The Martial Unity

Chapter 3399: Worst Timing

The dragon attack incident caused great upheaval not just in the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, as one would expect, but also in the international media. The flagrant violations of several treaties of peace, local law, and blatant disregard for the Hlakaschken Trade Empire as a neutral peace haven caused widespread criticism to be levied against the Ryu Clan, which was responsible for the attack.

The Hlakaschken Trade Empire immediately mobilized a large number of resources and manpower to mitigate the damage from the battle and to sort through all the damage and rubble in the market. The market became a closed-off zone as a division of investigators was dedicated to figuring out exactly what had happened, even if it was obvious in the eyes of the angered citizens.

Perhaps the only part that brought relief was that the casualty rate was limited to the double digits thanks to the swift evacuation of many of those in the market the very moment they sensed danger from the dragons. Pathwalkers were too dangerous to be around when they got pissed. This was something all pathwalkers knew all too well, and especially when it came to dragons.

The elves of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire and those who had come from West Genora were honored as heroes who saved the city by containing the energy of the dragons with their nature manipulation and energy absorption, ensuring that it didn’t run wild and spread mass death and destruction.

All in all, despite the sheer calamity that dragons out of control were, the death toll was disproportionately low. The destruction to cargo, of course, was incalculable, but it was a more tolerable loss.

The incident proved to stir the international pot of geopolitics that was already in a rather tense and serious stand-off over the past nine to ten months, ever since the Unfolding had occurred.

”Damn it...” Empress Schlieffen gritted her teeth as she pored over a series of reports regarding the incident that had occurred on the soil of her country. ”This was the worst moment that this could happen.”

She sat at her table in the study of her private chambers as the bright light of the morning Sun lit up the many documents that were spread across her table in a messy manner. The rest of her personal chambers were equally slovenly; her bedsheets were crumpled and displaced, while her cushions and blanket had fallen off the bed.

A broken glass and its pieces lay on the floor next to it, having fallen from her hands when she learned about the dragon incident twenty-four hours prior. She had gotten so invested in the matter that she hadn’t even instructed her team of attendants to clean it.

Despite the shabby appearance of her room, she herself was groomed to perfection, having donned a formal seven-layer robe-like ethnic attire known as Flieschka, traditional to the Hlakaschken Trade Empire for formal events. Her long, silver hair had been carefully woven into a thick, intricate ponytail, while her pale, white skin seemed to almost glisten. Her appearance contrasted sharply with the severe body language she displayed when combing through the reports.

”There’s no other choice,” she murmured to herself. ”...I can’t let this slide. Damn it! What a truly horrible time for this to happen!”

Ever since the Decentering had torn apart the balance of power that allowed the Hlakaschken Trade Empire to be neutral, the Empress could feel the looming figure of the Evolutionary Army growing bigger and bigger with each passing day. She couldn’t afford to pick a fight with yet another superpower like the therianthropes of Kiriket.

Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t ignore this incident either.

One of the reasons that the Hlakaschken Trade Empire had experienced peace for centuries and millennia was that any incident of violence was met with serious consequences in terms of trade and commerce.

No nation wanted to be cut off from the largest brokerage hub in the world, which was the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, and thus every nation made sure not to start trouble in the trade empire for fear of the consequences.

If there weren’t consequences to such an extreme incident of blatant violence and aggression towards the Hlakaschken Trade Empire, then the world would no longer respect the Hlakaschken Trade Empire’s order. After all, if the dragons could get away with destroying an entire marketplace, then any law and order that might have existed in the Hlakaschken Trade Empire was now a joke.

On the other hand, the Ryu Clan was one of the most powerful ruling groups in the entire world, with great control over much of Moridia. If the Hlakaschken Trade Empire exerted action against the Ryu Clan, then they would necessarily be alienating much of Moridia that was under the heel of the dragons.

That would mean a great loss of trade and commerce for the Hlakaschken Trade Empire.

A significant portion of their customers and clientele did business in the Hlakaschken Trade Empire precisely because the therianthropes of Moridia set up shop in the trade empire and distributed a large number of goods and services.

If those were cut off, then few people would come to or trade with the Hlakaschken Trade Empire. With fewer people buying, there would be fewer people selling, which in turn would further reduce the number of people buying.

If she wasn’t careful, she could trigger a vicious cycle that could destroy her empire.

She needed to find the perfect balance.

One where she preserved the therianthrope’s goods and services within her economy and ensured that whatever punishment was doled out would deter people from thinking that the Hlakaschken Trade Empire had gone soft.

Her eyes returned to the intelligence reports compiled.

KNOCK KNOCK

”Your Majesty, it is time.”

She turned towards the door with a knowing gaze.

It was the voice of her secretary.

”I’m ready.”

She got up from her chair, throwing one last glance around her room.

”He never came...” she whispered under her breath.

She had waited for Rui to return last night as he had promised.

But he never came.

Her attention returned to the door as she exited her room.