The Tripart.i.te Medical Alliance
Several days before the meeting...
With the Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel and simple receiver that had been delivered, I contacted Hakuya in Parnam Castle and informed him that I wanted to demonstrate Friedonia’s strength in order to ensure negotiations went smoothly. Demonstrating that our nation could be both a reliable friend and a troublesome enemy would make the alliance firmer.
When I asked Hakuya for his insight on the subject, the first idea he proposed was, “Will you deploy troops along the border?”
“Wait, we’re suddenly resorting to open intimidation in our diplomacy?” I asked, taken aback.
“I believe it is an easily understandable show of force,” Hakuya said with a cool look on his face.
...Huh? Was it possible he was serious?
“You’re joking, right? That would only make the other side needlessly wary, wouldn’t it?”
“I jest, of course. I was merely presenting the quick and easy method. If you hope for a long-lasting friendship, doing it may not preclude that, but it’s far from the best option.”
“...”
He’d said all that completely deadpan. It must have been Hakuya’s idea of a joke.
Way to make a joke that’s hard to get... I thought as I glared at him.
The next proposal he offered was, “Let’s get the Gran Chaos Empire involved in these talks.”
Empress Maria of the Empire?
“If your negotiations go well on this occasion, you intend to bring up the medical alliance with the Empire, too, right?” he asked. “You can move the schedule up on that.”
“That’s... Well, yes, it’s true I was thinking of it...”
If we were going to develop medical treatments and make them generally available, no single country could handle that alone.
If we forged ahead alone, we might be able to create a gap between ourselves and other countries, but our funding and manpower would have limits. If we tried to force just one country to do all the research, the progress would be slow.
If we were going to develop medical treatments and make them generally available, no single country could handle that alone.
In this world, external injuries could be treated with light magic, even serious ones, but there were still many people suffering from ailments that magic didn’t work on.
If someone close to me fell to disease while I was wasting time... I’d definitely regret it. It couldn’t hurt to be quick about developing medical treatments.
For the sake of that, I wanted the Gran Chaos Empire, the largest of nation of mankind, and the one with considerable budget and manpower, to handle one wing of that development. I had a diplomatic channel to the Empire, after all, and their leader, Empress Maria, was a woman I could talk to. She was sure to support the idea.
However, I had been meaning to get things in place with the Republic of Turgis before I brought this subject up with the Empire. Because the kingdom and Empire were distant, we needed a country to act as an intermediary between us, or this would be all pie in the sky.
And yet Hakuya wanted to involve the Empire... to involve Maria... in our current talks.
“There is more than one way to show strength,” he said. “Our connections are another form of power. If we can introduce Madam Maria, who is the empress of the Empire, at the meeting, Sir Gouran will be shocked. It would inform him that the nations to the east and west of the republic have their own independent line of communication.”
“True, I’m sure that would shock him...”
If the Empire and kingdom were coordinating in secret, the republic could be caught in a pincer attack the moment it opposed either. Well, given their geographical situation (in winter they were completely isolated by ice), there would be hardly any benefit in invading them and occupying their territory, but it would still put pressure on them.
“...But still.” I scratched my head hard. “It would be incredible if we could do that, but it’s probably not realistic calling in Madam Maria. There aren’t many days left until the meeting. Isn’t it impossible, considering security, the necessary processes, and everything else?”
“What are you saying, sire?” Hakuya objected, looking exasperated. “Who is each of us talking to right now, and where is that person?”
“...Oh.” I finally realized what he meant.
That was right. If she attended the meeting remotely over the Jewel Voice Broadcast, there was no need to invite Maria to come here from the Empire. I’d been imagining them meeting in person, so I must have been a bit out of it to overlook something this simple.
I felt awkward, and cleared my throat loudly. “Ahem... With that in mind, even if the meeting is held over a Jewel Voice Broadcast, will Madam Maria take time out of her busy schedule to attend?”
“Almost beyond a doubt.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.”
“During my talks with Madam Maria’s younger sister Jeanne, I have already made the request to ‘put negotiation about medical technology on the table,’ and said that we are ‘willing to compensate you appropriately.’”
“You already had your eye on this, huh?” I said. “Well done.”
“We haven’t decided on a policy for medical technology yet, so we’ve just been slowly feeling one another out on the issue.”
Hakuya and Jeanne feeling one another out, huh? They were both sharp, so their conversations were probably like laying down stones in a game of Go. But I doubted they were tense about it. With my and Maria’s permission, Hakuya had even done things like exchange gifts with her while Piltory was making his temporary return to the country.
In regards to their relationship, Maria had once said to me during a broadcast meeting, “Lately, Jeanne feels so full of life. Hee hee, do you think she and your Prime Minister found something in common to talk about?”
She’d seemed so happy about it. The only thing I could imagine them having in common to talk about was complaints about their respective masters, though. I wasn’t so sure it was a good thing if they were having a good time talking about that.
“Regardless,” I said, “in short, if we bring up the negotiations on medical technology, we can call Madam Maria to the meeting with Sir Gouran, right? Then, by showing off our connection to them, we’ll shock Sir Gouran, and we can take the negotiations in a direction that’s beneficial to us?”
“Indeed.”
“It feels like accomplishing two things at the same time, but... aren’t you saying that we should effectively convince two separate countries simultaneously?”
“I believe that will be up to your abilities, sire.”
“You make it sound so easy,” I grumbled.
Honestly...
But, well, that was probably the most effective way to do it.
“Let’s go forward with that,” I said. “Hakuya, negotiate with the Empire and move the preparations along. Make sure there are no mistakes made with the other matter I asked you to address, too.”
“Understood.”
Hakuya bowed respectfully.
And that brings us to the present.
Here now, the heads of the Republic of Turgis, Gran Chaos Empire, and Kingdom of Friedonia were meeting, even if it was over a broadcast.
Sir Gouran was left looking dumbfounded at Maria’s sudden appearance for a little while, but his expression soon returned to normal.
“Why, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the head of the Republic, Gouran Taisei.” He nodded to the empress on the simple receiver.
The jewel was on the opposite side of the simple receiver, so Maria could see he was nodding to her.
The Jewel Voice Broadcast of Maria giggled and smiled at Sir Gouran. “Please, forgive me for the rudeness of not informing you beforehand that I would be taking part in this meeting. I heard that a medical alliance was to be discussed here, and the Empire would very much like to partic.i.p.ate.”
“I’d like to apologize, too,” I said. “It was decided on so suddenly, I didn’t have time to contact you in advance.”
Maria and I bowed our heads in unison.
Sir Gouran looked at us with a blank expression for a moment, but then he let out a hearty laugh. “Gahaha! It looks like Sir Souma’s pulled one over on me! I never thought you were connected to the empress of the Empire!”
Even though he was laughing, his eyes were fixed on me. He was probably cautiously probing my intent.
I corrected my posture while making sure not to avert my eyes from his gaze. “I apologize for keeping quiet about this. However, I want to form this medical alliance between the Kingdom of Friedonia, the Republic of Turgis, and the Gran Chaos Empire, the three nations that make up the south of the continent.”
I was stating it clearly for Sir Gouran and Maria.
“I believe knowledge in the fields of medicine and treatment should be shared equally with all of mankind. Sickness strikes all, irrespective of race or borders. If an epidemic runs loose in one country, the damage will definitely spread to its neighbors. When that happens, if just one nation had the knowledge, drugs, or equipment, would we be able to protect our people? ...I say nay. Even if there is no discourse between countries, people such as merchants and adventurers are moving back and forth constantly. We can try to protect only our own people, but infectious diseases will keep on spreading.”
“That’s true,” Maria said. “Fortunately, I haven’t experienced one myself, but history records occasional epidemics on this continent, and how seriously they have shaken up the countries who underwent them.”
Yeah, history had recorded the same thing in my previous world, too.
In studying history for my entrance exams, I’d learned that the Black Death had been transmitted from Asia to Europe along the Silk Road, bringing chaos to many countries and then spreading onward to Africa, contributing to the fall of the Mameluke Sultanate.
In fighting epidemics, it was important to prevent the outbreak from spreading in its early stages. In order to do that, we needed to share medical knowledge.
“As long as our three countries share their medical knowledge, if an epidemic begins to spread in one country, we may be able to limit its spread to the minimum,” I said. “Furthermore, if an outbreak occurs in a country other than our three, we can coordinate in order to limit the area of our borders we have to inspect people at.”
“You’re right,” said Gouran. “For the republic’s part, not having to worry about our borders with the Empire and the kingdom would be appreciated.”
“I agree,” nodded Maria. “Our borders are needlessly long, so there’s nothing we would appreciate more than even a slight reduction in the number of checkpoints.”
Sir Gouran and Maria were both nodding. I could probably a.s.sume I had their support thus far.
“Having confirmed the need for sharing of medical knowledge between our three countries, I will return to the conversation I was having with Sir Guran before,” I said. “The discussion about how the kingdom will aim to train doctors and improve on their techniques, the republic will produce and develop medical equipment, and how we will trade our results. I’ve been thinking it is best to divide the labor, and focused research would be effective in leading to the development of the field of medicine. By having the Empire join us in this, I am hoping to have them handle the ma.s.s production of drugs, and the improvement of them.”
“Drugs...?” Maria asked, and I nodded.
“In my country, the three-eyed race has developed three-eyedine, an antibiotic. That’s a medicine that works well on infectious diseases, but the subspecies of gelin it’s extracted from will require land and manpower to raise, so we have not yet gotten to the point of ma.s.s production. If we can’t secure it in quant.i.ty, drugs will continue to be high-priced. For that reason, I want to request that the Empire, with its land, manpower, and funding handle the production of the drug.”
“That’s wonderful,” Maria said with a smile. “If you can tell us how it’s produced, I would like to create a system for ma.s.s-producing it at once.”
I could only imagine a dubbed in voice saying, “I want your technology” behind that smile, so I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“I’ll tell you about how it’s made...” I said. “However, I do want something in return.”
“Of course. How much do you want us to pay you?”
I reflected on what I had been thinking about earlier. “I don’t want money. I want something else from you.”
“Something else? What might that be?”
“A Jewel Voice Broadcast jewel. In other words, a dungeon core. Looking at the scale of the Empire, don’t you have a lot more than we do? I’d like you to let me have one.”
“A dungeon core, is it...?” Maria got a pensive look on her face, but she must have felt there was no loss to her in the deal, because she soon nodded. “Very well. I accept those terms.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And Sir Gouran.”
“Hm?”
This time, I looked at Sir Gouran. “It must be inconvenient to only have one jewel to use in domestic broadcasts. I am thinking of giving the jewel I receive from the Empire to you. How does your providing us with medical equipment at no cost for the time being sound as a payment for that?”
“Hm... It’s certainly true that we can’t simply acquire a jewel whenever we want.” Gouran thought for a little while, then slapped his knee. “Very well! However, I will want to discuss the exact amounts to be provided further.”
“Yes. That will be fine.”
“This is some awfully indirect negotiating,” Maria said, sounding a little exasperated.
I smiled wryly and shrugged my shoulders. “I did my best to make things work out for all three parties. If the republic only has one jewel, that’s inconvenient for coordination between the three countries. I thought they’d definitely want one.”
“Gahaha!” Sir Gouran chuckled. “It seems you saw right through me.”
“I see...” Maria had a serious look on her face. “By the way, Sir Souma, I have one question for you.”
“What might that be?”
“In regards to the three countries each taking on a field of research, is it not allowed to research the other fields? In my country, for instance, would I not be able to research doctor training or medical equipment?”
“No, you’re free to research the other fields. In fact, I very much hope you will.”
“It’s fine, then?” Sir Gouran checked to confirm, and I nodded.
“The reason I say I want each of us to specialize is in the name of efficiency,” I said. “However, if that’s all we each do, the moment one of the three countries is lax in their duties, the whole thing falls apart. Besides, in order to improve our drugs and medical equipment, I’m sure the knowledge of doctors and their techniques will be needed. Please, I’d like both the republic and the Empire to send anyone you want to master the study of medicine to our country. They will study with us, teach what they’ve learned in our country when they return home, and give birth to more doctors. In they do that, then the Empire and republic should be able to educate their own doctors, too. On the opposite hand, I’d like the republic to send a number of craftspeople who can produce medical equipment to us, too. I want to get a system in place that allows us to produce our own medical equipment if the situation calls for it, after all.”
“However, if we do that, ultimately, won’t we all end up studying every field?” Sir Gouran asked. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of dividing the research among us?”
“No, Sir Gouran,” I said. “This is insurance, and it’s also a race. If we fully divide things, it will be over the moment one country decides to break off this relationship. By all of us studying each field, we can prepare for that situation, should it arise. Furthermore, the fact that other countries are also studying it means that if you neglect your research, the other countries may get ahead of you.”
“I see,” Maria said thoughtfully. “In order to prevent that, you’ve introduced the element of a race into this.”
You’re thought into this quite deeply, she seemed to be implying.
Well, of course. I had debated this to death with Hakuya. We’d spent almost the whole time in between this conference being called and my going out to slay the ogres discussing it.
Sir Gouran said, “Hm...” with a pensive look on his face.
“Was there some point that was unclear?” I asked.
“No, I think you’ve put a lot of thought into this, but... there remains one problem.”
“A problem?”
“I’m sure you’re aware, but in winter our land is closed off by snow, and our seas by ice. In that period, means of shipping are limited, and we can only carry out trade in the summer.”
In other words, Sir Gouran was concerned about shipping.
In this world, when you tried to ship large volumes, it either meant land shipping using large creatures like rhinosauruses, or sea shipping using boats. Neither was suited to the Republic of Turgis’s winter.
The seas froze in winter, preventing the ships from coming in, and the land was covered by snow, which forbid the entry of creatures that were susceptible to the cold like rhinosauruses. There were cold climate animals like the numoth, but the amount one of those could carry was limited, and they were slow, too. That was exactly why merchants only came to this country in the summer.
I couldn’t blame Sir Gouran for being concerned. However, I had already heard that from Kuu.
“I have some ideas about that,” I said. “Roroa.”
Roroa, who had been silent up until this point, pumped her arm as if to say, I’ve been waitin’ for this.
“It’s finally my turn! Let’s get on with showin’ ’em that thing, then!”
Maria and Sir Gouran were taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm, but it was too soon to be surprised.
We still had a card up our sleeve, after all.
I requested a temporary suspension of the meeting so I could prepare.
Having gained Maria and Sir Gouran’s a.s.sent, I explained the situation to Sir Gouran, and received permission to bring a certain thing in from the kingdom.
I’d a.s.sumed that if I brought that in without clearance, it would cause a huge fuss. If things went badly, they might even think it was an invasion.
I had Sir Gouran write up a doc.u.ment to show at the border, and had a messenger kui carry that doc.u.ment to the border where that thing was supposed to be waiting.
“I’ve given my permission, but... I find it hard to believe,” he said.
“Same here,” Kuu added. “Not that I think Souma’s lying.”
The Taisei father and son gave their honest reactions as they watched the messenger kui fly away.
I shrugged with a wry smile. “You may find it hard to believe, but there is no lie or exaggeration in anything we’ve said, you know?”
“Yeah, you two just look forward to seein’ it.” Roroa had gone back to her less formal speech style at some point, but she spoke with confidence.
“Hmm, in that case, I find it all the harder to believe,” Sir Gouran said.
“Ookyakya!” Kuu laughed. “If it’s true, it’ll be worth seeing, now won’t it?”
Gouran was dubious, while Kuu laughed with enthusiasm. They were contrasting reactions.
Regardless, until that arrived, we decided to relax and drink tea.
About two hours later, maybe, there was suddenly a lot of hubbub outside, allowing me to confirm that had arrived.
When we all went outside the inn, that was already visible.
It was a large object, the bottom of which was black, the top of which was orange, and which was about the size of an elementary school’s gym, standing at the entrance to town where nothing had been before.
When we approached, it became apparent it had a two-layer structure. The top half, colored orange, was like a large ship, and it was supported by the lower half, which was made of a black, rubber-like substance.
That also made a constant sound like air was being expelled from it.
“How do ya like ’er? This is the amphibious ship, Roroa Maru!” Roroa shouted loud enough she could be heard over the sound it was making.
Gouran and Kuu’s mouths were agape at the majestic appearance of the Roroa Maru.
It was an amphibious ship. Yes, this was a ship. One that could travel by land or sea, at that.
I explained how it worked for Gouran and Kuu, who were still flabbergasted.
“Like Roroa said, this is a ship that can run on a water surface without waves, or on land. By constantly sending air into the black rubbery part, that large body floats, and even if there’s water underneath, it’s able to drive across it. In the world I came from, it would have been called a hovercraft.”
“Hovercraft...” Gouran repeated the unfamiliar word.
This ma.s.sive object was the hovercraft Roroa Maru, which I had sent for from the kingdom.
This Roroa Maru hovercraft was the one of a kind, built as an experiment while we were looking for uses for the overscientist Genia’s invention, the Little Susumu Mark V.
The Little Susumu Mark V was a ring-shaped machine that created propulsion by pushing water or air that was in front of it out the back side. I’d thought it might be possible to create a hovercraft that floated off the ground if that ring was faced towards the ground, and the air was blown up into an enclosure made of the recently discovered rubber-like substance.
And so, with Genia’s design, and with funding from Rora and Sebastian’s company, The Silver Deer, the Roroa Maru was now complete. Incidentally, when I’d asked Roroa what she wanted it named, since she had put up the money to develop it...
“Hey, hey, darlin’, in the world you came from, what were ships’ names like?”
“Hmm... Most used the names of people or places.”
“Hmm, that ain’t much different from how we do things here.”
“Yeah. Oh, and for fishing ships, a lot of them had Maru on the ends of their names.”
“Maru? Hey, that’s got a cute sound to it... All righty then, I’ve decided! This ship’s gonna be the Roroa Maru!”
“Roroa Maru?! You’re putting your own name on it?!”
...And that was how it had ended up with that name.
It was registered to The Silver Deer, which was the investor. Dealing in everything from apparel to the dishes from Earth that Poncho and I had recreated, The Silver Deer had its fingers in a lot of pies, but did they plan to enter the trade business as well now? They had clothing, food, transportation... almost everything at this point.
“A ship that runs on land...” Maria said, sighing in admiration, on the other side of the simple receiver Aisha was carrying. “The kingdom can even make things like this, huh?”
We were having the jewel carried behind us so that she could see this scene clearly, too.
“Would you sell us this ship?” Maria asked. “I’m prepared to pay a handsome sum, you know?”
“It uses technologies that are a state secret, so I can’t sell it.”
“You can’t? That’s unfortunate.” Maria looked like a child who had been told she couldn’t buy a toy. She was as much of a quiet beauty as Juna, but her actions were a little childish.
“Well, it looks impressive, but it’s hard to use,” I said with a wry smile. “It’s got a bad cost-to-performance ratio, and it takes a fair amount of labor to move it.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes. Its top speed is only a little higher than a rhinosaurus going at full speed, and its carrying capacity isn’t that high. Technically, it’s an amphibious vehicle, but using rhinosauruses on land and ships at sea is a much lower cost option.”
It had a Little Susumu installed, and it ran on magical power stored in curse ore. For the Little Susumu Mark V Light, which was loaded on wyverns, we had people charge it themselves, but the charging of the large model Little Susumu used on ships and such was carried out by multiple mages attached to the military.
Because of that, the amount of magic power that could be charged in a day was limited, so I had prioritized deploying the Roroa Maru on battleships or carriers over it being a subst.i.tute for the rhinosaurus train on land.
These were also reasons why it was hard to apply the Little Susumu for use on civilian transport ships. To provide propulsion on civilian ships, we had to wait for the development of a motor as an alternate technology.
Setting that aside, though, the Roroa Maru did have its benefits.
“It’s not efficient enough as a means of transportation in peacetime, but because it doesn’t make contact with the surface, it has the benefit of it being hard for it to be affected by the terrain,” I said. “To be more specific, in places where it’s normally hard to move around, such as marshes, sand, and even snowy plains, it moves ahead smoothly.”
“Snowy plains... I see. So that’s it.” Sir Gouran seemed to realize what I was leading up to.
“Yes. This Roroa Maru is the only one we have for now, but if only in winter, I am sure it will serve as a viable means of transportation that links my country, the republic, and the Empire.”
“Certainly, if it can tie the three countries together as a means of winter transport that’s faster than a rhinosaurus and has the same capacity as a ship, even if there is only one of them for the time being, it will become a valuable trade route.” Sir Gouran crossed his arms and grunted.
Then, as might be expected from a head of state, he began thinking about the trade route created by this Roroa Maru.
“Even in winter, domestically we can use our military numoths and other such livestock to secure transportation. If we gather all our goods at a port town, can we use this amphibious ship to trade with other countries? It looks like we’ll need to expand a port town like Moulin.”
Maria giggled. “Hee hee! I think we’ll need to open a port town near our border with the Republic of Turgis, too... I think I do want one of those ships, after all.”
She glanced sneakily in my direction, but I told her, “No can do,” with a shrug. “Please, don’t do anything like seize her the moment she comes into port, either. It’s hard to build one, and you’ll be forcing us to make it self-destruct just to keep our secrets.”
I said that to casually indicate to the two of them that if they tried to steal it, we would destroy it ourselves. I wasn’t bluffing, either. When we used this Roroa Maru for trade, I intended to have a mechanism in place that would cause it to self-destruct if seized.
I couldn’t let the Little Susumu and other technologies fall into the hands of other countries yet. In order to send the one-of-kind Roroa Maru to other countries, I had to be prepared to destroy it, if necessary.
Maria gave a wry smile. “I know. I can’t put the relationship between our nations in danger over one ship. I really do want it, though.”
That was the third time she’d said she wanted it. Was this one of those It’s important, so I said it three times things?
Whatever the case, I wanted to wrap this topic up now.
“With the use of this Roroa Maru, I would like to conclude a medical alliance between our three countries, as I was saying before. How does that sound?”
Sir Gouran laughed heartily. “Gahaha! If you’ve gone this far, I’m not about to say no. I’ll accept your alliance.”
“We of the Gran Chaos Empire will accept, too.”
With Gouran and Maria’s a.s.sent, the Tripart.i.te Medical Alliance between the Kingdom of Friedonia, Republic of Turgis, and Gran Chaos Empire was formed.
The formation of this alliance not only promised that the field of medicine would develop by leaps and bounds, it was also significant that, in this era of uncertainty, with the Demon Lord’s Domain sitting to the north, it was laying the groundwork for our three nations to coordinate.
While I was silently breathing a sigh of relief to have successfully concluded the medical alliance, Sir Gouran extended his hand to me.
“Sir Souma. We are now sworn friends. I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes, Sir Gouran.” I extended my own hand, and we exchanged a firm handshake. “I look forward to working with you, too.”
Maria, who was watching us, said, “It’s a shame. If I weren’t on the other side of a receiver, I could have shaken hands with you, too.”
Which made Sir Gouran and I look at one another and laugh.
Once we had finished laughing, Sir Gouran suddenly took on a serious expression. “Now then... Since you’ve become my sworn friend, there is a favor I’d like to ask of you.”
He had a pensive look on his face.
“A favor?” I asked.
“Indeed. The favor concerns my boy, Kuu. Could I ask you to keep Kuu with you in the kingdom for two to three years?”
“Huh...”
“Whaa?!” Kuu exclaimed.
The look on his face was a mix of shock and bewilderment. He’d heard his name brought up, and now there was immediately talk of him being left in a foreign country, so it was hard to blame him.
Once Kuu returned to his senses, he rounded on Sir Gouran in anger. “What’re you talking about, out of nowhere, Dad?! You want me to be a hostage in the kingdom?!”
“That’s not it,” said Gouran with a serious look on his face. “In want you to go see what the kingdom is like now for me.” He paused. “I’ve been thinking about this since last night. When young Empress Maria of the Empire was invited to take part in our meeting today, that cemented it for me.”
“Cemented it? What?” Kuu demanded.
“That there’s a ‘new wind’ blowing across this continent,” Sir Gouran said, then turned to me. “If you’ll excuse my rudeness, Sir Souma, may I ask how old you are?”
“I’ll be twenty this year.”
Sir Gouran nodded in satisfaction. “From what I can see, Madam Maria must be about the same age.” (If I recalled, she was twenty-one.) “The Empire in the west is ruled by a young queen, and a young king has arisen in the kingdom in the east. When you get old like me, you start to sense something akin to fate in these things.”
Kuu, Maria, and I listened intently to what Sir Gouran, the only member of an older generation who was present, had to say.
Sir Gouran continued in a quiet voice, “In the world of man, there is something like a ‘flow.’ Whether we want it or not, that flow has an effect on all things. Some ride that flow, others struggle against it, and yet others drown in it. That is how one might become famous, and another might fall. How one country might prosper, and another might perish. The fierce warrior, Sir Gaius, fell, and Sir Souma, a man of culture, was victorious. With the help of Princess Roroa, he annexed Amidonia and created a new country.”
It was hard to react to what he was saying. The look on Roroa’s face said she didn’t know what kind of expression she should be making, either.
However, hearing Sir Gouran’s words, Machiavelli’s words about preparing for the changes of fortune came to mind.
Gouran laid a hand on Kuu’s shoulder. “That’s what the times are like. No one can read where this world is headed. However, when the east and west are both led by the younger generation, our country may be left behind by the era if we are the only ones to cling to old ways. In order to avoid that, I want to raise a breath of youth of our own.”
“A breath of youth... You mean me?” Kuu asked.
Gouran nodded firmly. “You are still inexperienced, but you have a flexible mindset. If you see how the kingdom changes under Sir Souma’s reign, that will act as a compa.s.s for you when the time comes for you to be leader of this country.”
“No... I haven’t decided if I’ll take over the headship or not yet...”
“You may not be head of state.”
“Huh?”
Sir Gouran answered the question mark hovering over Kuu’s head with a serious look on his face. “Depending on the flow of the times, our country may need to centralize power and abolish the Council of Chiefs in favor of a monarchy. In that event, you must become a king who can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Souma and Maria. That may be the era that comes. That’s all the more reason why I want you to broaden your horizons while you still can. While you’re in the kingdom, I will bring the Council of Chiefs under control, and build the foundation for you to put your shrewdness to work.”
...This was some incredible stuff he was saying. The look on Sir Gouran’s face right now resembled the face of the former king, Albert, when he’d entrusted Liscia to me and left the castle.
It was the face of one entrusting things to the next generation.
Even though I was awed by the atmosphere, I hesitantly raised my hand. “One question. You said you want to leave Kuu with us, but do you mean you want him to study abroad in our country?”
“No, not as a student. I want you to use him as a temporary va.s.sal. I think that will be a better experience for Kuu.”
“An uninvited va.s.sal, then...” Kuu muttered.
In terms of position, he’d be like Aisha was initially. Basically, I could treat him as a va.s.sal who doubled as a friend, like Hal. I could let him stay in a room in the castle.
“I don’t mind, but does Kuu?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter if I mind or not... I don’t have the right to refuse, do I?” Kuu glanced at his father, seeking confirmation.
Sir Gouran simply nodded without saying anything.
Kuu, sensing the man’s unbreakable will, scratched his head. “My stubborn old man’s made up his mind, so throwing a tantrum won’t get me anywhere. Besides, I’m interested in what kind of country Souma’s building, too.”
He couldn’t have fully accepted suddenly being told he would be entrusted to a foreign country, but it was very like Kuu to already be thinking about it positively like that.
“...I see,” I said. “Welcome aboard, Kuu.”
When I offered him my hand, he took it firmly.
“Ookyakya! But since I’m imposing myself as a va.s.sal, that means you outrank me, doesn’t it? Still, I’m from a foreign country, so calling you Your Majesty doesn’t feel right. That’s why I’m going to call you Bro from now on.”
“Uh, Bro?”
“Yeah. Think of me like your little brother. Well, so long.” Kuu put a hand on his hip, grinned like always, and said, “I’m counting on you from here on! Bro!”
Epilogue: An Unsettling Presence
With the tripart.i.te agreement successfully concluded to found a medical alliance between the kingdom, republic, and Empire, a feast was held to celebrate that night at the inn that had served as the site of the meeting.
Since coming to this country, there had been parties held whenever there was an excuse, but this time, there were a large number of people in attendance, so it was the largest yet.
It was unfortunate that one of the three leaders, Maria, who had attended by Jewel Voice Broadcast, was unable to attend.
“Please, come to my country someday,” she had said before terminating the communication. “When you do, let’s drink together.”
“Yes. Someday.”
Considering how far the Empire was, though, I didn’t know if that day would come or not. If the political situation in the world stabilized, we’d eventually be able to travel to each others’ countries for meetings, but... there was no indication that would happen any time soon.
While I was thinking that...
“Bro! Are you having fun?!” Kuu broke in.
Kuu, who was already drunk, suddenly put his arm around my neck. The impact nearly made me drop my drink.
“Whoa! That’s dangerous... I mean, get away from me. I’m not into getting touchy feely with guys.”
“It’s ’cause you look so gloomy, Bro,” he cackled. “You’ve gotta have fun when drinking.”
Kuu moved away from me with a cackling laugh.
“I’m enjoying myself,” I said, relieved he had backed away. “At least as much as anyone else.”
“Hm? Well, okay then.”
Because so long had pa.s.sed since the start of the party, everyone was off doing their own thing now. Juna was pouring drinks for Sir Gouran, who was now our sworn friend, while Aisha and Hal were having a drinking contest, and Kaede was watching and egging them on.
Leporina was taking care of Tomoe, who had been knocked out by the smell of alcohol, and Roroa was talking to Taru, who had been invited by Kuu.
It was turning into quite the chaotic scene.
“You seem to be in and awfully good mood yourself, Kuu,” I said.
“d.a.m.n straight. I mean... You know.” Kuu raised his thumb, and indicated Taru who Roroa was talking to.
I see. He’s in a good mood because of that...
“That” had occurred a few hours before.
When the meeting finished, Kuu took us to visit Taru’s workshop on a hill near n.o.blebeppu. It was to tell his childhood friend Taru that he would be staying in the Kingdom of Friedonia for a while.
While we were there, we revealed our ident.i.ties, too, but she wasn’t especially surprised. For a craftsperson like Taru, maybe the position of her clients didn’t matter so much.
“...So, that being the case, it’s been decided I’ll go to the kingdom to study under Bro, and I’m only taking Leporina with me,” Kuu finished, resting his foot on a bucket that was lying around, and adopting the pose of a sailor with his foot on one of the short posts used for mooring boats.
He might have thought it was a cool way of saying goodbye, or he might just have been trying to act tough, but either way, resting his foot on a bucket wasn’t going to accomplish that.
While we all looked at him coldly, Kuu continued his speech. “Oh, don’t you worry, Miss Taru. Our parting will be a brief one. I’ll stay with Bro, learn from how he rules, and I swear, someday, I’ll come back to you as a real man. I look forward to the day when I return in glory to my old home town.”
Even though Taru wasn’t saying anything, Kuu kept on giving his parting speech.
Meanwhile, Taru was paying no heed to his words, and was pounding on hot metal.
I don’t know... It was the sort of scene that made me feel sorry for Kuu.
The lack of response from Taru made Kuu look upset. “Hey! Hey now, Miss Taru! Here I am, giving you my farewell speech, so give me a little response, would you? You’ll be lonely without me, right?”
“Not particularly... I’m not interested in where you go, dumb master.”
“Not interested...? Isn’t that kind of harsh? Even if you aren’t interested, your childhood friend is here to say goodbye, so be a little... nicer to me.”
“Having you yammer on at me when I’m smithing is nothing but a nuisance.”
There was nothing he could say to that, so Kuu slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
...Yeah, well, if the girl he liked was going to treat him that way, of course he’d get dejected.
I guess I’ll listen to him vent at the party tonight... I thought with a sigh.
But then I heard the sound of Taru putting the metal she’d been striking into the water. She laid out a number of metal products on the table, including the one she had just been working on. That shape with a small blade on the end was nothing if not a scalpel.
“I tried making the thing you ordered with various metals,” she said. “Iron, copper, silver, and a number of alloys. Do you know which was the best suited for it?”
Taru c.o.c.ked her head to the side.
Ohh, so a sample scalpel was what she’d been working on.
Even if she asked me which was best, I wasn’t a doctor, so I didn’t know. There were metal allergies and such to consider, too, so it couldn’t be decided on strength and cutting edge alone.
“I’ll have to go back to my country and ask someone who’d know...”
“I see... Well, I’ll go to the kingdom, too, then,” Taru said offhandedly.
Everyone’s eyes went wide. The most surprised of all, though, was Kuu, who had been giving his parting speech until a moment ago.
“Huh?! You’re coming, too, Taru?!”
“Not because I want to be with you, dumb master,” Taru said willfully. “I’m only going to the kingdom for my own reasons.” Then she stared at me and said, “I’ve heard that the king requested that, in case it becomes necessary to make medical equipment for himself, he wants the republic to send a craftsperson to offer guidance. I’ll volunteer to be that craftsperson.”
“You’re going to come teach?” Kuu gaped.
“I’m interested in Friedonia’s techniques, too,” she said with unswerving eyes. “I don’t just want to teach; I also want to learn.”
“...Fine. We welcome you, Madam Taru.” I extended my hand to her. “Let me prepare a dedicated workshop for you in the castle town. I’d very much like to have you come to our country as a craftsperson.”
“I’ll be in your care.” Taru firmly took my hand.
It looked like Kuu was dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, but he quickly pulled himself together and cackled. “Oh, I see! In the end, you’re coming, too! I don’t care why. I’m glad we can be together!” And he slapped her hard on the back.
“...Ouch. Don’t hit my back.” Taru had a bothered look on her face.
Then again, since she was just sitting there and taking it, maybe she wasn’t so unhappy about it? Maybe she was coming in order to be with Kuu?
“How should I say this...? She has a complicated personality,” Juna said with a wry smile.
“Maybe it’s actually for a really simple reason, you ’know?” Roroa said with a happy smile, standing on the opposite side of me.
In conclusion, it seemed that a woman’s heart was a thing of mystery, complicated yet simple.
So, with it decided that Taru would join us, Kuu was in high spirits.
He’d been downing his fermented milk pretty quickly since the start of the party.
Kuu went over to where Taru was, and Roroa came over to me.
“Nyahaha,” she grinned. “Ever since we came to this country, it’s been nothin’ but parties.”
“You’re right... Hey, wait!”
Roroa had laid down and was using my lap as a pillow. Good grief.
I placed my hand on Roroa’s head, and rolled her head around in my lap. “It’s unseemly, suddenly lying down like this.”
“I ain’t drunk. You’ve gotta keep things free and easygoing when there’s drink goin’ ’round,” Roroa said with a smug laugh as I rolled her head around. “So, darlin’, what next? More travels?”
”What’s next”... huh?
“We have Kuu to consider now, so I think we’ll go back to the kingdom for a while,” I said. “I’m sure I have work piled up that needs my attention, and I’m concerned about Liscia, too. Besides...”
“Besides?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“???”
There were question marks floating over Roroa’s head as I continued to pat her.
At last, Roroa smiled in satisfaction, and not long after that, she was snoring. When the usually boisterous Roroa was asleep, she looked like a sweet young maiden. While looking at her sleeping face, I thought about what I had nearly said before.
Besides... What Maria was saying bothers me.
It had happened after the meeting when I was saying my goodbyes to Maria. Her previously relaxed expression had suddenly become serious.
Just I was wondering what was up, she had told me in a quiet voice, “Lately, the monsters in the north have been becoming more active.”