Promance Republic

“How, how are you using Polian?”

“Strictly speaking, we are using Doicheun. That is what we learned.”

At these words, the officer in charge who had been flustered quickly came to his senses. Even so, inwardly, he could not help but understand that what they called Doicheun and their own language were quite similar.

‘In any case, most countries would call it Doicheun, not Polian. Still, it feels a bit unpleasant.’

“…For what purpose did you approach here?”

“Of course, we came to speak with you, who have occupied our tunnel exit.”

“Exit?”

“For us, this place is an exit. For you, it may be an entrance.”

“Ah. I see. In any case, you said you want to speak with us?”

“That is so. Our superiors said to proceed with contact through dialogue.”

“We are the same. Orders came down from above to make contact with your side through dialogue as much as possible. For reference, we are soldiers belonging to the Polia Kingdom.”

“Polia Kingdom? Did you just say Polia Kingdom?”

His expression did not look very good. From their perspective, the Polia Kingdom was seen as the root cause of all of this. As such, he could not help but have poor feelings toward them. Someone who had no way of knowing that tilted his head and asked.

“Is there some problem?”

“Just because you said Polia Kingdom.”

“What is wrong with our kingdom?”

“Your country revealed our existence to everyone. So on our side, you could say we do not have good feelings toward your kingdom at present.”

Hearing this, the Polia Kingdom soldiers’ expressions were flustered as well. If they held bad feelings toward them, could they really continue contact and hold talks like this? That thought rose.

“In that case, for now our Polia Kingdom has no intention of being hostile to your side.”

“I do not know if I can believe that, but since I came to hold talks, may I meet with the highest-ranking person on your side and proceed with dialogue?”

“O-of course. I will inform them, so please wait a moment.”

At these words, the man nodded, and in that moment, one person hurriedly turned and ran, then immediately climbed the ladder they had installed and moved outside. With that, the multinational forces above could not help but be thrown into an uproar.

Then, as about thirty minutes passed, people came down into the tunnel. Officers of the Polia Kingdom, as well as officers of the Magnia Empire, the Moria Empire, and the Noma Empire, were coming down. A few officers from the kingdoms that had arrived here also followed in.

In this scene, they could see the people waiting ahead. About ten individuals—excluding one, the rest looked like armed soldiers. Seeing them, the one who stepped forward was none other than the person with the highest rank insignia among the Polia Kingdom troops currently stationed here.

“I am Alens Diko (Lieutenant Colonel), the highest-ranking among the Polia Kingdom troops stationed here.”

“I am Rima, who has come representing the Republic of Promance.”

“Promance? Is that your country’s name?”

“It is. Our Great Republic of Promance came to create a formal venue for dialogue with you.”

Only now did the outline of their identity become somewhat clear. The Republic of Promance, a country that had taken root in the great mountain range at the center of the Colonial Continent, had formally announced its name and presence to the world.

More than that, a republic—this was a unfamiliar term to those here. However, there was someone who realized the meaning of “republic” at that moment.

“A republic? Surely you do not mean you have that absurd, delusional, false political system where sovereignty belongs to the people?”

The one who spoke was an officer belonging to the Magnia Empire. Hearing this, the man named Rima turned his gaze to him and spoke.

“It is not a false political system, but a realistic politics. I trust you did not speak with the intent to insult our political system.”

“W-wait, how are you speaking Magnian?”

“I can use many languages from not only your country but also your continent. As a person of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is that not a natural ability?”

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Weren’t you a country that was isolated from the start!”

“Though isolated, we always sought to learn about the world.”

“And that, like rats, in secret?”

“T-this, sir. What an impolite thing to say…”

Alens Diko (Lieutenant Colonel) of the Polia Kingdom grew flustered and tried to stop the Magnia Empire officer’s remarks. For him, the sharpness in their tone could not help but be startling. The Magnia Empire officer fixed his eyes on Rima and spoke.

“You attacked first without warning, and now you say you want to make a venue for dialogue like this? Don’t you think that is too contradictory?”

“Is that how you see it? If you think the other way around, is it not natural to attack those who trespassed into another’s airspace at will? Do you people do nothing and just leave it be when any fighter enters your country’s sky?”

“Hah—who owns the sky!”

“There is territory and territorial waters—do you think there would be no airspace? Then should I interpret that to mean we may also violate your skies at will?”

“Ghk!”

He looked as if he wanted to say more, but then his words choked off. Knowing how big the consequences of his words could be, he could not bring himself to say more. In truth, the reason he came out so prickly could be said to be because there were orders from above.

They had already fought in the sky, and in such a situation, the Magnia Empire emperor’s thought was to decisively finish off this unknown country. That was why, in a way, it was natural that their tone felt full of thorns.

In the end, those who could not stand watching these two stepped in.

“How about both of you calm down?”

“That is so. It seems you are both going out emotionally right now.”

“For now, let us proceed with careful dialogue first.”

Alens Diko (Lieutenant Colonel), representing the Polia Kingdom, as well as the officers of the Moria Empire and the Noma Empire, moved to restrain the two facing off. In that scene, the Magnia Empire officer turned away. He looked as if he no longer wished to exchange words.

“Since you say so, let us make a venue for dialogue and exchange words.”

With those words from Rima of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before long he stepped up onto the ground where the multinational forces were stationed. And here, he conveyed what the Republic of Promance formally wished to communicate. These words were immediately relayed to each respective homeland.

Polia Kingdom, royal palace conference room.

‘The Republic of Promance.’

Only now could they learn their formal country name. At the same time, they could see that the political system they had strongly conflicted with the world here. As a republic, they were, in other words, a country centered on the people. From that fact, Ian thought it would not be an easy place.

‘They say no one can suppress freedom once it has been tasted.’

If they invaded after freedom had already been tasted, what would happen? Likely the entire populace would unite and fight the invading country. Even if they won the war, they would have to endure endless guerrilla warfare. It would literally become a place that ground down national strength without end.

“The Republic of Promance has formally informed the nations of the world of their existence. And they conveyed their will to all nations.”

“And what was that?”

Ian looked to Marquis Norwen and asked, and he, with a hardened face, spoke.

“They said that going forward, their Republic of Promance can communicate and continue exchanges with all countries of the world. However, if excessive demands are made of them, or an intention to invade is revealed, they will absolutely not tolerate it.”

‘Will the Magnia Empire truly stay still after hearing that?’

The likelihood was quite high that it would not. They could not tolerate the Republic of Promance showing such an arrogant stance. Ian thought there was a decent chance they would soon show moves toward invasion. At that, he also thought perhaps other countries might try to get involved as well.

Of course, at present, only the Magnia Empire and their own Polia Kingdom had military leeway. The remaining countries might try to get involved, but they would not be able to show such large military movements. With recovery being the priority, they would not even have the leeway to send war supplies.

Naturally, the Polia Kingdom had no intention of invading. This time as well, they intended to remain as a neutral state. Thinking so, it did not seem like a bad development. Rather, he thought this could be good for them.

‘If they defend well, this could become a way to steadily shave down the Magnia Empire’s strength.’

He thought perhaps they might reap considerable benefits from behind the scenes again. Of course, not immediately. While the Magnia Empire’s underlying strength was still high, they would not be importing war supplies. Moreover, there was not even a trade route into the Republic of Promance, so they were in no state to even sell anything.

‘As time passes, like the last Great War, a time will come when they need war supplies, won’t it?’

However, Ian wondered whether Emperor Jedic would launch an invasion even knowing that. He would have seen that during the last Great War, the Polia Kingdom maintained neutrality and preserved its strength, so he would likely feel hesitant about taking action.

‘Leaving it alone would hurt his pride, but invading would also mean we could get in his way quite a bit, wouldn’t it?’

Either way, knowing it would be a headache for Emperor Jedic alone, Ian felt like simply staying still and gaining benefits. A report said they had conveyed to the Republic of Promance that they had the intent to hold peaceful talks.

‘Still, the fact they already had a bad perception of us was unexpected.’

In a way, the reason the world learned of them was because of them. But frankly, there was also something unfair about it. They had not leaked it intentionally; it happened because the ones they had detained leaked it.

From the start, he had held the desire to conceal them as much as possible. If possible, he wanted to have one-on-one talks and exchange with them.

‘In any case, from now on, it will be important to gradually erase that bad perception over time.’

“Our Polia Kingdom will declare neutrality as always.”

“Your Majesty, did you not previously agree with the nations to jointly resolve their matter?”

“Of course we did. But we did not say we would wage war. It is clearly stated in the agreement as well. Is there any reason for us to follow the Magnia Empire and get drawn into war?”

“Of course not.”

“Attacking rashly while knowing nothing about them could lead to the worst outcome. So we must step back again and observe the situation.”

At Ian’s words, the chancellor and ministers felt that, as expected, this was how it would be. Perhaps it was for reasons like this that the Polia Kingdom existed as it did now. Unless it reached the worst-case scenario, there was no reason for the Polia Kingdom to formally declare war on another country.

Just as they were reaching a conclusion on how the Polia Kingdom would treat the Republic of Promance, talks about this were also unfolding in the Magnia Empire.

Noa, capital of the Magnia Empire, grand conference hall of the imperial palace.

In the grand conference hall centered on Emperor Jedic, ministers numbering in the hundreds were seated. Their opinions were now split into two.

“A republic? We cannot recognize such bizarre people as a country!”

“They are the ones who first aimed their gun barrels at us. Is that not the same as them declaring war on us first!”

“That’s right! We must invade them at once. We must show the power of the Magnia Empire.”

“There is no reason to recognize them as a country.”

“That’s right! Sovereignty belongs to the people? A monstrous political system called a republic is something the empire cannot tolerate. Because of them, I worry that strange ideas might seep into the minds of imperial subjects.”

Many ministers showed an atmosphere that they could not recognize that country calling itself Promance, a “republic.” Conversely, voices arose that strongly feared invading them.

“Even so, is it not the case that we cannot invade them? They are a national group settled inside a quite rugged mountain range. The attack itself will be difficult.”

“Even airplanes with excellent performance made through extensive modifications—is it not nearly like gambling just to enter the mountain range? We cannot even deploy large-scale air power immediately.”

“Moreover, the only path to them is a single tunnel that pierces the mountain range. As long as they block that place, breaking through will in truth be close to impossible.”

“If we invade recklessly, not only will there be massive casualties, but there will also be massive war expenditures.”

Watching the two groups of ministers—those shouting to attack and those insisting it was impossible—Emperor Jedic’s mind was also complicated. He wanted to show them the empire’s power immediately. But in reality, obstacles piled up.

‘And the Polia Kingdom will surely maintain neutrality—can we really attack alone while leaving them be?’

He certainly had confidence. The Magnia Empire’s underlying strength was immense and abundant. But he was quite worried about the scale of damage that would follow after victory. Moreover, he wondered how much the Polia Kingdom would swagger about in their place while they were weakened by such losses. Emperor Jedic could not stand the thought of seeing that.

In Emperor Jedic’s troubled mind, it kept splitting into invade or do not invade. And this thought was, in truth, slowly tilting toward one side. Would Emperor Jedic choose the path that preserved his pride? Or would he pursue practical gain?