High & Half and the Town of Wheat (1)

Well then, let's get our geography straight.

That said, I don't know every country on this continent either, so this time I'll talk about the surrounding nations with the Kingdom of Rudoria at the center.

First, the Kingdom of Rudoria lies just east of the Pulha Great Forest.

The Kingdom of Rudoria is larger than the countries around it, and it is a large country that is stable both in terms of national power and culture: it gets monster materials and the bounty of the forest from the Pulha Great Forest to the west, mineral resources from the mountains to the north, and abundant food from the granary region to the east.

Also, after many nobles were toppled a few years ago, the royal family expanded the lands under its direct rule and grew stronger, apparently accelerating centralization.

Thus, the system may appear unshakable, but the number of nobles governing the country has fallen, while the number of monsters within its borders has steadily increased, so it is still unclear how things will turn out.

South of the Kingdom of Rudoria lies Paulogia.

Paulogia is about half the size of the Kingdom of Rudoria.

I don't know much about it, but apparently the ceramics produced in Paulogia are highly regarded.

It is on good terms with the Kingdom of Rudoria and, with food support from it, is fighting the Republic of Vilestrika to the south.

Next, immediately east of Paulogia, is the Karkoim Principality.

It lies southeast of the Kingdom of Rudoria and northeast of the Republic of Vilestrika, but... I only passed through it briefly, so I don't know this country very well either.

The Karkoim Principality is friendly with all three—the Kingdom of Rudoria, Paulogia, and the Republic of Vilestrika—and serves as a thoroughfare for people and goods.

Apparently, it sometimes even mediates the conflict between Paulogia and the Republic of Vilestrika.

Incidentally, if you head northeast from the Karkoim Principality, you will reach the cluster of small states that includes Odine.

Now, if you travel north from the Karkoim Principality, you will find two countries, Zaints and Jideer, lying between the Kingdom of Rudoria and the cluster of small states.

Apparently, these two countries once fought both the Kingdom of Rudoria and the cluster of small states, but now they have almost no skirmishes and have built relatively peaceful relations.

That's because a warlike country called Dalotte arose to the northeast—or to the north, from the perspective of the cluster of small states—forcing the two countries to focus their attention there.

In other words, the Pulha Great Forest is west of the Kingdom of Rudoria, with Paulogia and the Karkoim Principality to the south and Zaints and Jideer to the east.

That leaves the north, and the area north of the Kingdom of Rudoria is mostly mountainous.

Some places are too rugged for people to enter, and... apparently, a small country of dwarves lies beyond them.

Farther north beyond the mountains lies a major country called the Fordle Empire, which is hostile to the Kingdom of Rudoria.

The rugged terrain has fortunately kept things from escalating into a large-scale war, but the two sides have built forts among the mountains, glared at each other, and traded skirmishes.

...Yes, that was a very long explanation, but in short, the elves who left the Kingdom of Rudoria settled in forests in Paulogia, the Karkoim Principality, Zaints, and Jideer.

And to go pick up the half-elf child born from that incident, I left the cluster of small states and met up with an elf acquaintance of mine, Airena, at an inn in Sweeji, the capital of Zaints.

As an elf, she had hardly changed in appearance after several years apart, remaining almost exactly as she had been when we first met.

"It's been a long time, Eisa-sama. ...If I recall, we met this way the last time, too."

Airena entered my room, smiling more brightly than I had expected as she said this.

Apparently, the negotiations with the Kingdom of Rudoria had been making decent progress.

According to her, the Kingdom of Rudoria's royal family had indeed seized the territories of noble families whose members it had executed and grown stronger, but it was also struggling with how to treat the people in those newly expanded lands under its direct rule.

You see, the people in eastern Rudoria had experienced the earthquake firsthand and were terrified that the calamity would return.

As a result, they had also come to dread the elves' continued refusal to forgive the Kingdom of Rudoria and their demands for an apology.

Petitions urging the royal family to apologize to the elves had continued for years, and, if that could not be done, the people at least wished to move elsewhere.

They wanted to escape the eastern region, where the calamity—and the elves' anger—would likely descend again with even greater force.

Moreover, the number of monsters emerging from the forests the elves had left had increased, further spreading anxiety among the people, while the eastern harvests were beginning to decline.

If harvests in the east, known as the Kingdom of Rudoria's granary, declined, the effects would not be confined to the kingdom.

For example, the volume of food the Kingdom of Rudoria had been exporting to Paulogia would naturally decline as well.

Rising food prices at home, growing instability, and delays in food exports to other countries.

And all these changes had occurred after the royal family made the eastern lands its direct territory.

No matter how strongly the royal family insisted that the executed nobles were to blame, calls for a solution to the problem would not stop.

No matter how strong the Kingdom of Rudoria was—or rather, precisely because it was strong—other countries would move to take advantage if unrest threw the kingdom into disorder.

Therefore, while the situation could still be kept under control, the royal family sat down at the negotiating table with Airena—in other words, with the elves—to try to resolve the situation.

Most likely, within a year or two, the current king of Rudoria would announce an apology to the elves and abdicate the throne, taking responsibility for failing to prevent the disaster.

The young Crown Prince would apparently succeed him, with the current king's younger brother, the Grand Duke, acting as both his adviser and regent.

Whether that would bring all the turmoil within the Kingdom of Rudoria to an end depended on the abilities of the Crown Prince and his guardian, the Grand Duke, but for the elves, it would at least amount to a resolution.

The elves would accept the royal family's apology, cull the excess monsters, and return any who wished to their homeland forests.

...As for culling the monsters, I would probably be asked to take part as well.

Of course, that would not mean every elf could forgive humanity, nor would the fear humans felt toward elves simply disappear.

But no one could take any further responsibility.

This would bring the matter to a close, and all that would remain would be to wait for time to bridge the rift.