novelDawn of Peace (False)
| ← Ch.526 | Ch.528 → |
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
"... We could actually try talking things out. For example, the possibility of the undead coexisting with the living, the future of the Tark Republic, the fact that I have a wonderful world of my own you could use where there's no conflict whatsoever..."
I wasn't lying to Conservation at all when I'd told her this earlier. Not only had I considered the possibility of making a peace agreement with the undead Tark Republic, I even considered giving the undead enough land of their own for an entire "dimension".
"The Land of Spring. This land isn't a part of Eich, but no matter if it's population, future potential, or resources, it's in no way inferior to Eich at all."
That was right, now that a new Cycle of Reincarnation had begun replacing the old, then it would be far too much of a waste to have the Land of Spring remain as simply a sub-dimension of Hell. Since the Titans were now the guardians of that land, they gained the power of Creation there and allowed the Land of Spring to freely develop. The Land of Spring was now more than one hundred times larger than when it'd been created seven years ago.
The Land of Spring had the favor of its Creator. It also had "hard-working" guardians working on its construction, and all sorts of Gods of various Divine Concepts. However, the Gods there followed the divine law of Hell that they wouldn't directly interfere with the mortals' world. Thanks to the God of Four Seasons, making it so that all four seasons were like spring there was quite an easy task. In that magical world, it was also quite easy to have artificial rain and perfect wind whenever desired to help the crops. Thanks to such factors, agricultural crops were produced at a ridiculous pace. It would be no exaggeration to say that watermelons larger than pigs were quite common.
From a certain standpoint, since the climate was perfect and the soil was fertile, and even the crops' growth was a number that could be easily modified, how much land could be developed would depend on how daring people were.
The Land of Spring had been originally intended as a makeshift Noah's Ark to escape from Armageddon in. But now that Hell had been successfully established, the Land of Spring became a paradise land. Even I hadn't expected that this land would develop to such a degree with Wumianzhe ruling and the True Gods seriously working.
"... It's truly such a pity. If it wasn't for that damned Holy War, just how much could Eich have developed over the millennia... ?"
[... So it's all my fault?]
Back when I'd received the report on the Land of Spring's progress, I made such an offhand comment, which caused Astrya to ignore me for two full months. She had remained abnormally silent for all that time.
Even though Hell's new Cycle of Reincarnation sent the reincarnated newborns directly into the Land of Spring, and even though this new world was growing at an exponential rate, it still wasn't enough. First of all, a slow and long growth period would be required before all the newborns would mature into adult workforce. Countless parents would also be needed to look after them... Although this sounded ridiculous, since the population ratio in the Land of Spring was tilted far too much in favor of newborns right now, taking care of all the children became one of the most important jobs in the Land of Spring, making the already insufficient amount of adult workforce even more lacking.
A brand-new world would require a limitless amount of new population. Helping residents from Eich to immigrate to the Land of Spring was something on my to-do list already.
"Even the undead have desires. Don't tell me that you're here in Eich's mortal plane for a simple vacation."
I played a memory crystal for Conservation, showing her the ever-expanding Land of Spring. These were all real scenes as it would be impossible to fake anything in front of an existence as powerful as Conservation.
"I can understand what the Senators of your Tark Republic wish for. But, could you please consider the possibility of coexisting peacefully... ?"
In the end, the great majority of warfare in the world would be for the sake of the country or the people's benefits. Bastards who started wars over personal grudges or ambitions would either be tyrants or idiots, and would typically meet a gruesome end.
The Senators of the Tark Republic were no idiots. I had already learned from Aso's memories that the various Senators all had different ways of thinking. Some Senators hoped to return to the mortal plane, while others were completely content with living in the Death Planes. And, I also knew that Conservation was part of the neutral faction, and had only joined the "return to Eich" undead faction due to Aso's invitation.
And, returning to the mortal plane, to the extent of even stirring up bloodshed and warfare, wasn't simply for the sake of obtaining flesh and souls like most people thought. That way of thinking would be an insult to an Undead Emperor.
While large amounts of flesh and souls would indeed be useful to regular low-level and high-level undead, Undead Emperors would never lack for flesh and souls as resources. To them, such resources were limitless since if they needed more, they only needed to send subordinates to gather flesh and blood for them. It wasn't only demons that attacked and conquered entire planes, after all.
"... I respect everyone's loyalty and belief in the Tark Republic. But, the very concept of a republic is about the power being held by the people, isn't it? Why is it necessary for us to fight to the death?"
That was right. The Undead Emperors who weren't interested in returning to Eich could be called the practical faction as well. In that case, the Undead Emperors like Aso who desired to return, even if it meant warring against the Gods, were actually a bunch of idealists who were the biggest patriots of the Tark Republic.
"If we of the Tark Republic are scattered amongst the countless Death Planes, allowing us to gradually age and reach the end throughout the long ages, who will still remember the Tark Republic after millions of years? Who will remember our seniors who developed the Tark Republic for us in the frontier age?"
This was quite a real worry as there was no such thing in the world as an eternal kingdom. Even after the Tark Republic's destruction, the Senators's still being able to keep in loose contact with each other was only because of the unique nature of the flourishing undead magic in the Tark Republic at the time. Seeing how many Undead Emperors were no longer interested in returning, many of the original ancient Senators were no longer loyal to the former Tark Republic. And, even more common was that many of the original Senators had already perished for various reasons.
Any country and people's inheritance would require the new to replace the old. The old would always disappear one day, and the new generation would always replace the old. Aso and the other Undead Emperors naturally understood such simple logic. But in their eyes, there was only one path for reviving the Tark Republic...
"... It's a beautiful dream to revive the Tark Republic, but it doesn't have to be revived in Eich. The Land of Spring has plenty of empty land that's more than sufficient for you all to reconstruct a grand new Tark Republic. I can even open it and allow immigration so that you can have new citizens that are living."
The conditions I offered would be exactly what the "Return Faction" Undead Emperors wanted most. They believed that the only possibility for reviving the Tark Republic was to conquer a land of the living, and then absorb the living into its own ranks to teach and continue the Tark Republic's past inheritances, culture, spirit, and knowledge. That would revive the ancient Tark Republic in the mortal plane once more, causing these still waters which hadn't stirred for millennium to start flowing once more.
Meanwhile, my suggestion to immigrate to my Land of Spring would complete the revival of the Tark Republic in a different way. The main difference would merely be that it wouldn't be revived in the world of Eich.
My suggestion caused Conservation to fall silent as this matter was far too serious. Even she had to seriously consider the possibility of what I suggested.
Even though only an ethereal soul version of Conservation should have been before me, I could still sense the fearsome energy emanating from her flesh and blood body's warmth. Of course, I could also sense her frightening stubbornness and obsession that would come with any peak undead.
Even after tens of thousands of years, the Return Faction still hadn't forgotten the past glory of their destroyed country. Even if they had to war against the entire world, the Return Faction still wanted to breathe new life into their culture and inheritance. They were truly impressive, and I also respected their ideals. I had also previously seriously considered the possibility of us coexisting with the undead Tark Republic. The only reason why I had never made the offer before was because I already knew how they would answer...
"Stop the war? To be honest, I don't like war, either. And, I can sense that everything you say is the truth. But regrettably, your suggestion won't be accepted no matter what. Nobody can stop the Tark Republic's revival. My arrival is only the beginning."
Conservation's calm words were backed up by an iron determination. It was just as I'd thought. Use words to stop the war between the undead and the living? They weren't even open for negotiation in the first place.
When a country was already prepared for total war, with all its industry and citizens prepared for war as well, it would be like a speeding train at top speed. It would be impossible to stop just because someone said so. This time, a total of thirteen Undead Emperors from the neutral and Return Factions had participated in the plan to invade Eich and revive the Tark Republic. Since they were all working to revive the Tark Republic, and this tremendous plan had been accepted by all their undead citizens, even an Undead Emperor telling everyone to stop would be unable to stop all the others.
The undead's war against the Bardi Empire was still continuing. A different Undead Emperor was commanding the undead armies there. This would be no Undead Calamity like what I caused last time. This was an all-out interdimensional war that would only continue to escalate.
No matter how wonderful my offer sounded or what I offered them, there would always be an issue of how trustworthy the offer would be. Who could guarantee that there wouldn't be new and even stronger enemies in the new land I was offering them? (Fine, I admit that I was indeed scamming her by not mentioning the Titans in this. ) Or, perhaps this new land would turn out to be impossible to develop.
And the most important of all, any agreements made right before a battle would always be the quickest to be broken. Only an agreement made between a victor and a loser would be the most solid. Since the Return Faction was in no losing position currently, and they could obtain their country's revival simply through the use of brute force, why would they rely on the living's generosity and "kind offer?"
"... If I agree to your conditions, then what has Aso sacrificed himself for?"
Alright then, should I say that it was to be expected of emotional women? Even though I had already expected that she would reject me, I indeed hadn't taken this reason into consideration.
"If war could be ended so easily, then what does that mean for the people that were previously sacrificed? Heh, this is such a familiar way of thinking. But, I don't believe that Aso would wish for this war to continue..."
Alright then, the next instant, I felt an overwhelming raw killing intent. It would seem that women were quite unreasonable indeed. Only she could mention her dead lover Aso's name, but I was forbidden from doing so.
"It's been so difficult to achieve this much already. For the sake of those who have already been sacrificed, we absolutely must obtain something that will allow their spirits to rest in peace."
Although I could understand it, I absolutely hated this way of thinking. It was precisely this seemingly romantic way of thinking that both sides in war would never be satisfied with what they already had. Whenever two sides fought, there would always be sacrifices and losses. As long as somebody remained unsatisfied, the war would continually escalate with the final goal becoming bigger and bigger.
By the end, even if a final victor was determined, the victor would likely obtain nothing but a large stretch of land reduced to rubble. Both sides would have sustained serious losses. As for controlling the size and scale of the war? Haha. All the people who'd started previous World Wars back on Earth had probably thought that way at first as very few people would set their sights on conquering the entire world from the very start.
"War always claims to be in the name of justice, but it never has anything to do with real justice."
That was the way that I always thought. Perhaps that was the greatest irony. A war criminal like me who had started countless wars knew better than anyone the evils of war. But even though I hated wars more than anyone, I was still scheming for the next war and dealing with this annoying war before me. And, no matter how dirty the tactics, or how unseemly the methods, I would need to win all these damned wars.
"As expected, I deserve to be in Hell."
But right now, no matter how dissatisfied I was, I had no intentions of questioning Conservation meaninglessly. Since the Undead Emperors had made up their mind already, no matter what I said, it would all be wasted.
I hated wasting my effort. If it wasn't necessary, I wouldn't have even said all I had already.
"In that case, please accept this small generous present from me. Perhaps you can show this to the other Undead Emperors."
Although Conservation rejected my offer to negotiate, that didn't mean that this would all be useless. Although it was impossible to stop the war right now, once the battle was finally over, both sides would finally be meeting on the negotiation table. At that time, the relationship I'd established and plan I'd mentioned would be of great use.
It would likely take both sides being tired of this war, with enough having died, for negotiation and my idea to be truly considered.
"That I can do for you."
And so, Conservation accepted a beautiful elven style golden box from me. When she opened the box, she saw seven brilliant crystals glimmering on top of an expensive deep red cloth. She then spoke up once again.
"Now then, we should talk about the main issue at hand..."
Should I make a comment here that a country's matters and warfare were all small issues to women, and that the relationship between a man and a woman was the most important? It seemed that she had patiently listened to my negotiation offer all for the sake of hearing Aso's final words.
"Aso's dying message? That's also within this box."
When I saw how Conservation's steady arm began to tremble, to the extent where all the color surrounding her suddenly seemed to diminish in brightness, it was evident that even a supremely powerful Undead Emperor like her had shown weakness due to emotion. I closed my eyes and sighed helplessly.
"... I choose you! Treasure chest mimic Harloys! Activate it."
| ← Ch. 526 | Ch. 528 → |