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In other words, the Empire wishes to take down Eusreuk’s foolish king and bring peace to the land. For some reason, being called the Empire gave me the impression that their goal was to unify the continent, but it sounds like they’re more like a coup or a liberation army. That’s if the Empire’s claim can be trusted, that is.

「Did they really believe that statement so easily?」
「It doesn’t particularly appear that way. Marquis Digratoria’s frontier lands―currently the Empire’s entire territory―are said to have strength tempered by the daily struggle with the bordering wildlands. When they sent messengers to the other nations, they sent powerful individuals, leading to the nations deciding to stay observers as they anticipated great losses if a battle broke out.
Based on the rumors, the messengers sent were around the strength of S-rank hunters.」
「That sounds dreadful.」
「An S-rank serves as enough of a deterrent by themselves, after all.」

『If it’s Munyechka as the messenger, I can understand. I wouldn’t want to fight her myself.』
『Munyechka can probably create an army by herself. If it’s someone at the same level as her, even if you defeat them, the damages would be too large to celebrate victory.』

Just as Mia said, an S-rank alone can serve as a strong deterrent. Even I can apparently bring a country to its knees by myself, so with messengers like that, there really isn’t much of a choice but to accept their claim. Otherwise, you could also deem the fact that they sent such a powerful messenger as a declaration of war instead.

If taken as a declaration of war, there’s a chance that the S-rank might thrash wildly in the heart of your capital, so in the end, you still have no choice but to accept them. The best way to avoid this is to not let them into your countries to begin with. Just because they’re a messenger, why did they allow what’s practically a human weapon capable of demolishing entire settlements inside their walls?

Regarding that, I do know of a similar situation having occurred, so I understand why it was probably impossible to stop on their end.

『The empire’s S-rank messenger could be the one Munyechka was talking about.』
『The person who defeated a dragon?』
『Likely so.』

In other words, the countries did not have prior information. That’s why they welcomed the messenger so easily. Considering that several countries received the messenger, the S-rank was likely not *a* singular messenger but multiple individuals. So a full party must have defeated the dragon. Well, dragon slaying would normally be a combined effort, I guess.

I wouldn’t even dream of fighting a dragon alone. It’s only a possibility with Ciel by my side.

「They have that much strength, so why have they still not achieved their goal after all these years?」
「Since they’re also occupied with the wildlands, it’s likely that the manpower they can mobilize is limited. On the other hand, if Digratoria is defeated, Eusreuk will have to deal with the wildlands themselves. If left alone, it may result in the second coming of Estoque’s disaster, perhaps even worse than that, so Eusreuk and the other countries can’t tread lightly.」

And because of the recent stampede outbreak in Estoque, Digratoria’s importance has inevitably increased. I don’t know what kind of people live there, but since they have multiple S-rankers, they should be able to manage even a large-scale monster stampede. And in terms of compatibility, Ciel and I alone are probably capable of quelling one ourselves. As long as I can attract a majority of the monsters, Ciel can handle the rest on her own.

However, since the said wildlands are said to house strong monsters, perhaps there are S-rank monsters there as well. If that’s the case, then quelling it with zero casualties might be difficult.

Anyway, the situation in the south is currently in a delicate equilibrium that could tip one way or the other with the slightest push. It’d be great if they just keep the stalemate going―but that’s being too optimistic, so I’d prefer we don’t go anywhere near it. When will we ever see the oceans of the south?

「And that is why it has become difficult for the other great nations to send children to study abroad. However, there have been a considerable number of students from the small western nations.」
「Is that so?」
「It wasn’t particularly important, which is why you weren’t taught about them. Some of the famous ones are the Elf and Dwarf Kingdoms.」
「I did notice an elf student.」
「As long-lived races, they don’t particularly produce children every year, so just having students from them is rare enough. Anyhow, the high nobles of the smaller nations have around the same level of influence as the lesser nobles of the four great nations.」

Which is why we don’t need to be concerned about them. How cruel. But that’s just how the world is, I suppose.

「I understand it better now. Thank you, Mia. By the way, have you found the medicinal herbs?」

Giving my thanks, my next question then caused Mia to have a troubled look. It seems like she stopped searching while we had our conversation. While that may be normal to do, for Mia’s training, I really hope that she eventually becomes capable of looking for herbs while maintaining a conversation.

After that, I switched with Ciel, and we continued our tasks.