conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “We’ll need evidence to support our case, but with the empire as well-off as it is now, finding any might be difficult. It’d be nice to at least have more people who shared my cause, though…” Philine didn’t have many allies to turn to, as evidenced by the fact she’d brought her woes to a couple of foreigners. "Still, it’s not like I have nobody on my side. Mother’s manservant seems to agree with me.”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  Oh, that worldly wise elderly manservant… I think his name was Josef? “But as her manservant, he can’t openly oppose my mother. He does what he can to persuade her against her…stronger impulses at every possible opportunity, but that’s the limit.”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  I remembered the elderly manservant becoming a reliable ally to Philine in Revo-Lily, but I doubted the two were as close at the present moment. He wasn’t an enemy, but he wasn’t entirely on our side yet. “There’s also a certain group that, well… I don’t know if I’d call them allies, but they seem to respect me…?”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  Philine said.
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Really? That’s great. What group is this?”
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Well, it’s…the army.”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “The army? !” I exclaimed.
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  Hold the phone—did that mean Philine was already talking with their higher-ups?
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Oh, sorry! By army, I meant a small group of noncommissioned officers and soldiers.”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Ohh…” I nodded.
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “That surprised me.”
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “For what reason do they respect you?” Claire asked.
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  With some embarrassment, Philine explained. “As part of my imperial duties, I once had to observe the armed forces at work. I saw a group of noncommissioned officers being overworked by their drill instructor. They told me it was normal for the army, but I just couldn’t bear it, so I stepped in…”
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  Harsh training was par for the course for the military, no matter what country you were in. Luckily, Philine’s intervention had turned out to be the right course of action. The drill instructor was found to be overworking his soldiers far beyond conventional limits and was later punished by military law. Since then, a portion of the noncommissioned officers and soldiers had held Philine in high esteem, or so she explained.
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Wow, I didn’t know you could be so well liked.”
conversations.prefix: Me:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “Why do you have to sound so surprised?! I’m well aware of how unpopular I am. You don’t need to rub it in…” Philine protested, but her words went straight through one ear and out the other as my mind raced to think of ways to best utilize this information.
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Still, it might not matter, seeing as Mother’s influence is strongest with the army. If they were commissioned officers, it might be a different story…” Philine smiled feebly as she said this, but I disagreed. I saw potential in this nugget of information, which I tucked carefully away in a corner of my mind.
conversations.prefix: Philine:
conversations.from: gpt
conversations.value:  “What about Hilda?” asked Claire. “Isn’t she closely involved with the empire’s Department of Magic Technology?”
conversations.prefix: Claire:
conversations.from: human
conversations.value:  “Yes, she is,” Philine answered.
conversations.prefix: Philine: