I watched carefully for their conversation settle down a bit, then, clearing my throat loudly, I gestured for Jeanne to take a seat at the long table in the middle of the room. “Well, anyway, take a seat. Let’s get right to the negotiations.”
“Ah… Right. Very well.” Jeanne’s expression changed, and she sat at the table.
Once we were both seated across from each other at the long table, Jeanne looked me in the eye and began. “I suppose the first order of business is your current occupation of Van.”
I said nothing.
“As much as I truly regret that I must say this, I did give my word to Sir Julius, so the Empire has a role it must fulfill here,” she said. “Could you please return Van?”
“There’s no need to rush to the conclusion like that,” I said. “I mean, this is a rare chance for the head of the kingdom and the Empire’s number two to negotiate directly. There are a lot of things I want to take this opportunity to discuss, and a lot of information I want to share. Let’s leave any topic that might put us both in a foul mood for after all of that.”
Jeanne took on a pensive look, but eventually she nodded. “…Well, then. In that case, I would like to call in the bureaucrats from my country who are standing by outside the castle here. Would that be acceptable?”
“I’ll allow it,” I said. “They’ll have to go through a body check first, though…Is someone there?”
When I called out towards the entrance, Serina responded, “Pardon me,” and entered the room.
Wait, why’s Serina here?! I thought.
“…Didn’t I ask you to keep Sir Julius entertained?” I demanded.
“I have already finished with the entertainment,” Serina said with a nonchalant look on her face.
It’s only evening, but Julius is already passed out drunk? I thought incredulously. Serina… you really are a terrifying woman.
“Is something the matter, sire?” she asked.
“Oh, no… Gather our bureaucrats and the ones who came with Jeanne, please. Be sure to at least give them a cursory search for weapons and the like.”
“Very well.” Serina departed with an elegant bow.
If there was one person I never wanted to make an enemy of, it was her…
Chapter 4: Pact
The congress danced at a dizzying pace.
“How did your harvest fare in the Empire this year?” I asked.
“Thankfully, this year most of our crops have performed well,” said Jeanne. “Our wheat crop, in particular, was quite fruitful. How were things in Elfrieden? I had heard you were facing a food crisis.”
“Our yields have been steadily improving,” I said. “Partly thanks to the replanting effort having begun in time, I don’t believe we have any fears of a food crisis any longer. That said, I do have some misgivings about the levels of our food stores. Even if the harvest is good this year, if we were to have a crop failure next year, or the year after, there could be a relapse of the food crisis.”
“It’s a problem that every country shares, I’m sure,” said Jeanne. “There’s little that can be done but to pray for a good harvest.”
As Jeanne and I spoke, bureaucrats from both the kingdom and Empire were going about their business quietly, but busily nonetheless.
Some were frantically keeping a log of the proceedings. Once committed to paper, a verbal agreement was as good as a contract. They listened intently, ensuring no word was missed.
Others were confirming that there was a mutual understanding of what those words meant, in order to ensure that nothing was misconstrued. There were also those thrusting the documents they had prepared in advance towards one another, comparing the goods and materials which each nation had an excess or deficit of. Because we shared no land border, it would be difficult to engage in direct trade, but if both sides shared that information, then something might be worked out through a third party.
The scene was truly a battlefield.
Hakuya was scrutinizing the documents presented to him, while Liscia acted as my aide.
Only my bodyguard, Aisha, stood erect and motionless, but she probably didn’t want to have to deal with the numbers. With the large number of people present, she was paying close attention to her duties as my bodyguard, but she looked fed up with it all.
…It hasn’t been like this in a while, I thought.
The way things were going so blindingly fast reminded me of the days when I had just taken the throne.
Normally, in foreign affairs, even if the heads of state only meet for ten minutes, behind the scenes there have been bureaucrats from each country negotiating for weeks, perhaps months.
Things were this busy because it hadn’t been possible for the kingdom and Empire to hold talks ever since the appearance of the Demon Lord’s Domain. Incidentally, the first thing Jeanne and I had agreed to was the resumption of shuttle diplomacy between the Gran Chaos Empire and the Elfrieden Kingdom.
“Speaking of foodstuffs, I found those lily root dumplings most delicious,” said Jeanne. “I believe the primary ingredient was the rootstalk of the bewitching lily. I would like to hear how you go about harvesting them.”
“I’m happy to tell you,” I said. “From what Poncho was telling me, he learned the method from a mountain tribe inside the Empire. If you enlist their help, it should be simple to do.”
“Oh, my. There was a tribe like that inside the Empire?” Jeanne asked. “Even though it’s my own country, I must shamefully admit, I did not know.”
“That’s just how it goes,” I said. “It can be hard for anyone to see what’s lying at their own feet.”
The same went for our country. I mean, when I’d put out the call, “I don’t care what it is, if you have a special talent, come and show me,” I’d had quite a number of people show up. If I kept digging, there were probably more such people to be found.
In order to develop this country, I’ll need to find them, I thought to myself.
While drinking the coffee Serina had prepared for me, I looked to Jeanne. “Now, since I gave you information on the lily root dumplings, I’d like some information in return.”
Jeanne, who was drinking black tea, laid her teacup down on its saucer and tilted her head to the side questioningly. “What information might that be?”
“I think food for food is a fair trade,” I said. “Are there any ingredients used in the Empire that aren’t commonly eaten elsewhere?”
“…In that case, I know just the thing,” Jeanne said, a mischievous smile on her lips. I dunno, she just looked like she had an incredible ace up her sleeve.
Then, Jeanne confidently said, “Monster meat.”
“…Say what?” I asked.
“It’s possible to eat monster meat.”
Monster… meat? Wait, seriously? I thought.
“The monsters you mean… They’re the ones from the Demon Lord’s Domain? Not from dungeons?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Jeanne. “They tasted surprisingly normal.”
“You ate them yourself?!”
That’s more wild than I’d have expected from her neat, pretty appearance, I thought. But, still, she’s eaten monsters from the Demon Lord’s Domain… huh. When I heard about the kobold that spared Tomoe and the mystic wolves, I thought negotiating with the Demon Lord’s Domain might be an option, depending on the situation… Oh, but, there’s both “monsters” and “demons,” right? If I remember, kobolds fall under the demon category.