The American In Another World
Chapter 21: The Military Festival
September 25, 1639
The Bureau of Overseas Audit
Since Parpaldia's first meeting with the United States a month ago, Remille and his staff have been completely baffled by the mysterious appearance of the country. Throwing the wrench in their plan to dominate, this new country appeared almost out of nowhere, fielding a fleet that was at least on par with Mu's ships. Over the past few weeks, Mu's delegation has continued to deny any involvement with the Americans, only claiming that they have only just learned about them. Worryingly, the Muan seem to be attracting the interest of these newcomers; they think American technology is superior to their own.
If Remille had heard this from an ordinary person, she would probably have thought of it as propaganda. However, this opinion came from the Muan people themselves. After studying the aircraft properties they saw last month, even analysts are confident that American aircraft are better than anything Mu currently has in active service. Due to the overall lack of information and general attention among his subordinates, Remille decided to play cautiously. Although their geographical location was in the barbarian region, he could not deny that they were indeed civilized.
However, as the main superpower of the Third Civilization Region, the Parpaldian Empire could not be underestimated. Therefore, Remille invited the American diplomat, Ambassador Anders, to visit his office. He placed a crystal ball on top of his desk, which was connected to the magic recording equipment at Fenn. American diplomats could not only see their advanced magical abilities as demonstrated by the crystal ball itself, but also realize how powerful the Parpaldian Empire was once they staged a demonstration for the festival.
His initial desire was to intimidate Fenn into submission by attacking the festival and incurring fear in the hearts of the barbarians. However, with the knowledge that many civilized countries were also present, he discarded the idea, unwilling to make a diplomatic incident if his forces accidentally injured someone from a civilized country. Instead, he used a simple demonstration. By targeting the decommissioned fleet of ships, he should be able to strengthen the Parpaldian influence over the Third Civilization Region. In addition, such pressure could help Fenn make decisions regarding Kaios' generous land lease program. He sighed, leaning his head on his soft seat as he waited for the Military Festival to begin.
——
Amanoki, Kingdom of Fenn
The capital Fenn was bustling with activity as its citizens prepared for the day's celebrations. Many are happy to see the new military hardware that the participants will surely show off, while others worry — is worried about how Parpaldia will use its power. Everyone, from ordinary Fenn citizens to representatives from other barbarian countries to the Sword King himself, was shocked to see civilized nations interested in the event.
As the sun rose higher in the distance, residents gathered along the pier, gawking at the incoming ship. The first to arrive were uncivilized countries. As a permanent participant, the ships of these countries were not extraordinary. Still, they remain amazing because people outside of the civilized realm find something to be proud of.
The next set of ships to arrive were ships from civilized countries. Offering cannons, these ships collected some 'ooh' and 'ah'. Their mighty warships are much larger than any other docked ship, armed with their primitive savage ballista. Wherever their descending personnel went, a controlled atmosphere soon followed. Prior to this military festival, none of the participants were treated unfairly or disgusted. However, this changed with the arrival of the proud citizens of Riem and other 'civilized' nations.
Although unpleasant, the disrespect thrown by these 'civilized' people failed to compensate for the arrogance emitted by the Parpaldians. Arriving with a large fleet of overseers backed by wyvern rulers, they were without a doubt the epitome of a warship diplomat in the eyes of the Fennese. Placing their fleet outside the small bay, they pushed many other ships away and took up a very luxurious space. While the Riemians show some form of decency, the Parpaldians show nothing, sometimes intimidating locals and even some participants from other 'barbaric' countries. Interestingly enough, they dare not bully Americans.
——
The Imperial Supervisory Force of the Parpaldian, Eastern Fleet
Amanoki, Kingdom of Fenn
At the pier next to the Parpaldian landing craft, Director Kaios and Admiral Pokidewalk looked towards the small bay, watching the wyvern lord air show that coordinated proudly. The 20 wyvern lords of the Eastern Fleet performed aerial maneuvers in groups of four, demonstrating the skill of not only their knights, but also the wyvern lords capable of bank and turn far beyond standard wyvern capabilities. They flew over the Sword King's palace, subtly reminding Fennese of Parpaldia's range and power. Meanwhile, other fleets prepared target ships for later demonstrations.
“Interesting turn of events,” comments Pokidewalk. “When I saw the wyvern lord flying over Fenn. I always thought it was due to conquest, not diplomacy.”.
Kaios laughed a little. “I once thought the same thing, but since the arrival of these Americans, our world has been turned upside down. And then when you also consider this appearance.The Gra Valka Kingdom in the east, you start to wonder how true the ancient story of the transfer is.
“Hm, yes. These examples do give credibility to these stories, but the sidewalk disappears; he does not know what to conclude.
“If you think about the Holy Milishial Kingdom and Mu, even they recognize the transfer as possible, if not real. Mu, the land of science and logic and the Holy Milishial Empire, the ultimate land of magic.
“Yes, but hmm.. I guess you really made a fair point there. Maybe we are too complacent in this part of our world. Still: although some parts of the story may be original, others are too unrealistic. A flying magic pillar that can annihilate an entire city? It must be exaggerating what really happened, like a magically generated storm that just happened to destroy a poorly constructed building.
Kaios shrugged, thinking of a response. He looked out to sea and before he could answer, he saw some large ships in the distance — the same ships he had seen in Ethirant. "Geez, they're even bigger the second time!"
Admiral Pokidewalk, who was not in Ethirant at the time, was surprised. He immediately thought of Vessel Mu, just like his comrades one month ago. Their approach to the beach is heralded by dozens of red, white, and blue fireworks. Soon after, Americans performed their own air shows, which were far more dazzling than those performed by the Parpaldian wyvern rulers.
Screeching screams emanated from the plane as they pierced through the air, leaving behind a colorful trail. In the distance, music flows from the ship; kaios can identify it as the same music he heard during his first encounter with Anders and Rodriguez. This music is their national anthem. Already aware of how well the Americans beat them, he sighed inwardly. Looking at the dock, he saw a crowd of people cheering as the plane flew past them again, adorning them with strong winds and drizzling sea water. This action made the audience more excited, making them cheer louder.
Kaios frowned at the thought of this barbaric support for the United States. Over the past month, America has established relations with the barbaric countries of the Third Civilization Region, of the Altaras Kingdom, Sios, and even Topa. Securing a generous trade deal with America, the region only provides valuable resources such as oil and rare metals — items they don't even know their value. Instead, they were brought into the American sphere of influence and given access to the American market and even some of their technology, albeit only for civilian purposes. Understandably, like the Parpaldian Empire, the United States was careful in delivering any advanced technology. However, one outlier seems to be firearms technology.
Some barbarian countries with desirable resources, such as Altara, can exchange magic gems for weapons. Due to the sophistication of American firearms even from Parpaldia, they were able to dictate extremely favorable trade terms, only exchanging a few hundred of these weapons for tons of magic gems. Some spies in the Altaras and other countries can gather intelligence about this new weapon. Their functionality appears to be a lever action and has a greater rate of fire and magazine capacity than the Parpaldian rifle, which is a one-shot weapon and is reloaded relatively slowly. Although these weapons clearly exceed the capabilities of Parpaldian weapons, Kaios knows that this is not the full potential of American technology — they will not give away their latest weapons, so these rifles and revolvers are definitely ancient technology. This deal is similar to the way Parpaldia did their own deal: selling decades of old technology and buying slaves and other valuable resources from a barbarian state they had not conquered.
Even some representatives of civilized countries seemed to admire the American demonstrations. He noticed some officials from Riem, not too far along the pier, pointing and nodding impressively towards the plane above. Already, Kaios could see the grip of the Parpaldian Empire loosening, their fingers being uprooted by American influence. He twisted his brain, trying to think of a way to maintain the Parpaldian influence, but found nothing. The Parpaldian Empire had nothing in the United States, except magic, if their claims of magical incompetence were true. But even so, their technology was so advanced that they did not even need magic. What could the Parpaldian Empire do to maintain its glory and prestige?
——
The Bureau of Overseas Audit
Ambassador Anders walked through the hall of the building as he headed to Remille's office. He and Rodriguez had just been called to a small demonstration over a military festival in Fenn, with Remille harshly requesting his immediate presence. Wondering what surprise he might have kept for her, she stood outside the door contemplating before knocking.
"Ah," said Remille. "Ambassadors Anders and Rodriguez, you know it's rude to let a woman wait."
Anders ignored his sharp comments. "Why are you calling us, Miss Remille?" He noticed the crystal ball on his desk and his mind went wild with the idea of divination and magic. Is Remille a psychic?
Remille answered Anders' question with annoyance and slight disgust. “What you see in front of your barbaric eyes is a magical viewer. This miracle was the direct technology of the Holy Milishial Kingdom and allowed anyone to see events from afar at this moment. Magicians were no longer required for such feats. Now,” he beckoned to the device, which lit up and began to form a picture, “Watch the power of the Parpaldian Empire!”
On top of the crystal ball, the scene from the military festival materialized. Although blurry, color images have decent quality for such a small device. One Parpaldian ship could be seen, roughly two kilometers away from the static fleet consisting of ten target ships. Then, light and smoke erupted from the ship as it unleashed 40 cannons towards the target ship. The overcrowded ships were annihilated by the bombardment of cannon balls.
Remille looked away from the show of strength and analyzed the bewildered faces of Anders and Rodriguez. "Hmph, so did you finally realize the extent of our strength?"
“Wah, we sure have Miss Remille.” Anders looked away from the ball. “Just a little surprised that you all have this kind of technology regardless of the overall level of your kingdom's technology. Indeed, the quality of the video is rather poor, but still, it is quite impressive.” Anders' expression easily went from confusion to mild surprise.
Remille, puzzled by Anders' expression, realized that he was not surprised by Parpaldia's power. Instead, he was surprised by his initial expectations, but overall was not affected by their appearance. He looked at Anders curiously, not knowing how to respond.
Anders broke the awkward silence and continued to explain. "Did Director Kaios not tell you about our device?"
"What device?"
Anders pulls out his laptop, showing Remille a live stream from Fenn. “ This is how a good quality video looks . Yes, we really understand the power of Parpaldia. It turned out to be about two hundred years behind us, with some of your little trinkets pretty sophisticated, but still primitive.
Remille's face turned red in anger as he attempted to counter Anders' insults, but he could not deny how sophisticated the device was compared to his crystal ball. The video on the screen is displayed in much higher detail, with the entire scene indistinguishable from reality. He remained silent as he spotted the only American ship in the video approaching a set of four target ships, positioned 6 kilometers away. Then, while continuing to move at a faster-than-possible speed with the Tears, the Vessel fired four consecutive shots, each finding its target.
The target ship was basically cut in half by the force of the attack, becoming driftwood in a matter of seconds. Simulations played in Remille's mind as she analyzed the video, recalling what ambassador Muan had said about American technology. Full of distrust and denial, Remille simply stared blankly at the screen as Anders spoke in the background.
“... Are you even listening? Miss Remille?”
Remille flinched from a daze and looked at the high-ranking American ambassador, wondering how long he had been talking. “Ambassador... I..” He sighed, took a breath as he thought of his next move. He can continue to exert pressure, as has Parpaldian-barbarbar diplomacy over the past few decades, or he can take a more congruent approach with civilized nations. With the seconds running like hours, he finally finished with a neutral response, beckoned by a voice behind his head, a warning of disaster.
“Ambassador, that's an interesting look. Still, you still have to cover a longer distance before proving yourself. Officially, you are still barbaric, but this may change depending on the actions you take. Therefore, I offer you an exclusive deal: in return for your technology, you will receive the blessing of the Parpaldian Empire and the elevation of the status of a 'civilized country'.
Anders and Rodriguez looked at each other, dumbfounded. Their expressions were enough to convey what they wanted to say out loud: "What the hell is this?" Anders returned to Remille and politely declined his offer. “Nona Remille, although this may be a generous offer for relatively primitive countries under your thumb, we are not such a country.”
Remille steeled her tone, tying her with cold violence as she replied. "Dearly enough. I suggest you reconsider; you do not want to disappoint the Emperor.
“If there is nothing else you want to discuss, we mean excuse us.”
“Alright,” said Remille, his mind still running wild.