Yuri Empire

If we were to divide the month into three parts, we could say that it was almost the middle of the month, the 14th day of the Spring Moon.

On this day, a letter of welcome was delivered to Yuri, the Empress of the Yuri Empire.

Of course, since it was an official letter of welcome from another country, it was received in the ‘audience hall’.

The person who brought the letter was a group of about eight knights led by a captain named Gothos. The signature on the letter was “Fleur Ketchat, Governor of the Republic of Aneka”, indicating that it was definitely written by the head of another country.

The content of the letter was simply this:『 From Harakio, a city in the eastern part of the Republic of Aneka, many dragons have been seen flying over the land of the Yuri Empire, and we would like you to inform our country of the situation. 』

The letter was written in a very condescending manner, and the respect for the country and its leader, Yuri, could be felt from every word of the letter.

It's no wonder. The Republic of Aneka is a religious country, and it is the only country with which the Holy Land of Nimun has a long-standing alliance. Since it is an ‘ally of an ally’ with the Yuri Empire, they have a good impression of each other even though they do not have diplomatic relations.

In addition, Yuri is one of the main gods, and is also a pillar of the Eight Gods, the national religion of the Republic of Aneka. The fact that it is a religious nation is no wonder that the letter is somewhat overly polite and does not put down the Yuri Empire.

The messenger knights had to bring back a letter of intent, so they were to remain in the royal palace of Yuritania for a few days.

In addition, Yuri summoned Partita, the captain of <Nadeshiko>, and Lindworm, who had been entrusted with the task of coordinating the dragons, to her office in order to discuss the reply to this matter.

“Partita. The current Yuri Empire shares a border with the Republic of Aneka, right?

"Yes. The Republic of Aneka is a small country located in the southwest from here in Yuritania. The mountainous region where the cities of Eureka and Hourai are located, as well as a part of the former territory of the Volmisian Empire, border on the west. However, there are no trade routes connecting any of the cities in this country.”

“Hmm…? We have a border, but no trade routes?”

When Yuri asked her about it, Partita answered immediately, “Yes.”

“In the Republic of Aneka, there are many bad lands in the eastern half of the country, and the terrain is steep and desolate, so there are only a limited number of paths that can be built for wagons.

In addition, even when trade routes can be established, the cost of laying them is usually higher than usual, so cities and villages in bad areas often have only the minimum trade routes to bring in goods from other cities in the country, and they don't have trade routes that connect to other countries.”

“If they don't have much land, does that mean they are poor?”

“The west side of the country is rich in its own way, but since the fruits of the west side are given to the east side for support, the harvest is digested only within the country itself. If I were to describe the country as a whole, I would say that it is definitely a ‘poor little country’.”

“Hmmm…”

Currently, there are no diplomatic relations between the Yuri Empire and the Republic of Aneka, including import and export.

This is because no matter where the borders are, unless trade routes are established, neither cargo nor people will travel between the two countries, and no diplomatic relations will arise.

“The letter of intent mentions a city called Harakio, does Partita know about this city?”

“I'm aware of it. It's a city in the eastern part of the Republic of Aneka, in the middle of the badlands. Although it was a city, I don't think there were more than 5,000 inhabitants.”

“I've heard that the dragon of Hourai has been seen flying around from the city of Harakio many times, are the two cities close in location?”

“Hmmm… that’s not that close. If the dragon is flying over the city of Hourai, it will be a little difficult to see it from the city of Harakio. Unless you use binoculars, you can't see it with the naked eye…”

“I see. That's what I've heard, but―――Lindworm?”

When Yuri spoke up. Lindworm lowered her eyebrows apologetically.

“…Those dragons have no sense of ‘borders’. I'm sure there were times when they were flying around at will and ended up near the border of the Republic of Aneka.

I'm sorry, I hadn't thought that far ahead. From now on, I will notify each tribe to avoid flying towards the west as much as possible.”

“I'm sorry, Lindwurm. I don't mind if you fly freely to some extent outside of the west, but please request that you take the west into consideration.”

“Ha, I'll give a strict order as soon as I get back.”

From Hourai, the north and south are the lands of the Yuro Empire, and the east is the land of the Duchy of Selsia.

The people of her own country and its allies have already been informed during the broadcast that Yuri accepts dragons from outside the country, so they will not make a fuss if they see a dragon.

“Partita. There are a good number of cities in the badlands, aren't there?”

“There is another city called ‘Cylon’. It has a population of about 4,000, though I remember it being small for a city as well.”

“Hmmm… In my letter to Governor Fleur, I'd like to ask her if she'd like to trade with the Yuri Empire via air transport in the two cities of Haraio and Cylon.”

“I see, it doesn't matter if you don't have a trade route, if you have an air transport.

That's right… I've heard that flying demons appear in the badlands, so I'm not sure about Loftsdrake. I think you need to get rid of them beforehand.”

“…I see. It's not going to be easy, after all…”

Because of the excessive increase in the number of countries in the Yuri Empire, the effort required for ‘extermination’ is now much greater than it was at first.

In such a situation, taking on the extermination of the Republic of Aneka, which is not even an ally, is not a desirable thing.

“Yuri-dono. Why don't you have an escort for the Loftsdrake air transport?”

“Escort?”

At Lindworm's words, Yuri couldn't help but parrot back the question.

“It seems to me that there are no units that can take on the escort mission since the available combat units are doing the ‘extermination’ right…?

There are plenty of flying forces under my jurisdiction right now.”

“Oh, I see.”

Certainly, the dragon tribe under Lindworm's control has nothing to do in particular, other than having them train『 Humanization 』at present.

They have shown their subservience to Yuri, the Lord of Radragulf, and they will take care of most things at Yuri's request. The ‘Lesser Dragon’ is an individual with level 100 or more, so it is sufficient for escort forces―――or rather too much.

The sight of a dragon as an air transport-escort could be used as a way to soften the feelings of the people living in the badlands cities towards dragons.

Yuri had always wanted to get to know the Republic of Aneka, the ‘ally of allies,’ better. This might be a good opportunity to do so.