Eventually, I was pressed into agreeing to accompany them as protection, as long as my wives were okay with coming. Well, all the “protection” I was really doing was riding with the princess’s party and transporting surplus food we were trading. There wasn’t much danger in it. Occasionally, monsters would attack supply caravans, but they were hardly a worry for me.
“Two-thirds of our three-thousand-man mercenary group, Dragons of the Scorching Sand, will be transporting five hundred wagons of food and a few hundred things that Prince Charles wants to export from this region. Our main duty is to deliver it all to the United Kingdom’s hidden ships at the western coast.”
The United Kingdom of the Crater Isles lay to the west of the Rarogne Region, separated from it by sea. It was a maritime kingdom comprised of over fifty islands.
As it turned out, almost all of the United Kingdom’s trade was with the Ritenb Empire, which the Magne Kingdom happened to have very poor relations with. As a result, this kingdom didn’t have much contact with the Craters. Recently, however, the empire had grown more high-handed in their approach to trade, perhaps because they were gaining land in wars, and had raised their prices for exports of food without warning.
The Craters tried to be patient, due to the countries’ long history of mutually beneficial trade, but when subjected to a price hike that could only be called exploitation, they had naturally decided to hedge their bets. Thus, they chose to send ambassadors in secret to negotiate with the Magne Kingdom.
Their options were limited because they relied on imports for food.
Temperatures there were low throughout the year, especially in winter, when they dropped so low that it became possible to walk from island to island.
Their summers were pleasantly cool, which made it a pleasant getaway from the heat for the Empire’s nobility. Tourism proved a profitable industry for them, but the climate was not made for agriculture. Thus, they’d come to rely on the empire for nearly all of their food imports.
In contrast, the United Kingdom excelled in shipbuilding and in making devices devices utilizing magic that was unknown outside the kingdom. They were therefore more influential than would be anticipated, despite being a small country. In the past, the Magne Kingdom had been forced to import such inventions indirectly from the empire, so this was a major improvement.
Given our mutual needs, it was only natural that the United Kingdom would be interested in our newly-reclaimed abundant land. Considering they had sent a princess as the leader of their negotiations, they were clearly negotiating with an eye towards a deal. Fortunately, Prince Charles wasn’t the type to miss out on a big opportunity, so he brought the negotiations to a remarkably smooth conclusion.
“Princess Lefay, the kingdom’s representative, will be closely guarded by those knights over there. We’ll protect the wagons with the foodstuffs and such.”
As Princess Lefay had only just reached adulthood, she was the United Kingdom’s representative in name only. According to Salima, the princess had a very calming aura, not to mention a smile so cute it could stop your heart. She had soon earned many admirers among Salima’s mercenaries.
“Apparently, this was also meant to serve as a formal marriage interview between the princess and Lord Charles. But even though he’s royalty, it’s not solely his decision now that he’s been married into margraveship. Lord Charles seemed to get along with her well enough, but he seemed perhaps more intrigued than romantically inclined, given how often I caught him staring at her fluffy ears and tail.”
“I don’t know much about the United Kingdoms of the Crater Isles other than hearsay, but I’ve heard it’s a nation made up of various tribes, right?
What’s their story?”
Now, the third and largest reason that the empire had been acting high-handed towards the United Kingdom recently was that, in the empire, intolerance of hybrids was on the rise. The majority of people on the
continent were non-hybrids like myself. The United Kingdom, however, was populated by dog-hybrids, cat-hybrids, bird-hybrids, and the like. The empire, in their growing hatred towards hybrids, couldn’t resist shoving a price hike down the United Kingdom’s throats.
“I was sure the king was a bird-hybrid, but the princess is a wolf-hybrid.
She’s got rosy-colored hair to her shoulders, and her tail and ears are the same color. Wolf-hybrids tend to be petite, but the princess is especially so.
She’s very friendly, though. I imagine she was brought up well.”
Pardon the digression, but to explain: having children of a different species was not unusual. As a general rule of thumb, the child took after the mother. For example, had I impregnated a bird-hybrid woman, then our children would also be bird-hybrids. And if a bird-hybrid man conceived a child with a non-hybrid woman, said child would also be a non-hybrid.
Among the Dragons of the Scorching Sand, there were a few drifting beast-hybrids from the United Kingdom. That seemed to be one of the reasons their company had been tasked with protecting the convoy; every country had a select few folk who would ostracize people of other races, after all. Considering the circumstances for the negotiations—that is, the empire’s hostility toward hybrids—it was no surprise that they were on guard.
At any rate, they had two thousand bodyguards, which was a sight better than none. On the road to the coast, there were vast stretches of forest filled with monsters. The western forests were included in the scope of the development project, but the grasslands were a higher priority, so they had been neglected for now. That meant circumventing the forests, which would take the better part of a week. As we journeyed, I would maintain a monster-repelling barrier of over a mile in radius overnight, which would keep us all safe enough. I could even use my inventory so my party could bathe at camp.
“All right. If my wives are willing to go, I’m in.”
After confirming a few details, I had Salima wait in my drawing room while I went to the chamber where my wives rested.
✦ ✦ ✦
“So there you have it. Basically, I’ve been asked to take a two-week trip, starting tomorrow. What do you two think? If you’re against it, I’ll refuse.”
Olivia and Diane, now recovered from their groggy state, thought deeply
about it, apparently surprised at the sudden talk of travel.
Securing friendly relations with other nations’ royalty would be helpful.
My dearest may be a hero, but he has little support as-is.
That Salima is a popular and respected woman. A partnership between them would bolster his reputation even further.
Was two weeks out in the wild too much to ask of my girls? Though with Diane’s Golem carriage, they’d be traveling in luxury.
“I’d be glad to accompany you. The thought of living like we used to when we first met is quite exciting.”
Diane nodded along with Olivia’s words. They gave the okay, so I could go ahead and tell Salima we were in. Though this was a very last-second plan, all I had to do was toss all our luggage into my inventory, so packing wouldn’t take long. As she headed to our chamber to pack, Diane paused as though remembering something and posed me a question.
“Oh, I’d nearly forgotten. You mentioned that you would be receiving a fifth of the business district as a reward for defeating the titan, yes? Has an appointment for those negotiations been set already?”
“Not yet. The prince left for the capital, but I’m supposed to discuss it with one of his top civil service guys. Since they’re so busy anyway, how about we do it after we get home?”
Prince Charles had taken several of his attendants with him to the capital that morning. He’d gone right back to work without so much as a break after I’d left, the day before. That guy really made me worry about his health.
At least Prince Charles had gotten the better of the argument I’d left him to, so the head priest ended up with all the work preparing for the titan-slaying celebration. Poor Trabant’s head was spinning. It’d be a shame if he visited while we were gone, so I decided I’d better make sure to let him know that I was leaving to help Salima. Considering how angry he’d been with me yesterday for making him worry, I was certain he’d be happy to know that I would be accompanied by the famous Salima and two thousand of her soldiers.
“We really would do better to settle it quickly. It will make planning easier for the Margrave. If you don’t mind, I can write a letter home to entrust the matter to a family member.”
Prince Charles did say that asking Diane’s family would be best, didn’t he? Of course, I was a complete amateur at business, so perhaps it would be
safer to leave it to people who knew what they were doing.
“All right, I’ll prepare a bird familiar. Since he’s my father-in-law now, I’ll write him a letter, too. Though, uh, I don’t have a lot of practice writing letters to nobility. Olivia, would you mind helping?”
“I’d be glad to.”
I went to tell Salima that I accepted her escort request, then set to laboring over a letter to the father-in-law I had never met before. That taken care of, I packed for the next day’s departure and turned in early.