CH 298

It will be a little over 2 weeks until we return to the royal capital. Normally, it would be fine to go back with more time to spare, but the truth is that I don’t want to go back as much as possible because I have too much work to do here.

Most of the jobs that require me to be in the Caan Knighthood should have been completed first, but… but even so, the jobs keep coming up one after another. But I can’t stay here forever… and I don’t care about school, but I have to go to the Caan Barony and the Caan Knights Nation soon.

After talking to Schwartz about the expedition, I tried to collect various information, but… it’s obvious something is off…

First of all… this world is the same as the northern hemisphere of the earth, the further north you go, the colder it gets. The further south you go, the warmer it gets. There are also reports that it is very hot to go beyond the Mediterranean to the Dark Continent. If you go further south, you can predict that it will be just below the equator, tropical, etc.

Conversely, if you go north, even the sea is frozen all year round, so it must be close to the polar region, the North Pole. And very cold. Even though I think it’s cold in winter here, I don’t really want to go because it’s colder if I go further north.

I don’t care about my impressions… but at this point, you’ll notice something strange. That’s right… even though the Demon Country is located in the north of Caan-Carruthers territory, the trade goods exported from there are those that can be harvested in a warmer climate.

Rice…… well, let’s say it’s okay because it can be cultivated on Earth or in Japan’s considerably cold regions. However, tea trees are difficult to grow in cold places. There are various other things that are said to be the products of the Demon Country, but no matter how you think about it, there are many things that can only be obtained in temperate zones or around that area.

It’s quite cold even in Caan-Carruthers Territory, but why is it so warm only in the Demon Country, which has to be located to the north?

It could make sense that the further north you go, the warmer it gets. But other regions have a climate that gets colder as you go north, so why is it that only the Demon Country suddenly has such a temperate zone? If I were to say that this is the only place with a special climate, it might be true…

Even Europe on Earth is warm despite its high latitude. It is warmed by heated ocean currents and westerly winds. Some kind of influence on the Demon Country… I think there may be circumstances such as warm ocean currents and westerly winds blowing in other heated winds. But even so, it’s too weird.

If something big like ocean currents or winds are having an effect, then there should be a similar effect in other areas. Despite that, the Kingdom of Del, which is right next to the Demon Country, was usually cold. Obviously, only the Demon Country was abnormally warm.

Then again, the products they produced with that water. Rice, tea trees, potatoes, tomatoes… I don’t think they should be from around here.

This is also a comparison with Earth, so if you say that it is different from Earth, it will be up to that point. But on Earth, rice cultivation is in the Asian continent, and tea trees are only found in China and Japan, with Indian varieties besides. Why is there such a thing in this area, which seems to be equivalent to Europe on Earth?

Potatoes and tomatoes are the strangest. Potatoes and tomatoes are native to the Andes of South America and were brought back to the European continent as a result of European colonization. Why is it only in the Demon Country?

Of course, as I have said many times, this is not Earth. The climate and vegetation are not necessarily the same, and the place of origin is not necessarily the same. In the first place, you could say that someone has already brought it from another place because the flow of history is different.

Then, hypothetically, if this place is very similar to Earth, with almost the same vegetation, the demons have already reached the South Americas and brought back potatoes and tomatoes, and reached Asia and brought back rice and tea trees, have they been trading?

I can’t say that there is no such possibility, but… it just doesn’t feel right. Something is wrong.

And the funniest thing I noticed. The Demon Country is said to be on the peninsula past the great mountain range called Hexennacht… beyond that is the Kingdom of Del, and to the north of Del, there is a peninsula facing the opposite direction, surrounding the Hulk Sea. There are two countries on the peninsula opposite the Kingdom of Del, but it’s fine not to know them now.

The problem is… the result of researching the Kingdom of Del… is that the land is bigger than I thought.

There is no such thing as an accurate map in this world. Well, even on Earth, inaccurate maps are still used, but that’s not because they’re intentionally blurred for military reasons and can’t be surveyed. But in this world, there is no such thing as a completely precise map that is surveyed as accurately as the modern earth.

Even so, as a result of various interviews I conducted, the territory of the Kingdom of Del… extends from the tip of the peninsula blocking the Hulk Sea to Hexennacht… That’s right… there is a town on the north side of Hexennacht, right near the base of the peninsula. This is ridiculous no matter how you look at it.

With all that said… then where is the Demon Country? It’s because it’s the main point…

The entire peninsula, from its roots to its tip, is the territory of the Kingdom of Del. The Kingdom of Del has that much space. However, according to the information here, it is said that the Demon Country is beyond Hexennacht. That is already suspicious.

Is the Kingdom of Del really the Demon Country? But I think it’s different from the feeling of having gone to Del myself. Dorte and Bengt, I clearly recognized were not native to the Demon Country. They knew about the existence of the state then they said that the goods from there are quite expensive, so there is no way they can buy them with a low salary like theirs.

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Then the Demon Country… where is it?

It is unlikely that the territory is so small that there is only a small state beyond Hexennacht. With such territory and population, it shouldn’t have been impossible to deal with until there was the cooperation agreement of all the southern countries closest to it, the Kingdoms of Frasia and Ploiss, and the Principality of Aust.

No matter how great an individual’s martial prowess, how proficient they are in magic, or how high their magical power is, the number of people living in such a small area has its limits. If a country is so small and has a small population, its national strength, economic strength, and productivity should also be small, and even if such a country were to face multiple large powers around here, it would be impossible for such a country to hold back and compete on an equal footing with a multinational alliance.

For example… my mother and I are pretty strong compared to normal humans. Of course, so is my father… but I feel like he’s more of a commander than a brave hero on the battlefield, so I’ll put him aside. Rather than commanding an army, my mother and I are the type to fight with our individual valor, or something close to that. Can I and my mother fight against a country alone? The answer is no.

No matter how good an individual’s martial prowess is, an individual cannot fight against a country. The same is true for a small number of elites.

Protect and attack large areas, defend your base, attack your opponent’s weak points, and maintain public order in your territory. After defeating the enemy, you must conquer and rule the former enemy’s territory.

No matter how many enemy soldiers my mother and I defeat, we won’t be able to capture an enemy town, no, not even a single village. It might be possible if I stayed in that village all the time, but then there is no future after that. You will have to stay still to occupy it all the time.

On the other hand, if I go out to occupy the next town, the villagers will easily switch sides to their original country. Then, are you going to kill everyone just because the villagers have defected? If you do that, you will have to kill all your enemies. Enemy territory cannot be occupied or controlled.

The infantry must be committed to occupying, monitoring, controlling, and maintaining. 1 America, which boasts the world’s strongest military power on modern earth, loses to small countries because eventually, it has to send an army and occupy it with infantry.

America, too, is bound by public opinion. If one American soldier dies, there’s a massive uproar, and if one civilian dies, there’s a massive uproar. The deployment of the army is hindered by such a force that hampers its legs, and the operations do not go smoothly.

Then, if you attack with airstrikes and artillery to reduce the enemy’s strength, you will be criticized for being inhumane because civilians have been killed in the process. That’s why the US military, with the world’s most powerful equipment, easily loses against terrorists who are embedding themselves among the civilian population and engaging in guerrilla warfare.

Domination and governance always require the military might of an army. No matter how talented or powerful a person is, a war cannot end without huge numbers of infantry.

And to support that many soldiers, there must be support from many other non-soldiers.

Even soldiers eat. But soldiers do not produce food unless they are mercenaries who farm. And even if they are mercenaries, they all fight in wartime. If there is no one to feed them in wartime, the soldiers will starve to death.

In addition, soldiers cannot fight unless they produce and supply soldiers with clothes, weapons, armor, daily necessities, and all kinds of things beside them. And yet those soldiers produce nothing. In order to feed the soldiers, there must be many times, dozens of times more civilians than soldiers.

You might think that if you’re just going to defend yourself, it’d be better if there were a few people with strong power who would devote themselves to defense… but that’s not realistic either. In the first place, it is not possible to build a large force such as the Kamaal Alliance with such a passive force. Considering that, it should be strange if the Demon Country doesn’t have a decent population.

Is the Kingdom of Del actually the Demon Country? Are they silent about their population and creating and spreading a fictitious country? That’s kind of suspicious. In that case, instead of doing that, they should rule as the Empire of Del, and instead of calling themselves the Kingdom of Del, they should call themselves the Demon Country. They don’t do that because… there is another state, the Demon Country.

………… Even if I think about it alone, it’s not clear. There’s only one way to solve this…

There was a knocking on the door and Katharina told me the person I summoned had arrived. After that, she entered.

“Floto, I heard you needed something?”

“Yes, well… Shall we have some tea first?” I said.

Of course, it’s Mikoto Vandenlissen, no, Sumeragi Mikoto… she is the Second Princess of the Demon Country. If I don’t know, I should ask her. I don’t know if Mikoto will answer honestly, but even if I’m troubled by myself, nothing will be solved.

After drinking the tea that Katharina brewed, I let Katharina and the other servants leave. Now it’s only me and Mikoto in this room.

“To let even Katharina leave…… are we going all the way to the end today?” Mikoto said, her eyes shining like stars, her hands trembling while she looked like she was about to drool.

“Huh?” I asked.

What do you mean by going all the way? What is Mikoto saying?

“I called you today because I wanted to ask you something important. I thought it might be difficult for you to talk if someone else was listening in, so I dismissed everyone,” I replied.

“Wha…?! Wha-What are you trying to tell me!? But I can say it even if there are people! I love you, Floto!”

Dadan! And then… with a dramatic rise from her chair, Mikoto made an incomprehensible declaration. I have no idea what she’s saying.

No, I know Mikoto said she loves me, right? No, I don’t know why she suddenly said that.

“Mikoto… Shall we calm down a little? What I want to ask is about the Demon Country.”

“…. Oh, that. Fuhn…” Mikoto said.

She suddenly became stone-faced and sat back down. I can’t read anything in her expression. I have no idea how she feels.

“So? What do you want to ask?” Mikoto said flatly.

I spread out the map. It’s not a widely available map, but one that I researched and made with new detailed drawings. The accuracy is still low, but I think it’s pretty close to reality.

Well, it wasn’t actually surveyed, but it was put together from various pieces of data such as how far the ship would go, in how many days, in what direction, and what would be there when they stopped. The scale and topography are quite vague, but I think it’s pretty consistent because it’s superimposed on many other testimonies corroborating the findings.

“The result of my research is this map. On this map, the Kingdom of Del’s settlements exist almost immediately after passing Hexennacht,” I said. “As far as I have researched, I can’t find the Demon Country. I can’t confirm it from seeing the settlements and distribution of people myself, so… Mikoto… what is the Demon Country? Where is it?”

“…………”

And at that… Mikoto just remained silent, her expressionless face changing into a troubled one.

T/N: Flora and Mikoto in the Demon Country Arc, starts.