The flagship, Argos.

A super-dreadnought class battleship over three thousand meters long is like having a small colony inside.

It has most of the necessary facilities, and as long as you don't demand luxury, you won't have any trouble living here.

But nobles are different.

"It's only by wastefully using even limited space that one can be called a noble."

My private quarters were furnished with facilities that could be mistaken for a luxury hotel.

Wasted space.

Wasted amenities.

It was an act that seemed to mock the developers who desperately designed the ship to secure even the smallest amount of space.

To live elegantly, even on the battlefield.

This is the true form of an evil lord.

Barging into my private room were my junior female disciples, who had just returned from their duties.

They were dressed in what was essentially their underwear after bathing, sprawled out on my bed and sofa.

Rinho was lying on her back on the bed, kicking her feet.

"This place really is a world of its own. It makes you forget you're on a battlefield."

Fuuka, lying on her stomach on the sofa and munching on snacks with poor manners, laughed in agreement.

"Senior Brother really is off his rocker, isn't he?"

Bringing a luxury cruise ship to a battlefield is an act that would make anyone question your sanity.

Both of them were past being amazed by my evil-lord act and were now just laughing at it.

However, my luxury cruise ship also boasts extremely high performance as a warship.

To be a true man of wealth is to have both luxury and performance.

"While others struggle on the battlefield, I, a noble, live in elegance. —This is what it means to be a noble."

When I said so with a smile, Rinho and Fuuka looked at each other.

"It's a battlefield, sure, but~"

"This is within the Hegemony Kingdom's territory, so it's enemy ground, right? Senior Brother sure has some nerve."

—We weren't along the border with the Hegemony Kingdom.

We had crossed the border and were now invading the Hegemony Kingdom's territory.

In other words, we were in enemy territory.

Why should I have to fight to protect the Empire's domain?

Since they left it to me, I'll do as I please.

"To live elegantly even in enemy territory is—"

As I was lecturing my junior disciples on the principles of an evil lord, a siren blared.

A small window appeared before me, and a report came from a sleepy-looking Eulisia.

"Lord Liam, an enemy fleet has noticed us and is approaching. Their numbers are estimated at approximately thirty thousand ships."

I swirled the alcohol in the glass I was holding and sighed at the sight of Eulisia.

"You have bed hair."

"I-I can't help it! More importantly, this is a Class-1 alert!"

I had brought Eulisia, my adjutant from my military days, to the battlefield with me, but to be honest, I would have preferred to have Amagi by my side.

I'm also concerned about matters in my domain, and I left her behind just in case—but now I'm in enemy territory and can't even properly contact my domain.

"Hah... I want to see Amagi."

"Why do you sound so disappointed!?"

"No, I am genuinely disappointed, you know?"

It's not that I look disappointed. I am disappointed.

When I told her that, Eulisia's face became expressionless.

"Please hurry with the battle preparations."

She cut off the communication before I could reply. If that were anyone else, it would be grounds for severe punishment.

Isn't she being a bit too disrespectful towards me?

Damn it, there isn't a single decent woman around me.

Putting down my glass, I stood up and turned my gaze to my junior disciples.

They are my cute junior disciples. I don't feel any lust for them, but I still wish they'd do something about their attire.

"Time to sortie. More importantly, I'll provide you with as many clothes as you want, so stop walking around in your underwear after a bath."

The two of them stood up, grumbling.

Apparently, Rinho finds it a hassle to change every time.

"It's such a pain when we have to sortie this often."

"You said it."

Fuuka stood up and stretched, then operated the terminal on her wrist.

Watching her pilot suit materialize in an instant, I tilted my head, wondering what part of that was a hassle.

◇

Nearly sixty thousand allied ships had begun their attack on the thirty thousand enemy vessels.

I watched the scene from aboard Avid, cleaving an approaching enemy Mobile Knight in two with the laser blade I held.

I kicked away the wreckage and then watched my junior disciples' performance on the battlefield.

"Not bad, I suppose."

Rinho and Fuuka, piloting mass-produced Avids, were both using white-colored units.

Their voices reached my cockpit.

Rinho's unit, wielding a long, physical sword, was diving toward the battleships.

"Come on, come on, if you don't stop me soon, you're all gonna die!"

Combined with the techniques of the Isshin-ryu style, the mass-produced Avid was slicing enemy ships in half.

When an explosion occurred, Rinho's unit would emerge unscathed and search for its next prey.

"She has a strong tendency to go for the big targets. As for Fuuka—"

In contrast, Fuuka's unit held a laser blade in each hand.

She was fighting against other Mobile Knights.

"Bring me someone strong! You guys are no match for me!"

She plunged into a group of Mobile Knights, cutting and carving her way through them.

The light from her thrusters made her trajectory look like a line, and wherever Fuuka's unit passed, explosions erupted one after another.

Even though they learned the sword from the same master, their styles are quite different.

As I was observing them while taking down the gathering enemies, an enemy ship came towards Avid.

Dozens of battleships had their main cannons aimed at Avid.

Avid picked up the enemy's voices, and it seemed they had charged upon learning that I had sortied.

"It's Liam! If we take his head, victory in this battle is assured! To protect our homeland, we will defeat him here. All ships, fire at will!"

"For a thrown-together fleet hastily assembled after we got into your pocket, you've got a lot of spirit. —But you don't have the numbers to defeat me."

Avid didn't dodge the lasers and beams fired from the enemy ships. A spherical field had formed around Avid, deflecting them all.

Avid raised its left hand towards the enemy fleet, and numerous magic circles appeared behind it.

From them, cannons and various other weapons emerged, aimed at the enemy fleet, and fired.

A moment later, the enemy fleet was engulfed in a series of explosions and fell silent.

"Are the elites frantically searching for us right about now? Well, it's too late even if they find us."

The first wave of the Banfield family's army has bypassed the enemy's invasion force and is now rampaging through the Hegemony Kingdom's interior.

The Empire's border will naturally be ravaged as well, but that's none of my business.

"It's time for a fun brawl! You're going to keep me company to the very end, Hegemony Kingdom."

◇

Around that time.

The Hegemony Kingdom's fleet, which had invaded Imperial territory, could not hide its confusion at the fragility of the defense forces.

Aluna, now the Crown Prince, was listening to the battle report on the bridge of his flagship.

The Hegemony Kingdom's army was winning battle after battle.

They had managed to invade Imperial territory without suffering any significant losses.

However, Aluna was frowning.

"What in the world is going on? Didn't the intelligence we obtained say that Duke Banfield would be coming out?"

According to the information obtained by the Hegemony Kingdom's intelligence division, Liam was supposed to be dispatched to the border.

That was why Crown Prince Aluna was leading the invasion himself.

This was Aluna's first battle since becoming Crown Prince.

It was receiving a great deal of attention back home, and everyone had high expectations for Aluna's skill—and his martial prowess.

Victory was all well and good, but bullying weak opponents wouldn't earn him any praise in the Hegemony Kingdom.

His dissatisfaction was showing in his demeanor, but his subordinates were equally perplexed.

"I can't imagine he ran away. Could this be one of the enemy's strategies?"

"This is the Banfield family that defeated Lord Izel. It's entirely possible."

"There are also rumors that Klaus, the Empire's strongest knight, is here."

There were two heads the Hegemony Kingdom particularly wanted.

One was Liam's, who was believed to be the commander-in-chief, but the other was the head of Klaus, who had come to be called the Empire's strongest.

The Hegemony Kingdom believed Klaus had made them suffer a bitter defeat, and he was deeply resented.

However, at the same time, it was the way of the Hegemony Kingdom to pay respect to strong opponents.

For their warriors, Klaus had become positioned as a supreme opponent.

Aluna was on the front lines precisely because he wanted the heads of Liam and Klaus.

"I can't imagine those two would be struck by cowardice. But if that's the case, why haven't they come to the battlefield? I didn't think he was the kind of man to stay silent while Imperial territory was being trampled like this."

As Aluna pondered with a hand to his chin, a subordinate who had received a communication stood up and requested permission to speak.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince!"

"What is it?"

"An urgent message from the rear! The Banfield family's fleet has invaded the Hegemony Kingdom's territory! Their numbers are estimated at five hundred thousand! The Mobile Knight known as Avid, which defeated Lord Izel, has also been confirmed!"

As the bridge began to stir, Aluna rose from his seat.

Hearing that Liam was behind them, he wore a look of someone who had been outplayed.

But his expression quickly turned into a smile.

"He has good nerve to invade us. I can understand the feeling, as I too prefer invasion to defense."

Aluna was pleased to learn that Liam was in his rear, but—there was something that bothered him.

"But does he intend to walk into a trap? With a mere five hundred thousand, if we strike their rear, they'll just be surrounded and finished."

Aluna was leading a force of several million.

In terms of numbers, Aluna had the advantage, and Liam's actions seemed far too reckless.

His subordinates awaited Aluna's command.

"Your Highness, what are your orders? Shall we continue our advance deep into the Empire, or shall we turn back and aim for Duke Banfield's head?"

Advance or retreat.

Normally, they should invade the Empire, but what Aluna wanted were the heads of Liam and Klaus.

Aluna made an immediate decision.

"We're turning back. I don't know when the next chance to fight Banfield will come. The Empire can be invaded anytime, but we can't miss this chance."

As Aluna flashed a ferocious, beast-like smile, the eyes of his surrounding subordinates shone with anticipation.

"The entire army will aim for Banfield's head!"

Aluna chose to aim for Liam's head over the easily conquerable Imperial territory.

◇

The second wave of the Banfield family's fleet arrived at Planet Augur, a planet where Liam had previously served as a deputy.

Decades ago, the lord who ruled this planet had deprived the populace of education and technology, forcing them to live a life unbecoming of an interstellar nation.

When Liam served as deputy, he had relocated some of his own citizens there, making it one of the more convenient planets for the Banfield family.

Greeting the generals of the second fleet, who had arrived in a great hurry at the spaceport, was Marion Sera Olgren, acting as a proxy for Margrave Olgren.

Marion, a tomboyish girl with short hair, was irritated as she stood before the bewildered knights and soldiers of the Banfield family.

"You're late! The Hegemony Kingdom's fleet was about to reach Augur!"

A general stepped forward to speak with Marion on behalf of the others.

"We rushed here faster than scheduled, you know? More importantly, is Lord Liam safe? We haven't been able to contact him at all, and there's great confusion on the home planet. And what of the war situation? Why is it that only the fleet dispatched from the Empire is present?"

The hundreds of thousands of reinforcements that had arrived were met by over a million allied ships.

These were fleets dispatched from the Empire, a paper tiger composed entirely of obsolete models.

Marion clutched her head.

"Senior Liam has charged into enemy territory! Damn it, what 'easy job'? Being left practically naked in front of the Hegemony Kingdom is like a punishment game. I'll hold a grudge for this, Senior Liam."

Marion, on the verge of tears, had been dispatched by Margrave Olgren to act as a liaison with Liam.

This was because everyone had initially thought that Liam would simply defend the border without incident.

Marion, too, had thought that even if they couldn't win, they wouldn't suffer a terrible loss, and had naively assumed she wouldn't die as long as she was by Liam's side.

The generals exchanged glances.

"What do you mean!?"

"Is no one left? What about Lord Klaus? At this point, even Lady Christiana or Lady Marie would do. If only one of them were here—"

In response to the generals, Marion began to laugh, her eyes still teary.

"None of them are here! He took them all with him to raid the Hegemony Kingdom!"

A knight who had been listening to the conversation became flustered.

"Th-this is bad. We must inform Lord Liam at once."

To the bewildered second fleet, Marion delivered a message from Liam.

"More importantly, these are Senior Liam's orders. You are to take the reorganized fleets and invade the Hegemony Kingdom's territory. He said to bring reinforcements."

The fleets dispatched by the Empire were—under Liam's current orders—undergoing reorganization, receiving a steady supply of new ships and new mechs.

The vague orders made the generals anxious, and they pressed Marion for more information.

"R-reorganization? You can't mean on this scale!? More importantly, is there a detailed order, or any data? And what about the numbers!? How many reinforcements is he asking for?"

"—He wouldn't tell me even when I asked. He said to judge for ourselves. Seriously, what is with him?"

As Marion turned her face away, the knights and generals covered their faces with their hands and looked up at the heavens.