<– Previous Chapter | Glossary | ToC | Next Chapter –> | Jump to Volume 21 –>>
“Because of the aforementioned circumstances, your honorable son chose to be imprisoned for the sake of the Lingaia, a precious asset of the Helmut Kingdom, and its many crewmen. Earl Platte, your son is a true role model for all nobles!”
“I see…”
“I must admit I have been deeply moved by your son’s determination from the bottom of my heart. People like your son are called genuine nobles. As his father, you are just as much a role model for all nobles, Earl Platte!”
“My son will certainly rejoice once he hears that he has been evaluated so highly by you, Earl Baumeister-dono.”
“(Pfft, he’s pissed. Totally pissed).”
When I reported all the events that pertained in Zontark to Earl Platte after meeting him inside the royal palace, he listened to my words with his face twitching. Of course, all of that report was one big lie, but it was impossible for Earl Platte to deny any of it and thus he had no choice but to force himself into unwillingly expressing his thanks to me who was praising his son.
Since the Lingaia safely departed after being released, I went ahead with Teleport and briefed His Majesty on the situation.
No matter how we spun it, we wouldn’t be able to overturn the fact that Earl Platte’s stupid son was the one to attack first. If we opposed Zontark’s claim while talking about a nation’s pride and so on, the Lingaia and its crew might have remained stuck in Zontark for a long period of time, especially given that the new government of Zontark hadn’t yet gotten itself sorted either.
Accordingly, Anakin, the perpetrator, was fined and received a suspended service in a summary trial. I shouldered the fine and it was decided that he’d work for the Baumeister House in order to repay the debt to me. Only the main offender, Earl Platte’s dumb son, was thrown into jail in the demon country. He was told that the Lingaia and the other crew members had already departed the country.
“This is my limit.”
“The Lingaia and its precious crew members came back. I won’t say it’s the best outcome, but you can definitely call it one of the better outcomes.”
Some nobles were making demands that the demon country should apologize for arbitrarily restraining the Lingaia and its crew, release all of them at once, and even pay reparations…mostly it was Earl Platte who was making those claims though…but there was no way the demons would listen to something like that.
Moreover, because they were only running their mouths behind the scenes without being willing to man up in any way, Minister Überschaar, whose negotiations were basically stuck, got pissed off and told them to negotiate themselves.
I also knew that the demons would never agree to those conditions, so I opted for the easiest solution and pushed all of the blame on Earl Platte’s idiot son.
Just like in novels, it’s difficult to leverage the smaller and greater things equally during negotiations between nations. And it’s not like I’m especially skilled at negotiating either.
『That guy isn’t even worth being considered』
『He’s a very poor excuse for a noble』
『Even if thou save such a guy, he wouldn’t be grateful anyway. Rather, he’s the sort of idiot who would whine about the rescue being late. Just leave him there to rot』
I think it’s only natural, but Wilma, Katharina, and Therese had a very bad opinion of Earl Platte’s idiot son. Needless to say, but the same also applied to Elise and the others.
『He’s a person who gives you a really bad impression』
『Amalie, that’s a very simple but accurate evaluation of him』
And as they say, he’s a genuine idiot who cannot be fixed. If he possesses at least some brain, he should keep in mind to try improving his impression a bit after entering prison. But, seeing how he’s the heir of a high-ranking noble, he’s probably bad at disciplining himself in patience.
Either way, he’s the main criminal here. I would feel pity for him, if those were false charges, but since he’s simply paying for his own mistakes, I don’t feel an ounce of desire to try to save him.
Yet, because it’d be a problem to merely offer him to the demon country as a sacrifice, I took the liberty to use the fact of him being a noble, claiming that he chose imprisonment himself in order to free the Lingaia and the rest of its crew.
Of course, that idiot doesn’t possess such an admirable character, but at the very least he’d keep his face as a noble in this way. Earl Platte was likely bursting with the urge of wanting to shout out his anger at me, but there was no way he could afford to do that.
When I earlier told him the future schedule of his son, he thanked me while exclaiming that his son was an honorable noble. If he didn’t make such a claim towards society, his son would be treated as a plain, old, selfish criminal.
“Occasionally you do some crafty things as well, Earl Baumeister.”
“I protected his name and honor.”
Earl Platte’s son would have been severely punished if he immediately ran away by himself, but if he returns to the Kingdom after serving his sentence, even the royal air force won’t have any choice but to acknowledge him. Despite his name and wealth, they should put him on a post with little to no responsibility.
Since he issued an unwarranted order to attack, you cannot trust him with any important position, but it should be okay to let him relax in a nice position until he becomes an old man. Leaving aside what he himself thinks about it, I think this would be a very nice solution.
“By the way, how long is he going to stay imprisoned with those charges?”
“Approximately 25 to 30 years.”
He had ordered the attack on a ship of the defense force. I’d say he’s lucky that he won’t receive life imprisonment or a death penalty. Causing harm to the government was a serious crime for Japanese people living in the Heisei era. If he had committed a similar crime in the Kingdom, he’d have been executed in the worst case.
Eh? Anakin, you ask?
He ultimately followed orders. He’s an exception since the plea bargaining has ended.
“There was no real harm. Now it only depends on how he’s behaving during his prison sentence. If he behaves well, it’s apparently possible for him to shorten the sentence to around 20 years.”
“I see. That’s no problem as long as the Lingaia and its crew come back. Once that ship returns, I will send it out to explore the eastern direction next.”
His Majesty is probably quite angry at Earl Platte’s son as well. He kept the talk about him extremely short.
Rather than that, it sounds like he wishes to continue using the Lingaia for explorations. Since the collapse of the Ancient Magic Civilization which used to prosper on this continent, almost no exploration of the areas around the Lingaia continent have been carried out.
Even the Kingdom desires land capable of taking in immigrants once the population on the continent becomes too big. Right now, the growth of the nations on the continent is anything but over, but as ruler over a whole nation, one must also keep the long-term perspective in view.
Which reminds me, I must also explore the southern archipelago and beyond in the Earl Baumeister at some point.
“Having said that, right now I have my hands full with handling the demons.”
The majority of them are rational folks. It’s a salvation that the demons aren’t a race adamant on invading human land and slaughtering all humans, but their latent power is too big.
Naturally, the Kingdom couldn’t help but tread carefully with the negotiations.
“As a matter of fact, the Empire has sent in a diplomatic corps as well.”
“Peter…err, His Majesty the Emperor was late in sending a diplomatic envoy.”
“He was probably waiting to see how things pan out. That might prove to be unexpectedly advantageous for the Empire.”
The demons, the Kingdom, and the Empire all have their own calculations and intentions. When it comes to starting from balancing the interests, you don’t know when the negotiations will be over.
“The demon country seems to have no department handling foreign affairs. I heard they set it up in a hurry or some such?”
“They didn’t interact with foreign countries for more than 10,000 years.”
“It appears they are also negotiating with the diplomatic corps said to have been sent by the Empire, but everyone on the demons’ side seems to be unaccustomed to diplomacy and their talks aren’t getting anywhere either.”
The demon country just went through a change of government. They probably haven’t been able to send in folks with the necessary skills in the field. And the Kingdom apparently had already grasped that piece of information, too.
The bureaucrats I used had worked at the negotiations for the liberation of the Lingaia, but they’d get criticized by the politicians, if it was found out that they meddled in diplomatic negotiations.
Because they were only expected to devote their effort into assisting the politicians, it was very probable that the negotiations would stall for a good while longer.
“There exist other problems, too. Even if we conclude a trade agreement, things like the exchange rate for our currencies must be set.”
“If the exchange rate is too disadvantageous for us, it will just result in us one-sidedly losing our riches.”
Just like Japan during the closing days of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Kingdom’s power would dwindle rapidly, if gold and silver were to leave the country because of a difference between the domestic and foreign exchange rates for those metals. It’d also be the same if the Empire panicked and made that mistake. After all, the Kingdom and Empire are using currencies that are basically identical.
“The demon country apparently wants to export its outstanding magic tools.”
“Your Majesty, it sure seems so…”
“It seems the magic tool guild has already gotten wind of this. They have been making quite a racket.”
No matter how favorable you look at it, it’s virtually impossible for the Empire and Kingdom to best the demon king when it comes to magic tools. Going by my estimations, the demons are easily several hundred years ahead in development.
The demon country’s magic tools possess outstanding technology for mass-produced items and they naturally don’t cost much either. If a big amount of those tools floods the market over here, the magic tool guild will be basically out of business.
“It’s the same in the Empire as well. And also in the Mizuho Dukedom. The magic tool guilds all over the place are stirring.”
The magic tools of the Mizuho Dukedom are superior to those in the Kingdom and Empire. It’s only natural for them to kick up a fuss since they would lose that advantage.
“I guess you either have to place a big import tax on them or limit the amount of imports.”
“Those are the options, yes.”
However, regardless of whether it’s a tariff or a limit on the amount of imported goods, one must set precise numbers in either case. And in the first place, it’s also possible that the other side won’t accept the request for free trade.
“I hear the emperor of Urquhart is just as troubled.”
“Figures.”
Using the civil war as a chance, the Kingdom and Empire set up MHCDs allowing for direct communications. Basically, the same hotline as it exists between the US and Russia since the Cold War.
Both governments are likely worrying about how to deal with the demon country. It’s easy to describe it as communication with a foreign culture, but if it was possible to get on good terms so easily, wars would never occur. An absurd amount of time and effort will be necessary before both sides begin to negotiate on conditions which both sides can accept to some extent.
“I will leave things in Minister Überschaar’s hands for the time being.”
“I see.”
The recent negotiation I carried was ultimately just a temporary job. It’d be bad for me to keep interfering with Minister Überschaar’s duty.
I don’t want to be sent over since it’s troublesome anyway. But even though I say that, I’ve worked as a special envoy twice in a short span of time, haven’t I?
This translation lives from your support! Become a Patron and allow this series to keep going! As a bonus you can read up to one volume ahead on the highest tier!
“Okay, I shall be going back to my territory then.”
“Good work, Earl Baumeister. Take your reward and reimbursements, and be on your way back home.”
After excusing myself from His Majesty, I teleported to the Baumeister Earldom. As soon as I entered my mansion, Roderich immediately came over to greet me.
“Milord, it must have been quite a chore.”
“Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. Rather than that, I turned Earl Platte into an enemy for sure.”
Earl Platte might not be able to directly insult me over this, but he’s likely overflowing with hatred towards me who sold his son in a diplomatic deal.
“That was inevitable. We will be careful of Earl Platte and the people close to him.”
“To be honest, I’d expected to get scolded by you to some extent. I mean, it’s not like I don’t feel like it’d have been better to have gotten along with him, even if it would have been nothing more than lip service, no matter how clear it was that we’re basically enemies.”
“Some nobles choose that sort of flunky approach in social relationships, but once you become a high-ranking noble, you will always have some nobles who are on bad terms with you. Knowing that they are your enemy makes it easier to deal with them.”
If you know your enemy, they won’t be able to deceive you with false goodwill. And you’ll also be able to turn your attention to nobles who are close to your enemy.
“Just when you think they shake your hand with their dominant arm while smiling broadly at you, they’re actually clasping a knife in their real, dominant hand. It’s a figurative expression, but it applies perfectly to nobles.”
“I see.”
That’s a nice allegory. Nobles know fully well that they cannot show any openings.
“Still this time’s commotion incurred a heavy loss to Margrave Holmia.”
The negotiations are still continuing, but the Terra Harrez Archipelago remains occupied by the demons. The construction of their military base over there is slowly taking shape, too. With the Empire having joined the negotiations, the location for the negotiations was shifted to a part of that military base, but the negotiations themselves are still as stuck as ever.
It’s only natural that negotiations, which weren’t going anywhere with two countries at the table, become even more complicated and stuck with a third country joining the fray. Moreover, the current Empire has to pay quite a bit of consideration to Duke Mizuho’s wishes.
“I suppose it’s difficult to call off the mobilization of the feudal army.”
“At least it’s impossible to call it off completely.”
As far as Margrave Holmia is concerned, he cannot afford to send all the feudal armies back home at this stage. The number of soldiers has decreased significantly, but having them on standby all the time is still quite a burden. An army costs loads of money, even while doing nothing.
“Oh well, we can focus on our territory’s development, now that you and your family have come back safely, Milord.”
It looked like the matters surrounding the demons wouldn’t get resolved any time soon, but I’m not the king nor the minister of foreign affairs. It’s fine for me to only care about my own territory.
And with that said, it was decided that I’d return to my previous, normal life.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Would it be better to level this hill?”
“Hmm, I think so. If this place becomes a plain ground, it will be easier to create a residential area on it.”
There’s a lot of undeveloped land in the Baumeister Earldom. Or rather, most of it is undeveloped, so we’ll be in trouble once the population grows, if we don’t proceed with building the necessary infrastructure.
Because of the good immigration conditions in the Baumeister Earldom, the sons of farmers who cannot inherit their family’s land, merchant who were troubled over not finding any customers although they went independent after finishing their apprenticeship, nobles with no place to call home, and the children of retainers gathered here from all over the Kingdom, so we had to urgently create farmland and residential areas to accommodate all of them.
Katharina, who was currently preparing the ground together with me, was used to this work by now.
“Sensei, aren’t you going to negotiate with the demon country anymore?”
Agnes’s group, who were helping us with the construction work while learning magic from me, didn’t accompany us to the Kingdom’s western region.
Because it took quite a while for the details of an incident to propagate among the people, unlike in Japan, they had come to ask me about the demon country as they apparently were curious about it.
“Who knows whether they’ll ever settle it?”
“Eeehh!? Is it alright for things to stay so undecided?”
“Does it matter whether it’s okay or not?”
“I get that you have a point, but still…”
Even if countries keep negotiation on the diplomatic stage, there’s no guarantee that they’ll definitely conclude an agreement.
“Most of the demons don’t want to invade the continent.”
They abandoned many places even on their own island because of their decreasing population, so it’d be hard for them to occupy the continent and keep it under control. However, big companies were fully intent on entering a market that was more than fifty times as big as their current one.
However, if their mass-produced magic tools were to flood our continent, our magic tool guilds would definitely go under.
What about their food production? The amount of food produced by the demon country and the technology behind it is amazing, but only a part of the rich people could afford to buy their food since the price would likely be too high. Rather, it’s quite likely that the Kingdom would export heaps of cheap food to Zontark.
The Kingdom tends to lack food, but merchants naturally sell their wares where they hope to make the biggest profit. Because Zontark would likely try to ban the import of food or raise an import tariff to protect their own agricultural industry, or rather food self-sufficiency rate, it’s very likely that the Kingdom would also ban the import of magic tools or levy high import taxes.
When I explained this to Agnes and the other girls, Cindy, the youngest among them, said with sweat forming on her forehead, “Sensei, this sounds like a fairly complicated matter.”
“It is. As the one giving the explanation, I don’t quite understand the meaning either.”
“It basically means, both sides have their own circumstances even if they start to officially interact with each other.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Betty said softly, but in short, the opposition will be the strongest among those who will have their vested interests hurt the most. On the Kingdom’s side, the backlash by the magic tool guild is quite ferocious. They seem to demand an import ban under the fake pretext that it’s 『dangerous to allow a potential enemy to monopolize the latest technology』.
The magic tool guild is rich and many noble children are working in the guild’s administration. If the guild’s income plummets, they’ll be fired, and because of that, many nobles are applying pressure on Minister Überschaar.
On the other hand, it’s unthinkable that Zontark’s government isn’t being pressured by the companies related to farming, livestock farming, and fishing, and their affiliated organizations.
There’s no way that the negotiations will proceed smoothly under such circumstances.
“The problem lies with the demons still occupying the Terra Harrez Archipelago.”
Many nobles claim that you cannot trust the demons after they selfishly occupied a part of the Kingdom’s domain, and it was a problem that they received significant support once they clamored about possibly not adhering to any conclusions reached during the negotiations.
In the eyes of some demons, the archipelago was the compensation they had received from the Helmut Kingdom for having been attacked for no reason, which made this even more of a problem. That archipelago belonged to the Holmia Margraviate, so the Kingdom couldn’t afford to arbitrarily hand it over to the demons through diplomatic negotiations.
The Kingdom had apologized for the incident and the perpetrators were judged. And even though things should be over with this, the demons had stolen land. This was unacceptable for many nobles.
It was an archipelago that wasn’t used by anyone, but because of noble and national pride, it was impossible to hand the islands over to another country without a care.
“In other words…”
“Since the negotiations will take a very long time, Wend can concentrate his efforts on his own territory.”
“This sort of work is totally out of my reach…”
Erich-nii-san was accompanying us today. He had been personally appointed by His Majesty as contact person and assistance to make sure that the development in the Baumeister Earldom was proceeding at a good pace. Today he came here to do an inspection on-site.
“Wend, you went to the demon country as a special envoy and even produced some results. There’s no need for you to do any more on that front. Rather than that, the development of your territory has a much higher priority.”
The Kingdom couldn’t afford to stop its rule and domestic administration during diplomatic negotiations. Rather, the Kingdom had to show off to the demons that our country was constantly growing.
“Wend handed in a report about the Zontark Republic which also included Arnest-dono’s information, right? Their society seems to be one that keeps dwindling, so we are able to pressure them by touting how we’re continuously developing our land.”
We are no challenge for the demons when it comes to technological level and number of magicians, but we can still pressure the demons with something where we can best them. This is also a sort of war, I suppose.
“The Empire is around as well. That country suffered heavy damage from its civil war, but the central government’s power has grown thanks to it. You can easily predict that they’ll grow dramatically in the long term.”
Many of the prince-elector houses, who played a major role in politics thus far, had vanished and Peter, the new emperor, was young and capable. The Empire was advancing large-scale developments under the pretext of restoring the ravaged lands, and the Kingdom was in actual danger of being surpassed by the Empire in national power, if it let its guard down.
“I think our relation with the Empire will be stable for a while, so the Kingdom must accumulate strength during that time. The negotiations with the demon country have become extremely complicated with the Empire joining. It will probably buy us some time.”
The stagnating negotiations taking time is actually beneficial for the Kingdom, I suppose.
“The Empire’s diplomatic corps seems to be just as puzzled by the demons’ demands as us, though.”
I think it’s only natural for the Empire to be confused if they’re suddenly told to stop hunting because of the poor animals.
“Such being the case, I’ve reached the conclusion to care about my own matters and let the outside deal with the outside. I’m an appointed noble of the financial affairs faction and I’ll be evaluated by your territory prospering and thus indirectly raising the Kingdom’s tax revenue. And I’ll be even higher evaluated if I can forge a good relationship between the Kingdom’s government and House Baumeister.”
Erich-nii-san’s priority lies with the money. Having no money is like having no head is the same in any world. We’ve been both experiencing our fair share of hardships in a poor family.
“And because of that you’re going to accelerate the development?”
“There’s that as well, but as a matter of fact, you have received a request from the Kingdom.”
“A request?”
“Yep. The Earl Baumeister House possesses an archipelago in the south, doesn’t it?”
“Yes…”
It’s not that far away from the southern coast and since it’s an archipelago I discovered, the Kingdom acknowledged it as part of the Baumeister Earldom.
Many of the islands have wild sugarcane growing there and currently several hundred people are cultivating those sugarcanes to run a sugar business. Fishing is popular over there and proper harbors have been provided to them as well, so the population is gradually growing on the islands.
“It’s a talk about what may lay even further south from there.”
“But, a big ship would be necessary for an exploration, no?”
They sent out the Lingaia to explore the western edge. Our magic airships can’t explore areas that far away.
“If it’s such a big expedition, the Kingdom will provide a large airship. This exploration is going to extend over several hundred kilometers at the most. That’s within the range of the magic airships owned by the Baumeister House. It’s also necessary to get a grasp on the whole extent of the Baumeister Earldom.”
The Kingdom would provide the necessary ships when it comes to new territories, which require a search with large airships. But, the territorial right would also lie with the Kingdom in such a case.
“An exploration of new territories, huh…?”
“We ended up finding the demons during the western expedition. I hear the Empire plans to send out an exploration party towards the north. And it’s the same for the east, too. The Kingdom is making plans in that regard.”
Given that the Kingdom can’t claim land if it’s discovered by the Empire first, the Kingdom wants to send out an exploration party as soon as possible. The southern part is clearly set as duty of the Baumeister Earldom.
“I understand. Let’s inform Roderich and have him prepare a ship.”
“I will come with you as well.”
The negotiations with the demons weren’t going anywhere, but the development of the Baumeister Earldom had to proceed. For the sake of clearly defining our territory, I ordered Roderich to form a southern exploration party.
<– Previous Chapter | Glossary | ToC | Next Chapter –> | Jump to Volume 21 –>>
Translation Notes:
Pingback: Hachinan tte, sore wa nai deshou! – Volume 20 – Chapter 5: Order to Explore the South – Part 2 » Infinite Novel Translations