Chapter 222: The Kukkoro Male Knight and the Barbarian Princess 2

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As expected, I was bewildered. I had never imagined that in our very first meeting I would be told something like, “I don’t care what happens to me, just please save the elven race.” From a diplomatic standpoint, that was practically the same as raising a white flag. Even if aid were ultimately necessary, I had assumed she would keep up a brave front until the very end…

In any case, with her prostrating herself like that, there was no way to have a proper conversation. I somehow managed to get Lady Orphan to sit back up and poured water into her goblet. For a moment, I wondered if the alcohol had robbed her of her composure, but Lady Orphan’s complexion hadn’t changed at all.

“Orphan-dono, it may be rude of someone younger than you to say this, but you should refrain from such behavior in front of envoys from other countries. There is a risk that they could exploit your weakness and reduce those you are meant to protect to a position no better than slaves.”

“I know that. I know that, but if things stay like this, we’ll all be wiped out before long. If that’s the case, I judged it better to gamble on even the slightest chance.”

“……”

What should I do here?

While pondering that, I poured a glass of watered-down whiskey down my throat. In practical terms, I didn’t want the elves stuck in an endless civil war forever, either. If one of the warring factions was willing to cooperate fully, intervening in their civil war and helping broker a ceasefire might actually be an option.

“There’s one thing I want to ask. How many elven factions exist in this land right now? Besides ‘New’ and ‘Legitimate,’ are there any armed groups?”

If suspicious factions with names like “Neo-Elfenia” or “Elfenia Mars” were springing up everywhere, bringing peace to this land would be no simple matter. I really didn’t want to get involved in a place like that.

“Ten or twenty years ago, there were groups like that. But now, hardly any remain. Either they couldn’t sustain their fields or even their crows and died out, or they were absorbed into the self-proclaimed army that was already the largest force back then.”

“I see…”

The absence of miscellaneous factions was very good news. Though, of course, the “New” faction that had absorbed them was probably far from being a unified monolith… The attack on this village today could very well have been caused by one of the more reckless sub-factions within the “New” faction.

“One more question. What’s the population of you ‘Legitimate’ folk? I’ll be blunt. Neither are we overflowing with food nor are we wealthy. There’s a limit to how much we can provide.”

“You mean including those who can’t fight, right? In that case… About five hundred, all told.”

A force with four hundred combatants and a total population of five hundred? That was absurd, even for elves. Even if they were half-soldier, half-farmer, the proportion of fighters was far too high. No wonder they were facing a food crisis…

That said, it also meant their total population was much smaller than I’d expected. In other words, if we provided food aid, the amount required would be relatively small. For around five hundred people, we could manage… Only if we could solve the transportation problem.

…And that transportation problem was the biggest hurdle of all! To deliver supplies to them, we’d have to pass straight through the heart of New Elfenia’s territory. And the only usable route was the river. River transport could carry large quantities of goods, but if attacked, there would be no way to escape. What a headache.

“Only a hundred non-combatants…”

I muttered that without thinking. Assuming they were all ordinary humes—which was unrealistic, since there would surely be demi-humans forced out of the front lines due to illness, injury, or age—even if half of them were men, that meant only fifty men in total. An outrageous gender imbalance.

This was only speculation, but perhaps those who could no longer fight were being discarded like an ubasute-yama (abandoning old women on a mountain). If even able-bodied fighters required population reduction, then the treatment of those who couldn’t fight… Ugh. It was a deeply unpleasant thought.

“Providing food for five hundred people itself is entirely possible. However, bringing it here would be close to impossible. No matter how you look at it, it would be seized by the other faction while in transit.”

“I figured as much…”

Lady Orphan groaned softly, then pulled out the map of the Liseben Peninsula again and pointed near the base of the peninsula.

“Your city is around here, right?”

“Yeah, to be precise, right about here.”

I tapped one spot on the map with my finger. As I did, I noticed a faint but pleasant scent drifting from Lady Orphan. It wasn’t perfume, probably fragrant wood smoked into her clothing. She really wasn’t some muscle-brained barbarian. If anything, she might even be more cultured than my mother.

“In that case… If distance is the problem, we just shorten it. We walk, or fly.”

Wait, they are coming to Karrela City?!

“This village will have to be abandoned anyway. Now that the self-proclaimed army knows its location, a punitive force will come soon. If we clash head-on with their main force, we stand no chance.”

“……”

“We’ll build a new village near your city. That solves the transport issue.”

That made sense, but… Ughhh. There was a chance oil might be gushing up around here… If the “Legitimate” faction withdrew from near Mount Rana, wouldn’t the “New” faction end up claiming those oil fields? I really wanted to avoid that…

Because they were the larger power, they were several times more troublesome. Unlike the desperate, on-the-brink-of-collapse “Legitimate” faction, the “New” faction still had enough leeway to try to extract concessions from negotiations. If they realized we wanted oil, there was no doubt it would become a bargaining chip…

“I’ve heard that in your country, there’s a system where land is granted to vassals in exchange for military service. How about it? Any interest in taking seasoned elven warriors as your vassals?”

“That is a very attractive proposal. It is, but…”

Depending on the situation, accepting the “Legitimate” faction as immigrants into Liseben might be an option. Of course, it would almost certainly cause trouble with the local residents, so it wasn’t a choice I wanted to take lightly… Still, if they were wiped out, we’d be the only remaining opposition to the “New” faction. That would be a problem.

“However, if you withdraw from this area, it may put us in a bit of a bind.”

“What do you mean?”

“For one, we would no longer be able to force the self-proclaimed army into a two-front operation. If they can concentrate their forces, the hardliners among them may gain momentum.”

It had originally been Lady Orphan who emphasized the importance of keeping the “New” faction’s forces divided. When I said that while looking straight into her jade-colored eyes, Lady Orphan nodded firmly.

“And the other reason is…”

I hesitated there. I wasn’t sure whether it was safe to tell Lady Orphan about the oil.

“I believe there may be an extremely valuable resource buried within your territory. I want to avoid a situation where it falls into the hands of the self-proclaimed army.”

In the end, I chose to be honest. Even in this short conversation, I had come to understand that she was an exceptionally intelligent and capable leader. This was a situation where building trust through frank discussion was the right move.

“A valuable resource? In our land?”

“I don’t know for certain yet, but… Well, it’s called oil. A black liquid that wells up from the ground. Does that ring a bell?”

“Oh, fuel oil!”

Lady Orphan slapped her knee. Apparently, she knew it.

“That smelly stuff you can only use for burning? You actually need that?”

“With current technology, it is indeed difficult to use. However, I am convinced that in the future it will become just as important as gold or silver… If not more so.”

In reality, making effective use of oil required fairly advanced technology. At present, there was no prospect of putting gasoline or diesel engines into practical use. For a while, the most we could manage would be producing a few chemicals from components separated out of oil. Still, an industrial revolution would eventually occur in this world. That would likely be after my death, but for the sake of the future, I wanted to secure oil fields.

“If it’s that important, then fine. I’ll tell you where the fuel pools are, as far as we know. Boil it, burn it—do whatever you like.”

Burning oil fields would be a disaster! And from the way she spoke, there were multiple sites?! What kind of resource-rich nation was this?! An elven forest with oil bubbling up everywhere was way too flammable. Wasn’t it going to explode and burn one day? …No, maybe it already had, thanks to the volcano. This wasn’t a forest nation anymore. It was a nation of fire.

“Well, um, I appreciate the offer, but with our current military strength, even if we took it, we couldn’t really maintain it… And besides, it would be better for the elves to develop industries other than agriculture on their own…”

Right now, since they were destitute, many would probably say, “If we can get food by handing that over, absolutely!” But in the future, people would inevitably accuse us of “taking advantage of their food shortage to buy up oil fields cheaply.” I didn’t want to exploit their weakness and forcibly strip them of resources. They were a long-lived race. There was no way they’d ever forget that kind of grudge.

“Whether it’s food aid or relocation, we can’t decide immediately. Either way, we’d have to pass through the territory of the ‘New’… The self-proclaimed army. Ideally, I’d like to see how they respond before settling on a policy. We’ll continue providing food support via wyverns, so give us a little time.”

In the end, I postponed the conclusion. Depending on negotiations, there was still a chance of establishing a reasonable peace with the “New” faction. I wanted to avoid a situation where we leaned too heavily toward the “Legitimate” side and hardened the attitude of the “New” faction…

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