Book 7: Chapter 28

If something were to represent the Cylas Empire, the words 「state of the art」 would be perfect.

Among the various metal products starting with weapons and armor, there existed nothing that surpassed the goods that were Cylas Empire-made.

And then, the latest technology in metalworking was always born in the Cylas Empire.

This wasn’t because the country kept a monopoly on the engineers, but because the nation that had the race that specialized in blacksmithing called the Metalio was the country called the Cylas Empire. The percentage of Metalio within the country had increased due to the Human Supremacy in the St. Altlis Kingdom, and had further increased due to the Canal Kingdom’s political disturbance and domestic conflict.

As for how the Cylas Empire saw the situations of the various other nations, they thought they were a bit irregular.

First, the St. Altlis Kingdom.

The Human merchants from this nation came with business, and even the cross-national interactions were also technically continuing. This was because it was a situation where the rise of Human Supremacy in the St. Altlis Kingdom had the Grand Temple as its lead, and the government was eager to continue the interaction with the Cylas Empire.

There were talks saying that things would be fine if the Grand Temple’s influence were to be excluded if that were the case, but the achievement and influence of having brought about world peace through the Hero Summoning of the past was still large, and right now where the fact that the existence of someone calling themselves the new Demon King was confirmed, it could not be excluded so easily.

Next, the Jiol Forest Kingdom.

With them having formed a treaty of friendship with the Zadark Kingdom that was a country of Mazoku, the proposal of stopping diplomatic relations with them being traitors of mankind was once seriously considered.

However, through the Emperor of the Cylas Empire, Alefgard, the continuation of diplomatic relations with them was decided, and in the end, the relationship with the Jiol Forest Kingdom continued, albeit quite delicate.

This decision to continue it, it was much better when compared to the St. Altlis Kingdom whose domestic affairs were insecure, and there was also the reason of wanting to the future of the country that accepted the situation called 「coexistence with the Mazoku」 which should have been impossible.

The other one, the Canal Kingdom. It was a nation that didn’t have any sort of problem until recently, but the political disturbance that broke out all of a sudden, and the domestic conflict that derived from that was still continuing.

For the Cylas Empire, they were waiting watchfully, but appeals for support continuously came to them from both the First Princess’s side and the Third Princess’s side who were confronting each other.

From what they could understand from these situations, all of the countries wanted to maintain their relationship with the Cylas Empire.

This was simply because it was the Cylas Empire that surpassed every other country in the quality of their weapons and armor, and cutting off the relationship with this country was the same as becoming unable to obtain those items.

Well then, why did the Cylas Empire continue their relationships with the other nations?

Putting it simply, it was due to 「honor」.

In the past, when the Shutaia Continent had fallen into a crisis due to the Demon King Shuklous, the countries, with the Four Major Nations as the center, formed an oath for the sake of unifying as mankind.

『Concentrate mankind’s power, and bring about peace to the world.

With mankind’s harmony, world peace will be eternal.

Namely, this is all of mankind’s wish.

It is an oath, to be protected for eternity.』

This oath that was called the Lekuria Pledge, which was named after the town that the leaders of the Four Major Nations of those times had gathered in, was saved in the form of an epitaph in each nation’s capital city.

With the current world situation, it was hard to say that it was being kept to, but that being said, the Cylas Empire had no reason to break that oath. Therefore, the Cylas Empire has continued to keep to the oath.

That being said, right now, the Cylas Empire’s government council was constantly in disorder in regards to diplomacy, and every time, Alefgard did nothing more than somehow mediate the place. Already, even within the Cylas Empire, the Lekuria Pledge was considered to be something of the past.

「It’s something that, can’t be helped but……」

In his office in the imperial castle, Alefgard muttered that sounding tired.

The era always continued forward, and the current problems would easily destroy the lessons of the past.

At any rate, even King Aljuel of the St. Altlis Kingdom, although he wouldn’t say it out loud, almost unconsciously looked down on the members of mankind other than Humans.

When Alefgard heard that he had dismissed the hero Luuty, who was one of the members of the Hero party, from the position of board chairman of the Edius Adventurer School, as expected, he doubted his ears, but at the same time, he also had the thought of “I knew it……” within him.

To them, even if they were heroes approved of by the Gods, anyone other than the Humans among them were nothing more than 「Demi-Humans」.

Alefgard thought “however”.

Even if the teachings of the Grand Altlis Temple placed Humans at the highest position, he felt that the rise of this Demi-Human Argument and the Human Supremacy was a bit abnormal.

That’s right, if he remembered correctly……even in the era of legend, there was something similar.

At that time, Demon King Shuklous was behind mankind’s dissension.

How could he say that something similar wouldn’t happen this time as well?

「……」

Alefgard turned his eyes to the letter that was left open on his desk.

It was an official letter.

The other party, was the Zadark Kingdom.

The contents written in this official letter that was delivered via the Jiol Forest Kingdom was truly simple if the unnecessary decorations were omitted.

Since they wanted to form a treaty of friendship, they wanted him to consider it. That was simply all.

This plain and simple request, it was something that would inevitably send the council into disorder once again.

The other party was the Mazoku, and the person called Vermudol who called himself the new Demon King.

Thinking about it normally, it would be dangerous to meet with them.

As for why, it was because King Sarigan, who had always advocated the danger of the Mazoku from knowing the era of legend, had completely changed after forming the treaty of friendship with the Zadark Kingdom. It wasn’t like he was pro-Mazoku, but he started to advocate the foolishness of simply rejecting them for just being Mazoku.

That itself might be the right thing, but for Alefgard, it was more than plenty for him to feel that something was out of place.

Either King Sarigan had received such a deep impression from the person known as Vermudol to change his perception of them, or……the person known as Vermudol possessed a brainwashing ability similar to Demon King Shuklous.

If it was the latter, the cause of the chaos that was now starting to cover mankind’s territory could be thought to be Vermudol as well.

With that sort of other party, would meeting him be the right thing to do? Or would the suspicions be swept away if he were to meet him?

No, there was still another problem. It was the merits and demerits for forming a treaty of friendship.

For merits, they might be released from the greatest worry called the Mazoku menace.

Even within the Cylas Empire, the damages from Goblins and Beastia, and Amoeba and Ogres are large.

Recently, a majority of the damages are due to the Alva, but if they were to join hands with the Zadark Kingdom, there was the possibility of resolving this part.

And then, the demerits. This was simple. The relationships with the other countries would change.

First, the relationship with the St. Altlis Kingdom would deteriorate even more than it is now. That being said, since the relationship had already grown cold, if this were to deteriorate even more, there would finally be no choice but to break off relations with them.

And then, there was the possibility that the relationship with the Jiol Forest Kingdom would move in a good direction. By having the same position with each other, there would be things that could be seen.

For the Canal Kingdom, since they were in a situation of domestic conflict, it didn’t seem like there would be immediate effects.

「There are no reasons to not accept, but……」

After comparing the merits and demerits, there was benefit to accepting it.

However, that was limited to the case that the Zadark Kingdom side was seriously thinking of forming a friendship.

For example, if they were to apply brainwashing under the name of friendship, is there a technique to oppose the case where they came with what was essentially slavery?

Alefgard considered every possibility. He summarized his own thoughts, and after doing that, he would need to call the council.

As he started thinking, the sound of footsteps hurriedly running……then the sound of violent knocking could be heard by Alefgard’s ears.

「……What is it, you’re too noisy.」

「It’s, it’s terrible!」

「I can tell that just by looking at your face. What happened.」

Alefgard loathsomely looked at the cabinet minister’s face, who had rushed into the room as if tumbling in.

「Fragments of The Kurioel have been found!」

Hearing those words, Alefgrad also raised his eyebrows.

The Kurioel was the name of the ship that the Cylas Empire’s diplomats, Borkio’s group, was on as they departed from the St. Altlis Kingdom.

They believed that it had drifted ashore somewhere or had sank, but was that really the case?

「I see. Was there anything else that washed ashore?」

「……No. But, there existed traces of some sort of attack on the fragments. Most likely……」

「The Alva, is it?」

「We don’t know. But, Alefgard-sama, rumors have already started spreading in the castle town. There are those that suspect that the St. Altlis Kingdom took part in it, and there are those that advocate that it was a Mazoku attack. With this much of an uproar happening, some sort of investigation and report will be necessary.」

Hearing that, Alefgard breathed a sigh.

With one thing happening after another, it seems that troublesome things really do like to flock.

「Let’s see……It is believed to be the traces of an Alva attack, announce that to the public. Immediately express sympathy to the families of those that were onboard the ship. Don’t allude to the possibility that they survived. After that, in regards to the fragments……」

「The preparations to have them moved have been arranged. But, they are large fragments after all. They will stand out when we move them.」

「……It cannot be helped. So, you say they are big, but about how big are they?」

「It’s the bow of the ship. There are traces that seem like it was crushed by some sort of strong power, as well as scorch marks. We believe it to have most likely been from either Explosive-type or Lightning-type magic……but we don’t know what it is in detail.」

「……I see. Well, for now, do as I said. Hurry up and deal with it.」

After seeing off the cabinet minister that hurriedly ran off similar to how he had come in, Alefgard exhaled a deep breath.

Borkio’s group is almost definitely not alive. They should have moved on the sea for the sake of hoping for safety, but as a result, that ended up taking the lives of Borkio’s group.

「……Come to think of it.」

Alefgard once again turned his eyes to the official letter on his desk.

It seemed that the Mazoku had a magic technique called Airspace Transfer.

Would the provision of that technique be possible as a condition for friendship?

No, it was fine even if it wasn’t a condition. After they entered the treaty of friendship, if it was possible to make that available, or maybe somehow barter for it, it might be possible to prevent something like this from happening again.

「……Fumu. This might be a good plan.」

Alefgard nodded, and headed towards his desk to refine his thoughts even more.