Negotiation
They called it a negotiation, but of course the atmosphere in the grand conference hall was anything but.
This was, after all, the meeting room of Archduke Harth of the South’s own mansion—and yet the seat of honor was mine. Closest to me sat my secretary Lumina, followed by the representatives of the Western races: the Dwarf Rondar, the Orc Kraktore, Abella of the Birdmen, and the leaders of various other demi-human tribes.
Archduke Harth himself, his second-in-command Leon, and the remaining officers of captain rank and above were clustered together at the far end of the table, while the chamber was packed wall to wall with Orcs armed with miniguns, cultivating an atmosphere of pure terror.
“Right then—about the reparations… Lumina?”
“Yes, Lord Isaac.”
The moment I called her name, she produced the documents she had prepared and began reciting the damage assessment.
“First, the total amount of illegal tolls collected over four years. The logistics trains from our West that passed through the Southern Gate have paid a cumulative thirty billion gil. In addition, Southern knights illegally seized cargo from our trains on thirty-seven separate occasions, and the total value of those goods is…”
As Lumina rattled off the figures, Harth and the Southern bureaucrats grew deathly pale.
Apparently the sum was far larger than they had imagined. Well—they shouldn’t have gotten greedy.
“Furthermore, because the South engaged in illegal toll collection and plunder, and refused our repeated demands to cease those illegal exactions, we were forced to develop weapons such as the Gustav railway gun and the miniguns. We are therefore billing the South for the production costs—”
At that, Harth, who had been sitting deathly still, shot to his feet for the first time.
“W-wait! What are you talking about?! Billing us for the weapons you made? That’s absurd!”
“This is tyranny! Even if we lost the war, there is no law that allows this! You’re trying to rip the South out by its roots! If the Southern economy collapses completely, it won’t benefit you either—not when you’re after this territory!”
I smiled lightly at the protesting Harth and his bureaucrats.
“Isn’t it only natural? If you had accepted our demand to revoke the illegal tolls from the beginning, we never would have considered building these weapons and forcing the issue with might. So of course you should bear the responsibility. What Lumina just mentioned covers only the production of the Gustav and the minigun equipment itself. When we add the costs of ammunition, shells, and the installation of supporting facilities…”
I piled more and more onto the production costs Lumina had listed, thrusting an enormous bill at them.
Hearing the final figure, Harth and the Southern officials leaped up in outrage.
“You’re telling us to die!”
“This is unacceptable! There has to be a limit!”
I didn’t so much as blink.
“I demanded payment. I never told anyone to die. If you simply pay the amount we’ve stated in full, we’ve already guaranteed that we’ll spare your lives and allow you to continue living. So what’s the complaint? After going through the ledgers one by one last night, the sum is large—but if all of you here cough up every last bit of private wealth you’ve embezzled, it shouldn’t be impossible to pay.”
At the suggestion that they empty their personal vaults to settle the debt, the fattest man among the bureaucrats slammed the desk and surged to his feet.
“Even if you’re crushing us with force and playing the part of an occupying army, there are limits! I will listen no further! I cannot agree to this outrageous tyranny! This is a clear illegal act!”
“Was the toll you collected from our West for the last four years legal, then?”
“The central government already turned a blind eye, so say whatever you like! I will not submit to this forced treaty even if it kills me! Do you think I’ll just sit still while you plunder my property?! If you truly mean to touch my vault, you’ll have to kill me first!”
…
The fat bureaucrat thought to himself.
The West has already started a civil war and forcibly occupied the South. Word of this will reach the imperial family’s ears soon enough. Then the palace will send some moderate mediation proposal. That man has already committed the deed, so he won’t take on any further risk. Until then, I must not show any sign of submission if I want to secure the most advantageous position in the mediation!
Isaac watched him quietly and asked,
“You think I won’t do it?”
“Go ahead and try if you can! We Southerners do not bow to tyranny!”
“Is that so? Drag this man out right now and give him exactly what he wants.”
…
Three Orcs seized the fat bureaucrat and walked him out of the conference room.
The moment the door closed, the sounds from outside carried straight into the chamber.
“You filthy barbarians—how dare you lay hands on me! Let go this instant! Do you even know who I am?! If you thought this pathetic intimidation would make me yield—”
BRRRRRRT—
“Guh…”
A thunderous burst of gunfire erupted from beyond the door, and the fat bureaucrat’s voice cut off after a very brief death cry.
The minigun’s roar was so close and so overwhelming that no one—Harth included—dared go check what had happened outside.
Especially Harth…
“Hah… hah… hah…”
That same sound he had heard when fifty thousand Southern soldiers were annihilated in under five minutes was now coming from right outside the door. Severe panic seized him; he began hyperventilating.
A few seconds later, even though the door remained closed, everyone inside the conference room realized exactly what had occurred beyond it.
A massive quantity of blood began seeping under the door and into the room.
“H-hah…!”
“B-blood! It’s blood! You actually murdered him?!”
“Lord Isaac! What is this horrific act?! Have you gone mad?!”
Everyone except Harth cried out at the sight of the blood soaking the floor and tried to open the door to check. I immediately stopped them.
“Sit down!!!”
The Southern bureaucrats who had been about to open the door froze solid. Without rising from my seat, I issued the order.
“Sit down at once. Who gave any of you permission to leave this conference room? The only way you leave is by complying with our demands—or by following that man just now in death. Those are the only two options.”
Bureaucrats who had never in their lives experienced a negotiation like this trembled with clenched fists and protested.
“Calling this outrageous, unjust demand a negotiation—”
“Unjust? You robbed our Western goods, collected illegal tolls, beat and imprisoned our people for four years—and you never prepared yourselves for the blade at your throats? And now you still call what you’re suffering unjust?”
I slammed my hand down on the desk.
“Let me put it more bluntly, in your own style. The South is finished. Its strongest blade, the Iron Vanguard, has been annihilated by our hands. Of those fifty thousand troops, not even one percent survived. Even if you scrape together every remaining soldier, do you think you could muster half that number again?”
The protesting officials fell silent as if their mouths were full of honey.
“It took less than five minutes to wipe out fifty thousand Southern troops including the Iron Vanguard. If you gather another army and attack us, do you think you can win? If the Gustav resting on the tracks outside this mansion opens fire again, is there anywhere in the South that would be safe? We’re calling this a ‘negotiation’ for appearances, so you seem to think you’re our equals. Don’t delude yourselves!”
I flung the documents I was holding forward.
“I’ll say it again. Our demands are simple. Repay in full the amount of the tolls you collected and the goods you plundered over four years. Send your families to the West as hostages immediately. I’ll give you three months—convert all your assets and pay within that time. You’re free to run without paying, but if your whereabouts go unconfirmed for even a single day, don’t expect your families to die comfortably.”
“I know our Western residents who were beaten and imprisoned are still locked in Southern prisons. Release every last one of them at once, cover their medical expenses, and pay three times the full amount of damages they suffered.”
“From this moment, I will exercise all governing authority over the South. Gather every ledger and administrative document of the South without exception, organize them neatly, and hand them over to Lumina here. She’s exceptionally skilled at reviewing documents. If she catches even the slightest bit of creative accounting, that person shouldn’t expect a clean death either. And Harth.”
Harth, who no longer needed to be called Archduke of the South.
Ever since hearing the minigun fire, he had been trapped in panic, pouring cold sweat nonstop.
“From now on, I will also manage the tributes you used to send to the center.”
“W-what do you mean to…”
“Nothing much. I know you’ve been sending quite a few gifts all this time to curry favor with Eleanor—starting with the Tsunami Stone you had made for her years ago. I’m simply cutting all of that off.”
“N-no! Are you saying you’ll sever my feelings for Eleanor?! If you do that, she’ll think I no longer love her—”
Even in this situation, he feared Eleanor’s disappointed gaze more than the hatred of the enraged populace. This was why romance fantasy worlds were unusable.
“No need to worry about that. I’ll publicly announce the real reason tax rates have been so high. After that, the citizens are going to be quite angry. Once you’re on the receiving end of the Southern people’s hatred, you won’t have the leisure to care about such things.”
That day, former Archduke Harth of the South and the Southern bureaucrats willingly signed the negotiation documents, and great changes began to unfold at once in both the South and the central government.