Chapter 66

The officials of the empire were surprised after examining the contents of the agreement. Thanks to this, the shoulders of officials of the delegations rose up.

“What an agreement! The Mosae Kingdom has not rejected any major trades in the past!”

The commotion brought by the delegates was a deal with the Mosae Kingdom, which was famous for its western granaries.

It was also very timely as the grain price from the Navapal Kingdom had just risen.

“Ho, I thought that the delegate’s return would take a long time, this is all from the wisdom of Your Majesty.”

Originally, it wasn’t a journey that would take a year.

Without borrowing magic power, it was possible to go all the way back to the west in about half a year.

As a result the officials, who occasionally received news from the delegates through magic communication, nodded at the Emperor’s wisdom.

“When traveling to Garambell, going through the Mosae Kingdom would be the best choice.”

Garambell and the Mosae Kingdom were separated by a mountain range, but by the virtue of the good relations of both Kingdoms, going through the Mosae Kingdom would be easy.

“Your Majesty, please inform us of the detailed results.”

The officials raised their voices again as they calculated the ripple effects of this situation.

Following Alderuan’s gesture, the leader of the delegation stepped forward.

“Please take a look at the details in the presentation marble.”

They proudly accepted the officials’ curiosity and activated the light of the marble.

In the north, food supply has always been the most important issue.

Thus mana circles that controlled the temperature as the basic natural environment were needed.

“First of all, Garambell has begun to improve relations with the west.”

There were two large plains on the continent, one of them was on the Navapal Kingdom, and the other was located in the Mosae Kingdom.

But Mosae, unusually, was against sending grain beyond the western region.

“For the Western influence, the Mosae Kingdom was lukewarm in dealing with our empire, but this time it was different.

Garambell and the Mosae Kingdom were on good terms for no other reason. The King of Mosae Kingdom’s favorite princess married in Garambell and became a Queen.

“In fact, the initial goal was to develop an import market, but…”

Though the remedies of the endemic situation in the Garambell Kingdom took place, the delegates were welcomed despite their difficult mission.

It was none other than the Queen of Garambell Kingdom who was in the most critical condition before the arrival of Pharim medicinal herbs from the Empire.

“As you can see, we’ve come to the conclusion of a fast grain agreement that will feed about 30 percent of our people.”

Of course, neither the Emperor nor the delegation expected things to go smoothly.

“It wouldn’t have been easy, but why did it go so well?”

They knew the relationship between the Mosae and the Garambell Kingdom, but the officials still wondered.

At that time, the head of the delegates pushed Marco to the front.

As he stepped forward, Marquis Nabije of the Ministry of Finance, who was sitting in the conference room, smiled delightly.

“Here comes the young official, Your Majesty.”

“Report the management’s credit.”

With a stern expression as he looked closely at Marco, the Emperor gave his order.

Marco rolled his eyes around in tension and tried to report as much as he could.

“In fact, before I joined the delegation, I was gathering data with the grain trade in mind, Your Majesty.”

“Why is that?”

“It was due to the Princess’ request. Originally, we did not expect such a large-scale agreement, and it was merely intended to import a small amount of grain.”

The officials’ expressions turned strange at the mention of the Princess.

Only Alderuan, who already knew that Marco was familiar to the Imperial Princess, was shocked.

“The Princess, why so suddenly…?”

“Well, the Princess said she wanted to share it with the slums just in case.”

“Ha ha.”

Instead, they each exclaimed, because the young princess was still very considerate.

“At the last meeting, the young Princess must have been worried when she heard that the price of grain was rising.”

Marquis Nabije also smiled and then praised the Princess.

The commotion that occurred during an important report is likely to be noisy, but for some reason the Emperor was ignoring the crowd silently.

Therefore, only Marco, who was rolling his eyes, had to look at him.

Can I continue my report?

“Continue reporting the management.”

Fortunately, the Emperor generously gave his permission.

Marco couldn’t shake the fact that the time it took to grant his permission was strangely long. As if the Emperor was savoring the praise of the Imperial Princess.

“Yes, first of all, if you look at the status of luxury goods trades in the west region…”

Anyhow, Marco reported in detail the market analysis he had prepared.

In particular, a detailed analysis of items that can be given to the western region and the grain was also presented.

“Your Majesty, there was also the full cooperation of Garambell in this negotiation. In particular, the third Prince of Garambell who accompanied the delegation took an active role.”

After the report, the head of the delegates did not leave out Garambell’s role.

As much as he loved his daughter, the King of Mosae devoted all his heart to his grandson, the Prince of Garambell.

Through this, the Prince of Garambell was able to talk to the King of Mosae. And in the Mosae Kingdom, one can see the importance of the role the Imperial Princess played in resolving the endemic incident.

“What a delight, the delegation was as smooth as the flow of mana.”

As if pharim herbs were given in a timely manner, the Empire’s greatest headache was resolved.

The official’s faces were bound to be full of ease.

But suddenly, the head of the delegate burst into rage.

“I do not think it went smoothly. Your Majesty, I hereby report the atrocities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

All eyes then were on the Duke at the sudden remark. The stiffened Duke Pacour looked at the delegates fiercely.

“While negotiations were going smoothly, an official removed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened.”

In the first place, it was not supposed to take up to a year, but this was the reason it was delayed.

The Mosae Kingdom even questioned how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was interfering.

“Are you out of your mind, Duke?”

“How did that happen?”

Immediately the Imperial officials also attacked the Duke.

Needless to say, the Duke had to say something from a diplomatic perspective.

“However, is it not in its own favor that Navapal of the South has exported a significant amount of grain during that time? Had the West been trading from the start, the Empire would not have had to depend so much on the Southern Plains.”

“Hmm…”

“And the Navapal did not raise the price without any reason, and if the only reason for it was losing trust that would be diplomatically discourteous. The dispatched officials were only talking about the most obvious thing!”

The Duke’s defense made sense in its own way.

One after another, the aristocracy came forward and agreed with his opinion.

“Well said, Duke. You’re right.”

For an unknown reason, Emperor Alderuan also supported the Duke’s opinion.

But when even the Duke looked at the Emperor in wonder, Alderuan’s face hardened terribly.

There was a twist in the Duke’s rebuke that fell soon after.

“It’s the truth.”

Then, the Emperor threw another marble on the table.

The marble flew smoothly, ignoring the laws of physics, and naturally pushed away the data that had occupied the previous position.

“Navapal cited the problem of trade routes as the main cause for the increased grain price. But that’s not the case.”

“T-This is…”

As the evidence emerged that the Tungka Kingdom had manipulated the local war, the ministers were flabbergasted.

Questions rose about the discord with the Kingdom of Tungka, which had been the basis of Navapal’s claim.

Above all, the movement to deceive the Empire with grain was not a simple task.

“The motive of Navapal to manipulate their relations to another Kingdom for so many years was not yet known with certainty.”

The evidence bought by the Lord of the magic tower was turned into a presentation made by the Emperor.

Thanks to this, the officials’ expressions showed anxiety.

They recalled the past when they started the Continental War.

“But whatever it is, the empire will not just sit idly by.”

The Emperor’s stern gaze turned around the officials and rested on the Duke.

The officials were also silent about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for not grasping this important matter.

“Listen to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cut down the share of southern grain purchases in the future.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Also listen to Marquis Ritaje, who is in charge of supplying the pharim medicinal herbs. The west has emerged as an important area, so we need to manage it thoroughly.”

“Yes!”

The Duke could not say anything when faced with the Emperor’s orders.

The officials also obeyed the orders, recalling the wisdom of the Emperor and the virtues of the Princess.

* * *

‘Damn it!’

Duke Pacour sped away at a fast pace and gnashed his teeth.

How could you find out so quickly that the local war was rigged?!

Strangely, things have been going wrong. Even though we paid attention to security without leaking any water, as soon as we look away for a second something happens.

And at the center was the Princess.

‘There must be a reason why the Empress is so wary of Her Highness.’

The Duke’s thoughts of the Princess gradually began fading away, for the present.

* * *

As soon as the nerve wracking report was over, Marco hurriedly visited Siervian.

“… That really wasn’t an order from His Majesty?”

“Yeah, it’s not.”

Siervian answered lightly while eating the Garambell fruit cookies that Marco had brought.

Marco’s face grew pale as he heard this.

“I-I, I certainly thought it was His Majesty’s order… That’s why we’re negotiating so hard!”

When the young lady suddenly told him to buy some grain, he just had to wonder.

He thought it was not something to worry about even if the grain price rose a little.

“I see.”

However, news had arrived while he was in the midst of going to Garambell to carry out his mission.

The price of grain has skyrocketed again.

So Marco had his mind mixed up. Ah, this was actually His Majesty’s command!