(Ugh, my family's "Jet Style" technique is just...)
Crying tears of blood on the inside, she hides her likely horrific expression behind her helmet.
After a thorough cleaning, this armor had been maintained by an armor smith in town and looked as brand new as the day His Majesty bestowed it upon her. This suit of armor had been custom-made for her from head to toe. When she first received it, she had been worried that the visor would restrict her vision, but today, she had never been more grateful for something that hid her face.
The Jet Style was a technique belonging to her clan, but it was also a technique meant to protect Nagan. Therefore, it wasn't a strictly guarded secret; if it benefited the nation, it could be taught to outsiders. She herself had never spared time for such things since she was meant to be a mere "pawn," but she had once seen her older brother teaching it to promising individuals at the training grounds in the Nagan royal capital.
It took a long time to master, but it was a technique that allowed one to deliver effective blows against enemies attacking from a distance, making it possible to hunt down targets far above one's own weight class. Teaching it to others to increase national power was not a mistake. ...Besides, she had trained, elevated, and refined this technique herself. For someone like her, who could not use magic and possessed no special abilities, there was no other path than to enhance her physical capabilities and refine her Jet Style. ...That's why she believed she had served as an excellent example.
But, but...
(Why on earth did she master it in less than a week?!)
Before she knew it, "Wraith"—the special strategic force that the Kingdom of Heed took immense pride in—was already using her technique. She hadn't given that person a single explanation about the Jet Style. In fact, she was so terrified that she hadn't even had a proper conversation with her, let alone instructed her! In other words, that person had learned it simply by watching the technique she displayed during the mock battle with the elf. Uh, excuse me? Are special strategic forces monsters when it comes to their growth rate too???
Because of this, she felt an intense aversion toward her. Of course, if the time came to act as a knight, she would suppress her emotions, face her, and wouldn't hesitate to perish. If it was for the sake of the country, she would gladly throw her life away to buy time. But if her life wasn't on the line, Wraith was not someone she wanted to get close to. To be completely honest, if wishes could come true, she would prefer to never have anything to do with her for the rest of her life...
Well, she did think Wraith was a reasonable person, and since Wraith had apologized, saying something like, "Sorry for learning the Jet Style without asking," she probably wasn't a bad person. She had also apologized for being the reason behind her... accident, and had even praised her, saying she was working hard in various ways. Wraith was absolutely, definitely not the selfish image of a special strategic force that she had previously held in her mind. BUT! Who in their right mind would want to become buddies with the very person who caused them to leak all sorts of things!
(Granted, maybe because I completely let loose during that battle with the elf, the Tactician praised me...)
It was true that Wraith had provided the catalyst. However, she was also the reason why she had leaked in front of the person she admired, not to mention the blunder of fainting first. On top of that, Wraith had literally "stolen the technique by watching it" before anyone noticed... To be honest, she simply didn't know how to interact with her, and her true feelings were that she wanted Wraith to stay away because she was terrified.
(But from here on out, it's work. Time for the mission. I have to switch gears.)
Shifting her consciousness back into that of a "pawn," she ran through her thoughts. Until just a moment ago, her personality had reverted to how she was back when she dreamed of becoming a special strategic force herself. However, considering the role required of her now, being a "pawn" was better. The Tactician seemed to like her previous self—the way she used to show her true ego in the past—but this body had already exposed its blunders.
In the negotiation hall with the Beast Kingdom, she had to truly fulfill her duty as a guard.
(...Well, considering the fighting power on our side, someone like me might not even be necessary.)
Representing their side—the Nagan-Heed Alliance—there were primarily three attendees.
The first was the leader of the "Ostriches," who possessed the greatest military might in this place: Lady Wraith. Individually, her power surpassed that of the Beast King, and on top of that, she had 300 subordinates who were presumably on par with herself. Fortunately, because her mentality was childish and her intelligence was on par with a toddler, they weren't a group where a mathematical formula like $5000 \times 300$ simply applied (according to the Tactician). Still, she was the most powerful existence among Nagan, Heed, and the Beast Kingdom combined.
The second was the proud Tactician of Nagan. Though he had reflected on himself, saying, "I was jerked around way too much by the ostriches," the strategies born from his brain seemed to have grown incredibly sharp. She herself couldn't comprehend what meaning lay behind his actions, and she hadn't asked for details for the sake of counter-intelligence, but he had repeatedly held conferences with the young Queen of the Heed Kingdom and the Prime Minister through magical tools. He had also flown various instructions to intelligence agents in different regions... As long as that man was around, Nagan would be secure.
And the third person. Representing the Kingdom of Heed was Lady Mathilde. She was the person who had been made a Count just the other day. She was also the one who had kindly called out to her when she was completely in tatters after her accident. Until just the other day, they were equals as fellow knights, but before she knew it, Mathilde had risen above her. When they spoke, she proved to be an extremely approachable and kind person, making her someone truly worthy of respect. In terms of pure combat power, even a generous estimate would put her at around 200, but she believed Mathilde was an opponent against whom one must never let their guard down.
(The "Ostriches" began to distinguish themselves starting from Prague, the city Lady Mathilde was guarding.)
In a manner of speaking, it was Lady Mathilde who had drawn the special strategic force known as the ostriches into their country. Furthermore, during the invasion of Prague, "General Delotado," who had served as the commander, was by no means an incompetent man. Due to family ties, she had many opportunities to meet him face-to-face, and she could feel something like the resolve of a general in the nuances of his words. There was no way the army commanded by that man could have been weak.
(Despite that, even though they had the help of the ostriches, they annihilated the general and his forces, while simultaneously participating in and wiping out the war against the Beast Kingdom. Most likely, she is the type who utilizes resourcefulness and strategy, just like the Tactician...!)
In these negotiations with the Beast Kingdom, in order to advance the talks more to their advantage, the Tactician had leaked multiple pieces of information to the Beast Kingdom through intelligence agents. She had been shown the contents, and the other side would likely hold the exact same impressions that she did.
In short, the Beast Kingdom had to face those three individuals in a state where they had lost the Beast King, whom they had relied upon until now.
At this point, negotiation was just a name. To secure a ceasefire or an end to the war, the Beast Kingdom would likely have to surrender a great many things...
"Miss Dorothea... no, Red Knight. It seems it is about time. Shall we head toward the venue?"
"Ha! Understood, Lord Tactician!"
The venue for the negotiations between the Nagan-Heed Alliance and the Charda Beast Kingdom.
Per the request of the Heed Kingdom side—or to be precise, because Wraith considered the flock's food situation and realized that if they held the meeting near the original border, supplies wouldn't make it in time and the ostriches might munch on things other than their own kind—the venue was set up near the location where the decisive battle with the Beast King had taken place.
From the Alliance side, the attendees were the "Tactician," who was entrusted with full authority from the Kingdom of Nagan, and Count Mathilde, who was entrusted with full authority from the Kingdom of Heed. And from the "Ostriches" who had demonstrated their power in this war, Wraith attended.
From the Beast Kingdom, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and one general from the standing army participated.
The background of this meeting arose because the Beast Kingdom's army had lost nearly the entirety of its standing army, and on top of that, had lost the Beast King, their strongest special strategic force. From the Beast Kingdom's perspective, they could still replenish their military forces if they enacted a draft, but they did not possess the military strength capable of stopping a special strategic force. Furthermore, many of the commanders of each army, who could be called quasi-special strategic forces, had participated in this invasion of Heed, so even buying time was highly questionable.
Moreover, a massive number of mysterious undead were appearing within the borders of the Beast Kingdom, and since they had to deal with that as well, continuing the war any further was equivalent to suicide. Also, if they remained without military power like this, there was a possibility that they would be invaded by other nations, causing the country to collapse or resulting in a massacre. Hence, it was a negotiation for a ceasefire, or rather, an end to the war.
However, things would not settled quite so easily.
Although the Tactician had been manipulating things behind the scenes, this war had occurred because the Beast King had invaded the Kingdom of Heed. In other words, the Beast Kingdom, whose invasion force had been annihilated and which lacked the capacity for sustained combat, was in an extremely grim position. They had managed to open a venue for negotiations, but if they made a single mistake, their national territory would literally be reduced to a wasteland. It was a situation where they couldn't even make a single move.
As if to demonstrate this, the negotiation venue was plagued by an atmosphere that felt as though lead were wrapping around one's entire body.
It radiated from Wraith, the Queen of the ostriches, who sat in the center of the Alliance side. From her perspective, she was merely flashing a light intimidation to keep the children of the flock in a standby state so they wouldn't wander off somewhere on their own, but for the Beast Kingdom side, it was unendurable.
The overwhelming dread emitted by the Queen, and the terror of 300 pairs—a total of 600 eyeballs—all directed at the people of the Beast Kingdom at once.
The hierarchical relationship in this place was being hammered into their very souls.
However, if Wraith hadn't learned how to hold back her "intimidation," they would probably be spraying all sorts of things from every single hole in their bodies by now. Considering that, rather than feeling terror, the Beast Kingdom side should perhaps be grateful to those who had fallen as sacrifices beforehand.
(Like, the children are sitting down, but they're on standby so they can "hunt" at any moment... I want to get this over with quickly, you know?)
And the special strategic force was not limited to her alone. The highest military power in Nagan, the man who could overturn any disadvantageous situation with nothing but his brains. The "Tactician." While Wraith and her flock were the most dangerous existences in this place, he was the most troublesome existence for the Beast Kingdom. A negotiation hall like this was his absolute specialty. With just his mouth, he could manipulate this meeting however he pleased.
(It has finally begun... The peace conditions are entrusted to her from Heed...? Ah, looks like that's impossible. My goal was to prevent Lady Wraith from becoming the Beast King, but looking at their deathly pale faces, I probably can't even bring up the topic. Shall I do my best to drive the conversation?)
Lastly, Count Mathilde from the Heed Kingdom. The Beast Kingdom side had managed to grasp information about her by desperately investigating. To be precise, it was something the Tactician had gifted them from behind the scenes... though they would never know the truth. While she wasn't a threat in terms of pure martial might, she had drawn the special strategic force known as the ostriches into her own country and had survived participating in the battle where the Beast King died. From this alone, she could be considered a terrifying, resourceful general against whom one must never let their guard down.
(...I feel like I'm being horribly misunderstood. I seriously haven't done anything, you know? Or rather, what am I even supposed to talk about?)
Amidst a tension that felt like it was pressing down on their entire bodies, the meeting began.
After a certain amount of greetings and self-introductions were finished, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Beast Kingdom opened his mouth as if broaching the main subject.
"As the Beast Kingdom, we desire an end to the war as early as possible."
"...I see? In other words, an unconditional surrender. Is it safe to assume that this is what you desire?"
Representing Heed, Mathilde opened her mouth. It was a fact that the Heed Kingdom had suffered immense damage in this invasion. From the point where they currently stood to the east side, the defensive bases and towns near the border with the Beast Kingdom had all been captured. While these sorts of negotiation matters were not Mathilde's forte, the country's dignity would be ruined if they didn't take back what had been stolen.
Therefore, she had intended to bring it up rather strongly to see how the opponent would react, but a reaction completely outside her expectations returned.
"...Yes. We accept the lack of conditions."
The Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke, and the Beast Kingdom general sitting next to him also wore a dark expression.
Normally, a bit more concessions or a hammering out of conditions from the opposing side would occur, but this case was different. From the Beast Kingdom's perspective, if the war continued like this, there was a possibility that everything would be burned to the ground by the ostriches at worst. At this point, they had shifted to a phase of how to somehow protect the lives of the citizens, rather than protecting the system known as the state.
"... (Eh, what should I do? Is it okay to just accept this? Prime Minister~! Your Majesty~! Help me~!)"
Hearing that plea, while wearing a face that looked as though nothing had registered, Mathilde was completely panicking inside her brain. Unconditional means that, right? The kind where you seriously can't complain no matter what is done to you? Uh, i-is that really okay? Or rather, please don't leave such an important-looking decision to me, who was a knight until just the other day and didn't understand even the "P" of politics! It was a state like that.
As if throwing her a lifeline, the "Tactician" opened his mouth.
"I see, I see. In that case, what remains will be how to carve up the pie... We can decide that among ourselves later, but even with an unconditional surrender, there are various things that must be decided. We must also leave documents, so shall we hammer out those finer details?"
Mathilde indicated her assent to that question, and Wraith confined herself to a light nod. Although both of them wore extremely grave expressions, the insides of their heads were already a jumbled mess. It was the first time for both of them to be in a place like this, and they didn't even know what they should do. For the time being, both understood that they had to secure Heed's interests, but they were securely on the palm of the Tactician's hand.
(Normally, I would advance things to be advantageous for Nagan... but if we are to take a cooperative route with the ostriches, it is not a wise plan to cause a dispute here. Although it isn't the place to decide on the distribution yet, shall I make some preparations beforehand so that the Heed and Ostrich sides become advantageous?)
As the Tactician advanced the talk, the meeting proceeded.
The details are omitted because they are of a complexity level that would cause fire to shoot out of the Ostrich Queen's head if she listened to them, but the talk effectively settled in the form of the Beast Kingdom being dismantled and governed by the Alliance. It was decided that territorial distribution and the like would be discussed and decided within the Alliance in the future, and until it was formally annexed by one of the nations, the current government would govern.
"Well then, let us have the peace treaty take this form. If there is anyone with an objection... there is no one, it seems. Then, let us bring this meeting to a close."
〇 The Status of Each Member
Wraith
"It was a good social studies lesson, right? Well, I only understood the contents in a simple way, though. For now, my kids managed to endure properly, so I have to praise them."
The Ostriches
"There's something that looks delicious over there... but until Mama says 'Get 'em!', I'll endure! (Paraphrase)"
Mathilde
"I didn't understand anything... I could understand that the Tactician probably gave quite a bit of consideration to Heed, though..."
The Tactician
"For the time being, things are going well, so he is in a good mood."
The Red Knight
"(To be honest, I came wearing a diaper, but I'm glad I didn't have to use it...)"
The Beast Kingdom
"W-We survived... Once we get back, we have to do something about the undead... Eh, a report? What is it... Wait, they increased?! Oh crap, oh crap!"