After staying overnight in the Principality of Mimaka, Gaju Tugga and his party returned to the garrison in the Principality of Mimaka the next morning, loaded the boxes with Magi Stones, and departed again for the Principality of Dalat.
The flight took nearly eight hours at a cruising speed of 60 kilometers per hour, and arrived at the capital city of Radatola a little after 4:00 p.m. We arrived at the capital, Radatola, a little after 4:00 p.m. This is the friendly Mimarat Principality.
Unlike the friendly Principality of Mimakha, we were treated rather curtly, but their attitude seemed to soften somewhat when we showed them a letter from the Prime Minister of Mimakha, Mojtz Myas Lodi.
At the same time, it seemed that the magic stone (magistone) that he had brought as a gift must have been useful.
On the morning of the 30th, the last day of May, a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Principality of Dalat took place in the conference room of the palace.
He said, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Gyx Yarboe Miyata, Prime Minister of the Principality of Dalat.
I am Gaju Tuga, Ambassador of the World Guard. This is my deputy, Fiona Fierce, and this is Manon.
Gix Yabo Miyata was an elderly man with pure white hair.
His sharp eyes were gray and he had no beard. He was somewhat thin, but not to the point of being scrawny.
The overall impression was that of a sharp man.
"Miyata...... fuso or mitsuho type, right?"
Gaju Tsuga pointed out in a small talkative manner after sipping the tea served to him.
"Oh, you know very well. I heard that the first generation of the Miyata family was from Mitsuho.
"I was right, of course.
......What kind of country is Mitsuho?
Even though his ancestors were from Mitsuho, Gix Yábor Miyata had never been to Mitsuho.
"Well, in a word, it is a very peaceful country.
"Calm, you say? ......"
Yes. There are almost no mages, but instead there are factories that make magic tools and instruments ......."
"Yes, I have heard of it. I heard that a man named Magus made them a long time ago.
"After that, the factory is still in operation because it was modified and maintained by a magical engineer named MagiCraft Meister.
"<>? ...... I have heard of that name or title as well."
Through such conversations, Prime Minister Gix Yabo Miyata and Gaju Tsuga were able to get to know each other quite well.
Finally, they got down to business.
"This is just a courtesy visit, but I expect an envoy from the <> to visit us later. Please think of it as a preliminary check for that.
Gaju Tugga prefaces his speech with the following words,
"Have you ever heard of the name <>?
He began to talk in a different direction from the questions he had asked in the Principality of Mimaka.
"<>. Yes, I have heard of it, since all of the leaders of the four principalities came from there.
"And you still do?"
But Gix Yabo Miyata shook his head at this question.
No, I don't think so. No, that was a long time ago. Yes, when the caste system was even worse than it is now.
"I see. ......"
Gaju Tuga and the others were relieved to hear that, if the Prime Minister is to be believed, the influence of the does not seem to have reached this principality of Dalat.
What do you feel about the Principality of Jagus?
At this question, Prime Minister Gix Yabo Miyata's face grew tense.
"Well, you're asking me a question that's hard to answer," Gaju Tugga replied with a bow.
Gaju Tugga bowed his head.
"I am sorry. I'm sorry, but this information is probably very important for the future.
"...... I understand that, but ...... yes, I don't know how to answer ......."
The Prime Minister thought for a moment and then slowly opened his mouth.
"To put it bluntly, it is a threat."
Gaju Tsuga was inwardly relieved at this answer. <
"Do you feel that way, too?
"Yes, I do. ...... So far, it seems that the Duchy of Jags is targeting the Duchy of Norway in the east.
Gaju Tuga wondered if there was a reason why the Duchy of Jagus was targeting the Duchy of Norja, one of the two countries that largely bordered it.
"My guess is that they want a freshwater lake."
"Ah, lakes Kotsi and Yato, right?"
The Duchy of Norway is the most water-rich of the four duchies. The other three countries probably depend on groundwater. Yes, the Principality of Mimaka has access to the water of Lake Yato.
"I see."
Water is essential for life. One of the reasons why the four duchies developed their towns along the coast is because of groundwater.
The rich agricultural lands, even the granaries, are limited to about 30 kilometers inland from the coastline due to the water supply. But the harvest is still more than sufficient.
The Duchy of Norway, however, had the additional advantage of access to the waters of the huge freshwater lakes of Kotsi and Yato.
"The fact that the Duchy of Norja only uses it to catch freshwater fish is a treasure trove of water, though, isn't it?"
"I suppose it's a case of not appreciating things that are taken for granted."
"Oh, Tsuga-sama, you have an interesting point of view. You may indeed have such a point of view.
While Gaju Tsuga and Gix Yabo Miyata were having such a conversation, Fiona Fierce was thinking about something else.
(Water resources ...... means that magic tools related to water could be a bargaining chip ......)
For that, we need to make a request to the researchers .......
(It would be nice if we could request a pump that works by magic power, or a water pumping wheel,...... but it would be difficult,......)
Fiona Fierce is trying to find a way to alleviate the situation in the four duchies in her own way.
However, she still lacks information on which to base her decisions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After the meeting, Gaju Tsuga, Fiona Fias, and Manon returned to the guest room in the guest house.
There, they reviewed and summarized the contents of the meeting.
After confirming by Manon that there was no danger of eavesdropping, the work began.
"The Principality of Dalaat will probably join our side if we provide them with assistance."
"Yes, I think so. As for the aid, it will consist of food and magic tools?
Yes. We will also remind them of how it is in their national interest to become a "meeting country".
Gaju Tuga and Fiona Fiasse are mainly discussing, but Manon occasionally speaks up as if to check for omissions.
"But there is one thing we don't know yet."
>Manon continues before being asked.
"I'm talking about the group that called itself the <> or the <>."
It's hard to believe that they simply wanted independence, Manon said.
"I think they were hiding something else behind it."
But that, too, we can't look into now," Manon concluded.
"That's for sure. But what does it matter now that we know?"
Gaju Tugga could not read Manon's intention.
"Yes, because each of the four principalities, each of the four royal families, has probably developed their policies based on their ideas. In other words, I wanted to know what their policies were in order to analyze them."
"I see! So you want to make such an analysis in as much detail as possible in order for the World Conference to make inroads into the governance of the four duchies?
"Yes."
Fionn Fierce, who had been standing beside Gaju Tugga during the meeting and had been collecting his own thoughts, was the first to see what Manon was talking about.
"At the very least, we want to bring the Principality of Mimaka and the Principality of Dalat into the ."
"Yes, Fiona is right.
"Yes, Fiona is right. ...... For that reason, I wanted to know the ideological background of the principality's governance.
The third country is the Principality of Norway.
The later the country is visited, the more information is accumulated, and if the Duchy of Norway were to take the side of the , it might be able to weaken the Duchy of Jagus and free its people from oppression.
Therefore, the three of them had a meeting until late that night.