Dungeon Defense (WN)

“……I will meet General de Farnese in person.”

“Oh?”

Was he going to try to persuade her in person? The Marquis’ efforts to try and stop the war were commendable. No, describing it as pitiable in this situation would probably be more appropriate.

“I will tell you this beforehand, but persuading the General in person will be impossible.”

“This is unreasonable. We cannot allow our nations to be ravaged by war because of a single family that collapsed years ago. If the General is even remotely concerned about the hardship that the people will have to experience, then I am sure that she will change her mind.”

I chuckled.

“General Laura is my lover, Marquis.”

“Are you saying that there is no more room for discussion……?”

The Marquis groaned.

Despite this, he stubbornly insisted on meeting Laura at least once. He was going out of his way to use an expensive teleportation scroll to go all the way to my territory, so I had no reason to stop him. Of course, nothing came from his trip. The Marquis returned to his nation with gloomy steps.

I formally ran diplomatic channels.

Regaining the honor of His Excellency the Emperor’s acting general is an incredibly natural course of action and we requested the Kingdom of Sardinia’s cooperation in this matter. I also didn’t forget to mention that we would compensate them appropriately if they reinstate the House of Farnese.

None of the ambassadors from the other nations thought much of this matter after they heard my request.

We weren’t even asking them to hand over the land that the House of Farnese had once ruled before. We were simply asking them to remove their brand as traitors. A hundred thousand gold was also offered as compensation. This probably looked like a simple matter to them.

Ο 

– We cannot acknowledge the reinstatement of traitors!

Ο 

However, the atmosphere became strange the moment the Kingdom of Sardinia announced their refusal.

They most likely utilized their informants as much as possible. Each nation figured out that this matter involved the pride of Habsburg’s imperial family and Sardinia’s royal family.  Well. the Chrysanthemum War was a rather famous civil war, so it wouldn’t be hard to piece things together.

I put on a big performance at this point.

Ο 

– His Excellency the Emperor cherishes his acting general greatly.

– We will immediately offer a compensation fee of 150,000 gold if you reinstate the Farnese Duchery.

Ο 

I made it appear as if the Empire genuinely did not want a war.

The Kingdom of Sardinia flatly refused, saying that we shouldn’t get involved in their internal matters and that they didn’t need compensation. We hastily raised the compensation fee from 150,000 to 170,00 and then 200,000. It most likely appeared like we were doing our utmost to avoid conflict.

Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Sardinia adamantly refused.

Once the situation got to this point, the diplomats from the other nations started to voice their complaints. Isn’t the other party refusing too flatly when the Empire’s Emperor is going out of his way to make this personal request?

However, they didn’t complain publicly. They were simply concerned that this trivial matter would lead to a diplomatic conflict.

This was the perfect moment.

Ο 

– Our nation promises to cease our strife with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and we are resolved to cooperate with the Commonwealth eternally.

– The border between our nations will permanently be a neutral land and we shall offer this land to the Gods in order to set our decision in stone.

Ο 

We abruptly announced our reconciliation with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Every nation on the continent welcomed this decision. They had been worried that another war might occur since Great King Bathory had issued a call to arms. The temples received free land without having to do anything, so they applauded us fervently.

The Empire wishes for peace. We made this image clear.

Adding on to this, Great King Bathory also took part in the ‘performance’.

Ο 

– Anyone is capable of speaking about “peace”, but the true form of peace is being able to concede half a step to others. Wars continue to unfold because people refuse to take this half-step……. However, the Empire is different.

– I cannot help but be moved by their genuine desire for peace. I simply wished for a peaceful solution, but the Empire took the extra step and proposed eternal peace.

– The empire has shown me and the nations of the continent what it truly means to consider peace. We must learn from them.

Ο 

It was around this point that the curse on Great King Bathory’s little sister was becoming weaker thanks to the necromancer we had dispatched. This was the Great King’s way of paying us back for treating his sister.

Well, this probably wasn’t enough to say that he had paid us back completely. From a broader perspective, this meant that Great King Bathory was paying us back for saving his little sister’s life by saying a few words. He’s pretty sly despite looking like a bear.

The Kingdom of Sardinia must be bewildered. Yesterday’s ally had become today’s foe.

While under this atmosphere of love and peace that was spreading throughout the continent, I gallantly proposed a compromise again.

– We will pay a compensation fee of 230,000 Libra if you reinstate the Farnese Duchery.

Which was followed by another firm refusal.

The ambassadors raised their voices once things had gotten this far.

They added all sorts of diplomatic modifiers, but if you removed all the needless bits, then it became simple.

– Stop ruining the good mood!

– …….

The Kingdom of Sardinia most likely felt that this was unfair.

Why should the warm atmosphere over the continent matter to them? They had to go through a bloody civil war in order to determine their rightful ruler. If they reinstate a traitorous household now, then what would that make of all the blood they had shed?

This was quite literally irrational meddling in their domestic affairs.

The royal family of Sardinia and their nobles got together to respond to the complaints from the community of nations. House Farnese was their enemy.

Let’s not beat around the bush.

The Kingdom of Sardinia was no match for me.

I saved a trump card I could use this entire time waiting for this moment. Now that we had an advantage in this game, there was no need to hold back anymore. I made the declaration that I had been hiding.

– Laura de Farnese is the symbol and proof that man and demonkind have united! The commander-in-chief of the Empire is a human and it is under her command that all races are able to move in perfect order. How can you brand such a symbolic individual as a traitor!?

– Sardinia is severely threatening the banner that represents the peace between races. How can one not bemoan their near-sightedness?

– I understand that Sardinia has its own circumstances; however, nothing can come before the everlasting peace between humans and demonkind.

I performed quite literally a diplomatic carpet bombing.

I laid out a fierce torrent of criticism as if the docile desire I had shown for compromise until now had been a lie.

This matter about reinstating a single family had gotten blown out of proportion to the point of no return.

With the reconciliation with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as the foundation, this matter expanded and became about whether this mood of reconciliation was going to be maintained or broken. Adding to this, this also became a matter of whether they were going to acknowledge the symbol that represents the union between humans and demons!

This was actually the most fundamental form of rhetoric.

Over-interpret the other party’s statement as much as possible while minimizing your own.

In other words, your nation refusing to reinstate a family doesn’t end with only that but you are also, “raining on the peace that was spreading throughout the nations,” and that, “you are ruining the unity between demons and humans which was finally being established”.

Compared to that, all we want is the reinstatement of a single family.

This over-interpretation tactic is effective not only in arguments between people but in diplomatic disputes between nations as well. This was the Kingdom of Sardinia’s complete and utter defeat in this game.

I sat on the terrace of the imperial palace as I watched the setting evening sun. The amber ray of the sun shimmered through the wine glass that I was holding in my right hand.

“This is the key factor of rhetoric, Daisy.”

My chest was filled with a deep feeling of satisfaction. I used the continent as a chessboard and isolated a single nation. There was nothing more satisfying than this.

“Do you know what is most important in rhetoric?”

“Cornering the other party.”

Daisy answered as she refilled my glass with wine. I chuckled.

“As I thought, you are thick-headed. You always know only one thing but never two.”

“…….”

“Remember this. Victory is always secondary when it comes to rhetoric.”

I quenched my throat with wine before continuing.

“There is one mistake that anyone who thinks they are good at arguing always makes. It is the fact that they treat arguments as duels between them and the other party.”

“Are you saying that they are not?”

“Naturally. When I was facing the Kingdom of Sardinia, I was not only fighting them. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Frankia, Teuton, and Batavia, these other nations were also watching.”

Rhetoric goes beyond the ability to embellish your argument.

You aren’t just defeating the opponent, you have to persuade the masses and spectators as well. That is rhetoric.

“Even if I managed to win an argument, what point would there be if my voice was noisy, my actions were not disciplined, and there was no cause in my statement? I would lose the interest of the spectators! In the end, I would be winning the battle but losing the war.”

Therefore, rhetoric is like a duel between gladiators, not knights.

For gladiators, they have to go beyond simply defeating their opponent as they have to do so ‘impressively’. They have to garner the interest of the spectators and gain popularity. Only when the spectators begin to chant, “Kill! Kill! Kill!” at the fallen opponent is when you can claim to have truly won.

“From start to finish, you must camouflage your side as being righteous. You must convince everyone that you are the righteous ones. War can be discussed after all this has been said and done.”

“……But Father, the cause is still lacking to enter into a war.”

I nodded.

“Indeed. We are certainly lacking the final flames.”

I gazed at the setting sun through my wine glass. The amber rays curved smoothly over the glass.

“At a time like this, we simply have to gift them that ember.”

Four days later, around the time the criticism from international society was becoming more intense.

An individual named Earl Pavia from the Kingdom of Sardinia dropped a bombshell.

– Laura de Farnese was a lowlife who was sold as a sex slave at one point.

– The girl escaped from a slave auction and fled to Habsburg. She survived by selling herself to the demons. Not only is it utterly unreasonable to reinstate a traitorous family, but how could we appoint a sex slave as a duchess!?

Referentially, Pavia was the city where Laura’s slave auction was held.

This bombshell shook the diplomatic stage intensely. This was something that anyone who looked into the matter already knew, but no one had revealed it publicly. It was natural. Belittling the acting general of Habsburg’s Emperor would undeniably be treated as explicit slander.

Earl Pavia most likely thought this was a chance to turn their disadvantageous situation around. He circulated the proof about Laura’s past as a sex slave however he wanted. Most of the material he was using was the stuff that we had sent secretly. Well, the Earl himself probably believed that he had found this evidence himself.

The bombshell was clearly effective. The nobles who clearly supported class hierarchy carefully supported Sardinia. If the diplomatic battle continued like this, then we might have ended up at a disadvantage.

However, there was something the Earl didn’t consider.

That being, the fact that we never intended to end this situation with a diplomatic battle.

“Rally the troops.”

—We had more than enough cause now.

Let us bring down the iron mace on those who dare to insult the Empire’s supreme general.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. I don’t have much to say this time. I’m just counting the days that go by. Just another month…

I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.

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