During our stay in each country, Kara, Mara, Liya, and Marianne were tasked with strengthening each country's relationship with Amleth. Jean is a Paladin, so even if she speaks on behalf of her parents, she will be seen as representing the Church, so the task falls to the younger one, Liya.
There aren't any major problems, especially after the incident with the Coffin Turtles. The citizens are grateful to the Vars family for what they have done, and even the Elder Coffin Turtle is pleased with the assimilation of the Coffin Turtles into the people of Philip.
"That's on the surface, but underneath, the royalty have some issues with us" [Kara].
"They were clearly displeased when we talked about the coffin turtle. Apparently, they felt the need to completely control the coffin turtle instead of having a mutualistic relationship" [Mara].
"I was afraid of that, but fortunately, the Elder Turtle is no fool. The royalty needs to show their power, so ruling over the coffin turtle will show how great they are. But the citizens know that's not the case, and that's why the royalty and nobility of this country are displeased." [Joseph]
"And I suppose they don't have any positive thoughts about the Vars family?" [Diana]
"You're right. They don't" [Liya].
"Although they wouldn't come out and say it" [Marianne].
"The people here, especially the lizardmen and dragonewt, love you, but the upper echolen don't. A bad sign indeed" [Savel].
"Instead of collapsing from the outside due to the threat of the Empire, they will collapse from within if this continues" [Nar].
"Which will give the Empire even more opportunities to take them over" [Sas].
"Once they do, the Empire will definitely station their troops if they wanted to attack Amleth" [Jean].
"Although Merlin prevents that. She's blackmailing most of them, so at least for the foreseeable future they won't collapse from within" [Randy].
"Though that doesn't mean it's not worrying" [Linda]
So the dirt that Master Merlin collects is useful even in this situation. I'm sure she's given Auntie Amleth all the information she's gathered as well. However, it's only a temporary measure and there's little we can do about it.
As we discussed this over a small cup of tea at Werehouse, the four in charge of strengthening relations with other lands also plan to speak with a few other houses that they feel will prove beneficial. They will do so while we will continue with the project as to not delaying the project
According to the reports gathered, not all Houses are on the same page. There are some Noble Houses who feel that they should move forward with this relationship and further strengthen their country's military might with the Coffin Turtle. Something that I think is really beneficial, but at the end of the day, they're monsters, so there are bound to be problems.
"I'll pull the wagon and wait outside. Either Nar or Sas should follow with Apollo, as well as one of the S-rank adventurers" [Asterion].
"Then I'll go as planned and be their guard. Savel, with me" [Nar].
"Will do" [Savel].
"Next land should be me and Randy" [Sas]
"On the plus side, they're not completely hostile. Just displeased with us, so we shouldn't expect any ambush, whether from the land itself or any other threats" [Apollo].
"But that's no excuse to let our guard down. For all we know, someone could already be sniffing out our position" [Oreforged].
"Did you sense anything Diana?" [Kat]
"Fortunately, no" [Diana]
"That's reassuring" [Dana]
"A good sign, at least for now" [Farhana]
"Diana, make sure you always activate your magic as planned. We can't afford to let our guard down" [Elegast].
"I know. Nar, Savel, Apollo, Kara, Mara, Marianne, Jean, Liya. You be careful as well" [Diana].
They will visit the house they wanted while we continue with our schedule, although we will deliberately slow down the process to allow them to catch up with us properly. It's not safe, but this is what they wanted
Fortunately, nothing major happened the next day. We don't explain everything to the others, but they know very well not to leave all these important people behind, so even Einstein deliberately takes a break here and there.
When we see them in the evening, we breathe a sigh of relief and continue with our project. It takes us six days to finally reach the border between Philip and Indo. The delay is due to the difficult terrain, which causes even more problems than we initially expected, so some minor adjustments and tests are needed before we can properly set the mana core, otherwise no major problems arise.