11. Special Diplomatic Affairs
It was one morning a week later that I left for the desert with the name tag of a special diplomat.
The entire envoy totaled 50 people.
The princess led the group, and the prince accompanied her. Essential imperial officials from the necessary departments were present, as well as members of each knight order.
The total number of people invited as special diplomats to the desert, including myself, was five. One of them, of course, was Peridot.
“Young lady, do you think the seeds you’ve developed will take root in the desert?”
“Isn’t that what we were all hoping for?”
“Ah, yes, yes. It is.”
“Let’s just hope that this time the seeds will succeed. Please refrain from asking such things.”
“Yes, yes, I understand!”
Such a conversation could be heard from Peridot’s seat.
I wondered what they were talking about, so I looked up at Lacius, and he explained in a low voice.
“I heard that since it’s difficult to cultivate crops that require a lot of water in the desert and they can’t produce even the most basic grains themselves, they made an agreement with the plant research department of the Terran imperial family to solve this problem a few years ago.”
“I see.”
I thought they were only studying flowers, so this was a surprise. Regardless of whether I like or dislike Peridot, that kind of research is cool. However, that admiration disappeared in a second.
Peridot, who happened to meet my eyes, turned her head away as if she couldn’t bear to look at me even for a second.
‘That woman really—!’
Does she think I enjoyed making eye contact with her? I snorted in disbelief.
If there was anything else that was slightly surprising about this delegation, it was the inclusion of Daphne.
‘She’s going to the desert?’
As I boarded the official imperial plane, I glanced over at Daphne, who was seated near the back.
There was something about her expression that kept drawing my attention.
‘Though it’s better than her gloomy face, there’s something weird about it. What is it?’
Apart from me, the royal officials who had joined the ride were also eyeing Daphne. Some seemed genuinely interested, while others showed only mild curiosity.
Most of the others have a look in their eyes saying, ‘Who is she, why is she riding with us?’
Daphne, seemingly unaware of this, continued to look around the plane, constantly fidgeting.
‘Well whatever, as long as she’s fine.’
There must be a reason she was one among the fifty. It’s unlikely the princess randomly chose someone, and maybe it was a suggestion from the emperor’s side to bring her along.
Perhaps Daphne’s father exerted some influence?
“We’re departing.”
Before long, the enormous plane ascended slowly.
The official plane of the imperial family was, as expected, immense in size. It was considerably larger than the one I purchased to travel to Evershal and Lacius’ private plane.
50 people sat comfortably, and even though each group kept their distance from one another, there was still plenty of room.
“We’re ascending to a higher altitude!”
Maybe that’s why three pilots were operating this plane.
Dressed in pristine white uniforms, their appearances were quite impressive, with two of them being men and one a woman.
“It takes seven hours to reach the Desert Country, right?”
“That’s right.”
“It will be quite a long journey.”
Even within this setting, Lacius seemed to be embracing his duties as if it were natural.
As I looked at the high seat where the nobles sat, the princess was already tirelessly fiddling with her quill.
It was hard to tell if she even knew what it meant to rest, but she was setting an example nonetheless.
‘I’m bored.’
I don’t want to work. I don’t want to work hard.
However, the time passing by without doing anything seemed too boring.
While idly tapping my fingers on the table, my eyes inadvertently met the prince’s. He was diligently jotting something down beside his busy sister. Catching my gaze, he displayed a slightly embarrassed expression.
‘He must’ve really liked his older sister, but perhaps feels pathetic comparing himself to her?’
His gaze reveals his feelings.
I rolled my eyes and looked the other way, out of consideration for the embarrassed prince.
It so happened that I ended up looking at Peridot. Given the seating arrangement, there was no helping it.
‘What?’
Peridot was gazing at the prince with a composed expression. If you ask me if there’s any affection in that gaze, the answer would be a clear no.
More like a predator eyeing her prey—a prey that was going to be saved for later because she didn’t need it right now.
Like that of a cold-blooded animal, something was disturbing about Peridot’s gaze
‘Well, this is going to be very interesting.’
Perhaps due to my frequent encounters with the princess, I was starting to resemble her temperamentally.
The glances and gazes continued to be exchanged within the plane, as well as the murmured conversations. And before I knew it, I fell asleep while listening to the sound of Lacius writing with his quill.
* * *
Land of the Heathen.
The Desert Country consisted of a total of eleven clans.
While there was no unified king, the concept of being one country arose from their shared traditions.
Lakurum. The leaders of each tribe led their respective groups, and none dared challenge their authority.
To them, the 1st* Lakurum, the chief, was a sacred being. Also, being the son of the chieftain did not mean that he would become the next great chieftain.
*(The 1st here means rank, like the top 1.)
The chieftain’s children are called princesses and princes, but that is only until the chieftain is in the chieftain’s position. Those who led them had to be the strongest warriors, so the position of the next great Lakurum was open to everyone equally.
That is, through the warrior test and traditional festival ‘Lakurum’.
Of the eleven clans, the most powerful are the Kun and the Ram.
The red-eyed ‘Kun’ clan was a group of warriors who regarded falcons as sacred and served and raised them.
Among the Kun, the only people who are not warriors are children.
They regarded dying in battle as the most honorable death, and fleeing in battle was regarded as a disgrace.
‘If you lose, don’t come back.’
These were the words of a mother from the Kun clan to her daughter and a father to his son.
On the other hand, the ‘Ram’ clan was a little different from the ‘Kun’ clan.
The ratio of warriors to non-warriors was more balanced, and they highly valued material possessions.
‘Since we are born, we must enjoy it.’
This was the phrase that summarized the Ram clan.
In fact, it was the immense benefits of being a Lakurum within the clan that drove people from the Ram clan to become warriors.
The other clans also had their own characteristics. However, among them, only these two have developed into major cities, centered around the largest oasis.
“…Therefore, within the period of Lakurum, we will spend about three days visiting the Ram clan and another three days residing within the territory of the Kun clan.”
