Chapter 26: Great General Mia Takes No Prisoners

Huh... I think I did it.

Mia took a look at Yuhal’s expression and suppressed a smirk. She’d come here prepared to give Shalloak a thorough trouncing, figuring it was the only way to get what she wanted. Given the way things were playing out, though, it didn’t even seem necessary. She seemed on the verge of total victory already.

The Arshia and Rania reinforcements were definitely pivotal in turning the tide. Moons, so many people are willing to come to my aid. It must be my integrity and natural virtue. Sometimes, I scare myself with how charismatic I am!

Presumably, the smug grin that had formed on her face was the result of her integrity and moral virtue too.

Also, it hardly bears mentioning, but she definitely did not have any intricate plans or grand visions. Nothing Ludwig talked about had ever crossed her mind. Mia’s thought process was always very simple. No matter how deep it might seem, it was simple all the way down. The epitome of Mianess was to engage in multiplicative thinking...except every element was equal to one. One times one times one is still one. And the one thing her simple mind was focused on was the trust between Tearmoon and Perujin.

Perujin enjoyed a wealth of agricultural produce, ensuring they had some to spare even during years of poor harvest. Maintaining a friendly relationship with a neighbor that had lots of food would surely prove useful in a pinch. However, there existed a treaty that was getting in the way of that friendly relationship. What was to be done then? How would Mia deal with this issue? Simply, of course; if there was a rock in her way, she’d kick it. Sure, said rock might hit somebody on the head and cause a lot of trouble for everyone involved, but that was a future Mia problem. Heck, it was a Ludwig problem, really, because future Mia would surely just pass the buck to him. For her, the foot was the best solution to all obstacles. Simple is best!

As a result of her application of this principle, the king’s attitude seemed to be softening. Surely, this was a sign that momentum was now on her side. Just as she was about to engage in her usual wave-riding, however...

“No contract, no written vow. Nothing but a verbal promise... Surely, the King of Perujin is not so imprudent as to operate on blind faith?”

Shalloak’s disgruntled voice echoed through the hall, and the wave petered out.

Shalloak was just as if not more astonished than Yuhal. Unlike the king, he had no idea any of this was going to happen. Every step of the proceedings had caught him completely off guard, from Princess Mia’s early arrival to her inviting him to this banquet. Thinking back, he realized that he should have smelled the fishiness in the invitation the moment he’d gotten it. No, he simply didn’t want to attend in the first place, for doing so would suggest that Mia had seen through all his clandestine maneuvering and had already prepared a countermeasure to win over the Perujin king.

None of this overly serious conversation was even necessary. All the king had to do was verbally promise he’d continue dealing with Tearmoon the same way as before, and add a simple clause that if famine were to occur and force prices up, they’d be given a chance to renegotiate to some degree. A simple exchange like that would have been more than sufficient to settle the matter for now.

Instead, the king had fully engaged with her proposal, and the reason was undoubtedly something she’d said.

Mutual trust as the basis of friendly relations.

The sheer shamelessness of the phrase was staggering. It was the kind of empty talk that no reasonable person who understood the dynamics between Tearmoon and Perujin would say out loud for fear of being seen as a fool. Hearing it from the lips of the princess of Tearmoon doubled its hypocrisy to the point of malice. There was no way Yuhal could overlook that; it rubbed him in all the wrong ways.

What the king should have done was hide his rage behind a false smile. Glossing over the matter was easily his best option. A conspiracy could not be proven if it only existed in the mind. Give no hints. Let nothing slip. Fill the time with idle chatter. That was the path to success.

But the princess took no prisoners in her quest for victory. She pared away his facade with the precision of a chef and intentionally drew his ire. Once the emotionally engaged Yuhal stepped into the field, it was all Mia’s game from there. With allies jumping in left and right, Shalloak had no chance to get his own words in.

What separated him and the princess, Shalloak realized to his own frustration, was a gap in their respective resolutions. He’d come as a spectator, intending to enjoy a good meal and dodge some uncomfortable questions—running the timer, essentially. Yet Mia had arrived as a fighter with only one goal in mind: a knockout victory.

And fight she did, striking at every source of mistrust the king harbored against Tearmoon—the crucial pillars of Shalloak’s plan—until they crumbled. Then, she went for the jugular.

“Could you please place your trust in me, Your Majesty?”

She asked for his trust. For him to believe in her. To accept her sincerity.

“Surely, the King of Perujin is not so imprudent as to operate on blind faith?”

Shalloak’s protest rang hollow even to his own ears. He could tell the king had already fallen under the Great Sage of the Empire’s spell. And what a tantalizing spell it was, for it was woven through the light of hope.

She does her worst at the worst timing possible. So that’s how the great sage operates... Well played.

“Oh, and Shalloak? I’d like to have a word with you as well.” Suddenly, she turned her attention to him. “You do remember our previous conversation where I told you that money isn’t everything, yes? Now what was it that you said to me in response?” She theatrically pressed a finger to her cheek and tilted her head. “Oh, wasn’t it something about how doing things that make no money is a sign of being caught up in sentimental wish-wash? That it’s a sign of weakness?”

“That is correct, Your Highness. Merchants are people who devote their faith to money. It rules everything in the world with its power, and it is our god.”

Even as he answered, Shalloak could tell that he was losing his cool. He even knew why. Mia’s claim that money wasn’t everything and her actions that backed it up... It flew in the face of everything he believed in. It repudiated his entire way of life. And most importantly, it stung like salt in a small wound in the back of his mind, the pain constantly reminding him that maybe, just maybe, he’d been wrong about everything...

Despite being fully aware that he was succumbing to the same manipulation as Yuhal had, there was nothing he could do to stop himself. “Shouldn’t merchants—no, shouldn’t all people subscribe to this belief? People work. What is it that they work for, then? Money, clearly. Therefore, doing everything they can to maximize the rate at which they make money is objectively correct.”

He’d dedicated his whole life to making money, and so should all merchants. Using every last bit of strength and wit to place oneself on the most efficient route to maximum profit... That was the point of merchanting. It had to be.

It was why the open, free-of-charge dissemination of lucrative information like the development of cold-resistant wheat was an unforgivable act of blasphemy.

“Objectively correct? How curious... I have it on good authority that in the past, you were quite the— Oh? Is something the matter?”

Mia frowned. Shalloak did too. For a brief moment, he wasn’t sure what she meant. The next second, an excruciating jolt of pain shot through his chest.

“Augh! Ugh...”

“Master Shalloak!”

He heard the frantic scream of a young girl. Then, he heard nothing more.