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Chapter 410 – Stray Parry
The discussion that began the next morning lasted until afternoon.
“…There’s a surprisingly high percentage of elves here.”
“Most of the people who like to get involved in politics are either humans or elves.”
Surrounding the large table in the conference hall were four representatives from Efan. Perhaps due to the persecution of subhumans in the Empire, they were all middle-aged men. On the other side of the table, the Republic was represented by the Director, the witch Ecla-san, the former Lord of the Southern Territories, McKin-shi, the influential figure who controls the Merchant Guild, Loringen-shi, and Captain Furnas of the Mobile Guard, who had been called to discuss emergency measures. Formerly the Deputy Commander of the Guard in the Republic’s port city of Cassmeer, he has been transferred to the central government and is now the head of an elite security force.
Observers are the former director, Old Man Ilidaf, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, Marquis Yerkel, Myrril, and myself, who represent the Demon King’s territory of Casemaian.
“By chance… or perhaps by design, it seems that everyone here knows me.”
“No matter how you look at it, it’s a selection of people who are after the bonds. Most likely it’s the work of that Mellow guy.”
Kel Mellow. The President of the Republic Council. He’s a young man with excellent political skills. To be honest, he’s not the kind of person I want to get too close to.
Unlike the “merchants” and “politicians” who want to negotiate and advance their position, the two of us are not really interested in other people’s affairs or their interests, so we tend to get distracted easily.
“All Casemaians need is a port they can use.”
“That’s true. To be honest, even the beach would be fine.”
At first, the topic was the future of the port city of Efan, which we had liberated from the Imperial Army, albeit accidentally. The discussion dragged on for a while, but it wasn’t because of any confusion; it was simply because we lost sight of the main topic and went off on tangents.
“Is there a limit to how many people can move to Casemaian?”
“There is no limit. If it’s a large group, it will take time to prepare, so if you apply in advance, we should be able to handle it.”
“Oh… then, for business or short stays?”
“You can come and go as you please. That’s fine, but even if you cross the Dark Forest in the shortest distance or cross the Wilderness of the Gap from the western part of the Republic, it’s over 300 miles by land, so how do you plan to get there?”
“Huh? Can’t you just use a magic circle to get there?”
Ecla-san interjects into the conversation between Myrril and the Efan representative, which doesn’t quite fit with their original positions.
“No, wait a minute. We will set up a teleportation magic circle, but it will be around the area where the village of Surz is located. We don’t plan to allow the residents to come and go as they please.”
“””No way!”””
“If we don’t limit the number of people coming and going, we can’t guarantee the safety of both sides. Besides, even if we give permission to use it, who will support the magic energy consumption of the magic circle?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
“Anyway, Casemaian is planning to develop roads and transportation, so please wait a while.”
It seems that the Efan representative reluctantly agreed to my suggestion.
“As I thought, they know when to stop.”
“I thought they were going to ask us to let them board the airship or open an air route with Casemaian. Is it possible that no one saw it?”
“Of course not. It’s because of the warning we received from Furnas-dono at the beginning.”
Warning? What was that?
“What is it, Yoshua? Don’t you remember? He said something like, ‘In wartime, military agreements take precedence over commercial agreements. This one is excluded from negotiations.'”
The military agreement between the Republic, the Kingdom, and Casemaian. Yeah, I think we signed it somewhere. Was it just a preliminary consultation agreement?
“Was the airship one of the excluded items?”
“It would be strange if it wasn’t. As Ecla-dono said, it’s like a kind of strategic advantage. Even Rinko and the others, who are pathetically defenseless, wouldn’t have people from other countries on board.”
“That’s true. I wasn’t really aware of that.”
As we whispered to each other, it seemed that Ecla-dono had made a decision, and she checked with Myrril and me.
“Well then, Your Majesty the Demon King. Is it all right with you if we treat Efan as a separate territory from Casemaian and incorporate it into our territory?”
“Yes, that’s fine with us.”
Surprisingly, the biggest point of contention was the banner. Which country’s territory would it become? I had heard that they didn’t care about that, so it was unexpected for me…
“Of course, if people’s interests change greatly depending on which country’s rule they fall under, then that’s only natural.”
“Eh?”
“For example, if they were told to raise the flag of the Empire, the future of the city would be as good as over. It’s a metaphor that’s impossible because there’s no substance left.”
“I don’t think it would be a problem if the Republic took control.”
“It might be the natural thing to do, given the circumstances. The Republic doesn’t have the money, manpower, or interest to run it. If we had those things, we wouldn’t have left it under Empire occupation.”
“Well, that’s true.”
To begin with, even when the Republic’s military and political strength was at its peak, they had neglected it for many years without trying to reclaim it. Just looking at the situation makes it clear that it was a low priority for them.
“Well, now that we’ve taken care of the appearance, let’s get ready for the party.”
That’s right. We’re going back to the village of Surz to prepare for the party. We’ll celebrate the opening of the teleportation magic circle with Casemaian, and celebrate the establishment of our friendly relations…
…And say goodbye to Mead.
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