When it came to war tactics and strategy, Mike was very talented, but when it came to actually talking and ordering his underlings, Mike was terrible.
What is 'talent'?
It is the ability to perform tasks with less brain power. For example, a person not talented in drawing can still draw as well as a talented painter, it's just that they may have to try and fail for days, put immense amounts of brain power, time, and energy into performing the same tasks a talented drawer can complete in a short time. Of course, even someone who is not talented can train to get better, but still, it's very difficult to get as good as a talented person.
Mike was extremely talented in war, but he was ridiculously weak when it came to social interaction.
Mike nodded as he listened to the report of one of the commanders of the rebel armies.
After hearing the commander's report, he just nodded; usually, he avoided bothering to talk if not necessary. For Mike, going to war and shooting arrows hundreds of meters away was far easier than engaging in a social event or celebration.
For this reason, even though he was second in command, just below Jack, he usually acted as a middleman; the true commander who delivered Jack's orders was the village chief, who was appointed as the acting deputy leader of the rebel forces.
Mike was the true deputy leader and still heard all the reports.
The commander bowed and left. By now, everyone knew Mike's personality; they would not expect him actually to talk back.
Sighing, Mike returned to his usual task as Jack's chief bodyguard.
The only people Mike could speak to normally were Jack-sama, Lucy, Gabriel, and Raphael; when it came to those, he could somehow talk naturally.
...
"What? Kampaku ordered the Ministry of Truth to assassinate Prince Nori?" Jack stood up in surprise.
Kuro, who was not in close cooperation with Jack, said, "Yeah! The minister delivered the news and confirmed its authenticity."
The Ministry of Truth has been acting as a ninja spy for a while now; maybe he was afraid of Kampaku, so he wanted to have ninjas as a place to run to when things get tough.
"We cannot allow this! Give this info to Prince Nori; send a few ninja bodyguards to protect him!" Jack ordered.
The Ninja village is not under his command; his 'orders' are tasks, which ninjas get paid for.
Kuro didn’t bow, just nodded; he was not under Jack; it's just that the situation forced them to work together.
...
Lucy woke up and sat on her bed; she had been sent to the Republic as a permanent representative of the Empire.
By now, Jack considered himself the true Kampaku, and the Republic recognized him, so they just threw out the previous Kampaku's representatives.
"Today, I have to convince Kashu!" Lucy thought.
A while ago, Jack ordered her to convince the president about a merger of the two countries. Kashu was also willing to annex the Empire, but Jack had a few conditions.
First, he wanted a guarantee of a free election.
Second, he wanted the Republic to temporarily grant the Empire self-governance until the two countries' legal systems could merge.
Third, Jack requested reinforcement for conquering land controlled by the Kampaku.
These demands were one-sided, benefiting Jack only; there was no way the president would agree to them.
So, Lucy had to concede and compromise, and use her diplomatic and negotiation skills to be able to get Kashu's consent and agreement.
But, she was limited in her task; if she conceded too much, ninjas and criminal gangs, who were on Jack's side, may flip; that would be devastating. Worse, if she gave away the samurai's privileges, it could turn the samurai against Jack. It was all a very delicate balance.
She dressed, boarded a carriage, and said, "Let's go!".
...
Kashu was a man in a red robe with long hair tied in a ponytail, and a short beard, though no mustache. He was quite tall and a bit fat. Sitting on a chair, he looked at Lucy with his black pupils.
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"Jack-dono is asking for too much; We all know that a war with Kampaku would bring great damage to the vitality of both countries, so the Third request is absolutely off-limits; the other two are negotiable," said Kashu with his beautiful voice.
Lucy was surprised when she first heard Kashu's voice; it was calming, like one of those royal singers.
"Maybe this voice had something to do with him winning the election," she felt enlightened. Looks, name, voice, etc., are usually very important in elections, especially if the electorate is uninformed.
"But, your honor, without having effective control over the land illegally occupied by Kampaku, how can we merge the two countries?" asked Lucy, with concern.
"When our countries merge, even if not all of the empire immediately join, we can increase our power and, over time, crush the illegal occupation of the land in the southeast by our economic might," said Kashu; even though a member of the Supremes Party, he didn’t look or sound crazy.
Lucy rebutted, "Having Kampaku deep in our territory would cause endless issues and troubles; Mr. President, with him there, we can never truly merge; Ninjas, samurais, and criminal gangs can use Kampaku as a counterbalance and threaten to join him whenever we try to rein them in."
She breathed and continued, "The only way to gain true control over the empire is to destroy different factions, such as samurais and ninjas; everyone must come under centralized rule. But, until Kampaku is destroyed, we cannot destroy those factions; therefore, any union between the two countries is conditioned by the elimination of Kampaku."
Hearing this, Kashu nodded; he actually agreed; it's just that the loss outweighed the benefits. In the event of a war, Kampaku would definitely mobilize millions of citizens for war; it wouldn’t end with a peace deal; the Republic has to mobilize and send an army of millions of people.
The economic and political damage would be too great; compared to that, Kashu prefers to be patient and wait. After all, be it Jack or Kampaku, both are in a struggle and cold war; both are losing money and weakening every moment; for Kashu, the president of the Republic, the current state is not bad; the two factions of the empire weaken each other, while he uses this situation and buys cheap natural resources from Jack.
It can be said that this situation is most beneficial to the empire, so there is no need to start any war. Sure, conquering the entire empire would be the perfect situation. Still, Kashu is unwilling to take risks when the current situation is good.
"I believe Kampaku would be weakened as time passes, so let's wait; when he weakens enough, we will unite our armies to deal the final blow," said Kashu; of course, he didn’t say that his wait was not only for Kampaku to weaken but also for Jack. After all, Kashu doesn't want a strong Jack, who can be his political enemy in the future; he prefers Jack to die or be too weak and damaged to be a political threat.
Hearing this, Lucy resisted the urge to shake her head; she knew what Kashu was thinking but had no counter. No matter how good one's negotiating skills are, one cannot achieve anything when one doesn't have good cards.
No matter what Lucy said, Kashu would never send any reinforcement because the current situation suits the Republic.
"If that’s how you think it will be, let me wake you up!" Lucy smiled and thought in her mind that Jack ordered her to convince Kashu, so she must try everything; they already predicted Kashu's reaction and had made preparations.
"Kashu-sama, my master, Jack-sama, has been getting in touch with Kampaku; if your honor abandons us, we may make a deal with Kampaku and unify the empire once again!" she said.
The Republic likes the current situation because it can take advantage of division in the empire; however, if Jack and Kampaku unite, that would be completely unacceptable for the Republic.
"Hahahaha! Thats funny! Do you expect me to believe that nonsense? Jack and Kampaku are the worst enemies of each other; Fire and water may unite, but Kampaku and Jack won’t!" Kashu laughed and poured a cup of wine as if he had fun listening to Lucy's nonsensical threat.
Lucy's expression didn’t change; she said with the same smile, "Are you sure, Kashu-sama? Weren't you and Kampaku also enemies? Yet, you quickly made peace deals with Kampaku; you are underestimating both Kampaku and Jack-sama; they both know that your honor is misusing the current situation and are taking advantage of Empire's division; in any case, if it goes as your honor intends, the empire will be enslaved by the republic; it would not be a union, but it would be one country acting as a slave to the other; Kampaku and Jack-sama would do anything to avoid that!" said Lucy.
Kashu laughed again, saying, "Your words may have worked if it was someone else, but they won't work on me! There is no way Kampaku and Jack will unite!"
"If that’s the case, I will take my leave; also, the empire wishes to close our embassy in the empire!" Jack stood up and went to the door.
Kashu didn’t stop her, and she left.
Looking at the door, Kashu went into deep thought "Will they really unite?" he began to doubt.
...
Lucy had already thought of her plans and negotiating techniques weeks before actually meeting Kashu; Jack had confirmed all of her tactics.
Jack wasn’t sitting idly; he knew that the Republic's spies were watching, so to pressure Kashu, Jack sent an envoy to Kampaku, pretending to want peace and unity with him.
Republic's intelligent agents picked it up.
It was only then that Kashu genuinely got worried; he spent so much effort to get the empire under his thumb; if Jack and Kampaku really united, they most likely would not be able to agree on anything domestically; in that case, the most likely outcome is that they would decide to do something they both agree with, which is attacking the Republic.
After all, the kingdom is already split and is not a threat; the republic, on the other hand, has humiliated the empire before and is the biggest threat to the empire; what’s more, both Kampaku and Jack hate him, so it's very likely that they would attack the republic.
Such an event would wipe out all of Kashu's achievements.
Feeling that Lucy's threats were not only bluffs, Kashu considered helping Jack destroy Kampaku.
If Kampaku is destroyed and the two countries unite, then Kashu's achievements would become permanent; it would be the empire that dissolves into the republic; after all, the new, merged country would be governed by presidents, and it would be the republic's legal system which remains after the merger.
Thinking of all possibilities, Kashu felt increasingly that an alliance between Kampaku and Jack was possible. After all, between countries, alliances and enmities are all based on interest, not personal grievance; both Jack and Kampaku have shown willingness and ability to forget long-drawn-out enmities for more benefits.
Finally, Kashu decided; he would help Jack destroy Kampaku!