Great Eastern Conference, Qua-Toyne Principality, 15th November 1523

A conference was convened to discuss the major events occurring around the world. The participants were from all countries outside the civilized areas. Since the one proposing the conference was a “barbarian country,” the superpower Papaldia Empire and the other Third Civilization countries chose not to attend, labeling the conference unnecessary and meaningless. Because of the lack of representation from the civilized areas, the participating countries talked relatively openly about their intentions, unlike previous conferences of this nature. Normally, the main topics of discussion all centered around the Papaldia Empire, but this time was different; the focus was on the sudden rise of the new country “Celestina.”

Outside the meeting venue, Celestina has put some securities, but the securities are not from the military, rather, it was from the Adventurer Guild. They are ranged around D Rank to B Rank since the region was secured and primarily tasked to maintain security. With a Battalion-sized adventurer, they chat with each other while watching the surroundings. The one who put this request is no other than the Main Council itself. Emperor Hillem already prohibits any military personnel unless it was a warzone or a country that requires high-detailed security.

Celestina dispatch the female diplomat, Michelle LaCroix to attend it.

“We shall now begin the Great Eastern Conference.”

Representatives from each country contributed to any information they had about Celestina. These were the main points of interest:

Celestina is an emerging country that suddenly appeared in the Great East. By their own admission, they were suddenly transported to this world from a different world. However, there are no historical examples of this happening, only myths and legends. They were first encountered by a Rodenius farming nation, the Principality of Qua-Toyne when one of their dragon riders spotted a Celestina iron dragon. Celestina requested an enormous amount of food and offered to export national infrastructure improvements to Qua-Toyne in exchange. At that time, Rodenius’s strongest country, the Kingdom of Louria, declared war on Qua-Toyne, Quila, and Tibetain. Celestina allied itself with Qua-Toyne and fought against Louria. In all likelihood, the impetus behind this decision was to protect the food supplies from the Louria. In initiative, Celestina dispatches at least 25,000 personnel to protect Gim and 8 Warships to protect Port Town Mayhark. In the Great Naval Battle of Rodenius, the Celestina Imperial Space Command Navy only sent eight ships, but they repelled Louria’s fleet of 5,000 ships, capturing 2,000 of them, in addition to eliminating a large wing of wyverns. In the ground war, there was a battle at the border of the Qua-Toyne town of Gim where Celestina’s forces completely Eliminated Louria’s ground force, which essentially decided the war. According to many Qua-Toynian citizens who witnessed this battle, their fearsome explosive magic caused “a volcano to erupt beneath the Louria camp.” During the incident at the Kingdom of Selarong’s Military Festival, Celestina captured two squadrons of wyvern lords sent by the Papaldia imperial oversight army’s eastern fleet.

By the time this information was compiled, the heroic stories of Celestina’s feats were gradually becoming acknowledged as fact and not just hearsay.

“Because there are so many countries in attendance that have already formed diplomatic ties with Celestina, we believe we have established a common perception that the country of Celestina is tremendously strong.”

“We would now like to confirm each country’s views on the topic.”

A representative from the Mao Kingdom raised his hand to speak. “My country has not opened diplomatic relations with Celestina, but we believe this country is a threat. It is a fact that they defeated the Kingdom of Louria. Not only that, but it was an overwhelming victory; they wiped out Louria’s main forces in a single battle. We have no idea when this destructive force will be turned towards our own countries. That makes them incredibly dangerous.”

“I am from the Topa Kingdom. We do not believe Celestina is dangerous. If their people are not harmed, they do not harm us either. Furthermore, books about their advanced technology are sold in their country in normal bookstores, and they do not prevent us from purchasing them. Simply by associating with Celestina, one can easily raise the level of their country’s technology. They are even more advanced than the Papaldia Empire. They also allow us to send adventurers to their Empire, and we allow them to open the dungeon at our Kingdom to increase our economy.”

“I represent the Scios Kingdom. We agree with the Topa Kingdom. We have not attacked them, and they in kind have not attacked us. Unlike the Papaldia Empire, they do not lock their technology behind gifts of slaves or land. As for the case with the Kingdom of Louria, we believe it to be an exceptional case, since their people would have starved if food exports from Qua-Toyne were to have stopped.

The other day, one of our diplomats was visiting a Celestinian bookstore and found a book called ‘The History of Weapons.’ I would like to submit it for reference. In it, there are detailed descriptions of the ‘flintlock musket’ that is a cutting-edge weapon in the Papaldia Empire. The book says that this was developed over eight hundred years ago and is now considered an antique in Celestina. While I do not know Celestina’s military force's current structure, if we only look at military technology, if the superpowers’ newest weapons are considered hundreds of years old to them, they are terribly advanced. Additionally, they also applied the “Technology adjustment” doctrine, so we can requisition the weapons with better quality.”

The talks continued.

“…even so… I’ll just say it. They can capture a superpower’s wyvern lords. If they decided to attack us, we would have no choice but to fold. Even if we all banded together, we would still be weaker than Louria, and Louria was defeated without inflicting even a single casualty. It would be best to just get along with Celestina.”

“I’m from the Principality of Qua-Toyne. We have been receiving infrastructure improvements from them, and our standards of living have already improved dramatically. We also believe that they should be welcomed as a friendly country.”

“I’m from the Awan Kingdom. We believe that for us, the eastern countries should approach this more practically. Make use of Celestina if possible, but instead focus on the threat of Papaldia running rampant. Over the last ten years or so, their actions have gone too far.”

The main takeaways from the conference were:

Do not be hostile with Celestina. Watch the Papaldia Empire carefully as circumstances develop.

After the Great Eastern Conference was over, the Topa Kingdom ambassador remembered the report to the king given by that military officer the previous month.

“Hohoho… Remembering it now still makes me laugh.”

Last month’s incident—

“Here is the battle report! The wyvern lords sent by the Papaldia oversight army’s eastern fleet were captured out of the sky at Selarong’s capital Gowok by Celestina’s Dragon!!!”

“Are you making sport of me?! Do you understand how ridiculous that is, for someone to capture a superpower’s wyvern lords?! For our country’s entire army to take out even one wyvern lord is a feat deserving of a medal! And you’re saying a no-name emerging country capture twenty-four of them…? Hahaha, you must’ve been reading too many fantasy stories. Are you overworked? You can take a vacation if you need it.”

No one believed the officer’s report. In the end, they had to compare reports with other countries before finally realizing that this stunning event actually occurred. No one had believed the story in any of those other countries either. That was how crazy it was for a superpower to pay for their actions. They knew how advanced Celestina’s technology was, but they had no idea how large of a military presence they had. Should Papaldia decide to seriously attack them, could they actually fight back against them? It was necessary to determine this for sure.

“The world… may be starting to change now,” the ambassador mused to himself.

The Papaldia Empire, Imperial Oversight Army’s Eastern Fleet, Dragon Rider Mizer

Mizer was puzzled.

During the failed punitive strike on the Kingdom of Selarong, he fell off his wyvern into the ocean, and then he was taken into custody by the Celestina Coast Guard’s patrol ship Road Runner. Afterward, he and twenty-three other personnel were brought to one of their giant ships and interrogated. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but what he saw was terrifying. A dragon with the size almost five times as the Wind Dragon, trapping their own wyverns and shaking every last one of riders to the sea.

The interrogation officer wore bland clothes and just listened to him silently. Damn barbarians. He tried to promote the empire’s wonderful technology and convince them how much more advanced they were than the other civilized countries. Not to mention, for countries outside the civilized areas, their level of technology and the might of their military was simply incomparable, and the empire could easily support it all with its national power. Sometimes, emerging countries did not know the ways of the world, so telling them all this could improve the way they treated him. However, Celestina’s interrogation officer did nothing differently and just continued to listen while writing some of the things down. He just didn’t understand the compassion he was being shown from an educated imperial elite to a clueless barbarian soldier.

His attitude towards the Celestinian began to change as they got closer to the country of Celestina. The first surprise was when he watched the iron dragon take off from atop one of the giant ships. Rather than wyverns, they had iron dragons on their dragon carriers. It was surprising to see a non-civilized country with a dragon carrier, but… while the iron dragons were slower than wyvern lords, a lot of people could ride in one at once. If they controlled the airspace, these vehicles would be very useful. However, since they were so slow, in combat against the empire’s wyvern lords, the empire would undoubtedly win. Once they conquered Celestina, this iron dragon technology would be very important for the advancement of his country. However, what he and his comrades saw next, will be the first terror they will face.

They saw a huge dragon feasting on a wyvern near Eleugy that was currently parked at the drydock. They immediately recognize the dragon that they’ve seen during their failed punitive attack.

“I-It’s the dragon that we saw earlier!!”

“T-The Wyverns!”

They shake in fear once the dragon stares at them with its sharp gaze before the ship being docked at Mechania military dock once the dragon finishes its feast. They saw a girl scolding it, probably it was the rider (Shiela Synclaire) which the dragon only reply with some giggles and laughter. They were transferred to a Prison Town run by Maya, Hopri. They saw all kinds of unbelievable things here. Gigantic buildings that towered into the sky, iron land dragons crawling throughout the city, flying iron dragons that were faster and larger than wyvern lords. The scale of the technology here far surpassed that of the Papaldia capital, Esthirant.

“This country… is dangerous.”

“W-What will be happening to us?”

One of the detention officers turns at them.

“All of you will be detained at a Town designed as a Prison. As long as you guys can behave and not making an escape, you won’t be harmed.”

The words from the detention officer just make them more nervous.

“And we will give you newspapers, books, and translation books so you guys can translate it and figure out what happened from the newspaper. Also, there will be a screen and projector news so you can ask the jailer if there are things that you do not understand.”

Giving them news and allow them to see what was happening, they feel like Celestina went overboard for their virtuousness to them.

His opinion of Celestina had completely reversed once he witnessed everything. How a country like this could suddenly emerge was a complete mystery, but, if the foreign affairs department approached them in their routine manner, they would find offense in some contrivance, declare that “the barbarians must be destroyed,” and declare war. In this case, the oversight army’s dragon rider squadron was captured, but the news spread that they were Eliminated, so there was no way that the prideful empire would stay quiet about it. He could easily imagine someone from foreign affairs screaming contemptuously at a Celestinian diplomat.

If the empire declared war with this country, they would suffer no small amount of losses. It could even be devastating enough to lose their status as a superpower. Dragon rider Mizer and his comrades feared for the future of his country.

Celestina Empire, Imperial Capital of Studia, Juno, Royal Academy Research Facility

“So, what do we know so far about this world?”

Alicia and her team have just done examining the Wyverns from the Louria Kingdom while she’s supervising the final trial for the Wyvern Lord from the Papaldia Empire to acquire accurate data. Furthermore, Alicia wants the Land Dragon to be captured to be studied and for classification. Lyrallei’s Zealot Team manages to infiltrate as a Dragon Rider, notably to where she wanted as what the rumor head, Wyvern Overlord. If they can bring it back home, Alicia will be properly rewarding them.

“Some magic are more advanced than us. Some of the countries that open the trade with Celestina have a specialist that was better than us. Also, the Louria Kingdom and Qua-Toyne Principality are willing to send some of their creatures that we have never seen before so we can study it. Some adventurers that are dispatched have returned to deliver the report to the guild. Reports indicate that the difficulty level remains an A+ Rank overall.”

Her adjutant, Shikami, a demihuman White Wolf female is giving a detailed report about what is Studia’s scientist do so far. Fenrir is also doing the same thing, leading some of his scientist team into Gahara in an attempt to study about the Wind Dragon further. According to what Shiela saw along with her partner, Kagefumi Entranger, they were scared when they saw Kagefumi flies to capture the Wyvern Lords. Kagefumi probably also can be classified as the Ancient Dragon due to the size of almost five times as Gahara’s Wind Dragon.

Alicia then makes a comparison between Planet St. Celestina and the unknown planet in this New World. The Planet St. Celestina has a diameter of 12.750km and their mainland, St. Celestina occupies around a third of a planet. Although the size was very close to Earth, the gravity acceleration was also close, to 10m/s2. The planet’s circumference was unknown, but it was confirmed to be at least six times than what it should be. It’s just that… with the planet size this big, there are lots of mystery that they need to solve.

The atmospheric pressure was around 1020hPaI, but scientist reports that the concentration of the oxygen on this planet is twenty-five percent higher than Earth or fifteen percent higher than Celestina. The length of one day was still 24 hours, but a year now goes to 365.5 days, with every 2 years there will be a leap year. The distance from the sun was about 160 million km, slightly different than Earth, but seems the revolution around the sun was faster than Alicia expected.

Celestina already a map for every region of this planet, but what she finds from the map makes her confused to the point where there are too many heated discussions between top scientists when they are talking about this planet. The composition between the sea and land is somehow around 75 to 25 percent, with the expectation that there could be more land to appear so they can’t make an exact proportion of the sea and land itself.

Currently, only Celestina and the Ravernal Empire that was able to reach a Space age, but the problem start to arise when the fleet that was sent back to the homeland. Frigate-class warships, such as Firefly-class Light Sniper and Heavy, cannot use their engines for two days due to using Einhalzen Translight Mark V that causes the engine to overheat. When they plan to return into their homeland planet, one Firefly-class Heavy Frigate immediately crashes into an unknown barrier as soon as it starts to enter orbit for re-entry, killing all the crew aboard. One Light Sniper Frigate receives damage at the starport side due to immediately pulling up after seeing the Firefly-class destroyed and can’t risk damaging the ground vehicle deck that was placed at the bottom deck.

When an empty pod was launched, it also crashes into the barrier as soon as it starts entering the orbit. Also, when the ship tries to make a contact with the planet inside, they got no responses.

“It seems Perkunas’ hypothesis was correct…”

Celestina Empire, Bell Temple, One Month Ago

Bell Temple, a temple that connects the world of the Celestina Empire and the god’s domain. It was built on top of the Nomad Royal Palace, with the access exclusive to those who are entrusted by the deities to run the land. Other than the Main Council, only very few people such as Shina was allowed to enter god’s domain. Inside the temple itself, there was a heated discussion.

“We can’t go back to our world, let alone the homeland itself…”

“How come?”

Perkunas’ statement makes Sacchito and the others curious. They’ve just found out that the deities of the St. Celestina were also trapped in this world.

“I deeply apologize for that!”

The gods of gods in this New World, Amaterasu apologizes to Perkunas and the Main Council. They did not expect that their action was able to bring in the deities as well. One of the facts is the land of Celestina was the land of the gods and the Main Councils takes the mantle of the gods to manage the land. Since the deities were also transported, the planet itself was immediately put on lockdown or more simply, it can’t be accessed from the space.

“Is their timeline also continues?”

“Yes, but the shield will go down once they reach space age.”

“Not a way that I like to remember it…”

On the Planet St. Celestina itself, only Celestina was able to reach an Interstellar age. Other nations are still in the World War II era, but some technologies are already in the modern age, however, none manages to venture into the space age except for Trumper Empire during First Celestina World War. For the Main Council, this means the Bloody Age will continue since the countries outside the Celestina Empire, other than the Trumper Empire that Celestina manages to defeat during the First Celestina World War and First Interstellar War mainly relies on the Celestina Empire to advance their technologies.

Without Celestina, the Bloody Age will continue and Celestina is not going to like it. They manage to put it into complete suppression after the Third Interstellar War, which was considered a huge feat by the other deities. They can’t go to each other's throats since Celestina always watches them and not to trigger a war against any country that has formed a diplomatic relationship with the Celestina Empire.

“But, what about the Kingdom of Embellia? Why they’re being taken as well?”

Amaterasu answers Alicia’s concern about the Kingdom of Embellia.

“About that… Because we also need their assistance. They’re the vassal of the Celestina Empire, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It seems the case was more complicated than the Main Council can expect. She then raises a question that can be considered rude to the deity itself.

“Are we being called because of the things that the deities can’t handle?”

Amaterasu knows Alicia is rude in saying it, but since the Main Council demands an answer, she gives in.

“Yes… the Ravernal Empire… We were unable to found those who back them up. I believe you already prepare for the next Interstellar Dimensional War, correct?”

“We always do prepare for the next war itself, Your Grace.”

Because the Main Councils are the demigods and the Apostles of the Gods, they are the best hope that Amaterasu can think of. The Main Council's reputation soars to the deities at the other world and dimension because of their achievements. The deity of Celestina later will hold the private discussion with the New World's deity while the Main Council return to their duty.

Alicia was still frustrated because of this since not only the Bloody Age will continue, other countries that basically can be a superpower without Celestina will run rampant. At least three countries will rise as a superpower following Celestina’s disappearance. Trumper Empire will be most likely to rise again, followed by Raichtstag, and the Republic of Viery.

Celestina constantly keeps them in check while assisting them in rebuilding their economy. The Kingdom of Embellia was naturally a superpower when it comes to ruling the sea. With the Empire was unable to keep them in check, Alicia can only rely on a satellite that was not taken into the New World as well to monitor them.

“Only Aerial-class Light Cruiser above that can make it unscathed, do they…?”

Looking at the report, the Aerial-class Light Cruiser is equipped with Einhalzen Translight Engine Mark III GEN 2 or Second Generation Translight Engine Mark III, and it went through the slipspace dimension unscathed although the engines will be overheating if they do another immediate jump be it dimension or slipspace.

The Wyvern Lords from the Papaldia Empire were just shivering when Shiela’s mount, Kagefumi Entranger, is watching them. They do not want to be a part of the ancient dragon’s dinner, so they act like a pet that acts obediently with its master. Once the examinations are completed, they are being released into the Sahara wildlands, hoping to live with a new environment, but also will be supervised by adventurers that owns a wyvern as a personal ride.

Celestina Empire, Royal Imperial Capital Regnieburg, Adventurer’s Guild Main Headquarters

“Welcome, adventurers from the Topa Kingdom! Please come to the receptionist for those who haven’t registered yet.”

“Anyone signed up for the Party Raid simulation, please come this way!”

The Adventurer’s guild becomes bustling with adventurers from countries that allied themselves with the Celestina Empire. Lots of them are registering since they can earn more fortune faster by signing up and taking a job as an adventurer from Celestina. Almost all the Celestina Empire citizens are adventurers, either it was passive or active adventurers. On the military itself, they change their drills into either War Games or Party Raid simulation.

“Thank you, your card has been updated.”

“Oh, whoa!! I got to rank up at my marksmanship!”

“Hey! Anyone open for party subjugation?!”

“Please do not ride any mount inside the guild!!”

Some adventurers are bragging about themselves on how they got a unique mount, such as June Dreadnought, Overlord Aegis, Overlord’s Throne, Wyverns, and many more. Some are also talking about what kind of subjugation they will do next.

Other territories, such as Geffen and Studia, has accepted many scholars and teachers from countries who excel at magic. Mechania also accepts Dwarves, Blacksmith, and those who are proficient in making equipment to be working together on a project.

With cultural exchange from many countries, unlocking access to the restricted territories, and regular subjugation, many countries are grateful for the Celestina Empire's presence to assist in their economic growth due to able to obtain resources that are made from the dungeon itself.

The nobles are also being sent into the Celestina Empire to study about running a government on their territories. At first, they were concerned that the territory they gain to rule will be changed by a democracy system. Alicia, however, already plans for them to make a healthy competition. The nobles can maintain their territory, but in exchange, they must appoint a person through a clean election so while the nobles will only act as a supervisor, the one who will lead the territory is someone that the citizens of their territory have elected.

Since Celestina is currently applying an Imperial Oligarchy Democracy where the mantle of the Main Council is entrusted to the Prime Minister and the Emperor, the nobles are eager to learn while they are also advised by Alicia if they no longer want to maintain the territory, then they should hold the election to select the Governor to fully assimilate it into democracy.

26th November 1523 / 224, Second Civilization, Superpower Mu

It was another sunny day with clear skies, few clouds, and good visibility. This time of year, the temperature rose day by day, birds sang gaily, and butterflies lazily danced through the air. Technical Officer First Lieutenant Myrus was surprised to receive an urgent call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs telling her to go to the Otaheit Airport.

The superpower Mu had a private airport. They could only fly the wealthy, and only when the sun was bright and the weather was good, but they did indeed have a private airline. As far as she knew, private transportation by air was still limited to the highest-ranking countries of the Holy Milishial Empire and Mu, so it served as proof of their status.

Technical Officer Myrus used a vehicle with an internal combustion engine developed in Mu called a “car” to travel to the Eruditio Airport air force base. But why was he urgently summoned there in the first place? After idling in the waiting room for twenty minutes, clack… Two members of the military and a pair of diplomats entered the room.

“This is Technical Officer First Lieutenant Myrus,” the military staff introduced to the diplomats. “Hee is a technical officer in our army, and, although he is young, his mechanical skills are well-respected.”

“Technical Officer First Lieutenant Myrus, at your service,” Myrus offered, smiling amiably at the diplomats.

“We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Everyone sat down.

“How should we explain this… We called you to request an investigation of an unknown country and their technology.”

“Are you talking about the Gra Valkas Empire?”

They gave an unexpected answer.

“No no, not them. They’re a newly-emerged country. Earlier today, three gray boats appeared in the ocean east of Mu. The navy was sent to receive it, and it appears there was a special envoy from Celestina Empire aboard requesting to open diplomatic relations with our country. While there is nothing rare about a country wanting to form ties with us, the concern was… their ship did not have any sails.”

“Are you saying…”

“The magical detectors detected nothing, so it’s not a magic-powered ship. We believe it’s a ship powered by machinery.”

“That was also I first thought…”

“It gets better. We requested a rendezvous at our Otaheit Airport in order to show off our technology to them, and they requested permission to fly there as well. When we asked whether they would arrive on a wyvern, in hopes of perhaps gleaning some information about the geography of their country, they responded that, if it was acceptable, they would come by aircraft.”

“W-What?!”

“According to our aircraft in the lead, Celestina’s vehicle was traveling at 160 kilometers per hour, and it was too late for us to adjust our speed to match. I asked an air force pilot, hypothetically, what would happen if combat broke out with that machine, and he replied that our aircraft would certainly not lose to it. Well, either way, the simple fact that they have working aircraft is reason enough to be wary.”

“However, their method of flight differs from ours. We’ve never seen a flying vehicle like it. So, Lieutenant Myrus, that’s where you come in.”

“According to what they tell us, Celestina Empire is outside the civilized area, east of the Third Civilization’s continent Fillades. But their aircraft’s technology far surpasses what the Papaldia Empire has. Our diplomatic conference will be in one week, so you have been assigned to take care of them, bring them sightseeing and such. During that time, show them our level of technology, but also try to determine their level as well.”

“Understood.”

Technical Officer Myrus felt his machinist soul flare-up for the first time in a long while. What exactly was this unknown flying machine? The diplomat who had made to leave suddenly turned around.

“Oh, right! I almost forgot, Celestina’s vehicle is currently parked on the east side of the airport, you should go take a look at it.”

Five Minutes Later

Myrus stood dumbfounded in front of the parked aircraft that the people from Celestina rode… There was a propeller on top of it. Spinning it seemed to make it fly, but… When he’s taking a closer look, there are two propellers looked like a cross of airplane wings on each vehicle. When air hits the front of the “wing,” it breaks apart to travel over and under the wing before joining together again. Since the top of the wing bulges out, the air on top has to travel a longer distance in the same amount of time as the bottom of the wing, meaning the flow of air is faster on top. This creates an air pressure difference between the top and bottom of the wing, generating lift.

However… for this machine to fly, it would need an extremely powerful engine. In addition to that, when the propeller spins, they needed to address how the vehicle body tries to spin in the opposite direction. There are tail wings in the rear, and each of them has a horizontal stabilizer with a pair of vertical stabilizers and maybe that counteracts the vehicle body to spin in the opposite direction, but it should require a lot of fine output adjustments to reach equilibrium. All in all, this was a very complicated vehicle to construct.

Another aircraft that he has never seen before also has a complex structure and he didn’t know how this aircraft will lift and turn around. But, his excitement of two new kinds of aircraft makes him grow enthusiast even further.

“This technology is amazing!!!”

Myrus simply stared up, stock-still, at the LTC-F2 (Light Troop Carrier F2) and ID-22 TC (Infantry Drop-22 Troop Carrier). Both were guarded by the crew with pilot clothes and some are wearing suit akin to an adventurer. He got no idea what kind of technology the Celestina Empire possesses.

On his way to the reception area, Myrus’s steps were heavy. Mu’s engines weren’t powerful enough for them to attempt to build Celestina’s flying machine, what was called a “helicopter.” At the very least, he had to admit that Celestina’s engines were superior to theirs. But! Mu did have super tall 100-meter buildings, aircraft that could fly at 380 km/h, and many highly-skilled pilots, not to mention their state-of-the-art warship, La Kasami.

“I wonder how this is going to go…” Myrus wondered as he reached the envoys’ room and knocked on the door.

“Please come in.”

He slowly opened the door. There were two men sitting on the sofa.

“Hello, I will be showing you around Mu for the next week until the conference. My name is Myrus.”

The envoys stood up to greet him.

“I am Dirman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thank you very much for taking care of us while we are in the country of Mu. We really appreciate it. This is my assistant, Akabane.”

They were very polite. The diplomat was already prepared to leave.

“Well, the tour will begin tomorrow, since I am sure you are tired from your long journey. I will quickly show you around this airport then bring you to a hotel in the metropolitan area.”

Myrus took the envoys to the airport’s hangar. Inside the hangar, there was a biplane painted white with a blue stripe sporting two machine guns, fixed wheels, and a cover to reduce air resistance. From how shiny and polished it was, it was clear that this was a well-loved and maintained machine. Myrus launched into an explanation.

“This iron dragon is a flying vehicle that we call an ‘aircraft.’ It is our latest combat model, the Marin. It’s faster than a wyvern lord at three hundred and eighty kilometers per hour, it has machine guns installed in front… umm, those are weapons that shoot metal using explosions of gunpowder. A single person can operate this plane. It has many other advantages over wyvern lords. You don’t have to worry about flying while it’s stressed, and no worry about feces or food expenses when they aren’t being used. It’s also more powerful than wyvern lords in aerial combat.”

He was very confident in his explanation. The Celestinian could only dumbly utter words of wonder. They must be completely taken aback!

“When is the last time we’ve seen this?” Akabane asks Dirman about this matter.

“This kind of retro? Only at Mechania and Studia. They’ve kept it operational for some reasons.”

The man named Dirman looked at the state-of-the-art combat plane and called it “retro.” Myrus wondered what that meant.

“Is there any other option for an internal combustion engine other than the reciprocating engine? The steam engine is also a type of reciprocating engine, correct? Well, steam engines are too heavy and weak to power flying vehicles.”

“In Celestina, we have a compact, high-powered engine called a ‘jet engine,’ and a ‘repulsor engine.’ Of course, the reciprocating engine is also a fine choice,” Akabane answered.

Eeeh?! Celestina really did have a high-performance engine! His investigation efforts were already paying off.

“Really… So Celestina has a different type of engine suitable for aircraft? I would love to hear more about that.”

“The design and principles are quite simple. If our countries form ties, you’ll be able to purchase all the information you need from our bookstores. However, because of our Technology Outflow Configuration on The New World, to earn that technology, we must open a diplomatic relationship first before we can proceed.”

“But the simple designs can still be obtained. How interesting! I personally hope that our countries can indeed become allies.”

It appeared that Celestina may have aircraft technology that far surpassed Mu’s. Myrus continued prodding to confirm whether this was the case.

“How fast are Celestina’s aircraft able to go?”

The speed of an aircraft was of utmost importance. The faster the vehicle, the easier it was to attack and withdraw before being attacked back, so speed granted an overwhelming advantage. Dirman and Akabane whispered between themselves.

(Alicia already inform us, but let’s use the CF-1 and CAG-2 for a while. If we become allies, they’ll find out about it anyway, so there’s no need to hide it… It will be a very big hit for them if they wants to learn from us)

“If you’re asking about combat aircraft, the CISC’s main planetary fighter planes are the CF-1 and CAG-2, which can reach speeds of Mach three or three times the speed of sound. For passenger aircraft, their cruising speed is about the speed of sound or Mach 1.”

“W-w-w-What?!”

She was speechless… They… they… they can break the speed of sound?! Th-th-th-… that’s impossible!!!!!!

“Ha-ha-ha… I would sure love to see that… All right, here we are…”

Myrus led the envoys out of the airport. Hee was going to boast about Mu’s cars, but he felt like that might just make him more depressed. There was a car parked outside of the airport waiting for the Celestinian envoys. This vehicle, which used oil to power a miniaturized internal combustion engine, was the pinnacle of Mu’s technology. The envoys simply got into the car without making any kind of fuss. The car started and began to move. They didn’t seem particularly surprised or bothered at all. That confirmed it…

“Does… Celestina also have cars?” asked Myrus.

“Yes; we last collected data six months ago, but back then there were about seven hundred million passenger cars in active use in Celestina.”

“T… that many? Your roads must be completely clogged with cars…”

“In our previous world, there is what’s called a ‘traffic signal system’… If we establish relations with Mu, we would love to export the knowledge for that system.”

Myrus was completely exhausted, mentally. They drove on the flat road and eventually reached a luxury hotel. The car stopped at the hotel entrance and everyone went inside.

“Tomorrow, I will go over my country’s history then show you a part of our navy. I hope you have a good rest today,” Myrus told the envoys before he left.

The Next Day

The Celestina envoys were brought to the Mu’s Museum of History. Myrus began to lecture them smoothly.

“Let me give you a brief overview of our history. First, while other countries do not believe this, our ancestors are not originally inhabitants of this planet.”

“Alright.”

The envoys listens to Myrus as she was explaining about the history of Mu.

“This happened twelve thousand years, when a phenomenon we now call the Great Continental Transference occurred. At that time, most of what is now known as the continent of Mu was transported to this world. We know this from the official records left by the monarchy that ruled back then. This is what our former planet looked like.”

Myrus pointed to a world globe. Akabane looked at the planet that was familiar to them.

“Is this… Earth…? H-How it could be…?”

Heheh, these Celestinian, surprised over how our old planet was round.

“Our old world was round. This planet as well, even though the distance to the horizon is twice as long, it is also round.”

“This is definitely Earth!”

“What?”

“This is… is the axis slightly off? But… these land masses are definitely Earth’s. Hmm? If Antarctica is here, then it must not have been covered in ice…”

For some reason, the Celestinians were pointing at a continent and acting surprised. I suppose I can explain.

“That continent there was called Atlantis, after the country that ruled it, and they had enough power to control half of the world, with Mu dominating the other half. We have been transferred twice, and our land is merged with another land. So, it what makes this country become a Mu Continent before it got transferred once again to here.”

Myrus pointed to four large islands that were gathered near the supercontinent of Eurasia. Another is the islands that suddenly become one with Atlantis former land. It was the reason why Mu contingent houses multiple races such as elves.

“This country here, Yamuto, was one of our former allies. However, after the Great Transference, they would have been torn apart by the event, so they were probably taken over by Atlantis… As for our first transference, we manages to increase our land size by encountering a foreign lands.”

“Excuse me, if I may?” Dirman cut in forcefully.

“Go ahead.”

“I think it would be best if we explained Celestina’s circumstances first.”

“Oh?”

“Celestina was also transported here. While it’s possible we came from… a different dimension, we think we also came from your former planet. The four islands you pointed to are actually… Earth in a prehistoric era. Furthermore…”

Akabane reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of maps to make a comparison.

“This is a current map of Celestina in this world, and this is a map of the world we came from. Also, this is the map of Earth where you came from.”

Myrus was shown a map of Earth and a Mercator projection map. The projection map certainly looked similar to the globe, a map of their former world without the Mu continent on it. He was stunned… Dirman continued speaking.

“In our old world, there was a legend of a continent that sank into the ocean thirteen thousand years ago. The continent that you called ‘Atlantis’ appears to have become what we call Antarctica. Could this have happened because the axis of the planet shifted?”

“Hahaha… I doubt we just happened to stumble across a monumental historical discovery. I would certainly love to be on good terms with Celestina, though. We can’t… possibly have…… I will make sure to inform my superiors later, but… What happened to the Earth?”

“We… subjugate it in lieu of the punishment during the Fourth Interstellar War. Now, it was put under our watch, but we take no interest in colonizing it.”

“Interstellar War?”

“Yes… It was a war between planets on the systems. It’s more like they backstab us when we help them, so we decide to make a subjugation to suppress their arrogancy.”

“I-I see…”

Following that interruption, Myrus finished summarizing Mu’s history while preparing the report regarding current situation on Earth. The confusion after being transported, conflict with neighboring countries, the discovery that they were inferior in magical capabilities, their decision to pursue machinery over magic, and finally becoming the second-most powerful country in the world. While it sounded like Mu suffered a lot after transferring, it was still amazing for a single country to independently develop cars and aircraft. For Celestina, it feels like they never experience a tech race where people are chasing technology advancement ever since the Technology Revolution that happens around the 1800s, practically the industrial revolution.

After the history lesson was over, the Celestinian envoys were taken to one of the navy’s bases. They were intent on showing off their power as a world superpower and as the strongest or second-strongest navy. Myrus remembered Celestina’s warship that was magically photographed in the Kingdom of Louria. Although its length was greater than Mu’s newest battleship La Kasami, it was only equipped with a two different cannons that was only about 12 or 13 centimeters in caliber and around 15 centimeters in caliber. In comparison, the La Kasami had two pairs of 30.5cm cannons. The firepower of a cannon was proportional to the cube of the caliber; if the two ships fought each other, it was clear which one would emerge victorious. Myrus was positive that the tour this time would go well.

The Mu navy’s new battleship La Kasami was visible, anchored at the port.

“Oooh, so that’s their Battleship. Take a look at its structure, Akabane.” Dirman stared at the La Kasami while he secretly scan the ship.

Odd—he understood the words Dirman was saying, but what does he mean regarding the structure itself? Wait, do they know battleship?

“Mr. Dirman, you are far too excited right now. That looks like an Ibuki-class Battleship, but if Grand Duchess Minazuki can enhance it further…”

“She can upgrade it into a ship like Bismarck, right?”

And now, Akabane said it looked exactly like something else. There was no way… did Celestina also have battleships? If that was the case, then why did their warship only have two cannons equipped on it? Myrus decided to try probing for the answer.

“So Celestina also has battleships?”

“Ah, yes. We have them in services, but we haven’t put them on the front line yet. Considering the regulation from the Main Council is to deploy necessary warships to combat the current opponent, perhaps when you visit the Celestina Empire, you can get the first view of one of our best battleships, Scharlwarltz-class Superheavy Battleship.”

A-A superheavy battleship? So, did that mean Celestina had the capability of building battleships?

“W-wait! Why you didn’t deploy it into the front line?”

Dirman shakes his head as he only gives a necessary answer, “Why would we? The councils inform us that currently there is no necessary things to release battleships.”

They had no plans to deploy them to the front line, rather they choose to keep it at their land, that’s what he’s suggesting.

“This world operates on the tenets of ‘survival of the fittest;’ is there a reason not to deploy them to the front line?”

“It’s based on the Celestina Campaign Protocol that we will only deploy such battleships when it was necessary. We can’t overexpose our technologies to either allies or opponent unless the Command decides to use it.”

“I see… by the way, you mentioned something about how this ship looked familiar, does Celestina maybe have a similar-looking ship?”

“Ah, yes indeed, according to the data we received, it was a battleship called the Ibuki that belongs to Japan. About six hundred years ago, when Japan was known as the ‘Empire of Japan,’ the Ibuki was the main ship for escort and in some situations, represent Japan. Though that ship was no longer exist due to a treaty back in 1923, we still have the data regarding the photograph and its blueprint, allowing us to create a perfect model based on it.

The battleship Ibuki was launched in 1907 and became the ship to represent Japan during the inauguration of the King of Thailand Rama VI Vajiravudh in 1911. During World War I, the ship was also deployed to act as an escort fleet during Middle East conflict at 1918.”

The battleship Ibuki was launched in 1907 and became the ship to represent Japan during the inauguration of the King of Thailand Rama VI Vajiravudh in 1911. During World War I, the ship was also deployed to act as an escort fleet during Middle East conflict at 1918.”

“I see… a ship from around six hundred years ago…”

If Mu kept working on this ship for another six hundred years, it would certainly undergo a dramatic evolution. He was loath to admit it, but Celestina’s technology was considerably more advanced than Mu’s. To get information further, he ask Celestina about Earth after World War itself.

“So, what happened after that World War?”

“If looking at the history itself, they can develop a stronger warship in that time. If the world already heard about the Grade Atlastar, it has the same capabilities as Yamato-class Battleship and a single volley fire can obliterate this ship.”

“O-One volley?”

To think that if La Kasami will be deployed into the duel against Grade Atlastar, it was certain that if the Gra Valkas’s battleships scores nine direct hits to La Kasami, it will be certain that this ship will be destroyed.

“Of course, if you want to learn machinery more, you can study at Juno once the diplomatic relationship was formed. Grand Duchess Feena is looking forward to see if she can train some of the engineers from Mu in person.”

“Oh, I’d love to!”

At this time, Celestina had battleships, but they haven’t deployed them into the front line. He didn’t believe that the ship with two guns was stronger than the battleship. He was convinced they came from a peaceful world where the battleship’s existence was not necessary. Iterative success was necessary for the advancement of technology. But the mystery remain as how long the ship stays at the storage dock, in all likelihood, battleships could be considered obsolete to them based on how Celestina treats it. It was certain that Celestina was a threat that can’t be taken lightly.

After Myrus finished showing off Mu’s technology, he submitted a report to his superiors. While there were many details that were hard to swallow, overall the evaluation was that Celestina was not hostile, and they had access to advanced technology. Because of the imminent threat of the Gra Valkas Empire, they had no reason to refuse Celestina’s request for friendship, so it was decided that Mu would open diplomatic relations with the Celestina Empire.

The Papaldia Empire, Imperial Capital Esthirant

The 1st foreign affairs department was in complete disarray over the recent events in western Central World. This was because the Second Civilization’s western superpower, Leifor, had lost to the unknown country known as the Gra Valkas Empire. While the Papaldia Empire was much stronger than Leifor, their navies were very close in power (Papaldia’s Tears of the Wind God were capable of better acceleration than Leifor made).

Even more unbelievable, Gra Valkas’s super-dreadnought, the Grade Atlastar, single-handedly wiped out Leifor’ entire navy, repelled their waves of wyvern lords, and decimated Leifor’s capital city Leiforia, all that by itself. A ludicrously powerful country just appeared out of nowhere from the western ends of the world. The 1st department’s head, Elto, did not like these findings. The 3rd department also recently sent the oversight army east on a failed punitive strike against the Kingdom of Selarong. If… Gra Valkas also had a hand in that, this would become a huge deal…

“In any case, gather more information!!!” Elto had ordered his men. Amidst that, a certain report reached him. “What is this…?”

As he read the report, Elto’s wide-open eyes somehow strained open even wider. It was a letter from an observer, Glen, who was sent to the Kingdom of Louria by the 4th Department. His letter postulated that the oversight army’s defeat was at the hands of a country called “Celestina” that had participated in the Great Naval Battle of Louria. He wrote desperately that he only told them what he observed, yet the 4th Department did not believe his battle report at all.

“Find out everything you can about this country called ‘Celestina’!!!”

The Papaldia Empire had finally begun to take Celestina seriously.