World of antanya

Summon eurasia paplida arc part 8

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, 1st foreign affairs department

A lot of information was gathered on Japan after Department Head Elto's gave the orders.

First, they concluded that the Gra Valkas Empire was uninvolved. The country that drove away the oversight army flew a white flag with a red circle, which more or less confirmed that Japan was the culprit. It was still unclear why the oversight army's wyvern lord squadron didn't return, though.
While the ship that had obliterated the oversight fleet was still unknown in origin most likely Japanese in origin due to how similar the flag is to the Japanese.
They knew that the enemy ship only had one cannon while the mysterious warship had at least 9 massive guns, but they didn't know why; maybe it was because it had such high accuracy? Still, they didn't think it could overcome the pure brute force of a 100-gun ship-of-the-line. It seemed clear that a single ship was very advanced, but was that enough to cause such a devastating rout? They just couldn't believe it was possible.

There was the extreme case of the Gra Valkas magic ship, the Grade Atlastar, taking down Leiforia all by itself, but they were certain that there was some mistake in the intelligence; that information had to have been exaggerated to some degree. However, it was still true that Gra Valkas had the power to defeat Leifor, so they would have to be careful with them in the future.

In Admiral Poquetoire's report, he described a cannon that fired 100 times and hit 100 times. They asked a military research group about this and were told "Even if we had another hundred years, it would be impossible for us to achieve that." So, they concluded that it was unrealistic for a country outside the civilized areas to be more than 100 years more advanced than the empire. There was also Varhal's fantastical report about the war between Rowlia and Japan, but when he returned he was diagnosed with a mental illness, so everyone agreed that his report was not trustworthy.

They gathered some interesting information about Japan from countries in the Third Civilization's sphere of influence. Apparently, Japan only spends about 1% of its wealth on armaments. Knowing that, even if they had some equipment that was superior, they would quickly fall behind another strong country in the long term.

The 1st foreign affairs department thus came to two conclusions: first, while Japan should not be underestimated, at the same time they should not be feared; and second, they should attack them soon, before they have time to accrue more armaments.

Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, imperial palace

The empire's statesmen lay prostrated on the floor, the air in the room strained. The most important meeting in the country, with Emperor Ludius in attendance, was about to begin.

"The Emperor's Assembly shall now commence," declared the chairman.

"Are we in control of Altarus?" the emperor suddenly asked the army's Supreme Commander Arde.

"Yes, the Kingdom of Altarus has been completely subdued. The main army is currently preparing to withdraw."

"What should we have them do now... 2nd foreign affairs department head Rius, do you have any suggestions?"

"Yes sir! They could head north to eradicate some barbarians and acquire new resources—"

"Rejected," the emperor interrupted to dismiss the idea.

"Y... I understand, sir!!!

"We... are upset," the emperor articulated slowly.

No one else dared to speak.

"Our oversight army was repulsed by a conceited barbarian country to the east..."

Silence...

"We believe it was... Japan? Hmph... send them to destroy the Kingdom of Fenn, who has good relations with Japan. They have always been quite brazen. Show the other countries what happens to someone who takes Japan as an ally. Geographically, Fenn is closer to us, so it would not be profitable to attack Japan first... Are there any objections?"