Empire, it was by no means a slacker. The first two dealt with the greater powers, but despite the Third having to deal with the rest of the non-civilized bunch outside the civilized areas, they are, in consequence of the nature of their work, trusted with the most military power. At the flick of Kaios’s pen, he can order a sizable portion of the great Parpaldian Navy to set out and crush a disrespectful country, a power that the First and Second don’t have access to. Due to this, Kaios possessed many contacts in the military, becoming a rather powerful man, despite the intentions of the creators of the positional hierarchy in Foreign Affairs.

Walking through a long hall built with ornate, reflective marble seized from their holdings in the north, Kaios was able to enjoy a breathtaking view of the imperial capital to his left thanks to the ultra-clear glass manufactured by the best glass makers in Philades. The important organs of power were all located atop a hill in between the flat plains Esthirant was built on and the mountains to the north. Looking more closely, Kaios could make out the individual parallel and perpendicular streets from where he was, reflecting the fact that Esthirant was a planned city. While the city is renowned for its beauty all across the Third Civilization Area, it has become a bit dirtier due to the rampant urbanization and setting up of pollutant and riches producing factories in recent years. Despite their industrialization putting them on the path of becoming like Mu or the Holy Mirishial Empire, Kaios thought that beauty was the ultimate victim of such progress. Reaching the end of the hall, he was back in his office after a satisfying lunch. Entering it, he found someone else waiting for him other than his beloved housecat.

“Commander Marcus?”

“Good afternoon, Director Kaios.”

Standing up with a stress-filled face yet still in the poise of a renowned officer of the Parpaldian Army, Commander Marcus, who led Task Force Emerald, the Parpaldian contingent tasked with assisting Louria in their Rodenius unification initiative, had hastily returned to Esthirant following the unprecedented capitulation of the Kingdom of Louria. Despite not receiving orders from his superiors or Kaios to return, Marcus still decided to return with the remainder of his forces lest he risk putting all of them in danger. Having already reported to his superiors in the evening prior and in the morning, it was now Kaios’s turn to receive his brief.

“Are you not supposed to be in Jin-Hark coordinating with the Lourian army?”

Kaios asked as he bent over to pick up his cat, Yvonne, which had come to him.

“Regarding that...”

Marcus struggled to get the words out, looking down at the floor instead of facing Kaios and sweating profusely. It was obvious to Kaios that something horrible had gone down in Louria. Intending to discuss further, Kaios walked over to his desk, dropped Yvonne on it, and asked Marcus to sit down before talking more.

“I won’t bite, commander, tell me as if I were your mother.”

“I hate my mother...”

“Whatever, you get the point. Tell me in full.”

The talk was brief. Marcus first brought up how everything was going well, bringing up details which were also in the reports Kaios received on a regular basis. Everything changed almost 24 hours ago, two hours after the planned invasion, when a powerful boom shook the capital. Since Marcus was also the official diplomatic representative of Parpaldia to Louria, he was staying in one of the more luxurious palaces close to the royal castle. Emerging from the balcony of his study, he saw the massive cloud of dust obscuring the royal castle, reminiscent of the aftermath of a bombardment. Almost immediately after, he then heard a sound of something roaring which he felt came from somewhere far up in the sky. The sound was extremely close to the sound made by Imperial aircraft in the Holy Mirishial Empire arsenal, which he was able to witness in action in an airshow in Runepolis. Expecting something similar, Marcus scanned the skies, only to come across two or three distinct trails emanating from ultra-small blue-colored objects. Whether or not they were small or extremely far, he didn’t know. However, Marcus still had enough to conclude that a force which possessed something akin to the aircraft of the Holy Mirishial Empire had bombed the royal castle and killed Hark Louria XXXIV, which he later confirmed with Chief Royal Mage Yamirei. After hours of stressful information gathering on what was happening, the situation changed when an army, the supposed Main Echelon of the invasion force, showed up outside the walls of Jin-Hark and promptly besieged the city. The security force left in the capital, coupled with the men from the Lourian war fleet that returned, were sent to man the intricate system of walls while the survivors of Hark’s Royal Guard were tasked with maintaining order in the city and making sure no one entered or left. Seeing the situation rapidly devolve, Marcus decided to evacuate whatever he could from Task Force Emerald that night. Incapacitating the Royal Guards sent to keep him in his palace, Marcus then slipped out under the cover of darkness and met with the rest of his men before sneaking onto a small transport ship towards a Parpaldian Navy steamship outside the harbor.

Hearing the details, Kaios too began sweating as he wondered who was behind the attack on the Lourian capital. While the amount of investment they poured into helping the Lourians unite the Rodenius continent wasn’t small, the prospect of another great power directly countering their interests was even more worrying. Immediately, he considered the two premier powers of Asherah: The United Realms and Dominions of Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire. Competing for post-Great War influence in the Third Civilization Area, the two powers have been actively trying to bring the Parpaldian Empire to their side. While Mu was the determinant winner in the Great War, the Imperial influence of the Central World still remained dominant, and so Parpaldia has maintained their vocal support of the Holy Mirishial Empire while entertaining Mu at the same time. To this end, it was more likely for Mu to try and engage the Parpaldians, but things between the two powers have been largely amicable and Mu has no vested interest in Rodenius. Neither Qua-Toyne nor Quila are under the umbrella of a great power. This meant that a new player, with support from either Mu or the Imperials, was actively playing against Louria, or maybe even Parpaldia.

Scratching his head in frustration from this unexpected development, Kaios was then calmed by Yvonne coming to him and scratching herself on his clothes. Chuckling from the incessant purring of his beloved companion, Kaios was able to take a deep breath and calm down. He then looked towards Marcus with a serious expression.

“What’s your take on this?”

Taken back by Kaios’s lack of hostility since his superiors in the military chided him for his insubordination, Marcus started to look calm before replying in a more comfortable tone.

“Our interests in Rodenius are thwarted and either of the two great powers may be to blame. I don’t think this is going to end well.”

Clutching Yvonne in his arms, Kaios replied.

“While your first statement is indeed true, I disagree with your second. The great powers know how delicate geopolitics can be. If any of them turn hostile towards us, that’s precedent for the other to act, further adding heat to already hot tensions that could escalate to another great war, which none of them are likely to want to repeat. Moreover, both of them have interests in Parpaldia, which they know we could use to hurt them if either tried anything stupid. Whoever did this must not be aware of the intricacies of Asheran geopolitics.”

Blindly agreeing to the mouthful of words coming out of Kaios’s mouth, Marcus concluded that it did make sense. Just as Kaios was about to say something, one of his aides entered the room.

“Director! The Emperor is summoning you!”

Putting down Yvonne on the floor and standing up, Kaios exhaled deeply.

“Well, it was only a matter of time before word reached His Highness.”

Shaking hands with Marcus, both men followed each other out of the room and then the building.

Imperial Palace, 20 minutes later

On the lavishly patterned marble floor of the throne room of the Parpaldian Imperial Palace kneeled a subservient Kaios. The room was given a sombre orange glow by the electrically powered light bulbs imported from Mu while the chilly air was provided by coolers imported from the Holy Mirishial Empire. The columns that flank the long hall leading up to the imperial throne were decorated with meticulously carved stripes, dyed in colors seized from dye plantations in the far north. In between the columns were banners of red where yellow threads depicted two land dragons facing away each other on a shield-the imperial banner of Parpaldia. At the end of the hall on the throne facing the kneeling Kaios sat a man just before his 40s, the Parpaldian Emperor, Ludius. Having ascended to the throne less than a decade ago, Ludius was still young, and his temper and disposition matched his youth. For this occasion, Ludius was visibly displeased. On his right side stood a pale woman also just before her 40s with makeup that fails to conceal her indifference to the situation-Remille, cousin to the emperor and the last of her offshoot line in the imperial household.

Standing up from the throne, Ludius commanded Kaios to rise with his ever-imposing tone.

“I hope you understand why I had you summoned.”

Speaking as if he was about to get angry, Ludius gave nudges to Kaios that he should answer yes, or else. Fortunately for Kaios, he understood why.

“I assume Your Highness has heard of our failed endeavor in Louria.”

Imposing on Kaios his hostile glare, Ludius’s temper was held back by Kaios’s knowledge of what happened.

“Do you know who is responsible for that?”

Kaios, knowing that he might lose control over the situation with the wrong words, took his time before replying.

“I’m afraid not, Your Highness. However, my department is currently working around the clock to investigate this matter.”

Satisfied with Kaios’s promptness and initiative, Ludius now loosened his shoulders and looked away from Kaios and towards the skyline of Esthirant that unravelled from the windows behind his throne.

“I will summon you again in a week. You must know by then who they are.”

Inwardly thrilled that he maintains a solid grip on the situation, Kaios swiftly bows.

“Of course, Your Highness!”

Glancing towards Remille before leaving the throne room, Kaios subtly expressed some hostility towards her. Not ignorant of what’s happening, Remille returned the favor with a glare. As the Third Foreign Affairs Director left the throne room, Remille muttered to herself.

“Interesting...”

Around the same time, Embassy of the United Realms and Dominions of Mu in Esthirant

“Bugger...”

“Those blasted Imperials are now confusing me...”

Every Muish embassy is the center of operations of Section 6 of the Central Intelligence Directorate, the Muish foreign intelligence organ, overseas. Their embassy in Esthirant is no different, constantly monitoring the Parpaldian military, government, and industrial sectors for noteworthy developments that would be of great interest or detriment to Mu. This embassy, however, not only serves as the center of Muish intelligence gathering in Parpaldia, but it’s also where intelligence gathering in Philades and the greater East is centered on. Due to this, the embassy employs a lot of people in its intelligence chapter, sifting through and collecting intelligence from the far north in Topa, to the rich, glimmering cities of Altaras.

Today, something new came up. Word of the Lourian capitulation just mere hours after their invasion sent shockwaves all throughout the east. The Muish in the embassy are all scratching their heads at the extremely unprecedented outcome since it was clear as day that Parpaldia was supporting the Lourians. Not only did everyone expect Louria to steamroll Qua-Toyne and then Quila, they expected them to do so with ease and speed since Parpaldia was providing direct military support, albeit in small quantity, to the Lourians. The shocking turn of events wherein Louria capitulated in less than four hours after they started their invasion caught everyone by surprise. What worried the Muish, however, were the varying reports on how it was achieved.

“There’s a lot of witness accounts saying that the royal castle where the Lourian king resided was bombed from the air.”

“That’s just doohickey. That can’t be us. And those damned Imperials, may the gods damn them so much, are not that stupid... Wait, that’s not true...”

Everyone chuckled at the not-so-subtle jab at the Imperials, which everyone had come to despise. While Mu emerged victorious in the Great War decades ago, the Imperials were still a force to be reckoned with.

“Either way, the Imperials would lose their influence over Parpaldia with such a move, so assuming they’re smart, they won’t do that.”

Stuck in a conundrum, the Muish intelligence personnel all thought in silence as they drank their bitter Altaran coffee and soothing Muish tea. One of the personnel then came up to them with new reports.

“I got more details. Sifting through the witness accounts from both foreign merchants in Louria and within the Parpaldian military present there, there’s something common with all of them.”

“Other than the fact that the royal castle exploded and that the attack came from the air?”

“Yes.”

“Then shoot.”

The personnel then shuffled through the stack of papers he brought before settling on one. He began scanning it for a moment before returning to the rest of the personnel.

“According to the witnesses, they first noticed a roar sound coming from the air after the explosion at the royal castle. The more attentive witnesses then spotted objects in the sky heading northeast. While the number of objects is different, they’re all within a small range: only one object at least and three at most. The objects were colored blue and blended into the sky. While the shape could not generally be discerned, we have two witness reports saying that the objects were shaped like arrowheads. The most noticeable feature was that they produced white trails, and were either small, or far away. The most troubling detail is that the objects travelled at ungodly speeds, disappearing from discernable view in a matter of minutes.”

Throughout the entirety of the report, the Muish intelligence officers sweated profusely, with the amount of sweat varying individually. The accounts, if true, portray a technologically advanced airplane that can travel at insanely fast speeds with the capacity of carrying a destructive payload of bombs.

“Those accounts need more scrutiny. I am betting that the Parps are as stumped as us and are moving to investigate the issue as well. While those frogs aren’t the type to be willing to share with us, that hasn’t stopped us before.”

The other officers nodded. One of the more technologically aligned officers continued to ponder before giving his opinion.

“I don’t like this. The accounts, if true, sound nothing like those barmy of a machine the Imperials call an airplane. The roaring sound does remind me of the sound their engines make.”

Everyone now thought of the one thing they didn’t want to consider: they had stumbled on something big. None of their contemporary knowledge on the Holy Mirishial Empire or even the Gra Valkas Empire to their west could explain the nature and appearance of the mysterious aircraft.

“Those propellerless Gra Valkan planes are close, though. We haven’t seen the planes their military uses, but the planes that their civilians use to arrive at the airport in Otaheit are undoubtedly a feat of engineering.”

The Gra Valkas Empire is an enigma. Their intelligence on them is lacking, despite the amicable relations between the two industrial giants. The reluctance of the Gra Valkans in sharing more than civilian technologies worries the Central Intelligence Directorate, which had to provide intelligence to their Gra Valkan counterparts due to an intelligence-sharing agreement initiated by their governments in exchange for said civilian technologies.

“Let’s rule those Valkies out. I doubt that they’d get a military presence this far east when there’s literally nothing for them here.”

Standing up from the desk he was leaning on, the chief Muish intelligence officer clapped his hands.

“Alright boys. If all of this is indeed true, then we have a problem on our hands. Let’s get back to work!”

Royal Castle, Amanoki, Kingdom of Fenn, 15:00

In the months since the Japanese and Fennese opened diplomatic relations and trade, Japanese products have poured into Fenn. Rudimentary lighting now lit up their homes and streets as learned Fennese began using bicycles to travel between buildings and cities. Superior Japanese steel made itself known in the swords that were bought en masse by the Fennese. Sword King Shihan himself owns a sword produced by Japanese blacksmiths. One of the things the Fennese had to give to the Japanese was knowledge of Asheran common. Even up to this point, Japanese scholars, linguists, and translators occupy Fennese libraries with Fennese scholars to learn Asheran common. For this, some technologies, such as electricity, lighting, air conditioning, and printing equipment were brought in to facilitate the prolonged stay of the Japanese. As monetary exchange neared its finalization, they were finally going to be able to buy more Japanese goods.

In the upper levels of the keep of the royal castle in Amanoki, Sword King Shihan was finishing up his calligraphy. Swiping right to finish off the last stroke, Shihan then set aside the brush and looked at his work with a degree of satisfaction. Written on a piece of quality calligraphy paper imported from Japan were the words for “good fortune” written in the Fennese script. Waiting for his work to dry, he then put on his reading glasses, also bought from Japan, and picked up a rolled newspaper to his left. It was the first edition of a Japanese newspaper translated into the Fennese script.

“Hoh. The Lourians capitulated only three hours into the conflict?”

Shihan could not contain his shock as he read out loud the headline in disbelief.

“Those Japanese sure are scary... I should invite them to the Military Festival and have them show off more of their guns.”

As he read through the body of text, it became clear to him that Japan possessed the capabilities to rival the great powers to the west. Deep inside him, the news ignited hope of the Parpaldians getting their nose bloodied in the evitable clash of interests that will result in the two countries coming into contact with one another. Shihan stroked his beard with glee and anticipation.

“This will be exciting.”

Embassy of Japan to Qua-Toyne, 18:30

“I demand an explanation.”

In an ordinary, brightly-lit room that was the office of the Ambassador of Japan to Qua-Toyne, Princess Llanfair of Qua-Toyne was leaning on the desk with her hands, looming over the sitting Kuribayashi, who was unfazed by the show of power by the princess. Hearing that the Japanese only agreed to the reparation of damages done to Gim in the peace treaty and not putting more pressure on the Lourians, Llanfair personally went to the embassy to demand an explanation from Kuribayashi, with whom she has taken a liking. Using this lax in relations with a high-level diplomat, Llanfair hoped to ‘squeeze’ more details from him. She has been especially distraught after being held back by the rest of the High Council in installing a puppet on the Lourian throne or getting more territory than what they got since both actions would make the Lourian lords hostile towards them. Upset that she could not exercise more power in the face of the Japanese, who were also against her ambitions in Louria, she also wanted to exercise her personal power on Kuribayashi as a coping mechanism.

“I don’t like your tone.”

Kuribayashi flatly remarked, still unfazed by Llanfair’s now apparent frustration. Subconsciously taken back by Kuribayashi’s defiance, Llanfair inwardly cringed as she stepped down her attack.

“I... I would like an explanation.”

“That’s more like it.”

Said like a master to his slave, Kuribayashi then explained how the National Diet voted against involving Japan in Lourian affairs, distancing itself from a needlessly complicated situation that was still developing. Moreover, the National Diet was still preoccupied with introducing power limitations on the Prime Minister’s ability to greenlight operations like Zanzibar, forcing decisions to also go through the Diet before they can be approved. After the explanation, the aghast on Llanfair’s face was plain and all too apparent.

“What?! But that was the most overwhelming victory I have ever witnessed! Why are your leaders not capitalizing on it?!”

Unable to comprehend Japan’s unnervingly hands-off approach on the matter, Llanfair didn’t even try to hide her bewilderment.

“Japan is... a nation with a mindset hellbent on keeping the peace.”

“At the cost of so much potential?! How come?!”

Kuribayashi then pondered for a minute. He wanted to answer Llanfair’s question, but he needs to carefully pick his words so as to not give away potentially dangerous hints.

“We lost a great war seven decades ago in our world and are forced to submit by a great power. Shaken by the atrocities that happened, our forefathers vowed ‘never again.’ Since then, peace has been kept and so the method of prioritizing peace has essentially worked.”

Llanfair could not believe her ears. While she did entertain the thought that Japan may not have been the most powerful country in their old world, she was not expecting such a powerful country to lose so badly that they basically ingrained peace into their mechanisms. The thought of a more powerful nation crushing Japan horrified Llanfair more than it pleasured her.

“...What sort of destruction... could your people have lived through to decide... to live in peace for almost a century...?”

To this, Kuribayashi looked at her flatly and refused to comment. His silence offered little respite for Llanfair, who had already begun imagining the closest thing to utter destruction she could describe. The first thing that came to her mind was a line from a story about a horrible evil from long ago.

“The radiance and flare of a thousand suns dominated the land and sky and our eyes, once pure, were now tormented with abominable death and destruction. The great earth, once our faithful ally, seemed to have sprouted the desire to take everything in with it; our mana, our bodies, and our spirits. The wicked emperor of light, second only to Death Himself, emerged from the ashes and cackled, “There are no Gods. Only us.” Such was the irony, as we would have worshipped him then and there as the God of Destruction.”

While the rest of the passage felt gibberish to Kuribayashi, the initial words struck close to home. As soon as he began to shake in fear, he controlled it with his strong, muscular grip. A thousand thoughts raced across his head regarding the passage. Stopping himself short of jumping to conclusions, Kuribayashi clarified.

“Did you really say “radiance of a thousand suns,” and that the ground acted up to take everything?”

“The power of the old evil could not be comprehended. This was a passage from an account from a high elf of old that has witnessed the destruction of the mana singularity spell.”

Hearing the word ‘singularity’, which Kuribayashi read the Asheran common translation of coincidentally some time before, he inwardly shuddered. If this was the apex of destruction in Asherah, it mirrored too closely the destruction afforded by nuclear weaponry. Kuribayashi pressed for answers.

“Tell me more about this mana singularity spell.”

“Heh. Why would I?”

As if pissed, Kuribayashi then slammed the table and stood up to directly meet Llanfair’s gaze, who faltered from the tall stature of Kuribayashi towering over her. Feeling a tear form in her eye as she stared down at Kuribayashi’s blank, unyielded glare, Llanfair gave in.

“N-Need you only say please...”

Llanfair weakly said, still recuperating from her obvious loss, as she averted her gaze.

“The spell.”

Not even yielding to her soft command, Llanfair felt her heart sink. She was starting to finally realize just how powerless she was to the Japanese.

“It’s a long forgotten spell, written and used exclusively by the light-winged people of the ancient empire. Even if a copy was stolen, the language used was indecipherable and unreadable, so none of the spellcasters of old could even cast it.”

Kuribayashi wasn’t pleased.

“I meant its effects.”

He was now close that Llanfair couldn’t control her legs from quivering.

“According to the accounts, the device that... contained the spellcasting device and mana... would be unleashed on its target, wherein the spell would begin chanting and...”

Kuribayashi, feeling a bit satisfied, began distancing himself, giving Llanfair room.

“...the spell creates a point in space that violently strips all of the mana in a wide area around it. The huge reserve of mana pulled from the surroundings, including the device’s own mana, is then cast by the spell as an explosion. With that amount of mana, the explosion was so ungodly powerful, it burned even the witnesses standing from afar.”

While the method to achieve the explosion was different, the yield of the explosion generated by a mana singularity spell, or in this case, a mana singularity bomb was reminiscent of a megaton-yield nuclear bomb. Despite the hints at the fact that the bomb was only used long ago, Kuribayashi couldn’t get rid of the worry that some may have survived and are in the arsenals of some of the present-day nations in Asherah. He then decided to report what he learned to the government to investigate the matter more thoroughly.

“Thank you for that description. It mirrors the destruction we faced in that great war I mentioned, but I’m afraid that the scale of destruction is... different. I hope I also answered your questions as I am about to head to an important meeting and cut ours short.”

Kuribayashi decided to lie a bit regarding the destruction brought on Hiroshima and Nagasaki before showing Llanfair out of the room. As she walked out, she looked down on the floor with her hands overlapping. Kuribayashi noted this as Llanfair admitting defeat, but at the back of his head, he also considered that Llanfair may have been expecting more.

Cent. Calendar 19/04/1639, a certain JASDF radar facility, 10:00

As the rest of the diplomatic drama unfolded in Fenn and in the waters off Ishigaki while turmoil gripped the nation as drastic policies meant to keep Japan afloat have started to take effect, radar operators all over Japan have been struggling to comprehend what they have been seeing on their radars.

“Are those really satellites in orbit? If so, then whose are those?”

“They’re too big to be any of the satellites that were orbiting Earth.”

The radar operators have been keeping in check with other radar sites across Japan, who were also tracking the mysterious objects in orbit. As some of the operators troubleshooted for problems, considering that they just went through an unexplained world-transfer phenomenon, others tried communicating with the objects.

“Yeah, they’re not responding.”

“What about the others?”

“Some of them already tried and they got nothing.”

The personnel in the facility were completely stumped. Having checked the equipment for problems, recalibrated the radars, and done other protocols, the mysterious objects orbiting above them were still reflected on the screens. They were then left with no other choice but to conclude that there were unknown objects in orbit.

“They’re not just any captured asteroid... They’re all orbiting as if they were in a constellation.”

“We need to report this.”

Cent. Calendar 21/04/1639, Embassy of the United States in Tokyo, Japan, 9:00

“Please raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, Francis Joseph L. Woods, do solemnly swear...”

Repeating after the Military Judge acting as the Chief Justice, Ambassador Woods had his right hand up while his left was on a Bible.

“I, Francis Joseph L. Woods, do solemnly swear...”

A ceremony was taking place in one of the bigger meeting rooms in the US Embassy to Japan. After drafting an emergency government in absence of the government of the United States, Francis Woods, Ambassador of the United States to Japan, was now being sworn in as President. Despite not being part of the official line of succession, Francis deemed it necessary to create a government, as there was a sizable number of American citizens, now made stateless, stuck on the Japanese islands after having been transferred to a completely different world without the US. As Francis continued with his oath-taking, the limited number of attendees, consisting of the new cabinet and some of the embassy staff, looked on. Daniel, CIA Station Chief, listened seemingly attentively to the inauguration as he stood next to Tim, Deputy Chief to Daniel. He then subtly leaned in to Tim and whispered.

“Never thought they’d actually take the deal.”

Tim, wanting to talk as well, took Daniel’s bait.

“Yeah. The deal is so hastily made. So many holes, too.”

“We already forwarded it to the Ambass-sorry, President, that the Japs couldn’t provide more than what they already do for the USFJ’s supplies.”

“Then he rebuked us for doing some digging. What does he take us for?”

Tim scratched his head in frustration. Under the deal, the Japanese would cover all expenses in maintenance of equipment and the sheltering and feeding of US, UK, and Dutch troops and sailors on the islands. It was ambitious, yet the Japanese public was more or less indifferent to it, either being preoccupied with more pressing matters or them preferring the USFJ to do the heavy lifting in defending the Japanese islands. Vexing as it is, the Japanese could very easily cut off their supplies to them if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain. All in all, they’d lose a lot in both circumstances, but they went for the one where they’d lose less. Seeing Tim frustrated, Daniel knew how to cheer him up.

“Hey, there’s no need to be down in the... dumps.”

As Daniel said this, Tim felt an intense sting on his buttocks. Judging from the light sound, Daniel must have slapped him on the buttocks, a gesture which Tim took personally. Instead of being angry, Tim looked back at Daniel with a face that said “Really now?”

“Hopefully that helps distract you from this mess.”

“Oh definitely. I’ll get back at you later.”

“Now we’re talking.”

The two men chuckled amongst themselves as the ceremony went on.

Cent. Calendar 07/06/1639, somewhere in the Kingdom of Paganda, 21:00

Bam!

Another violent sound of bone hitting against bone echoed in the dark, damp chamber somewhere in the depths of some building in the Kingdom of Paganda. The sound was then followed up by the sound of chains clanking against each other before being followed by the wailing sound of a man writhing in pain. Despite the darkness of the room and his wet long hair obscuring his face, it was made obvious by the occasional torchlight hitting him that he had already sustained wounds and bruises. Fixing his posture by getting back on his kneeling position, the best that could be afforded by the chains on his waist, hands, and feet, he was sent back to the ground with another punch from another guy in the room, a masked man. As the water on the floor began flowing into his mouth and nose, he started coughing to get them out. Another guy, this time a mustached man in a military uniform, went over to him and bent over.

“Had enough re-education, barbarian scum?”

The chained man coughed as he struggled to reply. Despite his unsightly appearance, the uniform he wore, even though in tatters and soaked in water, befitted that of someone coming from a high position within the government. Looking at the mustached man through his long hair, the man spat out.

“Eat shit. Your ‘re-education’ only served to tell me one thing: you are the barbarians!”

Sighing deeply, the mustached man has clearly had enough of the chained man. As his ultimate show of force, he brought his leg backwards before swiftly reversing direction, sending his foot straight to the chained man’s head and kicking him back some distance away. Not satisfied, the mustached man stomped on the chained man twice before stopping and wiping the blood from his black, leather shoes. He then spat on the chained man’s back.

“Damned, good for nothing, scoundrel! You refuse to learn your place! The other diplomats were more... submissive.”

Getting nothing in reply but the faint sound of breathing, the mustached man then gave up and turned to give orders to the masked man.

“Give him the dipping treatment again. This time, don’t pull him out until he’s almost drowned.”

The masked man nodded in affirmation before the mustached man left the room. Hearing this, the chained man then acted up and began squirming as the sound of footsteps grew softer and softer.

“DAMNED PAGANDAN! HOW DARE YOU TORTURE ME!”

Bam!

“I AM DALLAS! ESTEEMED-”

Bam!

“-DIPLOMAT OF-”

Bam!

“-THE GRA VALKAS EMPIRE!”

Ceasing the punching, the masked man then untethered the chain from the floor and picked Dallas up and put him over his shoulder. As he walked to the dipping chamber, Dallas continued to cry out to an empty, dark hallway.

“The Imperial Navy will stop at nothing to raze your cities to the ground! The last thing you will hear is the majestic chorus of Navy Air Service jets dropping death and hellfire! Before that happens, you will all be killed by the clandestine, silent killers of the Imperial Ar-”

Shutting him up once and for all, the masked man put a gag over Dallas’s mouth before suspending him on a chain to be dipped into a well.