Hmm! One more!
“Ka … so, as I suspected, are you a descendant of the lost Fire clan?”
The person who reacted to that name was Malong, but the actual individual called Ka Aima simply turned her head away.
“Uhh, Aima-san? Are you a member of the Fire clan, the lost tribe of the Equestrian Kingdom? ” asked Mia, reluctantly.
“Yes, that is correct. I am the descendant of Ka Seima, Chief of the Fire clan, the first tribe of the Equestrian Kingdom.” said Aima, puffing her chest with pride.
And then she stuffed another cookie into her mouth.
“But why is the prideful Fire clan involved in something like looting?”
“That is …!”
For a moment, it seemed like Aima was about to answer Malong’s question.
However, she quickly swallowed her words and turned her face away in a pout.
Mia cast a fleeting glance at Malong and thought, ‘Hmm.. this is quite troublesome.
And this cookie is quite delicious.’
As Mia gulped down the cookie that she had bitten into with a crispy crunch,
a rich and creamy sweetness gradually spread across her tongue.
The aroma of the rich milk prompted Mia to let out an involuntary sigh of satisfaction,
and she continued ‘Um..! One more! Crisp crunch, Um!’
And so it seemed that Mia was about to enter into an infinite loop, when she suddenly felt Dion’s tepid gaze on her back and decided to clear her throat.
“Why would someone like you, who has such pride, resort to being a bandit?” asked Mia.
“Don’t lump us in the same group as those shameless bandits. We have been driven to do this out of necessity, not by choice.” said Aima as if she had been waiting for this moment to speak. Mia thought that if Aima had wanted to retort back so badly, it would have been better not to be that stubborn and then reached for another cookie.
“Mia-sama, you are eating too much. You have already had ten cookies.” said Anne as she picked up the plate with a stern expression.
“Ah…”
“To begin with, the purpose of the horse riding exercise was to make up for the binge eating in Sunkland.Please refrain from indulging to avoid getting into danger again.”
“Uh…”
Anne was being unusually strict. Seeing her expression, Mia decided to hold back.
‘This time I also caused Anne to worry. Ugh, I can’t help it.’ thought Mia.
While shedding tears in her heart at her loyal retainer’s warm and passionate consideration, Mia returned her gaze to Aima.
“The harvest this year was poor compared to the average, leading to a shortage in the food supply. If we had left the infants and elderly to starve, they would have ended up dying. Therefore, I took charge, leading those of us who could fight to secure food. Don’t compare us to those thugs.” said Aima showing no sign of remorse; instead, she puffed her chest with pride.
“During the meeting with King Abram, I learned that among the Equestrian Bandits, there was a group that did not commit any violence against villagers, nor did they burn any houses or fields; they merely stole food supplies” said Rafina with a difficult expression.
Aima nodded to that and continued.
“We are warriors.Therefore, we do not kill those that do not have the will to fight.
Burning fields would be out of the question, as that would not allow us to obtain food.”
explained Aima, snorting and crossing her arms.
“I don’t believe it is honourable to sit around and wait to die. We chose to put our lives on the line and fight for what we needed. That’s all. ”
“Even if you say ‘That’s all’ ” said Malong with an incomprehensible expression as he furiously scratched his head and thought
‘Whatever the reason, looting is looting. Even if there was no violence committed against the villagers, there is no mistaking the fact that this was an evil act. There is no mistaking that.’
“Hmm, I see.” Mia, on the other hand, was nodding in agreement.
‘If they had nothing to eat but they did have the power to fight, it seemed quite plausible that they would make that choice.’ thought Mia, the princess of the Empire.
In fact, during the final stages of the Empire, the invasion of other countries to seize their food supplies had been considered.
However, due to various circumstances, this plan was ultimately never implemented.
The initial target of the invasion plan was supposed to be the agricultural country of Perujin.
Some of the civil officials had questioned the value of attacking a defenceless nation with no military , as it would incur the displeasure of the Principality of Belluga and other countries.
At that time, the situation did not seem to be dire.
‘If the new person in charge, who replaced the Green Moon House as the representative, was skilled and did a good job, maybe the Port Nation of Ganudos would resume the food supplies.
It would not be a problem to act after a certain level of logistic support was secured.
Rather, in the meantime, was it possible that Perujin would repent and restore the food supply?’
While being gripped by such naive fantasies, the civil war intensified, and the military could not organise into action.
Since things always turned out to be fine up until then, there was a sentiment that the situation would return to normalcy if somehow the current crisis could be overcome.
Everyone thought that the change was merely temporary and underestimated it, failing to take any countermeasures.
As a result the opportunity to pursue any kind of military action was lost.
Looking back, Mia thought ‘We were totally dancing on the palms of the Chaos Serpents.
Although serpents don’t have palms.’
Speaking of things that don’t exist, like the palms of snakes, it was just like Mia to think of absurd things.
‘Setting that aside, if relations with the Principality of Belluga and the Sunkland Kingdom were destined to turn hostile, it would have been better to deploy the military while it was still an option. The military should have been mobilised before the rise of domestic conflict.
However, the Red Moon House was also against dispatching the troops.
With Ruby-san not being an ally either, perhaps achieving anything by mobilising the military would have been difficult.’
Mia thought back to that time when the Empire had been in an impossibly hopeless situation.
‘Things were quite complicated.’
Once again, returning to contemplating the problem about the Fire clan, Mia glanced at Rafina, Abel and Malong.
‘As if understanding the complexity of the situation, the three of them wore difficult expressions on their faces.
Depending on the country that the Fire clan was said to belong to , the responsibility would shift.
Initially, the Fire clan had been one of the tribes of the Equestrian Kingdom.
However, that relationship between them had been severed a long time ago.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say that the relationship had turned hostile.
In that case, holding the Equestrian Kingdom responsible would seem a bit incorrect.
Then to consider them as citizens of the Sunkland or Remno Kingdom or the Principality of Belluga would probably be just as incorrect.
The Fire clan – they were independent people who belonged to no country.
Suppose they did belong to a country, it would be clear where the responsibility lay.
Although the clan themselves might be at fault, the rulers who let them starve were the ones who deserved the blame.
Alternatively, if they were to be treated as a small country, then the Fire clan itself would be held responsible for the crime.
However it would probably be difficult for them to take responsibility even as a country.
Now, how will the problem be solved? Well, it doesn’t concern me though.’
With that thought, Mia care freely took a sip of tea.
That’s right, regarding the matter this time , Mia was without question a complete outsider.
A complete outsider. She was not in a position where she had to worry about troublesome matters. She could enjoy the tea in leisure.
‘Well, Malong-senpai will take care of the rest. Let’s quickly gather information about the sheep butter and head home.’
So, she let down her guard.
However, when the tea party was over, Mia noticed that Malong had quietly approached her.
“Miss Mia, may I have a moment?”
“Ah? Malong-senpai, is something the matter?”
Mia tilted her head towards Malong, who looked unusually serious.
“Excuse-me Miss Mia, but could you please meet with our clan chief along with Aima”
Mia furrowed her brows ever so slightly on hearing the request.
“Chief of the Forest clan?”
“Yes, looking at how things are, she might not speak with the Chief.
But this is a problem that cannot be ignored.”
That is what Malong said, but it wasn’t something that Mia was very keen on doing.
From Mia’s perspective, if she could get her hands on the sheep butter, she did not see much merit in going to the Equestrian Kingdom.
Just as Mia was thinking about how best to turn down this request, Mia’s ears were unexpectedly tickled by a devilish whisper “By the way , Miss Mia, do you like sweets?
If you come, as a token of gratitude, I will treat you to a special milk that is sweet and incredibly delicious. We also have fresh butter and cheese that I will treat you to as thanks if you come.”
“Oh! Tell me more.”
‘Well , I am also concerned that Abel has been called.‘ thought Mia as she began making excuses in her heart.
‘Well ,well! It is almost as if the delicious milk of the Equestrian Kingdom is calling out to me.’ thought Mia ,while cultivating her gourmet fantasies.
