Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 16, Trade

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

After the fifth battle, the sixth battle began following a day’s break.

 

That morning, King Pedro had arranged to come and watch the battle unfold. He arrived with clear anticipation, though what he witnessed left him unprepared.

 

“What…”

 

Even though it was only on a screen, the battle unfolding before his eyes left Pedro speechless.

 

Pedro himself had never participated in a Conquest Battle, but he had visited the Tower many times to observe them. In fact, he had once sat on his Grandfather’s lap while the King two generations before him conducted a Conquest Battle. That childhood memory had been vivid and wondrous.

 

Even then, he had been deeply impressed by the spectacle of monsters fighting each other. However, those memories had faded with age, and he had completely lost interest after observing his Father’s more mundane battles. This was why King Pedro had not been particularly enthusiastic about Conquest Battles in general.

 

Yet as he watched the battle at Amamiya Tower, he vividly recalled the emotional experience he had been sitting on his Grandfather’s lap all those years ago. Camilo’s explanation from the other day suddenly made perfect sense.

 

“I see. Camilo was certainly right.”

 

“Yes!” Camilo, standing nearby, nodded vigorously at Pedro’s words.

 

Before them, just as in the previous battle, wolves sent from the Amamiya Tower floors were running wild across the battlefield. Faced with such overwhelming superiority, their forces no longer even attempted any meaningful resistance.

 

“Have you already withdrawn the evolved monsters?” Pedro asked.

 

“Yes, Your Majesty. There shouldn’t be any issues now.”

 

Having deployed only the bare minimum forces, it was inevitable that their Tower would lose.

 

“Hmm… This plan was far too optimistic from the start. Well, there’s no point dwelling on it now.”

 

King Pedro crossed his arms and frowned at the screen. If their military strength had been even remotely comparable, there might have been a chance to end things with a negotiated settlement. However, with such an overwhelming difference in power, even after this Conquest Battle concluded, it would not be surprising if Amamiya Tower attacked again the moment the ban on declaring war expired.

 

If that happened, they would likely attack with the intent to win decisively from the beginning. With the military strength being displayed now, even if they deployed a floor teeming with high level monsters, it would likely be conquered regardless.

 

If that scenario played out, Santo Emingo Kingdom might lose the Tower of Sarita itself.

 

“I suppose I’ll have no choice but to negotiate with them, offering something substantial as compensation…” King Pedro muttered to himself, still staring at the screen.

 

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“Ah! Damn!”

 

After the sixth battle ended, Kousuke’s voice echoed through the Control Room. The other members who had been watching the battle turned to him in surprise.

 

“Well, I was expecting it to end in three more battles anyway, so maybe I should have agreed to ‘manual control’ when they requested it.”

 

The window for accepting or rejecting manual control only lasted about two minutes, so the opportunity had passed quickly. While breathing a sigh of relief after the battle’s conclusion, he realized he could have ended things sooner, but it was already too late.

 

“Huh? Didn’t you say yesterday that you would continue?” Mia asked, tilting her head.

 

Kousuke shook his head. “Well, that was my intention at the time, but judging by what happened today, it seemed like they were simply going through the motions. There does not seem to be any point in continuing.”

 

Looking at their movements and the levels of monsters being deployed, it did not appear as though they were genuinely aiming for victory. Unlike the first five rounds, there was no sign of them even deploying evolved monsters. From what he could observe, they were simply summoning low level monsters to pad their numbers.

 

“That’s true. It would have been better if they at least deployed floors with different monster species…” Mia mused.

 

If that had been the case, there would have been a chance of increasing the variety of summonable monsters at Amamiya Tower, which would have provided some benefits to continuing the battles.

 

“But judging by what happened today, that’s probably not going to happen.”

 

“Yes,” Mia agreed with Kousuke’s assessment.

 

“If we keep taking their floors, won’t they eventually be forced to assign different ones?” Shrein suggested.

 

“Hmm. I suppose we’ll have to hope for that. Though, I’d really rather not make any more sacrifices.” Kousuke nodded at Shrein’s point, but his true feelings were clear, that he did not want to sacrifice any more of his dependents. However, since the enemy insisted on fighting, he had no choice but to respond.

 

Floria came to Kousuke’s aid with a practical suggestion.

 

“It seems the enemy is just trying to finish the battle with minimal effort, so why not summon mid level monsters and attack with overwhelming numbers?”

 

“Oh, I see. That’s a good idea. I wonder why I didn’t think of that.”

 

Kousuke’s expression showed genuine chagrin at missing such an obvious solution.

 

“Well, we still don’t know how the enemy would respond today, so it couldn’t be helped, right?” Floria offered, her tone matter-of-fact.

 

“That’s true,” Kousuke agreed, though he still looked reluctant.

 

Seeing Kousuke’s continued regret over his fallen dependents, Shrein offered further comfort.

 

“If we had taken it easy today, we could have lost depending on their strategy, so your caution was justified.”

 

Kousuke sighed deeply, as if releasing a weight he’d been carrying.

 

“You’re right. I suppose there’s no other way to look at it. Dwelling on it any further would be disrespectful to those who answered my call.”

 

His dependents had responded to Kousuke’s requests without hesitation. If he continued to agonize over their losses, he would dishonor their sacrifice.

 

Kousuke made a conscious shift in his mindset and immediately began dealing with the aftermath of the battle.

 

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The day after the sixth battle, which had been somewhat anticlimactic, there was a day of rest before the seventh round.

 

Kousuke was pleased with the result of the seventh battle. He won by attacking with only mid level monsters. Then, he received an urgent call from Towa. He immediately granted permission and instructed Towa to come to the Management Floor.

 

If only Towa were coming alone, such formal procedures would not be necessary, but when others were involved, proper protocols had to be followed. The Management Floor of Amamiya Tower was the most important location for Razequa Amamiya, so this was only natural.

 

“So? What’s the urgent news?” Kousuke asked, looking at the people gathered in the conference room.

 

The room was filled not only with key figures from the kingdom but also with Crown’s department heads.

 

Towa answered Kousuke’s question on behalf of the others.

 

“Actually, we received an urgent message from the Santo Emingo Kingdom through the Flores Kingdom…”

 

With that introduction, Towa began explaining the situation at hand.

 

The Santo Emingo Kingdom had issued a statement fully admitting defeat in the recent battle. At the same time, they had made a proposal for postwar reparations, one that included lifting the ban on trading items that Razequa Amamiya had long requested, as well as lifting the ban on Crown establishing its branches. The proposal went far beyond anything Crown could have hoped to offer on its own.

 

Furthermore, it included a formal apology from the Santo Emingo Kingdom for its unilateral declaration of war against Amamiya Tower.

 

Hearing this, Floria let out a small sound of surprise.

 

Formal apologies between nations in the course of war were almost unheard of, even from the losing side. When war broke out, there were typically grievances and justifications on both sides, making it natural for nations to maintain their positions.

 

Looking at these reparations, it was abundantly clear that Santo Emingo Kingdom had completely admitted defeat.