Editing Toaru Majutsu no Index:MvM2 Depth4 (section)

===Part 2===

The Liheilstaut Empire’s imperial residence was only available to someone belonging to a very specific bloodline, no matter how strongly or weakly.

However, bloodline wasn’t everything.

There was one seat there reserved for only someone who had also made a considerable number of military achievements. In this case, skill was prioritized above blood. Because in this country, the emperor and the prime minister were one and the same.

A landline phone sat on the work desk.

The Imperial capital’s international meeting hall and its more than 500 parliamentary seats were just for show.

The Cutalularia Republic to the south.

The United States of Narmeli to the east.

And the Liheilstaut Empire to the west.

All real international politics was handled by the three world powers. And for that, they only needed hotlines directly connecting them to each other.

The world had been operated with these phone calls for some time now.

“What did you say?”

But the foundation of that system had been shaken.

A phone call was not going to fix this one. But they could not directly meet and discuss it either.

An unidentified fleet’s fighters flew the skies.

Who could say what would happen if they carelessly sent out their personal planes.

The unidentified fleet could attack, or their neighbor could attack under the guise of that fleet.

“I said we of the United States of Narmeli and the Cutalularia Republic will be staying out of this particular incident.”

A young woman was speaking.

She was the president of the United States of Narmeli.

She had risen to that position in a country that looked free, but actually provided no way to win an election without decades of groundwork. She would know the unspoken tricks better than anyone.

“Everything has happened in your territory. And you have to keep up appearances. I want to avoid any political foolishness where our attempts to help are taken as an invasion or interference in your internal affairs. The Republic agrees with me there, don’t you?”

“I don’t really care either way,” muttered a gloomy-sounding man.

He sounded careless, but he was in fact the director who effectively ran the Cutalularia Republic, which brought together more than 30 regions and peoples.

This took the wind out of the United States representative’s sails, but she managed to recover quickly enough.

“W-well, I am sure the glorious Liheilstaut Empire will have no trouble solving this problem on its own. Or are you making an official statement that you can’t?”

“Haven’t you considered the possibility of this spreading to you? There is no guarantee they will stay within Imperial territory.”

“If it comes to that, then we will deal with it ourselves. But I am Narmeli’s president, not the Empire’s leader.”

“…”

What did she really think?

Was she going to stay out of this conflict so she could win the unidentified fleet’s trust and establish diplomatic relations with them sooner than anyone else?

Or would she join the Empire in an attack on the unidentified fleet if the situation warranted it?

“I seriously doubt it, but they are not secret forces from either of you, are they?”

“It worries me your intelligence gathering capabilities are so poor.”

“What a pain…” added the Republic’s director.

“If this is all you can manage, then I recommend you consider raising the white flag and coming to the two of us for help.”

“That would be a pain too.”

There was scorn in her voice.

But she hadn’t given a clear yes or no.

There was almost no chance of it being that, so was she only leaving this as an option for camouflage at a later date?

“After all, the Empire always has been slow to react.”

…She knew that and she was choosing the option that benefited the unidentified fleet?

The prime minister shook his head.

“If you aren’t going to help, this discussion is over.”

“Yes. As someone who works for the Narmelian people, I don’t have time to waste on this.”

“…I want to go to Matt’s for a burger,” added the Republic’s director.

“Oh, how I envy you your freedom. Anyway, prime minister, I look forward to hearing good news. Now, if you will excuse me.”

The prime minister set down the receiver.

Then he stared out the window and sighed.

…Who controlled the skies now?

This should have ended when they sent out a B-1B bomber loaded with anti-ship missiles. Their YF-22A shouldn’t have been shot down there.

But that wasn’t how it had happened.

It was all so unexpected.

So irregular.

For better or for worse, these newcomers were altering the order built by the three world powers.

“But do you really understand what that means?”