Rednix’s Compelling Proposal

Thirty minutes later.

“This royal palace of yours seems rather interesting as well.”

“It is a place converted from a secret vault. It is quite suitable for sharing confidential stories.”

“Indeed, it seems no one will be able to overhear our conversation.”

Emperor Rednix’s gaze slowly moved to the bottles lined up on the surrounding racks. Seeing that, Ian asked as if to gauge his thoughts.

“How is it? Is it not a place where one can quietly have a drink?”

“Certainly, in a place like this, one can drink without anyone’s interference. I should arrange something similar myself.”

“A good idea. More importantly, would you like a drink?”

“I would be grateful. Please give me something strong.”

At that, Ian rose at once, took a bottle from the rack—one with an alcohol content over forty percent—and set it on the table. Its reddish tint made it clear it was no ordinary liquor. Rednix seemed to recognize it and spoke.

“Is this Pyson?”

“Yes. It was difficult to obtain.”

“It is quite a strong drink, so it seems I truly want what I want.”

“Then I will pour you a glass.”

Pop—he opened the bottle and filled the glass on the table. When it was half full, he poured into his own glass as well. Without further words, they tilted their glasses. Rednix swallowed it in a single gulp. The fierce burn made him slightly furrow his brow—but he spoke as if satisfied.

“Not bad.”

“Your Majesty seems to want more. Shall you have another?”

“Give me more.”

From the way he thrust his glass forward, he seemed determined to get drunk. Ian wondered if any conversation would even be possible at this rate, but since it was what Rednix wanted, he had no choice but to comply. The glass was filled again, and once more Rednix drank it down in one go. He was showing a lack of imperial decorum.

‘His insides must be burning.’

The seized warships were being divided among the empires. Of course, Polia had also been assigned a battleship, cruisers, and destroyers. Ian wondered whether Rednix knew this, so he asked.

“To offset part of the debt, it seems we will receive one battleship, three cruisers, and about twenty-two destroyers.”

“Is that so?”

“And hearing that, you feel nothing at all?”

“What feeling could I have over something already ended? I have been told the navy will be dismantled, and all warships are to be divided among you.”

He spoke with a voice that sounded already resigned. From that, it seemed he did not particularly mind Polia receiving ships. Besides, compared to how many ships the other empires would take, Polia’s share was not that large.

“Rather, I find it regrettable. It would have been far better if you had used them to offset the debt we owe.”

He even expressed regret that it was not being applied to reduce their debt. Seeing that, Ian wondered whether the emperor before him had truly given up everything. As Rednix lifted his glass again, Ian also tilted his own and drank.

The liquid ran down his throat and felt as if it burned straight into his stomach. In that moment, Rednix spoke again.

“Going forward, with enormous war reparations, our empire likely will not even be able to grow properly. And the food problem is severe. Still, I wish to say thank you for at least helping with food.”

“We sold it for compensation. There is no reason to thank us.”

“Even so, at a time when the whole world suffers food shortages due to abnormal weather, the fact you provided it gave us room to breathe.”

They had delivered food and received technology in return. It was nothing special in itself, but they had acquired a large amount of technology they previously did not have. For Polia, it was simply old sacks of wheat that had been sitting around. For them—already running out of food—even that was something to be grateful for.

“We are willing to supply more.”

“Will you? This year’s harvest has failed on a large scale, so I was despairing over how I would secure food to feed my subjects next year. Of course, if there is technology you want as payment, I will hand it over.”

The Polia Kingdom, with its population nearing one hundred million, possessed food stores sufficient to endure for several years without doing anything at all. They had sold some of it to various places, and still had reserves remaining.

In any case, at the prospect of receiving even more technology, Ian could not help but smile inwardly.

‘The technological gap is steadily shrinking.’

The Doicheun Empire’s long-accumulated, hard-won technologies kept flowing into Polia. That alone would raise the Polia Kingdom’s technological level exponentially.

With a massive budget soon to be allocated for research and development, at some point they would possess technological capabilities on par with the empires. When that time came, Ian believed they would never again face a situation of being helplessly outmatched.

“But I believe you have something you wanted to say to me—may I ask what it is now?”

If they drank more, conversation might become impossible, so Ian asked at this timing. Rednix toyed with his emptied glass, lost in thought. Then he lifted his gaze toward Ian. And that gaze was no longer the dead-eyed look he had shown earlier.

‘Why is his gaze so strong?’

It was not that his eyes literally shone, yet the intensity was so strong it felt as if light might spill from them. Just moments ago, he had seemed an emperor trapped in the shackles of defeat—yet now he looked nothing like that.

“Ian, King of the Polia Kingdom.”

“Yes. Please speak.”

“I have a proposal for you.”

“A proposal—may I ask what it is?”

“…Let us take hands with my Doicheun Empire and cooperate together.”

“Are you saying you wish to take hands with us and enter a cooperative relationship?”

“Yes. From here on, the Doicheun Empire will likely face strict restrictions on all weapons development. Not only firearms, but also tanks, fighter aircraft, warships, submarines—surely they will make it so we cannot develop anything at all.”

“Yes. That will surely be so.”

The allied empires would not want the Doicheun Empire to regain strong military power. They would allow only enough forces to protect the state at a basic level, and they would make it so weapons could not be developed.

In other words, they intended to bind hands and feet so thoroughly that Doicheun could not act. Knowing that, Rednix had come to propose something to the King of the Polia Kingdom before him.

“I cannot simply watch such a reality. The moment others surge ahead while we can do nothing, it means we will inevitably fall behind the times. A nation must continue to develop. From the moment that stops, it is right to say there is no future for that nation.”

From the force of his words, Ian could tell how strong his resolve was. And that made Ian feel unsettled, because he understood exactly what those words implied.

‘Surely he is proposing that we develop weapons together? Since they can no longer do anything, he means we should secretly join hands and continue development steadily.’

The very fact that he could conceive such a thing showed how exceptional Rednix was. No wonder he had waged war against three empires. If it had been a one-on-one decisive war, the Doicheun Empire’s forces would never have been defeated. Still, Ian could not help but hesitate at the proposal.

‘What is the best course?’

He considered whether they could truly conduct joint weapons development while avoiding the other empires’ eyes, and whether it would benefit Polia.

‘If we develop weapons jointly with the Doicheun Empire’s outstanding technology, we could cultivate weapons-development capability on par with the empires.’

What the war had made clear was that Polia’s technology lagged behind. It was especially evident in fighter aircraft: by exchange ratios, Polia’s planes were falling in far greater numbers. They had improved through incremental upgrades, but the empires had fielded even more advanced improved models as well.

Little by little, Ian felt his heart tilt toward joining hands with the Doicheun Empire. Then another thought arose: how could they send their engineers to Polia while slipping past the empires’ surveillance?

“So I am hearing that you want us to develop weapons together—is that correct?”

“Correct. I am asking that we share technologies in a cooperative relationship to develop weapons. Moreover, I wish to pursue various core research projects at the same time. If you desire it, I am willing to share all the technologies we possess with you.”

“Truly… it is a compelling proposal.”

“Then that means?”

At Rednix’s gaze, brimming with anticipation, Ian nodded and spoke.

“I will give a positive answer—for now. However, the problem is this: how will you send engineers to us while avoiding the other empires’ surveillance? They will surely watch you thoroughly.”

Not only weapons development, but core research projects as well—he was saying they would send personnel to research together. Ian thought there could be no more attractive proposal than this. The issue was that the empires would surely build a sweeping surveillance organization while accepting surrender and dismantling the army.

‘Can they send engineers to us through such a net? If their intelligence agents and ours work together, it might be possible to some extent. But the risk will inevitably be high.’

As Ian thought that, he saw the corner of Rednix’s mouth lift—like someone who had already solved that problem. And then, at Rednix’s next words, Ian could not help but be startled.

“The engineers have already crossed over.”

“They have already come? Do you mean… you brought them over with you?”

“Yes. We have not yet signed the surrender documents. As long as that is the case, one can say it is entirely possible to divert engineers.”

That meant he had brought many engineers from the start, aiming to accept. Ian wondered what would have happened if he had refused, but the proposal was so compelling that he would likely have accepted regardless.

“All the engineers we brought are of the highest rank. We selected and selected—bringing only the best of the best. With them, please prepare for the future.”

“Truly… this leaves me no room to refuse. Very well. Let us join hands and develop weapons and technologies together!”

Ian decided to accept fully. Hundreds at minimum—core technical talent, carefully selected from the very top of the Doicheun Empire—were crossing to Polia. It was incomparable to simply buying technology in exchange for compensation.

Ian extended his hand, and Rednix gripped it tightly. Who could have predicted that two nations that had once fought a war would end up like this? No one could have.

And for that reason, no one would suspect a deal like this either. Through this transaction, the Polia Kingdom gained the opportunity to absorb, in one stroke, all of the Doicheun Empire’s technology—value that could not truly be converted into money.

Surely it was not only engineers who came, but also technical books containing a wealth of knowledge.

October 20.

At last, the formal armistice talks were held. In the center sat Emperor Rednix and the kings of the kingdoms that had stood with him; facing them sat the emperors of the allied empires, and the kings of the kingdoms aligned with the Allied Forces as well.

The conference hall had been created by converting the Hall of Waves, and thus provided enough space to accommodate even thousands of people. With the hall packed full, what followed was Emperor Rednix himself signing the humiliating surrender document.

Reporters permitted to attend captured the scene on camera. Watching Rednix sign with a grim expression, Ian thought inwardly that he was truly good at acting.

‘To show such a face while thinking ahead to what comes next… it is remarkable.’

At the same time, now that surrender had been made, what followed would be the heated battle over war reparations. The Doicheun side would try to reduce them by any means, while representatives of the allied empires would argue to impose as much as possible.

‘In the end, since the one surrendering is the Doicheun Empire, they will have no choice but to accept most of it.’

Whatever happened, the war was now over. Since every nation had been swept into it, the damage was beyond description; and as they labored to rebuild, Ian believed war would not erupt again for some time.

‘While everyone focuses on reconstruction, we must find a place where we can operate weapons developed in secrecy.’

It could not be the homeland. There were too many people and too many eyes; the chance of discovery was too high. It would have to be a remote place, somewhere with no human gaze. It would have to be an island wide enough for tanks to maneuver freely.

Even as Ian fell into such thoughts, the talks on ending the war were moving toward their conclusion.