Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Dreamlike Ceasefire Terms
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<—>
“...”
Margrave Lichten wondered if he was dreaming right now.
When he had sent his son, Sion Klauzen, to the negotiation table, he hadn’t been worried at all.
His child had already shown more than enough excellence.
But he never imagined it would be to this extent.
“W-What is this, my son?
Am I seeing this wrong right now?”
“No.
You’re seeing it perfectly clearly.”
—Condition 1.
The Basura Countdom shall pay 4 million dir to the Klauzen Margrave Territory, based on Nudia standards.
—
Margrave Lichten rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again.
The amount he had roughly estimated was 300,000 at the low end, 600,000 at the high end.
‘But 4 million?
Not 400,000, but 4 million?’
He wondered if a zero had been added by mistake, but who in their right mind would make such an absurd error at that critical negotiation table?
That left only one conclusion: Sion had demanded 4 million dir in reparations, and the Nudia side had accepted it.
“Read the next one too.”
“T-There’s more?”
—Condition 2.
The Klauzen Margrave Territory shall release all prisoners captured in the war upon receipt of an amount equivalent to ten times the standard ransom value.
However, this excludes the surrendered Nudia senior knight, Rishikida Amchel.
—
In fact, this war had been short, starting with Klauzen’s surprise attack, so there weren’t many prisoners.
Still, a few knights, dozens of soldiers, and Nudia’s senior knight Rishikida Amchel had been captured.
Though she had changed her mind and decided to stay in the Klauzen Margrave Territory—more precisely, by Sion’s side—the other knights and soldiers were different.
Their families and assets were all still in Nudia, so they had to return, which meant paying a fair ransom.
“Ten times?
My son.
What in the world is going on here?
Releasing prisoners for ten times the amount.
You’re saying the Basura Countdom agreed to a ceasefire on these terms?”
“There’s still one more.”
—Condition 3.
Thereafter, the Basura Countdom of Nudia shall ensure no further military conflicts occur and, should tensions escalate critically, shall spare no ‘efforts of any kind’ to resolve matters amicably.
—
Anyone could see that the ‘efforts of any kind’ mentioned here meant not just efforts, but ‘monetary’ ones.
Margrave Lichten was left speechless.
This wasn’t a ceasefire negotiation; it was practically a surrender document.
The reparations alone were absurdly severe.
Ten times the usual amount for reparations.
Not double, not five times, but a full ten times.
4 million dir was equivalent to one year’s taxes for the Basura Countdom.
Of course, with various tricks, they could cover much of it with alternative taxes, but it would still amount to half a year’s worth.
This wasn’t a token payment from the ceasefire proposers as an apology; it was the surrendering side groveling and emptying every last coin from their pockets.
‘The prisoner release is suspicious too!’
Again, ten times the standard ransom amount.
It made no sense; there was no precedent.
Klauzen and Basura had warred multiple times before, with ups and downs, including times when one side was heavily disadvantaged.
Even then, they never offered terms this subservient.
They always struck a balance that preserved the opponent’s pride while being acceptable to their own side.
But this? No.
Something was seriously off.
‘And this third condition!
It’s an unheard-of clause!
Does this even make sense?’
No matter where you looked in the conditions, the Klauzen Margrave Territory was nowhere mentioned.
It couldn’t have been an oversight.
In documents like this, even a single character could be a point of contention.
So, they had deliberately omitted any mention of the Klauzen Margrave Territory.
This was a ‘ceasefire’ negotiation where the Basura Countdom was handing over their liver and gall bladder.
“...Sion Klauzen.”
“Yes, Father.”
“You didn’t... do anything strange, did you?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“No...
Like if the Basura Count tried to harm you, got subdued, and you grabbed some weakness or leverage—or something like that.”
“Nothing happened.
It was an utterly peaceful negotiation table, so no need to worry.”
Utterly peaceful.
From Sion’s perspective, at least.
“Anyway, the negotiations are done.
Count Dishe Basura had full authority delegated for the talks, so he won’t be stupid enough to back out now.”
“...I still feel like I’m dreaming.
Good grief, to think we’d negotiate terms like this with Nudia.”
Sion smiled, figuring good was good, and Lichten nodded in agreement.
He was a bit uneasy about Rishikida still being a Nudia knight, but seeing her pledge full loyalty made it seem genuine, and they’d even acknowledged it at the table by excluding her from release discussions.
‘It wrapped up nicely.’
Regardless of Margrave Lichten’s worries, the negotiations had concluded without any violence.
Of course, Rishikida had smacked Count Dishe’s face, but he’d deserved it, so that was unavoidable.
‘The various issues and weaknesses of the Basura Countdom that I knew, plus Rishikida’s intel on Count Dishe’s recent blunders.
That was enough to bury them completely in Nudia.’
There had to be Nudia nobles keeping the Basura Countdom in check.
Sion had laid out in detail, right in front of Count Dishe, exactly how to move those nobles.
And with Rishikida’s additions on her former lord’s idiocies brought to the table, they had leverage galore.
“You did well, Rishi.”
“Yes, thank you... Eh?
W-What did you just call me?”
“Rishikida’s a fine name, but it’s a bit long, you know?
I was thinking of calling you Rishi. That okay?
If not, I’ll stop right—”
“N-No!
Absolutely not!
It’s good!
V-Very good!”
At Rishikida’s booming response, Sion let out a weary groan and waved his hand to calm her.
“I-I’m totally fine with it!
However Master—er, Young Lord—calls me is fine!”
“I get it, so calm down.
Why are you suddenly so hyped up?”
“Ah, well...”
Rishikida suddenly deflated, shoulders slumping.
She hesitated a moment before slowly speaking.
“Seeing the true colors of the man I followed, calling him ‘lord’... it just saps my energy.
I can’t fathom why I ever served that guy.”
“Think of it positively.
It was the tough road to becoming my knight.
That’ll make it better.”
“...Yeah, thinking of it that way does lift my spirits.
Thank you.
For saving me.”
“I just held out my hand. You grabbed it.
You saved yourself, so don’t get too carried away.”
“‘Don’t get too carried away’...?
What does that mean?”
“It’s a thing.
Anyway, I’ve been seriously pondering something lately.”
Extremely advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, they say.
But this world was one where magic had simply advanced.
Meaning magic could fill the void left by science.
“Young Lord.”
Turning, Sion saw Sebastian bowing his head, waiting.
When Sion asked what was up, the butler replied in a slightly subdued tone, clearly displeased.
“A guest has arrived.
A ‘rather awkward’ guest, shall we say.”
...Shit, speak of the devil.
There was only one person Sebastian would openly call that awkward.
Raido, the former court mage who’d slaved away at temples before learning of Liririt—and then fumed when he found out the son-in-law who stole his daughter was with another woman.
“Rishi.
Come with me.”
“Huh?
But is it okay for me to join when greeting a guest?”
It’s not a greeting; it might be a one-way trip to the afterlife.
Of course, with Lucia there, the odds were low.
Guided by Sebastian, Sion and Rishikida headed to the most secluded inner chamber of the castle, used only for major family meetings.
As they approached the door, a woman’s sharp voice rang out from inside.
“You wanna die?
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
How the hell should I know?
I was sealed, damn it.
Trapped and couldn’t do shit—what info do you expect me to spill, you prick?”
It seemed Liririt had arrived first and was arguing with Raido.
Sebastian sighed at the sound, then quickly bowed in apology upon realizing Sion was right behind.
Sion waved it off casually, took a deep breath, and turned the doorknob.
“Hm?
Ho ho, finally here.
Our brilliant future so—*ahem*.
Come in, Sion Klauzen.”
“What took you so long!
Get over here and make this old fart understand.
I might end up killing my first geezer instead of a young man today!”
“Kukuku.
Harsh words, Succubus Queen.
Even old, a man’s a man forever!”
“Bullshit.
Can you even get it up in the morning?
I know some herbs good for premature ejaculation—want me to tell you?”
Both the Succubus Queen and skilled mages were equally childish, Sion muttered inwardly.
He started to sit beside Liririt but locked eyes with Lucia and subtly readjusted, taking the central chair instead.
Rishikida stood behind him, and Sebastian excused himself to prepare tea.
“...I heard the gist.
You made a contract with the Succubus Queen.”
“Yes, as you know, Sir Raido...”
“With not a speck of mana in your dreams, she couldn’t escape even if she died.
So she had no choice but to contract with you to get out.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t know the exact terms, but contracting with a dream demon isn’t exactly pleasant.”
Raido clutched his forehead as he spoke.
There had to be limits to having no countermeasures; for the heir of a great noble house to casually contract with the demon race—most hated by humans.
And knowing his own daughter liked the guy made Raido want to lose his mind even more.
“This is insane.
How did things get this tangled?”
“What do you mean?”
“That woman—the Succubus Queen—said she was sealed in that temple.
After the seal broke, they investigated inside and...”
“They found a massive magic circle, right?
A Celestial Tribe one, at that.”
Raido’s eyes flashed for a split second.
Meaning: How do you know that?
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Sion shrugged nonchalantly.
“Who else could imprison a top-tier demon race, one called a demigod?
Obviously, someone of equal standing: the Celestial Tribe.
Hard to imagine otherwise.”
“...True enough.
We’re still investigating its purpose, but it was definitely Celestial magic.”
There wasn’t much purpose to it.
It was just a reinforcement for Liririt’s seal.
But the formula was so complex and arcane that even Raido hadn’t figured it out yet.
“You have no idea how much I struggled to break through that.
If not for Sion’s desperate call, I would’ve passed out midway.”
Liririt boasted about it shamelessly.
Raido glared at her in clear dissatisfaction, then fixed his gaze on Rishikida standing behind Sion and clutched his face.
“Ha... damn kid... suddenly jealous.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing, just mumbling.”
Brushing it off vaguely, Raido got to the point.
Investigations into the temple had accelerated since Liririt’s escape and were nearly complete, but recent developments meant he had to leave Klauzen territory briefly.
“Then Lucia...”
“I planned to take her, but leaving her here might be better.
Force her along, and I might get beaten to death by my own daughter that day.”
“Father.”
Lucia shot Raido a terrifying glare.
The man dubbed the Chain Slaughter Demon cowered pathetically, once again displaying his infamous doting-father side.
“More importantly, heading to the royal capital?”
“Yes.”
“Be careful.
It’s crawling with jackals who’ll rip you apart at any sign of weakness.
I shut them up with beatings, but...”
“You think revealing I can’t handle mana will be a weakness?”
“Or do you think it’s a strength?”
“Well, objectively it’s a weakness, but used right, it could turn into a strength.”
“Spouting nonsense again.”
We’ll see about that.
Sion chuckled inwardly, pondering his plans for the royal capital.
Inability to handle mana was definitely a weakness.
But conversely, it gave him a rock-solid alibi, removing him from suspicion in any mana-related incidents.