Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 162
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 162
39. The World Is Wide (2)
I patted Maryang on the shoulder, telling her to calm down as her fox ears and tail stood straight up in excitement.
"Don't worry. I'll give you the best treatment a prisoner could ever ask for."
"W-Wait, you're not going to say anything to our country? No negotiations coming in?"
Her point was fair.
No matter how powerful the Elysian Coalition was, she was still a major asset.
It made sense that she found it odd they would just let her go.
I answered her reaction wondering what the Coalition was even doing with a satisfied expression.
"They've been contacting us through diplomatic channels like crazy. But we've been ignoring them completely."
"What?"
Maryang's mouth fell open in shock.
"They've been offering all sorts of good conditions to take you back, but I've drawn the line, saying you have no intention of earning money as a prisoner. I asked His Majesty to do exactly that."
"W-Why are you doing all this for me?"
Before I could answer her suspicion that I had some grudge, it was Arcia who replied.
Arcia approached silently, wrapped her arms around Maryang from behind, and spoke.
"Everything has its consequences. You stepped onto the battlefield, so you should've been prepared to die, right? This is better than dying, isn't it?"
Her words were utterly chilling, a stark contrast to how she nuzzled her cheek against Maryang like a beloved plush toy.
Maryang, who was already wary of Arcia, froze stiff.
'Did I go too far?'
Feeling a bit guilty, I offered her words of comfort, telling her not to think of it too badly.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of keeping you here forever."
"R-Really? Then let's at least set a period."
"Let's talk about it after this war is completely settled."
"Fine, alright."
She wasn't fully satisfied, but she seemed to think it wasn't a completely hopeless situation, letting out a small sigh of relief.
"Something about this annoys me."
At that moment, a woman standing in the corner with narrowed eyes said that.
Her identity was none other than Bug.
I wondered what her problem was now, but her next words were absurd.
"Doesn't her character overlap with mine?"
At Bug's question, I let out a snort of laughter.
"She's cute. You make me want to hit you."
* * *
The war between the Croysen Empire and the Kingdom of Rhinehearts sent massive shockwaves across the world.
The result was so shocking it defied all expectations.
Everyone was tense at the emergence of a new superpower, and each nation was frantically crunching numbers over what changes might come to diplomacy and the economy.
But there was one exception.
The Bringham Empire, the largest nation in the world, remained utterly peaceful.
Of course, it would be a lie to say they weren't surprised by the outcome.
But they considered this change to be not entirely bad.
"Remarkable. I thought Rhinehearts' confidence might shift the international map a little, but to think there'd be a change this big."
"It seems to be the result of the Croysen Empire's incompetence combined with the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' competence."
In response to Emperor Edward Noah Bringham's words, Count Friedrich who at just 26 years old had become the youngest capital defense commander in history answered.
But the Emperor didn't seem to agree with Count Friedrich, shaking his head and letting out a low chuckle.
"No, the Croysen Empire may have let their guard down somewhat, but they can't be called incompetent. The Kingdom of Rhinehearts simply excelled in strategy and combat execution."
At the Emperor's words, Intelligence Chief Count Elfried and Duke Francis nodded in agreement.
Count Friedrich, feeling embarrassed, quickly changed the subject.
"I've heard that the remnants of the Croysen Empire are asking our Bringham Empire to take over and manage their territories."
"Yes, so I've heard."
The war between the Croysen Empire and the Kingdom of Rhinehearts had already reached its conclusion, but it wasn't completely over yet.
The western region of the Croysen Empire remained unoccupied, and the lords of that region had united to send a request to submit to the Bringham Empire.
In their own reasoning, they judged that offering their domains to the Bringham Empire to protect their wealth and lives was better than being defeated and killed by the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
If the Bringham Empire merely declares that the territories have submitted to them, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts will have no choice but to halt its advance.
It pains Rhinehearts to do so, but facing the Bringham Empire on top of the Croysen Empire is simply out of the question.
"Wouldn't this be a good opportunity? Though it would become a colony far from the mainland, that land is fairly vast and would allow us to exert direct influence over the southern part of the continent."
The Emperor showed interest in Count Friedrich's remark.
"You believe we should accept this proposal?"
"I see no downside. It would also serve to check the expansion of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts."
"Then we would become enemies with the Kingdom of Rhinehearts? And we'd be bordering Dragonland as well."
"Would they dare harbor thoughts of opposing the Bringham Empire? And as for Dragonland, I understand no major incident has occurred there for nearly 300 years, so there's little need for concern."
The Emperor nodded.
A reaction suggesting he understood well enough.
Seeing the Emperor's favorable response, Count Friedrich eagerly continued.
"Your Majesty, if you entrust this matter to me, I will gather up as much of the Croysen Empire's territory as possible and offer it to Your Majesty."
However, Duke Raphael, one of the Empire's two Grandmasters, let out a deep sigh at his disciple, who was a Knight yet took far too much interest in politics.
After hearing all of Count Friedrich's words, the Emperor also asked the Intelligence Chief, Count Elfried, for her opinion.
"Count Elfried, what do you think of Count Friedrich's proposal?"
True to her nickname of the Ice Princess, Count Elfried answered without a single change in expression.
"I consider it a poor strategy."
"A poor strategy?"
At that, Count Friedrich, who had made the proposal, stiffened.
From his perspective, Count Elfried's remark felt like someone scattering ashes over a finished meal.
"That land has no notable resources and is far from the mainland, costing much in defense. There's no need to covet it. Our Empire already possesses more than enough territory, resources, and human assets."
"That is true."
"Above all, making an enemy of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts, which will soon become an Empire, is bound to be a burden."
At Count Elfried's words, Count Friedrich ultimately raised his voice, saying he could not agree.
"There's no such thing as having too much territory! If we obtain that land, wouldn't we have the vast undeveloped region of Dragonland right before our eyes? Even if incorporating Dragonland into our territory is difficult, I believe it can be fully utilized as a base for resource gathering! And there's no need to worry about garrison troops! Simply stationing a reasonable force would ensure no nation dares attack Bringham Empire territory!"
In response to Count Friedrich's argument, Count Elfried maintained her expressionless face and shook her head.
"Gathering resources from Dragonland carries too much risk, so let's set that aside. No nation would attack Bringham Empire colonial territory? After catching its breath and building up its strength, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts would attack and then some."
"What nonsense are you speaking?"
"If we advance into the south, the neighboring nations will be frightened and unite into an anti-Bringham alliance. If we leave them alone, the southern nations will naturally keep the rising Empire of Rhinehearts in check. Why would we give them a reason to band together? And that too by willingly playing the villain."
Apparently not having thought that far, Count Friedrich was left speechless.
"The best course is to stay out of this war. Simply sincerely congratulating the Kingdom of Rhinehearts on its victory, maintaining good relations with them, and reaping benefits from that that is the future-oriented approach."
When Count Friedrich could not rebut, the Emperor let out a small chuckle and nodded.
The Emperor had thought the same way from the start.
The reason he had quietly listened to Count Friedrich's words despite that was merely to test him.
"At the very least, the Rhinehearts people are easier to deal with than the Croysen people. As the Intelligence Chief says, I don't think we're in any position to lose."
With the Emperor saying that, the matter was as good as settled.
But Count Friedrich, perhaps feeling that Count Elfried had humiliated him, glared at her with cold eyes.
"You wretch."
Of course, his master, Duke Raphael, warned the disciple who failed to know his place, preventing any further unnecessary conflict.
However, the Emperor didn't seem to dislike the eager Count Friedrich, and with a grin, he called him over.
"Count Friedrich."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I shall entrust you with an important role."
At that, Count Friedrich's eyes lit up again, while Duke Raphael looked at the Emperor with an uneasy expression.
"This time, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts is holding an extremely grand victory commemoration party. Many nations will send envoys there. You will attend as our Empire's envoy and meet the young heroes of that kingdom, including Duke Lawrence."
"Pardon?"
"Y-Your Majesty, wait "
It was Count Friedrich who received the order, but not only Duke Raphael even Count Elfried, who had shown no change in expression, was flustered and tried to dissuade the Emperor.
The Emperor, indicating he knew full well why the two were reacting that way, continued calmly.
"The head of the envoy delegation shall be Duke Raphael, Count Friedrich's master."
Duke Raphael had been given the role of a restraining force to keep his disciple from acting recklessly.
However, even with Duke Raphael accompanying him, the hot-blooded Count Friedrich still made Count Elfried uneasy, and she requested reconsideration with her eyes toward the Emperor.
"Count Friedrich is still young, but as a timber who will lead the Empire's future, it would be good for him to experience the world here and there. Count Friedrich, do you understand my intent?"
"Yes! Your Majesty! I will do my best!"
Regrettably, her request was cleanly ignored, and only Count Friedrich was elated.
And so, even before the invitation had arrived, the Bringham Empire had already assembled its delegates for the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' victory commemoration ceremony.
* * *
"It wouldn't have been bad if the Bringham Empire had stepped in, even once."
After receiving intelligence that the Bringham Empire had ignored the requests of the Croysen Empire's remnants, I expressed my regret.
If the Bringham Empire had intervened, it would have been inconvenient, but considering relations with neighboring allies, having a common enemy would not have been a bad thing.
Yet the Bringham Empire ultimately paid no attention to the southern part of the continent.
As a result, the Kingdom of Rhinehearts found itself in a situation where its relations with neighboring nations had no choice but to be re-established.
"There are signs that allied nations are trying to form a new alliance excluding our Rhinehearts."
"Well, that's only natural. They won't openly hostile toward us for now, but they too need to prepare for the worst."
As the saying goes, when a cousin buys land, it makes your stomach ache.
No matter how friendly the allied nations had been, they couldn't help but feel uneasy about the Kingdom of Rhinehearts' expansion.
The response to this is simple.
"Then we simply form a new alliance."
All we need is to find new allies who do not share a direct border with us.
On the Defteron Continent, there are only three nations that do not share a border with our Kingdom of Rhinehearts, which swallowed the Croysen Empire whole.
Those are the Bringham Empire in the north, the Walter Kingdom in the south, and the Chase Kingdom in the east.
The Bringham Empire is naturally out of the question, and the Walter Kingdom in the south is highly likely to refuse our hand because of fellow dark-skinned nations Izes and the Paulo Kingdom.
That leaves the Chase Kingdom, which was quite a good card.
Chase, which even included a Grandmaster among its ranks, was also a strong nation among kingdoms, following right behind Rhinehearts and Lucias.
"Chase... Indeed, if we form an alliance with them, we'll be able to check the Southern Three Nations and the Gracia Kingdom."
The problem was that there was no significant point of contact between the Chase Kingdom and the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
But this was not a big problem.
In international relations, depending on interests, yesterday's enemy could become today's ally.
"What about the materials you mentioned?"
Having been discussing the Bringham Empire intelligence with Gregory, I shifted the mood.
International affairs were important, but I had something that took priority over that.
"It's hard to say they're perfect, but would you like to at least check what we've collected so far?"
"Yes, let's do that."
With that, Gregory handed over documents on paper.
[On the Traits and Weaknesses of Dark Elves]
It was information on Dark Elves.
With a serious expression, I examined the information Gregory had handed me.
The reason I was paying such attention to Dark Elves was partly due to the shock from the last incident, but the true cause was a single note left in my bedroom this morning.
[I will come visit you tomorrow at 8 PM.]
A paper note engraved with a drawing of a black tree.
It was a message from Blake Russell, the Dark Elf.