"Does that mean there's a requirement for Merle to accompany us?"
Sophie calmly tried to understand the purpose of Foreign Minister Nukakai's words.
Our breakfast started with soup, the main meat dish was finished, and dessert was about to be served.
As the portions were small for breakfast, Kurena and Dogora asked for more bread.
The Spirit God was biting into the bread that came to him on the table.
The dwarf who was in charge of carrying the food gave the Spirit God a look as if he had seen something strange.
"Yes, that is what I mean."
Foreign Minister Nukakai made it clear that Merle could not accompany us without a quid pro quo.
(Well, I guess I do understand this point. Since we want to take their citizens, and one who has a Talent so rare that only 1 in 10 million, to the S-class dungeon where the mortality rate is above 50%, it is understandable.)
Perhaps the mortality rate was true, Allen thought.
Even if we had asked any other county, they would have asked us for something in return since individuals with those rare Talents were that much valuable.
I believed that all countries would prioritize themselves first.
"Rosenheim has offered the Bakius Empire valuable Elven Elixirs free of charge, as a gesture of friendship."
"Indeed, many Golem Users have been saved thanks to you. The Emperor has expressed his gratitude for this. Naturally, we have thought of a way to repay you."
"Repay us?"
"Yes, I have heard that a number of cities in Rosenheim were destroyed by the Demon King's army. We are thinking of offering free of charge the magic tools needed to restore the destroyed cities. But, as you can imagine, we can't give away free maintenance of magic tools for all eternity."
Foreign Minister Nukakai said that the Bakius Empire would provide the magical tools needed to rebuild the cities in Rosenheim.
The magical tools needed to build a city were things like magical tools for lights to illuminate the city, or magical tools to clean the drainage.
To some people, a Magic Train was also necessary for city planning.
He said that the Bakius Empire was prepared to provide valuable magical tools that were up-to-date and not yet available to other countries, such as those used in the Imperial City of the Bakius Empire.
However, if we didn't take care of the magic tools, they would become unusable, so we had to pay for their maintenance.
(You're a complete businessman. Just like I learned at the Academy.)
Listening to the dwarf who called himself Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nukakai, was the very image of the Bakius Empire that I had learned about in the Academy.
The Bakius Empire was trying to use magic tools to dominate the world economically.
It could be said that they were skilled in providing valuable magical tools at any given opportunity.
60% of the magic tools in the Latash Kingdom were from the Bakius Empire.
The Giamut Empire wanted to provide as much of its own magic tools as possible to the kingdom, but the majority still came from the Bakius Empire.
"Well, that should please Her Majesty."
Sophie knew the intent of the Bakius Empire, but said thank you for providing us with valuable magical tools.
In fact, Rosenheim was much less dependent on magic tools than the Central Continent.
It was because they had made lights and drainage systems with the help of Spirits.
And because of the elves' love of harmony with nature, they were hesitant to use magic tools. For these reasons, there was not a single Magic Train in the land of the elves.
But if Sophie had said, "We don't need magic tools." The story was over.
The Magic Ships had helped us a lot in the war. Many people were saved, and they were also used operationally to transfer soldiers.
"Yes, if there are any magical tools you need, please let me know."
"However, even if the Bakius Empire sells us magic tools for free, I don't think we need to pay for Merle to join us. That's a problem."
Sophie put her hand on her cheek and made a face of annoyance.
"No, no. It's a simple matter. I've heard that Rosenheim has succeeded in mass producing Elven Elixirs."
"It's not mass-produced, but I'm proud to say that it's the most effective elixir ever. We used a great deal of it in the war, and even gave some to allied countries, so our numbers are limited."
The elves don't have much elixir left, was basically what she said.
"No, I'm not asking you to sell a lot. We just want to buy as much as you can sell."
"In that case, I'll do my best for the sake of friendship with the Bakius Empire."
"Thank you very much. Thank you very much, you've saved my neck. The Emperor told me to get the Elven Elixir or he would fire me."
Exhaling heavily, Foreign Minister Nukakai said with a sense of relief.
It seemed that the Emperor of the Bakius Empire was putting quite a bit of pressure on him.
"No, no, no. You're overreacting. By the way, where is Merle now?"
"She'll be arriving at this hotel soon."
Foreign Minister Nukakai said as he looked at his watch, which was soon about to strike 9:00 am.
"Thank you. Please convey my thanks to His Majesty the Emperor."
"Yes. Of course. I know you will be busy while challenging the Tower of Trials, but please call me when you come to the Royal Castle. I will arrange for you to meet with the Emperor."
When Sophie asked him to convey her gratitude, he smelled that she had no intention of meeting with the Bakius Emperor, so Foreign Minister Nukakai went along with Sophie's words.
There were a few things I wanted to check, so I joined the conversation and asked about this and that.
Not long after my questions were finished, Foreign Minister Nukakai left, saying that he would appreciate it if we could wait.
"Then again, I wonder if all dwarves are like that?"
Cecile said in frustration while drinking tea in the empty private dining room.
"I've heard that the Bakius Empire strongly pursues profit and national interest. I would like to think that we have made some concessions."
Blatantly using Merle as a lure, Foreign Minister Nukakai said that he wanted the Elven Elixir.
(I heard that it used to be the Kingdom of Bakius before the Demon King came. It's a country that swallowed up other dwarf countries with the technology of magic tools and made this continent into one Bakius Empire.)
That negotiation had made me realize that what I had learned in my classes at the Academy were accurate.
The Bakius Empire was the Kingdom of Bakius until about 50 years ago.
In order to stop the invasion of the Demon King's army, they used their magic tools and the power of Golem Soldiers to fight off the magical beasts.
The Kingdom of Bakius had a magic tool technology that no other dwarf country had.
The war against the Demon King's army had begun, and it is said that the Kingdom of Bakius has demonstrated its unique power on the continent.
Under the banner of justice that the continent had to defend, they swallowed up all the other dwarf countries that existed on the continent and established the Bakius Empire.
"Well, it's a country that used the Demon King as an excuse to rise to power. I guess they don't want to go back to the time when it was a Kingdom."
I concluded as such.
While there were countries all over the world that had been tormented by the Demon King's army, I believed that the Bakius Empire was the only country that had flourished because of the Demon King's army.
It was probably not a good idea to say that in the Bakius Empire.
Cecile admonished me that that was a bit of an exaggeration.
Knock-knock
"Yes, yes."
"Oh, Allen?"
When I looked at the door, I saw Merle, who used to live with us at the base of the Academy until a few months ago.
""Merle!""
The faces of my friends instantly lit up when they saw Merle.
Merle also ran up to us.
We all shared the joy of reunion in the midst of war.
(Hmmm... I'm glad to see Merle again. But I don't want the Bakius Empire to interfere with Merle being in the party in the future. I will need to plan a countermeasure for this while we're attacking the dungeon.)
The Bakius Empire was not so easily going to give up Merle, who had such a rare Talent.
I had to find a way for Merle to be able to freely accompany us.
Afterwards, we shared with Merle the history of the war so far.
Merle also told us about the process of her military service after arriving in the Bakius Empire.
She was rather forced into service.
"So you were the first to board the Golem soldiers then."
"Yeah, it was really strong! My arms were flying like a pew! It's like, "DOGGARN!"
Merle, who was only a head shorter than me, said excitedly with full body gestures.
I didn't understand exactly what she was saying, but I concluded that the Golem Soldiers beat up the Demon King's army.
"That's great, I wish they'd lend me some Golems for the S-class dungeon."
"I hope so. But our wish will probably remain a wish."
I had asked Foreign Minister Nukakai earlier if he could lend Merle a Golem.
However, he said that they couldn't easily lend out powerful Golems.
"Can't we find Golem parts in the S-class dungeon?"
(Parts? I'm getting kind of excited about this.)
"Yeah, I heard from my superiors that you can get parts for Golems in the S-class dungeon!"
Merle had heard the same thing from her superiors during the war.
Apparently, Foreign Minister Nukakai was telling the truth.
Foreign Minister Nukakai was reluctant to let Merle join us, but he did give us one useful piece of information.
According to him, we could find Golem parts in S-class dungeons.
If we could collect them, they would become a Golem.
To be honest, I wondered how long it would take to gather all the parts of a Golem, which I was told could reach up to 100 meters tall, but that didn't seem to be the case.
I was told to ask for more details at the Temple in Janpani where the S-class dungeon was located.
In this way, Allen and his friends met up with Merle and set out for the S-class dungeon.
