Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken novel Chapter 97

Compensation and future relations!

Well, this and that happened, and now for some reason it's suddenly become a banquet.

There was a large quantity of various alcohols available. Well, it's probable that it's just various forms of diluted whisky and other beverages, but there was ample quantities of ice prepared. We spared no means to bring such a necessary item out for the festivities.

But, well, as expected, it was simply too much to ask for Japanese style sake, but since I had desired them, an abundant variety of drinks had been prepared.

As it would turn out, the drinks were rather popular amongst the Holy Knights.

In their semi-drunken state, I had hoped that talks of a regular " Tempest Martial Arts competition" would be forgotten, but it would seem that my hopes won't be fulfilled.

This chain of events will probably proceed steadily.

Thus, the next day came.

The discussion between Hinata's group and my own will finally be completed. Various discussions about the future relations between Tempest and the Church will probably ensue.

As it would stand, as we're the victim's side and the one that had received the most substantial level of heavy damage. A lenient response in light of the current situation is simply not possible for the sake of future face and general common sense.

However, a specific increase in the severity of the charges placed on the actual criminal sect known as the Blood Shadow was emphasized. It was certainly different from the desired intentions of the Church.

Because of a little thing known as management, the responsibility for recent events have not fallen completely from a certain party's responsibility.

Although the Holy Knights should end up paying a certain amount of war reparations for their subjugation war's failure this time around. Well, since the location of Tempest is too far away from the territory they control, even if territory was to be passed onto me, I wouldn't be able to use it that much.

Not to even think about mentioning the fact that this can simply be solved with money.

To be honest, I see establishing friendly relations abroad as a priority above the acquisition of gold and whatnot.

While thinking of such things, the meeting had finally begun in earnest.

The participants from Tempest would include Rigurdo, Benimaru and myself. Aside from that, we also have the Goblin Chiefs who were, for this purpose, promoted to Minister status.

From the Church's side would be Hinata and her 5 Captains.

At first, I had wanted both sides to acknowledge reciprocal recognition. As this was my main goal from the beginning, gaining any additional compensation can be brought up afterwards.

With that said, before we truly started the conference, both parties decided it would be beneficial to exchange general information. Such information generally consisted of each party's respective situations, such as their current exportable goods and so on.

After that, the main conference started.

While watching from a middle ground perspective, I watched for any changes in the balance of the negotiations.

If there were to be any misalignments or complications from either party, it would be best if they were corrected in the early stages of the negotiations.

After a few minutes, I began to gather how the negotiations are panning out.

Needless to say, from our side, the list of grievances began with the Church's sponsored invasion from the Farmas Kingdom.

The direction of the negotiations changes depending on the attitudes of the other party, yet the stances of each party remained unchanged.

As for the Church's position, Hinata mentioned that there was a problem with the current request from the Church's perspective.

Basically, the acknowledgement of the Monster Country is something that contradicts the very teachings of the Church. This is an important matter that could very well lead to the mistrust of the believers.

If there was nothing done, this matter could very well lead to the estrangement of the believers. Thus resulting in the loss of the Church's influence, or at the very least the diminishing of it.

This was apparently the reason why the annihilation of said Monster Country was of the utmost necessity.

That's why, according to Hinata, the Church needed a just cause and a cover story to deal with the situation.

Hence, they chose to utilize the fact that the Farmas Kingdom had openly showed their desire to secure their profit. Giving the Kingdom a suitable level of claim to act, they attacked Tempest along with the Farmas Kingdom.

Well.... they have admitted that they are completely at fault here but... the fact that they were manipulated into action was unexpected.

(Hinata)

"Fufufuf... I suppose it can't be helped. We're completely defeated, so I doubt we'll be able to make headway if I don't give you some acknowledgement.

Besides...

I, the representative of the Church, believe in the sole existence that protects the lands and people.

Those very people that convert to the Church find their salvation, and they cut off all other beliefs besides the Church.

There is a limit to the number of people I can save alone. I had believed that only saving those who followed the Church's teachings was true justice.

That's also how I think even now... but...

I think that I have been mistaken.

I should have lent my hand out to those who had striven to survive, to life and be happy. In such, I suppose my actions was not true justice at all.

I... no, if we had helped others for the simple reason of helping them, perhaps we would not have become so overpowered by this sense of arrogance.

For, if we are true believers, we should help all those in need, not merely those who follow our teachings. That is the blindness of our arrogance.

To even seek to accomplish this with every ounce of our power is probably the least we can do."

As if making a mental breakthrough, and as a result finding some level of fulfillment, Hinata's face showed a bright smile as she spoke.

For the old Hinata, to only save believers was the logical choice. To abandon those who do not believe in the Church's teachings.

She didn't have the strength to save every last person who needed help, who looked into the sky begging for a savior. It was a wish she probably thought was something that could never be realized.

That's why she decided that those who followed the teachings of god should be given priority to be saved.

Her logical and calculative personality had cut off the non-believers cold-heartedly.

While she stayed true to her personal dogma, in her heart, she was only lying to herself up until now.

In the end, the number of people she saved was quite limited. The very lines she drew limited the life that could have been sustained. She could never be everywhere at once, but limiting the choice of who to save ended up leading to making incorrect decisions.

In the end, while it is impossible to save everyone, there were far more lives that could have been saved.

The line that Hinata had drawn before her own heart was whether a person was a believer or not. To not acknowledge someone as a true person unless they were a believer to forget the pain of not saving them.

That's why Hinata greatly feared a decrease in the number of believers. If the number of people who believed decreased, it was like saying the number of people she could protect was reduced.

Well, she's was little hardheaded in the beginning. Her train of thought is also a bit skewed, though I can understand her reasoning more or less. I too came from the same world as her after all.

Those who place all of their trust in god, leaving their decisions to those who interpret said god's teachings often end up narrowminded. Those who lack the capacity to make their own decisions will often make the wrong ones, leading to a spiral of decay.

I'm only treated like an enemy because of the current interpretation of the Church's doctrine. With that alone, I don't mind their actions, though religion in general becomes suspicious.

If people were just more flexible and tried to see other points of view, the number of conflicts would be reduced severely.

Well, there's always the other reason for conflicts. Human nature. Often war ends up being waged over profits, authority, and the like. Leading to them beating each other until they're black and blue.

In the end, there are those who seek to enrich themselves to obtain an advantage, whereas those who are devout adherents to their faith will often be left crying in defeat.

Well, it is story that's quite easy to gauge really, I simply need to be the one who doesn't cry in the end... Or rather, I should say the one who strives to not fall behind.

In short I need to consider my own intentions.

Rather than complaining to others, if they use their heads, they will be able to come up with better solutions. Well, most people are quite formidable in turning a viewpoint around to place themselves in an advantageous position. It's almost second to human nature if one thinks about it.

Well, it might just be an idea, but it's a good idea to not just believe in a partner blindly.

In this regard, I think Hinata may be a bit too serious.

From now on I recommend that she should live more freely. Get some proper life experience besides her narrow minded upbringing.

At any rate, thanks to Hinata being so candid and admitting to her own faults, the talks were able to proceed smoothly.

It seems that there were no objections from the Captains either.

It's probable that they have a strong belief in Hinata, so they wouldn't voice any objections to what Hinata says.

A large part of the discussion was examining both the situation, as well as both parties' recognition that the conflicts between both sides are now over with the Church admitting to their faults.

Now comes to the point of discussion compensation, but before that happened...

(Hinata)

"My apologies, but there are certain things that I want to say in that regard."

With that, Hinata began to share her thoughts.

After listening to what she said, it seems that her higher-ups in the Church within the Holy Kingdom, Ruberius, had no involvement with her attack.

It seems that the hierarchy of the Church, or at the very least the positions relating to it are rather complex.

The Pope, the Sage King, or whomever, it seems that there are multiple individuals who stand at the ˜top' of the Chruch's hierarchy.

However, the true person that reigns at the top is the Holy Knight leader, Nicolas Cardinal.

The rampage that had been unleashed this time, as well as the subjugation war had nothing to do with the Kingdom where the Church is located.

Therefore, in the end, the involvement of the Holy Kingdom Ruberius is limited to only Hinata.

So even if I had demanded some form of compensation, Hinata's confession ended any hopes of me pursuing that direction.

From her viewpoint, it's because she held the post as the head of the Pope's personal knight that things had become rather complicated.

To note, Personal Knights and Holy Knights are two entirely different groups.

Taking action solely from the Pope's demands, the so called "Personal Knights" never leave the vicinity of the Pope without his command.

Only the head of the Personal Knights, Hinata herself, was given permission to act freely to act and protect the growth of the Church. That basically included overseeing the growth of the Holy Knight branch.

It's because of her position that the Holy Kingdom isn't completely unrelated to the current incident.

While it wasn't said openly, the responsibility of this incident falls completely on Hinata. It was in order to prevent any blame to the Holy Kingdom that Hinata had withdrawn from her position as the Head of the Personal Knights.

It's not like this was the end of the story either. Hinata had already been informed by her teachers that she could have been disposed of at any time.

These teachers are known as the "Seven Celestial Sages" as it were.

Though it's not necessary to be too suspicious about this matter, i'd wager a guess that these first-class sages are rather brave and powerful.

Since the Holy Kingdom of Ruberius had already made thorough preparations to cut ties with Hinata should she fail or cause trouble with her current actions, it's impossible to hold them accountable anymore.

In this case at least, we will have to consider this as a separate issue from the Western Church as it were.

I suppose it will be necessary to consent with the Western Church this time.

Hah... then what's going to be done about the compensation?

As I had previously mentioned, i'm not aiming for money for this situation.

The aim was for the Church's side to acknowledge our existence, so after they give their acknowledgement, I want to press for a non aggression pact.

Well, my thoughts were interrupted by the Holy Knight named Arnaud.

(Arnaud)

"I don't really see any problems with this. If you or your people were truly evil, there's no reason for us to still exist right now."

With those words, he showed his approval.

In contrast to the Holy Knight Arnaud's opinion was the Vice Captain, the Holy Knight called Leonard.

(Leonard)

"However, there's still a problem. How are we supposed to deal with the current teachings of the Church? Especially when the entire authority of the Church depends on it..."

When he said this, his brow furrowed, conveying he is rather unconvinced.

With both this, and Hinata's worries being conveyed, they seem to be the same.

In the worst case scenario, there's even the chance of the Church's dissolution.

The important issue is to protect the people during the resolution of current hostilities. I don't care what happens to the Church in all honesty, with that i'll be focusing on the protection of the people first.

Unlike the rational pragmatic Hinata, the believers of the Church will likely focus all of their contempt towards the Church.

If the Church itself vanishes, the Holy Knight order that defends the people from monsters will likely scatter.

As if to break my train of thought, the deeply troubled Leonard spoke gain.

(Leonard)

"Even so, the inhabitants of this country are certainly not ˜Wicked beings' like we had previously thought. Why not simply let this information be announced instead?

In fact, even the Goblins and Orcs, which makes up a majority of the population, have figures quite similar to that of human beings. As for the Lizardmen, well, they were already considered to be demi-humans anyways. There's no need to think about the Dragonewt class' position.

Even in the case of the Onis, rather than be considered a low class monster, there are many humans who even view them to be within the ranks of land Gods and Deities.

In short, there's no teachings that state that Demi-humans and Demigods are ˜Wicked' right?"

In short, the monsters aren't monsters, and thus aren't "Wicked" as the Church's doctrines teach. Basically what he's saying is to admit my entire population into Demi-human status, allowing us the same treatment as the Dwarves.

This can probably lead to, at the very least, some level of mutual understanding.

This is similar to points that Arnaud had mentioned before in the discussion, but he wasn't able to really drive the point home.

Basically, this is a point of compromise that is entirely political.

We decided to adopt this opinion and were then able to rapidly carry out a negotiation examining every possible detail.

In this fashion, we managed to create a basic draft for the compromise.

By the way, it seems that the Hierarchy of the Church accepted and recognize the current status of our citizens. This was accompanied by us being informed that the Holy Knights would preforming a regular cultural in place of a regular compensation.

Above everything else, as an additional compensation, we were given a failed experiment of theirs. Basically a set of experimental equipment that they weren't able to complete.

As for Hinata's broken sword, we were given that as well, and the few pieces of spirit armor that weren't completely destroyed. Analyzing them was fairly simple. At any rate, I passed over a duplicated sword to Hinata to replace her sword since she was pretty much defenseless currently.

To note, the analysis of the Spirit Armor was actually a major development. I also had the chance to analyze the Spirit Equipment the Holy Knights used.

My current attributes are Darkness and Magic. Basically I wouldn't be able to use the Holy attribute affiliated equipment as is, but I think there's a possibility to modify them.

It would seem that these are State-Secret class weapons, yet we're sitting here, perfectly fine to just analyze them. If I were to take this as a compensation, I suppose there's no problem with this much.

With this country of ours, things will gradually grow more advanced and sophisticated. Not to mention, more well armed.

After we received our ˜compensation', we began to chat and I ended up gathering some ridiculous information as a result.

I mean, to most others, this would just be common sense, but this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

Basically, it was information on the Great Tenma wars that occur roughly every 500 years or so.

This came about when I was discussing future policies.