Chapter 328
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Chapter 328 – Reply
It’s a difficult choice. Even if I ask for the opinion of my created subordinates, they’ll just affirm my view. And if I ask for Mao’s opinion, she’ll probably shrink away, becoming unable to give me a decent answer. Yataro, on the other hand, would likely just outsource such decisions to me, saying 『You’re my lord. Choose the path you believe to be good』. Also, asking Saburou would be nothing more than a waste of time.
In that case…it’s truly regrettable, but I guess I’ll ask my self.alleged strategist for her opinion. Kanon is the sole subordinate who will openly tell me her view on Aster’s course of action. Even if you put aside the quality of her suggestions, talking with her usually allows me to sort my thoughts.
“Kanon!”
“Yeeees! What is it?”
I called Kanon, who was carefreely floating around, and explained to her the mail sent to me by Laplace’s administrator and my thoughts in regards to it.
“…That is all.”
“Hmm, I see, I see.”
“What’s your opinion as a great strategist?”
“Let’s see…just as her lord hopes for, Shion-san’s renown staff officer Kanon shall offer her honest opinion!”
I thought she saw herself as a strategist, but was it actually staff officer? How are those two different anyway?
Given that I deliberately went out of my way and addressed her as a strategist, she should obediently go along with it!
Such pointless thoughts crossed my mind, but…right now I don’t have the time to mess around with silly stuff.
“What is it?”
“Shion-san, without noticing it yourself, you’ve set it in your mind that the identity of Laplace’s administrator is Secret-san!”
“You think so? When I discarded the other possibilities…”
“No! I mean the passion of your words! Your tone! All of it makes it clear that you have decided deep down Secret-san to be Laplace’s administrator!”
Pointing a finger at my face, huh…? Did she get carried away because I called her a great strategist?
“So, what about your opinion?”
With my eyes on her, Kanon’s body trembled with a start.
“Umm, you see…a-assuming…and it’s just an assumption…what would you do if Secret-san wasn’t Laplace’s administrator?”
“If it’s not Nina?”
“For example…what if it’s some random, unknown Demon King?”
“Hmm, let’s see. For the time being, I’d probably form a cooperative relationship. A cooperative relationship as in at least having a non-aggression pact, but if their demands were too cocky, it might also be okay to shelter them….after destroying their domain.”
If Laplace’s administrator proves to be some unnamed, weak demon king…I’d conclude a non-aggression pact and use them while protecting them. If they overstepped their boundaries with unreasonable demands, it’d probably be best to quickly absorb them into my nation.
“Next, I think this might be a rather likely candidate, but…what would you do if the administrator was the Devil Demon King of Itoigawa?”
“Hmm? You think one of the Itoigawa demon kings is the administrator?”
“Yes! Considering the timing, our advance has just slowed down a bit, and if you think of the merits the other side would receive…I think it’s quite possible for it to be a demon king of Itoigawa.”
I see. You could look at it like this as well, I suppose.
“If the Devil Demon King of Itoigawa was to be the administrator of Laplace…I’d treat him just like any other nameless demon king, I think.”
I’d tie a non-aggression pact with them and if their demands were too extreme, I’d take them in by force.
“Hmm, I see. If you look at it from the Aster Empire, it doesn’t make any difference whether it’s Itoigawa’s demon king or some nameless, weak demon king, right?”
“Do you think that a demon king of such caliber would offer me to save me from my predicament?”
“Ugh…how about a proposal a la we will be able to pull back our invasion teams for defense duty, if we work together?”
There’s some logic to this. Is the identity of the supervisor one of Itoigawa’s demon kings instead of Nina? I’m hesitant to admit it, but…listening to Kanon, I’ve started to think that it’s possible.
“In that case, we’d end up withdrawing our troops from Itoigawa, right? Wouldn’t that be meaningless then?”
“The other party doesn’t really know our circumstances.”
Assuming the administrator is a demon king of Itoigawa…what would be the correct way to deal with them, if they brought up a proposal as mentioned by Kanon?
I tried to deliberate the new possible future, but…
“By the way, what did you plan to do if the administrator of Laplace was Secret, Shion-san?”
“Hmm?”
“As I said, if Secret-san is Laplace’s administrator, do you intend to accept their proposal?”
I wonder…what would I do in such a case? Assuming, the administrator turns out to be Nina…it might be possible to break down the current situation, judging from Nina’s power and location. Moreover, if our respective standings were to be equal in an alliance, you could describe Nina as the perfect partner.
The disadvantage would be Aster’s currently inferior position towards Nina.
If I refuse the proposal because the conditions are too disadvantageous…I would ① banned from Laplace and ② possibly get attacked by Nina alongside the humans…in short, it’d likely lead to grave losses and damage.
“That’s quite difficult to answer. The obtainable benefit from forming a partnership would be big, but…right now our position is too inferior. Assuming Nina was to put forth disadvantageous conditions…I feel like it’d turn into a huge minus in the future…regardless of whether I accept or reject them…”
“Mmh, what kind of disadvantageous conditions could that be?”
“Hmm?”
Disadvantageous conditions?
“For example…they wouldn’t demand you to become their slave or such, right?”
“I don’t think they’re so arrogant, or rather, stupid.”
“Figures. In such a case, a likely possibility would be…owing them something in the future? Also, you’re famous for having a high Alchemy level, so maybe some A-Rank equipment?”
“Owing them something in the future would be the scariest, but…do you think they’d demand something like a verbal promise that lacks any sort of guarantee?”
“I wonder? As your famous staff officer, I advise you that it might be smart to listen to their side for starters!”
“If I listen to them…I won’t really be able to reject it, you know?”
“That’s where your usual wit comes into play! You won’t be won over that easily, will you? Rather, you will overwhelm the other party in a rhetorical battle! Kind of?”
My carefree, famous staff officer revealed a slovenly smile. If I get confronted with too bad conditions and end up ousted from Laplace…it’ll also be an option to tattle to Sati.
“You’re right. I guess I should first listen to their story, even if the administrator turns out to be Nina.”
“Very likely the administrator of Laplace is the Devil Demon King of Itoigawa…and even if not, you should still listen to them! Hence, Famous Staff Officer Kanon suggests first talking it out!”
I didn’t like that triumphant look of this flying bug, but her advice has some points to it.
“I suppose I’ll use the advice of the famous staff officer then.”
“Yes!”
No matter the outcome from this, I should act fast.
“Yataro! I’ll leave the command of the defense to you for a while!”
“Roger.”
I used my smartphone to tap on the URL provided in the mail.
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