"Laplace, you actually became a lieutenant in a span of a week." Abraham raised his eyebrows after he looked at the dragoness from top to bottom. He immediately noticed the insignia on her humble chest, which was the insignia of an army lieutenant.
"Well… She is rather an intriguing subject, to be honest." Charlotte decided to ignore what the problem dragon had done to her and responded to the remark of the Fleet Admiral.
Even she was somewhat surprised at first, but after reading through various reports, it became understandable.
"Sounds like she's having the time of her life." Abraham sighed while Laplace pouted and leaned on his office desk while ruffling his jet-black hair.
"I'm just a bit experienced." Laplace clarified and continued ruffling over his dark hair with her pale hand. On the other hand, Charlotte glanced at Laplace with an obvious 'I don't believe you face,' which was immediately noticed by Abraham.
"Do you care to explain, Vice Admiral Charlotte?" Abraham decided to inquire about how the dragoness managed to rise through the ranks of the United Army.
"I shall do so, Fleet Admiral." Laplace calmly nodded while straightening her back. Laplace felt confused as to why her friends were acting like her ability to rise ranks was something serious.
"Lieutenant Laplace's capabilities to lead soldiers aren't to be underestimated. While it was antiquated at first, through learning modern tactics, strategies, and doctrines, she managed to adapt with ease.
"And so, she demonstrated her commandeering skills which were deeply appreciated by her platoon. During the training exercise between platoons, her platoon managed to rise second to the top. This was without the application of her dragon physique or transformation."
"Despite her arrogance, She also gets along with other personnel without much of a problem. This elevates her sociability, which should be in higher standards." Charlotte expounded everything without much of a problem.
Abraham found himself in silence as he couldn't believe what he just heard. The dragoness actually had skills other than being a beautiful dragon? Shouldn't the world be balanced? What the hell was happening.
"Hehehe, it's just something I picked up. It's nothing special." Laplace gave an awkward smile while rubbing the back of her head as though she was embarrassed by the praise.
And the dragoness was actually being humble? The more the conversation continued, the stronger Abraham's hate against the world became. She was already strong and beautiful, but why did she become smarter and more sociable than him?
Not only that, the problem dragon was not acting humble. The arrogant dragoness would always announce her self-proclaimed titles to everyone she met for the first time.
*Ding!*
| The world was never fair, Fleet Admiral. |
'Shut it, Systema.' Abraham felt a nerve pop in his forehead when he heard the monotone yet smug tone of Systema. It felt like salt was being rubbed on his wound.
"Don't pretend like you just learned how to command soldiers for the first time." Charlotte's eyes squinted as she coldly gazed at Laplace, who stopped rubbing the back of her head after hearing the words of the Vice Admiral.
"You command like an experienced general, Laplace. No matter how much you pretend to be clueless or downplay your capabilities, I can easily perceive whether someone is using their full capabilities or not."
"Holding back didn't do you good, especially when you act like you're dumb. It becomes too obvious." It was at this moment that Abraham realized things were about to become troublesome for the two.
But he couldn't deny being curious about Laplace's full capabilities.
She has been rather dismissive of her capabilities and her identity as the dragoness. The reason why Abraham didn't bother her much about it was because there would be a time when she would tell the truth to him.
Rather than forcing something out of her, it was better to be given the trust of keeping such information.
Laplace's gaze turned cold as her golden irises glowed with a tinge of radiance. Fortunately, however, Abraham entered their conversation with a relaxed tone.
"Now, now… This isn't the time for this." Abraham calmly uttered, causing the attention of the two to be pointed at him. He merely smiled upon meeting their gaze and continued.
"Instead of arguing about this, why don't we talk about troublesome issues springing up from the outside." He decided to change the subject as it was the best course of action for the two.
Charlotte merely stared at Abraham for a moment before nodding in agreement.
"I'm in agreement. We need to decide about what we need to do when the inevitable comes." Hearing her words, Abraham continued smiling as he was satisfied that she backed down.
"I don't have much to say." Laplace sighed and her golden irises dimmed. She looked at Abraham who looked at her with the same understanding smile as before.
It makes her pissed off, and feel pathetic. But that was how it was. The mind and the heart were things that were hard to control. Even she, a dragon, still found herself shackled by such things.
"Good, let's continue." Abraham nodded and the three began discussing the inspection of the Colonial Dominion of Terra.
Their discovery wasn't something they could avoid. So, what they needed to talk about was after the discovery of the United Navy. What should they do and what path should they take?
Charlotte and Laplace gave suggestions of their own. Some were simple, others complex. There were even a few that were straight-up horrific. They, of course, were suggested by Laplace.
"The moment we get discovered. We should try establishing diplomacy with the adversary. Our paths can be divided into two, depending on the reaction they have." Abraham uttered and continued.
"If they act hostile to our personnel and attack them, we can consider it as a declaration of war. That would mean that the United Navy will be open for confrontation and warfare."
"The Port of Dawn has stabilized since our last special operation, so we have out-manufactured our wasted ordnance, armaments, and ammunition. Another war shouldn't be a problem for us, but there is another issue that comes along when speaking of war."
Abraham stopped for a moment and Laplace uttered one word.
"Magi."
When Abrahan heard of Laplace's words, he nodded in agreement as that was what he was worried about when confronting the Colonial Dominion of Terra. It was none other than the Magis that made him hesitant about a full-scale war.
"That's correct. We still haven't established our anti-magic research division. The diary that was left behind was practically useless as none of us understood how to apply it. This means that our defenses against these Magi are bare-bones at best."
"With their capability to teleport anywhere they want, they could probably enter the Port of Dawn with ease and cause chaos amongst our ranks," Abraham explained the worst-case scenario when fighting against magicraft.
Charlotte wasn't shocked as she had already investigated the so-called magi and understood how much of a threat they had towards the United Navy.
If they wanted to take care of the Colonial Dominion of Terra, they probably had to handle the Magi first.
"I have killed a lot of Magi before being enslaved by Crassus. I consider them as pests who always know how and when to escape. They don't even have a tinge of honor and don't finish their fight if they ever felt their life was threatened."
"To kill them, I had to pretend to be weak and easy to defeat. If you wish to be able to defeat them, you need to be quick and make sure that they won't be able to react." Laplace gave her thoughts about the matter.
Abraham gazed at her in surprise as this was the first he ever heard of her killing some Magus. Laplace noticed his shock and lightly chuckled.
"As I said before, Abraham. There was a reason why Crassus feared me. It's not merely because I was a dragon or was the leader of the Rebellion. It's all due to me hunting Magi throughout the sea a few years ago."
Charlotte raised an eyebrow as this was also the first she heard Laplace talking about the things she had done before getting enslaved. As the Vice Admiral of the United Navy, it was natural to dig information about anything and anyone.
Naturally, she also tried digging for information about the problem dragon. However, it was hard to get much information about the dragoness since no one knew much about her. Even the beastfolk refugees only heard rumors and legends about the dragoness.
"A quick attack that they can't react to and can easily penetrate through shields," Abraham muttered while tapping his wooden desk.
He thought about a weapon that might have such capabilities, but there was none other than the obvious high-caliber artillery such as tank guns or naval guns.
Obviously, for the Magi to not be able to react to their attack, it needed to be portable, not-so-obvious, and easy to use at any time. Other than an anti-material rifle, there were no other weapons with such capabilities.
"Do we have a weapon like that other than an anti-material rifle?" Abraham asked Charlotte as she might be knowledgeable about the matter.
Charlotte thought about it for a short while before shaking her head.
"Anti-material rifles are the strongest guns we have if we don't include artillery in the equation. But there might be an anti-material rifle that might prove effective to the Magus." Her suggestion made Abraham somewhat interested.
The Vice Admiral noticed the interest of the Fleet Admiral and continued.
"The Anzio 20mm Vulcan."