In the afternoon, I went to the circular conference hall in the main palace of Kara. It seemed the conference would start soon as many aristocrats and local influentials of Kara gathered around in front of the gate. Then I found an old, skinny, sharp-eyed man who was welcoming other people very courteously.
Once he saw me, the old guy bowed his head down and greeted me politely.
“Please welcome, Master. It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Who are you? And how do you know me?”
“My name is Uddin Ibrahim and I am the prime minister of Kara.”
The prime minister was the highest position in Kara’s government. Although he was treated as a low-rank aristocrat in the Prosian continent, he was one of the most powerful people and made important policies here in Kara.
“Uddin?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Actually, I had kept an eye on him for a while.
He was a teacher of the current Emir of Kara and would become infamous as the worst traitor during the war between Kara and the Kingdom of Robros.
But I didn’t truly believe that fact which was written in history. The history of their war was written by the winner, the Kingdom of Robros. Also, there were several strange things in the records about Uddin’s life and final days.
According to one of those records, Uddin was responsible for the collapse of Kara because of his reckless policies and management of government. But it was not true. I lived in Kara for a while and all the people in Kara seemed happy and well-off. Another record said that he caused the war against the Kingdom of Robros by instigating other people. Furthermore, he often had conflicts with Razal, the Supreme Commander of Kara’s army because he wanted to reform the military. To me, he didn’t seem like a bad guy since his actions were reasonable.
But there was a really bad decision that he made. When Kara was on the brink of ruin, he requested the Emir to commit suicide which was forbidden by all the churches in the world. It was such a great sin and those who committed suicide could not be redeemed no matter what.
“I see. Nice to meet you.”
He would be dead soon anyway. And it was such a horrible death.
I walked inside the conference hall.
There were two separate groups of seats in the conference hall. The seats on the right side were for the officers of Kara and the seats on the right side were for the ambassadors from the Kingdom of Robros. The right side of the conference hall was crowded. However, the left side was still empty. It seemed the ambassadors hadn’t arrived yet.
I sat on one of the seats on the left side. Since my job was to keep Fabius in check, it was better for me to stay close to him.
“Please welcome the Emir of Kara!”
A palanquin covered with white silk and carried by several bearers entered the conference hall. It was the Emir of Kara.
As the palanquin passed by, Kara’s aristocrats and local influentials stood up on their feet to show respect. Once the Emir of Kara took the best seat on the right side, I sent a hand signal to Armida who was standing right next to the palanquin. Her job was to protect the Emir of Kara.
‘Why are they so late?’
Even though some time had passed, the ambassadors didn’t come to the conference hall yet.
It was a bad manner but pretty common between strong and weak states. Perhaps, the ambassadors tried to show their power by making the Emir of Kara wait for them.
I looked at Armida carefully. She made a fussy face and got antsy.
‘If Armida loses her patience as she usually does…’
Soon, I heard a noise outside the conference hall and saw Kara’s officers greeting the ambassadors from the Kingdom of Robros. They looked very serious and intimidating. After taking their seats, they waited for someone.
Finally, Marquis Fabius walked inside the conference hall with other high-rank aristocrats.
I stared at a young, blonde aristocrat standing behind Fabius. He was ‘Count Borris’. He lost his parents early in life and became a Count at a young age. He would become infamous later as a diplomat who always caused a war wherever he went.
‘That guy is so full of himself.’
Count Borris was almost like a nobody but had one unique talent. He’s very good at provoking others. His way of speaking was haughty and rude. Also, he was a very arrogant man who looked down on others. Thus, he’s a perfect man for the job of declaring a war against another country.
“White Mask, why don’t you sit with us?”
Fabius tapped my shoulder and headed to his seat.
I stood up and took a seat which he offered. It was right next to his seat.
“Hey old man, you’ve just made quite a dangerous mistake.”
He reacted right away once he heard what I said.
“What do you mean?”
“You shouldn’t be late next time.”
He still seemed puzzled and tilted his head on the side.
After a brief ceremony, the conference began. Count Borris was the person who had the right to speak first so he walked up to the platform in the center. Then he took the scroll out of his pocket and started reading it.
“Now, I will read the message from the great and honorable king of Robros! Since Terra, the Goddess of Earth is blessing our…”
The introduction was all about the Goddess of Earth who was revered in the Kingdom of Robros. It was full of cliches without any particular importance.
After the introduction, Count Borris started reading the main point of the whole message.
“So vast is the Great Desert, full of the blessings of the Goddess Terra. However, blasphemous and treacherous bandits have stained our holy earth with blood. As a result, people are suffering and screaming in agony. So, the king of Robros who heard the oracle of the Goddess Terra has decided to punish those vicious bandits in the Great Desert as well as the ones who have been helping the bandits. And fortunately, our king is merciful. Those who truthfully repent their sins and obey our king will be forgiven with the blessings of the Goddess Terra. And those who fight for our king will be glorified forever. People of the Great Desert! Be aware of our king’s rage. He’s very infuriated and Terra, the Goddess of Earth, is with him. Be afraid and obey! Our king’s righteous army will be here soon.”
It was a long message but the bottom line was the declaration of war. Suddenly, the conference hall got noisy as the aristocrats and local influentials of Kara started talking to each other with anxiety. They thought today’s conference would be no different than previous annual conferences in which the Kingdom of Robros habitually made complaints to Kara.
“Are they declaring a war against us?”
“No way. They must cross the Devil’s Trade Route to attack us. Do you think that’s possible?”
As the entire conference hall was in a state of great agitation, the prime minister Uddin stood up and started asking a question.
“Sir, people in Kara are…”
“Shut your mouth! How dare a low-rank aristocrat speak to a Count? What an arrogant man!”
It was his typical way of speaking. He always tried to dominate other people by mentioning his higher status. Thus, those in lower status than Count were never willing to talk to him.
Count Borris stared at the curtained seat where the Emir of Kara was sitting.
“Emir of Kara, you should ask a question by yourself.”
There was only silence in the conference hall. Even though Kara was a city-state, it had a lot of influences over small city-states and tribes in the Great Desert. In fact, Kara was their suzerain state. Thus, even a Count of the Kingdom of Robros should not act rude to the Emir of Kara.
Kara’s soldiers in the conference hall were red-faced and spurted murderous spirits. Then Marquis Fabius stomped on the floor with his right foot. The soldiers saw a cracked marble floor and took modest attitudes again.
I complained to Fabius.
“Hey old man, don’t scare them too much.”
“I need to do my job.”
“What a nerve. You are not doing anything here.”
“Just wait. There’s gonna be a lot of things I need to do down the road.”
Revealing his thick and white teeth, Fabius smiled and scowled at the Emir of Kara with his murderous eyes. He was threatening her wordlessly.
Since he looked so innocent and naive, I forgot for a brief moment that he was a mad dog on the battlefields.
At last, the Emir of Kara opened her mouth.
“So, what does the king of Robros want from us?”
She said in a calm and moderate voice.
I rolled my eyes because it was strange. Her voice was quite familiar to me. But I didn’t care anyway. The Emir of Kara was supposed to commit suicide during the war in the near future. There’s no way that I made her acquaintance.
Count Borris replied in an arrogant tone.
“What he wants is either total destruction or obedience.”
“Why is he threatening to destroy us or requesting our obedience at the same time?”
“Because Kara has committed evil acts by fully supporting the Great Desert bandits.”
The Emir of Kara was in silence for a little bit. Although Kara didn’t fully support those bandits, everyone knew the relationship between Kara and bandits was amicable.
Without the bandits in the Devil’s Trade Route, Kara would lose all their wealth and end up being a stopover in the middle of the Great Desert. Therefore, Kara and those bandits were in a symbiotic relationship.
“If not Kara, who could keep those bandits in control?”
“Don’t worry. Our Robros army will subjugate all of those Great Desert bandits.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Don’t you know the power of the Kingdom of Robros? Our kingdom is great and powerful.”
I chuckled.
Even though the Kingdom of Robros was a powerful country, they couldn’t subjugate all the bandits in the Great Desert. While they were actually making a lot of profits through the Devil’s Trade Route, it would cost too much money to send their troops to the vast reaches of the Great Desert.
In the near future, the Great Desert bandits would be resurgent and more brutal than before. Moreover, the Shikar Tribe warriors would become bandits to gain their independence. Not surprisingly, many merchants from the Kingdom of Robros would be slaughtered.
If the Kingdom of Robros kept sending a large number of troops to the Great Desert, they might be able to subjugate them in the long run but they failed to do so within the next eight years. Also, the kingdom would become very weak down the road as the trade profits greatly diminished while the military expenses rose significantly.
“Who just laughed?!”
My laughter must have been too loud. Count Borris scowled at me. But soon he looked the other way because I was sitting right next to Marquis Fabius.
Fabius quietly told me one thing.
“White Mask, you should know that he’s small-minded.”
“It’s okay. He’s very kind to strong guys.”
“Do you know him?”
“No, I’ve just heard some rumor about him.”
As if intimidating, Count Borris shouted to the Emir of Kara.
“Emir of Kara, please make your decision! Total destruction or obedience?”
The Emir of Kara thought it over a little bit and then said.
“So what are your terms of peace?”
Count Borris seemed unpleasant since the Emir of Kara asked terms of peace instead of agreeing to obey. But shortly after, he started reading a document in which the terms of peace were written.
“First, Kara should pay eight million riffs of gold to the Kingdom of Robros as compensation for damages.”
It was a tremendous amount of money. Eight million riffs of gold would weigh about 30 tons. If the Emir of Kara gave that amount of money to me, I would become her obedient husband for life.”
“Sure. We can do that. What’s next?”
I made a moony face and then looked at the place where the Emir of Kara was sitting. I started loving her. I knew she was a wealthy person but she’s actually much richer than I thought.
“Second, a colonial government should be established in Kara. And all the policies should be approved by a governor who will be appointed by the Kingdom of Robros.
The conference hall was in tumult. If Kara accepted the second term, it would mean an annexation. As the Emir of Kara also knew this, she remained silent.
“······.”
“Third and last, the Emir of Kara should become the 78th concubine of the king of Robros. And there’s no room for negotiation over any of these three terms!”
I could hear people sighing from everywhere.
The third term meant that the family of Emir of Kara would no longer be succeeded. The current Emir of Kara had no siblings alive. Moreover, the king of Robros was a very old man who would die anytime soon.
I let out an exclamation by instinct.
“I am so jealous…”
“Of whom?”
“The king of Robros. It means he already has 77 concubines.”
Fabius chuckled.
“I also have more than twenty concubines.”
My eyes got wide open.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I am so jealous…”
“White Mask, I have a few granddaughters who’re overage for the marriage. Do you want to meet one of them?”
I took a look at his giant and rough body. Then I turned my head around cold-heartedly.
“No thanks.”
At that moment, Razal stepped forward in fury and bowed down in front of the Emir of Kara. Then he said.
“Your highness! They are extremely rude to our country. Please allow me to attack them with our troops. I can conquer their land and kill their soldiers with ease. By doing so, we can raise our Kara’s status to a higher level and all the people in the Great Desert will revere us.”
It was complete nonsense. Everyone knew he didn’t know what he was talking about. He’s such a hilarious guy indeed.
The total number of troops in Kara was only about four thousand.
With such a small number of troops, how could Kara attack the large army of the Kingdom of Robros? It’s just ridiculous.
He should at least stop saying that kind of nonsense on the battlefields. If he made stupid decisions in a war, his troops would meet a tragic ending for sure.