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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
One of the nobles from the northern city exclaimed, “Enough!” in an angry voice, echoing in the specially prepared venue.
The people sitting around him were shouting “Yes, yes, yes,” in agreement with the nobleman.
However, the people who were being heckled seemed to have no idea what the nobleman and his supporters were talking about.
The heckled people did not seem to be holding back their confusion at all.
The team from Razequa Amamiya were explaining the terms of their proposal in a conference room in the northern city.
However, the city officials grew impatient midway through the presentation, their earlier frustration boiling over.
After all, the city had only planned this meeting to try to wring concessions from Razequa’s side.
Because their fate was at stake, the nobles in the northern city had gathered.
The nobles are from the bottom to the top, so those at the bottom of the ladder were rarely present.
On the contrary, those at the top were the most numerous.
This was not surprising since the fate of their future depends on this meeting.
The attendees from Razequa Amamiya responded indifferently as the meeting began, explaining the conditions in a detached manner.
This angered one northern nobleman, who had hoped for progress.
However, the Razequa Amamiya side was not that angry in comparison.
Razequa Amamiya’s side believed that this meeting was held to explain the purpose of the project, not to negotiate terms and conditions.
It was the northern city side that mistakenly believed that conditions would be relaxed at this meeting.
The Razequa Amamiya representative waited until the commotion had died down before speaking again.
“There appears to be some misunderstanding, but I am here in the name of Queen Floria. Therefore, I have no intention of changing the conditions at all, please hear my words as the Queen’s opinion.”
The representative broke off his words by saying so.
After confirming this, Lucas asked on behalf of the representative.
“How will you govern this city after cutting off our upper echelons?”
“What do you mean by ‘how’?”
The representative’s questions were met with yelling, “You don’t even know that?”.
Lucas raised his right hand to suppress the yelling.
“We have ruled this city for many years. Do you think you can rule well without us?”
“Of course.”
The representative immediately answered Lucas’ direct question.
The confident look on his face made the audience forget to yell at him, and the room fell silent.
“Why do you think it won’t work in the first place?”
“What?”
“It takes a lot of time and effort to re-govern a city that is already well governed. If it’s not done right, it could even lead to rebellion. But isn’t it surprisingly easy to rebuild a city that is not well governed?
The representative of Razequa Amamiya smiled as he said this.
The representative was clearly stating that the current governance of the northern city was not working.
The openness of the representative had even the members in stitches.
“You think the governance of this city is not going well?”
Lucas, who had not expected such a clear statement, asked with suppressed anger.
“On the contrary, I would like to ask you. Why do you think you are governing so well when the people are so dissatisfied with you?”
“What?”
The question came from a direction he had not anticipated, and the audience was abuzz.
That’s not surprising.
From their point of view, the residents of the city are those who do as they are told, and have nothing to do with the governance of the city.
They believe that they are the ones who are responsible for the city.
Even Lucas, who has a relatively good understanding of the current situation in the city, feels this way, not to mention the others.
“For Razequa Amamiya, the people are the foundation of the nation, and they are irreplaceable. Your presence is a hindrance to us.”
No one could argue with the representative who said it so clearly.
The people in the upper echelons of the northern city gathered here must have finally come to understand.
Their values are completely incompatible.
Razequa Amamiya had always treated them as if they didn’t exist.
Those who would back down after being told this much have not gathered here.
After all, they are the ones who have been living their own pampered lives.
“You call us a hindrance?”
“That’s right! Did you not know why we created the space for discussion?”
Once again, the hall becomes noisy.
But this time, there was no sign that the commotion was going to stop.
They knew that if they backed down at this point, they would lose their position.
They instinctively know this, so they must be desperate.
The representative of Razequa Amamiya did not change his expression, as if he had known this would happen from the beginning.
“So, are you sure that the discussion is over?”
Lucas replied with a pained look on his face to the representative who said this with a cool expression on his face.
“There is nothing more we can discuss.”
“I see. Well then, we will be leaving now.”
With that, the representative stood up.
Those who had been following him stood up as well.
The representative, who appeared to be about to leave the room without any change, amidst a barrage of abuse, finally said something that caught their attention.
“You can accuse us all you want, but I think you should watch your feet.”
The representative finally said, “Well, with that,” and walked away from the room completely this time.
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Hearing the noise of the venue behind him, the representative of Razequa Amamiya let slip a potshot at the other members.
“I wanted them to be aware of it if they could, but it was still impossible.”
“As Queen Floria predicted, I guess.”
Razequa Amamiya had originally anticipated this situation.
It was one of several predictions, however.
Of course, not all of them were predicted by Queen Floria, but they were thought up by her most talented aides.
Of all of them, the one that I did not want to be the most likely to come true came true.
The one they didn’t want to be the most likely to be right was the one they expected to be the most likely to be right.
“I hope those people care about my last words, too, but… I don’t think they will.”
The representative let it slip with a wry smile.
“They seem to be thinking only of themselves at this stage. If anyone is likely to notice, it would be their ring leader.”
“Oh, I’m sure he will notice. Whether he can handle it alone is another matter.”
“It seems like my advice is going to waste.”
At these words, the representative shrugged.
“It can’t be helped. If we just step up to the plate here, there might still be a way… Well, at this point, I guess there won’t be.”
The representative’s line was a statement because he had already seen through the upper echelons of the northern city.
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In a venue that could not be contained, Lucas was alone thinking.
Likely, he was concerned about the last words that the representative of Razequa Amamiya had left out.
“Watch your feet… What do they mean?”
Only his entourage picked up the murmur in the noisy hall.
“Well, it’s not really my feet, but what are they talking about?”
“That felt more like he was talking to all of us here, rather than me personally.”
“Me too.”
“So what is a footstep for all of us here…? ! No, no, it can’t be…”
Lucas noticed something, which he quickly dismissed.
He had never felt any sign of such a thing.
But the uneasiness that had been rising in him couldn’t be quelled.
Bad predictions he had were often right.
One day, a few days after the discussion, Lucas’s prediction, which he did not want to be true, came true.
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