第６６１堀：計画ができたら上司に報告 (Part1)
### Chapter 661: Reporting to the Boss Once the Plan is Set
**Side: Yuki**
Now that I’ve received Sota-san’s ready consent, I need to run things by my boss before I can set the wheels in motion for establishing this Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
And no, in this case, my "boss" isn't that useless goddess named Luna. It’s the supreme leader of Weed, Her Majesty the Queen—my wife, Seraria.
Usually, I can make decisions on my own, but this is a situation where it would be bad if I didn't clear it with Seraria first. She’s the one who has primarily handled intercontinental relations up until now, and depending on how the diplomacy goes, Weed’s own standing could be put at risk.
Well, it’s like this: the only times I can act on my own authority are during mana depletion or when exercising military force. When diplomacy gets involved, I have to go through Seraria. Even back during the Haiden incident, Princess Carrie and Kagura made sure to go and pay their respects to Seraria properly. If I were to publicly ignore the Queen, it would cause all sorts of problems for Weed.
After all, I’m only about the number two in Weed. If I were any higher, I’d have to manage the entire operation, and I’d die from the stress.
So, going to meet Seraria to discuss work isn't exactly "leisurely," but it is necessary to maintain a situation where I can move easily while utilizing the organization's power to a certain extent. It is absolutely *not* because I want to push the management of Weed onto Seraria so I can slack off. I don’t think I’ve rotted enough to dump my work on my wife just to take it easy.
Thinking about such things, I headed to Seraria’s office.
By the way, Seraria’s office is located in the Weed Government Building. In Japan, it’s only natural for a mayor or similar official to be in a government building, but since this is a medieval European fantasy world, I had thought a castle would be better...
*"We don't need anything so meaningless."*
That’s what Seraria said when she insisted on working out of the government building. Even in Japan, we have the Imperial Palace and the Prime Minister’s Official Residence, after all. Well, I suppose the secret inn that serves as our base in Weed acts as the equivalent of those. The dummy inn has a strict security system, so I guess that’s fine...
It occurs to me now, but is it really okay for an inn to serve as an Imperial Palace or a Prime Minister’s residence?
As I was pondering that...
"Oh? Do you have business with me?"
"Ah, Seraria."
I bumped into her in the hallway of the government building.
"Ah, it’s about the intercontinental exchange. And, uh, about the government building?"
"I understand the intercontinental exchange part, but is the building a problem?"
I brought up my concerns about the Imperial Palace and the Prime Minister’s residence, and she replied...
"The inn is our castle for Weed, isn't it? I think the government building and the inn together represent the unique character of Weed quite well."
"Well, I suppose..."
"Besides, we have a separate guest house for visitors, so there’s no problem at all, is there? And as for defense, the fact that Weed is located inside a dungeon makes it impregnable."
"Hmm. Maybe I was just too hung up on the idea of a castle or something like that."
"Well, I understand the sentiment. To you, Yuki, neither an inn nor a government building feels like anything special or out of the ordinary. But to us, they are bundles of wonder."
Ah, I see. To me, it’s nothing special, but to the people here, it’s a marvel.
"If you really want to build one, we could do a Japanese-style castle? Like Himeji Castle?"
"No, that would be a pain. What about the maintenance costs? Besides, that was a castle built for war, and the interior is incredibly complex, so using it for daily life would be a nightmare."
"Exactly. So, isn't it fine the way it is now?"
"You're right..."
We arrived at the office while chatting.
"Welcome back, Your Majesty. Oh, and Yuki-sama?"
Inside, Quar was organizing documents.
"Yo. Still helping out with paperwork even though you're the Captain of the Royal Guard, huh?"
"Hahaha. Could you please bring in a few more civil officials?"
When I praised her usual versatility, Quar gave a hollow laugh and said that to Seraria...
"It’s a bit late to put anyone other than Quar by my side now. There are many things I’d rather not have known—things about my husband, or matters regarding intercontinental diplomacy."
"Well, that’s true. You can’t just put some inexperienced newcomer in a position like this."
"Most people would think you’ve lost your mind if they saw reports like these."
Quar said that while holding the report I’d submitted earlier regarding the skirmishes with the Mid-Level God faction on the New Continent.
"Well, besides Quar, Eris and Ratz—who have stepped down from their representative roles—are coming here to help, so we’ll manage, won't we?"
"Eris-sama and Ratz-sama’s assistance is certainly helpful, but they can't be away from their own posts forever, can they?"
"Well, that’s true, but if we say that, every department would just say they need more reserve personnel."
"Hmm. So, I suppose we should be grateful that we at least have the help of Eris-sama and Ratz-sama."
"Let’s think of it that way. I understand your point about training successors, Quar, but Weed hasn't even been around for five years yet. It’s still too early to be raising up senior officials..."
"And there’s hardly any history of merit to speak of. Weed itself is extremely peaceful, after all."
"Right. We have to hire people who are steadily and properly working hard, so it’s something to be thankful for that we can utilize Eris and the others. If Yuki hadn't planned to hire slaves and had Mauve and the others buy Eris and the rest back then, who knows what would have happened by now..."
"I don't even want to imagine it."
I probably would have been unable to move, buried under a mountain of paperwork. Heck, it’s even possible that expansion into the If Continent and the New Continent would have been impossible. Well, I had anticipated that managing Weed would be too much for me alone, which is why I bought Eris and the others as slaves and intended to leave the management of Weed to them in the first place.
"Anyway, let’s set aside the lack of personnel. Didn't you have something to discuss regarding intercontinental exchange?"
"Ah, right. That was the main point."
I told Seraria about my proposal to establish a Ministry of Foreign Affairs for all the countries we interact with, including the pros and cons.
"Hmm. I think that’s fine. What do you think, Quar?"
"I think it’s a good idea as well. Even now, Her Majesty is constantly receiving greetings from diplomats from various countries on the Rogari Continent. Most of the morning audiences are taken up by diplomats’ greetings and requests for trade. If we had a Minister of Foreign Affairs to handle all of that, work would become much more efficient."
Overall, their reactions were positive. Well, having less work is always a welcome thing.
"If anything, up until now, we’ve mainly dealt with neighboring countries through personal connections, leaving it to those within our circle. Weed has learned well that this method becomes problematic as the number of countries increases."
"It’s one thing when it’s just a few neighboring countries and a few distant ones, but we’re already dealing with five major powers on Rogari, six on the If Continent, and countless smaller nations. We were dealing with them directly without any buffer. When Yuki-sama mentioned it, I wondered why we hadn't created one sooner."
That couldn't be helped. Even on Earth, while embassies themselves have existed for a very long time, the basic rules for international society—like Ministries of Foreign Affairs and diplomats—only really took shape in the early 1800s, as far as records go. The clear rules were established in the Vienna Convention of 1961–1963, which included various revisions such as the security of diplomats, based on the Vienna Regulations of 1815.