Mage? Magic Engineer!

Although a declaration had been broadcast to the entire Empire, it didn’t mean a proud State could simply switch allegiances in an instant.

Many people despised Pavel. They believed this young scion of the Crook Clan was using the pretense of a republic to cover his shame, and that he would surely restore the old system once the situation stabilized.

Then there were Old Duke Crook’s loyal subordinates, who were jolted from their debauched stupor to oppose this traitor and the baffling "National Salvation Alliance."

They hastily assembled to voice their clear opposition to Pavel’s shocking act of rebellion. They demanded he immediately free Duke Crook and retract all his orders and announcements.

On the third day after the declaration, the resistance was at its peak, with the opposition forces fully assembled. It was then that Pomerania’s southern neighbor, Bayern—the second state to join the "National Salvation Alliance"—made its move.

In the dead of night, propaganda posters suddenly appeared on the streets. Large, crookedly pasted posters depicted a caricatured face of Pavel, smeared with blood. Scrawled over it in red paint were words like "Patricide," "Murderer," and "Usurper."

Though this was the work of the Nobility loyal to the Empire and the Duke, they were clearly learning new techniques, studying how the Valois people mobilized the masses.

"They’re lying! My uncle and his family are fine... Their movements are just being restricted for their own protection... Where is the Security Team?" Pavel didn’t understand how things had come to this.

He firmly believed that he and the other members of the Alliance were upholding ideals and justice. ’But somehow,’ he thought, ’it feels like my hands are already stained with blood.’

Just then, the devil who had been egging him on all along walked into the Deputy Governor’s office with a smile. It was Valon—the depraved, filthy former Valois noble, Rorschach’s pet attack dog. "The Security Team? They haven’t submitted to you."

"The enemy is already making a move, and your forces are completely scattered. To secure your victory, you have only one choice..."

At four in the morning, Deputy Governor Pavel Crook "proactively and voluntarily" invited two of the Bayern Kingdom’s new army regiments to enter the country for military exercises, ostensibly to deter "threats from domestic and foreign resistance forces and Cult Groups."

At a quarter past four, the regiments, already poised for action, crossed the border.

In the early morning, while it was still dim outside, the first wave of Airships from Bayern arrived over Prague, the capital of Pomerania, blotting out the sky. Their shrill sirens jolted every resident awake. The pot-bellied Flying Devices skimmed low over the city like a pod of whales swimming brazenly through their ocean, emitting intimidating roars to flaunt their power.

Then, bay doors opened, and squad after squad of armed Sky Knights leaped from the bellies of the whales. They shot through the streets, propelled by their mobility gear. The moment they spotted barricades, strongholds, or any other obstacles erected by the resistance, they would either mark and report them or simply pull the trigger or activate a Scroll from above.

In an instant, gunfire echoed throughout Prague, and great bursts of fire lit up the city.

At 6:31, the Mechanical Body units arrived. They were beasts of no flesh and blood, their iron-gray metal surfaces reflecting nothing of the citizens’ terrified faces. They moved with incredible speed on four long, powerful legs, and no conventional obstacle could slow their advance.

Not even flames or bombs could stop these monsters. When one was finally destroyed, only a viscous fluid leaked from its steel frame. There was no pilot inside, and the machine issued no scream of agony, no plea for mercy.

On Prague’s main thoroughfare, the wide Queen’s Avenue, the Knights of Pomerania charged the four-legged Mechanical Bodies. They opened fire first, but after a chaotic clatter of ricochets, the monsters continued their advance. The muzzles of their cannons were already aimed at these men of noble blood, emitting a dangerous yet captivating Arcane Magic glow.

These Knights, loyal to the Empire and the Duke, chose to raise their swords and banners high, only to be cut down without a shred of glory.

At eight o’clock sharp, it was all over in Prague.

When the people were told they could return to the streets and resume their normal lives, they found every road and intersection occupied by the four-legged Mechanical Bodies. A crystalline light glinted from their observation windows as their weapon ports rotated ceaselessly.

The soldiers who had pledged allegiance to Pavel wore the same uniforms, distinguished only by a blue cloth tied around their arms. As far as the eye could see, every flagpole now flew the banner of the National Salvation Alliance. Airships and Sky Knights frequently soared above the flags, streaking across the sky and casting hard-to-ignore shadows below.

The "surgical strike" successfully purged the City Hall of the old Nobility and eliminated the three Personal Guard battalions responsible for the city’s defense. This helped the usurper, Pavel Crook, gain a firm foothold. He established a provisional Governor’s Mansion, which would maintain the status quo until the war’s end and the start of a new election cycle.

...

Its northern neighbor was thrown into turmoil, the sudden coup leaving its citizens—and the entire Empire—utterly stunned. In contrast, the Bayernt District, the source of it all, was exceptionally peaceful. Snowflakes like goose down drifted from the sky, muffling the world’s noise and blanketing it in cold and quiet.

Those who were meant to leave had all gone. Those who remained were throwing themselves heart and soul into a project aimed at the stars. Rorschach wanted to give Starship Two an imposing name, but he resisted the urge. For now, the entire project was still referred to by its numerical designation.

Andre walked into the workshop to see Rorschach leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He assumed Rorschach’s Spirit Body had ascended to the Boundary Land again, but then Rorschach’s eyelashes twitched, and he opened his eyes.

Andre, though briefly surprised, quickly composed himself. He placed the files he was carrying on the workshop desk. "Teacher, here are the collected reports on Pomerania, along with a new report from Mr. Valon regarding ’Faust.’ Would you like to review them?"

Rorschach had given Pavel a strange codename. In this world, Faust was the Ancient Mage who invented the Reversing Beam. Only Rorschach himself knew the codename’s true meaning.

"No. What has been the Empire’s reaction?"

"Well... so far, only verbal condemnation. No military deployments. Their remaining forces are still standing guard against the Valois people. Oh, right. The Imperial Capital has announced that they are detaining the King of Bayern and his retinue."

’Well, I’m so grateful for that,’ Rorschach thought sarcastically. He then asked, "What does Caroline have to say?"

Andre looked troubled, as if carefully choosing his words. "Headmistress, she..." In the end, he gave up on any embellishment and relayed her words directly. "She said Valon is an ambitious madman, that you should lock him up in a prison or exile him to the Gaseous Plane."

Andre paused for a moment, recalling the rest of Caroline’s tirade. "That guy should be off playing house with little blue men."

To Andre’s surprise, Rorschach laughed. "True enough. He is. But everything he did was at my instruction. I set the objectives for Valon’s operation, and the forces he mobilized were ones I created and authorized him to use."

"Teacher, you can’t be..." To Andre, it sounded as if Rorschach was admitting that he was the real madman.

"But I have to commend Valon for a job well done, because we’re running out of time." A grim look came over Rorschach’s face. As the threat of the Mother Goddess loomed larger, matters that could have once been handled with patience now had to be accelerated.

’When a car starts speeding up, some people are bound to get run over. Before, we might have been able to change lanes, to slow down and hit the brakes. Now, the accelerator is welded to the floor.’

After a moment’s hesitation, Rorschach resolved to play the villain to the very end. "Have every minor in Prague tested for Magic Talent."