Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: A Request from the Sharon Royal Family
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"...This is a request from the Sharon royal family? Really?"
It was none other than my father who had handed me the letter. And with the Sharon royal seal stamped on it, there was no way it could be a forgery.
Even so, I couldn't help but question my father about the letter's contents.
Mercado.
Even in the Sharon Kingdom, which boasted the continent's largest slave trade industry, it was the most central slave market.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that all of Sharon's important and rare slaves were auctioned off at Lord Kosax's auction house in Mercado.
Destroying Mercado was no different from saying they would smash their own national foundation with their own hands.
"I was quite shocked when I received the letter too. I knew former King Tolkin van Sharon had passed and Prince Peter had ascended the throne, but I never dreamed he'd push such a radical reform right from the start."
My cooling head began to regain rationality amid my father's calm response.
"...But this could easily be seen as interference in internal affairs if mishandled, couldn't it? Why bring something this important to me...?"
Banten's major and minor affairs had long been managed by my brother Ares. So why show this letter to me specifically?
Fling!
My father silently tossed the letter's envelope my way.
-To Baron Jerome von Carviot.
"That letter isn't addressed to our house. It's solely for you. It just happened to be magically sealed, so I opened it first out of necessity."
That didn't matter. There were no Banten mages among those heading to Olivia with me anyway.
Of course, Princess Seira was coming along, but still, having my father open it was a hundred times better than a royal.
The real issue was elsewhere.
"...It might end up as my personal interference in internal affairs, not the Shield Family's."
This was different from the Philador Kingdom situation. Back then, the Philador royals had simply invited prominent houses from various nations.
We'd just gotten caught up in an incident by chance.
But this? The royals were openly demanding internal interference from me from the outset.
Naturally, it should be rejected without hesitation, but the problem was I knew what would happen to King Peter's future if I refused.
'...Prince Peter can't do it alone.'
When Prince Peter had been ambushed by the Empire in the past, he'd survived thanks to my help and grown wary of internal spies—a good sign, sure.
But Sharon's slave traders had colluded with former King Tolkin van Sharon for decades, building their power.
It wouldn't be easy for him to suppress them on his own right now.
At best, he might last a bit longer than in his previous life before being assassinated by the slave traders. That fate wouldn't change.
I might not predict every detail of that future, but Peter wasn't a fool.
Realizing his position was weak, he'd risked reaching out to me for support...
'What should I do?'
If I didn't get involved, Peter would fall. If I did, it was internal interference.
'With Olivia, Makgora... mountains of tasks ahead, now Sharon's in chaos too.'
I wouldn't have enough bodies if I had ten.
My father, who had been watching me intently, spoke up bluntly.
"Don't agonize over it alone."
"Pardon?"
"You have excellent vassals. You're a lord governing a territory now. Forgetting to seek and heed their counsel is a lord's fatal flaw. You still have time until the evening banquet—think it over slowly."
With that, my father turned back to polishing the shield.
"...Yes, Father. I'll do that. See you at dinner."
With the small hint from my father, my path forward came into view.
'Right, no need to shoulder it all myself. Let's talk to Dwayne.'
Unlike at first, it was true that handling everything alone was becoming overwhelming.
No—thinking back, nothing I'd accomplished was ever done alone. Everyone around me had helped with every success.
As the troubled air lifted from his son's steps and energy returned, a faint smile touched Bacchus's face as he polished the shield.
"Hey, he's heading off far soon—couldn't you just be kind for once?"
"Quiet. He needs to fix that now."
Bacchus didn't budge at Arandal's rebuke.
"His only flaw is trying to solve everything himself. A lord can't do that. You know it too."
Arandal smacked his lips, unable to deny Bacchus's point.
"Well, sure, but... did you have to be so stiff about it?"
"Leave it. He'll figure it out here before he goes."
The absolute warrior on his throne of jade was also just a gruff father.
"Hmm..."
Dwayne's expression turned grave after reading the letter from the Sharon royal family.
"Baron, actually... while you were in the lord's office, two guests stopped by. Care to guess who?"
Even before the banquet, guests were flooding in just to make an appearance, but pinpointing two meant they carried serious weight.
'Not Marquis Midas—our talk ended yesterday... Ah, them.'
"Don't tell me Set and Aria came in person?"
"Spot on."
Dwayne turned to gaze at the continental map.
"No way Young Master Set or Lady Aria came for something trivial. They must have direct business with you to come all this way. But as you see."
Scribble scribble scribble!
Dwayne's chalk flew busily, tracing routes across the continent.
New lines to Sharon Kingdom, Fran Kingdom, and Osiris Kingdom joined the existing ones.
To put it bluntly, Dwayne's routes spanned nearly the entire southern continent.
"The routes are too tangled. Baron, you're already short on time just for Makgora with Orc Lord Hatan and Olivia. You can't handle all those kingdoms personally too."
"...You're right."
Staring at the map laid out at a glance finally let me admit it.
I could no longer advance everything solo.
Once I acknowledged that, my first priority came clear.
Thud!
I sank into a chair with a good view of the map and asked Dwayne for his input.
"Dwayne, tell me your thoughts. At the banquet hall, what's the most effective way for me to play this?"
Grin!
Dwayne smiled in satisfaction. Finally, the man he'd recognized as his lord was fully seeking his opinion.
Past plans had always been hashed out with Jerome or just cleaned up after Jerome's ideas.
But a strategist wasn't that. They had to present the right path first to their lord.
Now he could speak purely as a strategist.
"Hmm, alright... Start with Sharon Kingdom, then. You want to wipe out Mercado, right?"
"Yes."
"Simple answer: send people who hate Mercado as much as King Peter van Sharon does."
Tap!
Dwayne's hand marked a spot slightly above and beyond Banten.
"Request support from the elves and lycanthropes. They'll have plenty of grudges against the slave traders too."
I smacked my knee without thinking. A brilliant stroke.
"Erasing Mercado won't be easy without massive numbers—large-scale deployment is a given. Plus, they're officially unconnected to Banten. King Peter's old nickname as prince fits perfectly; no one would bat an eye if they aid him."
True. With them, we could neutralize Mercado's private forces effectively and slip out of diplomatic issues easily.
Tap tap!
Dwayne's hand naturally shifted to Fran Kingdom.
"Fran and Osiris are here about that matter—the great magic armor or Osiris's headache. Reverse-absorb them into Olivia."
"Basis?"
"Princess Seira's a magic genius rivaling Lady Aria. Their synergy will be huge, not small. That's justification enough. Young Master Set needs self-sustaining Paeonia from the archipelago? You hold a debt from the Vulcan Marquis House over those world tree roots you sent last time—they can't complain if you demand it outright."
Dwayne's explanation flowed without a hitch, as if he'd sketched the whole picture already.
Tap!
After wetting his throat briefly amid the long explanation, Dwayne tapped Philador Kingdom last.
"Last night, after hearing about Marquis Midas from you, I pondered what more to squeeze out. Turns out it's perfect. Ask the marquis for rear support."
"Hm? Marquis Midas is already supplying military goods."
Iron ore, Philador farming methods, supplies—at kingdom scale. What more to extract?
My doubt prompted Dwayne to slowly shake his head—no, not that.
"That's nowhere near enough. What to request from the marquis is a voice."
Marquis Midas's gravelly voice flashed in my mind, but Dwayne meant something else.
"You mean speaking rights?"
"Exactly. In exchange for elf and lycanthrope support, demand it from King Peter: lend a hand in the archipelago war. Bring Set and Aria along and shoehorn them in somehow. Then, every nation except the Five Nations Alliance's three will join the archipelago war. Never in history has the whole continent united against them like this."
True. Pirate kingdom or not, the full southern continent's power couldn't fail to crush them.
But the archipelago had survived ages because the nations lacked reason to unite.
They only raided Ikenia, Philador, and Osiris's southern coasts.
The Five Nations Alliance had even less incentive. But now, two more from the alliance joined the three.
That shifted the picture intriguingly.
It actually looked feasible to subjugate the archipelago.
The archipelago was a treasure trove of unique resources unavailable elsewhere—each rarer and more valuable than its weight in gold. Paeonia alone fetched whatever price they named.
This fresh, tantalizing archipelago feast was about to become the southern continent's—all except the three Alliance nations.
"That's where Marquis Midas's voice comes in."
Tap!
Three arrows branched from Philador's northwest corner.
"Set the table for those three. So they can lend a hand in the archipelago war too."
If so, the entire southern continent backing the conquest would massively aid our goals... but lingering doubts remained.
"Two questions."
I didn't hide them. Dwayne wouldn't overlook what even I noticed.
"First, why involve those three at all? Like you said, we don't need them—current forces suffice. Second, how much support are you envisioning? The archipelago isn't our only enemy."
Dwayne could barely contain his delight at this situation.
A smart lord was a joy. Only needed words and apt questions—no needless fluff.
"You've gambled before, Baron, so you know: to prevent sore losers from causing trouble, they need a stake—no buy-in, no peace."
The archipelago's geography kept it distant from the continent. We'd dispatch people to manage it, and its resources would be divvied as spoils to participants.
Letting the three just watch would breed sabotage, so give them a taste.
"...Makes sense. Then we won't need massive support from each nation?"
"Precisely."
With three more joining, burdens lightened across the board. No reason to slack on northern Holy Empire vigilance either.
No guarantees it'd play out perfectly, but compared to my solo thoughts, it was flawlessly clean.
"Details can shift post-Olivia depending on circumstances, but for now..."
"Well done."
"Pardon?"
Dwayne paused mid-explanation and turned to me.
"Watching you for two years and making you my strategist was the right call. Excellent."
Thinking back, this felt like my first direct praise to Dwayne.
Maybe he realized it too.
...Thud!
Dwayne tossed the chalk before the map and rubbed his nose sheepishly.
"...Hmph. No big deal. Just don't trip over your tongue at the banquet—head in knowing it cold."
The kid's embarrassed.