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Vol 04 Chapter 126: The Anti-Gallia Alliance

「Damn… if only those barbarians hadn’t moved…」

Kuryuu slammed his cup of grape wine onto the ground. The great sacrifices he had suffered during the retreat were because King Rozel had rushed him.

The strange movements of the Germanis tribes and the northeastern Gallian tribes had caused King Rozel to overreact. Kuryuu was forced to retreat on a forced march, with no time to prepare.

Moreover, the Gallians, by nature, had great morale and easily got carried away when they were winning, but easily lost morale and were the first to flee when the tide turned against them. This also contributed to the increase in damages.

「It can’t be helped. It’s natural that our enemies would use this opportunity to attack us… That defeat hurt us more than I thought.」

A defeat of this magnitude was unprecedented in the history of the Rozel Kingdom. Unfortunately, the Rozel Kingdom had made many enemies since its founding. It was obvious that they would exploit any weakness they found, and this defeat was quite a big one.

「I don’t know if it’s going to work or not, but I’ve been in touch with the magicians I had infiltrated among the Alvans south of the Equus Tribe… the Aries Tribe and the Lupus Tribe. If the two tribes move, the Equus will have no choice but to turn back.」

If the Equus Tribe’s cavalry returned home, the allied forces’ strength would significantly decrease. Then, the alliance would have no choice but to retreat.

「Even so, the Anti-Gallia Alliance… How carefree. Do they not realize that while they are preoccupied with us, King Rosais’ Country will continue to grow until it engulfs them?」

◇

Time rewinds a bit.

「Finally, we’ve come this far…」

I stood on top of the hill, overlooking the plain before me. A river cut through the plain, flowing from west to east.

The boundary line that divides South Adernia and North Adernia. It’s the original border between the Rozel Kingdom and King Domorgal’s Country.

The reason I called it ‘the original’ is because, over the last hundred years, as the Rozel Kingdom’s southern expansion intensified, the border retreated to the south. Meaning, that we were able to reclaim all the original territory of King Domorgal’s Country.

It wasn’t just King Domorgal’s Country that had this success. King Gilbed’s Country and King Faldam’s Country also managed to reclaim some of the territories they had lost from the Rozel Kingdom.

It could be said that this campaign was a great success for them. Although most of this success was due to sheer luck. We mustn’t get complacent.

「I didn’t expect things to go this well. Further advances northward are…」

「I know. Prolonging this further is impossible.」

I interrupted Raymond’s words.

Some patricians and officers are advocating for pushing further north, but we shouldn’t get carried away.

In fact, a considerable group of soldiers are showing signs of wanting to return home. The Equus Tribe, including Mutzio, are also beginning to get fed up with the war as well.

If we continue the possibility of our defeat will increase, and if we are defeated, everything we got will be lost again. It might be time to negotiate peace.

In fact, I’m beginning to think that we might have won too much. If the Rozel Kingdom declares that they ‘won’t stop the war until they see King Almus crying face!!’, I going to cry rivers.

But, if I concede too much in the peace agreement it might lead to criticism from both inside and outside the country, painting me with a weak image, something I cannot allow.

Diplomacy sure is complicated.

「By the way, how many prisoners have we captured? Have the totals been tallied up?」

「Sixteen thousand people. We hit the jackpot. We can either sell them or bring them back. Well, depending on the negotiations, releasing them might also be an option.」

Sixteen thousand people…

Slaves are a valuable labor force. We want to keep a certain number for developing farmland. But bringing back too many increases the risk of rebellion. And these are Gallians…

How many slaves would be manageable in terms of population ratio? I’ve heard that in ancient Rome, one-third of the population were slaves…

Speaking of which, I wonder what the slave population in our country is like?

The census only records free people, slaves are not counted.

Recording the number of slaves would overwhelm our administrative processes. After all, there’s no point in counting them since slaves don’t pay taxes.

Maybe it’s time to conduct a large-scale countrywide census to get accurate figures. We need to precisely understand the country’s strength.

「We’ve also confiscated a lot of weapons and provisions.」

「We should return the provisions, they’re plunder after all, it’s better to keep King Domorgal’s Country as grateful as possible. We’ll keep the weapons.」

We’ll store what we can use in the armory and recycle what seems unusable into farm tools or new weapons. Iron is still a valuable commodity.

If there are any skilled craftsmen like blacksmiths among the slaves, will be great to increase our iron production capability…

「Well, it’s about time. I was the one who called them here. I can’t afford to be late.」

I turned my back on the territory of the Rozel Kingdom. I must go and meet King Gilbed and King Faldam.

「Never thought that our country, once a mid-tier country in northern South Adernia, would be holding talks on an equal footing with the three northern great countries.」

The Adernian Kings’ Summit will soon start.

◇

The Adernian Kings’ Summit began on the night of a full moon. The huge full moon warmly illuminated the earth.

Gathered under the moonlight were the kings of various countries, four in total, each with their own agendas. This was the first international conference of its kind in history.

「Thank you all for gathering here tonight. This evening…」

「Let’s skip the preliminaries, King Almus. We should get to the main point quickly.」

King Gilbed interrupted King Almus’ words. Among these four countries, King Gilbed’s Country was considered the most powerful.

It seemed that King Gilbed was internally displeased with a younger, less influential king managing the talks.

「Haha, young people are always in such a hurry. If you rush too much, it might seem like you lack composure, King Gilbed.」

「It’s none of your concern, King Faldam.」

「Heh heh heh… Just a piece of advice from the eldest among us.」

Kings Faldam and Gilbed glared at each other. The relationship between these two countries wasn’t particularly good.

While both countries were fighting against the Rozel Kingdom, they also engaged in minor skirmishes with each other. Neither country was highly centralized, and waging wars was essential to control their respective powerful patricians.

Carlo, looking troubled, watched this interaction. Carlo was not officially King of Domorgal but was treated as such for the purposes of this summit and thus was participating.

「King Gilbed’s point is well taken. Let’s move directly to the main topic.」

Almus, without showing anger, continued the talks.

「First, the peace negotiations with the Rozel Kingdom. We will conduct these as one entity, not individually.  The terms will be determined depending on the contributions of each country… Is that acceptable?」

With a unanimous ‘No objections’, the decision was made. The four countries were able to compete with the Rozel Kingdom because they were cooperating. If any of them pulled out, it would become impossible to contain the Rozel Kingdom. None of the countries welcomed the idea of any of them acting alone.

By the way, King Rosais’ Country was the most likely to make a unilateral move, after all, it was the only one not sharing a border with the Rozel Kingdom giving it some leeway.

「And moving forward, as we will continue to confront the Rozel Kingdom, I propose the formation of the Anti-Gallia Alliance.」

「That’s a great idea, King Almus!! My country agrees!!」

Carlo was the first to express his support. For the greatly weakened King Domorgal’s Country, an equal alliance was exactly what they needed.

「…」

「…」

King Gilbed and King Faldam showed hesitation. The reason was simple: they didn’t like each other.

They understood the necessity of the alliance. They understood its utility. But they couldn’t stand each other.

Both countries had longstanding border issues. Forming an alliance would mean losing the option to reclaim the territories they had lost to each other.

‘To fight a strong enemy, all past grievances must be washed away.’ Their relationship had passed a point where such beautiful-sounding words could not be accepted.

Moreover, they disliked the idea of King Rosais’ Country, which did not share a border with Rozel, taking the lead in the alliance. Despite not having a direct conflict zone with the Rozel Kingdom, King Almus would become the de facto leader of the alliance.

As he wasn’t in any immediate danger from the Rozel Kingdom, King Almus would be protected by the shield formed by their countries while he, oh so magnanimously, would offer his help when they needed it. For both King Gilbed and King Faldam, proud leaders of major countries, this was something that hurt their pride greatly.

However, King Gilbed and King Faldam were aware that if each country acted separately, they would not be able to stand against the Rozel Kingdom—history had already proven this. Furthermore, the power of King Rosais’ Country was undeniably essential.

Both King Gilbed and King Faldam were willing to make some concessions to form the alliance.

In the end, the agreement reached was to establish a demilitarized zone in the areas with border issues and to sign a mutual non-aggression pact.

Essentially, this was a postponement of the problem. The tricky part was that both countries had the perception that they had made concessions on the territorial issues. It was almost certain that these issues would flare up again soon.

The alliance had a renewal period of three years. Additionally, a kings’ summit was to be held annually to allow for the adjustment and alignment of their views.

The specific terms included:

• A mutual non-aggression pact among the four countries.
• Should any of the four countries be invaded, the others would send military support.
• Support for the reconstruction of King Domorgal’s Country by the other countries.

The scale of the military support and other major issues were left without a clear commitment, leaving some ambiguity in the treaty. Being too specific might lead to situations where the needs of other countries would be prioritized over one’s own, which no country wanted. Self-preservation was a priority, and thus, the unity of the four countries was somewhat disjointed.

However, this relationship was still a significant improvement over their previous interactions, which were characterized by mutual sabotage.

After these discussions, the summit concluded with a pleasant exchange of words.

◇

Thus, the narrative circles back to the beginning.

「The Anti-Gallia Alliance, hmm? King Almus is the proposer, I’m sure. He stands to gain the most from it.」

「How so?」

「It’s simple. His country is the only one not sharing a border with ours. It’s not a relationship of mutual aid, but rather, him offering aid to the other three countries. For King Rosais’ Country, there’s no benefit in joining the alliance. Therefore, the other three must show some deference towards King Rosais’ Country.」

This meant an increase in the international influence of King Rosais’ Country. He effectively became the leader of the Anti-Gallia Alliance.

「I see… that kid has thought this through.」

Kuryuu expressed his admiration. He already viewed Almus as a young and active king. Now, he also saw him as a strategist.

「Really? It seems pretty obvious to me. Well, it worked because even though it was obvious, the three countries had no choice but to form an alliance. That alone shows how much our Rozel Kingdom is feared.」

Mari shrugged her shoulders. The only Adernian country that had managed to push the Rozel Kingdom back to such an extent was King Rosais’ Country.

Without King Rosais’ Country, they could not stand against the formidable Rozel Kingdom. This war had convinced all the other countries of this fact.

「But the biggest advantage for King Rosais’ Country is the mutual non-aggression pact. As long as that exists, the three countries cannot sanction any military actions taken by King Rosais’ Country.」

「I see… King Gilbed’s Country and King Faldam’s Country are too preoccupied with our kingdom to expand their territories southward. King Domorgal’s Country also shares a border with us, and there are no other countries nearby that they could invade. On the other hand, King Rosais’ Country…」

Had many small countries to its south. It had more than enough prey.

Since King Rosais’ Country did not share a border with the Rozel Kingdom, it could focus all its military efforts on expansion. While reasonably big countries like King Belvedire’s Country, King Evile’s Country, and King Zoldias’ Country also existed in their neighborhood, they were…

King Belvedire’s Country and King Evile’s Country had dropped to semi-vassal states of King Rosais’ Country, and King Zoldias’ Country didn’t have the power to effectively counter King Rosais’ Country.

King Rosais’ Country was likely to use this alliance to further expand its territory.

「And even worse… sigh… we’ll have to take part of the responsibility for the failure of this war, about sixty percent is my fault, and forty percent yours, right?」

「Personally, I’d like to say it’s eighty percent your fault, but since I was in command of the army…」

Mari and Kuryuu had grim expressions on their faces. Thinking about the kind of sarcastic remarks they might face when they return home made them feel even worse.

「The problem now is the peace negotiations, Mare-dono. If we strongly insist that we will continue the war until our territories are reclaimed, we might be able to push through… 」

「King Rozel is… always nagging me to hurry up and make peace. Considering the time constraints, we can’t argue too much. We’ll have to make concessions…」

Both let out a heavy sigh.