Water Magician-Chapter 656 : Expeditionary Fleet

Chapter 0656 Expeditionary Fleet

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

“Rather, one should say it is surprising they held on this long.”

Emperor Tsuin murmured.

“Peiyu are a horse-riding people, so even if their capital falls it was thought they would not surrender easily.”

That supplement came from Li Wu, an inspector attached to the Inspectorate who is well versed in the affairs of neighboring countries.

“Extremely speaking, as long as the king is not captured, they wouldn’t admit defeat.”

Fu Ten, restored to the County of Barrow, folded his arms and muttered.

A little apart from those leaders, Ryo and Abel stood.

They were effectively outsiders to the operation and were not expected to be deeply involved in the plan itself.

“Abel, things up north are in terrible shape too.”

“It took three weeks to reach here by sea. Well, considering they were fighting phantomkins, they did well, didn’t they?”

“You’re being cold, Abel.”

Ryo complained about Abel’s cool assessment.

“Just because a country is conquered doesn’t mean everything is over.”

“Th-That’s true, but...”

“It depends on what each citizen thinks. Do they accept occupation as fine, rise to restore the former order, or strive to build a completely new country? People move for one of those reasons.”

Abel said decisively.

Nothing is gained by simply waiting.

If you only wait for someone to give you something, nothing changes.

Therefore, when Abel fought the liberation war, he sought the strength of every soldier and every citizen.

He avoided a victory won by Ryo’s lone force and, understanding that sacrifices would come, conducted a liberation campaign in which soldiers and civilians alike could feel that they had reclaimed the country by their own power.

“People aren’t that strong.”

Ryo, understanding everything Abel had done and thinking it admirable, nevertheless shook his head slightly.

Ryo knew.

Ordinary people are not that strong.

At most, they might give everything to protect themselves and those dear to them—family—but to lead them to fight for something vast and vague like a ‘country’ is difficult.

“That’s true.”

Accepting even Ryo’s feelings, Abel smiled gently and nodded.

This, perhaps, is what being a king is.

The next day.

At Boago’s harbor.

“They’re appearing on the southern horizon!”

A lookout climbed the midsection of the tenth ship’s mast and shouted from the crow’s nest.

At that, people onshore began checking with telescopes.

Ryo and Abel didn’t have telescopes, but they were excited.

“They’re finally here!”

“How many are coming?”

“I hear around thirty ships, but all of them look like warships.”

“It must have been hard to come all the way to Darwei.”

Both were excited, but Ryo with pure curiosity and Abel was thinking about the hardships of the long voyage.

Some tens of minutes later.

Thirty warships anchored outside the harbor.

They were certainly warships, but of several different types.

One of them entered the harbor.

“That’s from the Suje Kingdom...”

“The Lone Dark.”

Both Ryo and Abel recognized the ship.

When they had previously visited Darwei, they came as diplomats for Prince Ryun’s wedding celebration.

At that time, aboard was...

“On behalf of the expeditionary fleet, I, Kabui Somar, Lord Protector of the Suje Kingdom, salute you.”

“Lord Protector, your long sea voyage is much appreciated.”

Kabui Somar greeted them and Emperor Tsuin expressed his thanks.

This expeditionary fleet was a combined fleet of the Suje Kingdom and the Komakyuta Principality.

Tomorrow, fleets from the Atinjo Grand Duchy and the Bosuntar nation would also arrive.

Some of these ships were carrying supplies under treaties concluded at the Eastern Countries’ joint conference.

But not only that—large fleets and land forces were arriving to demonstrate Emperor Tsuin’s authority.

Of course, this was a show of force by Emperor Tsuin against Prince Kouri’s camp.

Surrounding countries would demonstrate under whose banner Darwei’s power lay.

For the surrounding states, sending troops also allowed them to curry favor with Emperor Tsuin.

If Emperor Tsuin manages to reclaim the throne, all is well.

Even if he cannot, they can argue, “We sent troops because the man who was once emperor told us to”...and claim plausible deniability.

Unless they make a serious misstep, there’s little risk.

Naturally, Emperor Tsuin and his circle understood this.

And they believed there was nothing inherently wrong with it.

What they aimed for was simple: to avoid an actual armed clash.

The forces Prince Kouri controlled were originally Darwei’s forces.

If a battle breaks out, whether they win or lose, it will only be damaging.

In other words, once armed conflict occurs, that very fact can be considered a kind of defeat.

Therefore, they intended to display overwhelming force so that the other side would choose to avoid battle.

Maintaining a large army to avoid actual war.

It seems full of paradox, but the original reason for preparing such a massive force is to win without fighting...

“Isn’t that in Sun Tzu?”

“The general law of employment of troops says: preserving the state is best; destroying the state is next, this you mean?”

“Right. The best is to win while preserving the enemy state; the next best is to defeat and destroy it. Intimidate them into accepting defeat, then scoop up their soldiers and resources—Ryo said that, didn’t you?”

Abel offered that explanation, and Ryo was clearly surprised.

“Amazing, Abel. Truly impressive...”

“It’s worth committing to memory, isn’t it?”

At times like this, Ryo genuinely felt Abel’s greatness.

Not merely the breadth of a king’s capacity, but an essential wisdom as a person.

Life is often uncooperative.

There are times when you inevitably clash with the uncooperative... whether you can overcome that moment is a measure of your wisdom.

How is wisdom acquired? How is it honed?

Obviously, it comes from experience. There’s no other logical source.

Panicking after a crisis is useless.

What matters is how you lived up to that point, what experiences you absorbed. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Those experiences produce and sharpen wisdom.

Abel had internalized Sun Tzu—Ryo’s offhand mention.

By living and honing his wisdom day by day.

He was not living absentmindedly!

“Abel, I’ll follow you for life!”

“W-What?”

Abel looked at Ryo with a puzzled expression at the declaration.

“If I follow you, I’m sure I won’t go hungry.”

“I see... Ryo speaks plainly.”

“Oh, stop it.”

Abel sighed in exasperation, and Ryo—mistakenly thinking he’d been complimented—blushed.

The leaders, including the newly arrived Kabui Somar, moved to the magistrate’s office.

There, they held a meeting.

The general policy had been decided.

Now they needed to finalize dates and coordinate the land and naval forces.

Ryo and Abel moved along.

Naturally serving as representatives from the Kingdom of Knightley among the other Eastern countries who had dispatched troops.

“That said, I don’t think we’ll fight publicly.”

“Probably not. This is Darwei’s affair, broadly speaking an Eastern Countries’ affair. It isn’t the sort of situation the Kingdom of Knightley, a single Central Country, should intervene in.”

“But doing absolutely nothing would be bad.”

“You once said neutrality is problematic, didn’t you, Ryo?”

“Did I say that?”

“You said it to His Highness Prince Willy of Ju Kingdom, didn’t you?”

“Oh!”

During the liberation war, a festival was held to celebrate the capital’s liberation and Abel’s demonstration of power as the new king.

At that time, Ryo told Prince Willy,

‘If you remain neutral, you become an enemy to the victor and are also resented by the loser for not helping’.

“That was classic Machiavelli.”

“I see—that explains it.”

“How nostalgic.”

Abel nodded in understanding, and Ryo looked distant, remembering the past.

Then Ryo said quietly.

“Prince Willy... chose a difficult path.”

“You should visit him someday. He’s your disciple, right?”

Prince Willy was Ryo’s water-attribute magic disciple.

Diligent Willy practiced magic until his limits.

Ryo always watched anxiously from the side.

“Yes, if the chance arises.”

Ryo spoke with a little sadness.

Various circumstances made it difficult for him to go...

In the magistrate’s main conference room, the leaders convened.

A map of all Darwei lay on the central table, as if they were also conducting war games.

After finalizing some supply details, they moved on to discussions about organizing the land and sea forces.

For now, aside from the Bashu Count fleet stationed at Boago, all ships sailing north were part of the combined fleets of countries other than Darwei.

Of course, there are differences in ship speed, but there was an even bigger difference.

Captain La Wu of the tenth ship pointed this out.

“It pains me to say this in front of Lord Kabui Somar, renowned admiral of the Suje Kingdom, but Darwei’s fleet is in a different league from the other nations’ fleets.”

Even Ryo, who had worked with Captain La Wu for some time, was surprised by the bluntness of the remark.

Of course, by looking at La Wu’s expression it was clear he was not belittling other fleets...

Kabui Somar gave a faint smile and nodded.

He seemed to understand why the remark had been made.

Still, no one else nodded.

Rather, many tilted their heads.

The most puzzled of all was Emperor Tsuin.

“Of course, it’s best to avoid armed conflict, and that’s the purpose of assembling such a large force. But if it comes to that, such a disparity... though I don’t quite understand. Kabui Somar-dono, what say you?”

“Your Majesty, Captain La Wu refers to the ‘magic bombardments’ and ‘magic barriers’ installed on Darwei ships. If that is the case, his claim is accurate.”

When Kabui Somar spoke, Captain La Wu nodded.

Their assessments matched.

Kabui Somar continued.

“After Prince Ryun’s wedding, I observed Darwei’s fleet exercises in depth. If a fight breaks out, we’d be sunk one-sidedly.”

“What...!”

Count Fu Ten uttered that in surprise.

Fu Ten had once strode across battlefields, but that was on land.

He was not well-versed in fleet combat.

Many of the Darwei people here seemed similarly uninformed.

“In other Eastern countries, fleet battles are chiefly boarding engagements. The near-unique exception is the Atinjo Grand Duchy’s Gowor vessels. Those place magicians aboard who unleash a kind of bombardment... but that’s an exception.”

“Boarding battles mean colliding with enemy ships, boarding them, and seizing control.”

Captain La Wu supplemented Kabui Somar’s explanation.

“But the Darwei fleet uses alchemy tools that fire magic bombardments from the ship itself, sinking enemy ships before they can close in. It never becomes a boarding battle.”

“So we’d be sunk one-sidedly.”

Emperor Tsuin seemed to understand and nodded.

“Avoiding armed conflict is best... but if it does occur, we must consider how to respond now.”

Captain La Wu concluded.

All eyes turned to Emperor Tsuin.

Emperor Tsuin looked at Kabui Somar and asked,

“Kabui Somar-dono, do you have any clever plan?”

He asked because Kabui Somar’s expression suggested an answer might be forthcoming.

Meeting that expectation, Kabui Somar nodded.

“Your Majesty, actually I do.”

Then he looked toward a certain water-attribute magician and said,

“If we could have the assistance of His Grace Duke Rondo, I believe the problem would be solved.”

At that moment, the entire leadership’s gaze turned to Ryo.

The usual Ryo might have been flustered.

But this time, he had anticipated being called on, so he was confident.

Indeed, a faint smile played on his lips.

And he declared clearly,

“Leave it to me.”