Fyodor's question was sharp, serving as a test for Talulah. If her answer proved unsatisfactory, the transfer of the city's ownership would remain a matter for further deliberation. Even for the sake of his regime, he could not use the lives of his subjects as a bargaining chip to trade for the data in their hands. If word of such a deal leaked out, his reputation as Emperor would become a global laughingstock.
"Once we take control of the city, we will allow it to operate as usual. If the non-Infected are unwilling to live in the same city as us, we will not stop them from leaving. We can even arrange for Ursus landships to transport them away."
Talulah had pondered this question for a long time. She understood the fear and rejection non-Infected felt toward the Infected; the vast majority of people found it impossible to coexist with them. By the same token, a large portion of the Infected were unwilling to live with these people—some even harbored deep-seated hatred for them. This was the current reality, one that even Talulah could not simply dissolve.
She had to ensure that when she gained administrative rights, the city would not descend into Infected riots or the massacre of non-Infected. Otherwise, no matter how hard they worked, everything would turn to ash.
"Which means these people must abandon their homes to find a new life? Do you think that is fair to them? If they flee to other cities as refugees, it will trigger massive problems."
Fyodor continued to press her. As he said, how so many people would survive after fleeing to other cities was a major issue; no city was willing to accept such a large influx of people. He was essentially interrogating Talulah: what right did she have to destroy the present of the non-Infected for the sake of the Infected's future? How was her path any different from the current path of Ursus?
"It is a necessity of the circumstances. We only wish to reclaim what is rightfully ours, and such things are inevitable in a struggle. But is Ursus truly incapable of finding a place for them to stay?"
Talulah faced the question head-on, making her stance clear. It was impossible for the Emperor to break her spirit with such words; she had long since prepared herself to bear the weight of infamy.
Furthermore, as she said—could Ursus really not find a city to house these departing non-Infected? The answer was that they could, and they had many. Ursus possessed countless abandoned mobile cities. The reason they were discarded wasn't due to age or disrepair, but because the nobles and officials were unwilling to bear their operating costs. Some cities were even made to "vanish" from the world by nobles because of consecutive years of economic loss. The number of lives lost behind those decisions far outweighed anything that might happen in a single Chernobog.
"If you truly care so much about the lives of the subjects in your territory, I suggest you do a better job of managing those nobles who treat the lives of the people like ants."
As she spoke, Talulah thought of the scenes she had witnessed over the years. They might not be scenes the man before her wished to see, but they were the result of his inability to fully control the country. No matter what happened, an Emperor should be a figure who leads his people toward the future, rather than someone who merely earns a reputation for "mercy" while being unable to accomplish anything.
"Also, you really should do a better job of managing the Emperor's Blades under your command. I assume their actions—like sinking a city directly into a lake or massacring entire villages—were never reported to you?"
Hearing this, Fyodor's eyes flickered sharply toward the somewhat stiffened "Twenty-Nine" standing nearby. He had not realized the "Blades" in his hand had grown so bold without his knowledge.
Now they dared to hide the fact that they had driven a mobile city into a lake? What was the next step? Sneaking into the palace to assassinate an "unsatisfactory" Emperor and install a new one? At that moment, he recalled the rumors that his father had actually been dealt with by a coalition of Emperor's Blades. A surge of suspicion welled up in his heart as he looked at Twenty-Nine with a scrutinizing gaze.
Twenty-Nine, for his part, was rapidly sifting through the members of his unit in his mind to find suspects. But there were simply too many "suspect" Emperor's Blades; he couldn't pick out the black sheep in such a short time.
"We will discuss this matter later. It just so happens that I hope you can assist us in resolving this issue and cleaning out those elements. If you wish to take command of Chernobog, that is fine, but we need to settle the problems within the city first. This will take some time."
Fyodor glanced at Twenty-Nine before shifting the focus back to Chernobog. He truly hadn't expected his Emperor's Blades to be hiding such massive secrets. The key issue was how much face he had lost! There was a Laterano Pope sitting right there watching the drama unfold! Now, Ursus's embarrassing internal affairs were known to Laterano. His patience with these Emperor's Blades was reaching its limit. If he didn't deal with this soon, the day would come when he could no longer trust them at all.
Councilor Witte, sitting by the communicator, didn't know what expression to make. For a moment, he was at a loss for words to help the Emperor save face. He could only stare blankly at the group opposite him. The Pope, however, seemed quite interested in Witte, staring at his stone-cold, stiff face as if waiting to see what kind of expression he might eventually produce.
"Then how much time do you need to resolve the issues that require Chernobog to be settled? We would still like an approximate timeframe."
The Emperor's suggestion aligned perfectly with Talulah's current plans. She didn't want to take over Chernobog immediately; she and Reunion still needed time to grow. However, she remained cautious—who knew if Ursus would use this as an excuse to extend the deadline indefinitely? What if they used the city as bait to manipulate them until Reunion outlived its usefulness, only to tear up the agreement?
"Councilor Witte, your understanding of Chernobog is higher than mine. Give us a rough estimate of the time required."
Since the investigation into Chernobog had only just begun, Fyodor couldn't confirm exactly how long it would take. For insight into the depths of this city, he needed the estimate from Witte, who served as his "eyes" on the ground.
"It will take two to two and a half years, Your Majesty! Our recent investigations have made breakthrough progress. Roughly two years is enough for us to clean up the affairs here."