"Hey, Rimuru, has Diablo told you anything about leaving for a short while?"
"Uh, he mentioned something like that. He was going to the underworld, or something. Whatever dimension he came from."
"Good. Send me a thought communication when he does. I'll lend you something if needed, to quickly get the people he brings by your side. Or maybe mine, depending on how it goes."
It was the next day, and Artoria was talking to Rimuru in an office. Rimuru, of course, was doing some paperwork. How he still hasn't found a way to solve this problem is beyond her, but she still needed to prepare, and part of that was getting Rimuru ready to face what was coming.
"So, how is that Western Council stuff going?"
"It's going way better than I thought it would. It's been a fairly smooth process. I told Vesta to send Gazel a message about it, and he's helping me out. And Luminous, or the Lubellious Kingdom, since they don't seem to know or care that she's a Demon Lord. They're vouching for me, that and all the people that returned from the wedding festival for you and Shuna. People love us."
"Yeah, you have Diablo to thank for that. So, how is the road to the Sorcerous Dynasty going along?"
"It's still going at a steady pace. I thought it would slow down after you had Geld go to Falmuth, but it's fine. Benimaru, Hakurou, and his group are on their way to negotiate with the Tengu. Why did you send Hakurou with him? I'm sure Benimaru can take care of things on his own."
Artoria smiled. This was a good time to joke with him. To try to ease him in to the problems the Eastern Empire will bring. "It's going to make things so easy for us. The only downside is that you'll lose Benimaru. You lost Souei to Souka, and now you're going to lose Benimaru. I can understand if you're sad or heartbroken."
Rimuru paused a little at she said, until he understand what Artoria wsa implying. "What? No! Stop with that! I thought you forgot about that stuff!"
"I don't know, Rimuru, you seem kind of defensive about it. And I have never seen you make a move on a woman. Like, Shion is all over you all the time, and I've yet to see you try to pursue her."
"I get nervous and anxious."
Artoria raised an eyebrow "But you seem fine when you're around a guy. I don't see you anxious or nervous around them. Like Veldora. He likes manga, and you made him a weeb dragon."
"I can relate to that."
"Interesting. So you find yourself more comfortable and receptive around men than you are around women."
"No! Stop taking things out of context and proportion!"
"Alright, if you say so." Artoria chuckled as she thought to herself, 'Too easy.', before she started to get a bit more serious. "Anyway, we're going to need more people to help run this whole thing. As we expand our influence and join the Western Council, we'll need people to fill in other roles that come along. Diablo will help in that regard when he returns."
"You want demons doing that kind of stuff?"
Artoris simply shrugged like it was something obvious. "Well, from the perspective of people who practice the Abrahamic faiths, it would seem natural for demons to be running this kind of thing. How many people have you heard say that the devil or demons are involved in politics and law? It's like the most stereotypical and cliché thing."
"Well, you're not wrong. But where would the devil be?"
"Simple, working a fast food job flipping burgers. People are scared for no reason."
"Huh?"
"Now that that's sorted. I need to tell you about a conversation I had with Benimaru regarding the Eastern Empire. The time is coming soon, and we need to be prepared."
"War or something?"
"Yup, you got it. Good. I thought I would need to ease you into, but It's good to see that you know what's going to happen soon."
"Yeah, I should've known."
"Well, it was kind of obvious."
"What do we do? How strong are they?"
"Well, they got tanks, airships, and like a army that's a few hundred thousand strong, maybe even million." Artoria said nonchalantly.
Rimuru on the other hand, was freaking out. "Huh? Tanks?! Like tanks, I'm thinking of? Like what a modern military uses?"
"Yeah. Guns don't seem so far-fetched now, do they? Well, they're called 'magi-tanks'. So just add 'magi' in front of anything modern, and then they seem normal. So, for the guns I use, I can just add 'magi', and then they'll be magic guns. That's how it works."
Rimuru was taken aback by what her priorities seemed to be. "Who cares about modern weaponry is called in this world?! What do we do against tanks, let alone airships?! The closest thing we have to an air force is Gabiru and his lizardmen."
"Well, we have magic. And if you want to, you can just have Raphael come up with a bunch of blueprints, and then give it to Vesta and Kaijin, or…I can just make it myself. You want something that can fly? An aircraft of sorts? I can do that. It can fire a giant laser beam-looking thing. It's not as bad as it sounds." Artoria said as if it was obvious, adn she truly thought that way. The real danger wasn't the common soldiers, but the ones leading them.
"What?"
"You'll see when the time comes. If it's necessary." Artoria teased, leaving Rimuru wondering what she meant by making an aircraft before she continued. "Anyway, I'm a bit familiar with tanks."
"What? You're familiar with tanks? Were you in the military or something before you reincarnated?"
"No. My dad had a friend who owned a tank, and when I was young, I'd ride on it. I'd stick out of the tank hatch and pretend I was a tank commander. I would point at things to blow up, and my dad's friend in the tank would shoot things and blow them up. It was the coolest I have ever done in my life. Well, my old life, I've done better things in this world. A better person if you will." Artoria smiled and chuckled to herself at the end of her sentence.
Rimuru was stunned for a moment. He ignored almost everything she said and only focused on one thing. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did I hear you right? Your dad had a friend who owned a tank? You're telling me a person in the United States can own a tank? And one that can shoot things?"
Artoria was a little confused. "Yeah, duh. Why wouldn't we?"
"I don't know. Because it's a tank!"
Artoria just looked at Rimuru with a confused glance that showed she wasn't understanding him. "Okay. And?"
"What do you mean 'and'? How is it legal to own a tank in the United States?!"
"Well, there's no federal law that says you can't own a tank. But it varies by state. Obviously, in Texas, you can own a tank with a working cannon. It's a no-brainer. I think in Alaska, too? There's some pesky regulations by the federal government, and then some state and local laws, but it's possible."
"'Pesky regulations'? Huh?" He was surprised by what seemed like sheer absurdity. Who calls regulations on owning tanks "pesky". She can't be right in the head.
"Here's the thing. First, you need the money. To buy the tank, and then the ammo. Assuming you can find them. But all that stuff is child's play compared to the nightmare that is the paperwork…" Artoria paused in her talking as she let out a sigh of what seemed like anger as her eyes filled with hatred. "...and the A. T. F." Her tone was filled with venom as she finished her sentence. Rimuru could feel the disdain and anger radiating from her at the mention of those three letters.
"ATF? What's that?"
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives."
Rimuru let out a small smile and a chuckle. It sounded almost comically American what ATF stood for. "Is that like an American convenience store?" He tried to make a little joke to ease her anger, but Artoria's answer surprised him.
Artoria let out an aggressive breath through her nose. "I wish it was, Rimuru. I wish it was."
For what felt like the hundredth time, he was surprised at her answer. "What?"
"Let me tell you about the terrorist organization known as the ATF. There's a bunch of stuff they've done, but I'll focus on two of their most infamous things they've done. There was this thing they did in Waco, Texas, and they were involved in this thing known as the Ruby Ridge incident. After I'm done telling you this, you'll know why there are 'crazy people' that don't believe a thing that the U.S. govenrnment says, and it'll make sense why people say you can't trust the government, after knowing just a little of the stuff they've done."
"How long will this take?"
Artoria looked out the window and noticed there was plenty of daylight left. "If you have anything to do in the next few hours, postpone it. We'll start with what happened at Ruby Ridge before what happened at Waco, Texas, since that came first."
/\\//\\//\
(A few hours later)
"So, yeah, that's about it."
Though a few hours passed, it felt like minutes the way Artoria talked about it. Rimuru had no words to say. "I thought the cultists and the guy whose connected to some racist group are the bad guys."
"You would think that. Trust me, Rimuru, think of the most evil person you can. The ATF could go in there and make them look like a saint sent down from the heavens and chosen by the gods to save the world or something."
"I don't think anything could surprise me from this story."
"Wel, listen to this, Rimuru. That sniper from Ruby Ridge and the hostage rescue team from Ruby Ridge were also at Waco."
"So they didn't get held accountable for they did?"
"Nope. At best, a slap on the wrist. If any. Beleive it or not, it's not the worst thing the government has done it its own people. If I wanted to, I could go on and on. And that's only what they did to their own people. Don't get me started on foreign affairs. I'd say it's even worse."
"We should focus on other things." Rimuru said, trying to get the conversation back on track to what was actually important before Artoria started going off on another rant about the government.
"Yeah, we should. Where were we? Oh yeah, tanks, and the Eastern Empire. So, don't be afraid of their large army. Just 'cause they have a few hundred thousnad or million troops, doesn't mean we're going to be fighting that many."
"How so? Isn't that what an army is for?" Rimuru said, not grasping what she was trying to say.
"Well, yeah, but just 'cause the number of troops is a few hundred thousand doesn't mean you're going to be fighting a few hundred thousand."
"So what do those numbers mean then?"
"Simple. It's their total force. An army is made up of more than just troops that do the fighting. There are also ones that are involved in non-combat roles. Communications, medical personnel, engineers, specialists and technicians, logistics, and a lot of other things. So their effective fighting force is not completely what the number says."
"That sounds like silver lining." Rimuru said, feeling a little bit better about the prospect of a war with the Eastern Empire. At least, it doensn't look as bad as originally thought.
"Yeah, not really, we're still going up against a few hundred thousand."
And Artoria's words took away how good he was feeling. He just sighed in slight frustration, hoping for some kind of good news. "So how do we win?"
"Well, with the Eastern Empire, we'll need to defeat not only their army, but also their spirit and will to fight, and the means they have to wage war."
"I understand fighting their troops, but what about the other things you mentioned?"
"Well, for that, we'll need to destroy their industry and other military and logistical targets. We'll also need to target their population and make them turn against their own government. And no, I'm not talking about killing civilians or anything like that. Even with someone like the emperor in the Eastern Empire, if enough people turn, even people like him have to listen. A military is only as good as the people supporting it. Just look at the Vietnam War and the opposition from the people in the United States. It's not the only reason, but it's a reason."
"And how do we do that?"
"Don't worry. The demons Diablo comes back with will help us. He's going to bring in and then help set up one of the strongest units we'll have. That's the good news you want, Rimuru. I have a sort of operation in mind for this."