As he leads the soldiers back to their camp, Viktor’s attendant says to him, “That was horrible.”

“Yes, I’m honestly disappointed that they would be so careless.”

Far from taking the initiative, the other party said hardly anything during the meeting. Things went so smoothly that, although he didn’t show it on his face, Viktor was shocked at how easy it was.

“Did you see her entourage? They were all young vassals. Most likely, all of the experienced vassals were killed by vampires.”

“A young princess with young vassals. It seems their skills were a bit too lacking to serve as your opponent, Your Majesty.”

“It’s inevitable. I ascertained from the information I gathered ahead of time that the princess was a bit emotional, and her vassals were all the sort that barely had experience with anything other than paperwork, much less political meetings. Negotiations with foreign countries do require talent as well, but experience is necessary above all else. If they are suddenly given an important role, they won’t be useful right away. This loss of human resources may be the greatest of all the damage caused by the vampires.”

Viktor also gathered information before the talks began, but he judged that this was a problem more serious than information.

“If it had been the previous king or the famous Duke Chartelle, then it may have gone differently.”

“They lost some great men. If only I could have challenged them. However, it is convenient for us.”

Now that the leaders of Commune have died, inexperienced young people are the only ones left in charge of the core of Commune’s government. Now that their predecessors in diplomacy and domestic affairs are gone, they have no choice but to fumble their way through. As if they’re navigating a maze without a map.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of short-sightedness, becoming preoccupied with short-term problems and not looking at the long-term. Moreover, sudden changes in an organization’s structure can cause confusion. That confusion spreads to all levels and can be expected to last a long time.

In other words, if some sort of problem occurs, there is a high chance that Commune will be left one step behind. Conversely, Commune’s course of action will become easier to predict. All the Weichsel Empire has to do is anticipate this and act accordingly.

Personally, Viktor wanted to go up against someone like Duke Chartelle, but considering the interests of the Weichsel Empire, the current situation is preferable.

“However, will you return the territory?”

“I will. But it will take longer than expected. Depending on the situation, it may end up falling through.” Viktor chuckles to himself. “The princess made the wrong decision. Returning the territory should have been her top priority. Even if the people were to turn on them, if they have information, they should be able to take countermeasures. Although, that’s assuming Commune would be able to do something about it.”

The butler’s story was true. That is surely the reason why it touched the hearts of Commune’s attendees. It isn’t entirely wrong of them to think that this issue must be treated with caution.

However, in this particular circumstance, it’s a bad move. Since the emotional citizens feel as if they’ve been abandoned by their government, carelessly continuing to keep their distance would only appear as if they’ve been proven right.

Of course, Viktor doesn’t think they overlooked this. They were simply unable to make that choice.

The territory occupied by Weichsel is so vast that it makes up about a third of Commune’s territory. There is damage caused by vampires and war throughout the entire region, and they are losing supplies and human resources such as lords and soldiers. Naturally, when Commune rules over the territory once more, they will need to immediately begin assisting in rebuilding the territory. They will have to dispatch personnel to replace those who were lost and send relief supplies.

However, the vampires aren’t only in the northwest region of Commune. The entire country has suffered damage on varying levels, and they have no people or resources to spare. In other words, Commune is in no position to be able to send people or relief supplies to the northwest region.

On the other hand, even if the large country of Weichsel received damage from the monster’s invasion of Brandenburg, it’s almost trivial in comparison to damage caused to an entire country. Sending people and relief supplies to another country is well within its capabilities.

In these circumstances, even when the vampire incident calms down, Commune will have to rely on Weichsel.

“Prioritize support for the occupied region to the fullest extent possible. Also, there is a possibility that vampires may attack. Organize a supply unit taking this into account.”

“It will require quite a large unit.”

“No matter. International trade is being destroyed by the vampires. If we don’t ensure the safety of the roads, the merchants will stop coming. This would have long-term effects on our economy. From the public’s point of view, sending aid on a large scale will cause more people to view our country favorably. Especially the people of the occupied region of Commune. To them, we are justice itself.”

The more support they give, the more the people of the occupied territory will trust Weichsel, and the more they’ll resent Commune. As it stands, even if the territory was returned, an uprising could occur at any moment. Even if this was instigated by Weichsel’s scheme.

Viktor is a young emperor. His reign will continue for many decades. Even if he can’t get his hands on Commune right now, if he goes to war with Commune in ten or twenty years, the people of the currently occupied territory will welcome the Weichsel army with open arms.

Therefore, he will let the poison seep in little by little, so that one day, this poison will spread throughout the entirety of Commune.

“You won’t gain anything just by sitting and waiting. This mistake will cost you, Princess Rosline.”

“In any case, I did not expect that from Lady Alexia,” Viktor’s attendant says, causing Viktor’s face to change to a slightly annoyed expression.

“I thought she was more intelligent than that, but it seems that even if she’s a saint, she’s still a little girl in the end.”

Alexia’s actions during the meeting betrayed Viktor’s expectations. Her behavior, interrupting the emperor, clinging to a man, and exposing her emotions, was so different from the Alexia that Viktor knew that she almost seemed like a different person.

“That candid reaction.. I thought she was level-headed, but perhaps that was because that man wasn’t around.”

Before, Alexia was an emotionless girl who obeyed the emperor’s orders with a detached manner. However, ever since she fought in Clermont, emotions seem to have sprouted within her.

‘Could it be that love has blossomed within her and given her emotions? ..No, impossible,’ Viktor shakes his head to shake the absurd thought away.

This was the first time he heard that Alexia was acquainted with that man. Judging by the fact that she called him Teacher, it’s clear that they are close, so it would be reasonable to assume that she’s been in love with him for some time. In other words, she hasn’t gained these emotions, but rather, regained them. Thinking back on it, Alexia’s arbitrary decision to violate orders may have been because she knew that man was in Clermont.

“Was it really alright to leave her behind as a messenger?”

“If anything, I’d be more worried about using her in her current state. Right now, there’s a possibility that Alexia may disobey orders and side with Commune– no, with that man. She’ll be more useful in Commune.”

It would be difficult to thoughtlessly let Alexia go when she has the unifying force of sainthood. So, rather than have her rebel against him, he has no choice but to guide her so that he can make good use of her.

“Oh, and send an indirect rejection to the head of the Zavarish family who has been persistent about the Saint becoming my empress. Even if it’s a political marriage, I have no use for a woman who is in love with another man and acts selfishly.”

Viktor was considering Alexia, who is talented, beautiful, and has the unifying power of sainthood, as a candidate for political marriage. However, Viktor has no intention to seek mutual love from a partner of a political marriage, nor does he have any intention to welcome a woman who’s taken with another man and acts thoughtlessly as his wife. The head of the Zavarish family, who has been persistently buttering him up, is quite the nuisance. That’s plenty reason to keep him at arm’s length.

“So, that was the mage known as Chaos? He looked perfectly ordinary to me.”

“I feel the same. Even at the meeting, he seemed trusted by the princess, but only that. It seems he has talent in magic, but not in politics. However..”

It would normally be impossible for Chaos, who is a foreigner, to participate in a formal meeting with another country. It would be safe to assume that he has earned quite a bit of trust from Roseline. But at the meeting, he didn’t particularly act on his own initiative. Perhaps in the end, he is just an ordinary person who’s ignorant of politics. After all, no matter how well-versed in magic he is, that doesn’t mean he’s well-versed in politics. Although, it is also plausible that he was taking his standing as a foreigner into consideration.

And since his appearance matches, it seems that there is no doubt that he is the same Chaos who the Castal Kingdom is searching for.

‘Why is he cozying up to the princess of Commune?’

If he had an easily-understandable ambition to approach the royal family and ingratiate himself to those in power, then it would make sense. But if he had ambition, then the Castal Kingdom would be the better target. The Castal Kingdom is already in his debt, so he would be treated well there if he so desired. Not to mention the fact that Castal is more powerful than Commune. If he wanted to cozy up to one of them, then the future prospects of Castal would be greater. Did he think he wouldn’t be appointed an important position because it’s a large country?

Chaos doesn’t seem to care much about glory, to the point where he easily agreed to abandon the fame of saving an entire city and defeating Alexia, who made great achievements in the war with the vampires. Perhaps he didn’t even consider this glory at all. Though, this may be related to the fact that he is Alexia’s acquaintance.

This is also demonstrated by the fact that when Viktor offered him a position, he was thrown off, but easily turned him down.

Then, perhaps it is more of a coincidence that he ingratiated himself to the princess. But if it was just a coincidence, then why is he continuing to stay in Commune? His overly selfless actions are far too altruistic. Viktor has so little information on Chaos that he cannot understand his motives.

All Viktor found from the information he acquired was that Chaos appeared in a certain village in Castal about three to four months ago. Despite the fact that the Castal Kingdom has been investigating his movements this entire time, it is unclear when he arrived on this continent. Even though black-haired boys are rare on this continent, it is unknown how he arrived in that village, and there is no eyewitness testimony from before that point.

However, in this meeting, he spoke with Chaos and gained new information.