Suppressing the emotions of Mortals is a basic technique for a Psychic.
With a flash of Spiritual Power, the conference hall, which had been on the verge of a brawl, suddenly fell quiet.
Faced with Reinhardt, the Master of Vengeful, who continued to gaze at them in silence, the group of rebellious Local Lords finally released their grips on each other's clothes, straightened their hair, and sat back down.
After he killed two men as a warning and the opposition faction within their ranks switched sides, the closed-door meeting to forcibly levy military funds for the Verne Front Line proceeded without further incident.
Realizing the tide had turned against them, they no longer had any leverage to continue opposing Reinhardt.
As three men stood up in succession to voluntarily cover a portion of the military fund and troop shortfalls, what followed was the long process of finalizing the details.
Even though these Local Lords had bowed at Reinhardt's feet, raising such a large sum was by no means as simple as the Civil Affairs Department's Tax Collection Ships sailing to their territories, opening their warehouses, and hauling everything away.
Selling off fixed assets, collecting on debts, mobilizing liquid capital...
These economic and commercial activities were far beyond what a simple government decree or military threat could expedite. All Reinhardt could do was wait patiently.
Only when these men had been squeezed dry, and the money and men were actually loaded onto the Civil Affairs Department's Tax Collection Ships, would he withdraw his troops and let them leave.
And this process would take at least three months.
During this time, Reinhardt had another matter to attend to: dealing with the rebel army.
The thousand warships Claudius had assembled at Cyrenaica, aside from the Local Lords' private property, also included the Tania Flagship, six large cruisers, and one hundred other ships of varying sizes.
There were thousands of Assault Boats and combat gunboats.
The ammunition and supplies were innumerable.
A ten-million-strong Infantry Legion and one hundred Clan Knights awaited disposition.
To quell the rebellion within the Administrative Region and prepare for future wars, the two Infantry Legions and the Fourth Fleet assigned to him by the Grand Governor were far from enough.
And now, Claudius's assembled rebel army had, ironically, played right into Reinhardt's hands.
The ten-million-strong rebel army could be broken down into two Infantry Legions, and the remaining ships, cobbled together, could barely form half a Navy fleet.
Although these forces were a drop in the bucket for a grand-scale war, to Reinhardt, who was currently severely short on troops, they were a godsend.
It was true that the Vengeful Angels possessed extremely potent high-end combatants, but to win on the main battlefield and control the situation in the rebellious regions, they had to rely on a sufficient number of fleets and ground troops.
However, on the matter of how to handle the rebel army, Reinhardt and General Cateline, the commissioner from the Military Affairs Department, wrangled for a full month. Even the Administrative Director of the Military Affairs Department and the head of the Civil Affairs Department tried to negotiate with Reinhardt personally.
Unfortunately, the only person they could contact was Koller.
The reason given was quite sufficient: after the war, the Lord of Vengeful's Knight Power had reached a critical stage of advancement, making it inconvenient for him to appear in person. Any issues could be discussed with Koller.
Of course, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Military Affairs Department knew the real reason. They were so furious they were just short of pointing at Reinhardt's nose and screaming that he lacked Loyalty!
But compared to a complex power struggle, the reason for this was rather simple: the Verne Front Line was short on money and men, and so was the Rebellion Suppression War Command Department.
The bad news was that the Rebellion Suppression War Command Department was under the leadership of the Military Affairs Department and was merely a large office under its jurisdiction.
The good news was that the men and money were in the hands of the Rebellion Suppression War Command Department.
Although Cateline argued his case forcefully with Reinhardt, his private attitude was ambiguous. Having climbed step by step from a common grunt to the head of a major office and the rank of general amidst battlefields of corpses, seas of blood, and the infighting of the Military Affairs Department, Cateline was no fool.
He himself was one of the heads of the Rebellion Suppression War Command Department. Putting on a show for his superiors was one thing, but if more than half of these supplies and troops were actually taken away, it wasn't that he was afraid of death or unwilling to go to the front lines himself.
Even if he died holding the line on the battlefield, his impact on the overall outcome of the war would be negligible.
「Cyrenaica local time.」
「Late July.」
While Koller was still wrangling with the bureaucrats of the Civil Affairs Department, outside the Surt conference hall...
The rainy season sky was as gray as the sea.
Trickling raindrops gathered into rivulets on the windowpane.
"You are more patient than I imagined, Lord of Vengeful."
The weak voice was listless. Transk's black hair, unwashed for a long time, was greasy and shiny. Wrapped in a thick wool blanket, he coughed constantly as he stood behind Reinhardt.
Hearing the voice behind him, Reinhardt did not turn around. He said coldly, "My Think Tank reported to me that you were the one who advocated for supporting my levy of military funds for the Verne Front Line."
The dim natural light cast a blurry shadow on Reinhardt's Power Armor.
Transk pressed his right fist to his mouth, suppressing the urge to cough. His already thin face had grown even more gaunt during more than a month of house arrest.
"I know very well that lies cannot deceive you, so I will be direct. My demand is simple: give me the position of Star Zone Governor, and I will help you handle the internal problems of more than thirty rebellious worlds, including Tania, Cappadocia, Esquilino, and Ostia."
Reinhardt did not answer Transk's proposal.
He turned around. The huge height difference made the frail Transk look like a little chick standing before Reinhardt.
But, unlike the vast majority of Mortals Reinhardt had encountered, Transk remained calm and composed in the face of his stare and silent interrogation, his tired eyes unruffled.
Until Reinhardt broke the silence himself.
"Reasons."
Transk replied, "The Grand Governor wants to implement the Governor System. The Local Lords and Knight Warlords are an unavoidable problem.
Eighteen years ago, my older brother was in the first batch of appointed Planet Governors, but he died in office the following year. The killer has never been found.
Before he died, he told me to take my mother and sister and leave Cotia as soon as possible, but they were killed on the night of our evacuation.
I only survived because one of my servants sacrificed his own child to get me away."
As he spoke, he took a pendant shaped like a burning flame from his clothes—the symbol of the Fire of Vengeful Sect.
"Four years ago, while escorting a merchant ship, my wife and daughter were killed by Interstellar Pirates. Later, I inherited my wife's estate, disguised my identity, and bought a small kingdom on Tania World to become its king. And as for the rebellion stirred up by Claudius, I was one of the masterminds behind it."
Transk tightened his grip on the pendant, his tone as calm as ever. "Since I lacked the power to avenge my parents and sister, I decided to drag everyone down into ruin with me.
Until I heard the news that you had executed Claudius."
He raised his head and looked at Reinhardt.
The dim, rainy-season sky was reflected in his weary eyes through the window.
"After I have pacified the internal chaos of these thirty worlds, I will voluntarily go to the Judgment Court to be executed."