Genjitsushugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

Chapter 3: The Negotiation C

Prev List Next

Translator Corner

This is Yukkuri demasu!

As always, Yukkuri is overwhelmed by his RLwork… But now he is free‼!

I am sorry for the belatedness on my part.

Now that my work routine had cleared up (I transferredto a new Hospital you see) I can resume my usual translation schedule…Hopefully…

DISCLAIMER: There is noguarantee that my translation is 100% correct. Please correct me if I waswrong.

Author-sama:

Dozeumaru(どぜう丸)

Lazy Translator:

Yukkuri Oniisan

Le Editor:

So-Chintzy

Postwar Arc

Chapter 3: The Negotiation C

「Wh-……」(Julius)

Perhaps because my firm rejectionwas something unexpected, for a moment Julius was at a loss for words. However,he immediately spoke out with naked anger plastered on his face

「b.a.s.t.a.r.d[1],are you insane?! Do you think you can escape unscathed to defy the HumanityDeclaration!」(Julius)

「Thatis not something that someone like you can say. You invaded Efrieden’sterritory, and then, when you got invaded in exchange, you started yelling “no borderchanges with military power”. Because of that, your reasoning doesn’t make anysense.」(Souma)

「Thatis…… Everything was just the previous Duke Gaius’ arbitrary act-……」(Julius)

「Youalso know that those words are just excuses, right?」(Souma)

When I threw the question back athim, Julius’ words were tightly clogged up.

「……Whateveryou say, it doesn’t change the fact that you are occupying our citizens. I, asthis country ruler, ought to liberate my people.」(Julius)

So he objected. But, liberatingfrom an occupation, yeah……

「Isthat something that Van’s Citizens desire?」(Souma)

「What?」(Julius)

「Julius-dono,when you were travelling to this place, didn’t you see how Van’s streets andbuildings looks like?」(Souma)

Julius stared in amazement at myquestion, but he immediately replied while glowering at me.

「Vanis a city where I was born. I am more familiar with it than someone like you.」(Julius)

「Isthat so…... Then, what “color” does that Van have right now in your sight?」(Souma)

「Color?If it’s buildings with distasteful color on their walls or roofs, then I sawseveral of them, what of it……」(Julius)

「……Well I wouldn’t find fault in someone’s sense of art, but Julius-dono, if theyare under an occupation, would the citizens who were struggling undertyrannical rule paint their walls and roofs so colorfully like that?」(Souma)

Without any antagonism, Iexplained in a very kind and detailed manner for Julius.

「Ifthe despot imposes his power on the citizens, then the citizens wouldn’t dosomething that would attract the eyes of the despot, right? Since the citizenswouldn’t know what kind of calamity would fall upon them if they did any flashyacts that caught up the despot’s eyes. Therefore, the citizens under atyrannical rule wouldn’t speak of their discontent, wouldn’t let their att.i.tudesshow their emotions, and would stow away their true opinions into the deepestcorners of their hearts. Because of this, something like colorfully paintingtheir walls and roofs would be something that they absolutely wouldn’t do.Right?」(Souma)

At this point, I momentarilystopped my words, as I stared directly at Julius’ eyes and continued myexplanation.

「However,what color did that Van have when you were governing this city?」(Souma)

「!That is……」(Julius)

Julius hesitated to say. Well, ofcourse. When I first entered Van, the color that I sensed was “Grey Townscape.”The buildings that stood in the labyrinth-like unmaintained districts were onlyhouses with ash grey walls and brown earth roofs without any fragment of individuality.The uniformity of the color tone, even without any standardization, might be thefault of the lack of freedom given to the citizens of this city.

「TheVan that I govern right now and the Van that you had ruled before, as expected,which one that seems to be an “occupied” city?」(Souma)

「b.a.s.t.a.r.d,are you accusing us of being tyrannical despots!」(Julius)

「It’sa fact, right? Most of your national budget is poured into military expenses,right? …… Ah, also for the furnishing of this castle, right? Even though thetax that the people paid should essentially be used for the Citizen’s welfare, itwasn’t. Not for maintaining the city, not for maintaining the roads, not forpromoting industry, but all those heavy taxation fees went to the military. Isn’tthat stupid?」(Souma)

「Shutyour mouth up!」(Julius)

「Ceaseit, Julius-dono!」(Jeanne)

Jeanne stopped Julius who seemedto want to approach me. To be stopped no more than a half-step, he gritted histeeth with frustration. Although they weren’t permitted to carry any weapons intothe audience, if Jeanne hadn’t stopped him, perhaps he would cast a magic spellat me. If that happens, then we could have attacked Julius under thejustification of self-defense, but…… It is not the time for that.

「Aisha,you should also release your hand from the hilt.」(Souma)

「……Yes.」(Aisha)

I reminded Aisha, who stooddiagonally behind me while emitting a strong bloodthirst. She replied in the dejectedtone of a child that has just been scolded. Don’t worry Aisha, I didn’t pay anymind to it. Even if the opponent Julius was acting all high and mighty, I felt safesince Aisha is protecting me. Then, Jeanne sighed while offering her honestopinion.

「KingSouma…… I want you to stop inciting Julius-dono.」(Jeanne)

「I amonly telling the truth. An economy is about managing the land and providingrelief to its citizens[2]……despite that that was the ideal image of a ruler, his governance that waswasting all the heavy tax for military expenses was clearly tyrannicaldespotism.」(Souma)

「Whosefault was this! You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had robbed from us our ancestral lands!」(Julius)

「So,this again……」(Souma)

Julius repeated his constantinsistence, so I sighed.

「AlthoughAmidonia’s Royal Family had been yelling revenge against Elfrieden’s RoyalFamily at every opportunity, that incident happened 50 years ago, right? Not tomention you, but Gaius too, are not the people that were directly related tothat event. Additionally, I am only someone who arrived in this world not toolong ago. So, why are you holding a grudge against me so much?」(Souma)

「!That is,」(Julius)

「Ah, pleaseleave out killing Gaius and capturing Van. The one who began this in the first placewas your side. After all, if I don’t kill Gaius, then I would have been the onewho was killed.」(Souma)

「Kugh……」(Julius)

「See,you couldn’t find any words to say, right? You don’t have any reason to resentme after all.」(Souma)

Or rather…… The one who received thereal grievances was the Kingdom’s side.

「Hakuya.」(Souma)

「Yes,Your Majesty.」(Hakuya)

When I gave a sign, Hakuya tookout a rolled up paper and handed it over to Julius and Jeanne. What was writtenon that paper were several people’s names. After reading it, Jeanne was onlytilting her head in confusion, but Julius became pale.

「Thisis…… What does this mean?」(Jeanne)

Jeanne inquired towards Hakuya,who then replied while making a respectful bow.

「Thenames written on this paper are those of the n.o.bles inside the ElfriedenKingdom who had been agitated by the Amidonia Dukedom. Among these were the peoplewho were involved in the failed rebellion during the previous King’s reign. Amidoniaagitated them, kindled insurrection, instigated corruption, and incited anoncooperative att.i.tude towards the Royal Family.」(Hakuya)

「My,my……」(Jeanne)

Receiving the cold glance sent byJeanne, Julius’ mouth was bound close as he hung his head down. I had Hakuya investigateabout those who instigated the Three Dukes (well, in the end the rebellion failed).But wow, the shady bunches were here and there. Among the names in the list, Icould see the name of the n.o.bles who had committed corruption, but I also foundthe names of the n.o.bles who didn’t partic.i.p.ate in the battle and just chose towait and see.

「Doyou understand, Jeanne-dono? While pretending to cooperate in the HumanityDeclaration, the Amidonia Dukedom was doing secret maneuvers behind your back.This is the revenge against the Kingdom that they always talked about.」(Souma)

「Thatrevenge, too, in the end, is something that they adopted for their own conveniences.」(Hakuya)

As if to continue what Hakuya hadsaid, I spoke out while glaring at Julius.

「Thecountry is poor, it’s the Kingdom’s fault. The citizens are hungry, it’s theKingdom’s fault. The citizens suffered from hard labor, it’s the Kingdom’sfault. Heavy taxation not for the citizens’ sake, but for the military, thistoo is the Kingdom’s fault.」(Souma)

「……Whatdo you want to say?」(Julius)

「Howconvenient, since if you chant the slogan of revenge, then you can hide yourmisgovernment and shepherd the Citizens’ anger towards the Elfrieden Kingdom.」(Souma)

「You!b.a.s.t.a.r.d!」(Julius)

「Julius-dono!」(Jeanne)

This time, too, Julius tried todraw near, but Jeanne ‘s loud voice stopped him again. Then, she sent a harshstare at my direction.

「KingSouma, I think I had myself clear that I DO NOT want you to continue incitinghim.」(Jeanne)

「……sorry.But our side ,too, would like for you to understand our irritation towards Amidonia’sconducts.」(Souma)

「Thatis……I can sympathize.」(Jeanne)

「Thankyou. Then, there is a suggestion I want to ask from you.」(Souma)

Well, from now on, this will bethe real deal, and as if to indicate this, I faced the both of them.

「Willit be acceptable for you to make Julius-dono leave the room?」(Souma)

◇　◇　◇

「Whoare you fooling with! Why do I need to leave the discussion for the return ofthe capital city of our nation?!」(Julius)

At my sudden proposal, Julius lashedout with an infuriated expression. I felt that the angry faces of a strikingly handsomeguy was 50% more dreadful than a normal face. If it was the me from beforecoming to this world, then I would have been overwhelmed from dread andwouldn’t say anything. However, up until now, I have met with various scarypeople like Gaius and had wagered my life to some degree. Now, I wouldn’t bedisturbed with only this level of intimidation.

「It’sa simple story. In the first place, there is no reason to do any discussionwith Amidonia.」(Souma)

「Whyis that!」(Julius)

「WhatI placed on the negotiation table was for the Empire 『Iwant you to recognize Van’s possession』. Conversely, the Empire has the standpoint of notrecognizing border changes due to military power, so they came to negotiate 『Iwant Van’s return to Amidonia.』, right? See, in the end, isn’t the negotiation just betweenthe Kingdom and the Empire?」

Yes, this negotiation, ever sincethe beginning, has been a negotiation between the Kingdom and the Empire.Julius is nothing more than an extra(omake) that had been just sticking alongthe way. Since his enmity would prevent the negotiations from proceedingsmoothly, it would be really helpful if he left the negotiations. Jeanne alsoseems to understand this.

「……Julius-dono.Would you please leave this matter to me?」(Jeanne)

To which Julius replied.

「Jeanne-dono!?However,」(Julius)

「Ifboth sides keep antagonizing each other, the negotiations wouldn’t go anywhere.Even for the Empire, we don’t want to spend too much time mediating another’scountry war. Since Van would surely return, I want you to entrust thenegotiations to me.」(Jeanne)

「However!Then, won’t the negotiations would be one-sided!?」(Julius)

「Then,should the Empire withdraw from the negotiation, so you can conduct thenegotiation by yourself?」(Jeanne)

Julius wanted to keep arguing,but Jeanne shut him up with her words.

「If Ican be honest, for the current case, the fault lies on Amidonia’s side. Weoffered a.s.sistance since you are a member nation of the Humanity Declaration,but if you keep troubling us more than this, then the Empire would have towithdraw from this case.」(Jeanne)

「Kugh……」(Julius)

Since this was something that hislast ray of hope, the Empire, had said, Julius couldn’t say anything back. Aftershowing an anguished expression, he replied with a strained voice.

「Van……You will be able to return it, right?」(Julius)

「Iswear by my sister’s name, Grand Chaos Empire’s Empress Maria Euphoria.」(Jeanne)

「……Iwill be glad to entrust this matter to you.」(Julius)

After Julius said this, whilelowering his head and moving to leave the room, he glared towards my direction,and only then, did he exit the audience room. After watching him leave, I andJeanne then sighed together.

「……Sorryfor my idiot member nation.」(Jeanne)

「Nah,it’s me who should be the one who’s sorry that our idiot neighbor is botheringyou.」(Souma)

We looked at each other andlaughed. The serious atmosphere had disappeared, but it didn’t change the fact thatthe atmosphere was tense. No, rather, it could be said that the tension was higherthan before. Though I heard about this later, Liscia, who was watching from besideme from the time that Julius was in the room to up until he left, had her heartfluttering rapidly. Well…… For both the Elfrieden Kingdom and the Grand ChaosEmpire, this negotiation would decide “what would happen from now on” in just afew moments, so her nervousness was understandable.

☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽

The true negotiationsfinally can begin!

It’s refreshing somehowthat the Empire is not the standard evil empire commonly found in the fiction.

Also if this is Chineseweb-novel, Julius would have been coughing out blood and Jeanne would be confusedwhether she should cry or laughing. Also the Empire would be a rude and discourteous,after all the stronger Top Tier Sect like the Empire wouldn’t bat any eyelashesfor a Middle Tier Sect like the Kingdom.

Prev List Next