A few years had passed since the leaders of each nation began gathering annually at the Balm Summit. Previous summits had mainly focused on topics like adjusting tariffs, reconstructing the northern nations devastated during the chaos of Fuuga’s reign and Krahe’s uprising, and sharing information about the northern hemisphere.
This time, however, they had convened to discuss a single, major project.
The participants included myself and Liscia from the Kingdom of Friedonia; Kuu and Leporina from the Republic of Turgis; Jeanne and Hakuya from the Euphoria Kingdom; Shabon and Kishun from the Nine-Headed Dragon Archipelago Kingdom; Garula and Elulu from the unified Spirit Kingdom of Garlan; Shuukin and Lumiere representing the Great Tiger Kingdom of Haan on behalf of the young King Suiga; Tia and Julius from the restored Kingdom of Lastania; and Lombard and Yomi from the similarly restored Kingdom of Remus.
Presiding over the meeting was the initiator of the project—though I’d technically proposed it—Queen Sill of the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom.
Once we’d all introduced ourselves, Madam Sill began to speak.
“Today, with the famed rulers of the world gathered here, the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom would like to make a single proposal. As you were informed in advance, it concerns the creation of a permanent organization for dragon knight parcel delivery and the establishment of secured airways.”
“Ookya? So it’s part of that shipping business you mentioned?” Kuu asked, curious.
“Yes,” Sill replied with a nod. “With international conflict now a thing of the past, and the southern world more or less at peace, clinging to our identity as dragon knights alone puts our kingdom’s future at risk... Personally, I wouldn’t mind following the example of the Lunarian Orthodox Curia—preserving our authority over dragon knights while allowing our land to be absorbed into a nation like Lastania.”
“That would be nothing but trouble for us,” Julius said with a frown. “Having a powerhouse like the dragon knights dumped on us? No thanks.” Beside him, Tia nodded vigorously.
If the Nothung Dragon Knight Kingdom were to be absorbed into Lastania, the latter would instantly become the most powerful military force in the world. That would mean shouldering more responsibility and treading even more carefully in diplomatic relations, so... Yeah, that’d be clearly more of a burden than a benefit. Besides...
“We still need the Dragon Knight Kingdom to act as our intermediary with the Star Dragon Mountain Range, like you always have,” I added. “Without that, we’re going to run into problems.”
The dragons led by Madam Tiamat generally only interacted with the outside world through the Dragon Knight Kingdom acting as an intermediary. But honestly, if Madam Tiamat—a transcendental being from this world’s perspective, and the one responsible for overseeing the southern hemisphere—were to actively involve herself in the affairs of mankind, that alone would be problematic. Even so, we needed the Dragon Knight Kingdom to continue existing, if only so we’d have a way to contact her should something happen.
When I pointed this out, Madam Sill nodded with a wry smile.
“I’m aware. That’s precisely why I plan to double down on our delivery service to keep the kingdom running in times of peace. The shipping organization and secured airways are part of that effort. At present, we transport people and goods at the request of various nations. But to eliminate the need for those individual requests, I’d like to establish regular flight routes for cargo and passenger transport. Bring up the map, please.”
At her command, a map of the southern world appeared in the center of the chamber. This was made possible by the power of the AI, Mao.
With Haalga now under Friedonian administration, Mao didn’t attend the summit as a representative of the Seadians, but she constantly monitored the proceedings as an AI. If asked, she would lend her support even to those who weren’t ancient humans like myself. In that sense, she was something of an observer for the Union of the Southern Continent.
The map she displayed had a circular outline drawn along the Star Dragon Mountain Range’s borders with neighboring countries.
“We’re considering establishing airways that follow the border between the Star Dragon Mountain Range and the surrounding nations,” Sill explained. “We would like to request permission from all of you to allow our dragons to fly along these routes.”
Though the dragons controlled by the knights were capable of carrying massive cargo loads, comparable to heavy transport aircraft, they also possessed the destructive power to reduce an entire town to ashes, like strategic bombers. Because of that, the current delivery service only operated by direct request from each country, with flights restricted to designated airways.
This system existed both to ease international concerns and to avoid complications from foreign cargo passing over sovereign territory... For example, if a dragon accidentally dropped something and it damaged someone’s house, questions of liability and compensation could escalate into a full-blown diplomatic incident. These restrictions helped preemptively address such issues.
The proposal on the table now aimed to streamline the process by limiting flights to a fixed route. The loop line encircling the Star Dragon Mountain Range would facilitate increased movement of people and goods between nations. For the Dragon Knight Kingdom, it would give their knights a way to earn a living during peacetime. For the other countries, it meant easier importing and exporting, especially once they’d built out transport infrastructure that connected to the new airways.
If everyone could just overlook the destructive power of the dragons I mentioned earlier, it really did seem like a promising proposal.
At that point, Lumiere of the Great Tiger Kingdom of Haan raised her hand.
“I believe this is an incredibly meritorious proposal. Our nation would have no objections to airways running along our border with the Star Dragon Mountain Range... However,” she said, turning her eyes towards me. “I can understand how this benefits the Dragon Knight Kingdom, but...it’s hard to imagine such an idea coming from a nation that was so insular until just a few years ago. I suspect it was proposed by someone else. What do you say to that?”
Her gaze didn’t waver. It was clear she had someone specific in mind, and just as clearly, that someone was me.
“What will you do, Souma?” Liscia whispered. “She’s onto you.”
Even though this was a summit of national leaders, by now, we all knew each other well.
We had fought side by side—or against one another—so we had a decent idea of how everyone thought.
“Well, it’s not really something we need to hide,” I whispered back, feeling a bit like a sore loser, then raised my hand to speak. “As Madam Lumiere guessed, I was the one who proposed the establishment of the airways. However, since the Dragon Knight Kingdom would be the primary user, I made sure the plan was structured to benefit them.”
“Then let us hear your reasoning.” Lumiere looked directly at me as she spoke. There was no hostility in her expression, only a desire to understand. “Lady Yuriga and Lord Suiga have left the Great Tiger Kingdom in our care. I do find this proposal attractive, but I can’t allow it to proceed lightly without knowing the intention behind it.”
“A perfectly reasonable stance. Allow me to explain.” I rose from my seat and pointed to the map displayed in the center of the chamber. “This may take some time, so let me drop the formal tone for now... Okay, here’s the simple version. We just want more lively exchange between people across the world. That’s really all it boils down to.”
“Exchange?” she echoed.
“Right. Everyone being able to get products from other countries. Everyone being able to ship out what they produce. Easier opportunities to study abroad. Casual trips to other nations for fun. That’s the kind of world I want to create.” I looked around the room, then added, “Because I believe that kind of world will help delay the return of war to the world of the south.”
The looks on everyone’s faces changed at the word “war.” They probably hadn’t expected a discussion about the Dragon Knight Kingdom’s delivery service to veer in that direction. But I wasn’t joking.