The situation was particularly dire for the Habsburgs because the lords who had abandoned them were among the most powerful and influential princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Their departure had caused the Habsburgs’ war-fighting capability to plummet. With their support gone, Maximilian I and his few remaining loyalists found it impossible to replenish their depleted supplies and manpower.

Ultimately, Maximilian I was forced to send a new directive to his commander, Count Tilly: Maintain the current front lines. All escalation is forbidden. Avoid the consumption of soldiers and materiel at all costs.

“In short, he wants me to dig in and hold fast without expending any real effort,” Count Tilly sighed, setting the orders down. He stared out at the field, his face grim. This is easier said than done.

At this rate, just holding our position is a monumental task. One wrong move and the entire army will disintegrate. Sighing again, his expression bleak, Tilly began to compose his formal reply to Maximilian I.

***

Maximilian I read Count Tilly’s dispatch, pressed a hand to his forehead, and let out a long, weary sigh. The message, when summarized, was stark:

• If you wish to continue the war, send money and supplies—especially food.
• If that is impossible, ending the war immediately is the best option.

“Dammit,” Maximilian swore, sighing as he read the dispatch again and again. Tilly’s demand for money and food centered on one critical vulnerability: the mercenaries. As long as their salaries were paid on time and in full, mercenaries were the most reliable and ferocious soldiers money could buy. But that was only if they were paid.

The moment their pay was delayed, those same soldiers devolved into a living disaster. No command from on high could restrain them. They would sweep through the territories they were meant to be attacking, indulging in rampant pillaging, arson, and rape, transforming from a professional army into a nightmarish bandit horde. Even if their employer eventually won the war, they would be buried under an avalanche of condemnation for the atrocities committed. Therefore, in a stalemate or when funds ran low, the wisest course of action was always to terminate the contracts.

However, given the current situation in Lorraine, firing the mercenaries was a disastrously bad move. A significant portion of the Habsburg army that had advanced into the region was mercenary. To dismiss them now would mean an immediate and catastrophic collapse, guaranteeing the French would push them back. Worse, they wouldn’t just be pushed back; they would likely lose even more territory than they had already sacrificed. Yet, with the princes having pulled their funding, keeping the mercenaries was arguably even worse. Payments would inevitably stop, and the moment that happened, the civilian populace in the territories the army currently occupied would face a truly ruinous and personal disaster at the hands of their “protectors.”

“That leaves only one option: sue for peace…” Maximilian muttered. But ending the war was just as problematic. The Habsburgs had started it. To secure peace, they would have to offer massive concessions to France, which would immediately translate into a crippling political burden back home. He could already hear the opportunistic princes—the ones who were always looking for an excuse to weaken the imperial “fence”—crying foul: “He ended the war with nothing to show for it! What is this Emperor thinking?” They would undoubtedly use it as a pretext to rebel.

“If every choice on the table is a loss,” Maximilian sighed, “I must simply choose the one that loses the least.” Having set his course, he convened with his ministers to find the most palatable path forward. Two weeks later, a Habsburg envoy arrived in Paris.

***

After a formal audience with King Charles VIII, the envoy met privately with the French Foreign Minister, the Duke of Orléans.

“We should discuss a ceasefire,” the envoy stated.

“A ceasefire?”

“A truce,” the envoy confirmed. This was the solution Maximilian and his council had devised.

• Ending the war entirely would require accepting massive, permanent losses. A truce, however, would allow them to minimize those losses.
• Critically, it would defuse the political pressure on Maximilian I, as technically, they would still be at war.

“A truce,” Charles VIII mused after hearing the report from the Duke of Orléans. “Hmm. What is your counsel on this?” He convened a full meeting of his ministers.

“A truce is unacceptable!” the military commanders protested immediately. “If we press the attack, we can win this!”

The ministers from other departments, however, had a very different reaction. “That is your opinion,” the Finance Minister shot back, “but have you given any thought to the treasury?”

The Finance Minister was correct: this had been an “unprepared war.” Naturally, they had anticipated some kind of move by the Habsburgs over Lorraine and had made preparations. But those preparations, made without a proper grasp of the sheer scale of the Habsburg mobilization, had been exhausted shortly after the war began. The “Lorraine Air War” in particular, with its massive deployment of self-powered flying vehicles, had become a bottomless money pit.

The minister’s critique continued, his voice sharp. “And even if we ignore the treasury, we have countless other problems! How exactly do you propose to continue this war? Shall our men charge enemy lines armed with hwachas while holding only swords and spears? Or have you forgotten that thanks to the madness of those emperors in the far east, we have almost no master artisans left in our arsenals?”

“……” The military commanders fell silent. They had no answer.

***

The Imperial proclamation hadn’t just lured away the men working on aircraft and self-powered flying vehicles. The master artisans who built steam engines for assault vehicles and warships, along with specialists in dozens of other fields, had all abandoned the state arsenals. When the French government threatened them with charges of treason, the artisans and their guilds promptly countersued.

• “Accusing someone of treason for quitting due to ‘personal reasons’ is illegal!”
• “No secrets were leaked! This is a false accusation!”
• “The wages at the state arsenals are shamefully low compared to guild rates. This is a breach of fair contract!”

The artisans and guilds won. Having secured their freedom, they were now in a position of power, and the French government was forced to the negotiating table to try and lure them back.

• “The working conditions are far worse than when the arsenals and related research labs were first founded! We demand improvements!”
• “You will not interfere with our personal lives outside of designated working hours!”

“These terms are… excessive,” the government negotiators protested.

The guild representatives merely smiled. “We hear this is standard practice in the ‘Land of Flowers’…”

“……”

Those negotiations were, at present, still ongoing. As a result, the arsenals were crippled, unable to produce the weapons necessary to prosecute the war. This was the context behind the Finance Minister’s sharp rebuke.

***

Charles VIII watched the Finance Minister neutralize his generals, then turned to his Chancellor. “Are the negotiations still not concluded?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

“Is it impossible to apply pressure to the guilds?”

“If we were to do so, every guild in the kingdom would turn against the crown.”

“Huuu…” Charles VIII let out a long sigh and glanced discreetly at the Duke of Orléans.

The Duke, heir to the throne, gave a small, almost imperceptible shake of his head. Seeing that even his successor opposed continuing the war, Charles VIII sighed again.

“To think an emperor on the far side of the world can stop our war…” With that lament, Charles VIII’s decision was made. A month later, a formal truce was declared.

• The truce period will be for three years, after which it can be extended by mutual negotiation, or hostilities may resume.

With the agreement in place, the French and Habsburg armies withdrew to their original positions. And from this event, a new proverb was born: “From his seat, the Emperor of the Empire can stop a war on the other side of the world.”

***

With the truce secured, neither Charles VIII of France nor Maximilian I of the Habsburgs had any intention of resting.

“If the Emperor of the Empire is offering a prize of that magnitude, France cannot afford to fall behind,” Charles declared. “Give the artisans what they want. We cannot waste any more time on this.”

Following the King’s decisive order, the French government made significant concessions, and a substantial number of the defecting artisans returned. Once he received the report that the arsenals were operational again, Charles VIII issued a new command to his ministers. “The power of these guilds is a grave concern. Find me a way to solve this.”

The officials scrambled to find a solution. After much effort, they finally found the perfect answer, only to be left with a look of utter exasperation. “It’s the Empire. Again.”

The optimal solution they had discovered was the Empire’s ‘Academy’ system. When Charles VIII received their report, his expression was just as defeated as theirs.

“The Empire again? What in God’s name is that country? No, more importantly, the person who devised this system… are they even sane? How many of their policies have completely shattered all conventional wisdom?”

At that very moment, in Sugang Palace, Hyang was digging a finger deep into his ear. “Why is my ear so itchy? Is someone talking trash about me?”

***

Meanwhile, Count Tirol sought out Maximilian I, immediately dropping to his knees to beg for forgiveness. “Your humble servant was incompetent and failed to deliver victory to Your Majesty. Please, forgive my failure.”

“You are not the guilty one,” Maximilian said, his voice cold. “The guilt lies elsewhere. The true sinners are those subjects of the Holy Roman Empire who are also its greatest enemies.”

Maximilian I ground his teeth, making a silent, furious vow. Yes, you may have won this round, but I will never suffer this humiliation again. Never! The Holy Roman Empire must, and will, belong to me and to House Habsburg alone!

Having committed himself to absolute centralization, Maximilian I gathered his loyal ministers and made a declaration. “Though it ended in a truce, make no mistake: we were defeated! And why? We were defeated by an enemy within! By those who prioritize their own profits over the victory of their fatherland and the commands of their Emperor! They are the internal enemy! Therefore, our first task is to make the Holy Roman Empire one! We must purge this internal rot and be reborn as a true Holy Roman Empire! And to do this, we need more iron, and more gold!”

He paused, striding over to a world map hanging on the wall. He jabbed a finger at the Empire. “Look at them! That colossal nation moves as one body, following the single will of its Emperor! How is this possible? It is because of their unmatched military and economic power! Look at what just happened! A single piece of paper from their Emperor brought a war to a halt! This is the strength we must make our own!”

At Maximilian’s declaration, the ministers bowed as one. “As Your Majesty wills!”

And the first step they chose to achieve this goal? Winning the Empire’s competition.

• The Emperor of the Empire would only offer such a fortune if he was certain the prize would yield a profit many times greater!
• If we can seize that prize, our position will be transformed overnight.
• We will go from being the ones who must watch others… to the ones who are watched!

When Hyang, through his own channels, later heard of this development, he smacked his lips, his expression one of profound exasperation. “Tch… I wasn’t trying to start a snowball effect…”