I Didn't Want to Become the Emperor of This World

Chapter 179 : Chapter 179

Scrape— Thud!When Ronak returned to the banquet hall, Lord Harak smiled and offered him a cup of wine.

“Haha, where did you go? I wanted to have a drink with you, Sir Ronak.”

“I went to the bathroom.”

“Ah, I see. Haha… I’ll pour you a drink.”

As he spoke, Harak held out a wine bottle as if asking to be poured a drink as well.

Ronak took the bottle and roughly poured him a drink.

“Well then, cheers!”

“Mhm.”

Clink—.

Even as the two drank, the banquet hall was bustling. Food and wine continued to be brought into the hall.

After surveying the banquet hall for a moment, Ronak asked Harak.

“That woman who was sitting over there earlier.”

“A woman? Ah, do you mean the woman in the red dress? Lady Loa?”

“Is her name ‘Loa’?”

Although Ronak already knew Loa’s name, he pretended not to know.

“Yes, it’s ‘Loa.’ She is the daughter of the Grand Lord. Why do you ask?”

“I was just curious.”

Ronak said briefly and then picked up the wine bottle and drank it whole. Seeing that, Harak’s eyes lit up.

‘This pirate-like bastard seems to have taken a liking to Loa.’

It was understandable. Loa could be said to be the most beautiful woman in the Jerpan Archipelago.

In this land famous for its many beauties, for him to take a liking to the most beautiful among them was not strange.

After all, Harak himself was very fond of Loa’s looks and had been making various advances.

Though it wasn't a pure emotion like love.

‘Hmm, perhaps this could be a good opportunity. A good opportunity to make the Plank Kingdom careless.’

Thinking, Harak continued in a slightly more serious tone.

“By the way, since the Plank Kingdom has sent an envoy like this, I think we should also reciprocate.”

“Reciprocate?”

“Yes. Since you have sent an envoy, it would be good for our mutual face if we also sent an envoy, and since you sent an envoy first, we would like to give you a gift in return.”

“An envoy and a gift…”

Ronak’s gaze blurred for a fleeting moment as he thought quickly.

‘The purpose of sending an envoy and a gift would be twofold. One, to somehow convey that they have no intention of starting a war, and two, to make us careless by taking a low posture.’

When it came down to it, there was only one intention.

To make the Plank Kingdom careless.

‘My King will not be careless anyway, so I should seize this opportunity.’

“That’s a good idea. I was about to suggest something similar.”

“Were you? Hahahaha! Perhaps you and I think alike, Sir Ronak. Our names are similar too. Just in case, may I ask if you are originally from the Jerpan Archipelago?”

“My mother was from the Jerpan Archipelago.”

“Ah! As expected! In fact, I had a feeling as soon as I saw you. Your features, your aura, haha!”

Nonsense. Ronak did not know his parents’ origins.

They had passed away when he was too young, so he didn't even remember their faces, let alone their origins.

‘Since I’ve played along, I should get to the point.’

Ronak recalled the note from Loa he had swallowed earlier.

‘That lady wants peace. Probably. And for that peace, I need to have her and the King meet.’

“So, about that envoy.”

“Ah, yes.”

“How about sending that woman named Loa as the envoy? Since she is the Grand Lord’s daughter, she has symbolic significance—.”

As Ronak was speaking.

Clap!

Harak clapped his hands with a smile, as if it was what he had been hoping for.

“I will prepare it that way. Lady Loa as the envoy.”

“Can you decide that so easily?”

“Of course. I may not look it, but I am a man who has the Grand Lord’s infinite trust. And the Grand Lord will also permit his daughter to be sent as an envoy for the sake of exchange with the Plank Kingdom and future ‘peace.’”

“Mhm.”

“However, since we are sending a woman far away, we will probably send knights and soldiers with her. As an escort.”

At the word ‘escort,’ Ronak frowned slightly.

“‘Escort’? Do you not trust us?”

Ronak’s voice, mixed with a very slight murderous intent and displeasure.

At that voice, Harak’s body stiffened without him realizing it. Even though Harak had been on many battlefields, Ronak’s murderous intent was formidable.

Even though it was only a very small part of his murderous intent.

Still, Harak somehow maintained his smile.

“……Haha, that’s not it. It’s just that we can’t leave a woman alone with unfamiliar men for a long time. It may not be the case in the Plank Kingdom, but we in the Jerpan Archipelago are very particular about such things.”

While smiling and speaking, Harak was thinking something else.

‘I must send knights and soldiers to check the military strength of the Plank Kingdom. The weather, the people, whether the road to the kingdom’s capital is well-maintained, and so on.’

That’s right. Harak’s ulterior motive was to make the entire envoy sent to the Plank Kingdom consist of spies.

But Harak was already in the palm of Ronak’s hand.

‘The reason this man wants to send knights and soldiers with her is to spy on our kingdom.’

At that thought, Ronak gave a very subtle, sneering smile.

‘You never know what might happen at sea. If all those knights and soldiers fall into the deep sea, there will be no evidence or witnesses left.’

Even though he had never attacked ordinary civilians, Ronak was a former ‘pirate.’

And a pirate who had created a great pirate crew that ruled the southern seas of the Plank Kingdom on his own.

To such a Ronak, there was nothing he couldn't do at sea. Although he was a knight now, his essence was that of a pirate, so he had no particular aversion to using ‘evil methods’ that ordinary knights would not.

‘That’s also the reason for the existence of the ‘King’s Bandit Army.’’

“If there is such a culture in the Jerpan Archipelago, I will respect it. My King also told me to respect the culture and laws of the Jerpan Archipelago as much as possible.”

A lie. Leonardo had not said a single word about respecting the Jerpan Archipelago.

The reason he was saying such honeyed words was—.

‘What I’m doing now is diplomacy.’

Although Ronak had never read a book, as a pirate and a member of the bandit army, he had conducted various negotiations and threats, so diplomacy was not difficult for him.

Unaware of Ronak's thoughts, Harak smiled cheerfully.

“Haha! Thank you for your understanding. Well then, since we've finished the headache-inducing talk, I will take my leave. It seems the special gift I prepared for you has also arrived.”

“A gift you prepared for me? What is—.”

Ronak was asking when he realized the existence of the gift Harak had prepared.

It was the five or six women who were entering the banquet hall.

‘As expected, he called women. Whether it’s the Plank Kingdom or the Jerpan Archipelago, nobles always bring women to negotiation tables.’

Of course, there were no such nobles in the Plank Kingdom anymore.

Leonardo had purged them all.

‘Honestly, I don't like it, but… it’s probably best to just play along with the mood for now.’

Finishing his thoughts, Ronak deliberately showed Harak a smile.

“A fine gift. You know a thing or two.”

“Hahahaha! I told you! That you and I have something in common!”

Harak stood up from his seat and moved a little away, saying.

“Then I hope you have a pleasant time. If there is a woman you like, I will give her to you as a gift to take to the Plank Kingdom, so please be sure to tell me.”

“I will.”

At Ronak's reply, Harak nodded in satisfaction.

‘His appearance is that of a pirate, and he came as an envoy, so I had my doubts, but he’s just an empty-headed fool after all. Look at him, laughing his head off after being treated a little well. It’s funny how he’s happy without even knowing I’ve gotten everything I wanted.’

Harak returned to his seat. He then organized his thoughts while drinking water.

‘If I send the Grand Lord’s daughter to the Plank Kingdom, from their perspective, they will never imagine that we would start a war. In addition, if we send a woman as the envoy representative, we can give the impression that we are weak. And if… if by any chance something happens to Loa while she is in the Plank Kingdom as an envoy, we can also gain justification to start a war. If something happens to Loa while she is an envoy, the knights and soldiers will also be enraged.’

No.

There’s a better way.

‘I can just kill the Grand Lord’s daughter myself, can’t I? And then I can frame the Plank Kingdom for it. After all, the dead can’t speak.’

Grin—.

Harak gave a lecherous smile.

‘I should give my loyal followers who will go with Loa as envoys a chance to have some fun.

A chance to play with the unparalleled beauty Loa as they please and then kill her.’

He would have to think about how to harm Loa and frame the Plank Kingdom for it.

But framing someone was an easy task for Harak.

Having also experienced over a decade of war, Harak was proficient in various schemes and intrigues.

‘But of course, I won’t tell the Grand Lord all of my plan. I’ll just say that I’m sending Loa, a woman and the Grand Lord’s daughter, as an envoy to make the Plank Kingdom careless. No matter how much the Grand Lord wants war, he would never permit his own daughter to be killed.’

Thus, Harak was plotting a truly cruel and terrifying scheme.

A scheme to deceive his own lord, his kingdom's people, and even another country.

Whether it would work on Leonardo— on the — was unknown.

Perhaps it would be settled at Ronak’s level without even reaching Leonardo.

***

Ten days since Ronak arrived in the Jerpan Archipelago as an envoy.

Soldiers and laborers were carefully moving heavy boxes onto Ronak’s ship, which was docked at the port.

Busily, from early in the morning.

—Hey! Be careful with that! It’s valuable!

—Hey, which bastard put this box here! I told you to be careful because what’s inside is fragile!

—Come on, move quickly! We’re setting sail in two hours!

The ones shouting at the soldiers and laborers were the knights of the Jerpan Archipelago.

And the boxes that the soldiers and laborers were loading onto the Plank envoys’ ship were ‘gifts.’

Gifts sent by the Jerpan Archipelago in return for the Plank Kingdom sending an envoy.

Loa was watching the soldiers and laborers loading the boxes onto the Plank ship from a short distance away.

‘I didn’t expect Father to permit me to go as an envoy…’

Two days ago, Loa had received a letter from her father.

Since the Plank Kingdom had sent an envoy first, she, as the daughter of the Grand Lord, was to go as an envoy in return.

She didn't know why her father had suddenly decided to send her as an envoy, but Loa didn't think it was a bad thing.

If she went to the Plank Kingdom herself as an envoy, she would be able to meet the King of Plank, and then she might be able to stop the war.

‘The only thing that bothers me is… that Lord Harak’s knights and soldiers are coming along as my escort.’

Loa did not trust Lord Harak’s knights and soldiers. Although they were allies, Lord Harak himself was an opportunist.

Even in the ‘Era of the Broken Crown,’ Lord Harak did not bat an eye at sacrificing his allies to get what he wanted.

‘I would have been more at ease if the knights and soldiers of our family had gone with me…’

Still, what was important was to go to the Plank Kingdom first.

—As Loa was thinking that.

“Haha, Lady Loa. You look unhappy, are you nervous?”

The man she was uncomfortable talking to, Lord Harak, approached with his characteristic sneering smile.

“Ah… Lord Harak. Yes, I’m a little nervous.”

“It’s understandable, since you’re going as an envoy. If it were up to me, I would go myself, but I have a lot of work to do here.”

“Hoho… yes. Did you come to see me off?”

“Yes. And I also came to give you this letter. It is a letter from the Grand Lord.”

“A letter from my father?”

“Yes. It is a letter that arrived urgently this morning.”

“Hmm… I see.”

Loa took the letter her father had given Harak and checked it.

‘This is…’

To Loa,

I will keep it short.

Loa, first and foremost, your safety is the most important thing. Always keep that in mind.

I have already spoken with Lord Harak, but the purpose of sending you as an envoy this time is not simply to have an exchange with the Plank Kingdom.

It is to ascertain the military strength of the Plank Kingdom.

Lord Harak’s knights and soldiers will also go as envoys and ascertain the military strength of the Plank Kingdom, but I trust your eyes more than anyone else’s.

I truly trust you more than anyone.

Ascertain the military strength of the Plank Kingdom to the best of your ability and return.

You may not like it, but we have already decided to invade the Plank Kingdom. For the prosperity of our family and the Jerpan Archipelago.

It is a direction that has already been decided, so I trust that you will also trust and follow this father of yours.

Lastly, I will emphasize it again.

Safety, and again, safety. Aeris will be with you, so there shouldn't be any major problems, but be especially careful of men.

I hear that the envoys from the Plank Kingdom have a barbaric appearance like pirates or bandits, so I am worried that something might happen to you, who has only interacted with the gentlemen of the Jerpan Archipelago.

I will be looking forward to the excellent information and strategies you will bring back.

Your father.

Crumple—.

As soon as she finished reading, Loa’s hand clenched.

‘…I didn’t expect him to be so blatant about telling me to spy on them since we’re going to war. At least to me.’

Loa bit her cherry-red lips.

Her respect and trust for her father were cracking irreparably.

‘But… it’s actually for the better. If I show this to the King of Plank, I can clearly state my father’s intentions—.’

As Loa was thinking.

Snatch—!

Harak snatched the letter she was holding.

Loa couldn't even react to the sudden action.

“What is this?! How dare you take my father’s letter—!”

“The Grand Lord told me. To dispose of the letter after you have confirmed it.”

“…My father said that?”

“Yes. This is not just a letter between a father and daughter, but an order from the Grand Lord to an envoy. A military secret, you could say.”

“……”

“My lady, I believe you have understood the Grand Lord’s orders well. Then I will go and see the envoys from the Plank Kingdom.”

Harak headed for the Plank ship with a leisurely stride.

Watching Harak’s back and the Plank ship, Loa’s heart was heavy.

‘…Can I stop this war?’

If she couldn't.

‘How can I make it so that even one less person dies…?’