Having A Preliminary Talk With Prince Alexei

That evening.

“Ohhh, can you really show me something like this?”

“There is nothing that would be a problem.”

“Still, to openly tell me even a secret location like this—what if I go around blabbing about it?”

“That is fine. And besides, would it not be amusing? To say there is a secret storeroom in the king’s office, and that it is a wine cellar. Ha ha.”

Toward evening, Ian was facing Prince Alexei again. And before them stood a secret place with the door flung wide open. It had originally been a storeroom packed with treasures by that man called his father, but after renovations it was now being used as a wine cellar.

“As expected, you are peculiar.”

“Am I? In any case, let us go in and have a drink.”

“Let us drink together like this for the first time in a while! Puhaha!”

Prince Alexei let out a hearty, pleasant laugh. In the midst of it, the two of them went into the storeroom. Various kinds of liquor were neatly arranged on metal racks lining the walls. In the center were a table and chairs.

“Would it be rude to ask what used to be kept here?”

“Well, it is no secret—there were treasures the previous king had collected.”

“Oh, there were that many treasures?”

“A fair number. So I put it all into the national treasury.”

“No, why not keep it for yourself?”

“The royal family already has money overflowing. It is still steadily increasing even now, so what would I need it for? Money is needed in many places anyway, so I used it all as funding.”

“I knew you were serious about building national infrastructure, but to go that far… do you have no greed?”

“I have plenty of greed. That is why I work this hard as king, is it not?”

“That sounds like a different kind of greed… In any case, you are peculiar. You think of things so casually that make me wonder if I could ever do the same.”

At Prince Alexei’s words as he shook his head, Ian thought inwardly that it was only possible because of an empire’s position. Why was he pouring so much money into developing the country? Simply to create a place that no one could lay a hand on.

‘It is harder to meddle with a truly great power than with an ambiguous one.’

Someday, he would secure weapons of destruction that could bring humanity to ruin—before anyone else. Of course, he had no intention of using them. Not unless he was pushed to the very edge.

“It seems my temperament is simply like that. More importantly, congratulations on coming to the conference venue with His Majesty.”

“Congratulations for what? I was picked because I have dealt with you so much, was I not?”

“Is it not already widely known that is not the case? I heard you are practically confirmed as Crown Prince…”

“Puhaha! Are rumors not spreading far too quickly?”

He looked quite pleased. Indeed. Through the Great War, Prince Alexei—who had stood as the Fourth Prince—was finally set to rise to the position of Crown Prince, surpassing many brothers. And now that one looked at him, much time had passed, and he had entered his forties.

When Ian first met him, he had appeared a young man in his mid-thirties, but as years went by, he had taken on an air of seasoned maturity. Seeing him, Ian had to admit that he too was no longer a fresh teen, but had passed his mid-twenties.

‘I am not at an age where I should be thinking like this, yet somehow I cannot help feeling that time passes in the blink of an eye, like a photograph.’

Thus, we sat down. Since he had anticipated this, there were already appetizers and glass cups on the table. He popped a bottle open—pop!—and began pouring into the glasses. We clinked—clink—and brought the glasses to our lips.

“The liquor is truly good. More importantly, King Ian, your help was truly great. It would have been a difficult contest without you.”

“What help could I have provided?”

“From the moment the Great War began, you sold weapons, and my standing rose greatly. On that foundation I reached my current position.”

“That became difficult halfway through, did it not?”

“Even so, there were supplies I received from time to time through detours, and they were of great help.”

“I am glad it helped Your Highness.”

After the Leman Federation was occupied, the volume that should have gone toward the Noma Empire fell short by a great deal, but in truth there had been many instances of sending munitions by detouring through the coast of the Magnia Empire and up into the Northern Sea.

Sea ice drifted everywhere and it was bitterly cold, making transport difficult, but the success rate had been decent, and they were able to provide enough to keep things from collapsing.

“Still, from here, it truly begins.”

“Do you plan to set heavy reparations on the Doicheun Empire?”

“Yes. If possible, I intend to impose reparations so excessive that they will never rise again.”

“You know well that the Doicheun Empire is not an empire that will be unable to recover because of that, do you not?”

“Of course. But we can at least delay their recovery. Our southern regions were heavily destroyed as well. It will likely take more than ten years just to fully restore them.”

“So that is why you are even angrier at them?”

“Yes. On our side and on the Moria Empire’s side, large parts of the north and west were destroyed. But for them, only a portion was damaged. When I think of that, I almost want to continue the war at once.”

It was clear he truly bore his teeth at the Doicheun Empire. If even Prince Alexei—broad-minded and not ill-natured—showed such a face, Ian thought the others would be worse.

Still, none of them would lose their reason and try to continue the war. Both sides had already expended far too much; they no longer even had the leeway to keep fighting.

As if trying to erase his own rising anger, Prince Alexei shook his head and spoke.

“Let us stop this talk. Rumor has it you extended the Doicheun Empire’s debt repayment to fifty years? And I even heard you are making them pay only one percent interest per year at most—is that true?”

At the question that seemed to ask if it was really so, Ian nodded. Prince Alexei looked as though he could not believe they could afford to collect a debt so slowly. A debt was, in essence, an act of handing over what one had to another. If the other side could not bear it, the debtor could collapse.

‘Ah—no. There is no reason they would collapse.’

Come to think of it, they too owed the Polia Kingdom a great deal. Not only the empires, but most of the kingdoms that had joined the war carried heavy debts. If those debts were gradually repaid, then even if the Doicheun Empire repaid slowly, it would not matter.

‘When I think about it, the true victor may be the Polia Kingdom.’

As a neutral state, the Polia Kingdom had sold enormous quantities of munitions. And from the fact that a massive flow of capital would now head to the Polia Kingdom, one could see that true development was only beginning.

‘To be one of the biggest beneficiaries alongside the Magnia Empire… I envy them.’

To be honest, he felt jealousy and frustration. They had done all the suffering, but others were reaping the fruit. Still, he did not dwell on it in a negative way. Perhaps the Polia Kingdom had won precisely because it kept neutrality.

“Can we repay more slowly as well?”

“Not as much as the Doicheun Empire, but I will extend it as much as possible.”

“If you do that, I would be grateful.”

If repayment was not demanded in a short span, they could proceed with reconstruction while paying leisurely, including the reparations they were to receive. Of course, to do so, they needed to extract reparations properly from the Doicheun Empire. As he thought that, Ian spoke as if something had just occurred to him.

“Ah—come to think of it, I heard all the Doicheun Empire’s warships will be confiscated. Could we also receive some of them in lieu of debt repayment?”

At Ian’s words, Prince Alexei’s expression turned troubled. As for battleships, there had already been prior agreements among the empires on how to divide them.

“Mm. I am sorry, but on the matter of battleships, it will be difficult to yield.”

“I did not intend to trouble you. I simply thought it would be good to receive at least one battleship as debt payment.”

“Mm? Just one ship is enough?”

“Our Navy Ministry has been singing the same tune—so they keep pestering me, saying they want me to bring back at least a single battleship.”

“Mm. If it is one ship, that is a point where we can yield to some extent.”

“Is it possible?”

‘No—this is not good. It would be better to cut it off and say no…’

In truth, he only spoke like that. If they refused, Ian had no intention of taking a battleship at all. But judging by Prince Alexei’s expression, he was saying that yielding one ship was entirely possible. Instead, Ian felt awkward.

“I will step in and make sure one ship can go to your country. However, in return, I would like you to exempt the interest portion for a few years.”

So that was it—he had something he wanted, hence those words. Since Ian had already raised the matter, he had no choice but to nod and agree.

“Understood. Exempting the interest is something we can certainly consider, so if there is a serviceable ship among them, please yield it to us.”

“Understood. I will step in personally and steer the matter. And I will also look into cruisers and destroyers.”

At how earnestly he spoke, Ian wondered if he was not being far too enthusiastic. And cruisers and destroyers, too? Had he not just acted as though yielding was difficult? Perhaps he was doing this because he intended to extract more from them.

Ian had a feeling he might even draw the Moria Empire into it.

‘This was supposed to be “if it works, fine,” but it actually worked. And to make them repay their debts, they might hand over even more warships…?’

Since it was a debt they had to repay anyway, perhaps they intended to reduce the debt amount by selecting from the seized ships and transferring them to Polia. Without intending it, they might receive enough to form a small fleet—at least a squadron’s worth.

‘Still, it is not a loss, is it?’

If things went well, this could become an opportunity to operate Doicheun warships that embodied excellent technology. They could make the technology within those ships their own, and perhaps apply it to various warships they would build in the future.

“Now then, it seems we have talked only about work. Let us have another drink.”

“Let us.”

Liquor was poured again, and we drank again, talking about things we had not been able to discuss for a long time. In that manner, the night deepened. Naturally, the victory in drinking went to Ian.

Just like old times, Prince Alexei became dead drunk and had to be carried back to his room.

Not even three days passed before Ian received one piece of news from Prince Alexei.

“One battleship, three cruisers, and twenty-two destroyers, you say.”

This, he said, was the result after discussing it with the empires. Of course, the other empires would receive far more battleships, cruisers, and destroyers than this. The allied empires intended to dismantle the Doicheun Empire’s naval power thoroughly.

“It is a good thing, is it not? I hear the Navy Ministry is cheering loudly after hearing this news.”

Hearing his secretary, Mardin, speak beside him, Ian thought they would indeed be overjoyed. They were finally getting the battleship they had wanted so badly. Moreover, since they had already reached thirteen battleships after building one more, adding another would make it fourteen— meaning their strength had increased. And if a few more years passed, they would build yet another, and could even reach fifteen battleships.

‘Well, it cannot be helped now.’

Even though battleships had increased, he had intended to push older battleships into a second-line role anyway, so he was not overly worried about maintenance costs. In any case, they were now in a position to assemble a fleet to some extent.

‘Should we newly establish an 11th Fleet, or fold them into the ten existing fleets to expand each fleet’s scale? That is the question.’

If they increased the number of fleets, their flexibility of use would broaden. If they strengthened each fleet instead, each fleet could increase its proportion of independent tactics.

“Should we increase it?”

“Yes?”

“No, I was thinking about whether it is better to increase the number of fleets.”

“If you increase the number of fleets, the Navy Ministry will also add one more admiral, so the competition will be no joke.”

“If they have the ability, there is no problem in being given a fleet.”

As Ian murmured, he suddenly remembered something and asked.

“More importantly, how long until my meeting with Emperor Rednix?”

“About thirty minutes remain.”

“Mm. Then I should prepare.”

Emperor Rednix di Doicheun had suddenly requested a private one-on-one meeting with Ian. That made Ian wonder what he intended to say. With the eyes of many empires upon them, it was inevitably a burdensome move.

‘We already seem to have discussed the debt to some extent. Is he thinking of something else?’

The fact that he asked for a conversation that could be kept strictly secret made Ian think he might demand something serious.