Over the course of this banquet, the Empress Qin Xiaolei announced several further matters one after another.
Among them was the commendation of those who had given outstanding service during the Starlight Empire's civil war.
Chu Changhe was naturally one of them; only, Chu Changhe was already a star-region Governor and a Five-Star Marshal.
Above that there was truly nothing good left to commend him with — one could hardly, as with Zhao Chen, invest him as a Prince besides.
In the end the Empress's bestowal upon Marshal Chu Changhe was to increase his authority to move imperial fleets, and at the same time to grant him a greater private-force establishment.
Though Chu Changhe had, by various means, possessed legion fleets that took his orders before, most of them stood in a gray zone.
Chu Changhe's Chu family legion fleets had, before this, an establishment of only 3,000 hulls.
That was what could be set out in the open.
And now the Empress Qin Xiaolei granted Chu Changhe outright a guard-fleet establishment of 30,000 warships.
Second only to Zhao Chen, this Prince Owl Dragon!
A word must be added here: a Prince, too, has requirements upon his legion-fleet establishment — one can hardly be allowed a fleet on a scale to threaten the royal house.
But this clause was void in Prince Owl Dragon's case.
For Zhao Chen at present directly held above 10,000 combat-type warships.
And this was a thing the Empress Qin Xiaolei tacitly allowed.
Were anyone to dare impeach Prince Owl Dragon over it, the one to come to grief would not, at a guess, be Zhao Chen, but that fool.
The North Wind Governor received commendation as well — some bestowals of wealth and the like.
And then came the main event.
The bestowals upon the people of the Owl Dragon Legion.
The Owl Dragon Legion's Charlotte was invested as a Five-Star Marshal.
This bestowal exceeded the reckoning of the vast majority. First, this was the Starlight Empire's first beast-folk marshal — the more so as Charlotte was very young, and had held no rank or bestowal whatever within the Starlight Empire before this.
And she had become a Five-Star Marshal outright.
Behind this bestowal upon Charlotte, the Empress Qin Xiaolei's thinking ran chiefly upon two points: first, that this civil war had brought down above half the Five-Star Marshals, and the Starlight Empire urgently needed talent to fill the gap.
And second, it was on account of Prince Owl Dragon.
Chitong, Shen Bing, Baixue, Zhao Wan'er, Su Lan and the rest were likewise granted the ranks of Four-Star General, Three-Star Lieutenant General, and so forth.
And it is worth mentioning besides that Zhao Ruyue, who had served as Qin Xiaolei's own guard, was now invested as a Five-Star Marshal as well.
Which meant that the Owl Dragon Legion had, at a stroke, produced two Five-Star Marshals.
And both of them very young women marshals.
More important still, everyone understood well that both these Five-Star Marshals were bound up with Prince Owl Dragon.
And of those generals commended besides, half likewise came from the Owl Dragon Legion.
The Owl Dragon Legion now might well be called a gathering of general-stars.
In the latter half of the banquet, the Empress Qin Xiaolei personally pinned the medals upon these newly decorated marshals, generals, and lieutenant generals.
Charlotte returned to stand before Zhao Chen, the expression on her face perfectly plain, as though what had just happened were the most ordinary thing in the world; and toward that medal upon her breast, the mark of a Five-Star Marshal, she was more indifferent still.
"Charlotte, you might at least put on some expression of surprise. This is a medal that no one knows how many officers of the Starlight Empire have longed for in their very dreams." Zhao Chen teased her from beside.
Charlotte glanced at the medal on her breast and asked, "Is this medal worth much?"
Zhao Chen was taken aback, and said on reflex, "It ought… to be worth a fair bit, I suppose."
"Then how many big yellow croakers will it trade for?" Charlotte blinked as she asked it.
A Five-Star Marshal's medal, traded for big yellow croakers?
Chu Xuan, hearing this beside them, could not help spraying out the wine in her mouth.
That line, at a guess, only Charlotte could have produced.
"This five-star medal is itself forged of a special metal, and those five gems upon it are precious stones produced on a certain planet. Speaking of its value alone, it comes to at least above 1 million star coins. But that is only the lesser part; a Five-Star Marshal's medal of this kind is a mark of standing — with it, on meeting His or Her Majesty one need not kneel, but need only give a military salute. And at the same time one may move up to five imperial fleets."
"Above 1 million star coins?" Something changed in Charlotte's eyes; she took the Five-Star Marshal's medal straight off her breast and held it out to Chu Xuan. "Then I'll sell it to you. 1 million star coins will do."
Zhao Chen covered his face and very nearly laughed aloud.
Chu Xuan shook her head again and again. "I wouldn't dare take that thing. I spoke of its value just now, but in fact there is no one in the whole Starlight Empire who would dare take it."
A Five-Star Marshal's medal — whose family is tired of living, to dare take such a thing?
Lilith said from beside them, "Charlotte, this Five-Star Marshal's medal of yours carries a Starlight Empire account with it besides. Every month it will pay you a considerable allowance — which amounts to the Starlight Empire keeping you for the rest of your life. And carrying this Five-Star Marshal's medal, you may go into any establishment with an official Starlight Empire background and eat and drink your fill without a care, and pay nothing."
Hearing Lilith out, Charlotte at once put the Five-Star Marshal's medal away, and even looked at it with shining eyes.
Anyone who did not know would certainly suppose that Charlotte was very fond of this Five-Star Marshal's medal.
In truth, Zhao Chen and the rest understood well that Charlotte was merely treating this Five-Star Marshal's medal as a permanent meal ticket.
Chu Xuan, beside them, looked at her own Four-Star General's medal; a moment ago she had been most proud of it.
But seeing Charlotte's attitude, that pride in her heart was halved at a stroke.
And on reflection — just so. What of a Five-Star Marshal, of a Four-Star General? Was it so important? So very formidable?
In this civil war they had killed no one knew how many of these officers.
Among them several Five-Star Marshals had gone down to defeat at their hands.
Can a Five-Star Marshal command a legion fleet of T3 warships to the last hull?
An Owl Dragon Legion commander can.
Can a Five-Star Marshal order several hundred T3 interstellar missile ships to fire a salvo?
An Owl Dragon Legion commander can.
Thinking of this, Chu Xuan looked toward Zhao Chen, and there was more pride in her heart than before.
That was the pride of being one of the Owl Dragon Legion.
"That's right — Charlotte, I have something to ask you." Zhao Chen looked at Charlotte, who was fiddling with that permanent meal card.
Hearing Zhao Chen's question, Charlotte set down the permanent meal card and looked to him.
"What is it?"
"It is about the situation over in the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth. The Siren tribe, the Harpy tribe, the Spider Queen tribe, and the Fox-folk tribe, for instance. And how matters stand now with the other great tribes of the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth." Zhao Chen asked it with concern.
With the Starlight Empire's civil war ended — whether on Charlotte's account, or on the System missions'—
Zhao Chen's strategic center of gravity was next to fall upon the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth.
If he could take the resources and strength of both the Starlight and the Warhammer empires into his grasp, then even facing the Holy Radiance Empire head-on he would have not the least fear!