Chapter 564 - Chapter 7: A Talk of Politics ②
When I went to the usual inn, as expected, the Henry Party and Mary were having dinner in the back room. I was also encouraged to eat, but since I had eaten at the isolation facility, I just had a beer.
I consulted them immediately. About going to the Ice Island and going to the continent. I also clearly told them who was there at the time.
「Regarding the Ice Island, did Harris say anything?」
Eleanor-sama asked, but I haven't been told anything.
「Then, it should be no problem. If Jeanne herself thinks she can go, it's fine.」
Schedule-wise, there's no problem. If Teleport cannot be used, we'll have to withdraw by ship, but since I can return in a week and a bit, it'll be a safe margin.
「Will the Henry Party also participate?」
Price-sama was saying so. Harold-sama might also participate.
「It's a secret. Officially, those who might assert territorial rights, such as royalty or nobles of other countries, should be excluded.」
I see. But how will they go? They shouldn't be able to go by bowl. Will they provide something like the Regnentes navy?
Eh? Wait a minute.
「By any chance, did Harold-sama also join the Henry Party?」
The Henry Party has a special passage permit for Primordia. If it's a Primordia ship, they can come and go freely. If Harold-sama joins the Henry Party, he will receive the same treatment.
「You noticed well. That's right. I came today for that.」
No wonder we were able to come this far so smoothly.
「By any chance, Price-sama too?」
「No, Price is a currently serving Church priest, so he cannot join. The Henry Party are merely traveling merchants.」
I thought a group that the Vice-Archbishop of the Medioland Great Church couldn't join would be something like a group of Demon Lord worshippers.
For the other matter, I was told to call Theresia-sama and Anri-sama here. He told me to bring them incognito.
In that way, he's trying to drag them into bad company again.
「Trade is no problem. We just have to talk to the King of Primordia and Sianya-dono. The subsequent procedures are the same as for other countries, so let's leave it to Mary.」
「Understood,」 Mary replied. How can she say it so easily?
「However, when it comes to a bond between Royal Families, it must be done with the understanding of James-dono. I will tell His Majesty. However, I do not know Theresia-dono's true intentions. It's better to meet her in advance.」
I see. Lies don't work on Eleanor-sama. They might not work on Henry-sama either. Additionally, they don't work on Mary, the trade window. However, I'm also an ultra-high-level mage. I don't think Theresia-sama's true intentions included any feelings of wanting to throttle Sertoria or the White Island.
「Considering Theresia-dono's feelings, she probably wants the backing of the various countries of the White Island in establishing a new principality. From the perspective of the East Liber mainland, it will be a complete enclave.」
Eleanor-sama drew a simple map of the area around West Liber on a piece of parchment and explained it briefly. As a result, what I understood was that the northeastern and northwestern parts of West Liber occupied by Engrio are quite far apart. Since she said she would make the northwestern part a principality, I thought they were close by. With this much distance, Theresia-sama's principality will be completely isolated. It's far from the mainland, and if West Liber attacks, she'll be isolated and without help.
In other words, does she want a country to request reinforcements from in case West Liber attacks? If that's the case, depending on West Liber's movements, the White Island might get dragged into the war. Though, it's already dragged in...
「Of course, that would be the case. However, as options, there are two. It depends on how Theresia-dono, and by extension the East Liber mainland, is thinking.」
「Two... options?」
I have no idea what she's talking about.
「What do you think, Wilhelmina?」
Eleanor-sama, knowing that I wouldn't understand even if she asked me, is asking the candidate for the future National Chancellor.
「Let's see. One is that they haven't given up on invading West Liber. The other is that they have already given up. Would it be these two?」
Will says that if they haven't given up, they are thinking of it as a base for invading West Liber, so they will emphasize friendly relations with adjacent surrounding countries. Especially relations with Engrio, Sertogne, and Primordia are essential matters. Conversely, if they have given up, there are two more options. One is if they are thinking of it as a base for invading the White Island as an allied army of Engrio. In this case, they will get close to countries other than the allied countries and actively proceed with trade. It's for obtaining information. The other is if they don't think about invading the White Island and make it a base for peaceful trade. This is the most to be welcomed, and they will try to get along with any country. Of course, the trade partners will include West Liber.
「Then, if Wilhelmina were the Chancellor of East Liber, which option would you choose?」
「It would depend on the battle in the interior. If the East wins, it's thought that the West will be unable to move. In that case, I think it'll be easy to conclude truce negotiations. If they lose, they will withdraw their troops for the time being, so it'll be a temporary state of ceasefire. However, since they have already obtained new territory, it's not such a bad situation. Of course, there's a possibility that the West will send troops to recapture the occupied land.」
If that's the case, I'm sorry for the West, but I definitely want the East to win. No, if the East wins, Engrio will gain momentum, so for Sertoria, it would be better if they lost... But then the war won't end...
「Then, as our country, what should we do?」
Eleanor-sama's questions continue. Since she hasn't cut them off until now, Will's answers must be in line with Eleanor-sama's intentions at this point.
「To be able to respond to any situation, during the war, negotiations between Royal Families should be avoided on the grounds of maintaining neutrality. We could even clearly tell them so. In any case, the principality will be formally built after the ceasefire, and that will be after East Liber's superiority is established. Until then, we should make the exchange regarding plague measures with Primordia active and indirectly support the plague measures on the continent, thereby winning the goodwill of the people living in the land occupied by Engrio. As for me, I think this should be implemented in cooperation with the various countries of the White Island.」
Wait a minute. Wouldn't that be using plague measures as a political tool?
「It's the opposite, Jeanne. We use politics to advance the prevention of the spread on the continent, thereby aiming for an early end to the war.」
Will's argument is that in the land Engrio occupied this time, there were many people who were fed up with some unscrupulous people and wanted to defect from West Liber. Because of that, the King of West Liber cannot move from the Royal Capital. It would be a disaster if the Royal Capital were to be struck. In contrast, if the various countries of the White Island cooperate here and take firm plague measures, the people will cooperate with the various countries... actually Engrio, and oppose West Liber. Since West Liber also doesn't want the war to drag on, they might give up on the recapture.
If that happens, the war itself will end.
Furthermore, she says that the land the Engrio army set its sights on this time, both east and west, was a place where many small tribes lived, and originally their sense of belonging to West Liber was low. It was a difficult-to-govern land ruled by several nobles called Counts who were given land by the King. In other words, as in this case, if the lord died, there was always a possibility of defection. And it has nothing to do with the direct interests of the Royal Family... And the plague has had signs of spreading since last year.
「Probably, King Seldic decided on the places to attack in this war after understanding all of those things. I don't think he calculated as far as the spread of the plague or the treatment using magic water, but even so, he is quite skillful.」
Did he use the plague for politics, or did he use politics for plague measures... Somehow, I was made to think about it.
The next morning, Sianya came to pick me up, so I immediately asked if it was okay to bring Theresia-sama and Anri-sama to this inn.
「It depends on the two of them. For our country and the Church, as long as we know where they are, it's no problem. That said, it's not for monitoring, but for their safety.」
I see. Then I should have the accompanying knight come along too.
In the morning, I released [Anti-Sepsis] to treat the patients, and I told Theresia-sama and Anri-sama when we had lunch together.
「There are people called the Henry Party who call themselves mere traveling merchants from Sertoria. If you talk to those people, they might be able to convey a message or something to the King of Sertoria.」
It's a strained argument, but it's not a lie.
「I know. I've heard they are the people who did their best for me when I was crossing over here.」
After almost bursting out laughing, she said it after taking a sip of beer. I mean, Anri-sama is laughing loudly.
「Well now, what a coincidence. I also met them when I was being transferred to this country. Then, Theresia-sama, shall we go out to talk about that message for the King of Sertoria?」
It's completely out in the open.
The meeting between the Princess and the mere traveling merchants with strange writings in their hands ended successfully, with Theresia-sama showing a slightly disappointed expression and Anri-sama nodding greatly. To conclude, as Will said, it's wait-and-see. However, the answer was that trade is possible, and Mary was introduced as the window.
Since it's a message, the Princess's intentions will be conveyed to the King. The mere traveling merchants merely said their impressions. Of course, no record is taken.
「Theresia-dono, it will be a role accompanied by considerable difficulty.」
「Yes. It will be just as Henry-sama says. I am prepared. However, I am also the Princess of East Liber. I intend to become a lord worthy of that position.」
For a Princess of a huge kingdom and a mere traveling merchant, I think the use of honorifics is strange, but I shouldn't say that.
「I intend to receive regular guidance from Anri-sama following Jeanne's proposal, so please rest assured.」
She really used my name. She looked into my eyes and gave a little laugh before saying it.
「Oh, if it's the words of Jeanne the Dragon-Killer, there will be no mistake.」
This is another outrageous thing he's thrown in.
「D-Dragon-Killer? Is it true? Jeanne was a hero who struck down a dragon. Certainly, I heard there were monsters and dragons on the White Island. However, I never knew you were such a legendary person...」
「Jeanne, were you a Dragon-Killer? Why didn't you tell me until now? How did you fight, and how did you defeat it? Please, tell me all about it.」
What on earth am I going to do? This bad old man, I can't possibly tell the truth.
「J-Jeanne-dono. No, Priestess Jeanne-sama. To think you were a hero who could call yourself a Dragon-Killer. Though I did not know, please forgive my many impolitenesses until now.」
This is bad, even the accompanying knight has gone down on one knee and bowed his head.
I struggled to respond, but I managed to get through it by saying that I supported my allies by attacking the caster. The caster at that time is sitting right in front of me, but he's just smiling. After that, I escaped by saying that as a priest serving the Goddess, it's said to be better not to talk about such things too much. Of course, it's not a lie. One should refrain from boasting. Though, in my case, I only harassed Wilson-san, so it's not even something to boast about.
Before I knew it, the original purpose had completely gone somewhere else, and it just became a barrage of questions for me. Unfortunately, among those present, the only ones who actually participated in the battle at that time were me and Wilson-san. I can't possibly talk about Wilson-san. However, there are two who were actually watching. The bad old couple. They talked about the state of the subjugation in my stead, since I couldn't boast, so that part helped.
「Then, Jeanne, do you usually do monster extermination?」
「Well, um, I do things like rat extermination.」
「Rats?」
It was a slip of the tongue. I ended up having to explain from what a rat is.
After all, she's a person who leads a fleet and goes to war despite being a Princess. I was showered with more than ten questions just for the explanation of rats.
「I see. Are there rats about the size of medium-sized dogs in the drainage ditches set up underground? I heard that large cities on this island mostly have drainage ditches set up underground. This town is also the Royal Capital and is correspondingly large, so it must have them.」
「Yes, it has them.」
This time she's asking Sianya.
「Then, are they under my feet even now?」
She is looking at the floor under her feet as she says that.
「Yes. I think they are.」
Theresia-sama checked the sword at her waist.
This, she'll likely want to do it.
「Do you really exterminate them regularly?」
「Yes. In our country, it's the duty of a priest. We enter the sewers with the town guards and exterminate them.」
The duty of a priest, huh. Various things are different depending on the country.
「Then, Sianya-sama too?」
「Yes. Until I learned middle-level magic.」
「I definitely want to see what a monster is like once. If it's alright, could I participate as well?」
「The sewers are a bit... how about it? Why not go to a nearby forest and do some fox extermination? We can provide carriages and horses.」
「There are fox monsters too. I definitely want to participate.」
「Then, tomorrow.」
It came after all. If I guided her to the sewers, the King of East Liber would be angry. This part is Sianya's fine play. Moreover, thanks to that, I was able to escape from this topic. I'll let Sianya do her best after this.
Um, by the way, what happened to searching for Theresia-sama's true intentions? Because various topics flew around, I've lost track.