CH 294

Chapter 294 – Talk About Tiresome Politics

“Now that we’ve heard enough nice-sounding stories. Next, I would like you to tell me a story that might hurt my ears or even give me a headache.”

Kirilovich’s expression turned serious for a moment at my comment. You underestimate me a little bit. Just as we do our best to pursue our own national interests and ideals, of course, the Holy Kingdom will do its best to pursue the same. If the Holy Kingdom does not take any action, the situation will be like we are talking about now, but the other party is bound to take some action to break the situation.

“Hmm… I see.”

Kirilovich leaned back against the back of the sofa he was sitting on, looked up at the ceiling, and pondered for a moment.

“I would like to say that the first thing to do is to investigate, but the Holy Kingdom is probably already aware of the cause of the rapid progress of the Merinard Kingdom. In other words, Kosuke-dono, your existence.”

“Well, that’s true.”

I was completely out in front in the war and negotiations with the two northern countries, and in the first place, the prisoners of war imprisoned in the prisoner of war camp in Merinesburg must have known of my existence. If the exchange of prisoners were to take place, they would report my existence to the Holy Kingdom, and in the first place, there is a high possibility that secret agents of the Holy Kingdom are mixed up in Merinesburg. The Kingdom of Merinard does not have a system to capture and interrogate people just because they are human. It is possible, though, that a counterintelligence unit using the abilities of subhumans is operating in secret without my knowledge.

“If that is the case, then removing the cause of the problem would be an effective means of reducing the power of the Merinard Kingdom, wouldn’t it?”

“The direct means would be kidnapping or assassination, and the indirect means would be… to lead the people to reject me?”

“That’s about it. If possible, they would like to own that power, but if they find it impossible, they will try to eliminate it. As for intelligence operations… How should I say it? I think they are good at manipulating information domestically but not so good at manipulating information abroad. They are better at direct assassination and kidnapping. They are a very tricky bunch. They will kill in the name of God, without regard for their own lives, and without question.”

“Fanatics are scary. Well, that’s about it on a tactical level. When it comes to the strategic unit… the east and west are blocked by the empire and ours, so are they going to advance to the north or northwest? Because the south is an ocean.”

“Well, I don’t know. I don’t know whether or not they will try to expand their territory any further… They might even move closer to the Merinard Kingdom.”

“Oh? No, I don’t think so. The land that was being fought over with the empire was a fertile plain, wasn’t it? Is the Holy Kingdom short of food?”

“To put it simply, yes. By the way, how much do you know about the lifestyle of the people of the Holy Kingdom?”

“Hmm? No, I don’t know much.”

I know that they are composed entirely of devout believers, but that’s about it. I don’t know much about how they work and how they spend their days.

“Basically, the people of the Holy Kingdom don’t do manual labor.”

“They don’t do manual labor?”

“Yes. All physical labor, such as plowing the fields and carrying heavy loads, is done by slaves. And these slaves are basically subhumans. Some of the citizens of the Holy Kingdom who have committed crimes are also sent to do manual labor, but they are basically subhumans.”

“Haha, I can see what you mean. The Adol mainline doctrine claims that subhumans are born with sin and that it is their duty and purification to serve humans or something like that.”

“Oh, you know a lot about it.”

“I have done some research on the Adol religion. But can a nation be built based on that…?　No, I see. The Holy Kingdom is a slave state that relies on subhuman slaves for the majority of its labor force. Is the policy of expansion being adopted in order to secure subhumans as the labor force? But as a state system, it seems pretty dicey to me.”

A society that depends on the labor force of slaves tends to be unstable. Once a slave rebellion broke out in the country, domestic food production and economic activities would suffer a major blow.

“But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The Holy Kingdom has a long history, after all. It is only in the last two or three hundred years or so that the government has become so thoroughly anti-subhuman, or at least so contemptuous of subhumans, or so strict in its treatment of subhumans as it is now.”

“Is that so? Oh, come to think of it, there are slave collars and such, and injuries and plagues can be cured by miracles.”

“Yes. It seems that slaves hardly ever die from injuries or illnesses. Well, there are still many slaves who die due to the harsh living conditions.”

“I see. I understand the life of the people of the Holy Kingdom, but what does this have to do with the future of the Holy Kingdom?”

“In other words, what is the purpose of the Holy Kingdom? Why did they invade the Kingdom of Merinard? Why are they fighting the empire? Why are they pursuing a policy of expansion?”

Kirilovich is very serious today. It’s as if he is a teacher or something. Hmm, the Holy Kingdom’s philosophy of action.

“The reason for invading the Kingdom of Merinard and making it a vassal state is to secure subhuman slaves and labor force and to secure elves to increase the production of mages. The expansion policy is also to secure subhuman slaves. The reason for fighting the empire is to obtain fertile plains, which are essential for increasing food production, and at the same time, it is a matter of ideology.”

“Ideology. You know a very lofty word again, don’t you? You have to be a philosopher or a political scientist to use such a word.”

“Yes, it’s not a word I use very often. The subject matter is too big. But if that is the case, it will be quite difficult for the Merinard Kingdom to get back the subhuman slaves, won’t it?”

“I suppose so. Subhuman slaves are indispensable to them. It can be described as the same infrastructure as roads and waterways. As a subject of the empire, I find this story disgusting.”

Kirilovich said as if to throw up. The Varyag Empire is a multi-ethnic nation. It seems that the Holy Kingdom and the Varyag Empire cannot understand each other at a fundamental level. It is the same for the Kingdom of Merinard.

“If that is the case, won’t they expand to the north in order to obtain slaves? No, the slaves themselves are in the country, so if they want to increase their labor force, is there a way to encourage the slaves to have children…?”

“I think it’s a long shot, but it’s quite possible that they could take that kind of move. This would temporarily reduce the domestic labor force, which would lead to a severe food shortage. But you have a solution for that, don’t you?”

“I see. Hmm, I see. So you are talking about the possibility of approaching the Merinard Kingdom?”

“Yes, that’s what I mean.”

In other words, Kirilovich is saying that the Holy Kingdom will be interested in the food produced in large quantities by my ability. Hmm, I see. So in order to do that, they would make peace, and then, with some loss in mind, they would rub up against the Kingdom of Merinard, and then they would broach the subject of wanting to buy a large amount of food. It would be a tremendous business for the Kingdom of Merinard. It would be a different order of magnitude from selling to the Duchy of Dihart, the Kingdom of Tigris, or a group of small nations in the west.

“I wonder if Sylphy and the others will agree to it.”

“The Kingdom of Merinard will probably try to get the return of the subhuman slaves the Holy Kingdoms took from them. The Holy Kingdoms will probably be able to hold on to the supply of food, a strategic commodity, which is not bad for the Merinard Kingdom. During those ten or twenty years, they would be in a better position to deal with the Holy Kingdom.”

“So we are talking about political bargaining.”

“Yes, that’s right. During that ten or twenty years, the empire may destroy the Holy Kingdom.”

“It would be nice if you did, but then again, the Kingdom of Merinard, which supplies food to the enemy, is a nuisance for the Empire, isn’t it?”

“Yes, quite. That would be a problem. If that happens, we will have a lot to talk about on that matter.”

Kirilovich shrugged his shoulders as he said this.

So it could be a complicated situation where the enemy of my enemy is not so easy to say that he is my friend. Oh, it’s a messy story, good grief.