Chapter 132
When I attended the tribal alliance meeting, a fervent welcome poured out.
"What's that white-skinned guy doing here?"
"Is he a spy sent by those Nador bastards?"
A dangerous situation where they might draw swords and charge at any moment.
Malik, the chief of the Botswana tribe, calmed them down.
"This friend is Baron Pierre who sells us matchlock guns and gunpowder. He's on our side."
Hearing he was on their side, everyone put down the swords in their right hands.
Seeing how they were about to stab me to death if I didn't seem to be on their side.
They're extremely barbaric, perhaps because they're nomads who just don't ride horses.
Well, the day will come soon when they recognize my sincerity too.
"Malik, I'll believe you since you say so. But that guy isn't one of us, is he? I can't understand trying to include someone who isn't a child of Mother Steppe in the tribal alliance meeting."
The most important thing when discussing or debating something is this:
Respecting the other person's words while stubbornly pushing forward my opinion like a rhinoceros horn.
It's not as easy as it sounds to stick to my convictions while not butting heads with the other person.
It's important to accept a little in areas I can accommodate, and naturally guide opinions to change in other areas.
"Certainly, I'm a foreigner born in a different place and thinking differently from you all. It's natural that it's difficult to trust a suspicious person like me who came from elsewhere."
You might think it doesn't really matter whether you're born in the same place or not...
But the tribal alliance chiefs here are currently at war with those Nador guys.
In the midst of a life-and-death struggle, when a strange foreigner suddenly appears, they can't help but naturally think 'spy'.
But if you change your perspective a bit, this situation could actually be more advantageous for me.
'They say the fastest way to become close with a stranger is gossip?'
"However, the Kingdom of Granada I belong to is hostile to the Sultanate, that is, those Nador bastards."
Everyone pricked up their ears at the words that you and I have the same enemy even if our nationalities are different.
The atmosphere that was quite sharp with killing intent until just now softened a bit.
As expected, the words that we're all comrades fighting against the same enemy seem to work anytime, anywhere.
Well, even the Soviet Union and United States got along well putting aside ideological warfare when beating Nazi Germany, right?
Flyers saying "The Soviet Union is a comrade fighting for freedom!" flew around every day in the United States.
The one who looked oldest among the chiefs here nodded and agreed with my words.
"So selling us gunpowder and matchlock guns wasn't just to obtain gold."
"Yes, that's right."
Except for saying my affiliation is the Kingdom of Granada, I didn't tell a single lie.
The Tuscan Empire and Sultanate are clearly in a state of hostility like North and South Korea after the Korean War, and are just in an implicit ceasefire now.
Sultanate pirates plunder our empire's coasts and enslave people, and conversely Deus Knights and other pirates enslave Sultanate people, continuing a vicious cycle.
Moreover, my selling matchlock guns isn't to obtain a little gold.
It's a stepping stone to effectively rule you.
'I didn't come to earn a little gold, right?'
I didn't lie, I just used speech mixing in "trap treaties" borrowing the wisdom of modernization.
If you don't have immunity to my diplomatic dialogue method ahead of time, you just have to surrender with both hands and feet up.
"Our Kingdom of Granada has been waging war for hundreds of years against the Governor of Nador, no, the Sultanate ruled by the Sultan who is that governor's grand chief. Countless warriors have died in the process."
It's accurate that the Kingdom of Granada and Sultanate fought for hundreds of years.
But I stimulated them by backstabbing to make guys who were in a ceasefire state fight each other with swords.
I can't reveal the whole truth because it's disadvantageous to me.
I plan to induce misunderstanding by only revealing facts advantageous to our Rothschild baron family.
"...... You have suffered great hardship too."
Now that I've gained sympathy, I've crossed the hardest 5th ridge.
If I push their backs a little more, they will reach the 'truth' processed favorably for me.
I deliberately put my hand to my forehead and sighed.
"Nevertheless, my ancestors and I fought to protect our homeland as you did, and died proudly as warriors. While fighting like that, we captured Nador soldiers as prisoners, and heard your story from them."
This is a lie from beginning to end.
From my ancestor the first Baron Medici to my father, they participated in war many times, but never once fought against infidels.
Moreover, I've never captured Nador soldiers as prisoners.
The traitor Abdullah spilled everything easily when I threatened him with money and a knife.
"And I came all the way here across the distant sea prepared to die. Bringing matchlock guns, gunpowder, and bullets needed to fight against those evil Nador bastards."
These people don't know where the Tuscan Empire is, or where the Kingdom of Granada is.
So there's no way to prove whatever lies I tell.
Well, even if by some chance the Kingdom of Granada really sent a ship here saying Baron Pierre is actually a Tuscan Empire spy.
Let's say they claim all this is the Tuscan Empire's slander.
How could guys busy dying fighting the Sultanate possibly send a ship all the way here?
It's only about 1,300km in a straight line from the Kingdom of Granada...
'It took 30 years for Spanish and Portuguese guys on Earth to come down here?'
By then, these guys will already have become my puppet state.
"And to continue this, I'm receiving gold because I have to buy gunpowder and matchlock guns from the Kingdom of Granada."
Then I pretended to stand up from my seated position on the ground.
"I have various information about those Nador bastards, but if you can't trust me, there's nothing I can do. I'll have to leave."
The most important technique when pretending to overturn negotiations.
That's slowly, exaggeratedly showing preliminary movements to overturn the table.
I, Baron Fabio de Rothschild, faithful to the basics, moved about 0.8 times slower than usual when standing up and turning my back.
'These bastards won't be able to not stop me?'
Then a man said to be the chief of the Zulu tribe firmly grasped my wrist.
"I sincerely apologize for doubting you because you're a foreigner who came from outside. Please forgive us for not recognizing your dedication risking your life to eradicate those evil Nador bastards for us."
When the Zulu chief bowed his head, the others bowed their heads too.
Yes, you can't do without me.
"Please don't doubt me next time."
"We'll swear by our ancestral spirits."
"Good. Then I'll briefly tell you about those Nador bastards first."
There's no need to tell those here how much money the Governor of Nador has, what religion he believes in, or what habits he has.
Rather than such information, how large an army they can mobilize and what their national power is like would be important.
"First, the fortunate thing is that the Sultan, the grand chief served by the Governor of Nador, doesn't have the leisure to support troops all the way here. So we only have to deal with the Governor of Nador."
If the Sultan had the leisure to send central troops all the way to Nador, that governor bastard wouldn't have dared to act up trying to eat western Ifriqiya on his own.
"However, the Governor of Nador alone can mobilize over 200,000 soldiers, and over 5 million people including slaves, subjects, and warriors live in his territory."
If that Nador bastard mobilizes 200,000 people, an era of warlords will open there like the Sui dynasty that immediately got 'Salsu-ed' by Eulji Mundeok.
The important thing is that they could mobilize that level of troops if they mobilize without considering the consequences.
Like nuclear missiles, the important thing is that 'they could launch'.
"200,000... Even if we combine all the warriors of our tribes, it doesn't reach 6,000."
"Of course, it's difficult for them to mobilize all those troops at once too. But the important thing is that they can put it into action if they just decide to."
The atmosphere around us sank heavily.
"Still, it's not that there's no way to fight against them at all."
Not only Malik, but all the surrounding chiefs listened to my words.
But I deliberately stalled.
To wait until they became more desperate.
10 minutes, 15 minutes... As I kept waiting, the other chiefs started urging me.
I feel like I could wait about a day, but I might get stabbed if I did that.
"What on earth is that method?"
"Please tell us!"
"We won't doubt you anymore now!"
I grinned and put into words the magic that would turn them into geese laying golden eggs for decades, no, centuries to come.
"Create a country. Everyone must unite as one, no, not just those here but all the other tribes must gather their strength to survive."