Editor: Tseirp
The Eastern Countries’ Joint Conference began with Grand Duke Atinjo’s opening declaration and Duke Helb Plak’s introductions of the delegates and running of the eting.
Ryo had expected a clamorous, heated exchange — a conference full of shouting and sharp clashes of opinion — but his expectations were betrayed.
The eting proceeded with a surprising calm.
The basic policy that all participating nations would unite against the Choouchi Empire passed without issue, and so did the clause that, for military matters, the frontline and decision-making authority would be entrusted to Darwei.
“This isn’t what I thought it would be.”
“What did you expect it to be like?”
“A chaotic shouting match where angry voices fly, and everyone denounces the other side — an uncontrollable eting!”
“Is there really an international conference like that? I’ve never heard of one.”
“An international conference is war with swords exchanged for words! It’s not sothing pleasant!”
For so reason, Ryo stated that with great conviction.
Abel, an active head of state, had no idea why Ryo insisted so strongly — in fact, he thought the opposite.
“In a bilateral negotiation, maybe, but a conference with many nations won’t be like that, right? Besides, before the leaders gather, bureaucrats do the pre-adjusting.”
“That’s being soft! That way, the leaders won’t be forged.”
“Hmm, I don’t get it.”
Ryo’s argunt made no sense to Abel.
Of course, since Ryo’s assertion was essentially fantasy… it wasn’t surprising that Abel didn’t understand.
At that mont, Abel gave a faint smile.
Ryo noticed and frowned.
“What are you smiling at?”
“Oh, it reminded of a lecture I once had back when I was at the royal castle — a lecture on ‘how to approach a conference properly’.”
“Excuse ?”
Ryo didn’t understand, so he asked for clarification.
“Do the Knightley royal household teach things like that?”
“Probably because I was terrible at it, the teacher figured it’d be better to teach directly. I’ve never heard that my elder brother took that kind of class, though.”
Abel smiled faintly.
anwhile, the eting continued… and was progressing remarkably smoothly.
“If the proposer cos in saying, let’s have everyone give their opinions here and decide sothing, nothing will be decided, and only ti will be wasted.”
“That’s true, I guess.”
“So you need to at least prepare a draft proposal beforehand. And you must think through the final landing point as well.”
“I understand a draft, but can you really foresee the landing point?”
“Oh, it’s not hard. By checking the positions of those who’ll participate and what has been proposed so far, you can make reasonable guesses. With that, you don’t have to hit the other side directly — you can judge from the materials at hand, right?”
“Indeed.”
Ryo nodded at Abel’s explanation.
Ryo had heard sothing similar once from a senior who’d gone into a foreign consultancy.
The first thing his manager told him upon assignnt was to enter etings having prepared a working plan and the line you can concede up to.
That applied to internal project etings or talks with other companies, anything at all.
So say Westerners are better at running etings than Japanese, but that doesn’t necessarily an they’re better at arguing.
They simply prepare a plan and fallback positions before the eting begins, check the concession line with superiors, and imagine the landing point, so decisions proceed smoothly.
If you call that being skilled at running etings, then fair enough.
Gathering in a room with no proposals or outlook and arguing back and forth achieves nothing; ti just slips away.
Ideally, schools should at least teach that ‘trick’ in high school.
It’s useful anywhere and lasts a lifeti.
People who manage to make things happen in etings often do those things unconsciously.
There may be a real difference between ‘holding a eting’ and ‘having a debate.’
Debating in the eting is fine… but that’s not the essence of a eting.
A eting is a place to make decisions.
Debate is not primarily for making decisions.
Understanding that alone would eliminate ‘etings that don’t lead to decisions’…
And now, before Ryo’s eyes, a eting that decisively reached decisions was unfolding at breathtaking speed.
The chair was Duke Helb.
Without a doubt, he had prepared the landing point in advance.
The military frontline would be Darwei.
Because of command relationships, no troops would be dispatched from other nations.
Cooperation would take the form of material support.
That was a reasonable landing point both for Darwei and the other nations.
If troops were sent from other countries, public sentint would beco an issue.
“Why should we travel to fight for an attack coming from so unheard-of, remote northern country?”
The soldiers sent would also be emotionally conflicted.
So restricting support to supplies was a sensible, decisive asure.
For Darwei, having poorly motivated foreign troops at their flank would bring nothing but harm.
As a result… by the morning of the first day, the basic treaty had already been signed.
“It’s amazing…”
“Yes, truly. Duke Helb’s managent of the proceedings is superb.”
Ryo and Abel whispered to each other as they watched Grand Duke Atinjo and Duke Helb leave the conference room for the lunch break.
“This eting was supposed to be three days long, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. But with the treaty signed, it’s just the fine adjustnts left, right? Deciding the kinds and amounts of supplies each nation will provide. But that’s a bureaucratic matter, not for the heads of state…”
“Practically, the conference is over.”
Even the two of them hadn’t expected this.
But it was by no ans an unpleasant surprise.
“Long etings are just a nuisance.”
“Better to finish quickly and spend the freed-up ti aningfully.”
Whether or not their minds had imdiately gone to searching for a good Kwebasa restaurant, nobody could tell…
A waiting room had been prepared for every delegation.
Duke Helb returned to Grand Duke Atinjo’s waiting room after finishing a few adjustnts with other nations.
In the inner anteroom, Grand Duke Atinjo sat.
The lunch set before him was almost untouched.
“Brother, will you eat?”
“I have no appetite.”
Grand Duke Atinjo answered with a bitter smile.
Helb said nothing further.
He had a rough idea why his brother lacked appetite.
It was likely due to the influence of the .
Since Helb had been assigned as ambassador to the free city of Kwebasa, this was the first ti he’d seen Grand Duke Atinjo’s al.
Once, Grand Duke Atinjo had eaten with a boisterous, magnanimous gusto, so seeing this made Helb honestly uneasy…
But there was nothing to be done by voicing it.
“I’ve finished the adjustnts with the other nations. It seems fine.”
“As expected of Plak. I thought leaving it to you would work out… but I never imagined it would be finished by the first morning.”
Grand Duke Atinjo said, laughing openly as he praised him.
Helb looked pleased to be praised by the elder brother he respected.
It was a face he never ordinarily showed.
Only before his brother could he remove his usual mask and show himself fully…
The fifteen-year age gap probably felt comfortable to Helb.
“In the afternoon, we’ll announce the contents of the signing and decide the kinds and amounts of supplies from each country. You’ll appear for the beginning of the afternoon announcent, but the later work on supply details can be left to the bureaucrats — you and the other heads of state may rest. You only need to attend the closing ceremony at the end…”
“Understood. I’ll leave it to you.”
Grand Duke Atinjo nodded at Helb’s suggestion.
Helb felt a small relief.
He didn’t know exactly how burdenso resisting the would be.
But from looking at his brother, he could tell it demanded considerable physical exertion.
His brother’s will was strong and his gaze sharp, but still…
Then it happened.
“Ugh!”
Grand Duke Atinjo made a muffled sound, clutched his chest, and collapsed to the floor.
“Brother!”
Helb rushed to him in a panic.
And shouted at the sa ti.
“Soone! Call a healer!”
Servants poured into the room with Helb’s cry.
One of them ran to fetch a healer.
Helb understood imdiately.
This was almost certainly the work of the .
A healer could do nothing.
What he had feared had happened…
“There… Zlurma, are you there?”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Grand Duke Atinjo called out in a pained voice, and Zlurma answered.
Apart from Grand Duke Atinjo and Helb, Zlurma was the highest-ranking courtier present.
“You… be my witness. I command you… Duke Helb Plak… To cut off my head…and pierce the heart…the vessel of my soul… Do it…”
“…I, Zlurma, accept being the witness.”
“…I, Duke Helb Plak, have received this direct imperial command.”
There were many others in the room besides the three of them.
Of course, they didn’t understand what was happening.
They didn’t know why Grand Duke Atinjo suddenly gave such an imperial command.
They didn’t understand why Duke Helb accepted it without protest.
But they did know this was no ordinary crisis.
That much was obvious.
Only a fool who couldn’t tell the gravity of the situation would remain idly beside Grand Duke Atinjo.
Helb rose, took down a sword that had been propped aside.
It was Grand Duke Atinjo’s sword.
He unsheathed it and dropped to one knee.
He placed the sword at the fallen Atinjo’s neck.
“Plak, I leave the rest to you.”
“Yes… brother.”
A single flash.
Then a thrust.
Grand Duke Atinjo’s head was severed, and his heart was pierced.
“Your Excellency…”
The first sound to break the silence of the inner room ca from Zlurma.
It was a question addressed to Helb, who still held the sword.
“Forgive . Leave alone for a while.”
Helb said in a small voice, but the whole room heard it.
Everyone left the room, and the door was shut.
“Brother…”
Tears overflowed with that whisper.
A small, choking sob.
The sound of the sword falling from his hand.
“I will recover. I will surely recover, so please, just a mont…”
Helb’s voice leaked out as a whisper.
The task had been entrusted to him.
He would give it everything he had.
But please, just a short ti…
To have slain the beloved brother he revered with his own hand… even Helb, who had been raised to possess an unshakeable heart from childhood, felt the impact.
That unshakable heart was indispensable to him as a practitioner of sorcery and as the younger brother of a future grand duke.
Precisely because of that, he had a nearly perfect composure.
Still, this was painful.
And yet…
It had all been calculated…
“Ugh.”
A muffled sound escaped Helb himself this ti.
In that instant, he realised.
It was the .
“Damn… the target was from the start.”
To shake an unshakable heart, they had made him kill his beloved elder brother.
Imdiately after that, the shaken heart was taken.
“How could I be so careless…”
Helb’s consciousness vanished.
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