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Chapter 272 – Firm Attitude
When we went to the meeting place, several horsemen with white flags came running in late for our arrival. Incidentally, a white flag was also fluttering on our air board. It seems that the concept of a white flag is almost the same as what I know, even though there is no concept of declaring war or starting a war after slapping an ultimatum on the enemy. It seems strange, but I can’t complain.
“There were six of them. Maybe those two guys in the fine armor are the enemy commanders.”
“Probably. The old knight with the scars on his armor is probably the commander of the Tigris Royal Army.”
The one with the clean armor is the commander of the Duchy of Dihart’s army, right? This one looks quite young. He definitely looks younger than Sir Leonard. Is he about the same age as Danan? I guess he is one generation older than me.
I took out chairs for me, Worg, and the other two commanders from my inventory and set them up since I didn’t want to talk to them while standing up. They were surprised to see me take out a chair from an empty space.
“Do you think two chairs will be enough for you?”
“U-umu
”
I decided to sit in the chair first since it looked good. Well, it is a simple chair with a cloth on top of its X-shaped frame. My image of the chair is that of an old man sitting on the quay in a harbor, pitch-fishing. Well, I think I saw a warlord sitting on such a chair when a battlefield was depicted in a period drama.
“Well, what should I start with in such a situation? Should we start by introducing ourselves?”
“Well, I think it’s a good idea to start by introducing our positions first. I’m Worg. I am the commander of the northern magic rifle battalion of the Royal Army of Merinard, and I am also the commander of the northern base.”
“I’m Kosuke. Well, I’m not a soldier in the Royal Army of Merinard, am I?”
“Well, yeah
 why don’t you just call yourself the prince consort?”
“I see. Well, let me introduce myself again. My name is Kosuke. I am the consort of Sylphielle Danal Merinard, Queen of the Kingdom of Merinard, and I am what is called a prince consort. You can think of me as a military strategist or a general staff member in this situation. I’ve heard that it’s a higher position than that of Worg.”
“That’s because you are the prince consort, after all. And what about you?”
The commanders on the other side, who had been watching our exchange with blank expressions on their faces, opened their mouths with a small cough as if to regain their composure, their expressions tightening.
“I am Marquis Macrito Jean Nicklaus. I am the commander of the Royal Army of Tigris.”
“I am Antonius Dels Giranzam. A count. I lead the army of the Duchy of Dihart.”
The older one is Macrito, and the younger one is Antonius.
“Let’s get straight to the point. All we ask is an immediate withdrawal of the wounded and the bodies and the abandonment of the border forts between the two countries. Is one week too short a time? Let’s wait two weeks. You have two weeks to withdraw your forces and abandon the forts. If you fail to comply, we will use force to destroy both forts without a trace in two weeks’ time.”
The two enemy generals’ eyes widened at my demand. Yes, they would be surprised, wouldn’t they? If I were in their shoes, I would be surprised, too. There was no way they would agree to such a request out of the blue. In the first place, they would not have the authority to accept such conditions and abandon the fort.
“How could we possibly accept such a condition?”
“There is no way we could accept such a condition. There is no way we can swallow it.”
Macrito’s face turns red, and he shouts angrily while Antonius smiles bitterly. This bitter smile is that, isn’t it? Oh, you think I’m some kind of idiot, don’t you? Well, actually, it’s something like that.
“No, I don’t mind if you don’t swallow it. I don’t care if it’s full or empty; I’m just going to destroy it.”
At my words, both of them peeled their eyes open again, revealing their surprise. Macrito-dono’s face is still red, but is he all right? I don’t want him to die suddenly from surprise and anger.
“I said it was a request, but in effect, it was not an order. I’m just informing you of my decision. We’re going to destroy it in two weeks, so if you don’t want to take casualties, you’ll have to move out. In other words, this is our punitive response to the Duchy of Dihart and the Kingdom of Tigris, who suddenly attacked us without having specified the reason for starting the war.”
“Punitive response
? You are talking from a very high place, aren’t you? How can you destroy a fort if you can’t even get out of your own camp?”
Antonius-dono stared at me with a threatening atmosphere. Oh, I’m afraid.
“I don’t feel the need to explain how. In any case, in two weeks, we will destroy the fort near the border with the kingdom of Merinard. If you don’t want your soldiers to be killed, evacuate them. In the meantime, there will be no further attacks from us until two weeks from now. We will also allow you to retrieve the wounded and the bodies from the battlefield. However, if we recognize another act of aggression against the Kingdom of Merinard, we will immediately counterattack and destroy all the armies involved in the aggression and destroy the forts of both sides without waiting two weeks. I recommend that you watch each other closely so that you do not act strangely.”
“You are quite brazen, aren’t you? We still have a total of 10,000 men. In contrast, you have only four hundred. No matter how many strange weapons you arm yourself with, you will not be able to overcome the numbers disadvantage.”
“Shall we give it a try? I don’t think your morale will hold up. Of course, in that case, I will destroy the fort immediately after I kill all of you.”
I said this with a smile to Macrito-dono, who was threatening me.
“You no longer have a choice. Either you do as we ask and keep the death toll to a minimum, or else we will engage you in another battle and literally annihilate you. You don’t know what you’re getting into, do you?”
“”
..””
The two enemy generals are both silenced by my words.
In fact, the Duchy of Dihart’s army is well within the bombing range of the harpies. If I send an instruction via the golem communicator, we can rain anti-personnel air bombs on the Duchy of Dihart’s army at this very moment.
“I’d really like to get along with our neighbors, though. Well, if you hit us, we’ll hit you back, and if we do, we’ll have no choice but to beat you so thoroughly that you’ll never think of hitting us again. Whether or not we can shake hands afterward is up to you―or rather, I’m sure that the corrupt priests of the Holy Kingdom are probably pulling the strings behind the scenes in this war as well.”
The two did not change their expressions when they heard my words. Well, even though they are the suzerain state, it would be hard to say that they moved their armies at the behest of another country.
“That’s all I have to say. If you have something to say, I’ll listen, but is there anything?”
☆★☆
Antonius’ POV
“That’s all I have to say. If you have something to say, I’m all ears.”
What the hell is this guy? The only thing I could think of him was that. I was surprised that he had pulled folding stools out of thin air, but to think that this man without dignity or power was the commander of the enemy, the prince consort of the Merinard Kingdom? Why would a prince consort go out of his way to appear on the battlefield? Is that the custom in the Kingdom of Merinard?
In any case, he is so different in every sense of the word that I don’t know how to evaluate him.
First of all, his demands are nothing short of absurd. It is still understandable that he demands immediate withdrawal after retrieving the wounded and the dead. But what usually follows is a demand for the cession of territory or payment of reparations, right?　Why is this followed by the abandonment of border forts?
Border forts are important bases for national defense. We are in charge of our own army, which is actually mixed with our territorial army, and we have a certain amount of authority, but we are not given the authority to do whatever we want with a strategic national base. But he is not empowered to do anything with the strategic centers of the country at his disposal. Only two weeks is just barely enough time to exchange correspondence with the capital.
“I cannot agree to that. I don’t have that kind of authority in the first place.”
“The same is true for me. It is difficult to communicate with the central government in two weeks.”
It may or may not be possible, but I don’t think the people in the capital would accept the abandonment of the forts on the border. In any case, I would be effectively surrendering without even exchanging spears, and I would be treated as incompetent and transferred to the lower positions, or worse, I could be accused of a crime and have my knighthood degraded.
I would not want to die in battle by running into them.
“As I said before, if you don’t agree to it, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just move on with our business.”
“
Are you really willing to negotiate? Such unilateral conditions――”
“I have no intention of negotiating!”
The man who called himself Kosuke interrupted Macrito-dono, whose face turned bright red, and a blue streak appeared on his temples to say so.
“Why should we listen to those who attacked us unilaterally and be beaten to a pulp? What if it were the other way around? Would you listen to us? You wouldn’t, would you? If you had made diplomatic efforts in advance, given your own justifiable reasons, and given them an ultimatum before invading, we would still listen to you, but why should we listen to those who secretly stock up foodstuffs and suddenly invade without any negotiation at all? I would like you to look back at your own actions before you talk about civility to others.”
I can’t say anything. It is true that our side had attacked and lost and had its tail between its legs because it foresaw the danger, so there was no need for them to listen to anything we had to say. But still, what can’t be done can’t be done.
“But――”
“Stop making excuses. As I said before, this is neither a request nor a demand, just a notice. This is our intention: don’t ever try to take advantage of us again. We will not compromise, and we will do it. If you resist, the fort will be your coffin. That’s all I’m saying.”
I guess this is what they mean when they say there is no way out. Well, it is true that our side that attacked and lost can’t say anything, can it?
After this, I tried to extend the two-week deadline in every way I could, but Kosuke would not budge at all. Damn him.