People in Terra, governing a weird little country

Ernst's office in the Kjerag Government Building, Tukarim, Kjerag.

Smiling, he walked into the room under the guidance of Xinteleya. Duke Kaster glanced at Vina, then looked at Ernst and nodded slightly:

"It's really not easy to see you now, Prime Minister Ernst."

"You are too polite, Duke Kast." Ernst nodded with a fake smile. "At the banquet, I promised you that when Tukarim City is rebuilt, I will personally invite you to visit and give you guidance. How can I not meet you?"

Kaister snorted lightly: "Then I wonder if I, as an elder, still have the authority to guide you now?"

Ernst frowned slightly.

It must be said that the Duke of Caister was cunning. The word "elder" was different from a title like Duke. The pressure it brought was not political, but moral.

The Duke of Castor is Ernst's elder. Ernst's mother is the Duke of Castor's niece. In terms of seniority, he is considered the Duke of Castor's great-nephew. Although the Duke of Castor has hundreds of such distant relatives, elders are still elders.

To the general public, a person’s political mistakes are easier to forgive because of their complexity; on the contrary, mistakes in personal morality are extremely glaring, and once committed, they are difficult to cleanse.

Because political mistakes have many aspects, perhaps differences in direction, perhaps mistakes in practice, perhaps good intentions leading to bad things, or bad intentions leading to good things. The general public does not have that much time, nor does it have that much extra effort to figure out every link.

But personal morality is different. If you cheat, then you must be a bad person. You say you cheated because the other party was violent, then you can get a divorce. If you cheat without getting a divorce, then you are a bad person.

Things related to personal morality are relatively simple and direct, and easy to judge. This is why, in many cases, the first thing that is charged against the losers in political struggles when they leave the stage is simple and straightforward personal morality mistakes, such as cheating, domestic violence, having a mistress, etc. People cannot understand things that are too complicated, and only things that are clear at a glance can most effectively undermine the influence and reputation of the opponent among the crowd, and prevent the opponent from having the opportunity to make a comeback.

More importantly, Duke of Kast is not only Ernst's elder, but also Vina's elder. Vina's father is Duke of Kast's younger brother. Although Terra's magical genetics, which splits the probability of racial inheritance in half according to the parents' races, makes Duke of Kast Filin instead of Aslan, Vina still has to call her aunt.

This relationship is much closer than that between Ernst and Kaister. It would be difficult to deal with her if she were to point fingers at them in the manner of an elder.

Ernst naturally couldn't let the other party take the initiative in the conversation, turning himself from an equal negotiating opponent into a junior being scolded, so he had to forcefully correct the address:

"As the Grand Duke of Victoria and a pioneer of mobile cities and modernization, the Duke of Caister is naturally qualified to make suggestions on the development of Kjerag. I will seriously consider and adopt them."

"Tsk."

Duke Caister smacked his lips imperceptibly. Seeing that Ernst had no intention of giving up the initiative in the communication, he quickly gave up the plan and started a quick attack:

"Ernst, you should know why I am here."

"I need an explanation for Alexandrina's matter."

Ernst stopped smiling when he saw this and asked, "What kind of explanation does Your Excellency the Duke need?"

Duke Caister raised his eyebrows: "Ernst doesn't want to give me an explanation?"

Ernst shrugged. "Of course I am willing to give you an explanation, but I don't know what kind of explanation would satisfy you. Could you give me a rough outline?"

Ernst's words were tough, but they were indeed helpless.

Vina's identity and the timing of her revealing it really caught him off guard. He had no relevant plan at all, and with only half a day to consider, it was impossible for him to come up with a perfect plan.

If he wanted to start something interesting, he did have a few ideas that he could throw out. But after careful consideration, Ernst gave up the idea of ​​proposing a plan himself.

Ernst didn't know how much the Duke of Caister valued Vina's existence, nor was he sure how much influence Vina had on the current political situation in Victoria.

If everyone in Victoria is a royalist now, the king is dead, the country is in chaos, life is bad, and everyone starts to "miss the king", then Vina's status as the heir will naturally rise, and accordingly, the Duke of Caster, who is ambitious and has a rebellious background, will naturally want to get rid of her as soon as possible.

But if, on the contrary, everyone in Victoria is at peace, and the people think that there is no difference between having an emperor or not, and being a duke is also good, then the effect of Vina's claim will be greatly reduced. Even if Ernst forcibly establishes her, no one will recognize her. Even if Londinium is really conquered, the rule will not last long. Then the Duke of Castor's attitude towards Vina will become "a threat, but it doesn't matter."

After all, there were so many threats, the Duke of Windermere, the Duke of Wellington, which one was not a threat? The Duke of Caster did not really take action.

If Ernst spoke rashly, he would easily expose his psychological expectations and bottom line, and he would most likely fail to find out what the Duke of Castle was thinking.

It is better to retreat in order to advance, defend and counterattack.

Duke Kaster was silent for a while, and seeing that Ernst was indeed confident that "it's okay for you and I to just stare at each other like this", he sighed and said:

"How about I exchange the airship technology displayed at the Expo for Miss Vina's life?"

"puff."

Ernst said nothing, but Vina beside him couldn't help laughing.

She looked at Ernst, who nodded slightly, and Vina felt more confident.

She really wanted to speak. After all, this was something she had caused, and she had to ask Ernst to clean up the mess. Although she was used to it, she was still somewhat shy.

She is not a child anymore. She should be responsible for her actions and deal with the impact she has caused. Besides, it is a shame for Vina, who has now awakened, to have to stand aside and remain silent when others are making decisions about your life events!

She also wants to fight!

"The Duke of Caister is quite humorous."

Vina started with a very aggressive remark.

"Nice joke, don't tell it next time."

Duke Caister glanced at Vina with a slight sidelong glance, and asked with some disdain and provocation:

"Why, does Miss Vina think that she is not as good as Prime Minister Ernst in terms of airship technology?"

"In my heart, a hundred airships are not as valuable as Ernst. I don't know how I am in his heart, but I know that I am definitely worth more than that in your heart."

Vina made a rather bold confession that stunned both Ernst and Kaster. Before Kaster could recover, she continued,

"Besides, there are so many traps in His Excellency the Duke's words. Do you think I can't see them?"

Duke Caister looked straight at Vina, with doubt in his eyes, as if he was wondering if the girl in front of him was possessed by Yelagund. Otherwise, why was she not afraid of him at all?

Her father couldn't even defeat her, why is she so confident?

"Although I don't know where your confidence comes from," Duke Caister said, "but why don't you tell me, what trap is there in my words?"

"You asked for the airship technology displayed at the expo right away, but you didn't specify which expo. Your target is obviously not this World Expo. If the airship technology is upgraded in the future and is displayed at the expo, you will also use this opportunity to ask, right?"

"Not only that, you didn't even specify that it was Ernst who had the airship technology. If another country developed an airship in the future and exhibited it at the Expo, you would force Kjerag to open a backdoor for you and get the data, right?"

It's indeed shameless to do this, but it's something the Duke of Caster would do.

At that time, the blame would be on Kjerag and the technology would be on Kast, which would be a real loss.

"Moreover, I'm exchanging [Vina's] life for [Alexandrina's], not [Alexandrina's] life. Your Excellency the Duke clearly called me by my real name when he first addressed me. Why did he change it back now?"

"You want to end the political life of [Alexandrina Vina Victoria] and only cut out Vina as an individual."

"But Alexandrina Vina Victoria is a whole, and I won't abandon any part of myself."

"Moreover, the exchange condition of just leaving my life is too much of a trap. I am a vegetative state, a disabled person, and even some Sarkaz wizards were found to cast a curse on me and turn me into a madman. This can be considered as leaving my life. Your Excellency the Duke is very dishonest."

The Duke of Caister's eyelids twitched.

What she said just now was indeed an exorbitant price, and the first half of the question was to pay it back on the spot. She didn't believe that Ernst didn't hear the trap in her words.

However, although she could hear it, the Duke of Caster had never had the experience of having the traps in words pointed out so directly one by one - the Duke of Windermere would not give her the opportunity to negotiate, he would either scold her or beat her, it was pure.

It's somewhat embarrassing.

Even though that thing doesn't exist.

The Duke of Caister calmly retorted, "This is all your conjecture, Miss Vina. It's not that I can't correct the wording, but I don't think you have the right to interfere with my choice of words. Don't forget that I arranged your court teachers for you."

"You were the one who sent people to kill him." Vina replied indifferently.

Duke Caister frowned slightly: "If you don't have evidence, don't talk nonsense."

"You have?" Vina asked with a smile.

The Duke of Caster was speechless for a moment.

She didn't have one either. After all, the people were killed. Although there would be records in the books, they would only be limited to "a new palace teacher was recruited". There would be no record of who arranged such a thing. Not to mention, the books were still in Londinium. She couldn't ask Teresis for them, right?

No, what am I talking about with this little girl? In terms of verbal skills, Vina is not inferior to her father.

After all, he was the one who was able to push Victoria to participate in the Gallo-Lehtanian War against all odds, and who later offended almost all the great nobles equally. He had great ventriloquism skills.

Almost got into her rhythm.

Duke Caister paused and spoke again:

"How about exchanging the airship technology displayed at the opening ceremony of the 1094 World Expo for the life of [Alexandrina Vina Victoria]?"

"A condition of exchanging lives..." Vina was about to refute again, but Ernst pressed her hand on the back of her hand, and her voice stopped abruptly.

The two exchanged words in tacit understanding, and Ernst said:

"I already know your sincerity, Your Excellency the Duke, but I'm sorry that I cannot agree to your request."

"Just refuse directly?" Duke Caister stopped tapping the armrest of the sofa with his fingers, looking somewhat incredulous.

Ernst said, "I'm sorry, the airship technology will not be made public for the time being."

Duke Caister was puzzled: "You have this technology but you don't make it public. Does Kjerag want to become a target of public criticism?"

Ernst shook his head. "Of course not. It's only temporary. This technology will be shared free of charge with participating countries in the future as a prize for another grand event."

Duke of Caister: "Another grand event?"

Ernst nodded: "The Summit of Nations."

Duke Caister was silent for a moment. He did not ask about the specific role and purpose of the summit, but just nodded.

Ernst was really brave enough to offer the airship technology as a prize. No matter what the [International Summit] was, it seemed that he had to attend it.

Duke of Caister said again: "If that's the case, then what is Prime Minister Ernst's explanation to me?"

"Miss [Alexandrina Vina, Victoria] will give up her Victorian nationality, join the Kjerag nationality, and officially become a Kjerag."

Duke Caister waited for a moment before he opened his eyes wide in disbelief:

"That's it?"

Ernst nodded: "That's it."

"Is it Prime Minister Ernst's turn to show off his sense of humor this time?"

"My sense of humor is always directed only at friends."

"Don't you think that with the big tree of Windermere, you can enjoy the shade?" Duke of Caister sneered, "Ernst, it is indeed difficult for the Dukedom of Caister to defeat the Dukedom of Windermere in a short period of time, but it is not difficult to crush Kjerag."

"A grain of sand in Victoria can crush a mountain in Kjerag. Do you really want to go against me?"

Ernst smiled and nodded. "You are right. I don't deny that Kjerag is indeed weak, but Your Excellency, is it really as easy as you think for the Dukedom of Kast to destroy Kjerag now?"

"I only need a fast battleship to destroy Kjerag."

As soon as she finished speaking, a voice filled with anger exploded in her mind like thunder, causing her ears to almost go deaf:

"If you destroy one of Kjerag's cities, I will destroy ten of yours in retaliation."

Duke Caister suppressed his dizziness and looked at Ernst, only to find that the voice did not come from Ernst's mouth.

That's right, even a normal Originium Warlock can't make a sound appear directly in his mind.

Is it Kjerag's legendary beast?

Are there really giant beasts that are so friendly to humans?

Kaister's face darkened. Although force was not an option, she did have other options:

"Kjerag's trade is so fragile. What if I blockade you?"

"As the Duke said, Kjerag's production capacity is backward, so the market it relies on is also small. The market in Columbia is already sufficient to meet the needs, not to mention the Duke of Windermere and the Duke of Wellington..."

"Wellington?"

The Duke of Caister silently repeated the name mentioned by Ernst.

When did that old bastard get involved?

Ernst hadn't finished yet: "After the International Summit, Your Excellency the Duke will find that the economic blockade against Kjerag is completely unnecessary and unprofitable. It has no benefit other than causing you to suffer losses."

"......You seem very confident? Do you think Shelag has no weaknesses?" asked Duke Caister.

"Not really. Kjerag still has many questions, some of which I don't have answers to yet. I just believe that His Excellency the Duke is still a peace-loving person after all."

Ernst handed out the stairs.

The Duke of Castle, who was somewhat embarrassed, picked up the dunce cap and walked down very smoothly.

"really."

"I am interested in establishing the Terra Peace Prize, and you will definitely be the first one."

"Thank you very much."

She just said a few words to Ernst to test his quality, but she would not bear to do it if it really came to that.

Whether the airship is still needed or not, whether the World Summit will still be held or not, Ernst can even make a bold statement that after the World Summit is held, the economic blockade will not be effective on Kjerag, and with the airship as the prize, she is very curious about what this World Summit is.

Besides, what good would it do her if Kjerag was really destroyed? Without Yelagund, it would be hard to occupy the place.