Noon, November 6, 2813 in the Western Continental Calendar


　The city of Seirios was bustling with activity.
　The new slave children who had been brought in the other day were wielding their swords desperately in order to not let go of their good fortune, and the children who had been freed from slavery after five months of training and gained their freedom were all working hard to build their new home.
　Every one of them used every bit of strength they had, and steadily grew the city.
　They held in their hearts the dignity as human beings that had been taken from them by Mikoshiba Ryoma, the man who had given them all back when they were cast into slavery.　


　The air in the room changed as Ryoma sat back in his chair and read the letter Elena had sent to him from Piraeus, the royal capital, and the air in the room changed.
　The date on the letter shows that it was written the day before yesterday.
　Considering the distance between the royal capital and the Woltenia peninsula, it was quite early.
　It's a top secret and must be the result of the messengers riding their horses from place to place.　

It's not surprising now because I heard about it beforehand from my boy, but it's not funny because it's so predictable.

　Lyonne smiled bitterly as she said that.
　Everyone in this room must have had the same sentiment, and a hint of dismay appeared on their faces as well.
　Only Mikoshiba Ryoma was the only one who kept a calm smile on his face.



　Yan Ou muttered, squinting at the bustle of activity that jumped into the room from outside the window.

'Well. But either way, we have to go. That's still better that you called me. It's a good thing that you're so obsessed with your own trivial team that you didn't call us and then went to reinforce them and lost.　

　Ryouma smiled as he said that.
　Everyone in the room nodded at his words.
　It would be easy to refuse the request for a reason, but considering the consequences afterwards, it wouldn't be so easy.
　The Roselia Kingdom is sinking.
　That's an undeniable fact.
　The power structure that Lupis is aiming for is only negative for her lack of determination.
　Indeed, for a royalist whose real power has been lost to Hodram and Gerhardt for a long time, it's natural to think about running the kingdom with the king at the center.　
　However, the personality of the person called Lupis Roselianus is a major problem.
(He's not a bad guy. No, you could say he's a good guy. He's not stupid. He's got a certain amount of knowledge. And he cares about his people, so he should get a passing grade as a ruler.
　Ryouma's opinion of Lupis is not that bad.
　The knights in his entourage, such as Mertina and Mikhail, also have their flaws, but they're also decent people, and I can say that their loyalty to the royal family and their military strength are of the highest standard in this country.
　Their loyalty to the royal family and their military strength should be of the first-class standard in this country.
　At least they should not be incompetent.
(In the end, the biggest problem is that they don't know themselves.......)
　In Sun Tzu's Art of War, there is a phrase that goes like this
　If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will fight a hundred battles and never be in danger.
　This is so famous that even those who do not know the Art of War of Sun Tzu have heard it at least once.
　If you don't know your enemy and know yourself, you can win a game or two.
　If you don't know your enemy and don't know yourself, you're in danger every time you fight.
　What I am saying is that you should not gather information before you fight.
　And understand yourself.
　If you know yourself and know your opponent, then you will know if you have a chance to win or not.
　And if you can tell if you have a chance, it's easy to win the battle.
　Even if there is no chance of victory, if you know beforehand whether you will win or lose, you can avoid fighting.
　But on the other hand, if you don't know the enemy's power and your own, you can't fight.
　As a result, you will lose every time you fight.
　The important thing is to know who you are.
　What are your strengths?
　What are your weaknesses?
　It is important to understand these things.
　If Lupis had understood his shortcomings, he wouldn't have built his political system around himself.
　A king's job is to make decisions, and while she is a kind and compassionate person with a kind heart, she is not a decisive person.
　Ryoma himself thinks it would have been better to strengthen the authority of the prime minister and ministers and then introduce a collegial system of government, with Lupis following the decisions of the ministers.
　Of course, there is still the possibility of being tyrannized like Gerhardt's time, but it won't be that big of a problem if you secure the military rights of the direct knights of the konoe and parent guard.
　In fact, if Lupis had consulted with Ryoma after passing Suzi without any unnecessary scheming, he would have answered that.　　

''I don't want to be collateral damage, but do we have to go after all?　To be honest, I'm not too keen on it, though.

　It was the same light tone as usual, but Rionne's eyes were serious.
　It's not just another matter for her.
　It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to get your hands dirty.
　When it comes to battle, they are the ones who are called upon to fight, and they are the ones most in danger of dying.
　If it is to protect the city of Seirios, Rionne orders them to die.
　But I can't agree with them dying for the sake of this vapid Roselia kingdom.

''I'm sorry Rione-san, but I can't compromise on that point. This guy isn't going for the Roselia Kingdom or Lupis. It's absolutely unavoidable for us to survive and grow more powerful than we are now.

To counteract the invasion of the Oltmere Empire.

　Ryojin nodded at Gen O's words.

''If Zaruda is destroyed, they will attack Roselia next. Considering the land and national strength, the three eastern countries can finally oppose Oltmere's invading army with a coalition. With just two countries, Mist and Roselia...

That's a long shot.

　Rionne replies, shaking her head.
　It's not that she herself doesn't understand the current situation.
　It's just that she's not convinced that she's going to help Lupis as a result.

Well, that's what I thought. Besides, I should be able to use this as an opportunity to pick back quite a bit from Lupis.''

　Ryoma shrugged his shoulders and replied.

'Picking?'

　I'm not sure if she didn't grasp the meaning of the words, but Rionne turned her doubtful eyes to Ryoma.

It's time to move forward with the development of the peninsula. To be more specific, we want to bring in farmers and skilled craftsmen. We'll also need to get some civil servants to help us out.

Do you want to make it conditional on my joining your reinforcements?

Yeah, well, slaves aren't enough to increase the population, no matter how big the population is. No matter how big the saucer is, if there's nothing in it, what can we do?

Well the walls and the roads have been built and the houses are ready to go, so we're ready for you to come in at any time, but we're not.

　Bortz's voice is laced with confusion.
　In fact, there are only children or mercenaries who were brought in as slaves in Seirios now, besides the Igazakis.
　Soldiers and mercenaries, and ninjas and their families.
　Some of the ninja are skilled blacksmiths, so they have no trouble repairing their armor, but it is a different kind of town, with no merchants or farmers, only soldiers.
　The only exception is a few maids sent by the Countess of Salzberg.
　Of course, Bortz himself doesn't think that he can keep it up forever.
　After all, if you don't cultivate your farmland and start an industry, you can't get taxes.
　But why now?
　The question came to Bolz's mind.

He said, "Now, they will accept our terms, even if it means going a little overboard. Even if they're worried about our growing influence.

　No ruler, let alone a farmer, can easily allow a technician to migrate.
　Technology cannot be learned overnight, and some things are kept secret.
　It takes time and money to acquire them.
　No one is willing to give benefits to others, even to the detriment of their own interests.
　But if you're in dire straits right now, you can make them swallow conditions they wouldn't normally drink.
　No, Lupis would agree to it more easily than if he were to ask for money or territory poorly.

''I see.......So you're using this as an opportunity to promote the development of the peninsula at once.

　To Ryoma, Lupis was already just a prey for him.
　Food for him to take a leap.

''It's a great invitation. I have to pick it back as best I can.''

　At Rionne's words, Ryoma received a cold smile and laughed.
　Then he turned his gaze to the one man with a smile on his face.

''Nercios-san. Do you have any questions?''

　At Ryouma's question, the man steps forward with a look of confusion on his face.
　He is a slender, but large and muscular man.
　He has blueish black skin and golden eyes.
　His silvery white hair shines in the sunlight.　
　His chiseled face is so chiseled that anyone would praise him as the most beautiful man in the world.　

''Why did you call me here?''　

　His voice is low and calm.
　His appearance is around thirty or so, but his voice gives the impression of a much older person.

''Are you bothering me?''

　Nelsios shook his head quietly at Ryouma's question.

''No ... but I'm sure I wondered. I wondered why you invited me, a sub-human, to this place.

　It was natural for Nercios to be puzzled.
　The only people present here were the core of the Baron Mikoshiba family.
　Among them, the only one who is different is him.
　He was a stranger with no connection to the Baron Mikoshiba family.
　At the very least, he thought so.

''Oh. Don't worry about it too much. At any rate, for now, our goal is to get Nercios-san to leave.''

What?　What's that all about?

　Nelsios nodded his head at Ryouma's words.
　He wasn't asked for an opinion.
　It's not that I was asked for any kind of material support.
　I was just invited to this place to listen to them.
　This is an unexpected turn of events for Nercios, who had thought that he might be able to convey some kind of request.
　Ryoma smiled while meeting the Nelsios gaze that suspected there might be a backstory head on.

''Well, whatever........''

　The meeting ended with these words from Ryoma.

　
(What a strange man. It's a strange man, he doesn't seem to be afraid of us. And why did that man call me?
　As he headed to the house he'd been using to get out of bed for the past few days, Nercios thought back to the meeting he'd just had.
(No, isn't that man the only one who's wondering...)
　No one in that room had ever turned their disgust on Nercios.
　He was a subhuman.
　Throughout the last few months of their relationship, I had felt that they had no prejudice against sub-humans.
　I had felt it when we talked and ate and drank together.
　But somewhere in the back of my mind, I guess I still didn't believe it.
　When the messenger human told him to go to the meeting this morning, I am sure that disappointment spread through Nercios' heart.
　He wondered if this guy was still a human too.
　But he only smiled today.

　The knowledge of the granting technique that elves and black 《dark》 elves possessed.
　The treasures that are said to have been lost long ago.
　Also, these elves are born with enough power to make ordinary knights not a problem.
　The power they possess is powerful.
　But on that first day when they first met, none of them were wanted by Mikoshiba Ryoma.
　He didn't ask them to provide him with technology or troops.
　All Ryoma asked of Nelsios, who was trying to retrieve the daughters of the tribe captured by the pirates, was to visit the city of Seirios once every half month.
　At first, he just came.
　When they spoke to him, he would just answer them mechanically.
　But as the number of visits grew, we began to joke around, exchange things, and eat together.
　The semi-monthly visits we had exchanged in the beginning are now only a formality.
　These days, they have been given a house to stay in, and there are always a few people in the city at any given time.
　The younger members of the tribe, those under two hundred years of age, know the history of persecution by humans, but none of them have actually experienced it.
　It was nearly four hundred years ago that sub-humans risked their own dignity and existence to engage in contradiction with people.
　Of course, there are those in the tribe who are hostile and hateful to humans.
　The resentment of having their families killed and being driven from their beautiful homeland is not so easily erased.
　There are those who abuse Nercios as a coward, who seek to manipulate humans.
(Well you invited me to that place to show me.)
　Nercios winced as the thought occurred to him.
(We're not trying to hide anything ourselves. So you say.)
　It was a statement by Mikoshiba Ryoma that he believed in us subhumans.
　He did not show it in words, but in attitude.

　Nercios began to return to the path he had come from.
　He couldn't just let the man have his way with him like this.
　If it was reasonable to return resentment with resentment, then it was reasonable to return trust with trust.
　Because he was one of the proud Black Elf tribal chiefs.
　He can't forget his resentment of people.
　That could be said of himself.
　But he couldn't ignore the future that lay before him.
　Perhaps he could return to the far ancient times, when man and sub-human were said to have lived together.
　That thought pushed Nercios back.