Chapter 79: Grandpa’s Lecture
The place we arrived at was the reception room.
It was a room I had used before.
This was also where Roosevelt-san had brought me.
“My apologies for interrupting the victory celebration. While everyone has made great contributions to Belfast, I felt somewhat left behind. I, too, was wishing to do something for the country.”
“I see. If the Prime Minister, Your Excellency, would be willing to hear me out, I would also feel reassured.”
I had Yurisia sit next to me and continued the discussion from earlier.
“Your Excellency, what parts of the previous proposal do you find unrealistic?”
“Please refrain from ‘Your Excellency,’ just call me Fastall.
However, let me see… Besides the Belfast nobles not agreeing, Lestall’s side also has too little reason to accept.
Normally, ceding territory is something one wouldn’t do no matter what, so even if a relationship of trust existed with our country, it would be viewed with suspicion.
Applying it to this current matter, blocking their path during a war would be considered a hostile act, so they would likely refuse, stating they cannot go to war with the Empire.
It’s a very good form of defense, but if it were to happen, it would likely be after Lestall decides to open hostilities with the Empire.”
Saying so, he sipped his tea.
Hmm, I thought it would be good if there were mutual benefits, but I see.
“What should I do…?
Should we, after all, completely abandon the southern part of Mildrad?”
“Indeed. Many troublesome things would likely occur, but we simply don’t have enough resources.”
That’s right, we didn’t have enough people to govern all of Mildrad.
It wasn’t like I wanted to give it to Lestall for free either.
The idea was that if we couldn’t manage it, it was mutually beneficial for Lestall to hold the area around Rhys.
“However, I am relieved.
You considered both options and judged that one to have greater benefit, I see.”
Yeah. I did briefly consider abandoning southern Mildrad and defending Rhys ourselves.
Though I quickly dismissed it as being too difficult in various ways…
“Roughly speaking, yes. I’ve been constantly thinking about how to suppress the Empire, and I can only reach the conclusion that we have no choice but to rely on Lestall…”
I didn’t want to drag them into it, though.
If we fell, they would too, so that part was unavoidable.
“His Majesty also reached that conclusion fifteen years ago, which led to Razbel, you know.
Though it was against Mildrad, not the Empire.”
“I can easily imagine. It’s tough to resist the violence of numbers…”
When I asked Yuri, whom I had brought along, “Are you okay? Not bored?” she smiled and said, “I’m perfectly fine. You’re cool, Rui.”
Oh, cool, she says… Well then, shall we continue the discussion!!
“It might not be a bad idea to propose it at the stage of attacking Mildrad. Since Mildrad has almost lost all its power, how about we take the south and central parts, and they take the north?
The chances of them accepting are extremely small, but it’s not bad to let them know early on that we intend to join hands.”
“I see. But if they don’t agree, our plan to make the Empire give up its invasion…”
Yes, that was the main point.
It was terrifying to think about what would happen if we were defeated by the Empire.
I had decided I would absolutely never let Yuri face danger again. I’d rather die than see her like that again.
That’s why I needed to prepare several insurance policies for when we were cornered.
“You mustn’t rush, Your Highness. The Empire cannot move immediately either. It will take some time even after they start gathering troops. This time, they won’t be able to move in just two or three months.”
Since they were imposing a tyrannical rule, I felt like they could mobilize them, though.
Even Daltone managed to shorten the preparation time that much.
“Hohoho, it seems you think they can move similarly to Daltone this time.
However, even if that man had won, he was almost certainly doomed.
He had bought too much animosity with his unjustified haste.”
“Even with the Empire backing him?” I asked, the phrase “to the victor go the spoils” crossing my mind.
“Yes. Certainly, with the Empire’s backing, they wouldn’t be able to raise an army and attack openly.
However, assassinations in the dark, poisoning, anything goes, you see. That country is…
If he had moved to the Empire, he might have survived a little longer, but if he left without stabilizing things, he would lose his power in Daltone. In that case, his end would be the same.”
Those who lose power in Mildrad or the Empire are invariably stripped of everything and driven out, Duke Fastall continued.
Ah, I see. In this scenario, the winner was the Empire, no matter how you looked at it.
He’d just be seen as a foolish pawn who had his royal family killed and was used.
Thinking about it that way, the lords who lost their king and the soldiers of their own lands would never forgive him.
“Therefore, take your time and settle in, Your Highness. Rushing leads to nothing good.”
Certainly. But a few months pass in a flash, so still…
As I was lost in deep thought, the Duke spoke up again.
“First, we must persuade those within our own ranks.
While doing that, we must also devise a plan to entrap Lestall.”
Hmm?
I didn’t intend to entrap them, though…?
“Um, I believe we should join hands with Lestall amicably…?”
“I do think it should become so later, but first, we must force the Empire upon them, or we won’t be able to proceed.
Isn’t that Your Highness’s plan?”
No, no, no, that was true, but the premise was different!
I explained that if we considered the threat twenty or thirty years from now, if we didn’t stop the Empire’s invasion here, neither of us would survive. Since it was difficult for either of us alone, we should join hands.
I tried to persuade him that if we moved with a plan to entrap them, the whole discussion would fall apart.
“However, with that approach, it’s highly unlikely Lestall would start a war with the Empire while we remain unscathed.
First, we must involve them no matter what. Otherwise, they’ll just cut us loose and flee, like this time; that will be the outcome.”
That… could be said, I suppose.
If it were revealed that the war with the Empire was our scheme, our relationship would be shattered. If that happened, there would be no trust or anything left.
But as he said, no one wanted a war, so we had to get them involved somehow, somewhere.
I understood that, but I didn’t want to proceed with the mindset of entrapping them.
“No, it’s about the premise. Thinking of the future, it’s a time when we must join hands.
If we can make them understand that, surely…”
“Your Highness, they are a party to whom even the decision to entrust all of Belfast’s authority did not work. That is impossible.”
Certainly, Lestall should have stopped Mildrad much earlier.
Since it was Lestall’s territory during the Razbel era, their distrust was understandable.
That was precisely why I thought Lestall, who was at fault, should hold the border.
If they didn’t do at least that much, our people wouldn’t be convinced either.
If that happened, no matter what anyone said, I was prepared to go as far as bringing a new type of bomb and dropping it, so I should be able to make them think we were necessary as an ally.
Hmm… What should I do?
As I was pondering what to do, Yuri tugged at my hem.
“Rui, have you already conveyed your intentions to Lestall?”
“No, not yet, but… that’s right! I should just tell them all our plans first.
They’ll at least listen, right? We have to discuss it with them first!”
As expected of Yuri, I thought, patting her head.
“Your Highness! You mustn’t!
The weight of it for them is as different as heaven and earth between when they’re cornered and now, in peacetime!”
“No, didn’t Duke Fastall say they wouldn’t agree either way?
Isn’t it acceptable to tell them that we are ready to join hands at any time?”
You just said it was acceptable to tell them early on that we intended to join hands.
“Mmph, you mentioned telling them everything, but what about that?”
“Of course, everything. We want to join hands honestly. To that end, we should present the draft from earlier and discuss it to find mutual points of compromise.
Even if it ends in disagreement, we shouldn’t end it completely, but leave it so that we can revisit it if necessary.”
“That is going too far at this stage!
If they say they don’t care if Belfast falls, they don’t need Rhys, and become wary of us, we won’t be able to force the issue! The bud of an alliance will be crushed!”
Ah, from Duke Fastall’s perspective, who intended to entrap them, it would seem that way.
Don’t reveal our intentions before deceiving them, he meant.
“In that case… we’ll have no choice but to fight alone.
Besides, even if we fought together with such a partner, we wouldn’t be able to trust them with our backs, would we?”
“Your Highness is too upright. Diplomacy is a place of mutual deception. Everyone does it.”
“Hmm. But for this time only, I think we have all the pieces to go about it honestly.
That’s why I want to make an honest effort until the very last moment. If we can’t survive that long, I won’t hesitate to use forceful methods, but I don’t think it’s that time yet.”
Yeah. We couldn’t be careless, but it wasn’t like it was a situation where it would definitely be over next time.
Now that we had time, we could prepare several new weapons, so we’d be fine for a while.
We hadn’t used that yet, so we should be fine until they developed countermeasures.
Ah, I hadn’t told him that.
“If we use the new weapon we ended up not using in this war, we can, with a high probability, deal a major blow and drive them back at least once more. This is also the view of Count Connor and Marquis Arbane.
I might have made you misunderstand because I seemed to be panicking.”
Well, I’m still uneasy because I don’t know if that one thing alone will make them give up on future invasions.
If our methods are known, responding isn’t that difficult.
If it’s someone with a decent amount of Magical Power, they could defend against it by creating a Maso shelter with all their might, as long as they’re not at the epicenter of an explosion.
That’s precisely why I thought an alliance was necessary to make them give up.
Even in this world, a total military strength of tens of thousands of soldiers is the easiest indicator to understand.
The Duke’s eyes widened at the fact that we had a prospect of winning even if we fought again, exclaiming, “What did you say!?”
“Is that so… In that case, things change a bit.
If Belfast achieves victory twice in a row, it won’t be seen as a mere miracle.
If we’re perceived as having strength equal to Lestall, they’ll likely assume that by teaming up, we could even defeat the Empire. So, depending on the terms of the alliance, it gains a degree of realism…”
Duke Fastall continued.
Apparently, he says this recent battle was so abnormal that it would likely be perceived as a lie born from special circumstances.
Things like, “In reality, they had a secret pact with the Empire, and it was a fixed match,” or “The battle itself never actually happened, they were just putting on airs.”
As expected, Lestall’s central government probably has eyes and ears everywhere to learn the truth, but it seems that no matter how much of a king he is, he can’t just ignore the nobles’ feelings.
“There’s no way Razbel, cut off from Lestall, could possibly defeat twenty thousand soldiers, including Imperial Soldiers.” With that line of thinking, Belfast’s evaluation remains that of a weak nation.
Apparently, if they were to form an alliance that seems to protect Belfast under such circumstances, it would invite strong distrust.
However, if we can drive them back one more time, they’ll have no choice but to recognize us as the real deal.
He says that only then, finally, will we be recognized for the first time as a strong nation, albeit a small one.
And then, if we are recognized as a strong nation, an alliance with us will also gain significant value.
“I’d still prefer to go with a plan to entrap them, but if the time we have has been further extended, perhaps considering the future and proceeding with a more straightforward approach might be good,” he said.
“Making Lestall and the Empire fight each other has a higher probability of success, though,” he continued.
“Well then, for now, I’ll go talk to them. I have other errands too.”
“What are you saying! Your Highness going to Lestall Castle is out of the question!
For Your Highness to take such a risk is absolutely unacceptable!”
Hmm, even that much is no good, huh?
Well, even if they say no, I’ll go on my own anyway.
“Um, I’ll discuss that part with my old man.”
“Please do so.”
And so, I left the drawing room and returned to my room with Yuri.
“Um… Prince Rui…”
“Huh? No, why ‘Prince’ all of a sudden?”
“I just thought you seemed like a prince…”
Her looking up at me with sparkling eyes is cute, but I feel a bit of distance, and I don’t like it.
To make her understand this feeling, I’ll try calling her the reverse version.
“In that case, from now on, I’ll call you Lady Yurisia.”
“Yes, Prince Rui!”
Eh, why is she accepting it!
Ah, for Yuri, this way is normal, huh.
“…I still want to call you Yuri, and I want you to call me without honorifics. Is that no good?”
“Ufufu, only when it’s just the two of us, okay?”
Huh, am I being teased?
While holding onto such unsettled feelings, the two of us kept talking right up until we went to sleep.