Chapter 75

The Makoku capital city, Ivreel.

The Makoku king, Royce Frost greeted the now returned Twelfth Step, Lara.

“I’m pleased to see you return.”

“I was unable to complete the mission. And I must be punished for it.”

Lara’s role was to deliver messages for the king.

And so she had not participated in the battles at all.

As she kneeled before him, the king called to her in a gentle voice.

“It was a dangerous mission. And you risked your life in doing it. There is no need for punishment. It’s good to have you back.”

“I am not worthy of such words.”

“You can give me a detailed report later. For now, you must rest.”

He ordered for the weathered-looking Lara to be taken to a different room. Then the king declared that he wanted to be alone, and retired to his room.

His true purpose had to be to kill the queen. And that had failed.

Without her, Ryukoku would surely fall into chaos.

The countryside lords would not be loyal.

Even if the prince took the throne, his grip on all of the Ryukoku lands would be weak.

And the Makoku king was confident that he could use the chaos in order to take half of their lands.

However, such possibilities were now gone.

Makoku had also been researching the relationship between the two moons and the Great Shift.

Judging by past records, it had started to be whispered that the next one might not be so far away.

But they had not been sure.

But once they used Ryukoku’s predictions as part of their research, they came to the conclusion that there was no doubt of it happening.

A Great Shift would come.

“The Moon Beasts will attack.”

No matter how he thought of it, Makoku would fall.

It wouldn’t matter if their population was a third of its current size.

For some reason, crops could not grow in Makoku’s southern lands.

Most of it was rocks and sand. And the rest was a wasteland.

And there was little water.

Even if they tried cultivating the land, they could not expect satisfying crops.

It was the east western lands, including the capital, that was the source of Makoku’s food supplies.

If these were ravaged by the Great Shift, the country would not be able to feed itself.

“Calculations have already been made.”

Shoukoku didn’t even have granaries.

Most of their food was imported.

In the first place, their population was small, so not growing their own food was not a concern for them.

They could just buy it.

As for Gikoku, their army was even more fit for fighting humans than Makoku.

And as they had suffered little damage from the Moon Beasts over the years, they had a great population.

It was said that they could build an army of one hundred thousand men if they needed to.

And a great many of them would be riding war machines.

Gikoku not only had many soldiers but advanced craftsmanship. You would have to be a fool to go to war against them.

That being said, there were also rumors of fighting between clans in Gigoku.

However, it was likely that an attack on the country would just cause them to unite.

In the first place, Gikoku was split among nine clans, and each had their own cities that they managed.

It wasn’t like Ryukoku, where cutting off one head would unsettle the whole country.

If you wanted to fight Gikoku, you would first have to amass a force that was strong enough to wipe out all of their clans.

It was a ridiculous idea.

“We still have time.”

The calculations were finished.

The amount of crops that could be harvested on this continent was just enough to support the population of the four countries.

If Makoku’s granaries disappeared, then one country would starve.

Of course, that country would be Makoku.

He had to do something in order to help his people survive.

This attack had allowed him to observe how Ryukoku would react.

Attacking the palace was not a good way to go about it.

It would be better to target the queen when she had left the castle.

“Our next chance will come during the Dragon Welcoming Ceremony.”

It was just as the new year started.

And so for now, he would have to save their strength and wait.

The king ran his pen across a sheet of paper as he began to make plans.

It wasn’t exactly possible to hide the fact that Makoku had attacked.

After all, many soldiers had died in the castle.

And it wasn’t only that.

The young Dragon Masters had also been attacked while on the military exercise.

The ambush had been prevented, but people still died.

Due to this, it was decided that the truth of the attack would be used to its fullest.

Makoku had taken as many as four of their Thirteen Steps and attacked the palace and the young Dragon Masters at the same time.

This was written as a document and sent to not just Makoku, but Shoukoku and Gikoku as well. It denounced Makoku for its actions. Then dragons were sent to the borders where they arrested merchants who came in and out of Makoku.

This was to show how serious Ryukoku was.

Depending on Makoku’s reaction, the Dragon Masters near the border would be able to act at once.

All of this had happened within just a few days after the attack, and so Ryukoku’s reaction had been very swift.

After all, the students hadn’t even returned yet.

In regards to the incident, Makoku’s reply was brusque.

“Yes, such people were with us long ago. But we have no knowledge of their whereabouts as they were dismissed and exiled.”

Their names were already gone from the Thirteen Steps.

Makoku even had the audacity to use the opportunity to introduce the new magicians who would take their places.

The others that were with them must have been from some illegal mercenary organization.

Such organizations have a bane to Makoku, so we thank you for annihilating them for us.

The letter continued.

It ended with another reminder that Makoku had nothing to do with the attack.

Of course, none of the countries actually believed this. And neither did Makoku expect to be believed.

It was just a formality.

And so Ryukoku tried a different approach.

As Makoku had been so gracious to thank them, they went out on a full-scale campaign to stamp out any illegal organizations.

Makoku agents who had been lurking there for years to people who worked on the fringes, everyone was captured.

There were some who had only cooperated with them minimally. And so this measure to take everyone was most unusual.

Ryukoku also sent messages to Shoukoku and Gikoku. ‘Makoku is suffering from the plague that is the hidden activities of illegal organizations. We must all help them.’

This resulted in Makoku merchants being arrested in Shoukoku and Gikoku as well. And entrance into those countries became restricted.

Of course, both countries did this because they knew it would be to their benefit.

It was their own merchants who would fill in the gap.

Makoku had always had the loudest voice when it came to the circulations of products.

If this continued, Makoku’s economy would take a massive hit.

And so Makoku began to launch a great number of complaints towards Ryukoku’s actions.

But Ryukoku did not care. If anything, it only encouraged them.

Shoukoku and Gikoku were the same.

It was Ryukoku who spread the news. They bore all of the responsibility.

Ryukoku continued regardless. This was revenge.

The spies that Makoku had sent into Ryukoku over many years were arrested.

Apart from that, Makoku’s merchants were subject to harsh inspections and investigations.

If products arrived late, it was the Makoku merchants who had to pay for damages. It was infuriating.

Furthermore, there were wealthy and powerful Makoku people who had their fortunes confiscated. They were people who lived in Ryukoku but acted with Makoku’s profit in mind.

It was surprising just how much work went into the arrest and confiscating of wealth.

However, Makoku surrendered before things got out of hand, and normal civilians who had very little to do with Makoku started being affected.

Even if they had no longer been employed by Makoku, it was an acceptable thing for their former magicians to have worked such evil.

And so Makoku made a formal apology and paid for damages. Like this, matters were settled, and the relationship between the two countries returned to normal.

On the surface, that is.

However, this incident proved one thing to the other countries. The queen of Ryukoku was very thorough indeed.

Reminder:

Ryukoku = Dragon

Makoku – Magician

Gikoku – Crafting/techonogy

Shoukoku – Merchant

This has been the ‘Makoku Maneuvers Arc.’ The next chapter will start the ‘Gikoku Civil War Arc’ where we should finally meet Leon’s dragon. Unfortunately, this is where the light novel ends, and there was never a second volume published, so there will be no more artwork.