A new development emerged on Clifford’s blood-soaked battlefield. The unprocessed corpses had been moved aside to create a vast open space.
The forces of Ruswena, Burgos, and various third parties watched this with puzzlement from the hillsides.
The King of Burgos had been captured. Shouldn’t that mean the war was over? What was Clifford doing creating such a space?
The ordinary soldiers, unable to understand, found themselves fondling the word “home” that they had carefully tucked away in a corner of their hearts. However, their questions would be answered soon enough.
“Huh?”
Movement was spotted from Ruswena’s side. Soldiers moving with raised yellow banners, escorting a magnificent horse. Anyone could see it was a royal procession.
Had the colors of defeat not been so thick, everyone would have gazed upon it with reverence. Now, even those dressed in rags merely watched with suspicious eyes.
Neighing!
Then movement was also seen from Burgos’s side. More precisely, from the northern war mages and minority tribes. Each of them was a representative of their respective tribes, which was why they could answer Ian’s summons.
Having been pondering what would become of the situation, they didn’t hesitate to spur their horses and race toward the center of the battlefield.
A war they had joined to save their tribes. If it ended in defeat, not only their own safety but the very survival of each tribe would be threatened. Their opponent was Bariel.
Creaking.
The gates of Clifford’s walls opened. They had pitched an enormous ivory-colored tent, and soon discovered a blonde boy walking out personally. It was Ian.
Countless mages following the small, young boy. When he turned his body, the mages split left and right to create a path, and soon the King of Clifford emerged on horseback, walking slowly. Ian commanded the overall procession with hand signals to the walls and other gestures.
Originally, this should have been Prince Noah’s duty, but the prince followed behind the king without any particular complaint, walking according to Ian’s directions. When his father, who was also Clifford’s father and king, had no objections, how could he add any words?
Boooo—
The sound of water buffalo horns rang out loudly, announcing their mutual meeting. The king kept his gaze fixed straight ahead, trying not to look at the corpses piled like mountains on either side, and soon faced Eripony, who had arrived at the tent first.
Eripony gracefully dismounted from his horse and greeted them first with just a nod of his head.
“Your Majesty, King Clifford. It has been truly long since we’ve met like this. Your son is Clifford’s pride, so I thought we might never see him show his face.”
“Your Majesty, Queen Ruswena. For an invader, your tongue is far too long. Even now, my stomach churns from the stench of blood and the cawing of crows.”
Eripony was slightly taken aback but managed her expression without showing it. Despite her appearance, did she not have a blade on her tongue?
In fact, this was perhaps natural. Eripony acknowledged that she had made an arrogant mistake under the belief that she could somehow overcome the current situation. Eripony smiled thinly and shook her head.
“Us as invaders, you say? We deeply regret having unintentionally disturbed Clifford’s beautiful land. However, we too were deceived by Burgos into this situation. In a way, we could be called victims. Since this meeting has been arranged to clear up such misunderstandings, I will let Your Majesty air your grievances while we speak frankly about our own injustices.”
She absolutely did not utter an apology. That would mean acknowledging Ruswena’s fault and could be disadvantageous in the negotiations to come.
Just as the King of Clifford was about to add something more…
Swoosh.
Ian entered, pushing aside the tent flap.
His appearance immediately sharpened the previously relaxed atmosphere among the northern chieftains and Eripony. Someone who could respond even more keenly than Clifford had appeared.
Eripony observed Ian’s appearance with her own smile slightly faded. The latter looked pale overall, but there seemed to be no particular injuries.
“Has everyone gathered?”
When Ian glanced at the King of Clifford as if asking why he was standing, the king sat down first. Eripony and the northern chieftains followed suit. Ian slowly stepped forward before them and introduced himself.
“I am Baron Ian Hielo, Minister of Magic for Bariel. This meeting is to discuss the aftermath of the invasion of Clifford, its reparations, and measures regarding the rifts. Though I am the Minister of Magic, I currently represent Bariel, and every word spoken at this moment will be conveyed to His Imperial Majesty, the master of the great empire, so please exercise caution and courtesy in every word.”
Swoosh.
Ian spoke thus while gripping the edge of the table.
“If anyone does not wish to engage in dialogue, please leave this tent now.”
The chieftains had no such intention and remained motionless, while everyone’s gazes subtly poured toward Eripony. Eripony lightly nodded her head to indicate her participation, as if to say they could proceed.
Ian clapped his hands twice and gestured for a map to be brought.
Rustle.
“The areas of Clifford damaged by the current battle are as follows: The border regions adjacent to Burgos and Ruswena, and large and small settlements including Baki village. While estimating the exact damage would be more accurate, we anticipate a minimum of one million gold coins or more.”
Gasp. The chieftains involuntarily drew in their breath. One million coins or more? The average monthly salary of a common person was roughly one gold coin. But one million coins? For the minority peoples, they couldn’t afford to repay even ten thousand coins.
“Regarding this, Burgos shall bear half and Ruswena shall bear half. The tribes that participated in the war on Burgos’s side will divide responsibility from Burgos’s portion.”
“Wait, wait.”
At Ian’s demand for war reparations, Eripony raised her hand.
It was an absurd amount. The capital hadn’t even been breached by them. Also, they had merely fought for a few days in front of the walls. But what? One million coins? Wasn’t this going too far?
“I assert again.”
Eripony looked back and forth between the King of Clifford and Ian as she spoke her words in a low, measured tone.
“Ruswena is also a victim nation deceived by Burgos. King Damon misled Ruswena with false information, so this should be taken into consideration. Your Majesty, I say again: we deeply regret the unintended damage caused, and we extend our sincere condolences. While Ruswena will do its utmost to help restore Clifford, we cannot help but point out that the reparations are excessive.”
“What do you mean by false information?”
Ian interjected, crossing his arms.
“At best, wasn’t it just different standards for dividing the spoils of war? Your Majesty Eripony, from Bariel’s perspective, there are no grounds for excuses regarding Ruswena’s actions. And there’s something I haven’t mentioned yet—this is reparations concerning Clifford.”
The chieftains’ faces turned pale. The mention of reparations to Clifford meant there would also be separate reparations to Bariel.
“Please continue listening to ‘our’ words first.”
Ian subtly emphasized that Bariel and Clifford were allied nations while asking Eripony to remain quiet.
If Clifford received reparations, part of them would flow back to Bariel as a gesture of respect for the participating nation.
So all the gold coins and wealth being discussed in this place were like salt flowing into Bariel.
“While Clifford suffered devastating casualties among ordinary soldiers, Bariel has serious damage among its mages. Your Majesty’s archery skills were quite impressive.”
This was testimony that Eripony had directly attacked mages, while simultaneously mocking her failure to hit them.
As Eripony’s face hardened, Ian’s expression gradually became more gentle.
“When I return to Bariel, there are mountains of tasks for me to perform for the imperial palace, but the current situation makes that impossible. Therefore, I will receive ten million gold coins as reparations to Bariel. This too shall be split equally between Burgos and Ruswena, with the minority tribes bearing responsibility from Burgos’s portion.”
“Ridiculous! Ten million coins?”
“To be precise, it’s 5.5 million coins, Your Majesty. If you’re poor at calculations, I’ll write it down to show you.”
“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that?”
“If not, then what are you asking?”
It was a retort asking where a nation destined to become a defeated country got off making noise. Eripony bit the inside of her cheek with her molars and restrained herself.
“…5.5 million gold coins equals several years’ worth of Ruswena’s budget.”
“Pay it in installments. Just pay the appropriate interest with it.”
“I need to meet with His Imperial Highness Jin, not you. You have no intention of understanding Ruswena’s grievances.”
“Why should Bariel understand Ruswena’s grievances?”
Rustle.
Ian replied coldly while slowly turning through documents. There, detailed lists of reparations the defeated nations would pay besides gold coins were written.
“Excluding gold coins, provide one thousand slaves and ten treasures each from your royal palaces to Clifford and Bariel. This too shall be borne by each—”
“No. I cannot accept this. I cannot agree to anything here.”
She had judged that it might be more profitable to continue the war rather than pay such massive reparations. It would be better in many ways to bypass and occupy Clifford after Bariel withdrew.
If they agreed to those proposals, Ruswena would literally collapse meaninglessly. To participate in war, fail to exert proper strength even once, and end up with the label of defeated nation. Upon returning home, not only would popular support for her reign hit rock bottom, but opposition voices within the royal palace would grow louder.
Yes. Rather than that, war—to end that person’s life through Alenara and absorb the remnants of Burgos to continue the war…
Glance.
Eripony looked at the chieftains. They too seemed to have complex thoughts racing through their minds. If it was difficult to bear even at the national level, how could minority tribes readily accept such terms?
They too were people who had joined the war to solidify their power in their own lands. If they returned like this, everything would be over. Whether it ended in death or ended some other way. Then wouldn’t it be better to keep fighting and seek even a thread of hope?
“What about you?”
Ian asked languidly, tilting his head. To these strangers from the north—was he asking if they too could not accept Clifford and Bariel’s proposal?
But they could not speak as boldly as Eripony. While Ruswena was a small country compared to Bariel, they were a nation with vast territory, large population, and mages. Their relationships with neighboring countries were also friendly, so if direct conflict with Bariel occurred, countries including Hawan existed to mediate.
And most importantly, here and now—didn’t they have a great army equipped with black armor and Idgal?
In contrast, what did they have?
“It’s not that it’s burdensome, but truly impossible. If you could propose again within feasible limits, we would dedicate all that glory to Bariel’s imperial palace.”
“Right.”
Ian nodded as if he had expected this.
Even if they shared Burgos’s burden, he knew it would be too much for them. This was to preempt their position regarding the rifts they would discuss next.
Eripony rose from her seat and turned toward the tent entrance.
“Ruswena too finds it not burdensome but impossible to fulfill. Let me briefly share opinions with my subordinates and return to participate. Your Majesty Clifford, please bestow your benevolence for a brief moment.”
It was the moment when Eripony, showing at least courtesy to the king, brought her hand to the tent.
Whirring. Whir.
Whoooosh!
“Ahhhh!”
Ian activated his magic power to pour blazing flames at the tent entrance. Eripony clutched her burned palm and looked back at Ian, who merely shrugged his shoulders.
“I told you before we started, didn’t I? If you wanted to leave, you should have left then. I’ll say it again with courtesy: Please sit back down, Your Majesty Eripony. Your great army may be outside, but in here, you’re alone.”