CH 47

Chapter 47 – Xuě Lì and the Spirits

After moving from the room with the acidic smell to another one, Hart let her cry and comforted her for about 30 minutes.

Though invisible, Mira, Fleur, and Rhea, Hart’s contracted spirits, all appeared, and mobilized to comfort Xuě Lì, and disparage Hart.

『Not being able to refuse marriage diplomacy is harsh. Mira believes that a contract should only be concluded by mutual agreement.』

Mira patted Xuě Lì’s head and turned her protesting eyes on Hart as if she were pointing at the culprit forcing her in this situation.

『It’s awful that she can never see home again. Can’t you just let her go back?』

Fleur, with fairy feathers growing from her half-elven ears, took on the size of a small fairy and anxiously flew around Xuě Lì.

『Let’s all get her home. It’s not like Hart absolutely wants this girl and loves her and can’t help it. So why don’t we just send her home and get another girl? You can do that, right? Uh huh. Say something.』

Rhea, with her elf ears and a green breeze around her, pulled on Hart’s clothes, almost flying towards Hào Lán.

As the spirits fussed around her, Xuě Lì gradually calmed down.

Eventually, she stopped crying, shook her head and played back the recorded footage on the information terminal. It was a scene where Xuě Lì was ordered by her father, Hào Lán, to conduct marriage diplomacy.

Hào Lán tells Xuě Lì that he has chosen her to be a member of a delegation aimed at establishing diplomatic relations with the Monarchy of Diete.

Xuě Lì refused to accept because she was a shut-in, but Hào Lán said something terrible.

[If you refuse to go outside Tenka, then choose the one that will be best for the Sòng family from among the Six Tenka families. Even if he is a giant perverted demon who has been single for about 100 years and has various issues, as long as he is within Tenka, you will have no complaints, right?]

The three spirits froze in place at the words “giant perverted demon”.

Hào Lán’s threats continued in front of the rigid spirits.

If she returns after being sent to the Monarchy, he’ll have her hands and legs tied up with rope and throw her into a pervert’s bedroom with her marriage certificate.

Xuě Lì couldn’t believe her ears, but Hào Lán was relentless with the recommendations.

[My only concern is which pervert’s bedroom to throw you into. The darker the pervert, the more he will be indebted to me, and the better for the Sòng family. With that in mind, decide! Either enter into marriage diplomacy or choose not to and be thrown into a pervert’s bedroom.]

The spirits, who had been appealing for the suspension of marriage diplomacy, fell silent after watching the video recording and looked at Xuě Lì with their respective expressions.

Mira, a girl with the appearance of a 10-year-old, was looking at her with resignation.

Fleur, a fairy who dreamed of home, has the melancholy of homelessness in her eyes.

Rhea, who was about to charge, was petrified with an out-of-focus expression.

According to the materials submitted in advance, Xuě Lì was an 18-year-old woman who graduated from Fukashiro University, the most difficult university on a planet with a population of 21 billion, and after majoring in the Planetary Circulation System at the Faculty of Environment, she became a board member of a Planetary Environment Building Organization.

Beautiful stereoscopic images were also sent, and her pink greige hair and white skin suggested that she was probably a woman who took in the genes of Irish refugees with Celtic roots.

One of only four daughters of Hào Lán, the successor to the Sòng family that ruled Fukashiro, hence the Monarchy, which cannot send out a royal with the right to succeed the throne, struggled to find a suitable match for the brilliant, beautiful and noble Xuě Lì.

If Xuě Lì’s candidates were not balanced, Fukashiro’s side would get angry for being insulted, which could lead to worsening of public sentiment and deterioration of diplomatic relations.

As a result, they were forced to use their trump card, the Marquis of Amakawa, a General of the Monarchy of the same age as Xuě Lì. A Lord who rose from quasi-aristocrat to Marquis in a generation, with magic power value of over 90,000, and the owner of a spirit crystal monopoly company.

Shari’s reality is that she was a game lover with a communication disorder. Her background is not a lie, but she’s been brilliantly tricked up to sell at a high price.

The Monarchy is also pushing three sisters of the traitor Leandre, who are in a bad position, to get rid of the nuisance, so they aren’t completely different in this regard.

In any case, Hart has no option to refuse from the start. It is a position that must be successfully maintained for diplomatic purposes.

“I see. I don’t mind if you’re a game-loving recluse with a communication disorder. Since the first wife is the Princess, and the second wife is a young lady of a Duke, you don’t have to do any official duties unrelated to Tenka. By the way, I’m not a perverted demon. Oh, and I like to play games too.”

Although he is a cat-ear loving demon. Hart made a concession, adding in his inner thoughts. After hearing Hart’s remarks, Xuě Lì turns a suspicious look to such a convenient story.

When asked without words, Hart arbitrarily explained the question, imagining it himself.

“Our relationship affects the national sentiment of both countries. In other words, Xuě Lì works just by having fun and doing her job at home. Even here, you can get a game of the Monarchy, Coalition, and Republic. I’ll budget some money, so you’re free to spend it on whatever you want.”

After the explanation, Hart felt that she had changed from a suspicious gaze to an anxious one. He had no choice but to guess because she didn’t explain it verbally, but he wonders if she was confused by the overwhelmingly favorable conditions. Hart imagined it himself.

“Shall we play a game together for now? Did you bring any of Tenka’s strategy games or war games?”

“………… I’ve been looking forward to all the new releases.”

“We’re about to go to war with the nations other than Fukashiro, so let’s play in a war game where you can understand the strengths of the five nations and their types of ships.”

“………… But I’m Tenkan.”

“As of today, you will be the fiancée and future third wife of the Marquis of Amakawa in the Monarchy of Diete. And if the Monarchy wins, the Sòng family, who disagreed with the other Five Nations, will prove to be more discerning. It would also improve Xuě Lì’s position, since she came to the Monarchy through marriage diplomacy.”

“………… I don’t think our standards match with the Monarchy’s terminals.”

Xuě Lì took the data storage from her party bag and showed it with a Tenka information terminal attached to her left hand.

Then, from next to Hart, Mira peered into the device.

『No problem.』

Mira muttered without any thought, clenching her empty left hand and slowly opening it. Then, on the left hand, which should have had nothing, a dark green spirit crystal was born.

Hart was amazed at Mira’s act of creating a spirit crystal. Spirit crystals can only be produced on Diros, the Capital planet of the Monarchy of Diete. There is no doubt that if the scientists who were desperately researching witness the phenomenon now, their heads will go blank.

Hart recalled the setting of the maiden game “The Galactic Prince” and asked Mira.

『Because I contracted directly with Seraphina without going through her spirit crystal, Seraphina is out of the Spirit God’s control. So Mira, who entered the realm of Seraphina, is not bound by the rules of the Spirit God, but subject the rules of Seraphina instead?』

When Hart spoke to the spirits with magic, the three had smiles on their faces.

『That’s a sound guess. The Great Spirit God has concluded his business here, so as long as you follow the prearranged rules, he will not interfere with you.』

『I see… no, wait. If the restrictions are off, then aside from lower level spirits who lack self-awareness and malice, intermediate level spirits will be able to terminate contracts with their contractors, right? Will warship operators and fighter craft pilots face termination?』

『Mr. Hart would be in trouble there, so Seraphina made arrangements. With the exception of Mira, whose magical power is connected to Seraphina via Mr. Hart, the restrictions are maintained. If Mr. Hart calls on Seraphina, she can always lift them.』

『If our military strength is reduced, the legitimate contractors could also die. For the time being, maintain the conditions imposed by the Spirit God.』

『Yes, that’s fine.』

Mira nodded at Hart’s request, and presented the spirit crystals she had created to Xuě Lì.

“The basic principles of Tenka and the Monarchy’s information terminal are the same. There’s nothing wrong with it, so please attach this spirit crystal to the terminal.”

“………… um, this.”

“Yeah, it’s a spirit crystal I had in stock. I originally planned to give it to you, so use it.”

To the bewildered Xuě Lì, Hart nodded back and urged her to wear the spirit crystal.

Since the spirit crystal was supposed to be handed at the time of belonging to the Monarchy side, it’s no problem if he says that it’s no problem. Since Mira manifested it, the spirit would be one under Mira’s influence. In terms of being in Mira’s and thus Hart’s control, it is much better than passing the spirit crystals created by the Spirit King.

When Xuě Lì fearfully wore the spirit crystal, a dark skinned girl with blond hair, a green cane and a green dress appeared. Hart had mistaken her for a dark elf for a moment, but since the ears of the spirits that appeared were human-like, he judged that her power was C-class.

This collapses the assumption that spirit crystals of D-class or higher can only be manufactured in the first factory.

“My name is Chloe. I can be of assistance, so please let me know what you need.”

The beaming Chloe had some interaction with Mira as she pulled the information from Xuě Lì’s information terminal and data storage.

Then, the game made by Tenka was sent to Hart’s information terminal.

“You can play together now.”

As Chloe declared, Xuě Lì and Hart’s information terminals were connected, and even the Tenka-made game stored in the storage was launched on Hart’s terminal.

Moreover, the language used in the game is automatically translated from Tenkan to the common language.

“…… Er, no way?”

“You may think of spirit crystals as a future technology. Rest assured that the contracted spirit will only listen to its Contractor. If Xuě Lì says something different from me, this one will absolutely give priority to Xuě Lì’s will.”

However, the creator of the spirit crystal can impose various restrictions and limitations on it.

Spirit crystals of Spirit God are imposed with various restrictions, and Mira should have imposed the necessary constraints as well. It should basically not be possible to do anything that would really trouble Hart.

“………… the Monarchy, is too awesome.”

“It’s not the Monarchy, it’s the great doctor who developed it. Then let’s play a game. My contract spirits can also play games, so when I’m not around, you can play with their alters. So, what kind of war game would be good?”

“…… the Galaxy War series, but I don’t know if it will be helpful.”

“Okay. I’d like the latest version if possible. Which is it?”

“…… this one.”

Xuě Lì pointed to the screen of the terminal right next to Hart, giving off a sweet scent.

Operating as he was told, Hart became one of the leaders of the Six Tenka family and descended into the game world.

It was released in October 3741, a year and a half ago, but an additional version update reflected the history up to the fall of the Coalition in March 3742.

Starting in 3731, 10 years before the game was launched, players aim for conquest by intervening in the war between the Coalition and the Monarchy.

“How did you bring this in here?”

It’s no wonder that Hart is so amazed.

From the opening of the game, the weapons information contained details of the performance and armament of each of Tenka’s warships. This kind of game requires a lot of realism from the player. Perhaps with actual specifications, the space map of the Tenka Federation’s territory is also fairly accurate.

Since the settlement of Fukashiro in 3045 AD, they had not been involved in war with other countries for 700 years, so there is little awareness of the need to protect military secrets, and the information is almost as it is.

Just one battle will provide a general idea, but the outcome of the battle can vary dramatically when Hart, commander of Fortress Kerviel, knows about it before the first blow.

“…… I bought it before this whole ordeal. The offline storage was hidden in my handbag and wasn’t found. There was some good data on the ship. But that’s been checked.”

“Yes, this is a great help. Let’s keep this a secret, Fukashiro would be in trouble if it was known that Xuě Lì had leaked the information. I’ll pay it back by giving Xuě Lì the treatment she deserves.”

“…… Uh huh.”

In the game, Hart chose Shinkyō, the third ranked nation in Tenka, and Xuě Lì chose Fukashiro, her native nation, and began to prepare for the war.

The first step is to conscript national mages among the Tenka outsiders owned by six nations.

They were refugees from Earth, and about 400 years ago when they evacuated, they demanded Tenka submit to them, claiming that “we are the Suzerain of Tenka, and because we developed it, we have the right to it”.

Then, Tenka was treated as having prevailed over them in the War, and in exchange for the right to survive using Tenka’s water and air, men were obligated to serve in the army for 30 years and women were required to give birth to four children with the designated genes.

If they refuse, anything Tenka owns would be seized and they would be expelled from Tenka… In other words, they would be thrown into outer space with nothing, which was practically a death sentence.

It was easy to gather the descendants because they were educated to work for Tenka, and the warships were also equipped with an android that made Tenka outsiders subservient by violence.

As a result, about 200,000 Monarchy cruiser-class mages gathered, and 200 fleets could be organized.

Each of Tenka’s fleet consists of 1,000 ships.

The main fleet consists of 990 ShirakiBáichéng vessels, equivalent to the Monarchy cruiser. In addition, There are 10 ShiroyamaBáishān ships, which correspond to the Monarchy carrier craft, for a total of 1,000 ships to form a fleet.

Their Flagship is the RyūshouLóngshèng, a battleship class operated by Tenkans, which is outside of the 1,000-ship limit. In addition, for domestic security, non- Tenkans operate the IshijouShíchéng, which is a destroyer class vessel.

Their fighter craft is called the YunfuYúnfú, and 150 can be mounted per carrier craft. The pilots are national mage Tenka outsiders who fell from the captain class that moved the warship. It was assumed that the size of the fighter craft was the same size as the old fighter craft of the Monarchy and the Coalition, and it matched.

Since one Monarchy fleet has 5,000 fighter crafts, Tenka’s fleet with 1,500 seemed to be few, but if 200,000 ships from 200 fleets were deployed, the resulting 300,000 fighter crafts would be more than enough.

If Tenka intervenes even in one country, even before the war, they will win at the time by annexing the Monarchy and the Coalition. Even if Tenka’s cruisers are evaluated with a force rating of about 70% that of the Monarchy, one Tenka fleet is stronger than a single Monarchy fleet.

In the game, the premise was about how to outsmart the other five Tenka nations and seize the Coalition and Monarchy territory. If you achieve the greatest results with the least amount of damage, the points will also be higher.

“Could it be that the intervention was delayed because the Tenka nations were restraining each other?”

“…… Tenka may have thought that they could win at any time because the number of national mages is increasing. If there wasn’t enough, they would re-conscript from the previous generation of national mages, or female national mages who have finished giving birth would operate the IshijouShíchéng  ships, this can make up the numbers.”

After Xuě Lì’s explanation, Hart was convinced by Tenka’s way of thinking.

Tenka could drink up the Monarchy at any time, if the irregularity of spirit crystals had not occurred.

However, just as Tenka was divided into six nations from Fukashiro, even if a distant star system was acquired, a seventh and eighth nation would only emerge, and therefore the six ruling families had little merit.

The history of Fukashiro’s independence from Earth and its further division into six star systems, as well as the disagreement between the five countries and Fukashiro this time, shows that Tian Hua has difficulty in uniting as one. Historically, the Earth-era countries, that were the origin of Tenka, were divided several times.

If the technology had developed further and the travel time between star systems had become shorter, they might have moved to annex. But originally, it was probably not the time to start the annexation yet.

“…… If the Monarchy loses, I’ll be in trouble.”

“Tenka’s 1.2 million national mages and 12 billion spirit crystal wearers of the Monarchy. There is a 10,000-fold difference between the two powers. Even if there is a 100-folds difference in the strength assessment between cruisers and fighter crafts, the Monarchy is 100 times stronger considering the difference in the number of people. That’s why Fukashiro signed a nonaggression treaty with the Monarchy.”

“…… Can we win?”

“We can win. The Monarchy of Diete is a group that attacks enemy planets with their ships when provoked. Of all the human nations, they’re the last ones you want as enemies.”

Hart, even with the seal of approval, was not confident they could stop 1.2 million cruisers with only 9 million fighter crafts. Even if the MacLir system is Seraphina’s domain, it is still not enough. If they fight in another system, the Monarchy will lose as in the Tenka game.

While continuing the war game, Hart spoke to his spirits with magic.

『If you are outside the constraints of the Spirit God, by purifying the miasma accumulated in the planet where living creatures live and absorbing the energy and accumulate power, you can also be promoted to Spirit King in this system. Is it safe to assume that you will not refuse promotion?』

The three spirits, whom Hart looked at, all seemed confused. Mira responded on behalf of the group.

『Mira is a vegetarian, hence can’t eat planets with intelligent life, but Fleur and Rhea are fine.』

『I see. In that case, I’ll use a portion of the craft ships, place 20 pieces of tungsten on Fortress Kerviel, with 1 kilometer diameter and a heat-resistant coating for atmospheric entry. Fleur and Rhea, pour magic power into 10 entry objects each.』

Mira tilted her head at the wording contained in Hart’s request.

『By the way, Mr. Hart, you know things that you shouldn’t know. I know that Seraphina isn’t speaking. So who taught you?』

『Incidentally, Mira, you’re much too casual when addressing the Spirit King Seraphina. Spirits usually show absolute respect when addressing other higher ranked spirits. In other words, Mira, you have power on par with a Spirit King, but as a vegetarian, you refuse to trigger the promotion. Well, even among Spirit Kings there’s a wide power gap. Mira is probably pretty high up there.』

『Fufufu. The information that you have could be accepted as dowry, Mr. Hart.』

Hart, who is not being taken as a groom, shrugged his shoulders at Mira’s joke.