Julia I want to help me I don't want to...
　"What's the king saying about...

　While saying that, Julia stroked my head as she hugged me.
　Julia's belly was swollen like that.
　I have a child.

　It will be born in another three months or so.
　It's due in the spring, just as the winter is dawning.

　To be honest, I don't think it would be a good choice for either of us...
　What do you think, as an almsman?

　I think about it for a moment before answering.

　'Hmmm ... if there's any chance of winning, I guess it's the main battle ... like Ial and the others said, Pofenia can't be trusted. Besides, the benefits of winning are too great. As for me, I want to cut down and stabilize the South before a full-scale battle with the Roselle Kingdom. But.........the problem is the calculation of winning. Even if we win in the first place, if we lose more things than we gain, it would be a disaster.
　I see........so you're saying that they both have their advantages and disadvantages?
　Yes.

　Well....
　As a practical matter, I think peace is the only way to go, but....

　Hey, Alms...
　What?
　It's... this is hard to say, but, you know...

　Julia scratched her cheek a little and then said to me

　"Raimondo and the other peacemakers have asked me to convince His Majesty to do something about it, you know.... ...
　They finally drove a pregnant woman out of the house...

　It's true that Julia is of the Rosais clan and she's my wife, so it's only natural to draw her in, but....
　But, hey....
　Do you usually get pregnant women involved in political disputes?

　Well I have no vested interests or anything. 　We have a relationship....
　No, no, it's okay I know.

　Julia is my wife, but before that, she's a member of the Lossies clan.
　She has to be a member of the Lossies clan.

　It can't be helped.

　"Huh... but there's gotta be a better solution...

　And as I was struggling with...

　"Alms.
　Tetra and Nona are with you.

　Tetra is a newborn baby...
　He walked toward me, holding Nona in his arms.

　Nona is a recently born daughter of me and Tetra........
　I'm already used to being pregnant, and she was born easily. I can't get over the fairy.

　'I'm in distress I'm sorry, but...'
　'Oh, that's enough. All right ... you've been told by the Ial, the Cilician, and the As clan?

　When I asked, Tetra gave a small vertical shake of her head with a cocoon.

　It seems that Ial and the others drove Tetra out against Raimondo, who had mobilized Yulia.
　So now it's evenly matched.......

　No, this is not the time to be concerned.

　What do you think of Tetra?
　'I'm not particularly ... very interested. It's all about Almus' decision.

　That's a very Tetra-like solution...

　Julia?
　'Yes, well when Raimondo and the others ask me to do something, you know. I have to say something too..........
　"...drive out a pregnant woman?　The "normal

　Tetra also seems to have some doubts about Raimondo for driving out a pregnant woman.
　Well.....
　You'll have to forgive him.
　He's just as desperate as I am.

　Raimondo and Ial are both ...
　He's a valued vassal who puts the Kingdom of Romalia first.

　Well, I'll keep my eyes open. On both sides. I don't want political strife at home... oh, yes... is Alice there?
　I'm here.

　T!
　As if to say, Alice appears from the ceiling.
　I'm not surprised anymore.

　'Have you been told anything?'
　Both factions have asked me to say a few words to Your Majesty. But it seems that His Majesty is distressed. I didn't say anything because I thought that my own opinion would only lead His Majesty astray for nothing. I don't have the same relationship with you as Yuria-sama and Tetra-sama do.
　Well but I didn't expect you to be involved.

　Alice is my concubine and has no political affiliation.
　And she's a former slave.

　To put it bluntly, I'm the furthest thing from a political position I've ever been from...
　It seems that he was spotted for his neutrality.

　Well, it's true, if Alice is attached to Yulia or Tetra, they're outnumbered in the household.......

　Both seem to think alike.

　''Politics is a hard thing to do.......Your Majesty, if you don't mind, I can go get a few heads from the Barca family?''
　No well that's as good as it gets but I won't be able to recover if you die.

　Assassinations are not so easy to pull off.
　It would be difficult to break into a foreign country and assassinate someone, let alone a domestic one.

　Besides....
　I don't know if killing them will stop me.
　You might make things worse.

　Oh, my God!　I really don't know what to do I don't know what to do anymore I have a headache...

　I press down on my throbbing, aching head.
　I don't have a migraine.
　This is a side effect of the Lord's Blessing.

　In my mind....
　I can think of a piece of advice Merlin once gave me.

　　"'I'll give you one piece of advice. "One piece of advice: don't rely on that blessing too much. Don't rely on it too much, or you won't be able to tell the difference between King Loseys and Almus.

　...Do you think I'm capable of making that distinction now?

　...Are you okay?
　...Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just me.

　So far, my thoughts have not changed.
　At least it's not changing depending on the people........

　If it had, I would have torn up Azul Hanno's peace plan.

　It's become resistant........
　So that means, or.....

　Maybe it's the fact that the national debate is split, I don't know.

　'So what's the conclusion?'
　At any rate, I still don't have Alexios' opinion on the matter...

　I asked Ron, Seo-yeon and the others for their opinions.
　They were scattered, too.

　If anything, Ron and the other generals were peacemakers.
　So-young and the other sorcerers are the main warring faction.

　........What about the fact that spellcasters are more belligerent than soldiers?

　Does Alexios's opinion change anything?
　'I'd trust Bartolo more than Alexios... for me personally.

　Tetra and Yulia say their impressions of Alexios.
　I know that Bartolo is more trustworthy to them, as they have known him for a long time.

　He and I have known each other since we were kids.
　Alexios, on the other hand, is a newcomer.

　........And he's a Pofenian, and he's related to all the enemy generals we're fighting right now.

　I mean, it's an amazing situation.
　Isn't this a Barca Festival?　Trisichellia is.

　And that's a stupid thing to think about....

　"Your Majesty!　Lord Alexios has returned, sir!
　Okay, well call me into the throne room.

　Well.....
　You don't draw conclusions around here, huh?





　The throne room.
　As the chief ministers looked on, Alexios opened his mouth.

　''To be honest, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter either way. I am His Majesty's hound. I will hunt what His Majesty tells me to hunt. If he tells you not to hunt, stop. .... with that in mind...

　Alexios smiles at me.

　'Your Majesty demands, let me give you an answer.

　The answer?
　You want me to?

　'Isn't this what you think?　'If there's a guarantee that Pofenia can be defeated, I'd like to fight her, but if she can't be defeated, then peace is the only option, right?'

　.........
　That's right.

　'First of all, the guarantee that we can defeat Pofenia, but we don't know if we can win unless we actually try. Yes, the odds are high.

　Alexios said he had a completely different opinion than Bartolo.
　Bartolo said his opponent wouldn't fight him....

　When I ask Alexios about that...

　''Your Majesty, that's what we're talking about on land. ........The battle on Trisichellia Island has already shifted from a clash of forces to a war of attrition. Early on, who can destroy the enemy's supply first? That's the key.......which means that victory or defeat on land will be a trivial matter.

　That's what I'm talking about.
　You want me to win a naval battle?

　'Alexios, you know as well as I do that our naval power is...'
　'You are too preoccupied, Your Majesty. Pofenia is a maritime nation. That's why its navy is strong. Romalia is a continent and therefore has a weak navy. ...is too much of an impression.
　'But ... the fact is that Pofenia's navy is strong. On the other hand, we don't even have a navy.

　That's an undeniable fact.
　But Alexios shook his head widely.

　''Good, your majesty. The last time Pophenia fought was in the Persis-Cilicia War. Since then, Pophenia hasn't fought a proper large-scale naval battle. That was a group of amateurs, that is, no different from our country in terms of skill.
　But the ship?
　'Why don't we just build the ships, Your Majesty? Already our country has the national capacity to build more ships with the same capabilities as Pofenia, and in greater numbers than Pofenia.

　Sure.....
　We can build a ship, and we can mass produce it.

　But....

　Isn't that what Pofenia is all about?
　'Your Majesty, the population of Pofenia is a million at best. What about our country?　There are nearly three million. The production capacity is three times as large. And......

　Alexios adds.

　'Pofenia is in overwhelming shortage of timber, which is essential for ships. Pofenia is a little further south, and there's a great desert a little further down the road. It's not as green as our country. And in the process of expanding farms and building commercial ships, deforestation is going on...the forests probably don't even cover half of the country. Our country, on the other hand?　Seventy percent ... no, more than 80 percent of it is covered by forest.


　It's....
　I wouldn't have thought of that.

　Indeed we need wood for shipbuilding.
　...Pofenia and Romalia. A perspective that only Alexios, who knows both countries well, and who knows the sea better than anyone, could have.

　I also understand the meaning of Bartolo's words.

　''As for the crucial naval battle, if you allow me to lead you, I will certainly show you a victory. I am His Majesty's hound.''

　.........
　Well, now we know better.

　Now we know what we're going to do.

　If we can forge an alliance with the Persis Empire, we will start the war. If not we will make peace.