“It goes without saying, both my sister and I are relying on the kingdom, Sir Souma, and yourself.” Jeanne smiled.
Hakuya gave a forced laugh. “I think that is clearly overestimating us.”
“Is it really? When it comes to our vassals… I think they’ve been prejudiced by coming from a country that’s swelled to be too large. Far too many of them have confused landmass with the power and dignity of a country.”
“Did you consider that they might not be entirely wrong?” Hakuya asked.
The more land a country had, the greater its population. Increases in land and population could be tied directly to gains in production capacity. The country’s production capacity was directly linked to its military prowess.
But Jeanne shook her head. “It’s far from correct. Do you think Sir Souma would say such a thing?”
“…He wouldn’t, no. The thing His Majesty seeks most is ‘people.’” With a slightly pensive look on his face, Hakuya continued. “Before, when I asked His Majesty, ‘What led you to make gathering personnel your first priority?’ he told me this: ‘The people are your moat, your stone walls, and your castle.’”
“‘The people are your moat, your stone walls, and your castle’… I see. It’s a good saying.” Jeanne gave an approving grunt.
Hakuya said, “Well, it’s not something His Majesty came up with himself. They were apparently the words of a military strategist in the world he came from.” He was spilling the beans about the source, but in his heart he could understand why Jeanne had grunted like she did.
Souma had also said this: “That was said by someone who actually existed in my world, a daimyou… That’s a word that means someone who was a capable military strategist and a feudal lord, just so you know. At around that time, the political thinker Machiavelli was saying the same sort of thing in a land far to the west. That in times of peace, it’s better to tear down walls, that is.
“Walls are only useful in peacetime when the people rise against you. If you rely on walls and rule with cruelty, the people will turn on you, and they will invite foreign powers into your land. So a prince is safer not to build walls but to win the people to his side instead, apparently. It’s interesting that there were people in the East and West saying roughly the same thing at the same time in history.”
Souma had laughed, but his words left a strong impression on Hakuya. It was very much the sort of thing that Souma, who took lessons from history to inform his policies, would say. Because Souma had learned from the words of the ancients, he had gathered a diverse group with many “gifts,” and that included Hakuya.
Jeanne nodded. “My sister said something similar, too. ‘The people are the foundation of the country.’”
“It seems we both serve good masters.”
“Though, in my case, she’s also a relative… I do think she’s a good master, though. Even if she can be a bit unreliable at times.”
When he saw the wry smile on Jeanne’s face, Hakuya recalled his own master who normally focused on efficiency, but never threw away his compassion for those close to him. He sometimes thought it inefficient, and it could be frustrating to deal with at times, but he strangely did not find himself wanting to make him abandon that compassion.
“I more or less feel the same way…” Hakuya said. “It’s our job to support them when that happens.”
“You’re right about that. Now, let’s get down to business.”
The negotiations started.
Jeanne began. “Now… I believe we were to discuss trading our wheat for your seasonings — soy sauce, miso, and the like. We have no issue with that. My sister is quite fond of that seasoning you call ‘soy sauce.’ It goes really well with fish dishes.”
“It goes well with meat dishes, too,” Hakuya said. “Let me teach you some simple recipes.”
“I’d be grateful for that. Now, you want wheat in exchange, but I was led to believe that your food crisis had been resolved, hadn’t it?”
“That is correct, but we still have some uncertainties about our surplus. We want to import food in case this year’s harvest is poor.”
“I understand…By the way, we would like to make those seasonings ourselves eventually. Could I ask you to dispatch some tradespeople?”
“The mystic wolves still have a monopoly on sales within the country, so… it would depend on what compensation you were offering,” Hakuya said.
“I can understand that. How about the method for mixing a special compost that increases crop productivity?”
“I believe that would do. I think I will run that by His Majesty and get permission.”
“Next… Following the example of the Kingdom’s Jewel Voice Broadcast, we tried producing programs here in the Empire, too.”
“Hmm… How did that work out for you?”
“The singing programs and such were mostly well-received, but I never would have thought the most popular one would be a program that follows what my sister did during the day. I have no idea what’s supposed to be interesting about that…”
“Well, they do call her a saint, after all,” said Hakuya. “I’m sure Madam Maria must be loved as much as the Prima Lorelei is in our nation.”
“For all that her personal life is a mess, she does have a pretty face, at least,” Jeanne conceded. “I’ll give my sister that.”
“I don’t know if it’s only her face… but her sister Madam Jeanne is beautiful, too, after all.”
“…I would never have expected such flattery to come from your mouth, Sir Hakuya.”
“Hm? I don’t flatter people at the negotiating table, you know,” Hakuya said.
“Ohh…”
“Hm?”
— Ten minutes later.
“Um, about Sir Souma. Is he, perhaps, already developing some interesting technology of the sort we would never imagine?”
“…Now, I wonder about that,” Hakuya said.
“Hee hee. We can pay a considerable sum, so could you perhaps release even a small part of the details to us?”
“Well… if you would reveal to us how the Empire’s main force, the griffon squadrons, raise and train their mounts, as well as give us a number of breeding pairs, I could consider it.”
“Ohh, that’s not happening,” Jeanne said with a broad smile.
“In that case, please give up,” Hakuya responded with a grin.
““Hee hee hee.””
From there on, the negotiations went smoothly, keeping that relaxed (?) atmosphere.
Normally, negotiations were carried out with stubborn haggling, each side digging in their heels to get the most beneficial deal for their own country. However, Hakuya and Jeanne were both sharp, and they both knew where the point of compromise lay from the beginning, so it was just a matter of trading ideas until they arrived at that point. Because of that, thirty minutes after negotiations began, the vast majority of matters were already settled.
With the negotiations finished…
“Whew,” Jeanne let out a sigh. “When I negotiate with you, things always go so smoothly. Though it does mean I can’t let my guard down for a moment… I wish the hardheaded folks around here could learn a thing or two from your example.”
“I agree, but… it’s really a matter of who I’m talking to. If you didn’t have the ability to spot points of compromise, and weren’t such a trustworthy and reliable partner, it wouldn’t go like this.”
“That’s very true… Well, shall we put on some tea?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
They each stood up, beginning to prepare tea for themselves.
For these two very busy people, their meetings were scheduled to be an hour long and no longer. However, because their negotiations went so smoothly, they almost never used up all of the time allotted. So, at some point, it had become their custom to enjoy tea together, talk about recent happenings, and gripe about their respective masters.