Chapter 129 - Secret Diplomacy

“I’m scared …”

Alice’s voice trembled as she spoke.

She wrapped her arms around her own body while looking down and continued,

“What’s going to happen to me if I go against him …?”

“Even if you didn’t, you could have been beaten as well, right?”

“If everything would be forgiven after being beaten, then …”

She mumbled.

When training an elephant …

A thick rope was tied around a young elephant’s leg. The other end of the thick rope was tied to a large stake.

The young elephant would desperately try to escape, but it would not have enough power to break free.

That way, the young elephant would give up trying.

After the elephant became an adult, that mentality would remain. So even if its leg was tied to a small stake by a thin rope, it would not escape.

Alice’s situation seemed to be similar to that elephant.

She must have been trained at an early age.

Alice’s stake was Aldo.

However …

“Aldo isn’t here now. It’s about time he’s taken into our custody. And most likely, he will be executed. Then you’ll be free.”

Alice was still looking down.

Ah …

I guess I could only go so far today.

Only four days had passed, and if I continue to persevere patiently, she would gradually regain her spirit …

Or would she?

I was not a psychiatrist, so I had no idea.

Julia was a shaman. However, she was unfamiliar with mental conditions where sorcery was not involved.

How many days … no, how many years would it take for Alice to become independent?

“Please have a seat. Lady Marlin.”

Marlin sat in the chair as recommended.

There were only the two of us here.

“May I ask you sone thing?”

“What is it?”

“Isn’t Gallia Alliance prohibiting individual peace without consent from other members?”

To prevent member allies from acting on their own, the Gallia Alliance prohibited its members to conduct individual peace treaties.

If each kingdom moved independently, it would be pointless to have an alliance.

“Peace treaties are indeed prohibited. However, negotiations are not. It would be wise to read the provisions carefully.”

“… I see. So, what are you going to talk about? Don’t tell me that you’d like to chat leisurely about Japan.”

That was puzzling.

How did she know I was Japanese?

I realized that Marlin was Japanese because I heard her chanted spells in the language.

But I had not been speaking in Japanese.

Could she possess some kind of Blessing?

“No, I’d like to discuss about the peace treaty. … I’m fully aware that the Rozel Kingdom will not accept it.”

Rosice national income was about 1,000 Tarlants (26,000 kg of silver).

Rozel Kingdom was a large country with more than ten times my national power …

The estimated national income should be around 10,000 Tarlants (260,000 kg of silver).

During the talk, Rozel Kingdom was demanded to pay a total of 2,500 Tarlants.

It was a quarter of my national income.

A quarter … in my opinion, they had the capability to pay that amount without a problem.

However, their sentiment would not allow it.

Even if such a large sum of payment was demanded, Rozel Kingdom was not cornered enough to oblige.

It was indeed cheaper to pay the demanded sum than to continue fighting the war, but the actions of human beings did not always based on reason.

Sometimes we acted based on emotions.

It was doubtful that King Rozel would accept it.

“However, it’s a fact that both sides want the war to stop.”

“Oh? My kingdom can still continue the war without a problem, though.”

“I suggest you better not act so tough. There’s a rebellion going on, isn’t there?”

I finally received the information.

It seemed that the tribes in the northeastern part of Gallia had rebelled, and Germanis were invading across the river.

In particular, the Germanis led around 100,000 people for the invasion.

According to the information, Germanis brought their families and livestock and forcibly entered the country.

The situation would be similar to an invasion by armed immigrants.

From Rozel’s perspective, it had to be dealt with immediately.

They could not afford to have their troops play around in a place like this.

“Hmm … as I suspected, it was your scheme, wasn’t it? Well, whatever. So what are your conditions?”

“Here they are.”

I presented the conditions.

First, we demand the acknowledgment of our territory.

Second, we demand compensations for kingdoms of Fardam, Gillbed, and Demorgal 100 Tarlants (2,600 kg of silver) each, as well as 200 Tarlants (5,200 kg of silver) for Rosice Kingdom.

Third, we demand Prince Aldo to be handed over to Demorgal Kingdom.

Fourth, we demand the coronation of Prince Carlo as king of Demorgal to be approved.

Fifth, we demand the release of Adernian prisoners of war that had just were captured during this war.

Sixth, we demand a three-year cease-fire agreement to be signed.

* Rosice Kingdom could not obtain any territories, and hence they demanded more for reparations.

“Hmm … 500 Tarlants. Well, we could pay this amount, but …”

Marlin had an unsettling look on her face.

Naturally.

The amount of reparations was suddenly reduced to one-fifth.

It would raise suspicion.

“Would you be able to convince the Adernian lords?”

“Oh? Are you worried about me?”

Her answer would be “yes”.

Rosice Kingdom was the leading power of the Gallia Alliance. Moreover, it was also the kingdom that was most likely to act on its own to attain peace.

So if we urged for an early ceasefire, the other three kingdoms would have to consider it as well.

In the first place, Rosice Kingdom fought the most in this war.

Demorgal Kingdom owed Rosice Kingdom a favor for the help they received in the past. Aside from that, the King of Demorgal was incompetent as well, although I could not say that firmly.

Both Gillbed and Fardam were … newcomers that jumped in and participated.

So they did not have much influential voice.

If Rosice could receive the same amount of reparations as Demorgal Kingdom, it would have been very satisfactory.

Or rather, I should be contented enough having reclaimed our territory.

I was just getting Demorgal Kingdom to cede a little.

“Well, that’s fine. I shall convince them.”

“I’m glad to hear that. By the way, about the prisoners of war in custody …”

“We’ll return anyone below captain-rank commanding a hundred troops. We’ll keep captain rank and above in our custody. We’ll keep the shamans in our custody as well. Common foot soldiers won’t worth any ransom. And speaking of ransoms …”

“It’s 2,000 Tarlants (52,000 kg of silver).”

“What?!”

Her chair rattled loudly.

She showed nothing but an extremely dissatisfied expression.

“That’s outrageous!!”

“What are you talking about? It’s a reasonable amount.”

Of course, that was a lie. It was not at all reasonable.

Basically, one Tarlant could buy about ten slaves.

Since it was ransom we were talking about, I thought to sweeten the pie a little … A common soldier would worth around one-fifth (0.2) Tarlant.

Even if the value of a general was a thousand times that of a common soldier, it would be about 200 Tarlants.

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

“Okay, calm down!”

There were two commanders in charge of ten thousand troops, and five commanders in charge of a thousand troops. The remaining were several captain-class commanders in charge of a hundred troops each.

That was the joint result of the allied forces before the pursuit.

After the pursuit, three additional commanders in charge of a thousand troops were captured.

A total of sixteen thousand prisoners of war.

Now, I wonder how it should be shared between our allies.

One of the most important sources of income during a war would be from ransom.

As a matter of fact, the ownership of those 16,000 slaves that were below captain-rank had not been decided yet either.

It was planned to be discussed with King Demorgal and decided in the near future.

It was decided that for prisoners of war with ranks of commanders in charge of a thousand troops or above would belong to the country who captured them.

The spoils of war acquired by our kingdom were two commanders in charge of ten thousand troops, and four commanders in charge of a thousand troops.

All were the result of our soldiers’ best effort.

The total sum of 2,000 Tarlants I advocated was for the two commanders in charge of ten thousand troops and the five commanders in charge of a thousand troops.

Moreover, one of the commanders in charge of ten thousand troops was a member of Rozel’s royal family.

Perhaps the market rate was … at most around 500 Tarlants.

In other words, I was demanding more than four times the market rate …

“This is for making up a quarter of the total reparations.”

“… What a greedy man.”

“I want you to think of it as a labor payment for persuading Adernian lords.”

Our kingdom wanted to get as much money as possible.

However, that would hinder the peace treaty to be concluded.

That got me thinking.

Was there any way to reduce the reparations for other kingdoms while raising ours?

That was the last resort I could think of.

There would be no violation of the rules since ransom was outside the peace treaty.

It was a wonderful strategy that took advantage of the loophole.

Or rather, I arranged for that loophole to exist.

The downside would be if this were leaked, our relationship with other kingdoms would worsen. However, that should not be a problem for a while since there would be a truce.

Even if our kingdom formed an alliance with Rozel, which would be considered a pincer operation … I did not think they would intentionally sell us out.

“But … even if the amount of reparations has been reduced to one-fifth, the ransom is still too high …”

“… So you’re saying that even though you have the means to save them, you wouldn’t. Am I right? I wonder how King Rozel would think.”

Marlin showed a wry expression upon hearing my remark.

Carelessness could lead to an unavoidable execution.

I was taking advantage of the situation to size up their values.

And hence I came up with the proposed 2,000 Tarlants.

“Well, I know 2,000 Tarlants is too expensive. Tell you what … I’ll reduce it to 1,000 Tarlants.”

“T-that is …”

“But there are conditions.”

I reduced the ransom by 1,000 Tarlants.

Of course, there would be a catch.

“Please share all the information about the shamans that are preparing to ambush our kingdom. On top of that, we want all those shamans arrested. Don’t worry, we won’t torture them. However, if you would like them released, a separate ransom would have to be paid. Also, since this is a top-secret agreement, I’d like you to protect its confidentiality. The exchange shall be done in secret.”

“…”

…

Marlin closed her eyes.

She was probably weighing desperately on the consequences.

Should she accept to pay 1,000 Tarlants or not? … She would be blamed either way.

Should she provide the information on the shamans or not? Which would be the wisest?

“The amount your kingdom needs to pay is 1,500 Tarlants. Perhaps it would be a better compromise if you considered the whole sum as reparations. Well, there’s a ransom and reparations amounts originally. But if you combine both, the total amount to be paid is cheaper than the estimate. It would be in both of our best interests to take action here. Also, thank you for getting a confession from Lydia. I have a better grasp of the whereabouts of the shamans in my kingdom. That’s why now is the time to present the information regarding those shamans.”

I thought it was a good deal.

Rozel Kingdom could pay a cheaper amount than estimated, and my kingdom would get a lot of money.

And the peace treaty negotiation would end sooner.

Well, I would not mind if she wanted to continue the peace negotiation either …

Most likely than not, the negotiation would drag on.

And the tension of the situation in the Rozel Kingdom would increase.

There would be a large-scale concession.

If Marlin were the ruler of Rozel Kingdom, she would have rejected these conditions.

However, the ruler of Rozel Kingdom was King Rozel.

King Rozel might want to end the war sooner.

But he would be reluctant to pay the reparations.

Paying a large sum of money would be equivalent to declaring their defeat both internally and externally.

The amount of reparations paid directly portrayed the scale of their defeat.

However, the scale of defeat had nothing to do with the amount of ransom.

Since the amount would not be announced at all.

The authority of Rozel Kingdom would be unscathed.

“… I have to refuse these terms.”

Marlin declared clearly as she stared straight at me.

“Sure, those aren’t bad … no, I think they are excellent terms. Well, if you only think about the current situation, anyway. But it’s absolutely unacceptable considering the risk that your kingdom could become stronger with the reparations paid by my kingdom.”

“Well … that’s a shame.”

I sighed loudly.

And then stood up.

“Please get out. This is the end of our discussion. Ah, that’s too bad. I thought you were a little smarter than this.”

“Say whatever you want.”

Marlin showed displeasure while standing up. Then she left.

“Raymond.”

“I know. I’ll start preparing for plan B.”

Well, the next strategy was by my first choice anyway.

Author’s note:

Advantages and disadvantages of the Almus’ concession plan

Advantages:

The cost is cheap. Peace can be quickly attained. The prestige of Rozel Kingdom is preserved. Marlin’s life was safe, even though it was hanging by a thread.*

Disadvantages:

Rosice Kingdom becoming stronger was not entirely impossible.