Holy Mirishial Empire, Cartalpas

Everyone in the Central World considered the Holy Mirishial Empire the strongest country in the entire world. The port town Cartalpas, the center of trade here, was where merchants from many different countries gathered and spoke candidly about the goings-on in their countries. It was also an extremely important information hub, given how each country also mixed spies in with their merchants.

Within civilized areas, Mirishial was known for its revolutionary developments in magic technology. Just by walking in the streets, a visitor could see magic streetlamps and other sophisticated magic technology in use.

At a certain bar, drunk merchants were exchanging their stories of what they saw in the world. A rotund man who looked like a beer barrel with a white beard started talking excitedly.

"The craziest story in recent times has gotta be how the Gra Valkas Empire, that emerging country, destroyed the Second Civilization superpower Leifor. Who here knows anything about Gra Valkas?"

A man in a robe with his face hidden responded.

"I was in Leifor's capital Leiforia selling spices when it happened, but I'll never forget it. All the wyvern lords formed up into squadrons and flew off towards the sea earlier that day… and they didn't come back. Thinking back on it now, this was when we should have realized something weird was going on.

Then, a huge warship came. It was like a small island, and it had gigantic cannons that were so big we could see them from the city. I'd never seen a boat as big as that one in my entire life. This ship was off the coast about six kilometers, completely out of range of the defenses. Then, the cannon fire started.

There was only one ship, so we didn't think much of it, but the firepower of that thing was so destructive we thought that even a god of fire couldn't make something as strong as this. They just randomly bombed the entire city, it was terrifying. We ran and ran and ran. Those guys were just way too strong. They laid waste to the capital of a superpower with just one ship! I bet even Mu would lose them. The world belongs to Gra Valkas now, if you ask me."

"Wait a minute. Obviously, if they beat Leifor, that means they're strong, but they've got nothing on Mirishial's super-advanced magic. They're just on completely different levels."

"Mu, the land of machines, also isn't too far behind Mirishial. I don't think they'd stand a chance against Mu either. No matter what you say, Mu wouldn't lose to some barbarian country outside the civilized areas."

"Leifor just lost to one of those barbarian countries, you know."

"As one of the superpowers, Leifor was, you know… I feel bad saying it, but they were the weakest ones, weren't they? Sure, they were really strong compared to other countries, but if you only look at the other superpowers, they don't really measure up…"

The drunks kept on discussing what they heard.

"By the way, there's also the Kingdom of Louria all the way in the east, right?"

"That little barbarian country with a superpower-sized population?"

"Ah, I was there for a trade deal last month when they started a war with their neighbor Qua Toyne. 'To eradicate all of the demihumans,' they said."

"Eradicate demihumans? What a waste of time. Expected barbarian behavior though."

"Then, this country called Usea joined the war, and they crushed Louria. I guess Usea is just way too strong. Louria didn't even inflict a single casualty on the Useans, and I heard their fleet of five thousand ships got completely and utterly decimated by the Usean fleet of seven. Usea's another country that'll be making waves in the future!"

"Hey, I went to Louria recently, now part of a nation simply called Rodenius, that place has changed a lot now. Huge metal constructions were all over the place and some parts even looked similar to Mirishial cities, like the street lighting, though I didn't sense much magic power. Maybe they've taken a page out of Mu's book. But the development still seems too fast. There's still a lot of stuff that looks backward and undeveloped outside the city centers but it's getting there. I wonder if that's because of Usean influence."

"Ha, no country is remotely on par with Mirishial or Mu in magical and mechanical development. Besides, only seven ships took out five thousand and suffered no casualties? No matter how you look at it, that's propaganda. Too unrealistic."

"Well, no matter how strong Gra Valkas and Usea are, compared to Mirishial, they ain't shit. In the end, the Central World is the strongest! At least until the ancient sorcerous empire returns…"

The drunkards' boisterous night wore on.

Superpower Mu, Second Civilization Group

Information Analysis Division

The information analysis division was the country's intelligence agency, it analyzed information gathered on various countries. The general impression of soldiers in the army about this branch was:

- I don't really get what they do.

- Their work probably has no value.

Because of this discrimination, their understanding of information technology was very poor. Technical Officer Myrus broke out into a cold sweat while analyzing the magic photographs of the attack on Leiforia conducted by the Gra Valkas Empire's super-dreadnought Grade Atlastar.

"This is bad…"

The Empire of Mu was not very capable of magic; therefore, they had progressed in science. That was why his position existed, but…Shockingly, he felt that the Gra Valkas Empire might be more scientifically advanced than Mu was. He wasn't sure if the politicians or military would believe him, given their belief that they were the pinnacle of machine development.

Mu's newest battleship, the La Kasami, was equipped with state-of-the-art rotating turrets that allowed them to overcome the size limits for mounted guns on the older ships of the line designs. Its four main guns, while few, were 30.5 cm in size, and were supplemented by fourteen 15.2cm secondary guns, seven on each side. The cannon barrels were long, increasing accuracy and thus effective range. The battleship also operated using heavy oil instead of the Tears of the Wind God that powered sailing ships.

It was capable of even competing with Mirishial magic ships and was far superior to Parpaldia's and Leifor's sailing ships. The mechanically-advanced Mu was special. It was the only nation that could compete with Mirishial, and with limited magic capabilities. But…

Gra Valkas's superbattleship Grade Atlastar, according to reports, could reach 30 knots. It was giant, displacing maybe 70,000 tons, and was equipped with what appeared to be 40cm main guns. It would need immense power to sail that fast. The battleship was also dotted with many smaller cannons. If La Kasami fought it, it would be destroyed unless a miracle occurred. Grade Atlastar was probably more accurate, giving it an even higher effective combat range.

Technical Officer Myrus groaned, lamenting Mu's uncertain future.

Then, there was this other country's warship, though very far from Mu and shouldn't have a great impact on them. East of the civilized countries, there was a war between the two nations of Rodenius, the Kingdom of Louria and the Principality of Qua Toyne. Looking at each country's power, it was clear Louria would win. Then this "Usea" appeared and turned the war on its head. He scanned the magic photograph. According to the informant, the photo was of one of the ships from the country of Usea, the cruiser Ukraina…

"Hffff…I don't get this one at all."

The ship was enormous, yet it was called a cruiser. The design was strange, being long, as long as or maybe longer than La Kasami, but rather skinny. It also only had two small cannons, placed in a single tiny turret. Maybe it was capable of rapid-fire and high accuracy…Either way, another turret on that curiously empty rear deck would have been better. Myrus also couldn't figure out the purpose of the strange tubes that took up the length of the front deck. He just couldn't comprehend all of the design peculiarities of this Usean ship, how it had any sort of utility.

"And this completely incomprehensible country also suddenly appeared…"

There was no end to Myrus's anguish.

Usea, Moscow

Markov could finally relax a bit. The redevelopment of Lourian lands was progressing smoothly and there weren't any other major problems.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

It was Minister of Defense Naoumov.

"Good afternoon, President. Anyway, we have carefully analyzed satellite imagery of the nation in the far west. Their name is the Gra Valkas Empire, and are highly belligerent. Recently, they have conquered lands to the east of their continent in the so-called 'Second Civilization Zone'. Satellite imagery reveals enormous fleets and the use of ships that closely resemble those used by the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII. According to one of the analysts, Gra Valkas is Imperial Japanese technology met with American manufacturing. While they will not pose a threat to us, they will likely take over much of the west and even the Holy Mirishial Empire may struggle to stop them. However, little clear information is known about the southern nation, other than that they are called the Annonrial Empire and are similar to the Mirishials. Strangely, people of this world say the Annonrial Empire is a backward nation and is very poorly developed. Perhaps they are good at concealing their level of development from the less-developed countries."

"Alright. Keep trying to learn more about the Annonrials. I will reach out to the western 'superpower' Mu."

As Naoumov left, Markov leaned back into his chair. More issues keep cropping up…