'His Majesty the King, I advise you. You must not drink the peace!

　Yes, to insist to me forcefully...
　It was Bartolo who had temporarily returned from Trisichellia.

　'What does that mean?　Bartolo.

　When I ask him...

　Morale in the Pofenian army is low, having been cut off from supplies. Belshazzar Barca will be easy to defeat. And the sea is thin on the ground. If we continue to attack the southern continent, we can make Pofenia fall!

　It's just that....
　I knew what Bartolo was looking for.

　Because the sea was the main battlefield in this war, Bartolo didn't have a lot of success in the war.
　Of course, he did play an active enough role, but.....
　This will pale in comparison to Alexios' success.

　Bartolo is looking for new results in the war.

　'Alexios. What do you think?
　'I'm against peace, too. General Bartolo is right we can win a complete victory over Pofenia if we keep this up!　If we defeat the army in Trisichellia, there will no longer be an army left in Pofenia. We won't have enough time to hire new mercenaries.

　I mean....
　Right now, the mainland of Pofenia is stretched thin.

　If we land, we'll definitely win!
　Alexios argues.

　Okay, sure.....
　Throw in Bartolo and Alexios, and there won't be a battle that can't be won.

　But.........

　Will the supply line hold?
　Your Majesty. 'Nothing is necessary to bring down the capital of Pofenia. It is important that we land and bring them into a state where they can attack at any time. If we do that we'll be in a better position to negotiate!

　What Bartolo said was that....
　It's certainly true.

　We should apply pressure and hope for more results.
　That's what the people want, too.

　Because....

　Your Majesty. .... or else we won't be able to get back what we lost in this war, will we?

　Alexios finally said.
　Well we have lost too many things to win.

　Human lives, of course, and funds, and ... and ... Marx.
　No, I don't want to sound like Marx is dead because he's alive.

　'Ron, Rosward and Gram. What do you three think?

　I ask the three of them and...
　The three of them argued with their mouths.

　'We should fight!'
　If we keep this up, we'll get even more results!
　"We should not make peace!

　I sigh and press my head down.
　I have a throbbing headache.

　It's probably a side effect of the Lord's blessing.

　Oh, if we're going to do what they say we're going to do.
　How easy would it be to kick the peace out of Pofenia?

　But.....　
　I managed to pull myself together and...

　I tell the generals.

　'I accept the peace. There will be no more wars.
　Why? !

　Bartolo shouts out his doubts as he shouts.
　But as expected, he thought it was rude to the king........

　He immediately bowed his head and apologized.
　I commanded Bartolo to raise his head.

　'Don't worry about it. "Don't worry about it," he said, "you're right to be repulsed. Yes, from a military point of view, we should certainly continue to fight this war. It's a battle we can certainly win.
　Then why would...
　It's gone.

　I'm just going to tell you the only thing I know for sure.

　"There's no money. The treasury is empty. And ... there's no way to hit the debt. All that's left is a massive debt. We'd have to raise taxes to keep the war going. But ... if we do that, the country will die. We've reached the end of our rope. We can't fight any more.

　Cars don't run without gasoline.
　It's just the same.
　No matter how much you want it to go on it's just not possible.

　Really? Not really?　The finances of our country are....
　"Raimondo.

　I didn't answer Bartolo's question
　He called out to Raimondo, who was standing next to him.

　'I'm sure you've got a document that summarizes the financial situation. .........show him.
　I understand.

　Immediately, Raimondo brought out the material.
　Bartolo, Alexios, and Ron and the other three looked at the material as they devoured it.

　And.........
　The five men's faces paled as they looked at each other.

　''Do you understand?''
　Yes, sir, I understand.

　Bartolo replied quietly.
　Then he lowered his head again.

　''Your Majesty. ... thank you. If it wasn't for your efforts, we wouldn't have been able to fight in this war. We would have been able to fight through it without any shortcomings.

　'Fool, stop it. This is my country, no effort, this is my country. I do my best to send you weapons and food to help you fight, of course. And it wasn't just me, you know. And it wouldn't matter how many weapons and foodstuffs we have, we couldn't have won without you in the first place. I'm the one who has to thank you.

　In time of war....
　I didn't give Bartolo and his men any details about the financial situation.

　I wanted them to be able to fight without worrying about the logistics.
　And I gave them what they wanted.

　The result was victory.
　At any rate, we had won.

　We couldn't fight anymore, but...

　''Oh, and there's also the fact that I'm more worried about the Persis Empire than I am about the treasury. If our country wins too much, this time they will make an enemy of that country. We're in debt to that country it's better not to win too much.

　For starters, the five of them seemed to be convinced.
　If these five people are convinced, then there will be no problem.

　To be honest, a mood of war weariness is spreading among the nobles.
　The commoners want more war results but at the same time they also want to end the war.

　The problem is the Cilician people, but fortunately they are few and far between.
　They are small enough to contain their discontent.

　Now all that remains is for the members of the peace negotiating team, but yes, I suppose that's true. As I thought, we'll need one or two military representatives. But it would be best not to include Alexios. It would make us feel bad.

　When I said that, Alexios gave a bitter smile.
　In a manner of speaking, he seems to know his position.

　If Alexios attends, it will be a form of agitation for Pophenia completely.

　He intends to be strong, but agitating him is too much.

　'I, of course, Ial and Raimondo. And Bartolo and........let's make it Rosward. I will take the four of you above and head for the island of Trisichellia.

　Ial, who was originally a main warrior, and Raimondo, who was an anti main warrior.
　And to Bartolo as a military representative........Rosward.

　Let Ron and Gram take charge of the domestic defense.

　This would be most desirable.

　'Then let's go!　To Trisichellia!







　The Pofenia side was still represented by Belshazzar Barca and Azul Hanno.
　In case you were wondering, they were present from both factions.

　Just as I had brought both Ial and Raimondo with me.

　I opened my mouth first.

　'Let me be blunt. To make peace or not to make peace, it depends on the terms you offer. What do you intend to offer our country?

　I pressed on, bullishly.
　We can't go on fighting, and so can our country, and so does Pofenia.

　After all, we have no money in the treasury.
　If we don't take what we can get, the country will go bankrupt.

　It was Azul Hanno who opened his mouth.

　"First of all I will cede all the rights to Trisichelia Island to you. On top of that, the Trisichelia Strait and the Mersina Strait will be used mutually. And we will lift all restrictions on the entry of your ships into your country's ports. And you will release your prisoners of war whom we have captured free of charge. You will pay a ransom for the prisoners of war captured by your country and you will release them.

　Hmmm....
　So you want to go through the Strait of Mersina and the Strait of Trisichelia.

　Well I'll have to accept that on this one.
　To tell you the truth, I'd love to have a monopoly on them, but with the Eastern Empire staring at me, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to do that.

　Other than that, I have no complaint about it.
　Of course not.

　The problem is....

　"Compensation shall be in the amount of 3,000 Taranto. One thousand Taranto in immediate payment and two thousand Taranto in ten-year installments....
　What's the point?

　I interrupted Azul Hanno's words.
　Three thousand Tarrant?
　Oh, come on, I don't know how many tens of thousands I've spent over here.

　I know your wallet is bulging at your place.
　Just give me the money, d*mn it!

　And I felt like a delinquent hunting for my father and kicked the compensation proposal offered by Pofenia.

　But I guess Azul Hanno and Belshazzar Barca had already seen it coming.

　'Then how about it?'

　In response to Azul Hanno's question....
　Ial replied.

　'Ten thousand tarrant, shall we say?
　'Outrageous!

　At this, Belshazzar Barca angrily slammed his fist on the table.
　Well ten thousand is a lot.
　Of course, we know that.

　This is quite a lot of money to demand other conditions.

　''Isn't that a lot?　But I have heard that your country is rich...
　I'd rather hire mercenaries for that 10,000 than give it to you.

　Belshazzar Barca, who is bullish.
　When you say this, we, as a people, are forced to pull back.

　We can't continue the war.
　To be frank, Pofenia probably can still go on because of its financial power.

　Frankly speaking, it is our country that is being pushed into a corner.

　Think of it as the gap between Japan and the U.S., just before the Battle of Midway, and the gap in power between the two countries.
　Romalia is winning, but it can't go on any longer.
　Pofenia, on the other hand, is losing a lot, but we can do it if we want to.

　So it must not be noticed that our country is dying.
　Therefore, we cannot pull back....

　I'm going to play the part.

　First, Bartolo is....

　Well, you're very belligerent. Very good. I haven't done enough fighting. Shall I send you to the southern continent to fight?　I hear it's warm in Pofenia. It must be easy to fight there.

　Azul Hanno's face paled at Bartolo's belligerent remark.
　Then he looked at Belshazzar Barca with an accusing look.

　And here I'm going to help you out.

　Wait, wait, wait. Bartolo. We're still negotiating. It's too early to draw any conclusions. I'm sure it will be difficult for you both to accept the 10,000 tarrant. I understand that you can't accept it. However.........we can't give it up either, but.......

　Well, what do we do now?
　Raimondo opens his mouth just in time to say, "I'm not sure.

　'Then how about a new and different condition?　So we'll reduce the compensation to some extent.
　Hmmm ... that's certainly possible. Then I'll do that.

　With a grin I can steal a smile.
　As expected of this stinky trifecta, Azul Hanno and Belshazzar Barca are frowning in displeasure at this stinky trifecta, but....
　Well, I don't care.

　For now, we didn't have to show any weakness.

　"First of all neither side will form an army in the territory of the other. And we will not attack allies on both sides. .... how about that?
　Well, that's fine.

　This is a measure to ensure that Pofenia doesn't hire our people as mercenaries.
　By the way, it doesn't matter because our country has a conscription system and doesn't hire mercenaries in the first place.

　
　Well that's fine.

　Azul Hanno nodded his head after thinking about it a lot.
　Well, these guys don't have any great interests in the east.

　It's the jurisdiction of the Persis Empire over there.
　However, for the time being, we can bring back the souvenirs to the Cilician merchants with this for now.

　''We will reduce the amount to seven thousand tarrant.

　When I say that...
　Azul Hanno and Belshazzar Barca frowned.

　Still high, they said.
　They're a bunch of maybes.

　Nevertheless.....
　We can't continue to fight a war...

　'I would like you to reduce it to five thousand tarrant. Either that or withdraw the concession west of Trisichellia.

　Well......
　Well, at least you can pay the 5,000 Tarrant.

　Well, I hope you're right about the 5,000, but....

　All right, I'll make a proposal.

　"I shall reduce the figure to 5,000 Tarrant. In exchange I will add a new requirement that your fleet of ships be 60% of our own.

　The response to this is....
　It was completely different with Belshazzar Barca and Azul Hanno.

　Belshazzar Barca frowned in frustration, while Azul Hanno smiled.

　''May I ask you one thing?''
　What is it?
　"....A ship is a battle galleys, right? In other words, it means a five tiered paddle boat or a three tiered paddle boat, right?
　Yeah, you're right.

　It's not impossible to divert a merchant ship to a warship, but...　
　I do not recommend it.

　This is because the purpose is fundamentally different.

　Hence, we are not going to regulate the number of merchant ships.
　Or rather, it would not bring negotiations together....

　'Good. I accept.
　Let's just accept it.

　Azul Hanno said with a big smile, and Belshazzar Barca said with disapproval.
　Thus.........

　The First Pofenian War had ended.