Alice, do you have an answer?
　I ask Alice through the cage.
　Alice looked me firmly in the eye and nodded widely.

　''Yes. I still haven't decided if I want to serve you or not but I want to be free.

　I see.
　Have you decided to get up on your feet first?

　I guess I'll just have to rip that chain out of my hand.
　Yes.

　Chains....
　Aldo must be killed.

　By Alice's own hand.





　Muzio. I'd like to give you something in return, wouldn't you?

　I went to Muzio and asked him that.
　Muzio said he was only doing his duty and he didn't need anything.

　But that would leave my country in the lurch.
　The Equus would have sacrificed little.

　We would be remiss if we didn't show our gratitude in some way.

　"Really, it's fine. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be king and... well, if I had to choose, I'd say more trade?
　Trade okay, I get it.

　The demand for woolen goods and horses is growing in our country.
　Increased trade will benefit both sides.

　'And this one is good if we can...'
　If there's anything I can do to help, you let me know.
　'Right. ....I want a slave.

　Slaves?
　Why do you want slaves?

　The industry of the Equus is nomadic.
　Slaves are unnecessary....

　The Gauls are very good at making wool, aren't they?　I have a feeling that the main industry in the Kingdom of Roselle in particular was woolen textiles. If you have a soldier who worked in the woolen industry, give it to me. Yeah, we'll pay you.
　All right. All right, I'll turn you in if she's there. And I'm not asking for money.
　That's a distinction.

　Well, if you're so adamant about refusing, I'm not going to force you to do anything.
　It's not like I'm going to lose anything by getting paid.

　But blankets......
　It's true that it's more profitable to turn wool into fiber and process it into a job item before selling it, rather than selling it directly.

　It's more prosperous to develop an industry that you're good at than to get into farming poorly.


　Oh, and one more thing.
　What?

　Muzio says with a serious face.

　'You know the Lupus and Ariace, don't you?　I'll be taking a stand against them one of these days. We don't have the power to do that now, so we'll just fight them off, but in the not-too-distant future, we'll end this. And when that happens, we need your help.
　All right. Then we'll reinforce our cavalry until then. I don't want to rely on you to do everything for me. We need to export our horses.
　I will. You'll have to export ironware from there.

　Me and Muzio shook hands tightly.

　I was expecting you to tell me about the stirrups.
　Well, you don't have to ask me.

　Stirrups have been given a lot of publicity in this war.
　Maybe ten years from now, all the cavalrymen on the Adelian peninsula will be in stirrups.

　That's the way technology is supposed to work, though, so I don't blame them.







　After the meeting with Muzio, I returned to the Tabernacle and found Ial there.
　I finally returned from King Fardham's country.

　''Ial!　You've done well.

　I praised Ial.
　Ial's achievements were threefold.

　He turned King Zoldias' kingdom against King Evil's kingdom.
　Sent King Fardham's kingdom to declare war on Roselle.
　He caused King Gilbed's kingdom to declare war on Roselle.

　If it weren't for Ial, we wouldn't have been able to get through this siege.

　"You're a first-rate fighter. You will be rewarded with an award for meritorious service.
　'It is!　Thank you. But is that okay?　I didn't take out the enemy general, but...
　That's okay. There's more to war than just killing each other.

　There are fights that don't involve weapons.
　In fact, those battles are more important.

　We are righteous and our enemies are evil.
　That's what makes the propaganda so important.

　Yes, well I'm going to have a meeting with Prince Carlo and Prince Aldo now to discuss the prisoners. You must come with us.

　All right. I will meet the king's expectations.





　Prince Carlo, how are you doing?
　'Ha, not bad. ...Well, it's depressing to think about rebuilding the country in the future. With the looting of the Roselle Kingdom, the country is in shambles.

　Carlo smiled bitterly.
　In the future, it will take a lot of hard work to rebuild the tattered land.

　To be honest, I feel a little sorry for him.
　After all, we shouldn't bring the war into the country.

　Invasion and civil war must be prevented.

　When will you accede to the throne?
　'Well I'm thinking about a month or two from now. Our first priority is to stabilize the country first.

　Afterwards, we will discuss the specific dates for the accession.
　


　Halfway through the topic of accession, which is like small talk, we finally get to the point.


　
　"...Prince Aldo?　Why is that?

　I have to get Alice to kill him.
　First, he must free Alice from Aldo's spell.

　Once you kill Aldo with your own hands, you should be able to realize that there is nothing to bind you.

　''Umm... how could you do that for such a slave girl... ah, I see!

　Carlo looked curious, but then he resolved something on his own and looked convinced.
　He grinned and smiled.

　''I see~ If that's the case, I wouldn't mind cooperating with you. ........Just because public executions are a people's pastime. Many people want Aldo to be publicly executed. We can't afford to have a bodyguard.

　Public executions are like a festival.

　In France, citizens of Paris would gather in the square to watch people being executed by guillotine, and all the rooms in the surrounding buildings would be rented out.
　Then they would set up stalls to provide food and entertainment for the people who had gathered, and it would turn into a festival.

　Then there were people who weren't interested in executions, but who wanted to make noise at the festival....
　It's a big event like that.


　It's like that in the Adelunian Peninsula as well.
　Moreover, Aldo, the condemned man this time, is a royal and war criminal who invited the kingdom of Roselle into the country.

　The people would be eager to see him publicly executed.

　''Then how about this?

　A smile appears on Carlo's face as he hears my suggestion.

　'That's a good idea. It's going to be very profitable. Let's do it, King Lossies.

　Good.
　There, that settles it for Alice.

　Now for the prisoner's share.
　I wouldn't mind doing the negotiations myself, but I think Ial is better at them.

　He's your man, Jaru.


　Carlo also seemed to leave the negotiations to his men, and the civilian officer, who had been standing by, stepped forward.
　The civilian and Ial start a heated argument.

　Carlo and I watch it.
　Good luck, Ial!


　.........
　.........
　.........

　More and more, the civilian officials look worse and worse.
　The color changes from angry red to blue like a traffic light.

　........this is not good.

　''Then our share is ninety percent for our country and ten percent for King Domorgal's country, is that correct?
　No, it's not okay.

　I let Ial back down.
　The pale civilian officer gave me a puzzled look.


　'It is true that our country's role in this war was very significant. It is not wrong to say that most of the results of the war were achieved by our soldiers and generals. But our soldiers were able to fight in an unfamiliar foreign land thanks to Prince Carlo's guidance. It is thanks to the people of this country who have willingly given us a place to sleep. That was a very significant contribution. ...I think seven to three is a good ratio.

　My country is seven and King Domorgal's country is three.

　The civil servant and Carlo look at each other in surprise.
　The slaves that should have been given ninety percent of the slaves were reduced to seventy percent by themselves.

　'Are you sure?　King Loseys. I think I owe you a debt of gratitude. You did not receive your lands from the Kingdom of Roselle. The land we are ceding to you is not large enough. The reparations are small. I'm inclined to agree with you that we want all the prisoners.

　I shook my head widely.

　'No thank you. I didn't save you for profit. I started the war in order to do what was right. As a result, we fought against the Kingdom of Roselle and other neighboring countries, and although we sacrificed a lot of lives, we did the right thing. That's enough.

　Carlo's eyes well up at my words, as if he was impressed.
　He squeezes my hand firmly.

　'King Rosais what a good man you are. A man like you is a true champion.
　I think you're overpaying for it.

　I smiled shyly.
　


　'But this doesn't make me feel any better let's make it expedient. Do you have any of your prisoners that you would like to see given priority?
　'Well I'd like to have someone with blacksmithing skills and someone with wool weaving skills.

　As I say this, Carlo gives the civilian a look.
　He's going to make it happen.

　This is a win-win.





　"Well my dear King Almus, how did you come to be 70 percent?
　It's simple. You've won too much.

　Diplomacy is not something that should be picked from the other side.
　It is not a matter of picking from your friends, especially if you are dealing with a friendly country.

　Even if you get the benefits, if your relationship with your friend is strained, there is nothing to gain.

　But you said Prince Carlo was good, right?
　'Just because Prince Carlo thinks it's a good idea and he's convinced, it doesn't mean that the great families and the people are going to be convinced. Some of them would be unwilling to even pay a little land to our country.

　The country is not run by one person.
　Even if the top brass are friends with each other, it's useless.

　I see........it's not just a matter of getting the other person to talk down to you, is it?
　That's what I'm talking about.