It was a country made up of two islands, one large and one small, but the smaller
island had been abandoned in the face of monster attacks, and a portion of the larger
island was occupied, as well. Apparently, at least... I could only go on hearsay,
because the country had highly isolationist policies and very little information
leaked out.
The elven races tended to have a lot of beautiful men and women, and this trend
was especially strong with the high elves. They called themselves God's chosen
people, and looked down on other races, loathe to have any interaction with them.
It seemed that even now, with monsters invading, that wasn't going to change.
In a country like Garlan or Amidonia, it was true, they would likely try to use this
information to affirm the superiority of their own race. In fact, Amidonia had already
succeeded in fomenting hatred towards Elfrieden to make their people easier to
rule. There were countries out there that would use hate and prejudice.
Jeanne nodded. "Sir Hakuya is correct. Furthermore, it's not something that
multiracial countries like mine or yours can ignore. If that sort of thinking were to
run rampant, we would be looking at the sparks of interracial violence in our own
country. If we had an internal conflict, on top of the external threats we face..."
"...Sorry," I said. "I hadn't thought it through that far."
I bowed my head sincerely. They had both made good points. There were bigger
things at stake than my reputation. I needed to be more cautious with my words.
While I was reflecting on my actions...
"No," Jeanne said, shaking her head. "If you hadn't pointed it out to me, I wouldn't
have noticed. It's a thorny issue, but this is better than having it thrust on us by
surprise one day. We can make preparations ourselves now."
"I'm grateful to have you say that," I said. "...Still, I can't think of any
countermeasures off the top of my head."
When I said that, Jeanne slumped her shoulders with a sigh. "The Mankind
Declaration speaks out against the persecution of minority groups, but that's an
agreement between states. If it were a national policy—like, if someone in the
administration, for instance, gave the order to persecute them—we could intervene,
but if it's ordinary citizens doing it, all we can do is call the country's responsibility
for the matter into question."
"Besides, there are countries like ours that haven't even signed the Mankind
Declaration," I said. "On top of that, if you try to intervene in the internal affairs of
other countries, that will breed discontent, which could, in the worst case, lead to
war."
"I agree with you," said Jeanne. "What's more, we don't have all the relevant
information about demons and monsters available to us. With so many uncertain
factors, it's dangerous to rush to any conclusions."
In the end, it was decided that the Empire and kingdom would continue to
discuss this problem.
We called the bureaucrats back in, and the conference continued until it was
getting to be late at night. Around this time of day, people would start to get hungry.
Jeanne was an important guest from another country, so normally I should
probably have held a banquet for her, but time was precious to both of us, so I'd
decided we would eat at the conference.
That called for something we could eat as we worked, so I'd decided to serve
Jeanne and her entourage a certain type of bun I was debating whether or not to
spread throughout the country.
When Jeanne ate that bun, her reaction was...
"This is incredible! It seems wrong to put a staple food on another staple food,
but once you dig in, the two contrasting textures are a perfect match. The tomato
sauce gives it a nice tangy flavor. What's more, by putting a dish that you would
normally eat with a plate and a form on a bun, it lets us eat it using just one hand! My
hat's off to you for that idea! What a marvel!"
...she praised it without holding back.
Did you think it was a sandwich? Too bad; it was a spaghetti bun.
The truth was, I'd wanted to make a yakisoba bun, but I just couldn't seem to
replicate that thick sauce. That was why I'd used pasta and tomato sauce, both of
which already existed in this world, to create a spaghetti bun. By the way, I hadn't
given up on replicating the sauce; Poncho was researching it at this very moment.
"When I first saw it, I questioned your sanity, but it really is good," said Liscia.
"Neither bread nor pasta is new, but it's quite a novel experience to eat them
together like this," said Hakuya.
Liscia and Hakuya seemed to be enjoying them, as well.
Now that the food crisis was more or less solved, I thought that, rather than offthe-wall ideas like gelin udon, it might be nice to spread some dishes from Earth
instead. Developing our culinary traditions would improve our country's brand
power and image, and could also lead to an influx of foreign money.
Now, as for Aisha, the one most likely to dig into these sorts of new dishes with
gusto...
"Om, nom, nom!"
Even as she stood behind me as my bodyguard, she was busily scarfing down
spaghetti buns.
Wait, hold on, Aisha, I thought. Just how many have you eaten?
What had once been a mountain of buns on the plate had now been reduced to
less than a hill. Even at a time like this, the hungry dark elf was the same as ever.
Once we had finished eating our buns and taken a short break, Jeanne broached
the issue we had met to discuss. "Hmm... Now then, do you think it's about time we
moved onto the topic of your occupation of Van? The Empire's position is that, in
adherence with the Mankind Declaration, we cannot accept border changes brought
about by the use of military force. We demand that the Elfrieden Kingdom return
Van and the region surrounding it to the Principality of Amidonia."
"The kingdom's position is that we can't accept that demand," I said. "The
Principality of Amidonia were the aggressors in this conflict. I think we're justified in
our actions, no?"
"You could also be seen as having induced them to act, you realize?" Jeanne
asked.
"They've done plenty to interfere in our internal affairs," I replied. "It's not right
for them to complain as soon as we turn the tables on them. Is the Empire fine with
that? If you accept their outrageous behavior, both signatories and non-signatories
to the Mankind Declaration will take you lightly from here on."
"Yes, they will," said Jeanne. "That is why the Empire is prepared to force
Amidonia to pay suitable reparations. In this matter, I think the Empire has no
choice but to punish both sides."
Well, yeah... I figured that would be your response, I thought.
Because Amidonia was a signatory of the Mankind Declaration, the Empire had
no choice but to stand by their side and demand Elfrieden return their territory. But
if they allowed Amidonia to get away with their outrageous behavior, it would invite
the other signatories to act with impunity, which would create resistance from the
non-signatories. That meant they needed to impose harsh penalties on Amidonia, in
order to keep the other signatory states in line. The Empire had the power to do just
that.
I looked at Jeanne, as if testing her. "And if we don't comply, you will resort to
military force?"
"It is not my preferred method... but if the need arises, I will have no choice," said
Jeanne. "At this moment, the number of troops the Empire has brought is equal to
your Royal Army, but I am confident that we have the power to annihilate the forces
of both kingdom and principality at the same time, if need be."
The Anti-Magic Armor Corps, the griffon squadrons, and the rhinosauruses
carrying cannons... I recalled the many troop types they had which would be
powerful when fighting against castle walls. There was no hint of boasting in
Jeanne's words.
"...I'll bet you could," I said. "We don't want to fight, either." I rested my elbows on
the table, crossing my fingers in front of my mouth. "That's why I'd like to sort out
each of our intentions here."
"Our intentions, you say?" asked Jeanne.
"Yes," I replied. "The Empire doesn't want to recognize border changes. That's
why you're asking that the kingdom return Van. Correct?"
"...Yes. That's right." Jeanne nodded.
Having confirmed the Empire's intent, I continued, "Now, as for our intent, we
want to reduce the power of the Principality of Amidonia, which continues to engage
in hostile actions towards our country, In order to ensure that they can't influence
our country again. Furthermore, we want them to pay for invading us. We took Van
to exact that cost."
"...I see," said Jeanne. "Then you have no particular desire to hold Van. In other
words, an unconditional return of the city is out of the question, but if the
principality pays a suitable price, you are prepared to return it."
It was good to see that she was quick on the uptake. When I nodded, Jeanne
turned a harsh glance towards me. "Will you demand Sir Julius's head?"
"That's hardly going to be worth as much as an entire city," I said.
"Then... is it money you want?" she asked.
"It is," I agreed. "If the principality will pay reparations to our country, we will
return Van. You yourself said that the Empire would see to it that the principality
paid a suitable price for their actions, so that should be perfect, shouldn't it?"
Looking at it in the long term, turning over territory that could produce wealth
indefinitely if managed properly in exchange for a one-time payment was a negative.
However, because it had been Amidonian territory until just recently, and taking
relations with the Empire into consideration, it wasn't a bad decision.
Meanwhile, for the Empire, they would have fulfilled their duty to the principality
by securing the return of their land, and they could warn the other signatories, "If
you act like Amidonia, you may not have your territory seized, but you're gonna
have to pay reparations." That would, in effect, also help to build trust with the nonsignatories.
Jeanne sighed. "Sir Julius won't like it..."
"I have no pity to spare for the root of the problem," I said. "Have him pay in
imperial coinage. Sir Julius isn't terribly bright when it comes to the economy, after
all. He'll probably think he can just mint low quality coins for the reparations."
"You're getting our country involved in this?" Jeanne asked.
"The Empire shares some responsibility for Amidonia's outrageous behavior," I
replied. "You have to give me this much, at least."
"...I have no good response to that." After a shrug of the shoulders and a wry
smile, Jeanne suddenly slipped into a more serious expression. "I have a question for
you. Why won't the Elfrieden Kingdom sign on to my sister's Mankind Declaration?
If you were a signatory, I don't think the kingdom and Empire would have ended up
staring one another down over this matter." Jeanne glanced over to Liscia, and
added, "I hesitate to say this in front of Princess Liscia, but when it comes to why the
prior king, Sir Albert, didn't sign the Mankind Declaration... well, I can understand.
It's not so much that he chose not to sign it, as..."
"...he couldn't decide whether to sign or not," Liscia finished for her. "He's so
indecisive."
Liscia came right out and said what Jeanne was hesitant to. Jeanne looked
somewhat apologetically to her and said, "That's exactly it," with a nod.
She went on, "However, in your case, I think you see the threat posed by the
Demon Lord's Domain, as well as the need for all mankind to unite in the battle
against it. At first, I thought it was because you couldn't trust us, as the ones at fault
for your being summoned to this world in the first place. But, earlier, you said you
bear no resentment towards us over that. If that's the case, why won't you adopt my
sister's Mankind Declaration?"
When she looked me straight in the eye and asked that, it left me with a
conundrum.