"Bartolo, can you beat Cearl Barca?

　During the natural truce, I secretly summoned Bartolo to ask him.
　Bartolo meditated, thought for a moment, and then....

　You can't lose. But you won't win.
　What do you mean...?

　A tie....
　You mean to say?

　'I've had a few skirmishes with Ceal Barca. Yes, he's good. But the bottom line is that our soldiers have not kept up with his abilities. Our soldiers outnumber the Pofenia soldiers in skill and morale. Therefore, if we fight we will win. But that's what Ceal Barca knows too. Therefore.........he will not fight.

　...I see.
　If you fight, you win.
　But if you can't fight, you can't win.

　It's self-evident.

　A strategy of waiting for the limits of our nation's strength.
　It's a surefire way to win.

　Therefore, I would prefer peace.
　I suppose you're right.

　I trust Bartolo.
　If Bartolo says so, then I'm sure.

　But

　For now, let's just think about making peace. We must hear some other ideas.
　Your Majesty, I would like to offer you a piece of advice.

　Hmm?
　Bartolo is advising me?

　That's unusual.

　'I thought it would be good to hear Alexios Cornelius's opinion once. He would see ... what I don't see, and you know. Perhaps ... he may make a different decision than I do.







　''What nonsense.......you, the regulator, should know the limits of our country's national power!　Given the nature of our military system, we can't fight a long war!　There is no choice but to make peace!

　You're the one who doesn't know anything. Do you understand?　The Commonwealth of Romalia is a coalition of alliances secured by our military power. If our country draws in Pofenia, that collateral will be destroyed. Besides ... Pofenia cannot be trusted!　That country has two faces!

　After my talk with Bartolo, I called the Senate together.

　Because, although I had withheld the contents of the peace treaty
　It was leaked from somewhere.

　Perhaps.....
　It was probably via Pofenia, especially the Barca family.

　This peace treaty spread quickly among nobles and commoners alike, and became a major controversy.

　In other words

　Peace or war?

　The national debate in our country has been split in two.
　As the Barca family wanted, our country is now divided.

　It's no use to us now that they've found out.
　So I called the Senate together to try to unify the national opinion more of a unity than a peace.

　The debate was a wild one.

　The leading peacemaker was Raimondo.
　The conservative class, led by Raimondo and the Rosais clan, insisted on peace.

　They have a certain amount of vested interests to begin with, and they are rather afraid of losing them in the war.

　Besides.....
　I have a very solid idea.

　Me and Bartolo are both more on this side of the fence than the other.


　On the other hand....
　The first of the main warring factions is Ial.

　With Ial at the center, the anti-Rosaisian nobles such as the Dibel Clan and the As Clan, as well as other nobles other than the grandiose families of the original Rosaisian King's country.

　They have smaller vested interests compared to the Lossies clan, so they want a bigger share of profits in this war.
　In particular, it is the As clan that is at odds with the Lossies clan.

　In the past, they had a common enemy, the Dibel clan........
　Now that the Dibel clan has fallen off, the composition of the Dibel clan & Gaijin & Ath clan vs. the Rosais clan.

　What would your father-in-law (the previous King Rosais) think if he saw it?
　Do you think he's going to smile bitterly?

　And that's how the national debate was divided.

　And......
　The trouble is, both sides began to pull in various layers to get me to drink their views.

　It was the main warring faction that set it up first.
　They drew the commoners' associations, and then the spellcasters' associations to their side.

　They collected a mountain of petitions for the continuation of the war from the commoners' and sorcerers' associations in various places, and the Ials said with a smug look on their faces, ''How about it!　The commoners are on our side!' And they did.

　These days, the citizens of Los Angeles City, in groups, have been saying, 'War!　War!　War! They ended up marching as if they were singing, "I'm afraid.
　Too belligerent and scary.

　On the other hand, Raimondo and the others were not to be outdone.
　They were not too comfortable with the Kingdom of Romalia, having recently been ruled by it. Rather, they have been scraping up signatures of those who are antagonistic to them.

　And 'There are some commoners who are opposed to you, hey! And then he slammed it down on Ial and the others with a smug look on his face.

　And now.....
　The Ials have brought the Cilician cities to their side.

　Ever since the betrayal of Pophenia in the Persis-Cilician War, Cilician people have had a strong antipathy towards the Pophenians.
　Most of the Cilicians want to kill the Pophenians.

　That's why the Cilician Romalis are asking 'continue the war and let us kill the Pofenians'.

　Besides......
　If our country wins this war, our country will be able to take away the colonies and commercial areas of Pofenia.

　That would be spiteful and attractive to the Cilician merchants.

　I can't ignore the Cilician people because they have great wealth.
　Besides, there are many nobles who are in debt to the Cilician people.

　Their inclination toward the main fighters has led to a sudden shift in national opinion toward the main fighters....

　This was not to be the case.
　The peace faction, led by Raimondo, had brought the Adelian member states of the Federation to their side.

　From their point of view, this battle was not very profitable.
　If they could gain territory within the Adelnian peninsula, they would still feel a real sense of gain, and if their opponent was the Roselle Kingdom, which had been oppressing the Adelnians, they would still be willing to fight, but....

　Trisichelia?
　Pofenia?

　What's that?

　There are many Adelunian allies that are called "Adelunian".
　In particular, it was King Evil's country, King Domorgal's country, King Fardham's country, and...

　The countries around here don't seem to want to give out their troops if they can.
　The Alva Kingdom seems to want to just give us money, though.

　They are an important ally to our country.
　We can't ignore their intentions.

　And.........
　The story has spread to foreign countries as well as to our own.

　It all started with.....
　It was Ains, who was sent as a diplomat to the Persian Empire.

　Ains from Emperor Xerxes.
　"If you fight all-out war, we will support you.

　He brought out the obviously Romarian-dependent quality of the words, "I'm sorry,

　Firmly signed by Emperor Xerxes.

　Thus..........
　The main warring faction advocated the "Persis Alliance Theory" and the peace faction advocated the "Pofenian Cooperative Theory".

　It can also be paraphrased as the Alliance and the Cooperative Faction.

　.........
　I said to Azul Hanno, 'Your country is not unified in its national opinion'....　
　The situation was not very human.


　'Your Majesty the King!　We must make peace!　Pofenia's naval power is mighty!　Our navy can't compete with it!　And isn't our nation's enemy the Kingdom of Roselle!

　"Your Majesty!　We should continue the war. If we don't strike Pofenia here and now we will lose the agreement again. Next, we might be pinned down by the Kingdom of Roselle. Besides, if we can take the Trisichelia Island and the commercial area that Pofenia has, our country will be even richer!

　Raimondo and Ial will argue their point of view to me.

　I can understand what they both think of the Kingdom of Romalia.
　In fact, both of their opinions have merit.

　But.........
　But that doesn't mean there is a definitive deciding factor.

　'Winter is just beginning. It's probably too early to draw any conclusions.
　"Your Majesty!

　What are you scumming about!
　The two of them seem to say.

　I raise my voice.

　''We'll come to some conclusion and policy within three days. Wait until then........This matter is not something that can be decided so easily!

　I said, holding my throbbing, aching head.