Chapter 181 Ceasefire Negotiations ④
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The ceasefire negotiations between the kingdoms of Canaria and Coalmine were finally being eased, with Lady Tina Duke Badcage mediating the outrageous demands of Queen Cecile Canaria and Marquis Dan Samoro providing follow-up confirmation.
The Coalmine Kingdom delegation was racking their brains to scrutinize the details once more and conclude the agreement in a more satisfactory manner, but…
”Oh… Could it be that you wish for trade with our country through the House of Badcage?” Ierse asked.
Ierse, the Crown Princess of Coalmine, had skipped a thought or two and leaked a conclusion that sounded completely off the mark. The one who panicked at this was her husband, Crown Prince Gilliam.
”Ierse! I told you to check with me before speaking!” Gilliam cried.
”Ah…! T-That’s right, I’m sorry, Gilliam-sama…” she replied.
Despite being cautioned beforehand, his wife had spoken up. In this venue where scribes were present, a careless word could easily become a binding commitment. His wife should have known that well, but…
”Ho, is it not fine, Gilliam-dono? I would very much like to speak with Her Highness, the Crown Princess,” Cecile said.
Without appearing to care about Gilliam’s internal conflict, Queen Cecile spoke with a beaming smile. Since she had been directing sharp glares until now, that smile appeared terrifyingly ominous in Gilliam’s eyes. ‘I must protect my wife,’ he thought, but…
”My! I, too, have been wanting to speak with Her Majesty. Please, feel free to call me Ierse!” Ierse exclaimed.
”Is that so? Then, Ierse-dono. You may call me Cecile as well. It is a stroke of good fortune to be able to deepen our friendship not only with Gilliam-dono, who bears the next generation of Coalmine, but with you as well,” Cecile said.
”Yes, I am very happy, Cecile-sama!” Ierse replied.
In the blink of an eye, the two had begun talking solely between themselves. Gilliam panicked, but this was not something he could cut into. After all, Cecile had said she wanted to “deepen their friendship.” To object here would be equivalent to declaring, “I have no intention of letting my wife get along with Cecile.” At a ceasefire negotiation, that would be disastrous.
”Now then, regarding your previous words, may I hear the reason why you thought we ‘desired trade’?” Cecile asked.
”The reason…? I mean, you’ve desired trade from the beginning, haven’t you?” Ierse asked.
”Ho…” Cecile muttered.
Ierse tilted her head as if she didn’t understand what was being questioned. As if to say, “Isn’t it obvious?” Gilliam didn’t understand what his wife was saying. However, for Cecile, it seemed the message was perfectly clear.
”Cecile-sama would never overlook the profits right in front of her. The question was whether you would proceed with it yourself or through the people of the Badcage family…” Ierse said.
”You judged that based on our earlier conversation, we decided to place the House of Badcage at the center, then?” Cecile asked.
”Yes! Tina-san, I look forward to working with you from now on!” Ierse said.
”Hnn!? U-Umu, I look forward to working with you as well, noja…” Tina replied.
Joining her fingers in front of her chest, Ierse greeted Lady Tina with a smile that bloomed like a flower. Lady Tina, while stealing glances at Cecile’s complexion, timidly returned the greeting.
Apparently, Lady Tina was also surprised, but she seemed to understand the direction of the conversation. Looking around, not only Marquis Samoro but even Archbishop Trantestar was nodding with a convinced expression.
Gilliam was left behind, flustered. At this rate, the conversation would proceed without him understanding a thing. Swallowing his pride, he asked his wife, who seemed to see things he couldn’t.
”I-I’m sorry to interrupt. Ierse, I don’t understand. What exactly do you mean by ‘profits right in front of us’…?” Gilliam asked.
”Eh? We talked about it before, didn’t we?” Ierse asked.
”Huh? Something I talked about with you…? W-When and where exactly…?” Gilliam asked.
”That would be at night, in the bedroom, of course!” Ierse declared.
”Hah? T-The bedroom…? I-I’m sorry, I still don’t get it. What on earth are you talking about?!” Gilliam asked.
”Isn’t it obvious? It’s about ‘Ddo-Buddy¹‘!” Ierse proclaimed.
Crown Princess Ierse stated it loudly. The eight letters of ‘Ddo-Buddy’ echoed through the ceasefire conference hall. Because the venue was reasonably spacious, the words even seemed to carry a distinct echo.
Gilliam even hallucinated the sound of himself freezing over and cracking with a click. And then he heard the scritch-scratch sound of the scribes diligently writing down the ‘Ddo-Buddy’ remark.
It was the moment when the name ‘Ddo-Buddy’ was recorded in an official administrative document for the first time in history. It was a feat following its entry into church documents during the previous ‘Ddo-Buddy Trial.’ However, Gilliam was in no state to appreciate it.
”Heh heh heh…! Puh heh heh…!” Cecile chuckled.
”Bufu…! Fuh…! Fuu, fuu…!” Tina struggled to contain her breath.
Queen Cecile’s shoulders were shaking as she suppressed her laughter. Lady Tina had a look of apology on her face while being unable to stop the air from leaking out of her mouth.
”Geho! Geho! Buha!” Samoro coughed.
”Hihi…! Hi, hihihi, hee…!” Trantestar wheezed.
Marquis Samoro disguised his laughter as coughing while looking awkward. The corners of Archbishop Trantestar’s mouth were twitching and distorting, letting out an unpleasant laugh that sounded like metal rubbing together.
Perhaps the fact that they had been conducting serious negotiations until a moment ago was part of the problem. Even Cecile and Trantestar, who hadn’t cracked a smile during the ‘Ddo-Buddy Trial,’ could not withstand this sharp drop in the atmosphere.
The civil servants of both countries were the same. Everyone’s shoulders were shaking as they covered their mouths, desperately holding back laughter. It was a situation where one should instead give a round of applause to the scribes who fulfilled their duties and wrote out the name ‘Ddo-Buddy’ to the very end.
However, without caring for Gilliam, who had frozen up as his brain’s processing capacity was exceeded, or the sight of everyone around her unable to stop laughing, Crown Princess Ierse spoke out loudly.
”That one in particular is wonderful. That ‘Hot-Hot Ddo Buddy²‘! If it’s not in the shape of a ‘Ddo-Buddy,’ there’s no problem using it normally, and it doesn’t need magic stones or mana to provide warmth. It’s a magic tool absolutely necessary for our country!” Ierse said.
At his wife continuing the ‘Ddo-Buddy’ remarks without mercy, Gilliam felt as if he might faint. However, managing to keep his wits about him and listening to the substance of the statement, it certainly seemed like a useful magic tool.
Above all, the reason his wife ended up making the ‘Ddo-Buddy’ remarks was that he had asked a stupid question. Gilliam straightened his back, assuming a sharp expression on his handsome face.
”In other words… Her Majesty the Queen intends to export ‘Ddo-Buddy’ to our country through the House of Badcage…” Gilliam said.
”Most likely. Rather, I suspect that the sudden craze for ‘Ddo-Buddy’ in our country this summer was also at Cecile-sama’s direction…” Ierse said.
’Ddo-Buddy’ remarks flew back and forth between the beautiful Crown Prince and Princess. It was the limit. It wouldn’t be strange for anyone’s abdominal or mouth muscles to collapse at any moment. But the people seated here were magnificent.
They could not let the two who bore the next generation of a nation feel any more shame. And the hero among heroes, Queen Cecile, utilized her extraordinary mental strength and facial control to weave words together.
”Puku… fu, fuu. Now then, while I know nothing of the fad in your country, I recognize that ‘Ddo-Buddy,’ ‘Hot-Hot Ddo Buddy,’ and ‘Hot-Shot-kun³‘ will become important exports.” Cecile said.
”‘Hot-Shot-kun’…?” both Gilliam and Ierse asked.
”Yes, try using this. If you press the protrusion on the side, it will begin to emit heat,” Cecile said.
Queen Cecile slid the magic tool across the long table to the Crown Prince and Princess. The two timidly pressed the switch, and their eyes widened at the ‘Hot-Shot-kun’ that instantly became warm.
”This is…!” they exclaimed.
”Since one of the materials will be known soon enough, I shall tell you. The core of the heating mechanism is ‘Fire Rat⁴‘ skin,” Cecile said.
”If you mean Fire Rat…” Gilliam trailed off.
”Indeed, they are likely troublesome monsters that live all over your country as well. There are several other items I wish to purchase from your country and items I wish to sell. For details, you should hear more from Tina here. And most of them concern a certain magic tool shop,” Cecile said.
Cecile spoke the words she had prepared one after another. It was the “bait” she had intended to give the Coalmine Kingdom.
In these ceasefire negotiations, despite Coalmine Kingdom fighting well in the war, there was no benefit for them at all. In the event that negotiations became rough, she had intended to play this card as a compromise.
Of course, if the other side had quietly accepted her demands, she would have kept it hidden and monopolized the profits.
”The magic tool shop ‘Harvest⁵‘…” Ierse said.
”A correct answer, Ierse-dono,” Cecile replied.
However, in the end, her aim was exposed by Crown Princess Ierse. If that was the case, it was better to compromise from the start and proceed with trade smoothly. Including Lady Tina in the negotiations was also a strategy she had looked ahead to.
By coincidence, even Archbishop Trantestar of the Church of Demon-Subjugation⁶, who handled the manufacturing of Harvest’s products, was participating in this venue. He would likely respond nimbly to this matter.
As a result, this strategy became a measure that hit four or five birds with one stone for Cecile: a reward for the House of Badcage and the magic tool shop ‘Harvest,’ ‘bait’ to win over Coalmine, currying favor with the Church, and even enriching her own country through trade.
That alone was a situation where she couldn’t stop laughing, but things did not stop there. Crown Princess Ierse, having finished listening to the trade proposal Cecile had prepared, said with sparkling eyes and a smile like a large flower blooming.
”Cecile-sama…” she said.
”Hmm? Is there something else, Ierse-dono?” Cecile asked.
”Yes. If it is alright, would you like to bring this business to my birthplace as well?!” she asked.
That was not a statement as the Crown Princess of the Coalmine Kingdom. It was a statement as the former princess of the maritime nation Silvaol⁷—otherwise known as the Trading Nation Silvaol.”
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Summary:
During the ceasefire negotiations, Crown Princess Ierse skips logic to accurately guess Canaria’s desire for trade through the House of Badcage. The serious atmosphere collapses into suppressed laughter when Ierse openly discusses ‘Ddo-Buddy’ products as essential national exports. Queen Cecile introduces the ‘Hot-Shot-kun’ heater, revealing it uses materials common in Coalmine to secure a trade deal. Ierse then proposes expanding this business to her home maritime nation, Silvaol.
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Character Insight:
Ierse demonstrates a unique blend of airheadedness and sharp intuition; while she lacks social filter regarding embarrassing product names, her background as a princess of a trading nation allows her to see the economic subtext Queen Cecile was hiding. Cecile, in turn, shows her flexibility as a ruler by immediately pivoting her strategy to cooperation once her ‘bait’ is exposed, turning a potential negotiation deadlock into a multi-national trade victory.”
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Behind the Scene:
The ‘Ddo-Buddy’ (Dobadi) products are a recurring gag in the series, representing adult goods repurposed as everyday magic tools. This chapter highlights the clash between high-stakes diplomacy and the absurdity of the shop’s inventory.”
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T/L:
Notes:
• Cecile – A high-ranking, powerful woman in the capital who possesses the authority to regulate business and commerce, particularly concerning moral or public order issues. She is currently investigating Kento’s shop, ‘Harvest.’ Have long golden hair, elegant, and wearing expensive white dress with gold accesories.
• Samoro – A middle-aged Marquis and Prime Minister with a lot of white hair, a magnificent mustache, and luxurious attire. He is a key figure in the court who has supported the Queen since her enthronement.
• Ierse – The Crown Princess and wife of Gilliam, originally from a foreign land. She is described as lively and healthy with a unique charm. She wants to cheer up her husband. Has long haired hair.
• Gilliam – The Crown Prince of the Coalmine Kingdom. He is described as simple and naive, often overwhelmed by his lively wife’s energy. He is stressed by the ongoing war.
• Trantestar – The middle-aged man Archbishop of Canarias and the initiator of the current trial. He is an alleged ally of Kento but remains suspiciously neutral.
• Soi – An old professor from Ajire seminary, the first to raise a question. Looks like wizardly.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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