Nigoru Hitomi de Nani wo Negau ch 21

TN: This is the map (roughly) before the war with Myrad

MAP 1

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21. Chapter 21 – Four-Country Alliance

The Highserk Empire was one of the smaller countries founded in an area with countless countries, Kings, and Lords.

The first war after the founding of the country was said to have been a defensive war. When the main force of the opponent, which was drawn into the territory of Highserk, tried to attack, it was destroyed in the war.

The Highserk Empire, having won a complete victory, continued its momentum and annexed the territory of the country, which came to attack.

The balance of power was emphasized in the area with small countries, and thus the neighboring countries colluded to invade the Highserk Empire, which suddenly emerged and began to upset the balance, but after decades of long battles, only one stood at the end. The Highserk Empire.

From the perspective of the surrounding mid-sized countries, it looked like small and unsightly countries were rioting among themselves.

At first, it seemed like that to every country. The first to notice the degree of the incident was the Liberitoa Trade Federation. One of the vassal states was defeated in a battle and came for reinforcements.

Liberitoa sent 10,000 troops, which could be called an excess. Together with the number of troops of the vassal state, was 15,000. Highserk had only less than half of that. The battlefield was also advantageous for Liberitoa, and in the end, everyone had won a great victory. Or that was how it should have ended. But the result was a crushing defeat for Liberitoa. And in the end, the vassal state also ceded part of its territory to Highserk.

Liberitoa then changed its mind about Highserk after witnessing the unimaginable strength of its soldiers and their acclimation to war and was forced to pay a heavy price to Highserk. It was a power that no one could believe was hidden in such a small country.

The next one to notice was the Kanoa Kingdom. A Lord who ruled the borderlands was disturbed by the expanding Highserk, then had no choice but to clash with Highserk over control of the river.

The battle ended after only six days and the entire territory of the local aristocrats was lost. The Lord and his entire family were killed and the land was taken by Highserk.

The neighboring countries, the Ferrius Kingdom and the Craist Kingdom, also witnessed the threat of the Highserk Empire, but since they welcomed the same mid-sized country being weakened by the newcomer, they didn’t want to cooperate or support the Kanoa Kingdom and stayed in the background.

After that, the Kanoa Kingdom was brought down in front of Highserk, which had a defensive war and reason to attack.

And now, even Myard was forced to succumb to the Highserk Empire, leaving only three of the remaining mid-countries in the north. Now that the territory of the Highserk Empire had become more than a mid-sized country, it was unclear how far the Highserk would grow and expand its territory.

The territory, which was as small as the body of a goblin, was now the most outstanding compared to the neighboring countries.

And if the Ferrius Kingdom, which was paralyzed on one side, fell, the end of the neighboring countries would be only a matter of time. However, as long as the three idle powers didn’t budge and the calculating Highserk Empire did nothing to provoke the three powers, such wouldn’t happen.

Unfortunately, the impatience and fear of the neighboring countries were about to trigger an event that wouldn’t have been possible in peacetime.

And the start of it would happen in a room somewhere in the Craist Kingdom that bordered the territories of the Ferrius Kingdom and the Liberitoa Trade Federation.

All the knights of Craist Kingdom were mobilized to guard the surrounding area of that important room.

Inside the room, one of the invited important people, Hugo Avans, Foreign Minister of the Liberitoa Trade Federation, sat in a corner of the round table. He lit a cigarette with fire magic, one side of which was cut off and purple smoke spread in the air.

One of the guarding knights had his eye on Hugo because he had cast fire magic. Hugo had been a foreign minister for 10 years, but he hadn’t been on the path of a civil official.

As an infantryman, he ran around the battlefield and experienced many battlefields. His head was lonely because his helmet and scalp had been burned on the battlefield.

Even after he grew old, he could still take on some infantrymen, but he wasn’t sure if he could take on the companions of people who held important positions in other countries.

“It seems like you’re really enthusiastic about your work.”

Hugo smiled with his burnt cheeks and praised the Knight of the Kingdom of Craist, but the answer he received was blunt.

“……thank you for your kind words”

Hugo and the other members of the Liberitoa Trade Federation Parliament were in a good mood, since the Ferrius Kingdom and the Principality of Myard had joined in the war against the Highserk Empire, but that being said, the overall situation wasn’t good these days.

The two countries were saddened by the fall of the Principality of Myard and the Ferrius Kingdom was now fully on the defensive.

This was enough to discourage Hugo, who had expected Ferrius to fight Highserk on several fronts.

Hugo gazed at the people sitting at the round table.

In the center sat King Chester Craist of the host country, the Craist Kingdom. On the right sat King Balliston Ferrius of the Ferrius Kingdom, which had recently been invaded by Highserk

Balliston’s body, slimmer than that of his younger brother Winston, who was a warrior, was even thinner than it had been during Hugo’s previous visit for a consultation.

His complexion wasn’t good, but his eyes were even sharper than when he first met Chester. Such eyes were something Hugo liked.

“Well, now, the Ferrius Kingdom seems to be in trouble. I never thought that Myard would fall, and that your Kingdom would lose most of its army… it’s really a pity, I couldn’t find a better word to say than that.”

Hugo was the first to open his mouth.

“…Hah, thank you for your thoughtful words. I never thought my kingdom would repeat the same mistake as Liberitoa.”

To Hugo’s sarcasm, Balliston pierced his gaze fiercely and replied thus.

“Whew… the same mistake? I don’t remember Liberitoa losing one-third of its land like Ferrius did.”

“Stop it there now, you know we didn’t gather to enjoy an elegant conversation.”

The organizer, Chester, issued a warning. Hugo didn’t really intend to instigate each other, either. He was just making “light conversation”, an exercise, before moving on to the main topic.

“That’s right. Should I leave the greeting here? By the way ―― “

Hugo stopped the words at this point and directed his gaze to a corner of the round table.

“Where is this beautiful lady from?”

At the end of his line of sight sat a young lady. From her gestures and demeanor, there was no doubt that blue blood flowed in her, but Hugo knew nothing of her. After all, this was supposed to be a place for multilateral discussions between the three countries of Liberitoa, Ferrius, and Craist.

Limited aides sat behind the protagonists at the round table. If ones were allowed to sit here, it meant that the person had a national-level influence that could affect the future of the country. Frankly, Hugo thought the young lady was out of place here.

“Myard”

It was Balliston who answered. The young lady continued his words.

“My name is Rita Myard. I am attending as a representative of Myard.”

Hugo immediately shifted gears in his mind. He didn’t know the young lady directly, but he knew of her existence.

“I see, you’re the only daughter of Youth-dono, right? To think that you managed to escape, what a surprise… But it’s strange that you are the representative of Myard, which was recently destroyed.”

Without being shaken by Hugo’s words, Rita replied.

“Because there were knights I could rely on… Sure, Myard has lost more than half of its territory, but Celta still remains.”

After thinking a bit, Hugo clapped his hands.

“Celta… Oh, sure the fishing resources and waterways there would’ve been economically important, but now it only serves as a base to fight the dragon in the lake. Only a handful of healthy navy and escaped soldiers, plus the lake dragon, surely, it won’t give good taste. I’m sure, Highserk will leave it alone.”

For Hugo, the huge Lake Celta and the surrounding rivers were areas that needed to be suppressed in terms of resources and economy, but being a Lord over this area would have more disadvantages than advantages.

Still, the navy prided itself on its outstanding capabilities, having held the lake for many years despite being weak in land battles.

That was why, Hugo was actually quite disappointed, but he understood that Highserk wasn’t a foolish country to advance there just to take a lot of damage.

“Yes, until recently, it was like Hugo-sama said, but now the Lake Dragon has been subdued.”

Hugo’s face was contorted for the first time since the meeting began.

“It, has been subdued?”

“Yes… it has been subdued.”

Although it was a dragon subspecies, it was still a powerful monster that belonged to the highest rank among monsters. The giant jaw gate could crush even ogres and trolls. When the former Lake Dragon attacked the floating city of Liberitoa, it was defeated at the cost of a garrison of two and a half companies.

A battle with such a great sacrifice, Hugo would have heard from merchants and spies.

“Well, that’s good news. I’m sure the brave soldiers of your country had a hard time.”

“Fortunately, not even 1 person died.”

It was Chester who joined in the conversation about the lake.

“No one? Against the Lake Dragon?”

Hugo pursed his lips, for he couldn’t believe it.

“Thanks to the Navy of Myard, the Knights of Craist Kingdom, and visitors from “another world”. I wouldn’t say one is worth a thousand, but for sure one is worth a hundred or two hundred soldiers.”

Chester clapped his hand and one of the young men, who was holding back, stepped forward from the wall.

“He’s one of the visitors from another world”

“Nice to meet you… I’m Asa… Yuuto Asama.”

It was a young man with black hair and black eyes who introduced himself. He was still young, and maybe he wasn’t used to such a situation, because his movements were stiff. Without the information about a visitor from another world that he had just received from Chester, Hugo wouldn’t believe that he was among the people who went to defeat the Lake Dragon.

“Hoo, to subdue the Lake Dragon at that age, I’m impressed. Besides, the name of someone from another world is sure exotic. If this were another place, I would like to hear the brave story of how the Lake Dragon was defeated. “

Hugo wanted to find out what magic and skills the young man had and how he would fight, but Hugo understood that the people who sat at the Round Table weren’t so stupid as to reveal their cards like that.

“It’s nothing special, because I was just fighting according to the instructions of the Knights of Craist Kingdom.”

Hugo understood what Chester was getting at, which was to set the showcase of Rita and Balliston, and also the visitors from another world.

“Even though Rita-dono and Yuuto-dono are still young, both of them are really excellent.”

Said Hugo half as a compliment and half in earnest. The Craist Kingdom was a country that had a land that could easily connect to another world, and had developed in both literary and military arts under the guidance of visitors from another world. He wanted this talk of human resources falling from the sky to be just a fairy tale.

“Let’s return to the main topic.”

Said Chester with satisfaction.

After the talks between the three countries were over, Hugo was convinced of something.

The suzerainty and the former vassal states, the profit-sharing rights on the lake, the military balance… Hugo then examined the resources that could be used in the negotiations.

“Well… Let me say it straightforwardly. Ferrius wants a strong alliance. It’s an alliance with a focus on both military and economic affairs with Lake Celta as the economic zone.”

Balliston suddenly gave a tricky proposal.

For Hugo, diplomacy was no different than war. Rather, he firmly believed that war was a part of diplomacy.

Hugo was annoyed that although he had gained a foothold in his position before the verbal war, he couldn’t say that it wasn’t an intriguing proposal.

Once an alliance was formed, an all-out war with the Highserk Empire would be inevitable. Nevertheless, this proposal for the future of the Liberitoa Trade Federation couldn’t be put off for too long. For the showdown with the ever-expanding Highserk Empire would eventually come.

As many concessions as possible… with such determination, the gears in Hugo’s head were turning at high speed. He didn’t realize it himself, but Hugo felt happier than if he were having a silly conversation.

“Go ahead with the conversation. After all, it’s an important story about the glory and downfall of any country.”

Although Hugo felt his burnt skin twitch as he smiled, he felt no pain at all at the moment.

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TN : Here, the image of the character design of Asama Yuuto

Asama Yuuto(Character Design 1)

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