第７１１堀：細々な調整と残りの用事 (Part1)
Chapter 711: Minor Adjustments and Remaining Errands
Side: Yuki
"Oh, you've arrived. Yuki!"
The one who greeted me, for some reason, wasn't Host, the lord of Betan, but Agil from Enaria.
"Yeah. I'm here. But why are you here to greet me?"
"Hm? Are you unhappy that I came to pick you up?"
"No, Agil, you're just beautiful, petite, and cute, so I have no complaints about you personally."
"Fwah!?"
"But this is Betan. It's Weed territory, right? Why is Agil, who belongs to Enaria, here to greet me?"
"Wait, are you trying to seduce me, or are you having a serious conversation? Make up your mind."
"No, what would seducing you accomplish? I simply answered honestly whether you were beautiful, and why does that turn into seduction? So, what happened to Host? I heard that various things were settled at the If Continent conference."
That's right. Host had told me that some preliminary questions regarding the If Continent's Ministry of Foreign Affairs establishment conference had been compiled, and asked me to visit once.
"Tch, it's getting noisy around me if I'm not made a mistress already. Well, I'll take it as a good thing that Yuki has a positive impression of me as a woman. No, it's understandable, considering you've made moves on Asurin and Firia, even if Labyris is another story. As for why I'm here to greet you, Lord Host is currently in a heated meeting with our King and the kings of other nations. That's why I came in his stead. Jessica, Samantha, and Cleena aren't here either."
"Ah, sorry. I had a few things I wanted to ask, so I gathered my wives. So that's why Agil came to greet me."
I couldn't very well ask Agil, who wasn't my wife, about money matters.
"That's right. While it was also an excuse for Lord Host's wife to greet you, we decided it would be better for someone who knows about the conference to come. Of course, the fact that I and Yuki are lovey-dovey is also one of the reasons, right?"
"Yes, yes. So, is the conference so heated that Host can't even come out to greet me?"
"Hmm. Lord Host isn't heated, but the various countries are heated about the If Continent preliminary conference for the establishment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As the chairman, or rather, Yuki's rapporteur, you can't just leave your seat, can you? On the other hand, we can't just take the ones who are heated in the conference... Go, gohon. We can't just take the kings to Weed's main territory without permission."
"I see."
It wouldn't do to send them to Weed without my permission.
I hadn't informed them of my arrival time, and Host couldn't leave his seat.
So, Agil, who knew the situation, came.
That means Noble of Ex and Refest of White Forest can't move freely either.
And the small countries like Hifi and Popuri of the Magic Academy are also out. They aren't in a position to interfere with the conference, and it would be problematic to act as errand runners for other countries.
"I understand. Is everyone at the conference venue?"
"Yes, they are."
"Then, let's go."
With that, we headed towards the conference room prepared in Betan for the If Continent members. On the way, seeing the conference room gave me an idea.
"Ah, that's right. If we use the conference rooms established in each country as a model, there won't be as much confusion."
"Hm? What is it, suddenly?"
"No, we're also talking about building a conference room for intercontinental exchange in Weed's main territory. I was struggling with the design. Then, seeing the conference room in front of me, I thought, instead of being overly elaborate, wouldn't it be better to make it standard to avoid confusion?"
"I see. That might be the case. While unique architecture can be used to showcase a country's technological prowess and authority, it's unnecessary for Weed at this point. And I think a focus on practicality would put the guards at ease."
"Right."
With Agil's agreement, I decided to go with this plan.
And as we were talking, we arrived at the grand conference hall in Betan.
At the entrance, guards were lined up, maintaining a strict security posture.
As we approached, the vigilant soldiers had their hands on their swords, ready to draw, and a figure who appeared to be the captain stepped forward.
However, I didn't recognize this person.
"General Agil. You've returned. And who is the person behind you?"
"Hm? Oh, come on. This is Lord Yuki, the consort of the king of the country providing the venue, and the coordinator of the If Continent Alliance. You are the knights of the Zilba Empire, aren't you? I heard General Steve gave you quite a dressing-down, are you alright?"
"Lord, Lord Yuki!? Bring the list!"
Hmph, even in their panic, they're checking the list properly.
It's a bit much to not know the key figures of intercontinental exchange, but well, they've never handled photographs or anything.
However, is King Zilba not informing them about these matters?
While they were doing that, the captain, who seemed to be in charge of security, checked the list and saluted.
"My apologies!! I never imagined you would come with General Agil without prior notice..."
Ah, that's probably normal.
Even if they look imposing, they'll be wary if they don't align with common sense.
More importantly...
"Didn't Agil say he was coming to pick me up?"
"I thought if I said Lord Yuki was coming, the reception would be overly grand and cause confusion, so I avoided it, but are you displeased?"
Tch, in times like these, he really acts like a general.
"No, that can't be helped. I won't say anything to the Zilba knights either, given their diligence, but it would be good to look at that list carefully and memorize the faces. Well, since some faces look alike, your previous reaction was also understandable."
"Yes! Thank you!!"
After acknowledging them, we stepped into the conference hall.
Inside, there were patrolling soldiers and attending maids, and while it wasn't noisy, they seemed busy.
And it seemed that Betan personnel were in charge of security inside, as they saluted or bowed deeply upon seeing me.
It was quite troublesome to stop them and tell them to get back to work.
Whether they know me or not, it's troublesome...
Ah, that's it. We should create passcards for the related personnel.
It's an application of the guild cards, the ones with photos that Weed uses as identification.
This way, we can prevent suspicious individuals from infiltrating, and if someone does infiltrate, it will be easier to see who facilitated it by looking at the obtained passcard.
It will likely take time to implement this in the conference rooms in various regions, but we should introduce passcards for the first Ministry of Foreign Affairs establishment conference for intercontinental exchange in Weed.
While I was thinking about this plan, we arrived at the heated conference hall.
"First, it's about establishing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right? Discussing which products to export now would be pointless."
"King Ex. You lack a sense of crisis! If you don't push your agenda now, you'll be left behind."