The war was horrible and incredibly unnecessary, or so Arcturus tried to teach his children, but to this day none received such a message well.

Certainly, none were as bad as… Charles, even saying his name hurt, but he could at least remember him without breaking into sobs these days. All of his drinking certainly helped with that.

Sometimes it felt like he was the one in the wrong for not wanting to send his own and other people's children to the meat grinder, what with how fanatic the nobles and generals and even his own family could get, but luckily, or perhaps unluckily, those thoughts did not have much ground to remain.

Maybe this would be easier to do if he were feeling more motivated however.

"I hereby dismiss Commander Fiora from her duties." Magic coursing through his voice, his beard even fluttered to the wind caused by the sudden shockwave. "On charges of being unfit for active command, caused by injuries on the field, your recent failures will be overlooked, and you are to receive the full compensation of someone befitting your station."

It was not what her family had wanted, saying that death on the field would be more honorable than being deemed 'broken', but there were those who would take care of the former commander, and the honorary title of landed knight would certainly help deal with any importunations from her family.

While it was a shame to lose the brilliant young woman, this was one of the only tasks his station as Emperor could use to influence the war. Sending those without any more will to fight to the front was just cruelty, and there was little doubt who the public would turn towards if his military counterparts decided to ignore this function of his.

Perhaps he should care more that he was little but a public minister at this point, like his children so complained, but much like those he tried to help, he too had little fight left in him. Were the situation not so tense with the Noble faction, then perhaps he would have already retired.

So it was with great surprise to his part that he heard that there was a package in his office. From the Demonic Empire of Lasti. Which despite him having come to hear about it hours after inspection started, had yet to show signs of being rigged with any trap.

It had already been late into the night when he had been done with events at court, so after being informed about all the tests that had already been done to the several pages long letter, he decided to just read it already.

Contrary to what some thought nowadays, he had not lived with the weight of the crown on his head for four decades by being a coward.

"Dear Emperor Arcturus, you have such a beautiful name… And you are sure this is not some kind of fake sent by the noble faction or the church? This reads like none of those who previously entered in contact with the palace." He asked after merely reading the first sentence on the letter.

"Yes my emperor. It is not only signed with their vil mana but also carries the seal of the malefic Demon King, though we have yet to ascertain who this operator calling himself Aki might be." Tobias neatly summarized, the younger man having already given the letter a cursory read to check for traps.

"Aki? As in Aki, the summoned spirit lost in the Battle of angelic Dusk?" He asked, the name only fresh in his mind due to a report he read on one of those he had retired, but causing an obvious reaction of fear in some of those working in the information department.

"The dragon killer." Muttered one of them while under his inquisitive gaze.

And indeed, that jogged his memory. He hadn't yet made that connection as the spirit had yet to participate in any other offensive operation and so stood outside of his prioritized information gathering targets list, but even he got to know about the first dragon killer in a decade, if only that he in fact existed.

This did prompt him back to reading the letter, but he was surprised to see that not only there was a lot of small talk, but also a rather irreverent and blase attitude to things that he much doubted were simple.

Like talking about the fact that he was 'happy to have come to a country with a more stable political scene despite the infrequent traitors found in their midst' or how 'boring it was to prepare for his first great offensive operation'.

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The end of the letter went away with the creepy double speak quite quickly however.

"...But onto more important matters for both of us. As some of your intelligence and counterintelligence personnel might tell you, I work as an Agent in the country you are currently at war with. For context however, your majesty must understand that Agents like me are capable of accessing many of the crown's resources on a rate of how much we contribute, and as it stands, I am the richest, least frugal Agent of the crown in possibly forever."

"Aside from being a humble-brag however, this information is also in accordance to my own request. You see, I believe, as a mostly unattached third party thrown in the middle of all of this, that the current war is a stupid waste kept moving by old politicians and uncaring gods. While I am of the mind that this will not end with peace talks due to reasons a native would understand even better than me, it is my intention to try and diminish the effects of this unnecessary bloodshed."

"It goes without saying that I intend to win and help model things from the point of view of someone more used to Countries bigger than the ones formed in this land, together with those that better understand it's unique challenges and difficulties so as to create and adequate and stable living environment for me and my daughter."

"He has a daughter?" He mumbled in surprise before going back to reading, though honestly it was getting late at this point.

"While I would not be as daft as to ask for your unconditional surrender due simply to my own confidence, it is, I believe, in both our interests to open this line of talk as the end of direct conflict rears itself into sight."

"Your old age is the impressive medal that made me consider this, while your reputation and wisdom are the reasons I extend this offer in good faith. While other options remain, I do not attempt this with war in mind, but with what comes after it, so requesting the help of the Heroic Emperor of Humanity is something I find myself doing despite being able to envision most if not all of the headaches to come forth with this action."

"I, on my lonesome, intend to open a small pass through a known danger zone on the border of the two nations. Believe it or not, that's not the hard part. Rather, I will be using my authority and influence to send settlers to act as gatherers and adventurers in a town to be built in the middle point of this pass, and as of writing this letter, also hope that your people will come and settle in this Human/Demon-Kin post."

Looking between his personal aid and the third to last page in this very long letter, he did not bother to hide his surprise.

"I believe you should finish reading first your majesty." Sighed Tobias, the man having stood besides him this whole time. "When you do, there is another matter we should discuss." Nodding, he went back to reading, steeling his heart.

"In the spirit of cooperation, I will be sending my daughter to act as part of the leadership of this forming settlement, and she will bear gifts of knowledge to be delivered onto your chosen representatives. With this action, I hope to present a front with which to avoid unnecessary escalations of violence. While I will not ask for a princess or noble heir of similar significance to act as my daughter's counterpart, I will note here that the two of us, father and daughter, are in a special position to take in political pressure while making both big and small decisions for the State, so I must beg you to consider arming someone of similar importance with a good protector and greater means of defense in a way so that even those seeking to undermine these efforts will have to pay too big a price to actually harm those whom it relies upon."

"P.S: I suggest burning this more serious part of my letter, but if it's intent reached you and your majesty knows of those who would feel inclined to give this mess a try, then I plead that you be careful in your proding so as to not be stopped before fruit can be born from this idea."

"P.P.S: I would apologize for my associate's insisted upon 'gift', but after learning more about the man in question and his family, I am in turn sorry that this had not yet happened before more lives were brought upon this savagery. All I can ask is that you read the documents presented for clarification and take care that the children have better role models to grow up with, as i quite doubt they will have the correct notions of what constitutes a family, honor or even the basic worth of life given their previous residence."

By the end of the letter, on its last page, there he found a drawing of a pit close to some pig dens, with an arrow pointing to a big and stylized X on the corner.

"Who died?" He asked, being well acquainted with what the second postscript probably referred to.

"All the main branch members of the Turdo marquis family above twelve years old, a few servants and most of their on staff knights. Everything but food and gold was ransacked from their main compound both in their territory and not even that was left behind in their residence here in the capital. Some… unsavory things have been found by onsite investigators. There is a gruesomely detailed list of what was done by the demon-kin and what wasn't too."

He'd seen a similar thing being done before. To send two messages at once, it was called. Send the operatives and no matter what happens give them time to set things up by delivering a long-winded message to a higher profile target.

Generally, one of those messages was fake, but once again, his old heart hoped that his experience was leading him wrong.