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Chapter 280 – It’s Like Gunboat Diplomacy
Sylphy and the others stayed for three days, as they announced, and then returned to Merinesburg.
“Don’t wanna, don’t wanna, don’t wanna. Kosuke and I will be together forever!”
“Yes, yes, we have work to do, so let’s go home.”
“See you later.”
Finally, dragging Sylphy, who was lying on the floor and screaming, Melty and Isla returned to Merinesburg.
“What a joke that that is the queen of a country.”
“She may be a queen, but she is still a person, a woman. Well, she’s also appropriate for her age.”
“Age-appropriate…?”
Ellen tilted her head at Seraphita-san’s comment.
“The life span of an elf is about five hundred years, and by the way, Sylphy is thirty-seven years old… isn’t it?”
“I think that’s right. In terms of human age, in terms of mental age, she would originally be around ten years old, right? Though, she is quite mature on the surface because of her environment.”
Incidentally, if you apply the life expectancy as it is, it is the equivalent of three to four years old. Well, the speed of physical growth and mental maturity is different between humans and elves, so it is nonsense to directly convert the two.
“Stop looking at me like that. At first, I didn’t know that… or, for all intents and purposes, she’d look like a respectable adult.”
“Well, that’s for sure.”
Ellen was convinced by my defense. In addition, she stopped looking at me as if I were a criminal. Thank goodness, my dignity was protected.
“Anyway, now that Sylphy and the others are back in Merinesburg, I will contact the two northern countries. In such a case, it is customary to dispatch an envoy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I think it is common practice to send envoys to each other to decide where the meeting will be held and then to go to the meeting.”
Seraphita-san responded to my question with a nod. Ellen nodded next to her, so I guess the etiquette is the same in both the Merinard Kingdom and the Holy Kingdom.
“The contents of the diplomatic letter were also extremely intimidating, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right. It implied that if they did not fully surrender, apologize and make reparations, we would destroy cities and villages near the border in turn.”
“Then, I will decide whether or not to actually do it.”
I’m the number two in the Merinard Kingdom, and not only Sylphy but also Melty and Isla told me that I should have that kind of discretion. Seraphita-san agreed, and Ellen and the other members of the Adol nostalgia group did not say anything, but they looked at me as if it was natural.
“If you want to be extremely intimidating, then let’s go through with it.”
“Go through it?”
“Yes. I was thinking of using golem diplomacy instead of gunboat diplomacy.”
Seraphita-san and Ellen tilted their heads at the same time at my words.
☆★☆
A strong light was seen in the direction of the border fort, and exactly one week after the soldiers stationed at the fort fled here with their limp bodies to the city of Brignolph, it appeared.
“W-what the hell is that…?”
On that day, Ilanus, a sentry on guard at the southern gate of Brignolph, spotted a figure walking toward the city from far to the south. It was clad in heavy, shiny black armor all over and was leading a horse-drawn cart with no horses at its feet. No, no matter how he looked at it, the size was not right. He rubbed his eyes repeatedly and shook his head to see what was approaching.
He thought it was a figure, but it was not a human being. There was no such thing as a huge human being. Even a large subhuman, such as a demon tribe, would not be that tall. Anyway, whatever the true identity of the thing was, it was highly unlikely that the people coming from the south would be friendly. As a member of the guard, Ilanus was informed of what he needed to know. Naturally, he knows about the invasion of the Kingdom of Merinard in the south that took place during the winter.
He had not yet heard of the outcome of that war, but the garrisoned soldiers at the fort who had fled to Brignolph a week earlier were anything but ordinary. He had also heard a rumor that a high-ranking general by the name of something or another had also been defeated while he was off duty.
If this was the case, there was a good chance that it was the fighting force of the Merinard Kingdom. Ilanus decided so and began to pound the gongs for the alarm with a wooden mallet.
“Alert! Alert! An unidentified group is approaching from the south! Soldiers in armor as big as the city walls and vehicles that look like horse-drawn carriages without horses!”
The town of Brignolph was suddenly in an uproar as if it had been poked by a beehive.
☆★☆
“Is this what you call golem diplomacy?”
“Yes, it’s quite intimidating, isn’t it?”
We, the delegation of the Kingdom of Merinard, had entered the territory of the Kingdom of Tigris and were right under the nose of the city of Brignolph, the largest of the cities near the border. We were positioned in good proximity, and with my abilities, I quickly built a small fortress, and in addition to the three heavily armed golems I had leading the way, there were twelve more golem warriors―close combat golems armed with custom-made steel weapons and shields―were taken out of my inventory and placed in a defensive position.
And the flag of the Merinard Kingdom is raised high and fluttering in the wind. This will give them a good idea of our affiliation.
“This far-sighted tube is good. I can see things very well in the distance.”
Ellen looks at Brignolph through binoculars and says happily. The sound of ringing bells is heard intermittently and continuously from the direction of Brignolph. Since it is obvious that the people coming from the south are related to us from the kingdom of Merinard, it is only natural that there would be a big commotion. In the blink of an eye, the fort was built, and it was only natural for them to panic when twelve ridiculously large golems were added all at once. To put it bluntly, these 12 golem warriors alone could completely knock down the walls surrounding the city of Brignolph.
“This is Capri. Danna-han, there are many soldiers gathering at the south wall of Brignolph.”
“Maintain a safe altitude and continue to monitor the area. Contact me if there is any movement.”
“Yes, sir… Ah, Dannna-han, five cavalrymen with white flags have left the gate and are headed your way.”
“Copy that. Let me know if there’s any other movement.”
“Yes, sir.”
The communication from Capri, the brown-feathered harpy accompanying this diplomatic mission, is disconnected. She is unusually good at night vision among harpies, so I asked her to follow us to be on the lookout for assassinations under cover of darkness. I might go all the way to the capital of the Tigris Kingdom, you know. Hence, Pessar stayed at home on the base.
“Are we needed here?”
“Golem can’t enter the building, can it?”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean. Well, we’re big, too, so we don’t want to be in a building with a low ceiling.”
The oni girls have also come along. The golem is good for warfare but not so good as an escort.
“Kosuke, I’m hungry.”
“Grande-sama, here are some sandwiches.”
“Hmm…. I’ll eat it.”
Amalie-san started to take care of Grande, who started to grumble at the perfect time.
Incidentally, Ellen’s other attendant, Bertha-san, remains at the base, or rather at the Mesotherium, with the priests of the Adol nostalgic faction, ‘taking care’ of the local Adol mainstream. Apparently, the Adol religion people in the Mesotherium were on the outs. She smiled a scary smile and said that it had been a long time since she had served as an inquisitor.
Ellen’s truth-seeking eye can tell the truth of a statement, but she is not good at getting detailed information out of people. It is Bertha-san’s job as the inquisitor to get a lot of information out of them after giving an out judgment. When I asked her out of curiosity what method she would use to get the information out, she said, “Do you want to hear it?　Would you like to try it?” I politely declined. It is a secret that I thought I might get scared of.
“Kosuke, the horseman with the white flag is almost here.”
“Let me see…? Oh, that man.”
Among the messengers of the Tigris Kingdom with white flags, I spotted a familiar face. That’s the general called Macrito, who was commanding the invasion force. He looks a bit thinner and paler than the last time I saw him, but I’m pretty sure that’s him.
“Do you know him?”
“Yes, the general who commanded the invasion force. If he’s here, he might be able to help us.”
“I see… So the horror of Kosuke-sama has sunk deep into his bones.”
Seraphita-san, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a scary person. I’m a generally well-behaved, peace-loving survivalist, yes. I think I can hear a voice saying something like doubt.