Queen Floria of the Razekamamiya Kingdom let out a sigh as she received a report from her Prime Minister, Alec.
Alec had just finished a communication with Maxim, his elder brother.
He was now relaying the content of that conversation to Floria.
While the communication included some personal, casual conversation between the brothers, Alec had omitted those parts.
The important information had been embedded within the casual talk.
It was that the Ayrica Kingdom had finally completed preparations to accept the Crown.
“I see. So, they’ve finally made their decision,” Floria nodded after hearing Alec’s report.
She sighed again after hearing the next piece of information.
“Yes. Regarding the Ayrica Kingdom’s movement, it’s as we heard from the Crown, but the problem lies with the Florece Kingdom,” Alec replied.
“Did something happen?” Queen Floria inquired.
“It seems they’re still as they always are, even after hearing of the Ayrica Kingdom’s decision.”
“I see…” When Floria heard that, she felt that the Florece Kingdom hadn’t changed at all since the time she was there.
Putting aside Floria’s current position, the establishment of a Crown Branch in a neighboring country would lead to predictable outcomes.
For now, the Ayrica Kingdom seemed to be permitting the establishment of only the Adventurer Division. However, it was obvious that it wouldn’t end there.
This could be clearly seen by observing the Sumit Kingdom. Of course, some argued that it was simply a matter of good compatibility in the Sumit Kingdom’s case. That was precisely why branches had not yet been established in any other country on the South Continent besides the Sumit Kingdom. There were even opinions that establishing a branch would lead to being swallowed by the Crown.
The current analysis of Floria and Alec was that countries were overreacting to the Crown Branches. This was understandable if one looked at the results in the Central Continent. However, all the countries were forgetting that the historical circumstances of the Central Continent were special. They were applying the same logic to their own countries as they did to the Central Continent, which had completely different economic and political situations, causing them to hesitate.
“It’s understandable that they would misunderstand,” Floria murmured, and Alec, standing before her, nodded in agreement.
“Completely. If they thought about it calmly for a moment, they would realize that the situation on this continent is entirely different,” Alec said.
“Ah. …No, perhaps it’s also possible that we, ourselves, are too close to see clearly?”
“Well… I can’t deny that.” Alec nodded with a wry smile at Floria’s calm words.
They both held the positions of Queen and Prime Minister of Razekamamiya. It was inevitable that their positions would somehow influence their perspectives, even when asked to think from a third-person viewpoint.
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“Then, what will you do?” one of the retainers, who had been listening to their conversation, asked.
“Do what?” Floria tilted her head, prompting the retainer to continue.
“Are you going to tell the Crown that it’s politically unfeasible to establish a branch in the Ayrica Kingdom before the Florece Kingdom?”
Judging by the retainer’s expression, it was clear he didn’t intend to actually do something like that. He asked precisely because he understood it was his role as a retainer to voice various opinions.
“Impossible. The Crown is, after all, merely a private organization. We absolutely will not interfere as a nation,” Floria stated insincerely.
In reality, such a thing wasn’t impossible, but given the established pretext, she had no choice but to say so. Furthermore, compared to the cases of other countries, the relationship between Razekamamiya and the Crown couldn’t be described as particularly close. In other countries, it was perfectly normal for the royal families to have numerous proprietary merchants. In some cases, negotiations between nations were routinely conducted through business dealings.
Whether the Crown could be considered Razekamamiya’s proprietary merchant was a delicate matter. However, in the Tower, which was directly governed by the royal family, the Crown was the only major merchant guild. While there were other merchant guilds, it was questionable whether any of them could become proprietary merchants of the royal family. Considering this, it was natural to assume that the Crown was perceived as a proprietary merchant of the royal family.
Furthermore, the royal family and the Crown had a relationship involving Kousuke, but it was not a relationship that was apparent to the public. Specifically, it was not a situation where political dealings were occurring. …Or at least, not openly.
“In fact, you conveyed that as well, didn’t you?” Floria turned her gaze to Alec.
“Of course. It would be troublesome if they developed strange expectations of us,” Alec replied.
“Naturally. More importantly, what we need to be concerned about is the divisive scheme in the Eastern Town,” Floria said.
“Ah. That’s a possibility.” There was a chance that forces from other countries opposing the Ayrica Kingdom’s acceptance of the Crown Branch would interfere in various ways in the Eastern Town. For Razekamamiya, that was the more pressing issue.
However, just as the Northern Town had become isolated within the Central Continent, even if the Eastern Town were to separate from Razekamamiya now, it wouldn’t be a fatal problem. Politically speaking, each town and village was governed independently. While Razekamamiya collected taxes, most of the governing authority resided with the towns and villages. Therefore, Razekamamiya would only lose the tax revenue. Of course, if the Eastern Town were to suddenly separate from Razekamamiya, confusion would ensue. That would be the extent of the concrete damage. To other countries, the royal family’s authority over individual regions seemed weak, but conversely, this weakness was Razekamamiya’s strength. In an extreme scenario, Razekamamiya could maintain a strong foundation as long as the towns and villages on the Fifth Floor were not seized by other nations.
“Besides, you don’t have to worry too much, as it probably won’t escalate too severely,” Floria said.
“Because there’s the Ayrica Kingdom,” Alec replied.
If other countries moved to prevent the Ayrica Kingdom from accepting the Crown Branch, then naturally the Ayrica Kingdom would move to prevent them from doing so. This matter had been initiated by the Ayrica Kingdom. Consequently, they would have no choice but to counter any moves to block it. For Razekamamiya, merely going along with these movements would be sufficient.
“Also, I don’t think the lord of the Eastern Town would go along with such a scheme,” Floria said, a faint smile appearing as she recalled the lord’s face.
Just like any town in the Central Continent, the towns here had a history of being swayed by the various continental powers. As a lord, one had to be shrewd about profit, but this person wasn’t the type to be easily swayed by smooth talk. While she didn’t believe it one hundred percent, she felt she could trust his expression when he said that history in the Central Continent was made within the continent itself. The history of the Central Continent, having been tossed about by the ambitions of each continental power, ran deeper than one might imagine. When Floria was in the Florece Kingdom, she had lightly considered this, but now that she had actually come to this Tower and, by some twist of fate, become its Queen, she understood it with a full heart. Alec, who had governed the Tower towns as Kousuke’s deputy even before Floria, likely felt the same.
Ultimately, despite various behind-the-scenes movements, none of which appeared in the public historical records, the establishment of the Crown Branch in the Ayrica Kingdom proceeded as normal. The countries of the East Continent, other than Ayrica, concluded that they would observe the subsequent developments.
This concludes the (unofficial?) East Continent Trilogy. While the story might be too short for a full chapter, it marks the end. The timeline has returned to a previous point, and due to the strong explanatory elements, it has been designated as a separate chapter. A new chapter will begin tomorrow.
