As soon as Rosais' army, led by me, appeared, the Pofenia army retreated as if a wave were receding.
　Normally, when they retreat, their formations are disrupted and this is a chance for a chase, but.......

　They didn't have a chance at all.

　In order to avoid causing any unnecessary damage, they entered Rezad without giving a chase.

　After that, the post-war process was solemnly carried out.

　The volunteer army and mercenaries of Rezad were disarmed, and Rezad itself was incorporated into the country of King Rosais as it was.
　And its governance was deputized by patriotic senators who remained in Rezad.

　It's very limited autonomy in terms of how it's treated, an allied city.

　King Rosais' country has been a landlocked country until now, so he doesn't have the know-how to run a port.
　Rather than forcing it to be under direct control, it was decided that a form of indirect rule would proceed more smoothly.

　Most importantly, the political and tax systems are different between Rezad and Japan.
　In the case of autonomous cities and allied cities, this was not a problem because they were in principle self-governing, but.......

　Since Rezad will be incorporated directly into the territory, the tax and political systems will have to be reformed.

　There are a number of other issues that need to be addressed...
　Now it's an afterthought.


　Now we have to do something about Pofenia.






　Three days after we arrived in Rezad, an international conference was held in the Rezad capitol building.
　I, the organizer of the conference, was the first to speak.

　I said, "Representatives, diplomats, and ambassadors from all over the world, you are all here today. Let us now discuss the post-war process and the measures we must take against Pofenia.

　I look around at those gathered in Rezad.

　From King Domorgal's country, General Tonino.
　From the Equus tribe, Muzio.
　From the land of King Evil and the land of King Belvedil, a great family is a diplomat.
　From Gehenna, Abraham from the land of Gehenna.

　And from King Rosais' country, it's me, Ial and Bartolo.

　The so-called victorious nations. And on top of that....

　Senators and Alexios who led in the Rezad defense line.
　The steward of Nemeth.

　And representatives of the Cilician cities on the Rezad-Nemes side of the line that escaped invasion because they were off the route of the Rosais army's advance.

　The so-called defeated nations.


　Other representatives of the city-states that were invaded by the Lossies army and ruled under the control of King Lossies' country are also present, but they only watch the proceedings of the meeting and do not participate, but watch us from the outside with interest.


　''First of all, the nations allied with Rezad Nemeth. "First, the countries that were allied with Rezad Nemeth, I offer you three options. The first is to be incorporated into our country on the terms of an allied city, and the second is to pay two thousand tarangs in reparations. The other is to turn it all to ashes.

　The national income of our country is about 1,000 tarangs.
　In our country, with a population of over 400,000, it is barely 1,000 tarangs, so a city-state with a population of 10,000 or 20,000 at the most cannot pay 2,000 tarangs in compensation.
　If you violate the contract, all you have to wait for is death.
　So, in effect, there are two choices.

　So it's death or submission.

　"King Almus, may I ask you one question?
　What?
　''Alliance city treatment........do you mean the same treatment as the Alliance cities that are currently under your control?
　That's right.

　When I answered that, the representatives of each country seemed to be relieved, and their faces lit up.
　Well, it's a very light punishment for a defeated country.

　There are countries that demand reparations of more than ten times their national income, and if they can't pay, they demand that their citizens be sold into slavery.

　No, they are conscientious enough to demand reparations.
　In some cases, entire ethnic groups are forced to emigrate and work as slaves.

　By comparison, the right to self-government is guaranteed, even if the taxes are a little heavier.

　That's not a bad thing.

　"From now on, all of our nation's citizens are at your service.
　My country...
　My country...

　Each country's delegates come forward to greet me and say a few words of allegiance.
　That's a good thing.

　"I appreciate your loyalty, but we'll talk about it later. There's something else we need to discuss.

　I'll take the delegates in hand.
　We can't take these people anymore. They're no longer of use to me.

　Well, the war as originally planned is over, but what about you guys?

　I questioned the diplomats from Muzio, King Evil's country, and King Belvedere's country.

　Muzio is the first to open his mouth.

　"I was originally hired by King Almus to come here. If King Almus continues to employ me, we will continue to fight in the war. If we're done here, then we'll just go home.
　How much do you think the extension will cost?
　Will that be discussed later?

　Me and Muzio smiled.
　For a start, it looks like the Equus tribe will continue the war.

　'What about your country?　We won't get any territory in the fight against Pofenia, and we may not be able to extract reparations. So we can't guarantee profits. We will not force you. We will respect your will.

　King Belvedere's country is, in effect, a vassal state of our country.
　King Ebir's country is our high ranking ally.

　That's the relationship.

　So if I wanted them badly enough, they would join the war.
　I don't want to create too many cracks in the alliance.

　I don't want to force you to do anything.

　The loss of a few thousand men will hurt, though.


　''I'll need to contact the home office once.
　I can't give you an answer unless you ask the king.
　'That too. ....I'd like two days, please.

　I can't wait any longer.

　Well.....
　I turned my gaze to the second main guest of the day, the representative of Nemeth.

　As yet, Nemeth has not surrendered to our country.
　It has only made a truce with Gehenna.

　What will we do after this? I have to ask.

　'Well, first of all, I want you to make it clear that your country is either a friend of ours or a friend of Pofenia.

　In response to my question, the representative of Nemeth answered.

　'There is no such thing as true friendship between countries. Therefore, our country can be a friend of your country, or we can be a friend of Pofenia.

　Nemeth gave an either/or reply.
　Abraham snickered when he heard the answer.

　'You know these stories?　There was a bat in a place. One time when a war broke out between the birds and the beast, at first the bird that conquered the sky had the advantage, and the bat fought as a bird, claiming that he had wings too. But of the beasts, the monkeys drove the birds into a corner by setting a trap, and the beasts took advantage. Then the bat betrayed the bird and fought as a beast, claiming that he was a beast because he was born from his mother's belly. In this way, whenever the battle situation changed, the bat changed his position. As a result, after peace was made with both the bird and the beast, there was no place for the bat.

　Oh.....
　So there's a bat story in this world.

　Humans, does that mean the ideas are the same?

　To which the representative of Nemes replied.

　'The fox and the wolf are very similar in appearance. Therefore, there is a story that the fox is said to dignify other animals with the idea that he is a relative of the wolf. ........Do you know about this?


　So I'm the wolf and Abraham is the fox.
　Well, it's true, me and Abraham are related to each other.


　A standoff occurs between Abraham and Nemeth's representative.
　It's a flash in the panic.

　Huhuh....
　I don't have time for this right now, but...


　'I don't care what animal you are talking about, bat or fox. What I'm asking is whether your country will choose to join with my country to defeat Pofenia, or to resist with Pofenia against my country, or to remain neutral.
　So, we're going to...

　I interrupt the representative of Nemeth.

　'Pay our country one thousand tarangs immediately, or join our country on the allied city treatment and give us troops in the war against Pofenia. And cede to Gehenna the territory of the West. No other terms of surrender will be accepted.

　I will press Nemeth on the terms that I had decided in advance with Abraham.
　I will not accept any other conditions.

　If Nemeth is going to fight with Pofenia against us, I will respect his will.

　However, as a result, the city-state of Nemeth will be wiped off the map.

　"...we are negotiating with Pofenia at the same time.
　Sure. What about it?　I can't wait for you to come to a conclusion. I don't mind either way.

　I forcefully press against Nemeth.
　When I glance next to them, I see that Ial and Bartolo are looking a little nervous.

　No, it's not just the two of them.

　Everyone here is watching the exchange between me and Nemeth's representative with bated breath.

　''I understand. ........I surrender.

　It was Nemeth who broke.
　It looks like he was a strong man after all.

　Instead of reaching out to Rezad, who was in danger, Pofenia didn't reach out to him, but on the contrary, she pointed her weapon at him.
　From this, we can see that Pofenia has no intention of making any concessions.

　Even if Nemeth were to ask for assistance from Pofenia, it is certain that he would be asked for a tremendous amount in return.


　However, the quid pro quo I'm asking for won't be cheap either.
　Joining as an allied city would mean being taxed, and its autonomy would be greatly restricted.

　Still, it's a little better than Nemeth going up in flames.

　"Now, there are many other details that remain, such as the handling of the former member of the Rezad legislature who defected to your country, but that can wait for now. Our priority is to take out Pofenia first. In two days, we'll prepare our army and drive Pofenia away from this Adelunian peninsula!








　"My lord, it seems that Nemeth has joined forces with King Rosais in his kingdom.
　"Hmmm........the proud Cilician has fallen far behind, to be affiliated with the barbarians. After all, from now on, it is we, Pophenia, who will rule the Teutonic Sea.

　Kepka laughs as if to say he doesn't care much.

　What Kepka wants is a port and some fertile land at the southern tip of the Adelunian peninsula.
　We don't need the people who live there.

　The main industry of King Rosais' country, which is predominantly Adelnian, is agriculture, and the Adelnians are an agrarian people.
　Adelnians do not run a business. Adelnians do not do business, and they do not have the skills to navigate the seas.
　Moreover, some of them may be afraid of the sea.

　Therefore, Cilician and Adelian people can coexist in harmony.

　The Pofenians, however, are a people who do the same business as the Cilician people and create wealth by sea trade.
　Their industry is the same as that of the Cilician people.
　Therefore, they cannot coexist with each other.


　In order to obtain land, they would have to drive the Cilician people away from the southern tip of the Adelian peninsula, and then they would have to build a Pofenian colony.
　And to do that, the Cilician people are in the way.

　So Kepka demanded immediate payment of 3,000 tarangs and 10,000 tarangs in 50-year installments from Nemeth.

　Nemeth's state income was about one thousand tarangs.

　There was no way he could pay a total of 13,000 tarangs.
　Even if he could, there wouldn't be a single grassroots left in the city-state of Nemeth by then.

　There was no way Nemeth would accept such a condition.
　Therefore, it was fully expected that Nemeth would be dominated by King Rosais' country.


　''Although we are slightly outnumbered we have no intention of losing to the barbarians. We will settle this matter in the field.''

　Kepka smiled in triumph.