I'm afraid...

　Alice's voice shakes.
　She hugs herself with both hands and looks down and says

　'What will they do to you if you disobey...'
　But if you don't disobey him, he'll still hit you, won't he?
　If all I had to do was get hit...

　I whisper to myself.


　When you train an elephant........
　They tie a thick rope to the little elephant's leg that is tied to a thick stake.

　The little elephant struggles to escape, but the little elephant is unable to get out of it.
　Then the little elephant gives up trying to resist.

　Even after becoming an adult, the elephant remains resigned and will not escape even with a small stake and a thin rope.


　Alice's situation seems to be similar to this.
　She must have been trained at an early age.

　To Alice, the stake is Aldo.

　But.........

　Aldo's not in the building at the moment. "He'll be in our custody in time. Then he will be executed. And you'll be free.

　Alice remains downcast.

　Huh.....
　I guess that's it for today.

　It's only been four days, and if I continue to be patient, I'll gradually regain my will...
　Is it?

　I'm not a psychiatrist, so I have no idea.
　Julia is a sorcerer, but she says she doesn't know much about the mind that doesn't involve witchcraft.

　I don't know how many days-or even years-it will take Alice to get on her feet.








　'Please be seated, sir. Lord Merlin.

　Merlin took my advice and sat down in a chair.
　Me and Merlin are the only two people here.

　'Can I ask you one question?'
　What is it?
　'Doesn't the Alliance against Gaul forbid separate peace?

　In order to forbid the countries in the Alliance against Gaul to make a peace treaty on their own, it is forbidden for each country to make a separate peace treaty.
　If each country worked separately, the alliance would lose its meaning.

　Peace is forbidden, but negotiations are not forbidden. But it does not prohibit negotiations. You had better read the article carefully.
　Yeah. So, what are you talking about?　It's not like we're going to talk about Japan slowly, is it?

　There is one mystery.
　How does this guy know I'm Japanese?

　I knew Merlin was Japanese because he was speaking Japanese during the chanting of the spell.
　But I didn't speak Japanese.

　Is there some kind of blessing?


　No, I'm talking about peace. I know very well that the Kingdom of Roselle will not accept that.

　Our national revenue is about 1,000 tarrant (26,000 kilos of silver).
　The Kingdom of Roselle is a great power with more than ten times the national strength of our country....

　The state revenue would be around 10,000 tarangs (260,000 kg of silver).
　In total, the Roselle Kingdom was ordered to pay 2,500 tarangs in the peace treaty.

　That's a quarter of the national revenue.
　A quarter ... if you ask me if I can pay it or not, I can pay it.

　But my emotions won't allow it.
　The Kingdom of Roselle is not trapped enough to have to pay such a large sum of money.

　It would be cheaper to pay the money than to continue the war, but humans are not necessarily creatures that act on reason.
　Sometimes we act on our emotions.

　It is doubtful that King Roselle will give his approval.


　"But both sides want to stop the war.
　'What?　My country can still do it, though?
　'Don't be too pugnacious. There's a rebellion going on, isn't there?

　The news finally reached me.
　It seems that the tribes in the northeastern part of Gaul have revolted against the Germanic tribes, and that the Germanis have crossed the river and are invading the country.

　I've heard that the Germanic tribes in the northeastern part of Gaul have revolted against the Germanic tribes, and that the Germanic people have crossed the river.
　According to the story, the Germanic tribes are forcing their way into the country with their cattle, accompanied by their families.

　They are like armed immigrants.
　From the point of view of the Roselle Kingdom, they should have dealt with this as soon as possible.

　We don't have time to let our troops play in a place like this.

　''Huh.......so it was your ploy after all. Well, good. So what's the deal?
　Here.

　I'm offering you a deal.


　One, to recognize the territory we have gained.

　Two, that we pay one hundred tarangs to Fardham, Gilbed, and Domorgal, and two hundred tarangs to King Rosyth's kingdom.

　Three, to deliver Prince Aldo to the country of King Domorgal.

　Fourth, to approve Prince Carlo's accession to the throne of Domorgal.

　Fifth, to release the Adelian prisoners of war.

　Sixth. Sign the truce for three years.

　* King Rosais' reparations to his country are large because he did not gain any territory.


　Hmm ... five hundred tarrant. Well, I can pay, but...

　Merlin looks unconcerned.
　Naturally.
　They suddenly reduced the compensation to a fifth of the amount.

　This is beyond suspicious.

　''Are you going to convince the lords of Adelnia?　
　What. Are you worried about me?

　The answer is yes.
　The main ally of the alliance against Gaul is the country of our king, and the one most likely to make peace (the omission) alone is also the country of King Rosais.

　If our country urges for an early truce, the other three countries have no choice but to take it into consideration.

　In the first place, it was the country of King Loseys that fought the most in this war.
　King Domorgal's country owes a debt of gratitude to King Loseys for his help, and the king's incompetence makes it impossible for him to make a strong statement.

　The two countries of Gilbed and Fardham are newcomers who have jumped in.
　They don't have much of a say in the matter.

　Rather, they should just be happy to receive the same amount of compensation as King Domorgal's country.

　In fact, I'd like to say that since we have our territory back, we should be satisfied with that.
　We're just getting a little cession from King Domorgal's country.

　"Well, fine. We'll see about that.
　That's good to hear. By the way, about the prisoners we secured....
　''All but the centurion and higher ranking officers and sorcerers are yours. Miscellaneous soldiers aren't worth paying a ransom for. So that's the ransom, but...
　"Two thousand tarrant.
　What?

　The chair makes a rattling noise.
　The only expression on his face is one of frustration.

　'It's outrageous!
　What are you talking about? It's the right amount.

　You're lying. It's not proper at all.
　Basically, one turlant is enough to buy ten slaves.

　For a ransom, and with some coloration an average soldier is estimated to be worth a fifth of a Tarrant.

　If a general is worth a thousand times the value of an ordinary soldier, that's still two hundred tarrant.

　That's ridiculous.
　Easy, easy.

　Two ten thousand generals and five thousand generals. In addition, several centurion generals.
　This was the joint result of the Allied forces before the chase.

　And after the chase, three additional thousand generals were captured.
　That's a total of 16,000 prisoners of war.

　Now, the question that arises is what kind of a share of the ransom is being shared?　
　The ransom is one of the most important sources of income in the war.

　As a matter of fact, the ownership of the 16,000 slaves below the centurion's rank has not been determined.
　It is to be discussed with King Domorgal's country and decided in the future.

　The rule is that each share of a thousand or more generals is the property of the country that captured them.
　We have two ten thousand generals and four thousand generals.

　Thanks to the efforts of our soldiers.

　The sum I claim for the two thousand tarrant is the sum of two ten thousand generals and five thousand generals.
　And one of the ten thousand generals was Roselle royalty.

　Maybe the market price is ... at most around five hundred tarangs.

　In other words, I'm charging more than four times the market price, but....

　This is to make up for a quarter of the damages.
　You are a dirty man.
　I hope you think of it as the price of labor to persuade the Adelian nations to join us.

　We, as a country, want as much money as we can get, but that doesn't mean we can't conclude a peace treaty.
　But that doesn't mean we can't make a peace treaty.

　So I thought to myself, "Isn't there a way to reduce the amount of reparations to other countries and raise our own?
　Isn't there a way to reduce reparations to other countries and raise our own?

　And that's the way we thought about it.
　Since the ransom is outside the peace treaty, it is not against the covenant.

　It was a brilliant strategy to take advantage of the hole in the covenant.
　Or rather, that's why they prepared the hole.

　The downside is that if this gets out to other countries, relations will deteriorate, but there is no problem because we will sign an armistice agreement for a while.
　Or rather, if our country and the Roselle Kingdom come to form an alliance and come to us with a pincer attack.....................they won't point out the problem.


　''But........but even if the reparations are reduced to one-fifth, the ransom is still so high......''
　"Well what will they think of you when you had a way to save them and didn't do it?　King Roselle.

　Merlin's expression distorts when I say that.
　If it's a bad shot, you can't escape execution.

　I'm looking at my feet.
　That's why it's two thousand tarrant.

　I can understand why two thousand tarrant is too high. That's why I'll lose to 1,000 Tarrant.
　That's not...
　But there are conditions.

　A thousand Tarrant, you are going to lose.
　Of course not for free.

　"I want information on all sorcerers hiding in our country. And I will capture every sorcerer in this country. We will not torture them. But if you wish to free them, you will pay the ransom separately. And this agreement is confidential. The exchange will be done in secret.
　....

　.........
　Merlin meditates.
　He must be thinking desperately.

　Will he be condemned for accepting the Thousand Tarrant, or will he be condemned for not accepting it....
　Should I present the sorcerer's information, or should I not?


　'The amount your country has to pay is one thousand five hundred tarrant. Probably, if you're going to pay it as reparations, this is the place to go. In addition, there should be a ransom, but the ransom and reparations are a lump sum. So it should be cheaper than expected. We'd both say it's better to take care of things here. Besides, thanks to Mr. Lydia's clean-up, we have a pretty good idea of the location of the sorcerer inside our country. So it's too late to present information on the sorcerer.

　I think it's a moderately good deal.
　The Kingdom of Roselle will be cheaper than expected and our country will get a lot of money.

　And the peace treaty will end sooner than expected.
　It's up to you to kick these conditions and continue the peace negotiations, but.......

　Probably protracted.
　And the situation in the Kingdom of Roselle is getting tense.

　We're going to have to make some major concessions.

　If Merlin were the ruler of Roselle's kingdom, he would surely kick off these conditions.
　But the ruler of Roselle isn't Merlin, it's King Roselle.

　Perhaps King Roselle wants to end the war sooner rather than later.
　But he must not be willing to pay much in reparations.
　Paying large sums of money would be like advertising Roselle's defeat at home and abroad.

　The amount of reparations represents the scale of Roselle's defeat.

　But if it's a ransom, the scale of the defeat doesn't matter.
　And it won't be made public.

　The authority of the Roselle Kingdom will not be harmed.

　''I'll have to decline.

　Merlin looked me straight in the eye and clearly refused.

　'It's certainly not a bad deal ... no, I think it's a very good deal. Just think of this moment, right now. The risk of your country becoming stronger with the reparations paid by our country is unacceptable.
　Well that's a shame.

　I sighed heavily.
　Then I stand up.

　'Get out. This conversation with you is over. Yeah, it's a shame. I thought you were a little smarter than that.
　You can say as much as you like.

　Merlin stood up grimly and left.






　'Raimondo,'
　I know. I'll start preparing plan B.

　Now for the real deal.