CH 178

The Return

The last day of the vacation was, simply put, hectic. With Schleer’s position as the highest authority of the whole Calencia army, military matters that required her attention naturally accumulated in her long absence and the army sent a car to pick them up early in the morning.

The group only had a short time to bathe in the hot spring and have breakfast before they had to hop on the bus back to the base……. Just recalling the event in the morning already made Kisei let out a long sigh.

“Sigh…..”

It’s been 30 minutes since they left the resort. The bus that the army sent to pick them up was not exactly a comfortable ride either. With the shaky ride, Kisei had to grab onto his rattling seat as he looked at Schleer who sits opposite of him.

“Well, I mean……our budget is quite limited so we have to cut costs wherever we can.”

“Still, I don’t think this kind of ride is suitable for a princess though. I’m not saying that they should have sent a hovercraft for us but don’t they have any decent ride at all?”

Next to Schleer, Valentina grumbles with a difficult expression. If a car like this was arranged for an aristocrat back in Nored, the person in charge would probably find themselves decapitated after all.

“Well, if the royal family rides something too expensive in this economy we might actually get stoned by our citizens after all. We are doing this to appeal that we are no different from our common class people as well. It’s two birds with one stone.”

“Rather than trying to make yourself look like a commoner, I think your mindset already belongs to one though……..”

Although how an aristocrat should behave differs from country to country, Valentina has never seen a worse environment for one. It made her hesitate whether she wanted to laugh at Schleer or was simply astounded by the situation.

“Well, there’s no use talking about it. We have been away for a while right, how’s the army holding up?”

Although they are waiting for the Nored empire to make the first move, the Calencian army is not just spending time loitering around either. Even if it is now in better shape than when Kisei joined up, the Calencian army’s situation right now is like they are on the edge of a cliff. Even one defeat could spell their total collapse.

“About the army, we are currently rebuilding our forces while preparing a network for an immediate response system. Thanks to my sister, we have managed to gather a lot of supplies as well.

“Your sister, you mean Frea-san?”

Schleer’s twin sister, Frea Henrietta is the head of the Calencian army’s logistic department. Recalling how she looked exactly like Schleer, Kisei asked for confirmation.

“Yes, she went around to our neighboring countries and negotiated some relief supplies for us.”

“Hou.”

Impressed, Kisei’s eyes widened. The reason the other countries are so ready to provide them with supplies is probably that they fear that they might be next if Calencia falls. Being able to get supplies from other nations without forming an alliance with them is certainly great.

“Also, from the business side, the Kawashima Ironworks has also sent us a team of technical advisers. They should be refurbishing our Zeniths as we speak.”

“Your Zeniths are quite different from ours after all. Even with the 4 Heavenly out of the picture, Nored still has many powerful aces and Zeniths left. If our Zeniths can’t put up a proper fight I would be troubled.”

Valentina placed an emphasis on that. After all, it was thanks to Kisei’s skill that they managed to take down Nored’s powerful Zeniths. It would be bad if the rest of them can’t put up a proper fight against their elite enemies.

“I told them to strengthen our strikers as much as possible before we left. For the budget……well, since you all have donated so much I think that it will be enough.”

Schleer answers with a complicated expression. Unlike the poor Schleer, Valentina and Tersis both have vast financial power. A part of that has flowed into Calencia’s military budget. She’s grateful for their contribution to the strengthening of her army but she’s also troubled since they might exercise their influence as their investors. To her, that’s quite a difficult thing to deal with.

“Leaving that aside, what about Nored’s forces? Even if you’ve already turned to our side, you used to be high up in their army right. Can you guess what kind of move they will make?”

The Calencian intelligence department couldn’t come up with any great results. They are aware that Nored is reorganizing their army but that’s it. After all, with Nored being a superpower, their measly intelligence department can’t possibly match Nored’s elite counterintelligence.

“They already know that we’ve betrayed them after all. I can’t tell much. Still, I think that their aristocratic armies have finished assembling. They should be gathering mercenaries right about now.”

“Mercenaries huh, they stopped minding their appearance it seems.”

Kisei groaned while scratching his cheek. Normally, a powerful nation with a strong standing army wouldn’t resort to employing mercenaries. It appears Nored really wants to crush Calencia this time. It would be easier if the enemy underestimated them but it seems that won’t be the case this time.

“It’s already well-known that Calencia has My Love fighting on their side after all. Some famous mercenaries who want to try and defeat you for fame might join up with Nored this time. We should be careful.”

Valentina said so with a smile. On the other hand, Kisei acted as though he was troubled and let out a small sigh.

“Being a celebrity sure is troublesome huh, seriously……”