Dungeon Defense (WN)

The attack from the Republic’s ambassador was nothing more than a playful opening act.

I intended to get a step ahead of Paimon and bring the Habsburg Empire up on the national stage. This would bring the Empire up to international politics. This meant that we would be colliding with the Habsburg Republic which had been claiming that they were the ‘true heirs of Habsburg’.

Therefore, the diplomatic war that was going to adorn this year’s winter unfolded intensely.

* * *

First, the Frankia Empire.

“Her Excellency the Empress Dowager has offered her unlimited cooperation.”

Frankia undoubtedly supported us more than any other nation.

I had officially announced that the slaughter that occurred in the southern region of Frankia was done by a group of traitors; however, I sent a personal message to Baron Bercy and informed him that it was actually a hoax created by the Habsburg Republic. Frankia’s court wanted to deal a blow to the Habsburg Republic for this ‘offense’.

Next, it was a bit surprising, but it was the Kingdom of Brittany.

“Our Highness the Queen has already acknowledged His Excellency the Emperor as the true ruler of Habsburg.”

The previously established Le Havre Treaty was behind this cooperation.

If Brittany doesn’t acknowledge our sovereignty, then the treaty would naturally break apart. This would immediately lead to another war. The Kingdom of Brittany no longer had the manpower to handle another war. Even if Queen Henrietta was personally cooperating with Consul Elizabeth, the fate of her nation was on the line here, so it couldn’t be helped.

With this, the Empire of Frankia and the Kingdom of Brittany were our allies.

Of course, there were also groups that supported the Habsburg Republic.

“To be honest, I find it hard to believe that Your Excellency has no intention to go to war with our nation.”

“Even now, the Demon Lord Army is currently illegally occupying a portion of our land. Please prioritize handling this matter! We cannot offer our unconditional goodwill like this.”

It was the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Sardinia is located right below the Republic. From their perspective, the Habsburg Republic was a formidable shield that was blocking the Demon Lord Army from invading. It was understandable that they would cooperate with the Republic.

On the other hand, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was in the middle of a conflict with the Neutral Faction. The Neutral Faction under Demon Lord Marbas’ rule had already been invading the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on their own since the Crescent Alliance War. They had made a great achievement by occupying a portion of their land. Thanks to this, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth harbored a great amount of hostility toward us.

The other nations were all neutral.

Bernicia, Teuton, Kalmar, Anatolia, Castile, Moscow, and even Batavia.

These seven nations were spectating from the sideline and contemplating about who they should support. It must be quite the exciting thing to mull over. Us or the Republic. These seven nations could change who they decide to support simply according to which of us offers the more tempting deal.

Current score – 2:2.

A sibling rivalry between the Habsburg Empire and the Habsburg Republic. But the reality was a little different.

This was a diplomatic battle between me, Dantalian, and Consul Elizabeth.

If this were an actual battle, then I would’ve retreated without any hesitation. Elizabeth is a genius when it comes to military affairs. I couldn’t beat her even if I tried. However, this wasn’t a war between metal and metal. This was a war of tongues and not swords…….

Furthermore, Elizabeth has a fatal weakness. It’s the fact that she’s in a situation where she can’t jump into diplomatic warfare herself. Being the ruler of a nation puts that many restrictions on your actions.

On the other hand, I can move however I please. I can leave my territory management to Lapis and Parci while I focus purely on diplomacy. This difference was enough to decide the victor.

* * *

“Purchase everything with money.”

I started things off with bribes.

Bribery is a classic tactic. Its effectiveness becomes obvious when you consider how long it’s been around. Now with Ivar Lodbrok under my wing, I basically have the most financial resources in both the demon world and the continent combined.

Ivar’s wealth reaches nearly fifty million libra. Was this not an exorbitant sum?

To put this money into perspective, the annual budget of the Habsburg Empire’s palace is around 1.5 million libra. Ivar could run the palace for 33 years! All by herself! This was also under the assumption that she didn’t work at all during those 33 years.

“How much do you need?” asked the richest blonde girl in the world.

“We will be bribing every single nation’s ambassador. About 150,000 should be enough.”

This is an era where the market hasn’t developed that much yet. 150,000 gold is an immense sum.

The Immortal Pure Blood Vampire let out a small snort.

“Pocket change.”

She loaned me 300,000 unsecured and interest-free libra in an instant. Entirely in cash. In other words, she had loaned me that sum in hard cash and jewels. Thanks to this, my wealth had doubled from the original 150,000 I had.

A ginormous offensive of bribes was carried out.

Ivar and I were professionals when it came to these sorts of problems. Gifting only money would only lose its appeal after a while. Humans are like machines, so they always need some greasing.

“I will invite the highest quality prostitutes from the demon world. Send a request to the Brothel Guild.”

“People say that lying with succubi and elves is the lifelong dream of humans. We can satisfy their fantasies.”

The cream of the crop in terms of prostitutes was brought over from the demon world. The amount one would need to spend a single night with even one of them could make the average person’s jaw drop.

“Let’s hire a band, performers, and an alchemist as well.”

“We can hire them at the same time while we are commissioning the Brothel Guild.”

Demons are far more advanced than humans when it comes to sexual activities. Demons live for hundreds of years, so they invented bizarre types of pleasures to bring enjoyment to their long lives.

For example, while performers put on a promiscuous show on a stage, a band plays a pleasant tune, and an alchemist brews drugs with aphrodisiacs in them—the people enjoying some heated intercourse in the middle of all that. You could definitely call this a composite art of sex.

The ambassadors were shocked by the ecstasy they were facing for the first time in their lives.

“T-This is…….”

“I heard that succubi are beautiful, but I never thought it would be to this extent!”

The delegates were in awe of the demon world’s superior culture.

“I have never tasted alcohol this sweet!”

“Count Palatine, who is the master brewer behind this masterpiece?”

The alcohol was all brought from the demon world as well. This was effective in giving the atmosphere an exotic vibe. Trying exotic alcohol for the first time made for an excellent icebreaker.

One week.

I cooked the ambassadors for an entire week. They were basically fermented in a tub of pleasure. We also made sure to fill their pockets with gold as they enjoyed the sexual pleasantries and the alcohol.

Naturally, my goal couldn’t be accomplished by bribes alone. As I said before, bribery is like greasing a machine. Ambassadors make diplomatic decisions after receiving orders from their lords.

However, their lords aren’t here.

Rulers make their decisions after receiving their ambassadors’ reports. In other words, ambassadors are like the eyes of rulers. They give periodic reports to their lords through magic orbs.

Now then, how will these ambassadors give their reports?

– The Habsburg Empire does not seem like they intend to start another war anytime soon.

– The Demon Lords clearly respect the Emperor’s authority. The Regent is somewhat audacious, but the Count Palatine seems to have more control in the palace. He seems to be holding the Regent back fairly decently. We should reconsider our opinion on their imperial palace.

– The Count Palatine has a clear understanding of the Empire and human traditions. He did not seem to carry any prejudice toward the Empire’s imperial family or our nation’s royal family. From what this humble one can tell, the Count Palatine genuinely desires a normal bond between our nations.

Give and take.

The ambassadors thought it was only natural to return the banquet and hospitality they received with ‘a little goodwill’. The endless amount of persuasion I did during this also had an influence.

The delegate from the Habsburg Republic was shocked by the scale of our bribes.

The Republic urgently tried to put up a diplomatic line, but, unfortunately, they were no match for us in terms of funding. The New Habsburg Republic was by no means a nation overflowing with money. If anything, they were on the poor side.

The Republic also offered bribes, but they paled in comparison to ours. There was no way that they could satisfy the ambassadors who now had at least one of the finest succubi as their servants.

– The Habsburg Republic’s delegate partially disregarded the Emperor’s authority during his commemoration and spoke in a belittling tone. This all happened during a formal occasion and I can only describe them as being discourteous.

– The demeanor displayed by the Imperial Palace is truly praiseworthy. The Emperor never became personally enraged whenever he heard backhanded statements, but instead responded appropriately by turning everyone’s attention elsewhere.

– The Emperor personally harbors goodwill toward the Republic’s Consul and has professed as such. On the other hand, the Republic’s ambassador was rude and lacked dignity when speaking to us.

In the end, the first match ended in our complete victory.

It was clear that the reports from the ambassadors had moved the hearts of the rulers.

The ambassadors started to negotiate with us more actively after a week had passed since the banquet began. Up to this point, their words had been filled with empty praises and flattery, but it was different now. It was time for the true trade to start.

The first batter up was the Kingdom of Teuton.

“Count Palatine, I believe that our relationship has gotten close enough.”

“Of course, Ambassador.”

“Allow me to be entirely honest. Our nation is positioned the closest to the Empire. We require something that will guarantee that the Empire will not invade our land one day.”

The Kingdom of Teuton has the Demon Lord territory to their east, the Republic of Batavia to their west, and the Habsburg Empire to their south. You could say they’re surrounded by potential enemies on all sides. This is why they’re more sensitive about security.

I smiled.

“Ambassador, I am both a Count Palatine and the King of Demons. Thanks to this, I possess a small portion of land. Fortunately, this territory happens to be located at the eastern end of your kingdom.”

“Yes. I heard that your land consists of seven hills.”

The ambassador nodded. I was moved to know that the other nations weren’t slacking when it came to gathering intel.

“My land is in a rather peculiar spot. According to the situation, you can say that it is connected to Habsburg or that it is connected to Teuton. It was originally a slash-and-burn village, so it does not have any official affiliation.”

“……Count Palatine, don’t tell me.”

The Teuton Kingdom’s ambassador opened his eyes wide.

I nodded.

“Ambassador, send a petition to your lord to allow my land to become a palatinate of Teuton. If we do that, then I will be a count palatine of Habsburg and a count of Teuton at the same time.”

“Truly!?”

The ambassador shot up. He reached out to grab my hands in glee.

“Your cooperation would be comparable to receiving the power of thousands!”

“Haha, you are overpraising me. Would it be fine for me to put my trust in our friendship?”

“Do not worry, Count Palatine. I swear on my name to have this bond made.”

The immediate day after, the Kingdom of Teuton’s response would be given to me unofficially.

The documents stated that as long as my territory belonged to the Kingdom of Teuton, they would acknowledge the Habsburg Empire as sovereign and Barbatos as the lawful regent.

— Score 3:2

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. As per usual, more politics. I wonder what all this setup is going to lead to… I ask, having already translated 3 chapters ahead of this one because of the early releases…

On another note, I’ve been suffering at work again due to a recent project I was assigned. It’s weird cause it’s originally a Chinese game, so I’ve been having to look at the Chinese source a lot and trying to decipher words. My task is to try and shorten lines and make them sound better, but it’s so hard. What the hell is ‘Golden Rod Spider Ice Shaving’ supposed to mean? I came here to translate Korean>English not Chinese>English. My head hurts.

Rant aside, I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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