Chapter 106 – The Enraged Emperor
(PoV of one of the Emperor’s Advisors)
——-
Dear Lord Of The Pig Empire,
In my mercy as the princess, I have always been aiming to protect my people… However, your kind has deviated from the basic ethics of mankind, and seem to behave like lustful beasts who view others as nothing but food.
I cannot understand why the imperial pigs are unable to stop exposing their own ugliness and to walk on two legs like a human being. It shouldn’t be too hard for a country that has swallowed many nations with actual intelligent beings in them… Though perhaps this kind of language may be too much for a pig to understand, I apologize.
Then let me try communicating in a language even pigs might comprehend. Our country will not allow such disgusting beings to roam freely in our lands. The whore that you sent us together with countless meat rods had her advance refused, but as pigs like you seem unable to understand each other, it seems like they decided to just do their things with one another… What a shame, she looked like a proper princess at first.
Though since there is a clear will on your side to try expanding the friendship with us, we have decorated your envoys and their meat rods into appropriate bite sized meat, so that you may eat it if you so desire to cannibalize.
From your future owner, Princess Feera Von Hermagne.
——
Not much after we sent the first battalion of troops to Hermagne, a letter arrived from the first princess who started the war. We were hoping that the kingdom had come to their senses and called off this whole thing, but a single glance at the emperor’s expression as he read the letter, made it clear that this was not the case.
“… Prepare.” His majesty said.
“Your majesty?” I asked him, since his order wasn’t clear… Yet his tone was. He was filled with murderous intent… We had not heard it yet, but everyone in the audience chambers knew what was coming.
We waited. We waited in silence as his majesty squeezed that letter with enough strength to make his hand bleed, and then, after what felt like an eternity, he said, loud and clear, “Prepare for an all-out war. Conscript the commoners, hire mercenaries and mobilize all of our troops. We’ll crush the kingdom of Hermagne with every single man we have! This is an imperial decree and it comes into effect immediately!”
Even though we expected it, the way his majesty spoke and the scope of it were totally beyond what we imagined. I could see that even our most radical generals who were looking the most forward to the war had nothing but astonishment in their faces.
And then, the emperor continued, “Prepare my armor! I’ll avenge my daughter myself!”
“Y-your majesty!? Please calm down!” I urged him. He had already jumped out of his own throne and seemed about to storm out of the room, but we couldn’t have that, the emperor of all people should be calm at all times, or all will fall to ruin! “The general commanding our battalion was her royal highness! We can’t be sure if she-“
As I was trying to convince him that she may be safe, the worst news came at the worst possible time, as a messenger burst into the room while shouting, “I’m sorry to interrupt the meeting, but the survivors of our battalion sent against Hermagne have returned!” Survivors… Which means that they have definitely lost.
Still, we cannot let the emperor lose it here… “Please, your majesty, remember that she is a valuable individual for the kingdom. She is worth more alive than dead, so she is probably a prisoner right now…” I tried to reason with him.
His majesty stayed silent for a while, until he eventually took a deep breath and said, “You’re right… It seems like I lost my cool for a second. That was unsightly.
“Nonetheless, we shall still go forward with the total mobilization. This kind of taunting from the princess cannot be left unchecked. Whatever they did to our men, we’ll make sure to pay them back in double.”
“Understood!” Everyone in the room shouted in unison.
“… And as you advance, investigate the whereabouts of my daughter and find out if she is safe.” His majesty added.
“As you command.” I bowed to him while saying that.
… Three days later, her highness was found. The sight of what happened to her and her men made some of our men puke, while the his majesty shed tears of anger. There was no turning back now, the kingdom will pay.
******
(KSO Employee PoV)
“Boss! Those psychos are driving me crazy!” I told the boss as I finished checking the logs.
“Oh my? Which one was it this time? Rena or the Inviolable Area?” The boss replied as he moved near me.
“Both! Look at this!” I showed him the important parts of what I had just checked.
“Well, let’s see… OMG! ROFLMAO!” He shouted this out loud…
“Don’t laugh…” Why is our boss like this…? “So, what are we doing about this? We already lost quite a few NPCs that were supposed to give quests, and the situation changed so much that many of the other quests we had planned became useless…”
He thought for a second before saying, “Alright, I have decided!” Most of our team sighed while preparing to hear what crazy idea the boss would have come up with now… “Let’s make a World Quest! Let the players decide if they wanna help the kingdom or the empire!”
It didn’t look like a terrible idea, but there was a problem, “Wouldn’t the Chaos Faction benefit the most from an event like this? Regardless of who wins?” It did seem unfair to make an event clearly aimed at Chaos after all…
“I didn’t say we’d make only one World Quest.” The boss said.
He can’t be seriously meaning that, “We’re releasing two World Quests together!?” I asked.
“Yeah, rescue princess Feera, or subdue Rena or subdue the Absolutely Inviolable Area!” The boss told us.
“I get the rescue quest, but… We’re seriously making a quest putting specific players as the targets? Can we even do that?” I asked him.
“But of course! The one that issues the quests isn’t the game’s management, but the ‘Seven-Colored God’ after all!” He is seriously using the game’s lore as an excuse for this kind of thing?
“… What’s the in-lore justification for it then?” I asked him.
“Rena kidnapped the princess and started a war with the Empire. Meanwhile, the Inviolable Area killed a bunch of empire troops for no reason and made the whole situation worse! There’s no way the supreme god of order would let them act freely after that!” He replied instantly.
“… Alright.” It wasn’t that much of a terrible idea I suppose. And nobody else in the office raised any complaints either, so I guess everyone was in agreement.
“Well then, I’ll leave the adjustments to you.” The boss said as he started leaving the room while leaving the hard work to us, as usual.
“Boss, it’s time for the meeting.” The secretary appeared just as he was about to go eat lunch.
The boss froze on the spot, “… Is it that time already?” He asked… His tone didn’t make his statement very believable though.
“You were trying to escape because you checked the time and knew I was coming to fetch you, weren’t you?” The secretary accused him.
“… Sorry.” He didn’t even try to deny it… In the end he had to go to the meeting and to a drinking party with the upper management while having a sign that read ‘I tried to escape from my duties’ hanging from his neck.
