The words "by imperial warrant" rang out again and again throughout the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
Some meekly accepted the orders of the Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard.
And naturally some did not.
And affairs of this kind arose most often in the Holy Radiance Kingdom.
The gravity of the matter even reached the ears of Queen Saint Cana herself.
"Your Majesty! The Shadow Hunter ace fleet group has gone straight over our people's heads to arrest people within our kingdom. It has even launched attacks, right within our territory, on people and interstellar warships unwilling to cooperate!" A very aged-looking old man looked at Saint Cana upon the throne before him.
Saint Cana looked at this old man before her who had come to 'tell tales'.
The old man's standing was somewhat special: he had been one of Saint Cana's teachers, and after she became Empress he had been willing to take high office under her rule, and had been a great help to her.
But he was a very traditional man; though willing to work for Saint Cana, at heart he rather resisted the Owl Dragon Interstellar Empire.
"Then why did they not cooperate with the Shadow Hunter ace fleet group?" Queen Saint Cana said coldly.
The old man was taken aback; he had never thought Queen Saint Cana would say such a thing outright.
Without the least sympathy, holding, rather, that all of it was the fault of those who had refused to cooperate.
"But even if they meant to arrest people, they ought at least to have told us first!" the old man said, somewhat indignantly.
"They did tell us," Queen Saint Cana said lightly.
The old man was taken aback, and stared at Queen Saint Cana, dumbfounded.
Queen Saint Cana said lightly, "The Emperor informed me before this that Lady Zhao Waner would form the Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard and answer for it, under the Emperor's direct command. And that it was given the power: by imperial warrant, strike first, report after. As for those the Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard has beheaded, I have looked into every case; for the most part it came of their refusing to submit when the Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard arrested them. It is wholly their own fault."
At the Queen's words, the old man's face turned very ugly.
A great part of why he had come before the throne this time was that several of the troublemakers were in fact connected to him.
Though he himself had done nothing over the line, to have these people connected with him dealt with so summarily felt like a humiliation.
This time, before the old man could speak again.
Saint Cana raised her head, looked at this one-time teacher of hers, and said lightly, "Teacher, you are well on in years. You ought to see out your remaining years in ease before long. I know of a planet with a very pleasant environment; I can bestow it on you, Teacher, to see out your remaining years in ease."
The old man's face went stiff; he had never imagined that for telling tales just once, the Queen[1] would send him off into retirement.
Now he was truly afraid.
"Your Majesty, I…" He still wanted to salvage something.
But Saint Cana cut him off. "There is no need to say more, Teacher; let it be arranged so. Someone, see the Teacher out of the hall."
Saint Cana had dismissed him outright.
The old man, his eyes empty, was shown out of the great hall by the secretary officer.
Only at the moment the doors of the great hall closed did he come back to himself.
He had… it seemed… lost his power.
All because of those few little brats!
"Father, how did it go? What did Her Majesty say? That Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard or whatever it is goes too far. They arrest and kill people outright, without the least thought of asking us. That is holding us in utter contempt." A young man came over and asked the old man.
Smack.
A slap landed straight across the young man's face.
"Father… you… why did you hit me?" The young man clutched his face, dumbfounded.
"Shut your mouth! It is all because you urged me to come before the throne and bring up that rubbish with Her Majesty. And Her Majesty has had me step down for a worthier man and see out my remaining years in ease. Now look! Your old man is off to retire. You and your friends' rubbish, your old man wants no more part in it at all!" The old man left in a rage.
The young man was left standing there blankly.
His father's removal from office meant their faction would lose a great support.
It might even fall into decline from here on.
His face went slack; he had never thought the matter would come to this.
……
Rakshasa-Hades-class Interstellar Dreadnought · bridge.
"Little sister Waner takes this Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard business very seriously. The moment she got Lilith's file, she set to work on the deployment without a pause. She cleared out every hidden danger in the shortest possible time. And with the token you gave her, and the power of 'by imperial warrant, strike first, report after', she has put down every questioning voice with a strong hand." Charlotte walked up to Zhao Chen's side and said it.
Zhao Chen smiled faintly, thinking of the lass's face when she heard him give her the task, and that string of words,
like a little child who had been given the toy she had set her heart on.
He had not thought, though, that she would do so well.
"I only thought the Shadow Hunter ace fleet group suited this task. And at home right now, Waner is the only one who can be spared for the post. So I meant to let her try it first. Once the fighting on our side had settled, I would put the Royal Embroidered-Uniform Guard on a proper footing. As it looks now, even when it is reorganized later, it can stay in Waner's hands," Zhao Chen said with a smile, a little pride in his face.
For she was, after all, his, Zhao Chen's, little sister.
To watch his own little sister grow up and show what she could do, Zhao Chen, as her elder brother, was naturally very glad.
"How do things stand on our battlefields now?" Zhao Chen looked to Charlotte.
Charlotte pointed to the interstellar holo-table and went through it item by item. "At present the situation at Storm Fortress No. 3 has been stabilized, and Storm Fortress No. 3's logistics supply has been restored. Elsewhere, too, things are going very smoothly. If the Order hive-race does not send further reinforcements to the front, then within five days at most we can have the whole northern hive line restored."
Zhao Chen nodded, satisfied.
He noticed the weariness in Charlotte's eyes.
He stepped forward and looked at Charlotte's rounded belly. "Your time is drawing nearer and nearer. Take care of yourself. The affairs of the battlefield, I will take them on for you, or hand them to your staff."
Charlotte gave a faint smile. "It is nothing. As things are now, I can manage perfectly well."
Seeing Charlotte so stubborn, Zhao Chen said nothing more.
He only found a pretext and sent for Charlotte's chief of staff.
"Your Majesty." The chief of staff looked at His Majesty the Emperor, who had called her off the bridge, and asked respectfully.
"You know the Grand Marshal's present condition. Do not let her wear herself out. Handle as much of the business for her as you can, and see that she rests. Keep a close watch on her health. At the least sign of anything amiss, contact me and the physicians at once," Zhao Chen reminded her.
"Yes." The chief of staff nodded hard.
Zhao Chen waved his hand to signal that the chief of staff might withdraw.