Chapter 324 - Episode 316: Border Demarcation
The cold had eased slightly, and mid-February had arrived, marking the end of the period known as midwinter. In the conference room of the manor, Noein was welcoming guests from the Kingdom of Lancel.
"It has been a long time, Your Excellency Arqvist. I sincerely apologize for visiting so soon after the end of winter."
"It has been a while, Baron Barthelemy. I understand that your country is in a hurry regarding this matter, so please, do not let it concern you."
Noein responded with a smile to the greeting of Clovis Barthelemy, who had once faced Noein on the battlefield of the southwestern border and now served as the liaison with the Arqvist territory via the Bezel Great Forest Road.
Barthelemy took a seat opposite Noein, and several bureaucrats accompanying him sat to his left and right.
On Noein's side, alongside Matilda serving as secretary, were Yuri, the close military aide, Bart, the foreign affairs officer, and Anna, the representative of the civil officials. Several members of the Guard, including Pence, were also present in the room as security.
"I am grateful... First, including some personal news, there is one thing I would like to inform you of."
"Personal news?"
"Yes. Actually... the area at the northeastern edge of the Kingdom of Lancel, which had been under the provisional direct control of Her Majesty Queen Anrietta Lancel since the civil war, has now officially become a crown land. Along with this, I have been promoted to Viscount and appointed as the governor of this crown land."
Hearing this, Noein raised an eyebrow slightly, showing surprise.
"Congratulations. It was a mistake for me to call you 'Baron' Barthelemy just now; my apologies."
"Thank you. Since the request for a ceasefire three years ago, I have strived to hold discussions with Your Excellency as an envoy of Her Majesty Anrietta, and it seems that the trust we built has been evaluated. Truly, I cannot thank Your Excellency enough."
Viscount Barthelemy smiled cheerfully as he spoke.
He had once spoken of "making the Barthelemy name known," and through a strange series of connections with Noein, he had obtained the great role of governor of a strategic crown land, greatly increasing his presence within the Kingdom of Lancel. It was only natural that he had become so affable.
"My position has changed slightly, but as I informed you in the advance notice, the purpose of this visit... the discussions regarding the border demarcation between the Kingdom of Lancel and the Archduchy of Arqvist remains unchanged. I look forward to our proceedings today."
The purpose of Viscount Barthelemy's visit was to hold a meeting with Noein to decide how much of the Bezel Great Forest Road would be under the management of the Archduchy and from where the Kingdom of Lancel's management would begin, prior to the independence of the Archduchy of Arqvist. For Noein, this was effectively a discussion to define his country's western border line.
Until now, it had been left ambiguous, but currently, the domestic situations of both sides had stabilized, and they had the leeway to address it. If that were the case, while the unexplored forest parts were one thing, they could not leave the Bezel Great Forest Road, where people actually traveled, without a strict boundary line.
"Yes, I look forward to it. Please go easy on me."
"Hahaha, if possible, I would like to be the one using that phrase. I cannot imagine that an ordinary man like myself could match a wise person such as Your Excellency in a discussion."
Despite such conversation, the expressions of Noein and Viscount Barthelemy remained calm.
Noein had a certain expected compromise in mind for this border demarcation meeting, and since the opponent possessed a properly functioning brain, he had a kind of trust that the other party likely held similar expectations. Neither believed that the discussions would become extremely difficult.
"Then, for the time being, may I hear Your Excellency Arqvist's intentions?"
"Yes. As for the House of Arqvist, we would like the border line to be drawn at a point fifteen kilometers west of the eastern edge of the Bezel Great Forest... that is, from the border between the Archduchy of Arqvist and the Kingdom of Roadberg."
Originally, the territory of the Arqvist lands was defined as the range equal to the depth of the Koenitz territory within the Bezel Great Forest that bordered the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Roadberg, as well as the area from the mid-slope downwards of the Lestio Mountains adjacent to it.
The east-west width had not been formally decided, but he had received an unofficial opinion from the royal family that "a territory equal to the north-south length would be appropriate," and that had served as a provisional guideline.
In other words, the current area of the Arqvist territory was approximately fifteen kilometers square. Though, of that, the parts touched by human development—such as the territorial capital Noeina, the mining village Kilde, the Aspida fortress, and the pioneer villages—remained limited to about one-quarter on the northeastern side.
The border line for the Archduchy that Noein presented was simply the application of the current Arqvist territory's boundaries.
"Hmm, fifteen kilometers east-to-west... As for our country, I wonder if it would be better for the Archduchy of Arqvist to have another three, no, perhaps five kilometers more to the west. With Your Excellency's capabilities, the Archduchy will surely continue to achieve great development. Would it not be better to have as much room for pioneering as possible?"
"Thank you for the excessive praise. However, thinking realistically, I believe fifteen kilometers east-to-west is the appropriate range for the territory of the Archduchy of Arqvist. If I were greedy and held more land than I could handle, it might instead cause trouble for our neighbors."
Even as he said this, Noein was not refusing Viscount Barthelemy's proposal out of mere humility.
Territory is not something that is better simply because it is wide. There are disadvantages to being large. In the case of the Archduchy of Arqvist, the wider the territory extended to the west, the longer the Bezel Great Forest Road that they would have to manage under their own responsibility would become.
A road exists now, but originally, the depths of the Bezel Great Forest were a magical realm where powerful monsters dwelt, making it difficult for humans to even reach.
To maintain a trade route in such a place, one must frequently patrol the surroundings of the road and continue to ensure safety by hunting monsters. It was not as if the House of Arqvist would be held responsible just because monsters appeared on a road within their territory, but if rumors spread that the trade route was dangerous, the movement of merchants would decrease.
Either way, they would have to perform patrols and monster hunting semi-permanently. If so, it was better for the section of the Bezel Great Forest Road that the Archduchy had to manage to be short.
Furthermore, considering the room for pioneering within the territory, there was no meaning in taking a wide territory to the west in the depths of the forest.
Even with the currently habitable zones of the Arqvist territory, if they put their mind to it, they could support several times the current population. Once independent, they would no longer be accepting immigrants from abroad in units of hundreds as they had before, so it would be a matter of many generations before the population increased to the point where the territory became cramped.
Even then, the necessity of expanding pioneering toward the dangerous depths of the forest was low. It would be better to have the Roadberg royal family cede the easier-to-pioneer southern area or simply buy it with money.
Therefore, there were almost no reasons for the Archduchy of Arqvist to take a wide territory to the west. At most, there was only the advantage of "taking a safety margin so that the army of the Kingdom of Lancel cannot easily approach the human settlements within the country." Even then, drawing the border line fifteen kilometers west of the forest entrance was sufficient.
That was Noein's thinking.
"I see. Since you put it that way, it would be contrary to reason for our country to force unnecessary land upon you. Then, I shall inform Queen Anrietta accordingly."
"I am glad you understand. I look forward to it."
Viscount Barthelemy, who backed down easily, had likely sensed Noein's thinking from the start. On top of that, he had intentionally proposed setting the border line further west once.
The Kingdom of Lancel, if possible, would also want to reduce the effort of managing and maintaining the Bezel Great Forest Road by even a few kilometers. Although the kingdom's scale was far larger than that of the Archduchy of Arqvist, patrolling the surroundings of a road extending over thirty kilometers on the kingdom's side and mobilizing mages and elite soldiers to eliminate monsters was not a light burden.
Viscount Barthelemy also had a position as a governor of the Lancel royal family. In the meeting, besides him as the representative, there were secretaries summarizing the minutes and bureaucrats who seemed to be seconded from the kingdom's center, and their reports would reach Queen Anrietta.
Even if he ultimately accepted Noein's proposal as reasonable, he could not fail to make a suggestion that favored the house he served. Noein also sensed his circumstances.
In other words, the current exchange contained a large amount of farce to arrange the formality of the meeting as "both parties asserted their own opinions and then settled on a safe landing point." When conducting negotiations between nations that are not difficult but are important, these formal aspects cannot be neglected.
"Regarding the area west of our country's border line, I have heard from His Majesty Oscar that it has been decided that the Kingdom of Lancel will hold sovereignty only over the surroundings of the Bezel Great Forest Road for the time being..."
"Yes, that is the agreement. In short, it has come to a maintenance of the status quo."
Viscount Barthelemy nodded to Noein's confirmation.
Border lines are not always things that are clearly defined. Regarding the Bezel Great Forest, which is the border between the Kingdom of Roadberg and the Kingdom of Lancel, a strict border line has not been drawn in the deepest part of the forest.
Currently, both the Kingdom of Roadberg and the Kingdom of Lancel enter the shallow parts of the Bezel Great Forest on their respective sides and act as they please, hunting, gathering, logging, and sometimes building villages. Considering the vastness of the Bezel Great Forest, there are no problems with that for the time being.
An agreement had been reached that the implicit rule of "both countries handle the shallow parts of the Great Forest freely" would be maintained, and as for the depths of the forest, the Lancel side would enter for patrols only around the Great Forest Road, which must be maintained by human hands.
There was almost no concern that the Kingdom of Lancel would break this agreement and start developing the depths of the forest on its own. The Bezel Great Forest was a magical realm to the extent that Cadne had nearly bankrupted the country just to put through a single road. Since there was plenty of room for development within their own country, neither Noein nor King Oscar thought the Lancel royal family would go through the trouble of clearing a magical realm.
"Then... considering that an agreement has been reached on the most important point, our country's border line. Shall we proceed to discuss the finer details?"
"Yes. Then first, regarding the specific demarcation work of the border line—"
There were many points to reach agreement on in the practical parts, such as the strict measurement of the border line, the execution of a demarcation ceremony, and the installation of marker stones and checkpoints to manage entry and exit.
Furthermore, new proposals were made, such as proceeding with the maintenance of the Bezel Great Forest Road itself, which would become an important trade route, and renaming it the "Bezel Highway." The coordination for Queen Anrietta's attendance at the ceremony for the independence of the Archduchy of Arqvist was also handled at this time.
The discussion between Noein and Viscount Barthelemy continued for some time after that, involving their respective subordinates.