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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
King Maxim of Flores Kingdom was currently reading a letter, and was inwardly thinking about it.
Although he felt that what was to come had arrived, he could not help but wonder if there was anything he could do about it.
It had already been seven years since his father, the King, announced his retirement.
They had been able to smoothly carry out their domestic affairs without causing any major troubles with neighboring countries. However, there was a possibility that this news would cause a commotion in the country, which had been calm until now.
If possible, he would have preferred to wait a little longer, but he also understood why this was not possible.
The person to whom the letter was addressed also had his own reasons. In fact, he was so grateful that he had been able to keep the situation under control until now.
The letter was from the neighboring Airika Kingdom. The one writing the letter was King Osshian.
Currently, they have a very normal relationship without any major troubles such as wars.
The current relationship is the result of the extraordinary efforts made by Philip and King Osshian to strengthen the relationship, so that no further mistakes would be made.
Maxim, too, had not let his efforts go to waste, and following in his father’s footsteps, he had taken care to avoid unnecessary warfare.
One of these efforts was the exchange of ‘letters of intent’ between the Kings of the two countries.
This was done to reduce misunderstandings between the two countries as much as possible by exchanging letters almost like a correspondence.
When there was no major event, the content of the letter may be a normal personal letter.
The letter he sent this time contained a phrase in the midst of ordinary chit-chat.
It was about Razequa Amamiya.
More precisely, it said that a decision to establish a Crown branch in the Airika Kingdom was likely to be made by the end of this year.
The fact that King Osshian went to the trouble of informing us of this in his letter was significant.
First, the King of Razequa Amamiya was Floria, the niece of King Maxim. Thus, the Crown branch of the Airika Kingdom would not be concerned about the Crown branch being created before the Flores Kingdom.
In the first place, from an official standpoint, Razequa Amamiya and Crown were merely a nation and an organization operating within it.
But for those involved in running a country in this world, no one would consider them to be just a state and a guild. After all, the direct cause of their emergence had the involvement of a living god.
Considering this connection, anyone would be able to guess that the two were closely related.
That was why we have come to show consideration for King Maxim, who was related by blood to the Queen of Razequa Amamiya, one of those directly related to the living god.
The problem was that the Flores Kingdom had not been able to establish a Crown branch in the country after all this time.
There were many reasons for this, the biggest factor was the existence of a Transfer Gate.
There were many people who claimed that the Transfer Gate, which was used by the staff when establishing a Crown branch, could be a threat to the Flores Kingdom.
That may be true. After all, it was possible to send personnel from the Central Continent, which was supposed to be a distant continent, instantly.
It was natural for a nation to be skeptical, even if it had clearly stated that it would not actually be used in such a manner.
Regardless, if the military insisted on it being a threat, not much headway could be made.
In Summit Kingdom on the southern continent, all those problems were accepted, and the deal had been going on well since then.
However, in the case of his country, there was a special situation called Friar Grass.
It was in a sense natural that Flores Kingdom, which did not have such circumstances, could not clear the Transfer Gate issue. Thus, discussion had continued to this point for a long time.
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At a meeting of high-ranking officials, King Maxim informed them of the developments in the Airika Kingdom.
As might be expected, a debate erupted again – regarding the acceptance of the Crown branch.
The opposing side claimed that they could accept it on the same terms as it was.
However, Crown had said it would not change any of the conditions they stated for the use of the Transfer Gate, since both sides have concerns about the way the Transfer Gate was being used.
“Anyway, we cannot unilaterally accept the conditions under which Crown can use the Transfer Gate!”
It was a military official who insisted.
The military was insisting that the number limit be expanded to be able to send more military personnel when the need arises.
It was not that they were reluctant to set up a Transfer Gate, but rather the opposite.
“Isn’t that what you have said repeatedly? Isn’t that why Crown would never approve?”
The main sectors that favor the project, as opposed to the military, which was against it, were the sectors involved in trade.
The Central Continent’s trade goods, which come directly through Transfer Gate, were very attractive to them.
However, they could make much headway against the strong argument of the opposing party, the military. They knew that the establishment of the Crown branch would benefit the country, but they also understood the military’s stance.
Still, no suggestion made sense as to why Crown would compromise on their stance.
It was known that the Transfer Gate was a function of the Amamiya Tower, but since there was a perception that Crown was the one running the Tower, it was assumed that as long as Crown’s permission was obtained, the Transfer Gate issue they were arguing over would go away. However, could they get such a permission?
“When it comes down to it, that particular system on the continent will be a drag on the other side.”
The Prime Minister, who was sitting next to Maxim, muttered as he watched the discussion between the two sides.
In the general’s mind, he was probably thinking of politically using Razequa Amamiya to somehow get Crown to change their opinion.
In other words, they were thinking of having Queen Floria pressure Crown into accepting favorable terms, but Razequa Amamiya’s unique political system made this difficult.
Speaking of countries with monarchies other than the Central Continent, the pressure could be exerted not only by directly targeting the King to make him change his opinion, but also by using the surrounding nobles to exert pressure.
The higher the rank of the nobles, the more effective the method.
However, in the case of Razequa Amamiya, this method was rarely effective.
There were nobles in the Central Continent.
There were also titles, but these titles were not strictly related to Razequa Amamiya.
Barons were originally conferred by the King of a country.
On other continents, titles were conferred according to this principle, but not in the Central Continent.
In fact, knighthoods have existed before there was a state, or a royal family, and of course, this was before Razequa Amamiya was established.
There were historical reasons why such titles exist in the Central Continent, which did not have a King until the establishment of Razequa Amamiya.
There were various reasons for this, such as getting it from countries on each continent and being allowed to use the title to show their influence, or to fend off pressure from other continents.
Titles could also be dependent on the respective towns and villages.
When visiting other towns and villages, it was normal in the Central Continent to call oneself Baron XX of XX town, or to be recognized as such.
The baronial system did not change at all after the founding of Razequa Amamiya.
Normally, one would expect that such titles would be revoked, and Queen Floria would confer them, but Razequa Amamiya did not take that approach.
There were many rumors that she was afraid that the nobles would rebel by giving up their titles, or that it would lead to a civil war.
Queen Floria had not announced which of these was the correct answer, but King Maxim believed that all of them were correct.
After all, since the birth of the country, there had never been any kind of rebellion in incorporating the surrounding towns and villages.
This was an impossible situation.
The reason for this, according to the analysis of various countries, was that the nobles who ruled the towns and villages were guaranteed their status .
Because of this, countries in other continents deemed that Queen Floria’s power in the country must be weaker than that of other countries, but there was no indication that her power, which was trusted by a living god, has declined in comparison with other countries.
On the contrary, its particular political system made it difficult for the rest of the country to accept its influence.
As the Prime Minister had thought, the Queen would feel nothing if nobles in the Central Continent planned on walking away from the established ruling. Bribery and favors would do little as well.
Of course, if all the towns and villages suddenly seceded from Razequa Amamiya, it would be a major blow, but it was not a realistic possibility.
At best, it would only be able to reach out to the nobility in one city, but that would be nothing to Razequa Amamiya.
It would be a different story if they could make a town in the Tower, their capital, secede, but they could not do that.
After all, that town was under the Queen’s direct control.
If he could directly pressure or get the Queen to side with him from the beginning, there would have been no need to take such a roundabout way.
Worst of all, it was not clear whether they could convince Crown even if they used the Queen to make an appeal.
On the surface, Crown was an organization operating domestically, but in the sense that it operated under the trust of the living god. It was the same as the Queen. There was no way either party would accept a proposal that would threaten their organization/nation.
Overall, it was concluded that it was difficult to get Crown to change its terms of acceptance.
“…Still, it’s a hassle that I cannot move our country forward because such a thing cannot be accepted.”
The words that the King unintentionally muttered so that the surrounding dignitaries could not hear were heard clearly by the Prime Minister next to him, and he nodded gravely in agreement.
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