"Wh-what?! The sea dragon's awake?!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. It has already sunk three of Albatro's cutting-edge warships. There's a possibility that the monster invasion earlier was also related to the sea dragon somehow."
"I-I had no idea all this was going on. If there is a sea dragon out there, I suppose this affects us as well..."
I quietly sighed as I watched the grand duke work himself into a panic. Just when I thought I could catch a break, Elna had gone and suggested Leo and I switch places once more. So there I was, pretending to be Leo again as I stood before the grand duke of Rondine. Well, I had to admit that it was faster to just pretend to be Leo than to explain everything to him first. But still, not cool.
"Yes. That is why Albatro requested that Adrasia be an intermediary between your countries. Your Majesty, as ambassador extraordinary of Adrasia, I ask that, in order to manage this emergency situation, you temporarily put aside your past grudges and form an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Albatro to defeat the sea dragon. My empire pledges our support to such an alliance."
"Y-yes, I understand... But I am still unconvinced."
"Is there an issue?"
"Will there truly be any harm to our country?"
"I see. It's true that we do not have any proof of what might happen. However, I can tell you that, on my way to Rondine, my ship came across the sea dragon headed in this direction. We managed to sail on without incident, but when you also consider that a sea serpent appeared so close to land, it all points toward the possibility the sea dragon's presence in your maritime territory triggered the monster invasion."
"B-but—"
"The most important fact here is that Rondine's waters are within the sea dragon's active territory. Your Majesty, the sea dragon's presence has made maritime passage to the southern region all but impossible now. Surely you understand what a disadvantage this is to your country?"
I hadn't wanted to explain things that way, but my growing impatience with the grand duke's reluctance to commit made me explicitly bring up the potential risks to Rondine.
"Once passage to the region becomes impossible, so will maritime trade. Rondine governs nearly two-thirds of the southern peninsula, but the majority of the routes accessing the central region of the continent are within Albatro's territory. If land transport becomes the main method of trade, it will be Rondine that suffers the biggest disadvantage."
"I-is that true?!"
"If passage becomes blocked off, then the empire will also have no means of providing assistance. Do you understand now? Allowing the sea dragon to roam free is equal to accepting those circumstances. Of course, if you have the confidence to fight Albatro even under those circumstances, I will not dissuade you. However, I cannot promise which side Adrasia will take at that time."
Once I spoke that final, key sentence, the grand duke's face went white.
The empire was powerful. Merely hinting at Adrasia's actions caused panic in most other medium or small-sized nations.
That threat was all the more potent since Rondine had been directly attempting to gain Adrasia's assistance. My explanation must've worked even better than I'd imagined.
"A-all right! I accept the proposal of an alliance. Rondine will provide complete cooperation to Albatro in defeating the sea dragon."
Finally, he'd made up his mind. Albatro could put in a request to the Adventurers' Guild. In fact, they probably already had. After asking the empire to be a go-between, they were sure to be expecting the negotiations to succeed.
That meant the work I could do as Arnold was done. I'd already told Elna and Leo that I would work on persuading the grand duke, but after that, I'd need the freedom to go off and do my own thing. Rondine would likely send a fleet of ships to Albatro in order to fight the sea dragon, but I wouldn't be on any of them.
It was time for my undercover work to begin.