Previous Chapter: The Scorned Empire
Royal capital Barrat, Quila Kingdom
A desolate landscape and a dry wind that blows fiercely… Looking at the surroundings, there are no forests in sight and whatever trees that are growing are sparsely spread out.
An ocean of sand, a city of sand, and a region too barren to support any crops. This is the Quila Kingdom, where its people live in squalor, and other countries not only call them a barbarian country, but the poor country.
The people are so poor that they are desperate in their everyday life and frantic in being able to live. Being able to do their all to make tomorrow better than today is out of the question.
Those who are born and raised in this country leave their homes for their green and lush neighbor, the Principality of Qua-Toyne.
They help import food from the Principality by earning foreign currency from country-improving temporary employment, mercenary jobs, and so on. Since the Principality of Qua-Toyne sells food to the Quila Kingdom at a cheap price, they are often considered as the kingdom’s lifeline and have prevented them suffering.
The royal noble who oversees foreign affairs, Metzal, is waiting in a room for the ambassador of the Principality of Qua-Toyne who has requested for dialogue due to “urgent matters”.
What did they mean by urgent matters? Did something happen with the Louria Kingdom?
Various possibilities ran through his head.
The Louria Kingdom is a human-supremacist country that despises non-human demihumans, which are considered subhuman beings. They are a hegemonic country that plans to consolidate the entire Rodenius continent, and have lately been particularly causative of the tensions happening all around the continent. Since Metzal himself is a dwarf, he doesn’t know what will happen to him when the situation comes that they are under the Louria Kingdom’s rule.
As he was pondering on the contents of the discussion, the doors of the room opened. The Principality of Qua-Toyne diplomat, Payne, entered into the room with a nervous expression.
Metzal stood up and welcomed him. They hurriedly greeted each other before sitting down on their seats.
“What is this urgent matter you speak of?”
“To tell you the truth, an emerging country called Japan has visited us and they wish to open diplomatic relations.”
“Hoh~”
It is not particularly unusual to form diplomatic relations with emerging countries. Such matters are not exactly “urgent” in a meeting with a fellow country.
Payne continues.
“Before our country will open diplomatic relations, we have decided to send a delegation to them. We will decide afterwards whether to open diplomatic relations or not.”
“Okay…”
“Japan seems to want to open diplomatic relations with the Quila Kingdom, so I have come here to request for our country to mediate.”
Metzal pondered that it still didn’t count as an “urgent matter”, yet he began to speak.
“It seemed a while ago that you were in a hurry to talk about it… Is there perhaps something peculiar?”
Payne, who was the first one to speak, stayed silent for a while. After some time, he opened his seemingly heavy mouth.
“Actually… This Japan is extremely too peculiar.”
Metzal had stiffened his guard, but he didn’t understand the description of a “peculiar emerging country” so he calmed down.
Payne talked about how a flying object from Japan suddenly flew into their country and how their ambassadors came to them riding a colossal ship. He said that the flying object didn’t flap its wings and flew at 600km/h and that the ship was made of steel and over 250m long.
Metzal was suddenly shocked and his eyes widened.
“Unbelievable. If that story is indeed true, then they’d be on the same level as a country from the civilized areas… no, a superpower! They may even exceed them! There’s no way we wouldn’t have known such a country before now!”
“That’s right. However, they themselves are alleging that their country was suddenly transferred here from another world… We still don’t know much about their country. When the results from the mission have come, I will send information to you.”
“Thank you. They seem to be a new threat, aren’t they? Do you happen to know what the racial makeup of their country is?”
Metzal became curious about the makeup of non-humans and asked.
In the chance that their country’s human percentage was high, there is a need to consider the possibility that they persecute non-humans.
“It seems that they are entirely human.”
“W-what?! Do you mean to say they don’t have any dwarves, beastmen, or elves?!”
“…Yes.”
“Perhaps they are persecuting non-humans like the Louria Kingdom! I wouldn’t want to associate myself with such a country!”
Payne calmly reins in Metzal’s strong tone.
“We still do not know what kind of country they are, but we are certain of the fact that their technology matches that of the superpowers. There is also the fact that they have shown interest in us. If we were to be hostile with Louria Kingdom or Japan, we’d certainly lose.”
As the one who is in charge of the diplomacy of a country, Metzal regains his composure.
“Hmm… It seems I may have gotten a little passionate. Well then, we will receive Japan’s envoys and then first hear them out on what they want to say. Thank you.”
At a later date, a place of discussion was established for the first contact between the Quila Kingdom and Japan.
Around one week later
The day for the Quila Kingdom and Japan’s first meeting has come.
To get to the royal capital of Barrat which is far from the coast, the Japanese ambassadors asked for permission to fly into their airspace and then they will fly all the way from a ship off at sea using a flying machine called a helicopter. The military of the Quila Kingdom was enveloped in astonishment upon seeing for the first time the flying object as it conjured up gusts of wind with a thundering sound.
Moving on to the reception room of the Quila Kingdom’s foreign affairs office, they formally exchanged greetings with representatives from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and started their meeting.
“Once again, I am Uda from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have come this time around for preliminary consultations with the aim of establishing diplomatic relations with your country.”
Metzal, who is still on guard, raised an eyebrow towards his human counterpart.
“We have heard from the Principality of Qua-Toyne that your country is one with superior technological capabilities. May I ask what does Japan want from a poor country such as us?”
If Japan wishes for manpower as sacrifice to the gods, intervention into our political system, or if they possess territorial ambitions here, I intend to withdraw from this discussion.
“First of all… we do not seek bountiness or inadequacy from our friends. As much as possible, we would like all receptions with other countries to remain open.
Next, we have inquired from the Principality of Qua-Toyne that your country is brimming with volumes of “flammable water”, is it not? We have seen a sample and we wish for you to export it to our country. Since the exchange rates are yet to be set, we will export to you “infrastructure” in the meantime.”
Metzal calmed down after hearing nothing to be concerned over. However, he became baffled after hearing that the subject of the transaction will be “flammable water”. In the Quila Kingdom, “flammable water” was roughly equivalent to pebbles found on the roadside.
“Of course… Our country is brimming with lots of that “flammable water” since it is useless for growing crops. It’s just extremely inconvenient since it’s a liquid. Even if we could create waterways to transport it since it’ll just ooze out if done by bucket, it will just ooze out from the seams. It also smells so we can’t stand it.
There are also “flammable rocks”. What do you think?”
“While the rocks are fine, what we really want is the “flammable water”. Uhh…”
The Japanese ambassador takes out two sheets of high-quality paper.
“What do you think of these terms?”
Written on one of the sheets of paper were characters Metzal couldn’t read. On the other sheet seemed to be a translated copy of the other sheet written in the continent’s common language, and there Metzal realized that Japan’s original language was different.
Reading further with the translated copy in hand, the terms are all sorts of infrastructure provisions which were originally a source of agony for the Quila Kingdom; he couldn’t believe how favorable the terms were.
With this… We would be able to substantially enrich our country by just exporting several ponds of useless flammable water…
“Are these terms true? I think we would need a substantial amount of manpower and time for these kinds of large-scale construction work…”
Most of the construction work detailed requires a lot of manpower. Metzal asked, feeling that the terms won’t be made into reality.
“I have materials regarding the country of Japan, so I will explain summarily.”
Uda shows Metzal a video introducing the country of Japan on a laptop. High-rise buildings that penetrate the heavens, lush and bountiful nature, and the beautiful four seasons. Upon seeing the video on the methods and procedures for infrastructure construction, Metzal was overcome with astonishment. Seeing sceneries and technologies he had never seen before, he came to the understanding that Japan is a country that compares to the world’s superpowers. The authenticity of the video can be verified by inquiring about the delegation sent by the Principality of Qua-Toyne to Japan.
Understanding that discrimination wasn’t the cause as to why there weren’t any other non-human races since there were never any in the first place, Metzal decided to promptly raise the matter to King Quila.
Someday later, the Quila Kingdom and Japan established diplomatic relations, and the kingdom has received so much support that they have become richer than they ever have been in their history. What was once the poor country now stands side by side with the Principality of Qua-Toyne as friends of Japan and has made its mark on the world.
Previous Chapter: The Scorned Empire
Royal capital Barrat, Quila Kingdom
A desolate landscape and a dry wind that blows fiercely… Looking at the surroundings, there are no forests in sight and whatever trees that are growing are sparsely spread out.
An ocean of sand, a city of sand, and a region too barren to support any crops. This is the Quila Kingdom, where its people live in squalor, and other countries not only call them a barbarian country, but the poor country.
The people are so poor that they are desperate in their everyday life and frantic in being able to live. Being able to do their all to make tomorrow better than today is out of the question.
Those who are born and raised in this country leave their homes for their green and lush neighbor, the Principality of Qua-Toyne.
They help import food from the Principality by earning foreign currency from country-improving temporary employment, mercenary jobs, and so on. Since the Principality of Qua-Toyne sells food to the Quila Kingdom at a cheap price, they are often considered as the kingdom’s lifeline and have prevented them suffering.
The royal noble who oversees foreign affairs, Metzal, is waiting in a room for the ambassador of the Principality of Qua-Toyne who has requested for dialogue due to “urgent matters”.
What did they mean by urgent matters? Did something happen with the Louria Kingdom?
Various possibilities ran through his head.
The Louria Kingdom is a human-supremacist country that despises non-human demihumans, which are considered subhuman beings. They are a hegemonic country that plans to consolidate the entire Rodenius continent, and have lately been particularly causative of the tensions happening all around the continent. Since Metzal himself is a dwarf, he doesn’t know what will happen to him when the situation comes that they are under the Louria Kingdom’s rule.
As he was pondering on the contents of the discussion, the doors of the room opened. The Principality of Qua-Toyne diplomat, Payne, entered into the room with a nervous expression.
Metzal stood up and welcomed him. They hurriedly greeted each other before sitting down on their seats.
“What is this urgent matter you speak of?”
“To tell you the truth, an emerging country called Japan has visited us and they wish to open diplomatic relations.”
“Hoh~”
It is not particularly unusual to form diplomatic relations with emerging countries. Such matters are not exactly “urgent” in a meeting with a fellow country.
Payne continues.
“Before our country will open diplomatic relations, we have decided to send a delegation to them. We will decide afterwards whether to open diplomatic relations or not.”
“Okay…”
“Japan seems to want to open diplomatic relations with the Quila Kingdom, so I have come here to request for our country to mediate.”
Metzal pondered that it still didn’t count as an “urgent matter”, yet he began to speak.
“It seemed a while ago that you were in a hurry to talk about it… Is there perhaps something peculiar?”
Payne, who was the first one to speak, stayed silent for a while. After some time, he opened his seemingly heavy mouth.
“Actually… This Japan is extremely too peculiar.”
Metzal had stiffened his guard, but he didn’t understand the description of a “peculiar emerging country” so he calmed down.
Payne talked about how a flying object from Japan suddenly flew into their country and how their ambassadors came to them riding a colossal ship. He said that the flying object didn’t flap its wings and flew at 600km/h and that the ship was made of steel and over 250m long.
Metzal was suddenly shocked and his eyes widened.
“Unbelievable. If that story is indeed true, then they’d be on the same level as a country from the civilized areas… no, a superpower! They may even exceed them! There’s no way we wouldn’t have known such a country before now!”
“That’s right. However, they themselves are alleging that their country was suddenly transferred here from another world… We still don’t know much about their country. When the results from the mission have come, I will send information to you.”
“Thank you. They seem to be a new threat, aren’t they? Do you happen to know what the racial makeup of their country is?”
Metzal became curious about the makeup of non-humans and asked.
In the chance that their country’s human percentage was high, there is a need to consider the possibility that they persecute non-humans.
“It seems that they are entirely human.”
“W-what?! Do you mean to say they don’t have any dwarves, beastmen, or elves?!”
“…Yes.”
“Perhaps they are persecuting non-humans like the Louria Kingdom! I wouldn’t want to associate myself with such a country!”
Payne calmly reins in Metzal’s strong tone.
“We still do not know what kind of country they are, but we are certain of the fact that their technology matches that of the superpowers. There is also the fact that they have shown interest in us. If we were to be hostile with Louria Kingdom or Japan, we’d certainly lose.”
As the one who is in charge of the diplomacy of a country, Metzal regains his composure.
“Hmm… It seems I may have gotten a little passionate. Well then, we will receive Japan’s envoys and then first hear them out on what they want to say. Thank you.”
At a later date, a place of discussion was established for the first contact between the Quila Kingdom and Japan.
Around one week later
The day for the Quila Kingdom and Japan’s first meeting has come.
To get to the royal capital of Barrat which is far from the coast, the Japanese ambassadors asked for permission to fly into their airspace and then they will fly all the way from a ship off at sea using a flying machine called a helicopter. The military of the Quila Kingdom was enveloped in astonishment upon seeing for the first time the flying object as it conjured up gusts of wind with a thundering sound.
Moving on to the reception room of the Quila Kingdom’s foreign affairs office, they formally exchanged greetings with representatives from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and started their meeting.
“Once again, I am Uda from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have come this time around for preliminary consultations with the aim of establishing diplomatic relations with your country.”
Metzal, who is still on guard, raised an eyebrow towards his human counterpart.
“We have heard from the Principality of Qua-Toyne that your country is one with superior technological capabilities. May I ask what does Japan want from a poor country such as us?”
If Japan wishes for manpower as sacrifice to the gods, intervention into our political system, or if they possess territorial ambitions here, I intend to withdraw from this discussion.
“First of all… we do not seek bountiness or inadequacy from our friends. As much as possible, we would like all receptions with other countries to remain open.
Next, we have inquired from the Principality of Qua-Toyne that your country is brimming with volumes of “flammable water”, is it not? We have seen a sample and we wish for you to export it to our country. Since the exchange rates are yet to be set, we will export to you “infrastructure” in the meantime.”
Metzal calmed down after hearing nothing to be concerned over. However, he became baffled after hearing that the subject of the transaction will be “flammable water”. In the Quila Kingdom, “flammable water” was roughly equivalent to pebbles found on the roadside.
“Of course… Our country is brimming with lots of that “flammable water” since it is useless for growing crops. It’s just extremely inconvenient since it’s a liquid. Even if we could create waterways to transport it since it’ll just ooze out if done by bucket, it will just ooze out from the seams. It also smells so we can’t stand it.
There are also “flammable rocks”. What do you think?”
“While the rocks are fine, what we really want is the “flammable water”. Uhh…”
The Japanese ambassador takes out two sheets of high-quality paper.
“What do you think of these terms?”
Written on one of the sheets of paper were characters Metzal couldn’t read. On the other sheet seemed to be a translated copy of the other sheet written in the continent’s common language, and there Metzal realized that Japan’s original language was different.
Reading further with the translated copy in hand, the terms are all sorts of infrastructure provisions which were originally a source of agony for the Quila Kingdom; he couldn’t believe how favorable the terms were.
With this… We would be able to substantially enrich our country by just exporting several ponds of useless flammable water…
“Are these terms true? I think we would need a substantial amount of manpower and time for these kinds of large-scale construction work…”
Most of the construction work detailed requires a lot of manpower. Metzal asked, feeling that the terms won’t be made into reality.
“I have materials regarding the country of Japan, so I will explain summarily.”
Uda shows Metzal a video introducing the country of Japan on a laptop. High-rise buildings that penetrate the heavens, lush and bountiful nature, and the beautiful four seasons. Upon seeing the video on the methods and procedures for infrastructure construction, Metzal was overcome with astonishment. Seeing sceneries and technologies he had never seen before, he came to the understanding that Japan is a country that compares to the world’s superpowers. The authenticity of the video can be verified by inquiring about the delegation sent by the Principality of Qua-Toyne to Japan.
Understanding that discrimination wasn’t the cause as to why there weren’t any other non-human races since there were never any in the first place, Metzal decided to promptly raise the matter to King Quila.
Someday later, the Quila Kingdom and Japan established diplomatic relations, and the kingdom has received so much support that they have become richer than they ever have been in their history. What was once the poor country now stands side by side with the Principality of Qua-Toyne as friends of Japan and has made its mark on the world.
