Resolution

That evening, I received a report that Hashim had arrived together with

the wyvern cavalry Fuuga had dispatched to go pick him up.

We would begin the peace talks between the Kingdom of Friedonia, the

Gran Chaos Empire, and the Great Tiger Kingdom immediately. In order to

prevent undue confusion, we would set up a camp in between the forces of

Friedonia and the Great Tiger Kingdom, and keep the delegations from each

side small.

The two sides were both on edge, making it clear they were ready to

charge in the moment anything happened to one of their VIPs. In this tense

situation, here is who was chosen for each delegation: The Kingdom of

Friedonia sent me, Hakuya, and Aisha. The Empire sent Maria and Jeanne.

The Great Tiger Kingdom sent Fuuga, Mutsumi, Hashim, and the traitorous

Lumiere. Old general Gaifuku came as well, serving as a bodyguard.

Because the Kingdom and the Empire were already viewed as being on

one side, the Great Tiger Kingdom's team was the size of both of ours

combined. Incidentally, I'd told Fuuga in advance to keep Krahe out of this

because he would just complicate things.

"Lumiere..." Jeanne murmured when she saw her old comrade on the

other side.

Jeanne had thought of Lumiere as a close friend, so Jeanne didn't know

how to feel about the fact she'd sided with Fuuga over her sister. Hakuya

put his hand on Jeanne's back, gently supporting her.

Lumiere, on the other hand, didn't so much as bat an eye. In fact, she

had such a serious expression on her face that one would suspect she was

suppressing her own feelings. She'd done this in order to pridefully insist

she hadn't done the wrong thing.

Inside the camp, we were divided into our respective teams, and

everyone but Aisha and Gaifuku took a seat. From where I was sitting,

Hakuya was across from Hashim, Jeanne was across from Lumiere on my

left, and there was a map of the Empire in between them.

"I'd like to get straight to determining borders for after the war," Hashim

began, and Hakuya nodded.

"Very well. Madam Jeanne, Madam Lumiere, is that all right?"

""Yes.""

And so, the four of them began discussing our respective domains. I was

trusting Hakuya to negotiate for me, while Fuuga had Hashim negotiate for

him. They were both smart, so they'd probably find a decent compromise.

They'd be integrating the areas of the Empire that defected into the Great

Tiger Kingdom as is. After that, it was a matter of working out the fine

details.

While the smartest people in the room were negotiating, Maria, Fuuga,

Mutsumi, and I discussed what was going to happen from here on in the

larger sense.

"I wasn't counting on you intervening now," Fuuga said, sounding

exasperated, but I just shrugged.

"My ally was in peril. I couldn't just leave her out to dry."

"Even though you might have gotten the entire world if you did?"

"Unlike you, I don't want the world."

"Um..." Mutsumi, who had been listening, raised her hand. "You called

her your ally, but when did the Kingdom and the Empire form an alliance?"

"The secret alliance wasn't long after I came to this world, so...since

1546, I think?"

"Huh?! It was that long ago...?"

As Mutsumi's eyes widened, Maria chuckled.

"Yes. Souma has been a reliable ally ever since then."

"Ha ha ha, you really pulled one over on me. I underestimated the

strength of the bonds between the Kingdom and the Empire." Fuuga

scratched his head. It had been a while since I'd seen him without his

helmet on.

Then he flashed a combative glance at Maria.

"Hold on... You cut your hair? Looks good."

"Thank you. It was heavy. It feels like a load off my shoulders."

"Did you cut off the guys in the north the same way?"

"Hee hee, I have no idea what you could possibly mean."

Fuuga gave a toothy grin, while Maria's smile was relaxed, yet had a

mysterious intensity to it. Mutsumi and I watched, both breaking into a cold

sweat as these two massively charismatic figures butted heads. It was like

being thrown into a cage with both a lion and a bear.

I've got to mediate between these two...? I felt like I was going to be

overwhelmed by the position I was in, but I had to keep myself together.

Suddenly, Fuuga spoke up, breaking my train of thought.

"So, how do you plan to settle things?" Fuuga asked, resting his cheek

on the palm of one hand. "We can let all of them hash out what the borders

will look like, but what's going to happen to the Empire from here on? The

Mankind Declaration's pretty much dead at this point. Maria...or should I

ask Souma instead? What are your plans for the Empire?"

"Maria should probably be the one to say."

I looked at Maria. She silently nodded.

"First of all, I am disbanding the Mankind Declaration. You will have

control of the north of the continent, while the Maritime Union will expand

across the south. Our country will be participating in the Maritime Union as

well, so the stagnant era that needed the Mankind Declaration is already

over. At the same time, my country will completely relinquish our former

vassal states the Frakt Federal Republic and Kingdom of Meltonia."

"You're stepping down from representing mankind? Souma, Maria, you

both have the strength to take the world. Why are you so passive about

seeking glory? I can't understand it," Fuuga said contemptuously, his brow

furrowing.

Maria gave a small smile, and said, "It is not good to let your reach

exceed your grasp. My wishes are smaller, but no less important."

"The wishes you have not as Empress Maria, but as just Maria?"

"Yes."

Maria nodded firmly and Fuuga let out a hearty laugh.

"You've got unswerving eyes like Mutsumi. I can't disapprove of that."

"Thank you."

"So, what about the Empire itself?"

"The people who submitted to you and the lands they rule will not be

returning to us, I'm sure... With the end of the Mankind Declaration, my

country is greatly diminished. I don't think it's fitting to call it the Gran

Chaos Empire any longer. Henceforth, we will be the Euphoria Kingdom. I

will abdicate the throne, and my younger sister Jeanne will replace me as

queen."

"What...?"

The dismantling of an empire, the founding of a new kingdom, the

abdication of Maria, the coronation of Jeanne... Even Fuuga had to be

surprised, getting hit with all this at once.

"The Euphoria Kingdom? Wasn't that the name of the country destroyed

by Emperor Manas?" Mutsumi asked.

"Yes," Maria replied with a nod.

The Gran Chaos Empire was founded when Manas Chaos, the King of

Chaos, annexed his wife's homeland, the Euphoria Kingdom. I'd heard that

he might have felt guilty for doing it because Manas inherited the Euphoria

name from the land he destroyed. Was that why later emperors used the

Euphoria name?

Basically, Maria planned to restore the Euphoria Kingdom. The former

kingdom had been situated in the northwest of the Empire, so this was a

restoration in name only. But it would be enough to hold on to the nobles

and knights who followed the traditions of that country.

Hakuya, Jeanne, and I were all surprised when we heard this. Just how

thoroughly had Maria prepared for such a conclusion?

"What happens to you after you abdicate? You're stepping down to take

responsibility for this war, right?"

"Well..."

"I'll be taking her," I answered Fuuga on Maria's behalf. "While Madam

Maria is stepping down to take responsibility, we will be the ones to take

custody of her. I won't let anyone lay a hand on her, Fuuga. Not even you."

Fuuga and those who had submitted to him likely wanted to capture

Maria and persecute her politically in order to make the lands they had

taken easier to rule. If they subjected her to a kangaroo court, loudly

crowing about the righteousness of their own actions, it'd make great

propaganda. But I wasn't going to let them do that.

"I'm fine with this being a win for you on paper, at least. The Great

Tiger Kingdom was able to secure human resources, and minus any deaths

during skirmishes, you haven't lost anything. But if you're going to demand

custody of Maria, reparations, or anything more, that will change."

"Do you think you could win a fight with me...?" Fuuga glared at me.

He was scary, but I held my ground.

"Yeah. Or force a tie that only hurts both of us if I couldn't. You'd lose

your 'win' here if that happened. That ought to be a painful blow to you

when constant victory is what lets you bring people together."

"Yeah, you've got a point."

Oh, so he gets it himself then? That was a relief.

Fuuga looked at Maria. "What're you going to the Kingdom for? To

marry Souma?"

"I hope so."

"My sister Yuriga's there too, you know?"

"Well, from what I've heard, we'll get along swimmingly. I hear that

Miss Yuriga's decided that you can't defeat Sir Souma as you are now. I

think we'll get along fine."

Seeing the smile on Maria's face, Fuuga gave an exasperated shrug.

"Too many tough women out there these days. They keep defying my

expectations."

"I found that out a long time ago..." I murmured.

"I'll bet," Fuuga said with a wry smile.

◇ ◇ ◇

As Souma, Maria, Fuuga, and Mutsumi were having a surprisingly

relaxed discussion of what was to come after the war, Hakuya the Blackrobed Prime Minister and Hashim the Wisdom of the Tiger were engaged in

an intense war of words.

Hashim slammed his hand down on the map between them.

"We currently hold the east of the Empire as far as Jamona Fortress," he

said. "That land is an important connection between Zem and the Orthodox

Papal State. We'll be keeping it."

Hakuya retorted, "If you return some of the northern lands of the Empire

along the coast, I will be willing to accept that."

"These lands have already fallen to us."

"Then you should exchange other lands for them. There are a number of

knightly and noble houses in the northern territories that chose loyalty to

the House of Euphoria despite finding themselves surrounded by members

of the Fuuga faction. We will take custody of them, so you can redistribute

their lands."

"But domains that have ports are valuable."

"And we will be conceding territory that is important for overland

shipping, so it is an equal trade. Madam Maria has moved most of the

Imperial Navy to the south anyways. If we were to force the issue with our

fleet, do you suppose that you could defend that territory?"

"Not likely... Very well, then we will take some land north of Jamona

Fortress."

"That is inevitable, I suppose... Let's discuss the three cities the

Republic has seized from Zem."

"You're not going to give them back even if we ask, right?"

"Right. While they are part of the Maritime Alliance, the Republic is an

independent nation, so I'd like to negotiate that matter separately."

"Heh, it's no great pain to us if Zem loses territory, but... This one, near

the center, they'll have to give back. If they do that, they can keep the other

two."

He wants them to return the city that will be hardest to defend in the

event of an attack, does he? Hakuya thought. "I will pass the message to Sir

Kuu."

The two of them were both brilliant minds, so they understood what was

important to their own countries, what wasn't, where would be easy to

defend, and where would be hard to attack. They saw where the points of

compromise were in these negotiations, so they didn't waste time holding

out to try and maximize the amount of territory they gained. They decided

on the apportionment of territory after the war appropriately and in few

words.

Next to them sat Jeanne and Lumiere.

Jeanne had a pained expression on her face, while Lumiere looked at her

with frustration.

They had been good friends, but often ended up disagreeing over

Maria's policies, and Lumiere had chosen Fuuga over Maria.

"Lumiere..."

"Don't say it, Jeanne. I've chosen my path."

Lumiere pushed her away at first, but then she gazed up at the ceiling.

"No...I thought I'd chosen my path, but looking at it now, I may just

have been dancing in the palm of your sister's hand. Now that I see the

results, I can tell that your sister predicted we would lose faith in her and

prepared to cut us loose in advance. It's hard to say who gave up on who at

this point."

Lumiere let out a self-effacing laugh before looking at Jeanne.

"What I don't understand, though, is why you provided support for the

reconstruction of the north. If you intended to cut us loose, why provide

support at all? If you hadn't, it would have been a financial blow against

Fuuga when he acquired the territory."

"I think...Sister was torn over what to do," Jeanne said with a glance

over at Maria, who was chatting with Souma and the others nearby. "Up

until now, she always tried to be the empress people believed in. But she'd

reached her limit. I think that if you'd continued to believe in her, she'd

have kept going, but if you gave up on her, then that was that... That's why

she kept working for the benefit of the northern territories until just before

the end."

"If she had that kind of resolve, I wish she'd have used it to liberate the

Demon Lord's Domain!"

Jeanne pitied Lumiere, seeing the frustration on her face.

Ultimately, they'd just had different goals. Still, Maria and Lumiere each

had their own positions to consider, so a large number of people got caught

up in the disagreement, and the rift had developed into a conflict there was

no coming back from.

Even so, I'm happy it turned out this way. Because my sister will finally

be free now, Jeanne thought.

Soon enough, Hakuya and Hashim's negotiations came to a close.

"Would you say that will do for now?" Hakuya asked.

"I suppose it will..." Hashim agreed.

Hakuya and Hashim exchanged a handshake that was entirely formal.

◇ ◇ ◇

Here is an overview of what was decided at the talks:

1) No reparations were to be paid by either party.

2) The Great Tiger Kingdom would not hold Maria responsible for the

war and would not demand custody of her.

3) The Empire would relinquish the northern territories and the eastern

part of the Empire.

4) The lords of the relinquished territories would decide which country

they wanted to belong to. (Most of the lords and knights of the north would

switch their allegiance to the Great Tiger Kingdom.)

This whole war was to be known as the Armistice of Valois. People

would no doubt view this as a victory for the Great Tiger Kingdom. While

they were unable to get reparations, they did gain land and human

resources, and only ended up at a disadvantage in one skirmish against the

Kingdom of Friedonia at the very end.

Meanwhile, the Empire, having lost land and people, was viewed as the

loser of the conflict. Their land forces were particularly diminished, and the

core of their air force left for the Great Tiger Kingdom with General Krahe,

so their ability to wage war on the ground was cut roughly in half.

However, with their naval forces practically untouched and the decision

made to join the Maritime Alliance, they were still a force to be reckoned

with.

Maria abstained from taking responsibility for the crisis and announced

the dissolution of the Gran Chaos Empire. With the founding of the new

Euphoria Kingdom, her younger sister Jeanne would ascend the throne in

her place. Jeanne immediately announced the Euphoria Kingdom's

intention to join the Maritime Alliance.

Now the continent was divided into two; between north and south,

Fuuga and Souma.

The era of the three-way confrontation ended, and a new era of northsouth contention began. The Great Tiger Kingdom pulled its troops out of

the Euphoria Kingdom's territory, and once the Friedonian forces had seen

them off, they would return home too.

"Fuuga. What do you plan to do from here on?" I asked as we were

preparing to pull out. "The Great Tiger Kingdom's big enough. You've got

the personnel to run a great nation now too. What else is left?"

"The Demon Lord's Domain, obviously," Fuuga said, the fire of

ambition burning in his eyes. "What people want from me is a world

without the threat of the Demon Lord's Domain. The world's neatly divided

between you and me now. Once I firm up my support on the home front, I'll

finally be able to raise an army for the final liberation of the Demon Lord's

Domain. I'm gonna strike the final blow against the heart of what's been

causing this era of turmoil."

Fuuga was fired up. This had to be what drew people to him.

"I see... Will it go that well?" I was uneasy.

That was partially because I'd seen that massive cube in the Star Dragon

Mountain Range. I suspected there was something up north that this world's

knowledge wouldn't be able to handle. Fuuga couldn't just walk into the

demon lord's castle, slay the demon lord, and get a happy ending like this

was some old video game. There was a lot to think about between the

relationship between monsters and demons; the mysterious cube's message

to "Go north"; and the name "Demon Lord Divalroi," which seemed

familiar to me somehow...

However, Fuuga seemed unconcerned.

"We've become the greatest country on land. You people rule the sea.

We'll head for the north by land and by sea. Let's change the times with our

own hands."

"Right..."

I could only give that noncommittal response.