"It was utter insanity… To think that the promise that we gave to our people, a promise to secure Silesia for the "chosen people" and "greatest of all races", would all become nothing but a daydream after that "man", arrived and blew it all up."
- Minister Alyson Bor-Ghers, Atlanterran Confederation State Ministry.
An excerpt from his autobiography "The High Office"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
There is a saying in Promethea that nearly anyone who went to war knows.
"Ericans fight to expand their domain, Umisians fight to escape or preserve the trading of bondage, Ostadonians fight to protect what little they are left with, and Atlanterrans fight to have the right to live."
While they heavily deny it at every chance that they get, it isn't a secret that the men that make up Atlanterra's armed contingents volunteered to join their armed force because they see it as a means to an end.
May it be a dream that they wish to reach through the payment they were promised, the right to citizenship that they and their family desire, or even the freedom to fulfill the cruel and twisted desires that are fermenting in their wicked hearts, all of these are reasons that reach far and wide, and nearly no one has another reason to be there.
Because of this, while they are known as an incredibly aggressive and militant superpower, the sacrifices that they incur at every battle and the ensuing infighting that happens between great egos, keeps much of their "victories" as a minor thing.
"Brothers! Today, we will bathe those Ostadonians in their own blood! Today, we will be reborn as men of Helenas! Men greater than all men!"
"YEE-HAW!!!"
Such a fact has already been common sense for one Patrick Joe Roberts, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Atlanterran Federal Mage Service. For someone like him whose only reason for taking up the gun and fighting in the Silesian front is to take it as a "rite of passage" before being inducted into the Helenas Brotherhood, he has little to no loyalty or sense of duty towards his nation.
The only reason why he and some other like-minded men joined the war is a desire to "kill the lowly races" as espoused by the teachings of those he considers as his peers.
"Lieutenant! Mana signatures 700 meters north-east of our positions! It's them!"
"Alright-o! Let's get this party started then. Diamond formation! Raise your altitudes and let's hit them with the sun behind our backs!"
"""ROGER!"""
Believing the teachings of their racial supremacist group, this group of Atlanterran Wizards belittled their opponents and attributed the loss of Fort Nickson to its defenders' lack of animosity against the Ostadonians.
It was only after ten minutes of engaging their opponents in a firefight that Roberts and his men realized that the teachings they were taught to treat as literal gospel is nothing more than a load of crap.
"Good heavens… what is this… what on promethea is this…?"
When he sallied out with his men, they made up an extended Brigade of 200 Wizards armed with the Mage Service's standard combat kit. When led by a competent commander, a force of this size can easily bring down a fortified city by its own self… and yet, it was them that are being systematically broken down in the present.
"S-Seventh Air Group! Losses are over 80%! Withdrawing from the batt— GUAAAHHH!!!"
"T-The Second Battalion has sustained over 20 casualties! We've lost our commanding officer and the master sergeant! Requesting cover fire as we pull back! I repeat! Requesting cover fire as we— *BZZZZZZTTTT!*"
"HELP!!! HELP MEEEEE!!! MOMMYYY!!!"
Desperate reports and pitiful death cries filled his ManaCom earphones, bathing him in the consequences of his own arrogance and ignorance. Finally snapping out of his trance, his lips can only quiver with one question.
"How could all of this happen…?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Twenty minutes ago in the lower deck of the Ghost of Fenris, Jonathan and his group of over 60 Wizards gathered, wearing their equipment made up of magic tools produced in Stella. On their chests, they all wore the same gem brooch that shone with a bright bluish glow.
"You've already been briefed about this, so I'll keep it short! We're on the offensive now and we will not stop until we've driven the Atlanterrans out of the islands or there's none of them left to offer any resistance!" Jonathan bellowed out, making sure that everyone involved heard him loud and clear. "While we're not in a rush, make sure to remember that time is of essence! The sooner that we get to force them to surrender, the sooner we'll get out of the frontlines! AM I CLEAR?!"
"""YES SIR!"""
"Then follow me! We're going to make those Atlanterran scum have a taste of our righteous fury!"
After hopping out of the airship through the rear cargo door, Jonathan and his men activated their Soul Cores and set their levitation and propulsion magic formulas on the respective computation cores, letting them fly through the sky in order to meet their enemy.
"Captain Maurice! Send me the data from the mana sensor!"
["Aye, sir! Sending it now."]
On the glass visor of Jonathan's helmet, a small grid appeared and on it were numerous blips that each represented an enemy Wizard. After looking at it himself, Jonathan sent the sensor map to his men who all studied it and thought up tactics to use.
["My lord, how do you suggest we approach this?"]
"Before I give mine, let me hear your suggestions first. Let's cover for each other's disadvantages."
One by one, some of his men gave ideas that all seemed well-informed and thought of. In the end, they settled to use their tried and tested tactic of breaking off into small, independent strike groups in order to divide the force and firepower of their numerically superior opponent.
"Divide and destroy! Cover for each other's rears and make sure that the enemy won't have any chance to shoot you down! You're clear to use any means necessary to come out as the victor of the firefight! Remember, don't die!"
"""UNDERSTOOD, SIRE!!!"""
In order to understand why the Bougainvillea family's usage of Wizards has afforded them countless victories even against overwhelming odds, one has to first understand the way of thinking and the established military discipline in Promethea.
While technological advances in production and distribution means that save for the truly "out in the sticks" areas, nearly every person in every place in Promethea knows what a gun is and how to use it, these guns are usually nothing more than muzzle-loading muskets making use of crushed-up Fire manastones. In terms of reliability, they are prone to misfires and breakdowns, they take a long time to reload between firing and their accuracy are abysmally low beyond 30 meters.
While in the case of Wizards, some of these problems have been alleviated by the use of magic formulas to account for the accuracy concerns, the wide usage of Logical Calculator units lessening the mental toll on the user, and being equipped with self-loading rifles considered to be the cutting edge of weapons technology, it never solved one thing that has held the utilization of Wizards back for so long and so much.
["I have visual on the enemy… HAHA!"] reported one of Jonathan's men before chuckling heartily into the ManaCom line. He was then followed by his comrades who are just as amused with the sight ahead of them.
["They really never learn, do they?"]
["Hardly! It seems like they would never doubt the strategies they were taught to be "invincible and infallible"."]
Seeing that once again, the Atlanterran Wizards defaulted to their standard strategy of first engagement, Jonathan rallied his troops into an offensive formation.
"If they're lining up like this, then let's teach them a lesson! First and Second Wings, on me!"
"Aye, aye!"
Assigning a magic formula into their Soul Core, the Bougainvillea Wizards continued to approach the Atlanterran Wizards that has lined up like they are a firing line made up of musketeers.
100 meters… 70… 50… Speeding through the air with no signs of stopping, Jonathan's combined Wizard Wings made the Atlanterran firing line to shoot haphazardly out of nervousness or shoot wildly, missing or simply grazing their enemies' magic barriers.
"WHOA!"
"What the hell are these punks—?!"
After passing by, Jonathan and his Wizards turned back to them and finally raised their rifles that are already teeming with ready-to-fire spells.
"See you on the other side, folks!"
*BYAK—BYAK—BYAK—*
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
A day after that surprise offensive spearheaded by the Serafina Feudal Army and later ended by the Ostadonian Imperial Army, the world learned and quickly accepted a fact that took numerous decades to finally set in stone.
"Well, well. Would you look at this… ""Tis' our ocean!", Ostadonia drives out Atlanterra from Silesia"… Haha! What a headline, what a very sensational headline…"
In the Quadrangle, the official workplace and seat of power of the Atlanterran Confederation's President, a man between the age of 50 to 60 stood from his seat in order to make eye contact with the other people around him who are wearing their formal military uniforms.
"Y-Your Excellency, you must understand that we did our—"
"Yeah, yeah. You did your best and people should not complain. Am I supposed to accept it as just that and tell our people "Tee-hee! We made an oopsie and lost the war"? Good heavens, General… I know you look down on much of the populace, but to think of them as incompetent enough to not believe what their own two eyes are seeing…"
"S-Sir! I will never do such a thing! My point is that—"
"Your point does not matter, General! Whether they're as dumb as a sack of bricks or as wise as a Great Sage, people understand one thing and one thing alone: Results! They don't care about how it's done so long as it wouldn't be harming them, in the end, what they want are the results! And General, you and your men do not have a desirable one to show to them."
The President's outrage was justified by the fact that in a mere few months, Atlanterra will be holding its general elections, and with the failure of securing Silesia and its myriad of territories and resources, his position would be in grave danger. The men who are in the know of his fears shared it, knowing that every corrupt act and misdeed that they perpetrated would likely be used by a new Cabinet if the current President lost the elections.
After realizing that there's no other way to salvage their situation, the President sat on his seat again and gave his generals an order.
"Haah... we have no other choice. Go and order for the entire command structure in Silesia to be sacked for this failure. Make sure to burn any prior correspondence between us and them, then let the Congress grill them to death later."
"What about our FICS agents? Unlike the officers and grunts who can be easily silenced, those spies are the best of their craft and can return the "favor" to us."
"The usual. Label them as "compromised agents" and have a "shoot-on-sight" order for all of them. If they do get caught alive or they give themselves up, uncover the crimes they did during their service and have them placed at the priority list in the death row. Are these things understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Alright, you're dismissed for the day... Hold on George, stay here for a moment, I have something to talk with you."
Just as his generals are about to leave, he called for one of them who is the commander of their war front against the United Kingdoms of Erica. When it was only the two of them in the office, they dropped their official titles and spoke towards each other like the friends that they were years ago.
"What's wrong, Ham? I haven't seen you go off on us like that for a long time now." he asked the President, seemingly bothered about how he acted earlier. "Please don't tell me this isn't going deeper than politics..."
"Well... sorry to disappoint you on that, but it certainly does."
"Oh, may the moon goddesses have mercy..." he can only groan after hearing the answer. "Why? I understand that you're going to have a rough time in the elections now that we lost control of Silesia, but I heard that the Ostadonian negotiations are letting us have Mako Huna and the other island territories back as long as we dismantle all unnecessary military presence in there. That at least means something."
"To those who are in the know, yes it does. But for the voting populace who only heard that we "lost the war and our stake in Silesia", the outrage would be devastating and the Bears are more than willing to use it to grab control of the lower and upper Houses again."
"I see... then why not just address it? Tell the people the truth and they'll surely understand that we're not really losing anything. You did tell us off earlier to not look down on the public's intelligence."
"George, do you really think I'd be in this position if I can't lie through my teeth? Do you think I'd pursue politics if I am such an honest soul? Of course I don't give a jacksh*t about whether the public is smart or dumb, I only care about how they feel about me because that's what gets me votes."
"Geez, you really are a bad guy... well, ain't all of us in this wretched place a one? Alrighty then, spit it... what kind of trouble do you want me to stir?" After their conversation topic ended, George asked his what he wants him to do.
After a short pause, Abraham finally gave an answer.. "I remember you saying that there was this Ostadonian noble from a ruined family that passed through Chi-Kohe months ago. You said that he got caught alongside a few Erican spies who's trying to smuggle him into Yropa, right?"
"Oh yeah, that peg-legged lad and his mother. I believe they got caught by FICS counter-espionage agents and after being cleared from the suspicion of being spies, they bought an old plantation down in the south where they're now considered as a local criminal family."
"Back in power, huh... In any case, given their past as nobles in Ostadonia, they're bound to be more in the know regarding this guy that I want to look into."
"Guy? Hold on, don't tell me that you believe those ridiculous rumors about the noble family who were the actual ones to turn the tide of the war..."
"Everything that changed history is a "ridiculous rumor" until the one who did it did something more impressive that it can't be disregarded as "rumors" anymore... You know me, I won't risk being caught in that kind of situation especially with what we're going through right now."
Understanding his friend's worries and what he wants to do, George nodded along and did what he wanted to be done.
"Alright... I'll go and send word to them to go here. But from there, it's all up to you."
"Sure. I'll handle it from there by my own."
And so, as the highest leaders of Atlanterra recognized their defeat, they turned their interest on how it all happened and specifically, the ones who are the most responsible for it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
While just like the other previous returnees, the dismissed Feudal Army soldiers disembarked in the airfield of Paddleton in the new Bougainvillea Viscounty, the remaining noble leaders of the force arrived in the Regional capital of Marin in the Taiga Marquisdom.
"Welcome home, Marquis!!!"
"Cheers to our heroes! Cheers to Marquis Taiga!"
The streets of the city was filled with people cheering for the triumphant return of their lord, some even tossing confetti and flowers towards his open-air chariot while he maintained a proud look on his face and wore his well-pressed military uniform.
"Can you hear that? That sound is—"
"T-they're here! The Bougainvillea lords are here!"
However, even the cheers for the Marquis was overshadowed with the arrival of House Bougainvillea who instead of riding an open-air chariot, chose to give a fly-by for the crowd through their flying Wizard formations.
*GA-BABABABABA—!*
"WHOA!"
"HAHA!!! That was so awesome!"
As they passed through the main boulevard where the victory parade was being held, the Wizards synthesized a series of low-powered light and sound magic formulas, imitating the sound and look of fireworks with none of its possible dangers towards the surrounding wooden buildings.
An hour later, a party was held in the ballroom of the Marquisdom's palace where the five nobles who survived the war received accolades for their victory, and those who didn't make it were honored and had their newly-promoted titles officially passed down to their next of kin.
While the party was in full swing, Kazuto, who was finally relieved of his dutiesas acting Marquis with the return of his father, saw and immediately greeted his friend.
"Joshua! I'm glad you're back. I heard about your injuries from father's letters. You really outdid yourself again and again back there." he spoke, looking at Joshua up and down to find that save for his still bandaged arm, he no longer had any wounds.
"Well, I'm glad to be back too. While I knew what I'm getting into, nothing could've prepared me for all of that." Joshua spoke, giving a thin smile towards Kazuto as he raised his wineglass to take a sip using his bandaged arm. "Still, there's work for me to do. Once I get back to my territory, I have to take over our new production sector and lay down new plans for the future."
"I see... I heard that while you're still in Silesia, Jonathan already talked to you about his position as the militant noble branch of House Bougainvillea. What did you think about it?"
"If you're thinking that it was my first time to hear about it, you're wrong. We've already made arrangements about it long before I left for war and he did all those things against the Demesne association. In the first place, I was the one who told him to go ahead and form his own branch family."
"Is that so? Wow... and here I was, thinking that you would be against it since that would mean leaving you with little actual power. I guess since I'm the only legal child of Houses Taiga and Regalia, I don't have much knowledge about trust between siblings."
"Don't let it keep you down, Kazuto. The two of us are very much outliers anyway. In any other noble house, they'll slit the throat of their own sibling if it meant gaining more power and prestige when the right time comes."
"You can say that again... Oh, that reminds me. Where's Jonathan anyway?" Kazuto's question was answered shortly by Joshua turning his body to show the other a door where a pair of guards dressed in Tenka Imperial guard uniforms are standing by. "Oh... I guess that explains things."
"...Indeed it does."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Inside the anteroom a door apart from the spacious ballroom, Jonathan and prince Toshihiko Tenka are sitting across each other. Between them is a low table where hot tea is served alongside a few biscuits and cookies.
"I don't know if you love the limelight or you're trying to send a message, but one thing for sure is that you did everything necessary to make your actions there loud and proud." the prince, seemingly with a neutral expression but is actually very displeased, looked at Jonathan who had a genuinely unbothered expression.
"Well, I'm not trying to deflect the blame, but you can't hide a candle under a bed and expect it to not burn down. I've done what I promised, accept it as how it is."
"...Are you taking a sarcastic tone to me, Baron?" ever so slightly, the hidden displeasure leaked to the prince's expression.
"Not at all. I am simply reminding Your Highness about the stipulations of our agreement. For the price of convincing the senate to suspend my punishment and permit me to become a militant noble house, I gave the Imperial family of Tenka the precious time that they need to stabilize their internal affairs and avoid having its position as the leader of Ostadonia questioned by the four other members of the alliance."
"You overestimate your worth, Baron Fenris Bougainvillea... Whether you were there or not, we would never have lost our precedence over the Empire nor would we be questioned about it by the alliance. So you should—"
"Your presence here says otherwise, Your Highness... So no, I don't think you are telling the truth." doing what could've costed him his life, Jonathan him cut off and after a short pause, continued with his words. "Because if I'm really not "worth the salt", as the old Romulusian saying goes, it wouldn't be you who'll come here. Instead, it would be the honored Crown Prince."
"...Bougainvillea, that's enough out of—"
"Unfortunately for you, Your Highness, I am in fact, worth every pinch and grain of salt to the Imperial family and my and my people's presence in Silesia became the deciding factor in our victory, and now, out of all five members of the Alliance, only Tenka has enough prestige to remain in power and be unquestioned about it... Alas, it seems like you had a different plan in mind after I have served my purpose, isn't it, Prince Toshihiko?" Just after saying that, Jonathan took a letter from his pocket and one glance on the wax seal on it was enough to make the prince's face to pale in shock before he began to silently fume in anger.
"H-How... how did you—" the prince can barely mumble that question after knowing that Jonathan survived the attempt on his life that he arranged for.
"Next time, ask for better assassins or better yet, just deal with other people fairly. You'd be surprised of the difference between treating people as people rather than tools you can dispose and replace..." Jonathan tossed the letter lightly to the table and pushed himself off the couch he was sitting on to end their talks.
"Well then, it's been a pleasant conversation, Your Highness. But as much as I wish to continue talking with you, I have a home to get back to and a promise to fulfill. Let's not keep each other occupied for longer than this. Again, it's been an honor..."
"...Heh! You speak of honor as if you have bone of it in your body. If you really have any honor, you would've kept yourself mum about this and minded your own business. Now that I know that you're aware of what I could've done and worse, do you really think you'll know peace from now on?"
With a smug smile, the prince stood up and faced Jonathan, thinking that his threats made him think twice about antagonizing him, but as soon as he saw the expression of Jonathan's face, he became frozen in both shock and fear.
"Honor? Well, you're right about that, depending on towards who you are talking about, I have none of it to give... It may just be the Tenkan blood from my mother's line that's talking here, but I don't remember swearing an oath of loyalty towards the Imperial family... all this time, my oaths has been sworn to Ostadonia and its people, and just as I said before, it matters little to me who's seating on the throne, so long as it remains the same nation that I swore to serve and protect."
Jonathan turned towards the prince, showing him the fearless glint on his eyes and an aura more murderous than any that he has ever seen before. The next words that came from his mouth was one that felt like the low growl of a cruel beast.
"You say that I will never know peace again? Well, that goes both ways Your Highness. That's the amusing thing with promises and threats, they're the different sides of the same coin. Next time that you threaten someone like that, know that the same thing goes for you..."
At that moment, unbeknownst to anyone in the party next door, a man who always thought of himself as above everyone in both power and prestige came to learn true fear... and all of it came from someone who has just started in his vendetta.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"My lord, I was looking for you..." Later in the evening, Gunther spotted Jonathan at the palace gardens, right beside a bed of flowers. "I wish to report—"
"Ah-ah-ah! Stay right over there, Gunther. I'm almost done here."
"S-Sir...?" Gunther mumbled, confused about why he got interrupted and told to stay put. As he began to wonder what his master is doing, it was answered shortly after.
"Hold on now... Oooohhh... finally... I thought it would never come out after holding it for so long."
Apparently, Jonathan was "picking flowers" after being made to drink glass after glass and being held back by many people who wanted to talk to him. Knowing this, Gunther let him finish and make himself presentable again before continuing his words.
"Master, I have a report regarding the matter that you gave me before we left Silesia."
"Ah, yes. It's good that you reminded me about it. Tell me about it while we're heading back in. What's new?"
"We've successfully tracked down and eliminated everyone who received those letters and colluded with the assassins. It seems like they each made excuses for themselves to take a leave from the Imperial Army shortly after they heard that you returned safely here."
"I see... that proves a lot of my initial suspicions. While it's indeed someone in the Imperial family, it's neither Prince Toshihiko or the crown prince. While they're in the know about it, it's not them who did it."
"It's neither of them two? Then who could it possibly be? Except for them, no one among the imperials has a reason to take you down. If it's still true, then that means you weren't targeted for the sake of claiming our achievements for their own." Gunther began to review all of the clues in his mind and thought up another possible conclusion about all of this. However, Jonathan beat him to it.
"The way I see it, it's not necessary for the mastermind to be someone in the Imperial family or even its branch Houses. Think of it this way, except for them, who has lots of money, connections with underground criminals and enough influence in the empire to easily cleanse themselves of the consequences if they somehow get caught?"
"Well... there is..." For a moment, Gunther thought up possible candidates until he arrived at one which can easily be identified to be true. "The duchies... I almost forgot that they really fit the bill here."
"Exactly... and with how things has been going for the past few months, from the spies that we caught in Siteo and Walter towns, and the highwaymen that we eliminated from our overland trade routes, it all points to someone among the four duchies harassing us for some kind of reason."
"But master, harassing us is one thing but arranging an attempt on your life to the point that it involves high-ranking Imperial army commanders and they didn't even try to hide it from the knowledge of their Highness the Princes means that this goes beyond just a whim... shouldn't we be more worried?"
Hearing his subordinate ask that, Jonathan stopped on his tracks and seemed to ponder for a moment. A few moments later, he asked a question to Gunther.
"If we mobilize everyone in our territories, including the settlements of former Houses Belgram and Lavento, how many men can we field, how many of them can we arm and sufficiently supply, and how effective would they be, you reckon?"
"I think... If we include children over the age of 12, the elderly till the age of 70, and the women, we'd have more or less 5000 men. As for their equipment, the workshops of Stella and Siteo can arm a large part of them if we implement an all-around-the-clock emergency shifts. For their supplies such as food and clothing, we have more than enough stockpile of grain, wool and cotton for about 4000 people for as long as a 3-month campaign. I'd say that we'll have some measure of effectiveness even without including our airships."
"And if we make use of the airships? Would that cut down our losses and increase our efficacy?"
"Without a doubt my lord, but that comes with its own dangers. Even though they're better than many other airships that are fielded currently, save for the Ghost of Fenris, our other airships are just transport vessels whose only self-defense weapon is a lone Volley gun that we confiscated from House Belgram's armory. While we can make modifications to place gun ports and embrasures on the cargo hold, it may cause the vessels to become weakened instead."
Knowing this, Jonathan pondered for a bit more until he uttered something that gained Gunther's surprise.
"I guess it's not bad to lay back for a while and build our strengths up first. Conflict ripe for the picking is always there, it's not a requirement to make use of it now."
"My lord, does that mean...?"
"Right. We're staying back for now. Let's help Joshua in developing the territory and fund more research and production in both Stella and Paddleton. Once the right time comes, only then will we act. But until then, let's conserve our strength and let them come to us themselves."
Jonathan's choice here to stay back, which seems to be made for the sake of giving his people a break from fighting, ended up being one of his best decisions as a noble.
As just a mere 2 weeks later when he returned to the Imperial capital to get back to his studies in the academy, he was once again given a summons to the Imperial Senate.
"Baron Fenris Bougainvillea... it's a pleasure to have you back."
"...I'm tempted to say that the feeling is mutual, Senator, but if I may be frank, it seems like I wasn't told to come here for coffee and biscuits."
After being greeted by Senator Aydin, Jonathan gave a short reply while also stating his suspicion that this is somehow not a hearing with friendly intentions.
"Knowing the value of time and effort to you, Baron. I'll cut this short then, we wish to ask for your statement regarding the recent deaths of commanders in the Imperial army that you fought alongside with in the Silesia front." the female senator spoke and after turning over a chart beside her that contains much of the details of the recently assassinated commanders. With that, she continued on.
"While we're certainly not saying that this is connected with you, you have been implicated as a main suspect after you told them before that "they will either bow down to the ground to you or you will bury them to it yourself". Well?"
"A simple emotional outburst caused by my frustrations with their actions and decisions, senator. Nothing more and nothing less."
"You say that now, but as many say, words have their own dangers... especially when it comes to a man with power and influence."
"Power and influence that is far too little to produce this kind of effect, if I may correct you. As all of us can see, these commanders have high ranks and with it comes more than or adequate enough personal security that follows them wherever they go. While there could be an argument if it happened in the heat of battle, I believe the late imperial commanders were struck during their own respective vacation times, isn't it?"
Jonathan's answer was impeccable, removing the power of the argument regarding his involvement. However, instead of simply washing his hands of the accusation, he went ahead and used it for his own good.
"If I may add, I believe the investigation teams has already taken note of this, but I believe all of these late imperial commanders belong to the same faction in the Silesia front that are made up of noblemen that initially opposed the attack order sent by the crown prince. In my opinion, their deaths might be connected to it."
"Baron, as much as your theories are quite an attractive thing to hear, it's unnecessary in this instance. Please keep it to your self."
"Noted."
While it was shot down, Jonathan knew that simply stating that has changed the outlook of the other senators who are present here to view this thing as something he's not involved in and rather, something that involves a political conspiracy.
After it was recognized that he's not involved in this at all, Jonathan was about to leave when the female senator asked him one last question.
"Baron, before you leave I have another question to ask."
"And what is it, senator?"
It was a question that brought him to the next chapter of his story.
"Would you like to accept an imperial assignment as a temporary ambassador to the Republic of Marl Kah?"