Chapter 212: 213

To give them prior warning, Danzij’s messenger seems to have headed for Koenigsvelg ahead of us. We will head to Koenigsvelg slowly after a small delay. Ordinarily, it might be something to contact and get a reply before going, but that would take too much time. I want to go to Koenigsvelg and start negotiations today.

Visiting nobles should be fine as long as they arrive later after the advance notice, so there’s no need to wait for a reply from the other party. In the first place, they must have known that I was going to visit Danzij today because they asked this of them. If the conversation goes well here today, I’m sure they’ll be waiting for me to come to Koenigsvelg.

Even so… this is completely different from the alliance I thought…

When you think of the Caanza Alliance, you would probably think of something like a mutual aid organization led by the Caanza Trading Firm, with each free city ruling over itself, right? Am I the only one? No, I shouldn’t be.

Do you imagine a form in which even though someone called it an “alliance,” members would end up surrendering their territory and sovereignty to Caanza Trading Firm and falling under its umbrella? It’s not an alliance, it’s just like the Caanza Trading Firm conquering each free city.

Of course, Caanza Trading Firm is not conquering them by force. But who will believe it when looking objectively at the flow and deeds so far? From the outside, it would appear as if House Caan and Caanza Trading Firm had removed the Royal Hollant Navy from the Hulk Sea, and used their military might to conquer the Free City under the pressure of gunboat diplomacy.

It seems necessary to report this to the Royal Family of Ploiss. On the contrary, depending on how it shakes out, there is a possibility that I will be taken in and have explanations demanded of me.

I was planning to report on the Caanza Alliance if it was possible. But this is no different from expanding my territory. It’s like I’m changing the territory that the Kingdom of Ploiss gave me by myself. Visvy and Goslant Island weren’t anyone’s territory, so it’s still fine. But it would be bad if other free cities would fall under my umbrella.

What went wrong….? I had no intention of dissolving Lubek’s Council, either. However, they could have just replaced the troublesome lawmakers, so why did they throw the entire governing body out with them…? Danzij followed suit and said that they would dissolve the council and hand over the reins to me… and it might be misunderstood that you would have to dissolve your governance and hand over sovereignty to me in order to join the Caanza Alliance.

I wonder if these citizens of Koenigsvelg will not dissolve their government and offer to join the Caanza Alliance as if it were a mutual aid organization…

I thought Koenigsvelg will join the Caanza Alliance in another way. There was a time when I thought that.

“You’re Sir Caan! The rumors abound about you! And what an incredible ship! Victory is ours with this!” a councilor said.

“No… umm…” I started.

“Koenigsvelg is often attacked by barbarians!” he continued. “We will surrender all powers, sovereignty, taxes, and everything to you, Sir Caan! Just please save Koenigsvelg!”

“Uh…” I went.

As soon as I arrived at the Port of Koenigsvelg, a large number of people clung to me. Koenigsvelg is an important hub for the Hulk Sea Trade located further east than Danzij. But the history of this city is a bit confusing.

Long ago, settlement and colonization were carried out further east than the Kingdom of Ploiss. At present, Hulk Sea Trade is centered around the cities that were developed and colonized. The established Koenigsvelg will grow gradually after that, but naturally, various enemies and obstacles will appear on the way.

If you grow, naturally there will be people who aim at you. Various powers have invaded by force to make it their own, various schemes have been set up, and various decisions have been made arbitrarily in political deals, which brings us to the present conflict-filled state of affairs. And Koenigsvelg is still in the middle of a lot of trouble.

Koenigsvelg is surrounded by the Kingdom of Polsky, which lies to the east of the Kingdom of Ploiss. And it was often invaded and even ruled by them at times. In addition, there was a history of invasion and naval blockades from the Principality of Moscove, which is located to the east of Polsky.

The Kingdom of Polsky is adjacent territory-wise, or rather, Koenigsvelg is surrounded by them and is targeted by tremendous influence over the land borders. The Principality of Moscove doesn’t border them, but the Principality of Moscove is also a Hulk Sea coastal country. The eastern end of the Hulk Sea is the Principality of Moscove’s, and it seems that Moscove has been invading from the sea, putting Koenigsvelg to the sword, and they’d had little choice but to stare down the point of it. 1

The history of Koenigsvelg is the history of its struggle with its neighbors, a conflict that continues today.

I wonder if the Kingdom of Ploiss will not provide any assistance or countermeasures in such a situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s just leaving them alone. However, there are times when the Kingdom of Ploiss is dominant around Koenigsvelg, and there are times when the Kingdom of Polsky is dominant. Hulk Sea trade is also currently dominated by the Kamaal Alliance as the largest force in the Hulk Sea.

In addition, the Kingdom of Ploiss has been at odds with the Demon Country in the north and the Kingdom of Frasia in the west for many years and has no choice but to focus on them. Naturally, the eastern countries and Koenigsvelg were given lower priority and could only be dealt with reactively.

“We dedicate all our sovereignty to Sir Caan! So please protect this town!” the councilor said.

“Haa……” I sighed. “Putting all that aside, let’s have a discussion somewhere else…”

Why would they give up their rights and entrust everything to the Caanza Alliance? It’s pretty self-explanatory. If you join the Caanza Alliance, you will be able to maintain the name of a free city without dropping your rights or title of a free city and will be under the patronage of House Caan and the Caanza Trading Firm. It’s not just Koenigsvelg, many other free cities want to jump on.

I know what one city can do. The Free City Council is nothing more than an interest-coordination body for influential business conglomerates. Speaking of self-government, it sounds good, but if you have to self-govern without reward, it’s just a burden. No one would want to do that.

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That is why councils are held and the city is self-governing, but if the representative of some company decides everything, it will naturally be decided that their company will be advantageous. That’s why they manage the city while coordinating interests so that as many people as possible can be convinced to let them stay in power.

Company A is superior in transportation, Company B is superior in shipping, and Company C is superior in retail.

That’s why the councils mainly focus on adjusting the interests of the companies and unions that form their members. As a result, it feels like the city is being managed. But that doesn’t work well when a fatal problem occurs.

Usually, the budget is put together by discussing whether to develop a port for the shipping industry or to develop a road for the transportation industry. But what if a big earthquake destroyed everything at once? Everyone will tell you to send the budget to the locations related to them first and repair them. If that happens, the Council will cease to function for the deadlock.

And it’s not just natural disasters that are the problem. What would you do if a foreign enemy came? If the town is destroyed or occupied, their property and lives may be in danger. But just because of that, how many auspicious people would throw their personal property into a war chest to hire mercenaries that will protect the town as a whole?

Of course, someone should do it, or do it with the budget of the town. But the budget is not unlimited and it comes down to who has the responsibility and authority to do it. Some of them might make ridiculous demands such as the constant maintenance of (insert here) if they have the budget to hire mercenaries.

The council, which is useful in its own way in coordinating interests in normal times, is not only useless in times of emergency but instead ends up being a hindrance. However, they can’t fall under the command of some Lord. It is the sovereign authority that guarantees the rights of the free city, not its citizens. Therefore, they cannot decide on such major governmental change on their own.

That’s where the Caanza Alliance comes in handy. Without dropping the title of a free city, it is possible to obtain the military backing of House Caan and Caanza Trading Firm. In exchange, they will forfeit the management of the city and taxes, but there is no problem in entrusting their governance to us, which the citizens considered a burden, anyway. As long as the Lord who governs, that is, me, don’t decide any unreasonable laws, they tell me I can do whatever I please.

Of course, if I impose absurd taxes because I rule over them, or create laws and systems that are unilaterally disadvantageous to existing companies and unions, there will be a backlash. But if someone has heard about my rule so far, there must be a judgment that I wouldn’t do something so unreasonable.

“First thing…” I said, “I know you’re asking for help, but neither House Caan nor Caanza Trading Firm has enough soldiers to send a large army here to garrison the city or defend it. Please understand that.”

“It’s alright!” the Koenigsvelg councilor said. “If you’re ruling, Sir Caan, neither the Kingdom of Polsky nor the Principality of Moscove will match you in battle!”

That’s why I’m saying it’s a problem…

Certainly, a naval battle would be quite possible. I believe that the new House Caan Merchant Fleet is the most advanced and elite not only in the Hulk Sea but also in this world. It is highly unlikely it would lose against an opponent of equal or lesser numbers. But even so, if the enemy does have the numbers advantage, it’s a different story.

The House Caan Merchant Fleet is still overwhelmingly lacking in numbers. I don’t know how many ships the Royal Hollant Navy owns. The combat ability of a single ship is incomparable and they’re worth many ships at once. But I can’t beat the disadvantage by numbers. There is a limit to how many cannonballs you can load and stock at once. Once we’ve fired all our ammo, it’s just a regular ship again.

As for the Kamaal Alliance, the House Caan Merchant Fleet certainly can’t win. That’s because the number of their ships is overwhelmingly different. It will be possible to win once, or twice, in small-scale naval battles. That must be a big win in the first battle against an opponent who doesn’t know the capabilities and how cannons are used.

However, once they realize our fatal flaw of limited ammunition, or if a large fleet attacks in order to avoid attrition and exhaustion over many small-scale naval battles, the current House Caan Merchant Fleet has no chance of winning.

And the army is even worse off. The total number of our army, which we call the Caan Knights, is too small. Considering the size and population of the Caan Knighthood as a whole, it’s natural. Even if they were equipped with cannons for land warfare, they could not hold back a large army of 10’s of thousands with just a few or dozens of cannons. They can’t fight even against a large local noble, let alone a national army.

There are various small crafts such as bridging ships and pontoon ships. I think there’s still room for improvement, and it’s not self-praise, but it’s a good invention. Depending on how they are used, they will overturn even the common sense of this world. Even so, there’s nothing you can do about soldiers who only number in the few 100’s or so.

Even in the Caan Knighthood, it’s impossible to put enough military strength to defend each city of the Caanza Alliance right now, even though we have armaments to beat back attackers.

Of course, we will not hesitate to improve it in the future. Rather, if I’m going to collect taxes and manage the city, naturally each city will develop its defense forces separate from mine. But that will take a long time, and just because we joined the Caanza Alliance today, we can’t say that tomorrow they’ll be fully protected.

“So I can’t suddenly send troops today or tomorrow just because you’ve joined the Caanza Alliance,” I said.

“We understand! It’s okay! House Caan who destroyed the Hollant Kingdom’s Navy, there aren’t many people who want to make enemies of Caanza Trading Firm. Even Koenigsvelg won’t be attacked today or tomorrow. Rather it would be fine if Sir Caan raised our army while the power of the Caanza Alliance is still fresh on their minds.”

That may be so, but it’s not always going to be that easy. Frankly speaking, I don’t have a good feeling about it. Rather, it seems that this is some kind of red flag.

But just because of that, abandoning Koenigsvelg is also not an option. If it was only Visvy and Lubek, it might be said that it was because there were special circumstances. But now that I’ve accepted even Danzij, it doesn’t make sense to refuse only Koenigsvelg.

There will be many troubles in the future. First, at the very least, we must explain the Caanza Alliance to the Kingdom of Ploiss. And depending on what happens next, I may be interrogated or punished in some way.

Each region that joined the Caanza Alliance this time had various problems. It’s like I took it all in at once. Danzij is not yet in trouble, but Koenigsvelg will have a crisis sooner or later. That’s the level of conflict between nations…

Even knowing that I had no choice but to accept this situation silently.

Footnotes

I was considering using “bite the bullet” instead of “stare down the point of it” but it seems more appropriate because that’s what Moscove would have used and Koenigsvelg has no concept of what biting a bullet entails

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