In the royal castle boasting a history of thousands of years under a titanic tree that pierces the heavens, King Forselty mentioned Valkyra Kingdom’s proposal for a tri-nation conference to Princess Mimir.
「Listen, Mimir, do you know why Valkyra Kingdom, which can’t hear the voices of the Spirits, learned of information inside the Sanctuary?」
Given how Mimir is the only individual in Yggurle Kingdom that could meddle inside the Sanctuary, Forselty was baffled as to why Valkyra Kingdom proposed a conference regarding the Sanctuary. Moreover, the contents of the letter speak of grasping information within the Sanctuary. Despite this, Forselty himself has not gained much information from Mimir. It might have been inevitable that Forselty was reproachful towards Mimir, his daughter.
「Who knows, I find it difficult to ascertain. Father, I have nothing to say with matters regarding the Sanctuary. If the esteemed Great Spirits say that I could talk to you about it, then that would be different.」
Forselty’s expression turned miserable at Mimir’s indifferent attitude. It would seem that Elven king, who is over 500 years old, is weak against his youngest daughter.
「Kuh! Mimir had turned cold after going to the Sanctuary.」
「And so, will you accept the conference, Father?」
「Haa, I have no choice. We have the World Tree, as such, we are not charmed by the Sanctuary in terms of materials, however, I can not bear the Great Spirits being in a land that disregards interactions with Elves.」
Mimir grimaced at Forselty’s manner of speaking, but to Forselty, other than interacting with the Great Spirits, he had no interest in the Sanctuary. Mimir was convinced that Forselty would likely never be able to pass through the Sanctuary barrier.
The tri-nation conference that Valkyra Kingdom accosted will take place in the town closest to the Sanctuary, Wedgefort.
The conference was coincidentally attended by the prime ministers of each country, signifying the importance of the matters concerning the Sanctuary to their respective countries.
The conference was progressing courtly, the three countries have made several agreements. The three prime ministers ー Simon[1] of Valkyra Kingdom, Balza of Yggure Kingdom, and Drehd of Lomaria Kingdom ー representing their countries are holding a meeting regarding their handling of the Sanctuary hereafter behind closed doors so as to not leak out information to Triaria Kingdom and the Divine Empire of Sydnia.
「Presently, there are limited individuals capable of passing the Sanctuary barrier. Whether or not they are nobles, or even the king, those not deemed acceptable by the Great Spirits will not be allowed entry. Conversely, I have information that they are accepting children unable to subsist even in the slums. In light of this, any country assuming the Sanctuary is their own is the height of folly, and my country believes it to be advisable to build a loose and amicable relationship.
Valkyra Kingdom’s Prime Minister Simon stated his opinion on what stance these countries should be taking in their involvement with the current Sanctuary from here on.
「I am curious where you got the information that those Great Spirit-samas see through the qualifications of a person to let them through the barrier, however, children of the poor from our nation had been protected too, among other things. It would be beneficial if we are able to have many fruitful transactions.」
Lomaria Kingdom’s Prime Minister Drehd glanced at Simon as he said it.
「Certainly, I, too, would by all means like to know how Valkyra Kingdom, which has few Dwarves and Elves, knows much of the circumstances of the Great Spirits and the interior of the Sanctuary. Well, our Yggurle Kingdom has different reasons from Valkyra Kingdom and Lomaria Kingdom, as we do not require the materials of the Spirit Tree. However, we the Elves who have been receiving most of Spirits’ blessings can not be unassociated with the land the Great Spirits have manifested in.」
Yggurle Kingdom’s Prime Minister Balza stated that what his country desires is not the materials from the Spirit Tree, but rather a relationship with the Great Spirits.
「We would be glad if you could be a little bit more accommodating with the World Tree’s materials.」
「Indeed. Those materials are rare in my country, and the Pharmacists Guild and large companies buy all of it immediately when it comes.」
「No, no, the materials of the World Tree are scarce even in our own country. As such, it is inevitable that the portion sold to other countries is even lesser.」
Both Simon and Drehd are aware that the truth was that Balza and the Elves want to claim the rights of the Sanctuary though. However, the two had the shared information from Takumi that no one could enter the Sanctuary without the Great Spirits’ permission, even if they are Elves. For that reason, the Elven country likely intends to deepen their relationship with the Great Spirits and slowly claim the rights of the Sanctuary. Balza didn’t notice the two other prime ministers were looking at him coldly.
「Now, this is a proposition, but what do you think of establishing a town adjacent to the Sanctuary?」
「…………hmm, what of the territorial rights?」
「Indeed.」
Simon’s proposal was the establishment of a town neighboring the Sanctuary. Currently, the closest town to the Sanctuary is the recently established fortress town in the savage lands, Wedgefort. A town possessed by Valkyra Kingdom. As for the savage lands dotted with monster nests, due to the completion of Wedgefort that boasts of its impregnable walls, a change occurred in the savage lands west of the continent.
「With the influence of the Sanctuary, the land surrounding it is being purified even if it’s a monster nest with thick mana, and clean land is expanding. We thought it would be beneficial for the three countries to establish a town that they wouldn’t claim as their own there.」
「Are you saying that we should build a neutral town that would be a hub of the Sanctuary, Wedgefort from Valkyra Kingdom, Lomaria Kingdom, and Yggurle Kingodm?」
「I see, nobles and large companies that are unable to enter the Sanctuary can take action in that city then.」
Building a town close to the Sanctuary was not a bad idea for any of the three countries. Frankly, the three all very much want it to be part of their territories, but they knew that too much greed would be a bad move.
And they began talking about a provision for the poor to get rid of the recklessness of the children as Takumi had wanted, considering towns and villages above a certain size to be obligated to establish an orphanage, and arranging for a border patrol to protect people heading to the savage lands.
Afterwards, the conference continued quietly.
As per the agreement of the three nations, they will cooperate in the establishment of a town on the east side of the Sanctuary, then do things such as construct embassies in that town.
However, they didn’t talk about what to do about the contact for the Sanctuary’s side on this occasion. However, Prime Ministers Drehd and Balza were confident that Valkyra’s side has connections on the Sanctuary’s side.
Balza, in particular, knows that Princess Mimir from their country could enter and exit the Sanctuary, but she couldn’t be relied on to do that. The princess declared that she would not act for her country, after all. Balza also thought that this could not be helped. To the Elves whom are Fairykin, the Great Spirits are being that take precedence over a country.
The finer work-level decisions will be done at a later date in Wedgefort again, and the tri-nation conference that day ended.
***
Footnotes:
1. Typo. Author wrote Simon as Monterey for a lot of the chapters – fixed in LN.