After reclaiming the Great Bridge fortress, everyone celebrated their victory by holding a banquet at a hotel. Of course, there was alcohol at the banquet, but at Yoshino's plea and Konoe Eishun's strong suggestion, Yoshino's drink was replaced with juice. According to Yoshino, alcohol didn't taste as good as juice, which made everyone sweat.
"Everyone, why did the Empire start a war? Is it just to expand its territory?" Yoshino asked with some confusion while drinking her juice. If that was all, wouldn't it be too extreme? Such an extreme approach would attract a large number of enemies, so why do something that would provoke public outrage?
"Hmph! Besides expanding its territory, what other purpose could war have? At most, it's just to gain more profit." Nagi said indifferently. He was terrible at thinking. He preferred drinking, even though he wasn't old enough to drink yet.
But Al, Ferris, and Eishun, among others, had already put down their wine glasses. They also felt that something was amiss in Yoshino's words. Now, only the simple-minded Nagi and Lacan were still competing in drinking, completely disregarding Yoshino's question. After all, the operation was over, and they just wanted to relax.
"Thinking about it, something does seem wrong. If it were just ordinary territorial expansion, the Empire wouldn't need to use large-scale transfer magic. That's a bit too much." Rubbing his eyes, Al tried to make himself more alert. He felt that following this idiot captain had made him a bit simple-minded too.
"Speaking of this war… I also feel it's very unnatural!" Eishun said with a heavy expression, crossing his hands in front of his face. From the beginning, he felt something was off, but there were too few clues, and he couldn't pinpoint what was abnormal. Their combat ability was indeed strong, but their intelligence gathering capability was too poor. He really wished they had partners specialized in gathering intelligence.
"I feel we need partners specialized in gathering intelligence. We, who are constantly fighting all over the world, don't have spare time to collect information. This war started as only small-scale conflicts in the border regions. Later, the Empire, seeing the growing conflicts between nations, began its offensive. The first to be attacked were Argyle and the Tri-Continental Continent. The place they want to obtain should be the origin of their indigenous people: Ostia. But I feel the reason isn't that simple."
Yoshino used her ability to create a map of the Magical World, displaying the information she knew to everyone. The black land and arrows represented the sphere of influence of the Helles Empire. Through the simple map and arrows, everyone understood the nature of the war and guessed where the Empire's next target might be.
"No, there are still too few clues. We completely don't know what the Empire's next plan is. Although Yoshino presented things simply and clearly, with our current intelligence, we can't figure out their next move at all," Al said, rubbing his head. "It seems, as Yoshino said, we need partners specialized in gathering intelligence. Sometimes, it's not just about combat power, but also intelligence. There are only six of us. If we can't analyze the Empire's objective with intelligence, continuing to fight will be meaningless."
"But where can we find partners specialized in gathering intelligence? You know, besides having intelligence-gathering abilities, they also need superb combat power to qualify for joining our Red Wings. Otherwise, if they gather intelligence but can't return alive to report, it would be a hassle," Konoe Eishun said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. Such matters were truly headache-inducing.
"Oh? I seem to have seen something very interesting. You are the recently famous Red Wings, aren't you?" Just as everyone was feeling troubled, a man in a white suit with a full beard, glasses, and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, his face full of the vicissitudes of life, appeared before them, interrupting the Red Wings members who were deep in thought.
"Hmm? That's us. Is there something you need?" Nagi put down his cup and leaned back against the sofa, asking. At the same time, the other members also began to observe the weathered man in front of them.
"We want to join your Red Wings, me and this child," the weathered man said, pointing to the little boy beside him, who was also wearing a white suit.
'Is this Ryuudou when he was little? He's completely different from when he grew up. His grown-up appearance must be modeled after his master, right? Both have beards, and the cigarettes and glasses are the same,' Yoshino thought, looking at the two in front of her. She knew they were also members of the Red Wings, Kato and Ryuudou, but she didn't expect them to appear now.
"Don't you want to know why the Empire and the Federation started this war? My Junior Detective League has investigated this matter and has results," Kato said, exhaling a puff of smoke to everyone. He had just overheard what the Red Wings were discussing and knew what chips he had to play, so he brought Ryuudou here to discuss joining the Red Wings. (Junior Detective League? Why does that make me think of a certain death-seeking group?)
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