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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
Marco could feel the atmosphere around him and, unlike them, he was able to calm down.
At the very least, the current situation was not good for the Kingdom of Column.
The surrounding crew was completely absorbed in that explosion.
If he, the admiral, reacted in the same way as those around him, it would affect future negotiations.
He thought it was a miracle that he was able to regain his footing so quickly, even if it was just a bluff.
Marco, who thought of such a thing instantly, and was able to avoid showing his inner-feelings on his face, showing his distinguished status as an admiral of a country.
Marco tried to make the first move and call out to Colorado, who for some reason was showing the same surprised expression, but was unfortunately stopped by the other party’s muttering.
“Oh no. That is more than I expected…”
Hearing this murmur, Marco stopped moving involuntarily.
Furthermore, he couldn’t stop himself from raising his voice in question.
“…What?”
At Marco’s questioning look, Colorado cowered his shoulders.
“I will speak with their permission, but that thing you just witnessed can only be used within a certain area away from the Central Continent.”
“…Are you sure you want to tell me that?”
Colorado let out a deep sigh at Marco, who unintentionally asked.
“It’s probably not something one would consider normal, though. Because that place is, in many ways, beyond normal.”
It goes without saying where Colorado was referring to when he said, “that place”.
“They say that the Barrier you are stuck with, and the current attack, are both powers of the Tower.”
“I see. So, it can only be used within a certain range?”
For some reason, Marco, who was supposed to be the enemy, was listening to Colorado blabbing about what should normally be crucial matters.
Marco, who later recalled the conversation, was puzzled as to why he was listening so openly at that time.
“Well, we don’t know whether the current location is the limit or not.”
“By all means, I’d like to know about that, if possible?”
“I could if I was given permission… is what I’d like to say, but we really don’t know because information regarding the Tower is something we ourselves don’t really know.”
Marco couldn’t help but look at Colorado with sympathy as he sighed in resignation.
Although the current situation was only temporary, it was still an exchange between two adversaries.
Naturally, they could not continue in the same mood as before, so they returned to their previous mood.
After exchanging a few words, Colorado left the flagship.
Of course, Colorado did not push them into a corner, because he was instructed to not do so.
It was obvious that if they were unnecessarily pushed into a corner, they would end up ruining the situation. Thus, Colorado was instructed to give them enough time to get in touch with their home country and respond to the situation.
Of course, Marco understood this.
On that basis, the first meeting with Colorado was completed.
After confirming that the next time they would meet would be on the island, Colorado returned to the merchant ship he boarded.
As Marco watched, he sighed inwardly.
He felt depressed, wondering how he was going to tell his home country what had just happened.
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Marco’s report was understandably not accepted at first.
He was simply dismissed, telling him that it could not be true.
However, it was difficult to deny the fact that they had all seen the same scene, even though they were not under mass hypnosis.
Some people suggested that the abandoned ship had been rigged from the beginning, but Marco denied this because of what he had heard from Colorado.
It was significant that Marco risked his job to report these stories as true.
The report that the fleet itself could have been lost if they were forced to stay any longer was also a factor.
Of course, an attack on a mere ship with no protection would be different from the damage a fleet of wizards with defensive magic on board would suffer.
That said, such things offered no comfort.
He had the wizards do some analysis before reporting, but even if they could, it was determined that they could only protect the personnel and not the ship itself.
To make matters worse, in the chat during the meeting with Colorado after that, they were told, to their dismay, that the attack was already suppressed.
He asked him if he was joking, but he replied that it was apparently true.
He even told me that he had asked the same question himself and had received the same answer.
There would be no way to confirm whether this was true or not, but if it were true, it would certainly make the Central Continent inviolable to nations on other Continents in the future.
There would be no way to prevent such an attack.
Putting aside his own feelings, Marco conveyed all this information to his home country without hiding anything.
Of course, Marco’s report was delivered through a magician, so it was simply the facts he had learned so far.
Still, the impact was tremendous.
“Poking around in the bushes and bringing out the snakes, huh?”
The people present reacted to the words of Balm, King of Column.
An emergency meeting was being held with all concerned parties in response to Marco’s report.
“You don’t mean to tell me that you believed Admiral Marco’s report?”
So said those on the side who did not believe in the existence of offensive weapons as reported.
In a way, they were the ones who had a realistic streak, but in this case, it would only get them into trouble.
They were only looking at the gains to be made from the western cities of the Central continent.
They didn’t believe in weapons that could easily wipe out an entire fleet.
“If you don’t believe his report, what do you trust?”
The king’s words made the man shush.
King Balm was not a fool who would trust in words alone.
He was the type of king who listened carefully to the opinions of those in the field.
In fact, at times like this, he tended to rely heavily on the opinions of those on the field.
Those around him understood this, of course.
“Admiral Marco is the type of admiral who can properly calculate damages and profits. If he reports that there will be a lot of damage if we continue as we are, then it must be true.”
The military officials nodded at King Balm’s report.
They knew that Marco was not the type to raise false reports for his own protection.
He was the type to clearly state what he could do and what he couldn’t do.
In fact, it was a well-known story in the military that he was almost demoted on several occasions for doing so.
“So you are giving up on the western cities?”
One of the civilian officers asked me.
“I would not say so. In the past, our country would have collapsed if we lost the profits from them, but fortunately, our country is different now, isn’t it?”
Everyone nodded at the king’s words.
“So you accept Amamiya Tower’s point of view?”
“Is there anything that is unacceptable in their demands?”
Amamiya Tower’s position had already been made clear through Marco and Colorado.
They only wanted an equal trading relationship, without having a connection as a nation.
Until now, the Kingdom had been using their power as a nation to the fullest, trading with the other, keeping the other alive and not killing them. However, they would no longer be able to use this method.
Although they would lose some profit, that did not mean that they would lose all the benefits they have established.
It would remain to the extent that it would be regrettable to give it up.
It could be a real loss if the western cities were to be shifted to neighboring nations as trading partners.
The Column Kingdom was not the only maritime nation on the Western Continent, after all.
King Balm decided it would be better to accept Amamiya Tower’s proposal.
At present, they were still at the stage of being asked.
A formal notice would come eventually. Rather, it was a request for that purpose.
King Balm did not know in what form it would come, but he thought that they would accept the offer when formal negotiations started.
