Vesper didn't know what to think about what she just heard.
Sorry? A measly apology? Did this Imperial idiot think that a small apology would somehow undo all of the destruction he and his group had caused?!
"You dare try to apologize for causing destruction this massive a scale?" she growled out, her anger starting to turn into a fever pitch as she bit on the but of her cigarette. "You think that saying sorry would turn back the clock and undo all of the deaths you've caused?"
To her surprise, the man flinched, his expression turning to one of regret before turning sheepish and awkward.
"Well, it's a start, right?" the man weakly chuckled. "I know it will never be enough, but regret is the first thing one should acknowledge before trying to right their wrongs."
The Head Intellect wanted so badly to just walk up to the man and his woman and shank them with her cane. For some reason, however, she was unable to move. Whether or not it was a [Manifest]'s doing, she didn't know. But what she did know was that she refused to believe that this man could spout such high concepts while also being this stupid.
"Do you even know what the words you just said mean?" she furiously questioned. "Have you even thought about all of the deaths that you've caused? That this attack on our sovereign soil will cause?"
That was the crux of the situation after all. After all was said and done, she had to consider this an attack by the Empire of Kattleyna. Whether or not that was the case was practically pointless. The fact that they had the Imperial Princess among their ranks was more than proof enough that this was a sanctioned action.
"This is an act of war! A war that will cause untold amounts of death and destruction!" Vesper yelled out, her hoarse throat struggling to voice out her thoughts. "This will be the spark that will end life in the Shallow Deep as we know it! And it's all because of your group!"
War was messy. War was bloody. But most of all, war was costly. In truth, Vesper didn't care about the other two Great Nations. The only thing she cared about was Marquee, and the fact that they were the smallest of the three nations meant that they would never be able to afford the massive costs of war.
There was a reason she pushed to change the City-State's status to neutrality the moment she became Head Intellect. It was to avoid being the target of either of the two Great Nations. She knew for a fact that they would be all but engulfed the moment either Vestyge or Kattleyna decided that Marquee had become a thorn in their side for far too long. With their small land size and limited manpower, the only thing they had were their innovations. Marquee wasn't self-sufficient on food or natural resources to sustain human growth like Kattleyna, and they didn't have the raw energy output of Vestyge to ramp up their industry to insane levels.
No, all they had were their wits and knowledge.
"When you put it that way, it does sound like we're the bad guys."
"That's because you all are!" Vesper cried out in righteous anger. "Marquee had no stakes in the battle for the Shallow Deep. It was only through Kattleynan expansionism and Vestygian protectionism that Marquee found itself having to defend its sovereignty!"
"Lady, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Vesper froze, both in confusion and absolute fury. What the man just said to her now made absolutely no sense. Was he... Did he even know what he was fighting for?!
"You... Why are you fighting?"
The man turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Why are you fighting?" Vesper repeated herself, her utter bafflement making it hard for her to raise her voice for now. "If you don't even know why the Great Nations are fighting, why are you here? Is it for money? Fame? Glory?"
Those three were the usual suspects, after all. Usually, mercenaries would only be in it for the money. Some would fight for fame and glory, hoping that their efforts would be enough to land them on the annals of history as one of the greatest men to have ever graced the Deep.
"For whom do you fight?" she repeated, her patience starting to wear thin. "Is it for the Empire? For your home? For yourself? Do you even believe in any of these things?"
Vesper let her voice linger through the air, the silence that settled between them only making her anger boil even harder as she glared at the man that dared to attack her home.
"Are you even listening?! Why are you fighting?! Why cause this much death and destruction?!" she yelled out, her face turning red the more she glared daggers at the idiot in front of her. "Why?! Give my people a reason why they had to die!"
"It's all an accident, okay?!"
Vesper blinked. A part of her hoped that her ears were deceiving her with how stupid and nonsensical this man's reason was for blowing up an entire section of her city.
"A-Are you serious?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Yes!" the man yelled out. "We didn't mean for all of this to happen! This is all caused by a string of bad luck that just so happened to end in such a horrific way that we can't take back!"
"A-And do you think that will abscond you from all the death you've caused?!" Vesper pushed forward, her anger coming back to her in droves. "Malice borne of negligence is still malice!"
"Believe what you will then! Just know that we didn't mean for any of this to happen," the man sighed. "Seriously, we were only supposed to make some money and be gone within a week..."
Vesper scoffed at the man's last works. She could barely believe her ears at that. With how massive the destruction they've caused was, there was no way that this wasn't all preplanned.
Surely, there was no person stupid enough to somehow infiltrate Marquee's most secure facilities.
"Enough. I don't want to hear any of your excuses anymore," Vesper scoffed, her usual anger simmering back down to manageable levels. "You will never leave this country. Along with the rest of your group, you will all be tried and sentenced as is custom to the laws of the City-State. Just be glad that we even afford such luxuries to savages like you."
Truly, there was no saving these Imperials from their own hubris. Their insistence on a higher power must've muddled their higher sense to the point that they've become nothing more than barbarians frothing at the mouth for whatever miracle their gods had for them. Vesper could understand religion. She even subscribed to some of it back in her youth. But as soon as her so-called god failed to save her from a life of being used and abused by her own parents, she realized that there was no other power in the world capable of saving her other than her own.
"Savages? Really?" the man kept on talking, his voice grating on her nerves. "The fact that we're smart enough to even hold this conversation together kind of proves that we're at least on the same playing field, right?"
Vesper gritted her teeth. Oh how badly she wanted to run up to this idiot and kill him right then and there. But for some reason, she was still unable to move, her feet seemingly glued into place as she was stuck watching these two Imperials go ahead with their lives as if they weren't even in danger in the first place.
Also, where in the world were her men!? Why were they all standing around them like fvcking idiots?!
"I'm done, Moriya."
Vesper piqued her interest back to her enemies as she heard the woman announce that she was done with something. She had been talking with the man for so long that she didn't even realize that the woman he was with was doing something that might end up in her downfall.
"That's great," the man named Moriya smiled at the woman. "Still, do you think it'll work?"
"Only one way to find out," the woman shrugged, her obvious [Manifest] tucked underneath her arm. "We'll just have to pull the boss and see what happens."
Vesper raised an eyebrow at that word. Boss... She had heard them using such a term for a while now. Were they referring to her being the boss here? Also, pull her? Pull her where exactly? Were they planning on capturing her?
"Alright then," Moriya shrugged, pulling out his [Manifest] from behind him and aiming it straight at her. "Shall we then?"
"Yeah... I'm ready..."
Vesper scoffed at the two. If they thought that their plans would work, then she would simply have to deny them of their execution. These two would fall either way. She would make sure that they answered for their crimes, no matter what the cost may be for her.
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