Chapter 14: Peace Talks

It had been thirty days since the last of the Aligot soldiers had disappeared through the mountain pass they’d come from. A conference to negotiate terms for peace was going to be held in Grua. There weren’t any neutral countries that could serve as the host for the talks, and since it had been such a one-sided victory on Balmore’s part, the talks were going to be held on the victor’s home soil.

The war had not only involved Aligot as the aggressor, but the Holy Land of Rueda as well, the spiritual center of the religion of the Goddess. Spectators had gathered, not only from the countries involved in the war, but from Balmore’s allies in Aseed and Brancott, and even people from countries of influence on the mainland further east of Brancott.

The central plaza of the royal capital of Balmore was chosen to host the talks. It was a wide area, located just between the main temple and the front gates of the palace.

It was unprecedented to have peace talks held out in the open for all to see, but that was because it would have been too much to ask to try and cram everyone into a single room. For some reason, the representatives from Rueda were also pushing to have this held outdoors, which was why a special stage had been built in the center of the plaza.

There were plenty of influential people in attendance, but most were only there to listen, not speak. The only ones participating in these talks would be Balmore, Aligot, and Rueda, with the chance of asking Aseed their opinion on certain matters, since they shared a border with Aligot as well.

Everyone from Balmore was calm and composed. Not only were they not at fault, since they were the ones who had been invaded, they had ended up victorious, as well.

The representatives from Aligot, on the other hand, were absolutely pale in comparison...

Strangely enough, the group from Rueda was entirely unfazed, despite how awful the situation should have been for them.

With the representatives from all the various countries watching intently, the peace conference officially started.

To start, the Balmore side gave a brief overview of how the war had played out. They demanded reparations from the Aligot Empire for their aggression, a ransom for the prisoners of war they’d taken, as well as compensation for things like food and medical costs, where Balmore had already taken care of them. To top it off, they demanded Aligot make a vow of non-aggression, as well. If they were to break that, after the representatives from all the different countries had witnessed it, then they’d all come together to gang up on Aligot.

With their country’s finances already in dire straits, having to pay the exorbitant price Balmore demanded would be the final nail in the coffin for the empire.

“Balmore is the reason this war happened in the first place! They took the angel hostage and had a monopoly on her miraculous healing potions. The fault lies with them! Our country was only trying to save her!” Aligot’s prime minister desperately argued. Kaoru, however, casually brushed aside his assertions.

“I’m not really an ‘angel,’ you know? I just happened to end up here after wandering around from country to country. I sell potions to everyone, whether they’re from Aseed, Brancott, Rueda, or otherwise. Why didn’t Aligot just pay for some as well?”

“B-But they wouldn’t arrive in time, because of the expiration date...”

“I mean, yeah, not much you can do about that. An expiration date is an expiration date, after all. You wouldn’t be too happy if Balmore declared war on you if they weren’t able to get your fresh fish delivered in time, right?”

“...”

Kaoru had effortlessly shut down the prime minister’s counterargument.

“But, that said, you may have a point. I’ll work on fixing the expiration date to make sure they can make it to Aligot in time.”

“Wh... What...?”

“And I know that trying to pay all this compensation to Balmore is going to bankrupt your country, but I might have a way to help you with that. Would you care to hear me out?”

That was when Kaoru revealed to them the shocking truth: There was an enormous island out in the sea, west of Aligot’s borders, that rivaled the empire itself in terms of size. It was overflowing with natural and mineral resources. Seafaring was a completely undeveloped field right now, and Aligot had an overwhelming advantage over the other countries, since they were closest to the ocean. They couldn’t have a monopoly on it, but Balmore was willing to let them have a go at it, should they want to send an expedition to find the island.

The truth of the matter was that Kaoru had been worried Aligot would be desperate after being pushed into a corner like this. She’d created a healing potion in the shape of the world of Verny to get a better handle on the geography around here. She could see all the rivers and other types of hidden resources on this special globe, since that was exactly how she had wanted it when she thought it up. She wouldn’t tell them exactly where all these resources were hidden, though, because that would just be too kind of her.

Tears were streaming down the prime minister’s face, and everyone from Aligot had left their seats to kneel before her. The spectators from the other countries couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

It was almost a given that the empire would be reassigning most of their soldiers into shipbuilding and retraining them as sailors, all in order for them to find new lands yet undiscovered. If they could get enough ships out to sea, they could spread out beyond the continent and start up trade with countries farther away from them. She didn’t know the particulars about how to build ships or anything, but she could at least draw them a sketch and let them know the basics they’d need to get the ship’s rigging put together.

A fire burned in their eyes after hearing Kaoru say as much. If anyone could do it, it would be the empire. They’d show everyone they could do it.

The representatives from the other countries, on the other hand, were in a panic over losing their chance to jump in on this veritable treasure island.

“M-Miss Kaoru, um...do you think we could have some of those blueprints as well?”

“Balmore is already going to get yearly payments from Aligot while they pay off their reparations. It’s not good to get too greedy.”

Crestfallen, the representative who spoke up drooped his head as he placed both hands on the table in front of him.

All the representatives from the other countries were itching to get back home and start getting their own ships ready, but theirs weren’t built for long voyages at sea. They’d need to work on building a brand-new type of ship if they wanted to make that dream a reality.

It was at this moment that the people on both sides of the negotiations who had doubts about Kaoru, and the rumors surrounding her, finally began realizing just how valuable she really was...

Balmore wasn’t trying to force the citizens of the Aligot Empire starve to death or anything, which was why they were going to allow the empire to pay off the reparations in installments. Aligot jumped at the chance, seeing a ray of hope for their future, now that they weren’t going to end up completely bankrupt trying to pay what they owed.

With the Aligot side looking much better than they did at the start of the talks, it was now time to deal with the Holy Land of Rueda.

Rueda was optimistic about their position here. They’d already had their own ace in the hole prepared from the beginning and, after seeing how well Aligot had been treated, they believed they could make a comeback as well.

Unlike the empire, which had entrusted full diplomatic authority to their prime minister, the pope of Rueda himself was in attendance, even though the negotiations could have been handled by a single cardinal.

“Rueda has cast aside their position as a neutral country and lent their support to Aligot. As an enemy who assisted in the invasion of our country, we demand reparations as well.”

“Those are nothing but baseless rumors. Our country remained neutral! We never aided the empire in any way!” one of the cardinals shot back, vehemently denying the claims laid against them.

In response, Balmore presented their corroborating points one after the other. Not only had they not warned Balmore of Aligot’s invasion, but the messenger they sent to suggest Kaoru had escaped had arrived suspiciously fast, considering the circumstances. They were under orders to take her away by force if she refused, and if they wanted proof, they could bring out the cardinal who’d tried to do just that. That wasn’t to mention the cardinals and priests they’d captured along with the northern invasion forces, who they could also bring here at a moment’s notice.

There were also the secret agreements between Rueda and the empire that Balmore had learned of by interrogating Aligot officers.

The other countries had received missives from Balmore, each stating how Rueda had betrayed the Goddess and had been excommunicated because of it, but weren’t aware of the particulars until now. The representatives present lashed out with criticism and condemnation against Rueda’s actions.

“We know nothing of what you claim. We demand that you immediately withdraw such remarks and apologize for the dissemination of such insulting, slanderous rumors, which do not contain an ounce of truth to them!”

“Isn’t that all supposed to be true?” Kaoru responded. “Did the news not get to you guys in Rueda, or are you just hiding it now because it would be inconvenient for you otherwise?”

“H-How dare you! You’re nothing but a servant of the devil!”

“Oh? Wasn’t I supposed to be an angel sent by the Goddess? No matter how many times I denied it, everyone from Rueda just seemed to wanna keep calling me that.”

The cardinal’s face turned bright red as Kaoru nonchalantly brushed him off.

After staying silent throughout the whole exchange, the pope finally stood up.

“Enough! If it has come to this, then I will use our country’s most sacred item to prove that we are in the right! Follower of the devil, you will rue the day you sought to fool the people into thinking yourself an angel! This is the instrument that will spell your doom!” he proclaimed, clutching a crystal sphere in his hand.

“I never claimed to be an angel in the first place. You guys were the ones saying that, and I’ve been denying it this whole time...”

“S-Silence!” the pope roared back, furious that Kaoru was dense enough to not catch on to how impressive he was trying to make himself look. (Kaoru absolutely knew what she was doing, of course.)

The pope pretended like nothing happened as he continued speaking: “This is the very treasure Lady Celestine granted us when she bestowed her miracles upon our country! It is a sacred instrument capable of summoning the Goddess, should our Holy Land ever be threatened!”

So that’s why they seemed so confident this whole time... That’s probably why they wanted this to be held outside, too.

There would be a great many more witnesses to the Goddess’s descent if it were done outdoors, and would leave a bigger impression as well.

Oh boy, I wonder if this is what I think it is...

Something about it had struck a chord with Kaoru.

I’m pretty sure this is one of the things Celes brought up when she was complaining to me. That thing will probably end up doing what he said it would, but not for the reason he’s thinking...

“Behold, the miracle of the Goddess! Feast your eyes on the proof that we are the blessed citizens of a great and holy land!”

A brilliant flash erupted from the crystal in his hand. The next moment, a sphere of pure light appeared in the sky above. The sphere gradually changed shape, eventually taking on the form of a resplendently beautiful girl.

The Goddess Celestine had descended.

The pope kneeled down before her, a look of immeasurable joy on his face.

“Where’s the distortion?!” Celes roared at him.

“Huh?”

The pope could only stare blankly at the Goddess.