Volume 12 - CH 7

Chapter 7: First Meeting 

“Honestly... That may have been the right choice this time, but a single misstep and it could have harmed national interest. I do wish you would consult me in advance. Now listen, sire, you really do need to...” 

It was lecture time with Hakuya for a little while after that. Once I had heard everything he had to say, I told him, “I do think this stuff through.” 

I had learned from Liscia’s sermons that when someone is on your case, it’s more effective to wait until they’re done before you explain yourself. 

“Georg was especially respected by people in the military. Even now that he’s a traitor, there are probably people looking around, suspecting he might have had some reason, right?” 

“Well... yes.” 

“I thought it was a good opportunity to extinguish that discord within the country. If Mio will just cooperate, we can give them a beautified version of the story that is incredibly close to the truth.” 

There were two points that were preventing us from making Georg’s plan public. 

Firstly, Georg had sent Glaive to inform me about the plan in advance. Because people died as a result of the plan, I would end up agitating their bereaved relatives. There were people like Carla’s family who joined the rebellion and martyred themselves for their friendship with Georg, too, after all. 

Secondly, we took the mercenaries hired by the corrupt nobles captive, and used them to collect the nobles’ secret wealth in the form of ransom money. If Zem found out about that, it would cause a lot of trouble. Because, from their perspective, they would have been deceived by Georg and me. It could well turn into a diplomatic incident. Conversely, if we could just keep those two points under wraps, we could do as we liked about the rest. 

When I explained that, Hakuya sighed, “It could lower the people’s opinion of you, because you let a good vassal die.” 

“That will pass. Georg deceived everyone, and, because of my youth and inexperience, he was able to make me dance on his strings. If Mio will say the right things to back up the story, we can make the public view it that way. From there, if we just pump up Georg’s reputation, the things we make public won’t hurt me that much.” 

“I see... It’s not that you were blind, but that Duke Carmine was simply too good for you? ...You’re quite the schemer, huh?” Hakuya let out a sigh filled with a little admiration and a whole lot of exasperation. “If Duke Carmine were listening, I’m sure he’d want to disagree.” 

“Well, you know, dead men tell no tales.” 

“It’s all in how you say a thing...”

After that exchange, I was able to force Hakuya to accept it. Though we’d only move on it once we were back in the Kingdom. Until then, we had to focus on what lay ahead of us. 

“Um, where is this gondola going? We seem to be heading in the opposite direction of the Kingdom of Friedonia...” Mio asked, unable to bear being in the dark about the current situation any longer. 

It was true we were heading west, not east towards the Kingdom. 

“Because of the other reason we came to Zem.” 

“...I hear you’re meeting someone important.” 

Another reason I’d accepted Gimbal’s invitation was that he proposed a meeting between myself and Empress Maria of the Gran Chaos Empire from within Zem’s borders. His goal in inviting me to the Great Martial Arts Tournament was likely to show off the strength of his mercenaries, and either convince us to reenter the mercenary contract with them, or, failing that, to secure a treaty of mutual non-aggression. Between encountering Mio personally and this chance to meet the Empress, Gimbal drove a hard bargain. 

That said, we had amicable relations with the Empire, but our alliance was fundamentally a secret one. The trade brought about by the medical pact between the Kingdom, the Empire, and the Republic of Turgis must have been visible even to those outside the three countries. Only members of the highest echelons of our two nations knew that we were in constant communication using the Jewel Voice Broadcast, though. If information leaked and third parties discovered we had such a close relationship with either the Empire or the Republic, there was the risk they would become wary of us. For example, if Fuuga learned about it, that would cause quite a stir. 

Upon hearing the news of an apparent joint relationship between the Empire and our kingdom, he may be desperate enough to build a power base that outstripped our own; enriching his country’s resources, and strengthening their military were also not outside the realm of possibility. He would likely pursue his ambitions with greater intensity, and even less heed for the consequences of his actions. 

Because we had kept things secret to prevent that, neither of us had been able to head to the other person’s country for talks. However, since this was proposed by a third-party, we were keen to take advantage of the opportunity. Because Zem was sandwiched between our two countries, it was probable that they made the offer in order to gauge the risk of being caught in a conflict between us. They likely wanted to bring Maria and me together so that they could use the atmosphere of the meeting as an indicator of whether our countries were on amicable terms or not. 

I was willingly going along with this narrative, however. With everything in mind, by agreeing to come to Zem, I would knock down three birds with one stone. And, as for Gimbal, my assurance that we won’t be hostile towards them—assuming they are truly neutral—probably has satisfied his end goal, for the most part. He truly was more than just a capable warrior, but also a crafty king.

I found a familiar face in the group of people behind Maria who had come out to greet us. I extended my hand to her next. “It’s been too long, Madam Jeanne.” 

“It has. You seem well, King Souma.” 

This was Maria’s little sister and general, Jeanne.