Bashington DC, The Black House
Several days later, Solo and Lilith walked down the hallway side by side. The morning was already packed—meetings stacked back-to-back to deal with the post-Vandoria–Ravendawn situation.
"How about hiring one of those elves to fix our land?" Solo grumbled. "Make it fertile."
"Not possible," Lilith replied without slowing. "They barely let us build an embassy at the border."
"Ugh. Stingy vegan tree-huggers…"
"And don't call them vegans out loud."
The cabinet room doors opened.
Waiting inside were:
Levi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Stan, Minister of Defense Monny, Minister of Finance & Trade Mo', Director of Bureau of Intelligence & Counter Humanoid-Intelligence
"Morning," Solo said as he took his seat. Staff immediately poured his coffee. "Alright. Vandoria situation. Go."
Mo' stood, remote in hand.
"After weeks of infiltration, two of my agents successfully infiltrated and recruited a local asset," he said calmly. "Brainwashed him, provided him with improvised explosives, and—well—this is the result."
The screen lit up.
The bombing of Vandoria's royal procession.
BOOOOM!
"Whoaaaa," the room murmured in awe.
"King, Queen, crown prince, noble leaders—all eliminated," Mo' said proudly. "This so-called state-sponsored terrorism is remarkable. Cheap. Low-risk. Efficient."
"Glad it works well," Solo said, sipping his coffee. "Send my regards to your BICHes."
(Mo's agents. Obviously.)
"So what's left of Vandoria?" Lilith asked.
"Two royal princes accusing each other," Mo' replied cheerfully. "A leaderless nobility. And enough tension for multiple civil wars."
Stan leaned back in his chair. "And who do we support?"
"On the surface?" Mo' said. "None. Under the table? Everyone."
Lilith grinned. "Beautiful."
Monny chimed in, "Don't forget their colonies and vassals. They must have started to smell freedom. Those lands are what made Vandoria rich—grab those."
"Levi?" Solo asked.
Levi nodded with a pleasant smile. "I'll befriend them."
Mo' switched slides.
"We also discovered Vandorian mages planning to build a waterway across the land bridge," he continued. "Meant to flood our invasion route."
The simulation showed a massive canal being carved through the land.
Lilith whistled. "That's big enough for our ships."
Stan nodded. "Their magic's no joke."
Monny's eyes gleamed. "Hmm… interesting. If that waterway exists, our cargo shipping time drops massively."
Stan added, "Oh? That means our navy could redeploy faster too."
"And since Vandoria will become an explosive keg waiting to blow at any moment," Levi noted, "it's better to cut direct access to our new friend, Ravendawn."
"If we allow international merchants to use it, we can charge tolls," Lilith said with a smile. "And we can ask Ravendawn for joint management."
"Well, they owe us money anyway," Monny muttered. "For the captured ships."
Levi raised a finger. "But when this happens, Vandoria will want a share."
Solo leaned back in his chair.
"Hmm… They can't demand shares if they don't have a navy."
Everyone turned toward him.
"We're still technically at war, right?" Solo continued. "Stan—wipe out the rest of their fleet before any ceasefire."
Stan grinned. "Rusalka will be thrilled."
"And let's mass our troops and Ravendawn's at their border," Solo added. "That should encourage the Vandorians to start our canal construction."
Monny smiled. "Fantastic."
Levi flipped to the next slide.
"Now, Ravendawn. Good news: alliance approved. They'll host several of our bases."
Stan nodded with a smile. "Nice, they will be great buffer zone if any other country wants to attack us."
"Their Crown Prince will rule for two years," Levi continued, "then they'll transition to parliamentary democracy. This will reduces civil war risk, safer for our future assets interests there."
"Good job," Solo said.
"But…" Levi sighed. "Bad news. They're broke."
"HOW broke?" Monny asked.
"More broke than we imagined. They practically can't purchase anything that we wanted to sell."
"WHAT?!" Monny screamed.
Lilith winced. "Oh boy."
Silence filled the room.
Then Solo raised a finger.
"Oh! They can pay with—uh—free trade agreement!"
Everyone paused.
"What's that?" Monny asked.
Solo explained tariffs, quotas, cheap goods, infrastructure investment, and debt leverage in one smooth, practiced flow.
Monny blinked.
"…So whatever resources they sell to us will be cheaper?"
"Correct," Solo said. "Meanwhile, we can build whatever infrastructure they—and we—need, and put it on their tab."
"So they go into massive debt," Lilith said. "Aren't they pretty allergic to debt?"
"They don't really have a choice," Levi replied simply. "We're their only friends in the world right now."
Monny nodded slowly. "Well… Their Dawn port will become a goldmine…"
"And they also have oil," Lilith added.
"And farm animals," Solo whispered.
"Tch," Monny responded.
Solo straightened, signaling the end of the meeting.
"I'm glad our first war went well," he said. "But remember—we're still weak. We only have one fleet, four submarines, a handful of fighter squadrons, and a few hundred tanks."
He looked around the table.
"Enough to crush a kingdom. Not enough to fight a continent."
The cabinet stayed silent.
"So we play smart," Solo continued. "We pick our fights carefully. One battlefield at a time."
Everyone nodded.
"The war against the goddess is only beginning."
Murica wasn't ready for a multi-front conflict.
Not yet.
---
A Dungeon Somewhere in the Solis Continent
Sora still couldn't get the demon video out of his head.
Demons using Earth weapons.
Demons building cities that looked uncomfortably like Earth's.
It gnawed at him.
How the hell are demons copying Earth technology this perfectly?
There had to be someone from Earth over there. There was no other explanation. And yet, the goddess hadn't mentioned a single word about it.
Which was strange.
Suspiciously strange.
Isn't it bad if this world just turns into another Earth? he thought.
SHRIEEEEK!
Suddenly two kobolds lunged at him from both sides.
Sora cut them down with a single, effortless swing. Blood sprayed across the cave floor.
"Tch. Stop pestering me," he muttered.
"SORA, BEHIND YOU!"
A third kobold burst out from the shadows.
Sora hadn't even sensed it.
STAB–STAB–
Two icicles tore through the air and skewered the kobold mid-leap.
"Is this the supposed savior of the world?" a sharp voice said. "Maybe try not daydreaming inside a dungeon?"
Sora turned.
Isabel stood there, and beside her was a tiny girl wearing a pointy hat far too big for her head, clutching a staff also too big for her frame.
His new party member.
Yumi.
The cliché child-prodigy mage.
A walking trope.
The kind whose mentor decides that sending her on a "field trip" to kill monsters with the hero party is better for her magical education than, say, enrolling her in an actual magic school.
"Sorry, Yumi," Sora said, smiling as he patted her head. "But I knew I could count on you."
"O–of course you can!" Yumi squeaked, her cheeks glowing red. "I–I'm a genius mage after all!"
And yes.
Naturally.
The prodigy mage was also a tsundere.
KIIEEEEEEEGH!
A kobold general and two kobold sorcerers emerged from deeper in the dungeon, screeching as they charged.
"Dungeon boss," Sora said calmly. "Get ready."
The fight was quick.
A few flashes of steel. A few bursts of magic.
Then the boss collapsed.
Faint lights enveloped the party—the unmistakable sign of leveling up.
What made the Otherworlder Hero so frightening on Talvaris wasn't his stats.
It was his system.
Normal Talvarians were born with fixed capacity caps—mana, strength, speed, everything. A high mana cap meant you were suited to become a mage. A high strength cap meant a warrior.
Your role in society was practically decided at birth.
But heroes from other worlds broke all those rules.
Sora could increase all his caps every time he leveled up.
Worse—
This broken mechanic extended to his party.
Historical records even claimed that a mid-tier Hero party had once defeated an entire army on their own.
"Uh…" Yumi said hesitantly. "Does anyone else feel stronger than usual?"
"You're right," Isabel said, flexing her hand slowly. "This is… different."
Sora opened his status window.
His eyes widened.
"Uh, guys?" he said. "You won't believe this."
"What?" Isabel leaned closer.
"I got a new passive skill," Sora said slowly. "Double EXP."
He swallowed.
"We're growing twice as fast now."
"Oh my!" Isabel clasped her hands together immediately. "A blessing from the goddess!"
She began praying on the spot.
Sora didn't.
He wondered.
Double EXP… right after demons start showing Earth tech?
Coincidence?
Or…
…something else the goddess isn't telling us?