We Go For It First! (4)

Let’s just go for it first and see!

The manpower assignments ended, and the morning of the day promised for negotiations dawned.

There was the drawback that many people had to move together, but for this purpose, I was able to gather everyone who could be called the domain’s strongest forces on the teleportation magic circle at the lord’s official residence, and after looking over the faces of those gathered, I felt that with this many people, we might be able to have a proper fight even if the Imperial Family of the Empire picked one with us.

If the three people called the strongest among the whale beastkin, Ulde, Wijel, Demina, Debik, and Gamung handled ordinary military strength, then Hare was there as magical strength.

The fact that there was only one person bothered me, but I remembered Richard saying that Hare was at the level of an Archmage, so she was incredibly reassuring.

On top of that, Linda and Matilda were with us, and it had been decided that some Sain Tribe escorts would come along as additional personnel.

“Will this really be all right?”

Linda asked while looking at me anxiously. So I told her with an expression that said it was nothing to worry about.

“If things go wrong for us anyway, the safety of the people being held here won’t be guaranteed, so I think it should be fine.”

Even with my answer, her anxious expression did not ease, so I added to Linda.

“Linda, if we explain the people we are bringing along now by human standards, that is seven Masters and one Archmage. Oh, right, Volv, how strong is Mr. Ulde?”

Since I did not know Ulde’s abilities, I slipped the question in, and Volv smiled bitterly as he said it.

“It would take two of us three attacking together to subdue him.”

It meant he was absurdly strong. But Ulde looked at me and said it.

“If it had been in my prime, those three would not have been a match for me.”

It was incredible confidence, and the way the three of them even nodded made me feel dumbfounded. On top of that, even Wijel added to it.

“I once saw Lord Ulde fight in the past. The sight of him fighting evenly with my father was extremely impressive.”

Just how strong had Wijel’s father been?

Right when curiosity began to rise in me with all sorts of thoughts, Linda was looking at me with an expression that seemed somewhat reassured. Matilda, who was beside her, also seemed to have been a little uneasy.

“Now then, since the unease seems to have been somewhat ended, shall we move?”

Then, as I watched the people who were taking in advance the nerve-calming medicine I had handed out beforehand, I picked up a bucket.

I spoke to the people who looked at me with puzzled expressions at that sight.

“That nerve-calming medicine doesn’t work on me, you see.”

Since my drug resistance had become stronger, one or two pills were no longer enough to do anything, so I could only laugh awkwardly. After confirming that everyone had finished preparing, we were able to use teleportation and move straight to the Imperial Family of the Empire.

And while looking at Chancellor Hilman, who had been waiting to greet us, I was able to go through the work of checking even the food I had eaten a few days ago.

The Empress I faced in the Empire’s conference hall, where more people than expected were present, looked so much more haggard than usual that I could feel it.

“It’s been a while.”

It was a greeting that could be rude, but right now, I was literally in an equal position as someone governing one region, so I did not bow my head.

That seemed to become quite a strong stimulus to the nobles lined up densely behind the Empress, and angry shouts burst out, but the Empress’s charisma activated at that moment.

When she slowly raised her hand, the noisy nobles fell silent.

“That is true. It has been a while.”

“I never even imagined that we would face each other in this kind of format.”

“I am the same. But will we keep merely asking after each other forever?”

“Did your personality become more impatient while we could not meet? Or… are you that cornered?”

“It seems you have not fixed that habit of opening your mouth rashly.”

“I did not fix it. I am of the opinion that one should say what needs to be said when necessary.”

To be honest, I was nervous, but I trusted the people behind me. I was building up my confidence by thinking of the reliable vassals who had come with me, even if everyone here rushed at us.

“You have changed.”

“There is a saying that the position makes the person. I have never thought of it as my position, but because someone must do it, I am merely doing it. And the one in need is not me, is it?”

“That is right. The one in need is our Empire. That is why I agreed to the conversation.”

The Empress was pressing her temples as though her head hurt, and then one noble interfered.

“You must cut off that insolent fellow’s head immediately and recover Ingrad!!”

The Empress turned her gaze at the ringing shout and asked.

“By what means shall we cut off his head? Will you do it?”

“If you only give the order!”

“Nonsense. It seems you believe the other nobles around you will agree with you, but… even if everyone here rushed in, they would not be able to handle the two beastkin who came with the Lord of Ingrad.”

The Empress left one sentence for the noble who had an expression of disbelief.

“If you intend to interrupt my precious time, then leave.”

The Empress had a weary expression. It had not even begun yet, so I wondered what we were supposed to do if she was already this exhausted.

“People who have difficulty understanding their own place exist everywhere, don’t they? You must have a hard time.”

“Do you not think that you are the one making things the hardest for me?”

“It was not I who began this. The Empire started it first, did it not?”

“…Ha, that is true. If we examine it… yes, the start was wrong. Then, according to the contents of the letter you sent, you will release the three except the Imperial Princess?”

“That is correct. Her Highness the Imperial Princess will live without lacking anything. If you wish to dispatch people to attend to her, a few should be fine.”

“…And the price will be recognizing Ingrad’s independence…?”

“That is right. I am not asking for many things.”

She had an expression that said that was already plenty. In fact, every noble behind the Empress looked as if they were itching to flap their mouths.

‘I feel like I’ve seen that kind of look somewhere before… Ah, historical dramas…’

They had the looks of scholar-officials in historical dramas shouting, “You must not, Yooour Maaajesty!”

I ignored those who seemed as though they would immediately oppose it if I stimulated them once, and asked the Empress.

“Would it not be more productive to admit what should be admitted and focus on other matters instead?”

“I think war is also one of the cards that can be considered.”

“On the contrary, I think it is a ‘card’ that will wound many lives. The war I think of is an act filled only with glory that is nothing but wounds… an act that should not be done. If you insist on forcing yourselves to do it anyway, I will not stop you. The choice will not be made by me, but by the person who must lead the Empire down the correct path.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“If it sounded that way, I would not refute it. If I speak honestly, we are not afraid of war.”

“What remarkable confidence.”

“It can only be natural. There is something I realized clearly from this war.

“What is that?”

She looked extremely curious. But I thought I had to say this. It was also an expression of confidence, but telling the truth could also be called a good method of persuasion.

“If we focus only on defense, I did not think we would lose even if the Empire ground up ten million troops against us.”

I continued speaking while looking at the Empress, whose expression stiffened.

“We have no intention whatsoever of sending troops outside the territory. We judge that we can win the war sufficiently by focusing only on defense and waiting for the Empire’s national strength to decline.”

“Did the Empire look that insignificant to you?”

“I realized it when I saw you appoint a foolish noble like Balsen as commander and drive close to a million soldiers to their deaths. What exactly did the Empire even gain this time?”

The Empress bit her lip. It seemed she was seething with anger. On top of that, the sight of the nobles, who must have gone through all sorts of effort to place someone like Balsen in the commander’s seat, becoming gloomy and losing their words was quite a spectacle.

“Let us end the wrong judgments and decisions here, and how about making a wise judgment so that the Empire’s future may be glorious?”

“…You speak as though you were a noble of the Empire…?”

“I say this because I was a noble. It is also the reason I am speaking frankly to the Empress, who gave me the opportunity to build a foundation, even if it was for an extremely short period. I hope you will not take lightly this frank advice filled with my final gratitude.”

The Empress squeezed her eyes shut, declared a recess, rose from her seat, and left the conference hall. Her steps looked extremely difficult, and in the place where that Empress had departed, only nobles with obvious discomfort remained to face us.

In the middle of that, Chancellor Hilman remained and asked me.

“Did you provoke her deliberately?”

“It was not provocation. I merely told her the truth. I witnessed the Empire’s incompetence.”

“…He was incompetent. The Empire is not incompetent. Please watch your words.”

“I am saying that the Empire that appointed such an incompetent person is incompetent. I am saying that judging, deciding, and tolerating it are incompetence itself.”

I calmly let the gazes of the nobles, who seemed to have nothing left if you took away their pride, pass over me as I organized my thoughts.

‘The provocation was successful. I stimulated her enough that the Empress was having a hard time…’

It was the picture Matilda had wanted. She had told me that we needed to use things as they were to trample down the Empress’s pride and the Empire’s sense of self-respect.

The reason was nothing special. It was meant to make them evaluate us and the Empire objectively.

From the Empress’s perspective, we were a territory so small as to be insignificant, and by human standards, a territory made up mostly of a “beastkin” race that was useless.

But Matilda had said that in order to correct the fact that this was a mistaken thought, we had to draw out an objective viewpoint.

‘First, by making her know the Empire’s true state, I suppose I can say we drew out a moment of reality awareness. I don’t know what form she will return in, though. Next, she said we should soothe and coax them and make it look like we are yielding many things, right…?’

I sometimes felt this, but Matilda was a woman with quite a bit of talent in this kind of thing. She was smart, thoughtful, quick-witted, and could face reality—in other words, she had a personality that did not embrace “illusions.”

Linda, on the other hand, was the type to embrace an illusion, confirm whether reality could be reflected to match that illusion, and try to draw out the most similar result possible.

They were two extremely contrasting women, but in terms of ability, both could be said to be overwhelmingly outstanding. I could say I had been lucky.

“When I first faced you, I thought you were an ordinary man… I did not know you would change this much.”

“I feel gratitude toward you as well. But separately from that, I hope you understand that I have no choice but to harden my heart.”

“We have the capacity to go to war at any time, and we will not simply suffer from the new weapons like last time. Defeats like the previous one will not be allowed from now on.”

“I know. You will prepare. But there is something I can say firmly regarding that.”

“What is it?”

“That we are not staying still either. The new weapons at the current stage were, literally, only items announcing the beginning. Even if all of you here try somehow to imitate them and chase after us… I am saying we have no intention whatsoever of letting you catch up. Challenge us if you are confident. You will only despair at the truth laid out in plain sight.”

Even the murmuring voices in the conference hall were dragged down into silence, and stillness pressed down over them.