W, why do you think so? asked Jeanne as she recomposed her expression .

Im going to be saying this off-the-rec I mean, no mention of this to anyone please

Understood

Jeanne gave the Imperial bureaucrats a look, they stopped their busywork for a moment and quietly left the office . I as well shooed the Royal bureaucrats out and had Aisha stand in front of the door watching for any surveillance . Only Jeanne, Liscia, Hakuya, Aisha, and I remained in the room . I looked at Liscia next to me who was recording the meeting minutes .

Liscia, you stop writing too

all right

Liscia put her pen down, so what goes on now wont be recorded in the minutes . The room fell quiet as if the hustle and bustle earlier were only a lie . Jeanne shrugged .

Good grief I wonder what kind of bomb youre going to bring out

Sorry . What Im going to say is likely going to be protested against as discrimination . If it leaked outside, it may even cause a rebellion

Lets hear it then

The way I see it I cant tell the difference between this worlds animals and demonic creatures, I said, choosing my words .

Furthermore, I cant really tell the difference between races like beastmen and dragonewts with the demon race, either

What!? But thats

I know, I know . Theyre going to yell at me saying Dont put us in the same category!

Previously, when I couldnt tell the difference between Mystic Wolves like Tomoe and Mystic Foxes like Kaede, I said Well, why not call them all Mystic hounds and be done with it? Then Liscia scolded me saying, Mystic hounds refer to Kobolds so make sure you never ever say that in front of those people, okay! At that time, I consented, thinking well, I suppose thats how it goes, but then what is the difference between Mystic Wolves and Foxes and Kobolds .

Do you know what the difference between Mystic Wolves and Foxes and Kobolds, Jeanne?

Well of course . Mystic Wolves and Foxes have tails but their faces and bodies are in no way inferior to humans . On the other hand, Kobolds have the faces of dogs

But there are beastmen with animal faces, right?

Like, for instance, Georg Carmine . If that Lion guy appeared in Japan he would first of all be probably considered a demonic creature . When I pointed that out, Jeanne crossed her arms and nodded .

Well, now that you mention it h~m ah, right . Kobolds have furry bodies . Which means where beastmen are humans with animal parts, then Kobolds are dogs that stand on two legs like humans, I suppose

then how do you tell apart demon races with short or no fur? If thats how your reasoning goes, then Orcs and Minotaurs with human bodies should be beastmen, right?

Mmmmm

Being retorted to, Jeanne pondered, then finally raised both hands, I give up

Ive never really thought about what makes humanity different from demons . Now that youve pointed it out, I noticed that weve been distinguishing demons and humans by feeling

Youre right now that you mention it, I cant find any telltale differences

I wonder why we never noticed

Liscia and Hakuya also nodded . Everyone in this world probably was the same .

Conversely speaking, you can say that the people of this world differentiate humanity and demons by feeling, right

Speaking of Japanese sensibilities, even if we love shellfish miso soup, we dont even want to look at slugs, which were the terrestrial equivalent of shellfish, most of us do . Also, people would watch in shock at Australian Aboriginals eat grub they found inside of trees as they calmly eat peeled shrimp (raw ones at that) . Its likely that the sensibilites of the people of this world were along those lines .

Well there were only humans in the world I was in . Since I lived in a world without Elves or Beastmen or Dragonewts or Demons, I dont have those sensibilities . Which is why that in my eyes, the demon races are just the same as any other race on the human side

Y, Your Highness! d, do you hate Dark Elves? asked Aisha, who was standing in front of the door, with eyes like an abandoned puppy .

Not at all, I answered and flashed her a grin .

Dark skinned Elves are cute, right . Of course, classic human beauties, too

The former was for Aisha, and the latter Liscia . Really!? said Aisha with a brightened face as I said that while Liscia brusquely went Yeah yeah, sure, thanks, but not at all dissatisfied, judging from the grin on her face . Seeing the two, Jeanne wryly smiled .

Youre loved, arent you

I have it too good

As I said that, Jeanne leaned against the back of her chair .

Im glad you said to keep a lid on it . If we continued as we were, I mightve had to kill off our countrys esteemed buraucrats

thats dangerous . Was it that bad?

Its that bad . If what were talking here leaked out, its not only King Somas reputation thatll go down . The continent might go up in a riot . Am I right, Lord Hakuya

It is as you say . I wish he mentioned it to me sooner

Hakuya nodded and sent me a reproachful glare . Eh? That bad?

Please listen Your Highness . If what you said about demons and beastmen being hard to differentiate, countries like the Human supremacist Amidonia and High Elven elitist Holy Kingdom of Gerlean will use it as material to discrimnate against other races . Theyll cast doubt on whether or not beastmen and dragonewts were demons after all or colluding with the enemy, and might clamp down on them with injustice

The Holy Kingdom of Gerlean, the island country to the northwest of the continent, huh . It had a big and small island but it seems that the small island and part of the large one had been occupied . All rumors, because this country is particularly insular and not much information could get in . High Elves, who had a high tendency of having beautiful women and men even among Elves look down on other people, believing that theyre gods chosen people and despise mixed blood . This never changed even now after the demon race invasion .

Well, countries like the Principality of Amidonia and the Holy Kingdom of Gerlean would take this information as proof of their races superiority . In fact, Amidonia made their own country easier to govern by fanning hatred towards Elfrieden (and blaming any slip-ups on the actions of the Kingdom) . This was only turning the hatred against the other races . Jeanne also concurred .

Its as Lord Hakuya said . Also, this is not an external matter for multiethnic countries like ours and yours . If that recognition was widespread within our countries, it would be cause for antagonism between races domestically . If we had internal threats in addition to the ones from outside

sorry . I didnt think this through

I honestly bowed my head . These two were right . This is not just a matter of my own honor . I had to have a better sense of crisis . However, Jeanne shook her head .

We wouldnt have noticed had you not pointed it out . Its quite a problem, but this is better than it suddenly erupting without us realizing it . We can make preparations for it, too

Thank you but that said, I cant think of any countermeasures right away

I know . The Humanity Declaration prohibits exile and persecution against other races but only among countries . We could still intervene with discriminative national policies (say, by making it an order from a superior), but for the common people, we could only help supervise those countries

Thats not going to be effective, and you cant just deal with each and every individual case, either . If it gets buried in the dark then its over . Anyway, since we couldnt get any good ideas right now, the Empire and the Kingdom should continue to deliberate this later .

We called back the bureaucrats we sent outside and continued the conference well into the night . Naturally, it was then time to fill our stomachs . Since Jeanne was a VIP from another country, we ought to have had stopped the meeting for dinner but both Jeanne and I felt it would be a waste of time so we continued conversation over food; something that we could eat while working . Therefore, I decided to treat Jeanne and company to some bread that we were investigating whether we could popularize in the country or not . Jeannes impressions were:

Well this is something! While it looked mismatched to put a staple food on top of another, the two different textures when you sink your teeth into it makes for a best match . The sourness of the tomato sauce works well, too . Also, being able to eat something that you normally had to eat with a plate and fork on bread and with one hand, this is a novel idea Im taking my hat off to! Magnificent!

She openly praised me . Huhuhu, youre thinking its a sandwich? Too bad, its a Napolitan bread 1! well, I actually wanted to make yakisoba bread but I couldnt reproduce that rich sauce no matter what . Which is why I used the pasta and tomato sauce that already existed in this world and made napolitan bread .

I doubted the sanity of it when I first saw it, but it was really good

Bread and pasta arent something new, and yet a new texture is made when you put the two together

Seems Liscia and Hakuya also liked it . Were all but done dealing with the food problems, so it might be good to introduce Earth cuisine alongside novel foods like zelring udon . We could also acquire foreign currency by having a unique food culture . Anyway, the one who took to these unique menus, Aisha, was:

Whom nom nom, huff!

She was standing behind me as guard, but while doing that, was intently tossing the napolitan bread into her mouth . In fact, Aisha, how many have you eaten already? The mountain that was on the plate had turned into a small hillock . The hungry Dark Elf was operating normally even now .

Phew now then, we should get started on the matter of the occupation of Vannes

After having a breather after eating the bread, Jeanne broached the topic .

The Empire wishes to uphold the Humanity Declaration and will not recognize border changes through military action . We would like Elfrieden to return Vannes and its environs to the Principality of Amidonia

The Kingdom could not accept that wish . It was Amidonia who attacked first . We have the right of it, dont you think?

Some would see them as the first to be induced to doing it, though?

It was an intervention by all definitions . Its unreasonable to complain when the attacker becomes attacked instead, no? Is the Empire okay with this? The signatory and non-signatory nations will make light of the Humanity Declaration if you allow this attack

That is true . Which is why the Empire would have Amidonia pay the appropriate indemnities . As far as the Empire is concerned, both parties are at fault in this matter

well, I suppose shes right . As a signatory of the Humanity Declaration, the Empire would have to stand by Amidonia and press Elfrieden for repatriation of territory . But that said, if they pardoned Amidonias attack, they would invite tyranny by the signatory nations and backlash from the non-signatory nations . Which is why they would give harsh sanctions on Amidonia, making them a warning for the signatory nations . The Empire is powerful enough to do so . I sent Jeanne a testing look .

If we do not comply, would you escalate to military force?

We would prefer not to but yes, if necessary . Currently, the Empire only brought enough numbers to be on par with the Elfrieden military, but we believe we have the strength to crush both you and Amidonia together

I suppose . We would also like to avoid a fight

I rested my elbows on the table and folded my hands over my mouth .

Therefore, lets first sort out each others intentions

Sort out ?

The Empire does not want to recognize the border change, so you would have the Kingdom return the occupied territory . Am I correct?

yes . That is right

Jeanne nodded . Having confirmed the Empires intentions, I continued .

As for the Kingdom, we would like to completely crush Amidonia who had continually attacked us again and again . We would also want to have them pay indemnities for attacking us . We took Vannes as that indemnity

I see . You mean you it doesnt have to be Vannes in particular, right . So in other words, while you wont return Vannes free of charge, you would be willing to return it if Amidonia pays compensation for it

As expected, the talks are going smoothly . I nodded and Jeanne breathed a sigh .

Do you want Lord Julius head?

While we would be glad if you did that for us, it does not hold any particular value to us

So its money after all, then

I suppose . If Amidonia would pay us monetary indemnities, well return Vannes . I can also say that the Empire could also demand payments from Amidonia, which should be about right, no?

Looking at the long term, handing over land with buried riches for some temporary funds is a minus . However, considering that it was Amidonian territory until recently and considering relations with the Empire, it wasnt so bad a deal . At the same time, the Empire would accomplish their just cause of restoring territory to Amidonia, and also make a warning of them to the other signatory nations that if they did something like the Amidonians did, they would return their territory but make them pay indemnities . That also means gaining the trust of non-signatory nations . Jeanne took a breath and said .

Lord Julius is going oppose

No sympathy for the wicked . Ah, make it in Imperial gold coins please . Julius seems hopeless at economics . Hes going to be considering using inferior gold coins for payment

You want to get our country involved, are you

You have managerial accountability for Amidonias actions this time . You could at least take that responsibility

I have nothing to say to that

Jeanne smiled wryly and shrugged . She then suddenly looked serious .

Theres something I want to ask King Soma . Why wont Elfrieden sign Elder Sisters Humanity Declaration? If you did, the Empire and the Kingdom would not have been standing at odds on this matter

Jeanne gave Liscia a glance .

I feel bad to say this in front of princess Liscia, but the reason the previous King Alberto did not sign the Humanity Declaration well, I could somewhat understand the reason . Thats because the reason he didnt sign

Because he couldnt decide whether to sign or not . Hes indecisive like that

Jeanne seemed to find it hard to say, so Liscia clearly said it in her stead . Jeanne looked slightly apologetic as she said thats correct

However, I would think that King Soma understands the threat that the Demon King Army poses, and how important it is for humanity to band together . And yet why would you not participate in Elder Sisters Humanity Declaration?

She said that while looking straight at me . Well this is awkward . I didnt want to tell her the reason yet . But if I lied and said I decided without due consideration, relations with the Empire were going to sour . I thought for a while and slowly began talking .

Well theres an old story in my world . Once upon a time, there were the two gods of the East and the West

The god of the East said thus:

The world shall be equal . Therefore, O Mankind, ye shall all till the fields together, and all take equal part in its bounties

On the other hand, the god of the West said thus:

The world shall be free . Therefore, O Mankind, ye shall each till your own fields, and each partake in its bounties for as much as ye have worked for it

The god of the East said to the god of the West:

Thy way will make those who have prospered even more prosperous, and the impoverished even more impoverished . The world will be wrapped in strife between the rich and the poor

The god of the West said to the god of the East:

If man were to gain the same bounties no matter how hard he worked, he shall be deprived of reason to work . Thus the fruits of their labors would also decrease, and all of society shall be poor

And thus the gods of the East and West opposed each other . The fight between the gods swept up the countries that believed in them . We are right and they are wrong . The countries of the east and west glared at each other . The ones troubled by it were the countries in the border .

Once the countries that believed in each of the gods began fighting, we would be the first to suffer . Our homes and fields will fall to ruin . Now, what are we to do . The people living in the border countries thought, and came up with an inspiration .

Thats right . While there is nothing we could do against them opposing each other, we shall place rules to prevent a fight

Then the people of the countries near the borders, together with many of the countries of the east and west together came about with several rules .

First, to disallow border changes through military action

Second, to allow every country equal rights and self determination of their peoples

Third, to foster good cultural exchange with the countries of the east and west 2

What manner of story is that!?

After I had said that much, Jeanne raised her voice . She looked at me suspiciously when I suddenly began telling a fairy tale, but as the story went on her eyes went wider and wider . Jeanne had been composed up to that point, but having gone this far, she seemed to have lost her composure . Liscia and Hakuya also had the same look on their faces (Aisha had a dumb look, not understanding what was going on) . Jeanne hit the table hard .

Never mind the story, but the rules are just the same as the Humanity Declaration! How does it end!?

Jeanne wanted me to cut to the chase, but I silently shook my head .

What happened next I still cant say right now

King Soma!

I do, however, know how the story ends