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Emilia got back just in time for her to be able to join the strategic meeting with almost all the higher-ups of Blue Dawn, including her girlfriends. Luckily, with her physical characteristics, she didn't have to worry about appearing suspiciously tired or sweaty, and no one would suspect that she'd snuck off for some quick genocide in the enemy territory.
As for Dixie, she'd just quickly washed her face and hopped on while doing her best to not look guilty.
It was impossible for her to not feel like trash. After all, she'd clearly betrayed everyone's trust by allowing Emilia to take 'unnecessary risks', and even decided to hide it from them.
Sam and Noelle treated her like their little sister, and her friendship with Crystal was definitely not fake, but the dark-haired girl simply couldn't bring herself to reject her princess.
Luckily, with so much trouble already on their plates, no one had the time to pay too much attention to Dixie's expressions, and even Crystal didn't find anything amiss.
Everyone just greeted Emilia cheerfully, and the crimson-haired girl smiled. "I hope everyone has been well, despite the terrible situation right now. As your empress… I'm a little ashamed for not having come up with a good solution to this trouble yet, but don't worry, we will definitely get through this together."
The twinkle in her eyes dissipated much of the agitation that many had been feeling in their hearts, though it did nothing to clear their resentment against the Federation.
"Empress, these guys are really too much! If you would just allow us to go on the offensive once, I promise to send them running with their tails between their legs!"
The general who spoke up was one of the fiercest rebel leaders before Emilia became Blue Dawn's empress, and such words weren't surprising coming from his mouth.
But when his statement was supported by even the more 'rational' military leaders, it left the crimson-haired girl feeling a little tired in her heart. 'They're all good and passionate children, but unfortunately, being energetic is far from enough when it comes to winning this war.'
Emilia directed a stern gaze at the man who spoke up. "Our people are not disposable resources, and our goal is not to lose less than the enemy."
She pursed her lips and continued. "We're here because we can't let them trample on our dignity. Would we have any left if we didn't even value our own people?"
The man lowered his head in shame. "I-I apologize, princess."
Although he didn't notice the change in how he addressed Emilia, the others still felt a little embarrassed.
'Princess' wasn't Emilia's official title, after all, and was more of a term of endearment used by the people of Blue Dawn, and sometimes those close to her.
For 'professionals' like them to slip up like this clearly showed that they were letting their feelings get in the way, and only proved that their decisions may not be very rational.
Luckily, Emilia didn't seem to mind, and only smiled in response. "No need to be sorry. So long as anyone has any suggestions that they think might be helpful, I'm here to listen. That's why we're holding this meeting, after all."
Of course, she couldn't get mad, because she could understand their desperation.
Even with the reinforcements from Carmen, defending against the Federation required almost a tenth of Blue Dawn's total population to stand armed at the borders.
With the absurd amount of support Emilia had in her empire, there wouldn't be much trouble even if this requirement was doubled, and there was obviously no shortage of equipment either.
But the problem with such an arrangement was obvious.
It was impossible for so many people to be properly trained on such short notice, and even more impossible for them to be able to go toe to toe with the hardened enemy soldiers.
Fortunately, using modern weapons made up for much of the gap between skilled soldiers and amateurs, but none of Emilia's army leaders had any delusions about being able to overwhelm the enemy using similar levels of force.
Although they were holding on for now, and the presence of Phoenix on their side made it impossible for the Federation's members to resort to weapons of mass destruction, the situation was far from being ideal.
Since the thirteen of the Federation could get together out of either greed or fear, so long as others realized that there wasn't much to lose by joining them, it may not take long for the scales to tip in the Federation's favor.
To make matters worse, the people on Emilia's side knew that even if they were to come up with some brilliant strategy, it was unlikely that more than half the 'soldiers' under their command would be able to keep up.
The best they could do was rush up to the enemy without any regard for their own life, but while such 'strategy' could be 'useful' at times, Emilia absolutely refused to even consider using such stupid moves that required losing eight hundred to take down a thousand.
After all, even if she couldn't take down entire armies by herself, Emilia was still confident in being able to slowly chip away at the Federation's strength using her abilities.
No matter how powerful the enemy was, she refused to believe that they wouldn't feel any pain when they kept getting assaulted by a foe that they could never hope to catch.
Of course, while she was confident in her abilities, Emilia wasn't stupid.
If her people despaired or the enemy was allowed enough time to come up with effective counterstrategies against her moves, the situation will really take a turn for the worse.
"Actually, I wanted to save this good news for the end of the meeting, but let me share it now to cheer everyone up a little." Emilia smiled as she saw all of them perk up.
Crystal and Sam looked surprised, and even Noelle looked a little curious. Clearly, none of them had any idea of what their crimson-haired girlfriend was talking about.
Only Dixie remained expressionless.
Emilia grinned. "The Federation might seem strong, but strong foes also have formidable enemies. And the enemy of an enemy… can always be our ally. If what I heard today can be trusted… they will soon start facing a lot of trouble on their side."
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Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m