Negotiation - 1
The middle-aged man glared at me and declared, “Muller will not forget this insult.”
But the real problem was that, contrary to his intentions, not a single person on our side gave a damn. The Franz family members stared at the envoy from Muller and his knight escorts with the same indifferent eyes one might give a random pebble stuck in a street corner. Seeing their apathetic gazes, the man clenched his fists in a mixture of contempt and fury.
A deep indigo magic power flickered across his entire body. Even though we recognized the signature hue of the Muller family, the people of our house simply watched the manifested power with complete disinterest, as if it were nothing more than a light breeze. They showed no wariness, no defensive measures, no reaction whatsoever—just those cold, indifferent stares.
When the man tightened his fists again, the knight standing beside him quickly grabbed his arm and shook his head. The knight’s eyes were filled with resignation. Only then did the envoy finally suppress his magic power.
“……I apologize for the disturbance.”
“Hmm. I’m not sure what you mean.”
Raising one’s magic power during a diplomatic meeting was grounds for the talks to be terminated immediately. Yet the Franz family’s representative—a civil official—had phrased his response to imply that even if the man before him launched a full magical assault, it would be nothing more than a trivial inconvenience to them.
Even though he understood the meaning behind those words, the middle-aged envoy from Muller could do nothing but grind his teeth in frustration.
“Hmph.”
From a distance, I had enhanced my vision and hearing to observe the meeting. After grasping the flow of events, I realized that war would break out exactly as planned.
When the Muller envoy arrived, neither my father nor my older brother had bothered to appear. Just one of the family’s civil officials had greeted them in their stead. This was supposed to be a matter of war, yet every decision still had to climb several layers of bureaucracy before reaching Father.
“How ruthless.”
Was this what it felt like to be a minor power? It reminded me of my old homeland. What was it like again? …It’s been over twenty years now. The memories are pretty hazy.
“Is that so?”
At some point Chloe had appeared beside me, gazing toward the meeting hall as well. The blue magic power shimmering in her eyes told me she had strengthened her own vision to match mine.
“In the end, no matter what the envoy from Muller protests, we simply won’t care.”
“Obviously. Do you have any idea how much money we’ve poured into war preparations?”
“Is that really something a knight should be saying…?”
“Aren’t I your secretary now?”
Chloe’s completely casual reply to my jab made me let out a dry laugh. She really had grown used to me.
“We have to reap more profit than the investment we made. That’s how this ends.”
“War really is just…”
Business. Though come to think of it, wasn’t it pretty much the same back on Earth?
“Aren’t you attending, Master Leoric?”
“Me? Why would I?”
I shook my head at Chloe’s question. I didn’t have that kind of authority to begin with. As the second son of a noble house that ruled its own territory, my personal power was one thing, but my official right to interfere in domain affairs was limited strictly to the city’s public security. Even that was temporary and narrow in scope. It was nothing more than a position meant to teach me how the Franz family operated—no, dominated—the city. So of course I had no authority over matters outside the territory. Even if I tried to involve myself, it would be stepping over the line with both Father and my brother.
“Brother didn’t even step forward. There’s no reason for me to. Our ranks don’t even match. The guy they sent as an envoy is just some distant branch member with barely any power.”
I looked at the indigo magic power radiating from the middle-aged envoy. The difference in caliber was obvious. Even if a direct descendant of Muller had come, they would still be beneath the Franz family. If the envoy had been a woman, maybe things would have been different. I turned my gaze back to the meeting.
The envoy was protesting Franz’s war preparations. That was the overall flow of the conversation. Quite a bit of time passed after that, and the harvest season slowly arrived. Just as the civil war in Muller seemed about to settle down for a while, they finally realized that Franz was marching to war. We had deliberately chosen this timing.
One of the justifications for our campaign was the noble duty to protect one’s people during a civil war. The Muller family had failed to shield their own citizens from external threats. For the sake of Muller’s commoners, they had no choice but to oppose us.
“They’ve been fighting each other rather cautiously until now, but it’s too late. Not only us—other families have started eyeing them as well.”
We would move first. We had been preparing for a long time, and the Boraeng family was backing us. The justification was solid, and the morale of the knights, who hadn’t seen a proper war in ages, was soaring. I wasn’t the one commanding, but even I could tell—we had no chance of losing.
War with the Muller family is now inevitable.
-Knock knock!
“Hm?”
While I was lost in thought, someone knocked on the door and entered. It was Sven, the chief butler of the Franz Count family.
“The master is calling for you.”
“Father?”
A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me. I glanced at Chloe, but she had already quietly withdrawn. When our eyes briefly met, she shook her head, indicating she had no idea what this was about either.
“Got it. Is he in his office?”
“Yes.”
Sven stood by the door, staring at me steadily. It had been a while since I last saw him, but his expression was still completely blank. We weren’t exactly on bad terms. Right, Sven? …Sven?
“Ahem. Chloe, I’ve handled the important matters, so take care of the rest yourself.”
“Understood.”
After watching Chloe bow and leave first, I stood up as well. I took one last look at the meeting hall. The talks seemed to have ended; I could see the Muller envoy storming out with a flushed face.
“Tsk tsk.”
I wondered if that man knew just how few people had left this land alive after meeting us. In my father’s era—the time known as the Age of Barbarism—the envoy’s head would have been flying off before any talks even began, only to end up hanging on the castle gate.
“Lead the way.”
“Yes. This way, please…”
Sven quietly walked ahead, and I followed behind him. This situation felt familiar. Last time, I ended up having sex with my sister-in-law. …Oh, there were other things too.
* * *
-Knock knock!
After Sven knocked on the door, he took a step back and stood silently. I spoke up.
“Father, it’s Leoric.”
“You’re here. Come in.”
Only after receiving permission did I enter the office. The moment I saw both Father and my brother inside, I wondered if another family meeting was about to start. But there was also an unfamiliar face present.
“Greet him. This is the envoy from Muller.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Leoric Franz, second son of the Franz Count family.”
“The pleasure is mine. I am Train Muller. Since I belong to the branch family, please feel free to speak comfortably.”
“Haha. Once you’ve inherited the family name, what does being from the branch matter? On the contrary, I’m merely the second son, so please speak freely with me as well.”
The atmosphere in the office upon entering wasn’t bad at all. Moreover, it was Father himself—not my brother—who had introduced me. I roughly grasped the situation, smiled brightly, and offered a proper greeting.
The man had black hair with a hint of indigo and blue eyes. Judging from the considerable amount of magic power I sensed, he was nearly at the level of a direct descendant. If there were no suitable heir among the main line, this man had a decent chance of becoming the successor.
“So you’re the second son of the Franz Count family I’ve heard so much about! To think I would meet Lord Leoric, the one rumored to be their secret weapon!”
“If a secret weapon has so many rumors circulating about it, can it really still be called a secret weapon?”
“Hahaha. That is true, but doesn’t it have a certain dignity to it?”
A secret weapon with rumors flying around? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I had heard it before, but it still felt cringeworthy. Was this like the nicknames or titles from martial arts novels? In this world, such things actually existed. I knew Isabel had one too. Still… a secret weapon? I wondered what they called me outside.
Anyway, the first meeting wasn’t bad. I glanced at my brother. He was still smiling as he looked at me. When our eyes met, he gave a small nod.
“By the way, if he is the envoy, then who was that man outside?”
“He is also a genuine envoy sent from Muller.”
My brother answered my question. So there were two envoys. I looked at Father.
“Then is this gentleman from the first son’s side, or the second son’s?”
“The second son’s.”
“Oh, the second son. I feel a sense of kinship.”
“Hahaha. I look forward to working with you.”
The root cause of the current internal conflict in Muller was the question of succession. Originally the eldest son would inherit, but there was no strict law mandating it. On Earth, it was called primogeniture, I think. In this world, however, magic power mattered more than birth order. For children born with magic power, it was common to pass on the family name like with Chloe, or adopt them as a son, as long as the bloodline continued. In Muller’s case, the second son had been chosen as successor. The eldest son, unable to accept this, had sparked the civil war.
“Then the envoy waiting outside is from the first son’s side?”
“Correct.”
At Father’s words, I looked at the second son’s envoy. He was still smiling at me. There seemed to be quite a few circumstances I wasn’t aware of, but did I really need to know them?
“Then let us continue the discussion, envoy of Muller.”
At Father’s prompt, the envoy sent by the second son opened his mouth. He stared at me intently, the smile disappearing from his lips as his expression turned serious.
“We surrender.”
The envoy’s words were simple. Total capitulation. But only on behalf of the second son.