A council is a dance. A bustling whirl of activity.
“So how is the situation with the Empire’s crops this year?”
“Thankfully we are generally getting a good harvest. Wheat is particularly bountiful. How about Elfrieden? You just came out of a food crisis”
“We’re getting a good harvest too. We managed to change crops in time, so there’s no need to worry about food anymore. Rather, it’s the emergency stores that’s worrying me. Even if we have it good this year, we might relapse next year or the year after”
“Well that goes for the both of us, doesn’t it. Harvest goes by the will of the heavens after all”
While Jeanne and I were talking, the Royal and Imperial bureaucrats were quietly trotting around. Some were frantically making notes of our discussion, because even a verbal promise can be an official commitment if written down on paper. Yet others were confirming what the things in those notes meant in order to not misinterpret what those commitments are. There were also those on both sides presenting prepared materials for each other, comparing what either country had in abundance and what they lacked. Since we shared no borders it would be hard to give each other direct aid but it should be possible with a third party intermediary.
It was a battlescene. Hakuya was eyeing each and every document in detail, and Liscia was helping me. Only the guard, Aisha, was standing at attention, but she wouldn’t want to look at numbers. She looked bored. … It feels really nostalgic, reminds me of the initial days of me having been handed over the throne.
In real diplomacy, even if the respective heads only met for a few minutes, both countries’ bureaucrats would negotiate for weeks or months behind the scenes. The Kingdom and Empire hadn’t been able to do that since the Demon King Territory appeared, which was what led to the current hecticness. For that reason, the first thing on the list for Jeanne and I to discuss was the Reopening of the Shuttle Diplomacy between the Grand Chaos Empire and the Kingdom of Elfrieden.
“Speaking of food, those Susanna root dumplings are really delicious, aren’t they. They’re made from the rhizomes of the bewitching susanna, right? We would like to know how they are gathered”
“I don’t mind. Well, according to Poncho, he learnt the bewitching susanna harvesting methods from a mountain tribe within the Empire. It should be easy to get their cooperation to introduce them”
“Oh my, there are people like that in the Empire. It embarasses me to not know what our own country has”
“That’s how it always goes, right. You can’t always see what’s under your own feet”
I took a sip of the coffee Serina prepared and looked towards Jeanne. “Agreed,” she said as she also took a sip from her tea. I tried putting a little bit of sting in my words to see how she would react but her expression never faltered. It was unthinkable that she was the same age as Liscia.
“Since we’re telling you about the susanna dumplings, we’d like to have some information as well”
“Alright. What kind of information do you want?”
“Food in exchange for food, that should be fine, right? I wonder if there’s some uncommon food the Empire knows of?”
“… then let’s give you that right away,” said Jeanne with an ominous smile.
“It’s demon meat”
“… hah?”
“You can eat demon meat”
Demon … meat? Eh, what, really? Is she serious?
“Have you … eaten demon meat?”
“Yes. It tastes surprisingly ordinary”
“……”
I felt my legs becoming unsteady. Since I’ve heard about the Kobolds helping the Mystic Wolf Tribe from Tomoe, I was thinking of negotiating with the Demon King Army if circumstances allow, but … did she say they taste ordinary? To be in a literal the-strong-eating-the-weak relationship with someone you’re going to negotiate with. It didn’t seem like it will end with just one side eating the other …. I asked with a strained voice.
“Did you possibly eat … a goblin or something?”
Jeanne looked at me blankly for a moment then shook her head in a fluster.
“Perish the thought! What we ate were ‘demonic beasts’, not ‘demon race’. … ah, I see, Elfrieden doesn’t know much about the Demon King Territory, right”
Jeanne seemed to understand something and nodded.
“Alright. Then I shall tell you as much about the Demon King Territory and Demon King Army as our country knows”
She then slowly began her recount.