BATTLE FOR STARS

Among the four member states of the Confederation, the Kramic Kingdom possessed the second-largest territory. Yet despite its vast domain, it had the smallest population of all four nations—and by an astonishing margin.

Just how small?

The Kramic Kingdom controlled more than 1,800 inhabited planets and artificial satellites, but its total population was only one billion.

That was less than one-fifth of the population of the Resk Empire, and not even close to the population of the Duir Republic.

This was one of the reasons the Kramic Kingdom had long suffered from a shortage of military personnel and had even developed unmanned starships. Looking at it from another angle, it also revealed just how wealthy the average Kramic citizen was and how generous their social benefits had become.

The Kramic Kingdom was the technological leader among all the major powers.

Most of its exports consisted of advanced technologies and high-tech products. Its prosperity gave its citizens a great deal of freedom in choosing how they wished to work and live.

Its military was equally formidable.

While its population could not compare to many other nations, the superiority of its weapons was beyond dispute.

Because of that wealth and power, countless people from other countries dreamed of becoming Kramic citizens.

However, unless someone possessed exceptional talent, there was generally only one path into the Kramic Kingdom:

Military service.

The nation's prosperity meant that few native citizens chose the military as a career. Unlike the Duir Republic, the Kramic Kingdom did not enforce compulsory military service.

As a result, its armed forces suffered from a severe manpower shortage compared to other nations.

To solve this problem, the kingdom had opened a special path:

Anyone who served in the Kramic military for fifty years could officially become a citizen of the Kramic Kingdom.

In truth, among the interstellar powers, only the Hill Empire actively encouraged population growth.

Most other nations did not.

Partly because each country had different social conditions, and partly because human reproduction had become largely machine-assisted.

Family bonds between parents and children had weakened considerably.

Combined with lifespans of three or four hundred years and the fact that people no longer depended on their children to support them in old age, the desire to have children was far less intense than it had once been.

To put it simply, most citizens of the Kramic Kingdom found having children troublesome and delayed it until they became quite old.

The Resk Empire, meanwhile, was a slave society. Its free citizen population was relatively small, while slaves were raised and managed largely according to economic demand, keeping the overall population fairly stable.

The Duir Republic, on the other hand, did not actively encourage childbirth either. However, its welfare system was so generous that once a child was born, the state essentially took responsibility for raising it.

As a result, many people had several children simply because there was little burden involved, making the Duir Republic the most populous nation within the Confederation.

The Hania Federation was even simpler.

It was the most liberal of the four nations in nearly every respect.

People could have as many children as they wished, provided they could support them.

However, the wealth gap was enormous.

Poor families tended to have fewer children, while wealthy families often had more, but the wealthy represented too small a percentage of the population to significantly affect overall demographics.

Matthew had spent considerable effort and money arranging for Elizabeth to enter the military.

After all, joining the Kramic Kingdom's armed forces was not something anyone could do simply by applying.

Their standards were extremely demanding.

Anyone who failed to meet the required qualifications had no chance of enlistment.

Most people could not even clear the basic entry requirements.

For Elizabeth, however, those barriers were not difficult thanks to Matthew's support.

The real issue was that Matthew had no desire to see her deployed to the front lines.

To avoid that possibility, he spent even more money securing her a Staff Officer position.

Officially, citizens of the Duir Republic were forbidden from owning private property.

That did not mean, however, that people could not secretly maintain overseas accounts or exchange favors with influential figures in the Kramic Kingdom through various unofficial channels.

What Matthew had never expected was that Elizabeth would develop a genuine fascination with warfare.

She constantly searched for ways to participate in frontline operations.

Several years earlier, the attack on Mu Landon's minelayer had been her work.

Unfortunately, a small mistake during execution had forced the entire operation to be canceled.

In the years that followed, she also designed the Confederation's planned counteroffensive against the Hill Empire.

Yet changing circumstances repeatedly prevented those operations from being launched, leaving the Confederation's fleets trapped in a constant cycle of crisis response.

This time, however, the situation was different.

Faced with the Hill Empire's increasingly aggressive advance, the Confederation had finally reached the point where there was nowhere left to retreat.

It was time for a large-scale counteroffensive.

Operation Flamingo.

The operation's name came from the flamingo's pink feathers, which closely resembled Elizabeth's hair.

More importantly, she was the architect of the plan itself.

As a liaison officer, Elizabeth's presence in the Muslai System, where the Tekara Fleet was preparing for departure, was perfectly natural.

On one hand, she was there to provide Fleet Commander Vivian with a detailed briefing on the operation.

On the other, she was taking advantage of the opportunity to meet her longtime lover.

The group settled into their seats.

Iijima was in an exceptionally good mood today.

He ordered an entire table full of dishes.

After all, none of it came out of his own pocket.

At their level of authority, many ordinary restrictions no longer applied.

They could eat whatever they wanted and as much as they wanted.

After chatting casually for a while, Iijima shifted the conversation toward the coming campaign.

"Little An, how confident are you about this expedition?"

Vivian's eyebrow twitched slightly.

Then she smiled and glanced at Elizabeth.

"She's the one who designed the plan. I haven't even had the chance to hear the full briefing yet. Why don't you ask her?"

Everyone turned toward Elizabeth, waiting for an explanation.

Elizabeth, however, had no intention of discussing the operation.

"This is a top-secret plan. Let's not discuss it here. General Vivian and I will go over everything in private."

According to military regulations, only personnel of certain specific ranks were authorized to know the details of such an operation.

In a society with communications technology this advanced, a leak could place an entire fleet in grave danger.

Iijima, however, paid little attention to such regulations.

His position was so high that very few people ever refused his requests.

That was why he had asked the question in the first place.

Unfortunately for him, Elizabeth belonged to the military—and more specifically, the military of the Kramic Kingdom.

She rejected the request without hesitation.

Matthew immediately sensed the awkwardness and stepped in.

"We don't need the details. We just want to know the probability of victory."

Elizabeth understood Iijima's concern.

Over the years, the Confederation had suffered far more defeats than victories.

This operation involved an enormous military commitment.

If it failed, the consequences would be severe.

After thinking for a moment, she gave a direct answer.

"If everything goes according to plan, we should have about a seventy percent probability of victory."

Of course, that estimate depended on everything proceeding smoothly.

There were always factors that no one could predict.

"That's good to hear."

Iijima visibly relaxed.

He knew better than anyone how serious the domestic situation in the Duir Republic had become.

Economic growth had stagnated.

Social tensions were intensifying.

Opposition voices were growing louder every day.

War could redirect public attention and even provide an opportunity to send certain troublesome individuals to the front lines.

But one thing was certain:

They could not afford another defeat.

Especially since he himself had been one of the strongest supporters of launching this campaign.

"You two should work closely together. As long as we can hold the Epsom System, we'll consider the operation a success."

In Iijima's eyes, avoiding defeat was already a victory.

"Understood."

Vivian replied with a smile.

After all, that was her duty.