Let’s get back to talking about the Empire.
The Empire had become a great power and was even looking at unifying the continent, but the core figure in all of this, Manas, had passed away at the age of fifty, when he still could have done more. There were rumors of assassination, but the truth is that it was illness. Not even such a great man could defeat illness.
With the death of Manas, the situation in the Empire began to look dubious. When a country is built around a strong personality, it often fractures when that strong personality is lost. There have been examples of this on Earth, too. There were Alexander the Great’s empire, the Mongol Empire, Qin Shi Huang’s Qin Dynasty, and more. The faster a country expands, the more likely it is to fracture before three generations have passed. It was the same with the Gran Chaos Empire.
The second emperor, thanks in part to Manas’s loyal associates still being alive, ruled the Empire with a steady hand. However, by the time the third emperor ascended the throne, those loyal attendants had passed away.
Partly because it was a country centered around humans, there were no vassals of other races, such as Excel, who had served the royal family for generations. As a result, the third emperor launched new invasions in an attempt to gain the support of his retainers. He must have wanted to show people both inside and outside the country that he could continue Manas’s work of unifying the continent.
However, the war that had broken out sixty years ago had turned into a world-wide war, with many countries being exhausted as a result. The Empire was no exception. With the unexpectedly high war costs ruining the country, it had damaged the support it had been trying to build.
There were repeated civil wars in the Empire, and the third emperor died at the hands of rebels during the fourth such war. Ironically, it was actually because of the losses inflicted in the war that the third emperor started in on an attempt to carry on the work of unification, one which caused the world to shift towards an atmosphere of greater cooperation.
The fourth emperor, who had inherited an empire in disarray, abandoned the expansionist policies and focused on domestic politics. It could have been called a wise decision, but he was called too passive and was looked down on by the lords of the empire.
When the fifth emperor took the throne, the Empire had already lost its centripetal force, and it was thought it would soon break up. However, roughly ten years ago, something completely unexpected had happened.
The appearance of the Demon Lord’s Domain.
The sudden advance of these aberrant armies caused the Empire to lose the former territory of the Euphoria Kingdom along with many of its other northern territories. However, the threat was the same for all countries, leading to calls for mankind to unite in the face of this situation.
And so, they turned to the largest, most powerful nation, the Empire, for leadership. As a result, the Empire managed to avoid the threat of division.
They became the leading power in the alliance of mankind’s nations, but, owing to the fact that mankind wasn’t working in unison at first, they were forced into a hard battle against the monsters. Then, in a battle during the invasion that pushed deep into the Demon Lord’s Domain, mankind suffered a crushing defeat.
The fifth emperor was a man of culture, not gifted in the art of war. As a result of the unfamiliar battlefield grinding him down, body and soul, he had passed away five years ago.
The fifth emperor had no boys, so the one to inherit the throne was a girl who was still only fourteen at the time.
That girl was Maria Euphoria.
Now, at the age of nineteen, she was the empress of the Grand Chaos Empire (“emperor” being a title for males, the position had been newly created.)
At the time, there had been many voices concerned that such a young girl was to take the throne. However, once she did take the throne, she immediately put her natural charisma to work.
She first changed the human-favoring Empire policies, employing those with talent even if they belonged to another race. In peace time, the humans might have pushed back against that, but this was a time of crisis with the threat of the Demon Lord’s Domain bearing down on them. Their positions and prestige were dependent on their survival.
Her policies, which were suited to the current era, received the support of her subjects.
Included in Maria’s policies was the one said to be her greatest, the Declaration of Mankind’s Common Front Against the Demon Race (also known as the Mankind Declaration).
In response to the encroaching threat of the Demon Lord’s Domain, she called for a common front between all mankind.
The Mankind Declaration with its three articles, “The acquisition of territory by force between the nations of mankind is deemed inadmissible,” “the right of all peoples to equality and self-determination will be respected,” and “countries that are distant from the Demon Lord’s Domain will provide support to those nations which are adjacent to it and are acting as a defensive wall,” was revolutionary in that it not only established a common front against the forces of the demon lord, but also made reference to stopping wars and forbidding racial discrimination.
Also, Maria gave her undivided attention to saving the weak. With her beautiful appearance and the gentle disposition she greeted everyone with, regardless of their background, she seized the hearts of the people.
At some point, the people naturally came to call her this:
The “Saint of the Empire.”
That Saint of the Empire, Maria, was now in her room in the imperial capital of the Gran Chaos Empire with a gloomy look on her face.
It was a quiet night. There was something transient about the way she looked as she stood next to the window with moonlight streaming in, not bothering to turn the lights on. Her feminine, well-balanced figure was wrapped in a pure white dress, and she looked beautiful with her wavy blond hair.
Who would have believed that she stood at the top of the most powerful state on the continent?
As Maria looked through the glass at the moon shining in the night sky, she let out another sigh. At that moment, there was a knock at the door to her room.
Maria corrected her posture, then said, “Come in.”
Another young girl entered. “Excuse me, sister.”
This girl was clad in a military uniform, and had a face that looked identical to Maria’s.
If there was a difference between them, it was that she tied her hair back in a ponytail and that her eyes looked slightly more courageous. It was only natural that they would look similar, because she was Maria’s sister who was two years younger, Jeanne Euphoria.
Jeanne stood in front of her sister, giving her a salute. “I, Jeanne Euphoria, will head to the Amidonian capital, Van, as commander of the Army.”
Jeanne had such a great gift for the military that she was called “the female Manas,” and despite being first in the line of succession, she also acted as the commander of the entire Army.
Maria handled the administrative side while Jeanne handled the military. By dividing the roles between these two sisters, they had managed to handle the tasks which had made the previous emperor collapse from being overworked.
Incidentally, there was another sister who was one year younger than Jeanne, but according to rumors she was a rare eccentric and not allowed out in public.
Maria looked at Jeanne apologetically. “Yes… You’ll be meeting with that hero king.”
“…Yes,” said Jeanne. “I don’t like being used like this by Amidonia, but I suppose we’ll have to negotiate the return of Van, which is under occupation.” Jeanne looked as if she’d just bitten into something unpleasant.