People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

What a fool!

He almost immediately withdrew some of his staff to go to Kjerag as unofficial journalists, and managed to catch the end of the World's Fair.

Yes, I happened to be there during the closing ceremony.

You think he's already slow? Actually, no. He's a bit faster than Fyodor, who's been hunting for a month.

Fyodor only learned of this news a few days ago—incidentally, the hunting grounds he went hunting were the same ones converted from the Marquis Andreu estate. Although His Majesty the Emperor had spoken very resolutely to Witte, saying things like, "The Marquis Andreu converted the hunting grounds in 1072, and the late Emperor died in 1073. Was he planning ahead or did he harbor rebellious intentions? Investigate!" and "Never let him appear before me again, not even at this hunting grounds."

But in reality, His Majesty said no, but his actions betrayed him.

"It's not good for the manor to be left abandoned here. Since it belongs to a traitor, it should be properly returned to the country and used to serve the nation!"

After saying this, Fyodor took his crossbow and attendants and went hunting for a month, during which the hunting grounds were also heavily bombarded by the state for a month.

Judging from his current appearance, he has clearly forgotten about the invitation that Sherag sent.

Islam Witt clearly didn't want to cause himself any trouble, so since the emperor had asked about it, he could only give a tactful reply:

"Your Majesty is wise. Although you are relaxing, you still worry about the affairs of the state. To be honest, thanks to Your Majesty's foresight, we have also planted several spies in Shelag. If Your Majesty needs them, we can use these spies at any time, either to gather intelligence or to confront Prime Minister Shelag directly to get to the bottom of things. It all depends on Your Majesty's decision."

Fyodor blinked his bear-like eyes, looking somewhat puzzled.

He looked at Witt, who was bowing and awaiting his decision, and wanted to ask, "Huh? When did we send spies to Kjerag?"

Isn't Sherag a desolate, frozen wasteland? Aren't Ursus's spies mostly concentrated in the surrounding "enemy" countries?

For example, Victoria, Casimir, Letania, and so on...

Well, it seems like there aren't many people on this land who don't have a grudge against Ursus.

But Seraphim probably, maybe, has nothing to do with Ursus, right? When did I order spies to be sent there? What were they there for? To watch the giant pack beasts bare their teeth?

But after thinking about it, he still didn't ask.

After all, Islam Witt said so. He is my trusted advisor and the pillar of the empire. He wouldn't lie to me, would he?

It's possible that the Ministry of the Interior itself planted a few people there; that possibility cannot be ruled out. After all, he did issue such an edict to the Ministry of the Interior before:

"This land is an extension of my hands. If my eyes can see my hands clearly, then my eyes should also be able to see the whole land clearly!"

It seems they implemented it very well.

Fyodor nodded readily, acknowledging Islam Witte's praise.

As for how to deploy those spies...

Fyodor thought for a moment and said directly:

"Let them meet with that Prime Minister Sherag! Make sure he gives us an explanation."

Islam Witt bent down even lower and replied:

"Yes, Your Majesty."

.........

A moment later, in the Ursus Empire, at the Ministry of the Interior.

Aside from the Internal Security Department, which is considered to be nonexistent, the Ursus Empire's Ministry of Internal Affairs is the highest-level agency handling intelligence within the Ursus Empire.

The Ministry of the Interior is not only responsible for internal affairs. Just like the Four Heavenly Kings, there are five or even six of them, which is common knowledge.

Islam Witt came to convey the emperor's decree.

He found the head of the Ministry of the Interior, a middle-aged man with the title of marquis, and repeated:

"Please have the Imperial journalists stationed in Shelag remove their disguises and go to meet with Shelag Prime Minister Ernst Shivaish."

"Speak in a gentle and mild tone, focusing on making a good impression and using intelligence gathering as a secondary objective."

"I focused my inquiry on the World Summit."

The middle-aged minister gave a military salute: "Understood, Speaker!"

Chapter 355 The world is just a makeshift operation; it's the same no matter where you go.

Shelag, Tukarim, sunny, breezy, no special effects in the sky.

Ernst thought that once the news of the World Summit spread, many foreign envoys would soon arrive in Sherag to discuss its contents in detail.

But he really didn't expect that Ursus would be the first to arrive.

The Ursus Empire? You're probably not familiar with that.

Before the World's Fair, Ernst's only impression of Ursus was the Actos family of the Serragoperoch family. Brother Bear was an open-minded person, although not very bright... cough cough, wrong, he trusted everyone a lot, so he generally didn't mess with his clever head.

After the World's Fair, Ernst had one more impression of Ursus—the signal was not very good.

Ernst was certain that his messenger had been sent to Ursus; whether the Ursus emperor or their authorities had received and read his invitation was another matter entirely.

In the end, they didn't send anyone, and not only that, they didn't even reply. The invitation they sent disappeared without a trace, and the messenger never returned, creating a rather absurd feeling of a missing piece that has yet to come back.

Fortunately, the messenger was neither a Sherag nor a government member familiar to Ernst; otherwise, Ernst would have had to repeat his old experience of going on a campaign against Rhine Life and embarking on another expedition to Ursus.

Considering past experience, reviewing Terra's overall strategy, and referencing the success stories of Yan, Iberia, and even Sami, combined with the product's strengths in Sherag, Ernst has a reasonable suspicion that the Ursus Emperor most likely didn't see the invitation. Otherwise, there's no reason why other countries would come while Ursus, putting on a show of wealth, refused to attend.

After all, aren't airships attractive enough? Isn't the Star-Reaching Project ambitious enough? Isn't the World Summit inspiring enough?

Therefore, Ernst's impression of Ursus today has officially degenerated into that of a country with "poor signal".

And now, this country with such poor signal has actually become the first to send an envoy to Shelag?

Adhering to the principle of testing whether China Telecom 3G is really that fast and whether surfing the internet is really that enjoyable, Ernst sized up the two "Ursus envoys" in front of him and tentatively asked:

"You're not here for the World's Fair, are you?"

The Ursus envoys paused, exchanged a glance, and then gave each other an awkward but polite smile.

They were all considered confidants of Speaker Witte; otherwise, they wouldn't have been sent by Speaker Witte to act as "reporters" and "envoys" in Kjerag, despite His Majesty the Emperor's explicit order against participating in the World's Fair.

In their view, the meaning of Ernst's words was quite obvious.

They're being targeted!

They didn't participate before, but now they've come back. Their behavior is both arrogant and obsequious, which is laughable!

In the past, as envoys of the mighty Ursus Empire, they would have retorted without hesitation! Our ancestors had already met all the meetings they needed to attend in their lifetime when they followed the Bear Breeders to overthrow the Eagle Empire. What's so special about your little Sherag? I brought the Ursus Empire to your expo, that's giving you face.

Unfortunately, this time I can't argue with them.

They could only hold their breath and force a smile:

"Prime Minister Ernst is joking. Hasn't the World's Fair already ended?"

"Our trip is, of course, for the World Summit that was announced at the closing ceremony of the Expo."

Ernst frowned slightly in surprise, carefully observed the two of them, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face:

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

The envoy's smile froze.

Where did Ernst see them? At the closing ceremony of the World's Fair, of course.

As the only journalists from the Ursus Empire to attend the press conference, the two of them naturally made an appearance in front of various countries.

Although Ernst was not physically present at the press conference, he kept a close eye on the situation through surveillance cameras to prevent any unforeseen events from occurring.

To be honest, there were quite a few reporters at the time. The two envoys were somewhat puzzled as to why Ernst had left an impression on them.

But whether Ernst was deliberately trying to bluff them or genuinely remembered them, both of them had to firmly deny it.

Because their status at the time was that of journalists, and they were unofficial. Only journalists from St. Johann who always wanted to make a big story would disregard His Majesty the Emperor's supreme directive that "the Empire will not send a delegation to the Kjerag World's Fair" and rush to Kjerag to attend the closing ceremony.

Now, their status is official; they are legitimate Ursus envoys, approved by the Emperor and appointed by Speaker Witte.

Past events cannot be revealed, of course. To do so would be to defy His Majesty the Emperor's will, a serious political error!

Don't underestimate this seemingly minor matter; Fyodor himself was quite surprised to hear that there were Ursus spies in Seraphim. But this kind of thing is a standard stain on one's reputation.

Guess how many political enemies Islam Witt, the speaker of the State Duma and former finance minister of the Ursus Empire, has in the Ursus political arena.

He has been able to rise through the ranks to his current position as a near-prime minister, even before his hair has turned gray, all thanks to the fact that he has actually done some real work for Ursus and has been favored by His Majesty Fyodor.

The first half of the sentence is less than one-tenth as important as the second half.

If this matter were to leak out, and one of Speaker Witte's political enemies were to report it to His Majesty the Emperor, it would constitute a mistake on the part of the Emperor and his powerful ministers. Speaker Witte would find it difficult to explain himself, and the Emperor would have no choice but to punish him.

After all, Speaker Witt didn't do anything wrong. If he really wanted to protect himself, he could have simply not sent them to Kjerag, missed the World's Fair, and avoided getting himself into trouble. The reason he did it was because he truly "didn't care about himself!"

But even the emperor can't be wrong. After the great rebellion, the Ursus emperor's authority had already been greatly weakened. Countless individuals, claiming to be emperors with strong armies, were simply carving out their own territories for self-preservation. What would happen if, at this time, news spread that the emperor and powerful ministers held differing opinions, and that the ministers were acting without authorization?

On a smaller scale, people didn't take it seriously. Various warlords sent letters to hurl insults, and together with the opposition in the court, they demanded the removal of the treacherous officials to restore the emperor's authority.

On a grander scale, it's about purging the court of corrupt officials and quelling national turmoil! It's about killing the traitors!

Ernst was indeed capable; with a single sentence, he struck at their vitals, sending chills down their spines. Yet, he remained completely unfazed.

No wonder His Majesty the Emperor gave Speaker Vitt that order, demanding that we "act mildly"—Ursus's attitude towards foreign countries has always been primarily aggressive. Most of the neighboring countries that haven't been annexed by them have been attacked by them, and those that haven't been attacked by them have mostly been verbally abused by them.

Acting with moderation is a truly unprecedented demand.

How do you gently swear?

The two remained silent, pondering their next move. Meanwhile, Ernst, after a moment's thought, couldn't recall anything and shook his head.

"Never mind, I must have misremembered. I've been in contact with a lot of people lately, please forgive me."

Ernst glanced somewhat strangely at the two who seemed inexplicably relieved, then gave a formulaic smile:

"Since you two are envoys from Ursus, I wonder if you have brought anything with you...?"

Ernst extended his hand to the two of them.

The two envoys were taken aback for a moment, then immediately responded with knowing smiles.

It's bribery, who can't see that?

Although it was somewhat shocking that the head of government, the first in the country, would openly solicit bribes, they were somewhat relieved when they remembered that they came from Ursus.

In their area, if you go to the police station in St. John's Castle to report being extorted, you have to pay the police a sum of money first.

How can you get things done without spending money? It's natural that it takes some money to bribe people in our family.

However, they left in a hurry this time, and since they weren't in official capacity from the start, they didn't have the funds prepared on them.

The two exchanged another glance, nodded somewhat reluctantly, and pulled out a bank card from their pockets, handing it to Ernst with a heavy heart.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation. The password is written on the back. I hope Prime Minister Ernst will accept it."

This was the money he had saved up himself, amounting to a few hundred thousand chervin (the official currency of Ursus).

But it's okay, I can ask Speaker Witt for reimbursement when I get back.

The reason these people are willing to follow Speaker Witt is because their boss truly reimburses expenses when there's money involved and is truly willing to step up when trouble arises.

Ernst paused, glanced at the two of them, then at the bank card, and silently opened the drawer and put the card inside.

Well, consider it a membership fee for the World Summit.

How come I didn't think of this way of making money? Their moral standards seem a bit too high, a little too incorruptible, not quite like someone from Terra.

But despite accepting the money, Ernst reached out his hand again.

The two of them were completely dumbfounded.

What does that mean? You want more? Not enough?

If it's not enough, I can't conjure up any more for you. This is all the retirement savings we've accumulated over the years—it's our final resting place.

Are the Sheragans really that greedy? This is just too Ursus-like!

But they quickly realized that they really couldn't skimp on this money.

Ernst first pointed to a dish that looked familiar to both of them, then said that he "remembered it wrong, forgot it," which is also a matter of social etiquette!

If you forget, can't you remember? If you remember it wrong, can't you remember it right?

If they don't give it to him, it's uncertain how long it will take for Ernst's memory to recover.

The messenger nudged his colleague's waist with his elbow. The colleague gritted his teeth, pulled out his "coffin money," and handed it to Ernst.

This time, Ernst was genuinely a little embarrassed to accept it.

He waved his hand and pushed the bank card back.