Why would I join the army if I can’t drive a Gundam!

Chapter 300 This is all for Your Highness!
"Your Highness, no! That would be undignified!"

Haman was genuinely afraid that Minerva would treat Marco Bay like a horse. If Minerva did that, she would be accused of neglecting her education. After all, what had Minerva done wrong? At her age, she was just playing around, and it was perfectly appropriate for an old minister to accompany the princess.

Therefore, the guardian should bear the blame, just as it is Haman's fault if Minerva doesn't sleep, and Haman's fault if Minerva smacks his lips while eating.

"Your Highness, why don't you come with me to meet Colonel Enzo?"

Harman glared at Mark Bay, then spoke softly to Minerva.

"After all, learning how to deal with ministers is also part of the lesson!"

"OK then!"

Then, Hamman placed Minerva on his chair, while he stood aside.

Then, the office door opened again, and a Zeon officer who looked like a wolf with a hawk-like gaze walked into the room.

"Long live Zeon!"

As soon as the man entered the room, he raised his right hand and shouted slogans at Minerva.

Minerva's face tightened, and she returned the greeting as Haman had taught her.

"Your Highness, how have you been lately?"

"Very well, and you, Lord Enzo!"

"Thanks to you, I'm eating well and sleeping soundly, which is great!"

The man smiled and pointed at his large nose, then glanced at Mark Bay beside him. Their eyes met, and in a flash, they understood each other's meaning.

"So, what brings you to my audience today?"

"Your Highness, I hope the Regent will approve our request to allocate Axis forces to form an advance fleet bound for the Earth Sphere!"

"An advance fleet, didn't we send one before?"

"Your Highness, that can hardly be considered an advance fleet; it's merely a reconnaissance unit. What we need to dispatch is a fleet group with complete military capabilities, including industrial facilities!"

Mark Bay suddenly interjected.

"What was the purpose of preparing such a fleet?"

"Of course, it's for a counterattack!"

Mark Bay coughed and then began to explain the current state of the Earth Sphere to Minerva.

A divided organization, a demoralized fighting spirit, and a shattered faith—this description perfectly captures the current state of the remnants of Zeon in the Earth Sphere.

"So, you want to form an advance fleet in order to reorganize our scattered personnel?"

“That’s right, Your Highness. This is also for the good of Axis. The Earth Federation Forces are currently carrying out military reforms in full swing. Once they are completed, Axis will have no chance of returning to the Earth Sphere. Not to mention, they might even launch an expedition to Axis to arrest us!”

"Arrest us? No problem, Harman will protect me!"

"Lord Hamman is indeed very powerful, but the Federation Army may also have its share of experts, Your Highness. Do you remember the Red Dragon I told you about?"

"You mean that shameless, big bad guy?"

"That's right. Although he is shameless, despicable, ugly, and carries deadly bacteria, he is also a formidable character. Lord Hamman may not be his match!"

As Mark Bey spoke, he glanced at Harman, whose face had turned ashen.

"Really? Sister Harman, you're no match for him either?"

Seeing Minerva raise her head to ask him a question, Haman wished he could sew Mark Bay's mouth shut and stop talking about this.

In fact, the Zeon pilots of Axis suffer from a phobia of the Red Dragon, including Mark Bay. When he first arrived in Axis, the old man couldn't sleep at night. After all, he had been badly beaten by Macarius in the Earth Sphere. As a result, Mark Bay would often suspect that Macarius had led a large army to attack Axis. He even had such nightmares several times, which would wake him up in fright.

Later, the Zeon pilots collected the scarce combat data about the Red Dragon and formed a special research group to analyze the Red Dragon's combat situation day and night. Even in the Zeon mobile suit simulators, it was the Red Dragon that fought against them.

Although Haman had never seen the Red Dragon, she had heard about it countless times. From military commanders like Mark Bay to ace pilots like Char, and even ordinary maintenance workers and ship gunners, everyone was telling stories about the Red Dragon.

There are all sorts of stories, like how the enemy liked to kill Zeon soldiers and then pile them up to worship the cosmic gods, or how the enemy killed more than a dozen mobile suits on the battlefield with just a beam dagger. In short, none of these stories involve them defeating the Red Dragon. They all describe how lucky they were to escape unscathed from the Red Dragon's clutches.

Char, in particular, was more popular among ordinary pilots than a female celebrity during the Principality of Zeon, because he had escaped death from the Red Dragon multiple times, his mobile suits were severely damaged but he always returned safely. Such a story would be enough to be written into a book if it happened once, but Char had experienced it countless times.

Harman was naturally very unhappy to hear this. In her opinion, the other party was indeed very powerful, but she was also a Newtype, and she had the assistance of the Flanagan Organization in developing a special Newtype machine. If she encountered the other party, she might not be without the power to fight back. After all, she had already seen the Red Dragon in the simulator!

Now that Mark Bey was belittling himself like this, Harman could only pat Minerva on the head and say something.

"I will protect you!"

Minerva was immediately happy. She was still young and didn't know what the ultimate skill of a mobile suit was. She only knew that her best friend, Haman, would protect her, and that was enough!
"But Your Highness, we will also protect you. So, the formation of the fleet is also for the sake of Axis. You don't want anything to happen to Lord Haman, do you?"

"But Sister Harman said that the fleet is extremely valuable. If that red dragon is really that powerful, what if you go to the Earth Sphere and get defeated by him?"

"No, Your Highness, we will not directly engage them in battle. We simply want to find a way to cause some trouble for the Earth Federation and disrupt their development!"

"Moreover, Your Highness, actually, we are still doing this for Prince Dozru..."

Seeing that Minerva remained unmoved despite Markbe's lengthy explanation, Enzo suddenly became anxious and spoke up.

"Colonel Enzo!"

Upon hearing those words, Harman immediately interrupted Enzo, then stared intently at him and spoke each word clearly.

"I will decide when to inform you about this!"

In fact, Harman's warnings didn't stop there; her hand had already reached for the pistol at her waist.

If the other party dares to utter a single word, she will make them understand why the flowers are so red.

Enzo, looking at Haman, also became furious.

"Lord Hamman, hiding like a coward won't solve anything!" "So, rushing in with a fleet that hasn't even finished its training will solve the problem?"

Harman really wanted to slap these two bastards who ate human food but did nothing. Did they not know what was going on with the Earth Federation? Everyone had seen the battle footage of the Delaz fleet.

The Federation's newly commissioned Birmingham-class battleships have shown such formidable performance that they have given the high command of Zeon in Axis a real fright. Zeon currently has no ships that can stand up to them. As for mobile suits, the new transformable mobile suits are still under development. The Newtype forces have not even been fully formed yet. Do you have the right to think about fighting back?

"If we continue to prepare using the excuse of not being ready, we'll never be truly prepared in our lifetime!"

"Colonel Enzo, watch your tone. Lord Harman is also concerned for Axis's safety. After all, with us here, the Federation forces can't break through!"

Mark Bay appeared to be mediating, but his tone betrayed no intention of doing so.

"However, Lord Hamman, we understand your foresight, but the soldiers below don't. They abandoned everything to come here, not intending to stay here forever!"

“Your Highness Minerva, sometimes staying in your palace is not a good thing. You should be like your father, go to the front lines and listen to the voices of the soldiers!”

"My father?"

"That's right, just like your father!"

"Lord Hamman, what do you think?"

"His Highness's safety is of utmost importance!"

"So you think our soldiers are unreliable?"

"Our soldiers are reliable, but their officers are another matter!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was about to become tense again, Mark Bay once again laughed it off.

"Colonel, watch your attitude. Lord Hamman is only doing this for His Highness's own good. However, Your Highness, Colonel Enzo also has a point! As a commander, one should indeed be close to the soldiers. How about this, we have lunch at the military camp today!"

Then, Mark Bay spoke to Harman.

"Your Highness's safety is assured, Lord Hamman. I'll pledge my life as proof. What do you think?"

What else could Haman say? She had unknowingly put the blame on herself again. If she continued to obstruct, she would be seen as a villain who was deceiving the emperor. After all, she had tried to restrict Minerva's movements as much as possible for Minerva's safety, keeping her confined to the palace and a few other small areas.

But now, she has no choice but to agree to Mark Bay's proposal.

"I'll have the Royal Guard handle the security. I can't possibly place all my hopes on that old man!"

Despite being in a Zeon military camp, Haman remained vigilant. However, the Zeon soldiers were all extremely excited. When Haman accompanied Minerva into the dining hall, they heard a deafening roar of slogans.

"Thirsty Geron!"

"Thirsty Geron!"

"Thirsty Geron!"

"Your Highness, these are all your loyal and brave men. Quickly greet them!"

Minerva kept Haman's teachings in mind. She returned the salute to the soldiers around her and walked towards the table that had been cleared for her, surrounded by the crowd. This was her first time eating in such a communal canteen, so Minerva's eyes were full of curiosity.

The restaurant also put all its skills to good use because of Minerva's arrival, making a series of gourmet meals with simple ingredients. Minerva enjoyed the food very much, after all, her previous nutritional meals and the gourmet meals in the military camp canteen were completely different.

Hamman, on the other hand, had no appetite. She ate a few bites of food hastily, then wiped Minerva's greasy mouth. After that, she looked around. There were a large number of Royal Guard soldiers in the restaurant, so Minerva should be fine. So, what exactly was Mark Bay trying to do?
As the dinner was drawing to a close, Marc Bey suddenly stood up, raised his glass, and led the way in toasting Minerva.

"Let us toast to His Highness Minerva's good health!"

After the toasts were finished, Mark Bey suddenly urged Minerva to say a few words to the entire army.

"Your Highness, this is also a good opportunity for you to hone your skills. After all, you will also have to give speeches in front of thousands of troops in the future! Lord Hamman, you wouldn't refuse such a good opportunity, would you?"

Do you want to talk?

"I don't know what to say?"

"It's alright, just say a few nice words!"

Harman then gestured to his men to bring a microphone, and then had Minerva stand on a high place.

Then, the voice of the First Sun of Axis, amplified by the microphone, reached the ears of the Zeon soldiers present.

Despite his lack of experience, Minerva bravely said a few words to boost morale, which moved many veterans to tears.

And Mark Bay's smile grew even brighter. Yes, this was exactly what he wanted!

Because right after Minerva finished speaking, suddenly some soldiers stood up from the crowd and began to sing the Zeon national anthem.

The crowd, not understanding what was going on, could only join in the singing, and after the song ended, those guys started shouting again.

"Your Highness Minerva, lead us back to Earth Sphere!"

At first, there were only a few people, then a dozen or so, but under their mobilization, all the Zeon soldiers in the restaurant started shouting loudly.

"Your Highness Minerva, lead us back to Earth Sphere!"

Mark Bay!
Harman almost jumped up; she never expected this old man to pull this stunt!

"This is the voice of the people, Lord Hamman!"

Mark Bay raised his glass with satisfaction, swirled it at Harman, and then put it in his mouth.

Martian wine is absolutely awful!

Although the wine tasted mediocre, it didn't dampen Mark Bay's good mood. After today, if Harman wanted to delay any longer, he would be in a passive position!
After all, the voices of so many soldiers would be impossible for any high-ranking officer to ignore. If it were Gihren, he might even give another speech on the matter and perhaps turn the tide with his eloquence.

But Harman, Mark Bay didn't think this pink-haired girl had any public speaking skills, so today, he still won!

Harman, seeing Minerva standing there somewhat at a loss, could only step forward and take the microphone from her.

(End of this chapter)