The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 183

Chapter 183 – Mutual

Leaning back in my chair, I sighed. “Honestly, I haven’t paid a great deal of attention. I know that the American buffoon drove Hawaii and the Pacific territories into my waiting arms, and their Pacific fleet has been reduced to a shadow of their former glory, with only their submarines being able to reliably leave their territorial waters without suffering attacks by monsters. I’ve been primarily concerned with ensuring the citizens of Risen Athelia have all their needs met.”

That wasn’t entirely true, of course. I did receive some briefings on the global political situation, of course. Most of it shared intelligence from EAA spy agencies, or a round-up of the stories in the news. So, I wasn’t completely ignorant of what the idiot in chief was doing, but, so far, I really had been paying more attention to internal affairs, and ensuring that my disciples and the crafters under my tutelage were receiving the best education that they could.

Menton nodded, and said, “Understandable. The economies of the US territories in the Pacific were basically shot, from my understanding, before they requested to join you. The restrictions on sea trade caused by monsters was throttling them, until the new style of cargo ships was introduced.”

“Indeed. Fortunately, most of the individuals in the local governments were either clear of corruption, or made the wise decision to step down before my auditors got to their cases. Some chose to repatriate to the United States instead of remaining Athelian citizens. Only five were ignorant enough to believe that they could escape the scrutiny of the auditors, especially since they know how to use magics which forces individuals to speak only the truth. Those five were found guilty, and punished to serve as undead, working in the tax office.”

The Canadian ambassador chuckled. “Sentenced to eternity as an accountant. Geneva may need to add that to the Conventions.”

“Well, if Canada can find new and interesting ways to improve those treaties, surely Risen Athelia can, as well?”

We both laughed at that, since it had long been acknowledged that Canada was full of very polite, very nice people… right up until they were at war. Then, well, they tended to get ‘creative’ with the interpretations of treaties, and were very keen on finding loopholes. And when those loopholes were closed with further treaties, they found new ones.

“At any rate,” Menton continued, once we’d settled down, “the US has been increasingly volatile over the last couple decades, but especially since the current president is a bully and a narcissist. He has been saying things about annexing Greenland or Panama, for ‘national security’ reasons, and has made more than a few ill-conceived jokes which could be taken as threats about adding Canada to replace Hawai’i as the fiftieth state.”

The ambassador continued somberly, “My country, along with Mexico, and several countries in the Caribbean and Central America, have been working on a new defensive and economic alliance, the Acuerdo de Naciones Soberanas, or Sovereign Nations Accord, cutting the United States out of any trade deals or the like, and pledging mutual defense against outside aggression. This is made somewhat easier as the US economy has been slipping ever since the sea monsters began appearing. Before, they still imported much of their goods, so their manufacturing base has crumbled. And the lack of certain resources that are more easily found overseas has helped cripple their economy even further, without direct action on our part.

“The President just announced tariffs on ANS members, which we have answered in kind. Thankfully, members of the ANS were already in the process of shifting trade away from the United States, where possible. The tariff situation has only sped up that timeline.

“As you may know, prior to the seals being undone, the US imported between seventy and eighty percent of its heavy crude oil needs, which helped support US power plants, industrial boilers, and so on, as well as the production of diesel and jet fuel. The ANS has cut all oil imports to the US, and the Reformed Caliphate has still not been able to effectively ship their oil overseas, thanks to sea monsters, further restricting the supply of oil to the US. While the US still produces a good deal of oil domestically, their production, both in type of oil and number of barrels per day, is not enough to sustain their economy.

“Everyone hopes that economic pressures will be enough to force the President into standing down, and taking a more reasonable and rational approach to global policy. Unfortunately, no one has ever accused the current president of being reasonable or rational. With him increasing talks of annexing different countries, our militaries are being put on increased alert.”

“You expect the US to use military force to take what it cannot get through trade?”

Menton sighed. “With another president, I would have said no. However, with the current administration? The analysts aren’t ruling it out, and while their Pacific fleet has been weakened severely, and their supplies of jet fuel is restricted, the US remains a military powerhouse. Against any individual member of the Accord, they would win in a conventional battle. While our combined conventional forces would be enough to ensure that the US could not concentrate its power enough to focus on any one member nation at a time, and our position grows stronger, the longer the US economy falters, our main concern is if the administration decides that the conflict is going against them, and opts to use strategic or tactical nuclear weapons.”

I nodded grimly. “I’ve known more than one leader who would rather watch everything burn than admit defeat, or accept someone else humiliating them by playing their own game better than they did. In fact, most of the kingdoms I overran during the long war to defeat the Demon King were led by such people. Though, I would say that they at least had some level of martial or magical competence. The other world did not suffer leaders who relied solely on the powers of others.”

“So, it was a world where kings led from the front lines?”

I chuckled. “Not precisely. Any commander needed power and skill, of course, but that did not mean they were standing in the front ranks, as part of the shield wall. The king or general in command of a force would be a bit back from the fighting, so that they could observe the battlefield as a whole, and better control things.

“Obviously, a one person could not control every battlefield, even at the scale of medieval warfare. And, even in wartime, there were always troubles at home to deal with when running a country. Whether a king took to the battlefield or stayed back as an administrator depended on their personal talents, but there was danger in being ‘lopsided’. A king who put too much of his focus on domestic affairs and left the fighting of wars to competent generals could find those generals believing that the crown should be theirs, while a king who was always on the battlefield might find himself made a figurehead by his own steward. And things were even worse if either the general or administrator were incompetent or corrupt.”

“So, not so different from Earth, before World War I?”

“A fair comparison,” I nodded. “Probably more like the time of the Hundred Years’ War, though magic naturally affected things. An Archmage or Great Warrior, which was the rough equivalent in the Martial Way, on the battlefield was a game changer. Victory in a campaign could often come down to how many Champions like that were on either side, and how many were lost. An army could win a battle, but that victory would cause them to lose the war, thanks to losing critical Champions. On the other hand, an army could lose a battle, but by preserving their Champions, set themselves up for victory over the opposing army in the next engagement.”

“And I am sure that being able to raise fallen Champions to serve under your banner changed that calculus dramatically,” Menton grinned.

I smiled back at him. “That is the great strength that the Undead have when facing the living. The undead are persistence hunters taken to the absolute extreme. Never giving up, never tiring. They just need to outlast the enemy, since every enemy who falls will rise again to replenish their ranks. And when troops see one of their celebrated heroes, their Champions, perhaps a friend or brother-in-arms, now fighting against them? Even the sternest soldier will quail at the sight.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a wicked heart for war, your Majesty?”

“From a Canadian, I’ll take that as a compliment,” I chuckled.

“As it was intended,” Menton nodded. “But bringing things back around to the potential troubles, the ASN is looking to find ways to help ensure that US ambitions do not end up resulting in nuclear war. Which means building coalitions and making plans.”

“And you want Risen Athelia to be part of these plans?”

“Not as a direct participant, if possible. Given the current administration’s temperament, that would probably send things over the edge. However, you’ve mentioned in various forums about fortifications that had shields which could protect them from enemy attacks?”

“Ah, that makes more sense. I assume you’re looking for a way to protect different areas from nuclear strikes, as a way to ‘short-circuit’ the possibility of US nuclear aggression?”

“Putting it simply, yes. Obviously, we don’t expect anything for free, but it ought to be in everyone’s interest to keep nuclear war from happening. A defensive option would help as a deterrent, without being too provocative.”

“Yes, I can see that. However, creating a shield that could cover, say, Toronto, and still stand up to a nuclear blast? That is not something that is done quickly. Not without having a strong supply of mages on hand, using ritual magic to cast the spell. The mages of one of my legions could shield their legion from the explosion, but a city shield? You would need enchantments, specially made and likely draining as many mages as you can get to power the thing, or you would need to tap into a ley line. Either way, it would take time to build, and mages to supply enough extra power to block that powerful of a blast.”

“I suppose it would be too much to hope that the time would be something reasonable, like a few months?”

“Sadly so, Ambassador Menton. You would be looking at years of work, at a cost of hundreds of millions of Canadian Dollars on the low end, for each city protected in this way. There is a reason why, even in the other world, such shields were only constructed for capital cities or other points of paramount strategic importance. And, even then, the shield would only protect what is under it, but above the ground.”

Menton nodded sadly. “My government didn’t think something like that was possible, or we would have heard of it being used to protect areas in Risen Athelia, or the rest of the East Asian Alliance, but we needed to ask, all the same. Duty to our people, and all that.”

“Well, I would not say that I don’t share your government’s view. However, part of the reason Risen Athelia does not greatly fear nuclear weapons, despite not having them ourselves, is because any use of such weapons on my land would only empower my armies. Even with a submarine launch, we would have five minutes to prepare, and my diviners would have enough warning to shield the legions. Any civilian deaths would cause a huge upswell of Death mana, and the radiation would not harm my undead, but simply make them toxic for mortals to be around. After the fallout is ‘killed’ with magic, you would have an army that is very, very upset. The country that launched the missile would soon cease to exist. At the very least, if the current administration tried something like that against my lands, or those of my allies, then Washington, DC would become an abattoir. And that is if I decided not to create some ‘infectious’ undead.”

“Do you think the EAA would be interested in a defensive pact with the ANS?”

I smiled at Menton, and said, “I will pass the message along, but that is obviously something that the full Alliance Council will need to discuss, along with all sorts of official talks between our organizations. Still, I know that Japan, at least, would look favorably on something that could help contain the American rogue state.”