The Guarded Princess

XLV

"It's exactly as you have heard, Lucy-sama, Masrur," he said. "Sindria will be going to war."

"Just Sindria?" Masrur asked.

"No," Sinbad folded his hands in front of him and opened his amber eyes. "The entire Seven Seas Alliance."

Lucy and Masrur widened their eyes in surprise. From what they knew, no country could stand its own against the Seven Seas Alliance; it was the greatest alliance and held the most power in the world considering just how many metal vessel users and household vessel users there were. Lucy was aware of the alliance's power but even with that said, she knew there was something more. After all, Sinbad held pride and confidence in the alliance that he himself created and if it was just any other country, then it would've been a small matter to him without involving his people. But, he was serious.

"Who's the offending side?" Lucy asked, her eyes serious.

"The Garanda Empire," Sinbad answered. "It's an empire that's been around since the time that Sindria came into existence but unlike us, they're a militaristic nation and hasn't been quite prosperous. Though, their achievements at war are certainly quite something."

"We received word that they would be declaring war on us but until they officially sent us a letter, we were taken aback," Ja'far said. "I've had Yamraiha check the contents of the letter but it seemed ordinary. All of a sudden, we got a war on our hands and knowing them, they're not bluffing."

"To declare war on the Seven Seas Alliance..." Masrur mumbled. "Are they that confident?"

"It's not only them," Ja'far pulled his lips into a stern line.

"They've also declared war on the Kou Empire and Reim Empire," he said. "In other words, the three biggest standing countries in the world so far. If anyone thinks of this as a coincidence, then they're utterly stupid."

Lucy widened her eyes in disbelief. "Even the Kou Empire?"

"Who would think that there would be anyone who would go against all three countries at once," Sinbad said, not the slightest bit amused.

"Not to mention, they don't have any metal vessel users within their country," Ja'far said. "The only thing they do have are weapons and that's it."

"So we're up against people who have nothing?" Masrur commented.

"That's how it seems like to me," Ja'far replied. 

Lucy pondered over the fact, wondering who in their right mind would go against the three largest, leading countries in the world unless they had a death wish. Even if someone had the extreme confidence in winning had declared it, the chances of them winning were slim since they had no metal vessels at all. But...if they had a trump card hidden within their sleeves, then that would be a whole other thing. An uneasy feeling roused inside of her chest as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Picking her head up, she looked at the two of them.

"The reason?" she asked.

"I got nothing," Sinbad said. "But," he narrowed his eyes as they flared with anger. "To dare declare war upon my country and my people, I won't be going easy on them."

"Indeed," Lucy said with hostility.

To her, the Kou Empire was the place she had grown up in and the Kingdom of Sindria was where she had met anyone. For anyone to think that they could destroy the two places that she called her "home", they were dead meat. She knew the Garanda Empire and was aware of their ruthless tactics in governing their people. But, whatever trick they had up their sleeve, she wasn't going to let them have their way.