Editor: (Starbuck11)
Noon, 6th Day, 11 Month, the Year 2813, Western Continent Calendar.
The city of Sirius was full of vigor.
The slave children that had been delivered the other day frantically swung their swords in order to grab their own fortune with their own hands, after five months of training, those who finished the trial will obtain freedom. They all worked hard in order to create their new hometown.
Everyone used their power to steadily develop the city.
They held Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma, the one who returned back their dignity as a human beings, in high regard. -
The air inside the room changed the moment Ryouma read the letter sent by Elena from the royal capital city of Pireaus.
Looking at the letter date, it was written the day before yesterday.
And considering the distance between the capital and the Wortenia peninsula,The letter arrived quite early.
Since the essence of the letter was confidential, the messenger must have been running while changing horses in various places. -
"I'm not feeling surprised since the boy has warned me about it, but as expected, I can’t laugh it off either..."
Lione said those words, while she smiles bitterly.
Everyone in the same room thought the same thing as her, and the color of discomfort appeared on everyone's faces.
Only Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma showed a gentle smile.
"This is quite troubling indeed, right when our city expansion has been going well..."
Genou muttered those words while smiling at the noise that came in from the windows.
"Indeed. However, We have no other choice but to go. It was pleasing enough that she actually called us. Since there is also the possibility that we won't get involved because she hasn’t made her mind yet on whether or not to involve the friend she cast away."
Ryouma smiled while saying those words.
Everyone in the room nodded in response to those words.
It was easy for them to reject the request just by giving some reason, but given the subsequent result, it was not that easy.
The Kingdom of Rozeria was about to sink.
That was a fact with no room of denial.
The power structure Lupis had aimed only created a negative impact due to her lack of determination.
Certainly, if one were to consider that she was a royal member that had been deprived of the real power for a long time, it was understandable that she wanted to concentrate the power around her. -
However, the problem was Lupis Rozerianuz’s personality.
(It's not like she is bad... Actually, she is a good person. Her brain is also there. She has adequate knowledge too. And because she can show consideration to the people, in theory, she should have been a good monarch.)
Ryouma's evaluation of Lupis was not really bad.
Not to mention, despite the fact they were not without some faults, Meltina and Mikhail were appropriate aides.
Both have loyalty toward the royal family that can be regarded as first-cla.s.s.
At least they cannot be incompetent.
(In the end, the biggest problem for me is doing something that I do not know the situation yet...)
There were words in the book of “The art of war” written by Sun Tzu.
Those words were “Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will never lose a battle”
Even people who didn’t know Sun Tzu’s “The art of war, they should at least have heard of those words at least once in their lifetime, but actually, there was a continuation of it.
If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will obtain victory.
If you do not know your enemy and you do not know yourself, every time you fight, you will clearly be in a danger.
What did those words mean, many still argue, but the one most agree on was to gather intelligence before advancing to the battlefield.
And also the need to know about your own self.
Knowing yourself and the opponent you fight against made you able to see if there was the possibility of winning.
if you're able to judge whether or not the possibility of winning existed, you will easily win battles.
You also can avoid fighting if you know that the chance of winning was not present in advance.
Following those words, one should never fight if one did not know the power of the enemy and were still unable to understand oneself.
Because if one were to fight with such conditions, the only result would be a total loss in every fight.
The most important things were to know oneself.
Understand one's advantages over the enemy.
Find any weakness within oneself.
And to understand them.
Had Lupis understood her own shortcomings, she wouldn’t have made this kind of political system where everything was centered around her.
The ruler's duties were to decide on various important things, but because her heart was too gentle and kind-hearted, she lacks determination when she needs to make a harsh decision.
Ryouma himself believes that Lupis should have introduced a council system, and after strengthening the powers of the prime ministers and ministers Lupis would have had a good form of government where she makes a decision based on the ministers' suggestion.
Of course, there was also the possibility of sabotage by Gerhardt, but if she holds the entire authority of the military, she should have no problems.
In actuality, had Lupis consulted with Ryouma after the war without any extra plotting, he would have said that.
"I don't really want to get involved, but as expected, we have no choice but to go huh? I’m honestly reluctant to accept this..."
She was using a light tone as usual, but Lione's eyes looked serious.
Considering her, no one can help it if she did not want to get involved in this affair.
After all, Bolts and her were the ones who took charge of the training of the children.
In case of a war, it would place those children lives at a great risk.
Had it been for the sake of the city of Sirius, Lione would have ordered them to fight to the death
However, it would be hard to convince them to die for this worthless Rozeria Kingdom.
"Although Lione-san is not wrong, I still cannot refuse this summon. Though, I have no intention of doing this for the Rozeria Kingdom or Lupis. This is for the sake of our survival and to expand our power beyond what we have right now."
"To oppose the Ortomea Empire is it?"
Ryouma nodded toward Genou's question.
"If Zalda were to be destroyed, the next one will be Rozeria. Given the national land and strength, the three eastern countries can oppose the Ortomea Empire together. But if it was only two countries then.."
"It would be impossible..."
Lione said those words bitterly.
It did not mean she did not understand the current situation.
She just can't accept that due to the current situation they ended up helping Lupis once again.
"Well, I guess that’s how it went... Besides, I'm planning on taking full advantage of this and pull us forward..."
Ryouma replied while shrugging his shoulders.
"Advantage ? Pull us forward ?"
Lione turned her eyes toward Ryouma after she heard such a strange word mixed in.
"Well, the shape of the city has come to light, thus I’d like to proceed with full development of the Wortenia peninsula. More specifically we need farmers and migrants with special skills. After that, we also need civil servants..."
"If that’s the case, we're not in the position to sent reinforcements huh?"
"Indeed, but you know, no matter what we do, we can't increase the population with slaves alone. No matter how big the saucer is if there is no content to put inside then it would be meaningless no?"
"That might be true... Since the maintenance of the road and the building of house are fairly easy, we can accept any people anytime, but..."
Confusion mixed within Bolts' words.
Indeed, besides people from the Iga clan, only the slave children and mercenaries lived inside this Sirius city.
Mercenaries, soldiers, the ninja and their family members.
Among the ninja people, there were some people who have blacksmith knowledge, thus it was not a problem when it came to repairing a weapon, but this city was still a h.o.m.ogeneousheterogeneous city with only soldiers but without merchant and farmers.
The only exception to that were the few maids sent by Earl Salzberg.
Of course, Bolts himself didn't think that it was good to stay like this forever either.
Since, in any case, it would be impossible to take taxes unless they develop the industry and cultivate the farmland.
‘However, how are they going to do it?’
That is what was inside Bolts' mind.
"If it's now, even if they are cautious with our power growth, they will, without doubt, accept the conditions even if it was a bit unreasonable..."
Farmers aside, no rulers would easily let their engineers leave their territory.
Techniques and technology cannot be learned overnight, that was why they were being closely kept secret.
It would cost a great fortune just to get them.
Since there won't be people who are going to give rivals advantage without profits.
However, with the current situation, people might accept the conditions no matter how unreasonable it was.
No, rather, for Lupis, she would easily accept it rather than having to pay for it with gold or territory.
"I see... We're taking advantage of the situation and at the same time develop the peninsula at once."
For Ryouma, Lupis was just a prey.
As a stepping stone for him to take a leap.
"Since the invitation already presented itself. Why don’t we take advantage of it huh?"
Toward Lione's murmur, Ryouma laughed while showing a smile.
And with a smile on his face, he turned his face toward a certain man.
"Nelsios-san. Do you have any input?"
Toward Ryouma's question, a perplexed expression appeared on the man's face.
The man had a slender but muscular body.
Golden eyes, with bluish black skin.
The light of the sun made his silver hair s.h.i.+ne more. -
He had a face where if someone was asked how he looked, they would answer it with 'he is a pretty boy' -
"Why, did you call me to this place?"
A low and calm voice.
His appearance was around thirty, but his voice made him sound like he was an elderly man.
"Is there a problem?"
Toward Ryouma's question, Nelsios quietly shook his head.
"No... But certainly, this causes me to wonder. Why did you invite me, a demi-human to this meeting?"
Nelsios was obviously confused.
Inside this place gathered people who would one day become the core of Baron Mikos.h.i.+ba’s household
Within those gathered people, only one looked different.
He was just a stranger that had nothing to do with Baron Mikos.h.i.+ba.
At least, that was what he had thought.
"Well now, don't worry about it too much. For now, what’s important is for Nelsios-san to appear at this meeting."
"Ha? What does that mean?"
Nelsios tilted his head after he heard Ryouma explanation.
He was not being asked of opinion.
He was not asked to provide aid or other supplies either.
He was just asked to come and listen to their discussion.
It was an unexpected development for Nelsios since he had thought that Ryouma would make some request by now.
Ryouma smiled and looking straight at Nelsios who looked back at him suspiciously.
"Well, sooner or later I guess.."
The meeting ended with Ryouma saying those words.
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(Such a strange man. His behavior did not show any fear of us. Besides, why did he called for me in the first place?)
Nelsios remembered the previous meeting while he was heading toward the house he had used for lodging since a few days ago.
(But not just that man alone...)
Everyone inside the room did not show any disgust toward Nelsios.
Despite the fact that he was a demi-human.
Although he had vaguely felt it since they started their relations.h.i.+p a few months ago, these people did not hold any prejudice towards demi-humans.
They talked with each other over drinks and eat.
But somewhere within his heart, Nelsios still cannot trust these people.
It was certain that Nelsios felt disappointment when he was being told to attend the meeting this morning.
'I guess he was just a human too.' That was what was inside Nelsios mind at that time.
However, Ryouma just smiled at him today.
The knowledge of magic arts that the elves and the dark elves had.
Treasures that had been treated as a lost treasure since a long time ago.
In addition, the elves were naturally gifetd with power equal to that of a knight.
They possessed a strong power.
But at that day, that was not what Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma had wanted.
He did not ask Nelsios to provide technology or to dispatch any soldiers.
In exchange for the girls Ryouma had saved from the pirates, he had only demanded him to visit Sirius city once every half a month.
At first, Nelsios just came without expecting anything.
Even when Ryouma spoke to him, he only answered mechanically.
However, as the meeting repeated several times, they started telling each other jokes, exchange some discussion and eat together.
The exchange they had arranged for once every half a month had only become a form.
Recently, Ryouma had provided Nelsios and his people with accommodation such as houses, and several of his people had been staying in this town since.
Among the clan, they were the youngsters, no older than 200 years old, they did know the history of human persecution, but none actually experienced those things.
It was the story of 400 years ago when demi-humans had lost their dignity and existence by clas.h.i.+ng swords against humanity.
Of course, among the demi-humans tribes, many held hostility toward the humans.
The resentment when their family were killed by the humans and their beautiful hometown being destroyed.
Some even called Nelsios as a coward for getting close to the humans.
(I see... He invited me there because he wanted to show me huh..."
When Nelsios realized it, he groaned unintentionally.
(We do not intend to conceal anything. Is that what he wanted to convey?)
That was the way Mikos.h.i.+ba Ryouma said he believed the demi-humans.
He did not speak of it with words, but with his att.i.tude.
Nelson began to return back.
He thought he cannot let that man have his way as he expected it.
If it was reasonable to return resentment with a grudge, it was also reasonable to return a trust with trust.
Because Nelsios was also one of the clan leaders of the proud black elves
He cannot forget the grudges he had against the humans.
However, that was only him.
He also cannot ignore the future that was spread before his eyes.
Perhaps, it might be possible to return to the olden age, which it was told that the humans and the demi-humans oncelived together in harmony.
Such thoughts pushed Nelsios back to move forward.
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