[FMMIKA] Chapter 280: Changing History

"Master."

"Your Majesty."

"My Emperor~"

Inside Artorius's office, the Servants who had previously stood on the side of Chaldea all bowed respectfully to the Dragon Emperor.

The Blood Countess, Elizabeth Bathory—an Imperial lady-in-waiting and a member of the harem guard.

The envoy from the Far East, Kiyohime—an Imperial lady-in-waiting and a member of the harem guard.

Marie Antoinette—an Imperial noble, a Duchess, and the Imperial Concubine.

The three women gazed at the Dragon Emperor with affectionate eyes.

They looked at their Master with reverent eyes.

With eyes that seemed to want to offer everything, they gazed at the ruler of their lives and the master of their souls.

...

In the 14th century, during the Empire's era of localization in Eastern Europe, the House of Bathory rose to prominence, and Elizabeth Bathory joined the Imperial court as a lady-in-waiting.

...

In the 15th century, during the Empire's era of extensive expansion, the Japanese archipelago became a vassal of the Empire. Kiyohime arrived as a tribute to the Empire and gained favor with the Emperor, becoming a lady-in-waiting.

...

In the 10th century, during a time when the Empire had achieved great success in domestic affairs and had largely integrated territories outside of Europe, the House of Habsburg rose to prominence, becoming one of the Empire's new elites and contributing numerous talents in diplomacy and administration. As a symbol of the family's prosperity, Marie Antoinette, the family's legitimate daughter, became one of the concubines of Emperor Artorius V.

...

Just as with Elizabeth, with the House of Bathory, and with the 'integration' of Eastern Europe.

After modifying Elizabeth from a Servant of proper human history to a Servant of the Empire, Artorius also didn't hesitate to make modifications to Kiyohime and Marie.

The former, for now, was not particularly influential in Japan.

The latter, however, was quite impressive. After all, in proper human history, the House of Habsburg was a highly influential European royal family, even coming close to unifying the entire continent.

If measured not in terms of 'nations' but in terms of 'families', the House of Habsburg could be considered one of the most successful royal families in Europe.

While Marie's fame within the House of Habsburg was not as prominent as Elizabeth's in the House of Bathory, the act of uniting Elizabeth with Artorius was equivalent to integrating roughly sixty percent of the House of Bathory's influence.

In contrast, uniting with Marie meant that Artorius integrated less than ten percent of the House of Habsburg's influence.

However, the benefit of this less than ten percent integration was that it contributed more to the progress of the new human history, even more than the sixty percent from the House of Bathory.

If one were to use a gacha game analogy, the House of Bathory would be a 3-star rare character at most, but the House of Habsburg would be a 5-star epic character.

'Indeed, this was the right decision.'

Enjoying the devoted service of the three women, Artorius felt a sense of pleasure.

His plan was the right one.

By integrating and modifying Servants, he could influence the Heroic Spirits themselves and, in turn, affect the families to which they belonged, ultimately impacting the history associated with those Heroic Spirits.

'As the number of Heroic Spirits I modify increases, the legitimacy of proper human history will steadily decline. As long as I can modify a sufficient number of Heroic Spirits, it's not impossible to replace the old human history with the 'new human history' of my empire.'

With this in mind, intervening in the war between Chaldea and Goetia was the perfect plan.

Because here, there were countless Servants from proper human history that Artorius could modify.

And here, there was also the energy obtained from the human order incineration ritual for Artorius to utilize.

'I've already gained full control.'

'But, the energy required... in addition to the energy I got from the human order incineration ritual, I need more extra energy."

'With the energy from the Third Magic, it will take some time to modify enough Servants.'

'The empire can also provide some additional energy.'

'But... what about the Holy Grail?'

With a thought, a golden grail appeared in Artorius's hand.

This wasn't the genuine Holy Grail that Artorius had encountered in the past which sacrificed Galahad; it was merely a pseudo-Holy Grail, created by Goetia's condensed magical energy, essentially a crystallization of true ether.

'I will need more energy than this.'

'Fortunately, I have an alternative plan, another plan to reshape human history.'

Compared to modifying Servants, Artorius's original plan was much more direct—by directly taking control, changing singularities, and then fusing these changed singularities to create a new human history.

'These two paths can progress side by side, complementing each other.'

Artorius concluded, and after a while, he suddenly remembered something. As he affectionately patted Mash's head, Artorius turned to his loyal maid and inquired.

"How is the war for the conquest of the Holy Roman Empire's territories going?"

"Very smooth. We've already advanced into the Saxon region." The head maid, Sella, answered gently and nodded.

"Saxon... we've practically cut through the Holy Roman Empire."

Artorius acknowledged and then thought.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, should I change my empire's name? It's a bit annoying to see another empire with the same name. Since I don't have to worry too much about sticking to proper human history right now, maybe I can. Well, I'll think about it later.'

Artorius then snapped his fingers, and a map of magecraft materialized in front of him. His empire territories were represented by a shimmering silver, while non-empire territories were marked in vibrant orange.

Currently, his empire held the entire British Isles, the whole of Spain, the northern regions of Morocco, a significant portion of Italy, and much of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the northern regions of Scandinavia, his empire's fleet had landed, swiftly advancing towards Finland.

In the New World of America, his empire had constructed numerous ports across North America, Central America, and South America, initiating trade with indigenous peoples and establishing plantations.

Due to extensive steam-powered industrialization, these plantations and factories required minimal human labor, eliminating the need for the slave trade. His empire's inclusive policies and his patience prevented the pursuit of short-term gains or any form of genocide.

Of course, sometimes one had to fight.

The idea behind education was that the other side could learn. The empire wasn't obligated to assist anyone in industrializing and integrating into modern society without a cost.

After all, everything in this world comes with a price.

'At this rate, in just another half year or so, the empire will have pushed its borders all the way to Moscow.'

Artorius thought gleefully while stroking his chin.

'This singularity will also be absorbed by the empire with steam at its core. A crucial chapter in the history of the new humanity is about to be completed."

As Artorius was busy pondering, this was happening on countless battlefields.

In Europe, in Africa, in the Americas.

On plains, in farmlands, in mountains, in forests, in rainforests.

Innumerable steam-powered soldiers marched forward.

Cannons roared.

Airships blotted out the sky.

Steam ironclads blockaded harbors and reduced those backward wooden toys to splinters.

Artorius's grand ambition was coming to fruition.

"Well, it's time to go meet that kid."

The 'kid' Artorius mentioned was none other than Gudako, or rather, Fujimaru Ritsuka.

Just as Artorius had said to Mash before. Not only would he not destroy Chaldea, but he would also help them grow and prosper.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the assistance of that chaotic evil Gudako.