A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

43 – Ranjunggu

The actions of the Suins were extremely furious. The newfound homeland, a place where they could relax and live without worries, drove the Suins to explode with excitement. The instructors who had forced them into inhumane tasks all this time had to be torn apart by the Suins’ nails and claws.

The heads of the thoroughly massacred instructors were gathered in one place and incinerated, and the dragons, with a refreshing breath from their mouths, turned the Black Abyss training ground into a heap of ashes.

“Comrades! Set this place on fire! Let’s all escape from here together!”

And Chertu, after filling the box brought by the other dragons with her kin, quickly crossed the Laco mountain range before dawn and returned to the Ailam Empire. She had brought all her kin with her to find me.

“How many are there when combined?”

“If we include children and the elderly, it’s 794.”

“That’s quite a lot. Good. As promised, I will provide a separate residence in the commercial city of Porto. I hope you all will live well in the Ailam Empire from now on.”

At my words, the Suins either sobbed or shed tears. I smiled and shared food with them.

I had nothing to lose.

It is the moment when I acquired the strongest combat unit raised by Sultan Saldin.

But of course, I had no intention of stopping here.

Didn’t I say that, Sultan Saldin? You’ve crossed the line.

“Carl Hansen.”

“Yes, Lord Randor.”

“Send a disposable communication device capable of magic communication to the Western Continent. Tell Sultan Saldin to come here.”

“You want to talk to Sultan Saldin?”

“Yes. Now that I have the strongest weapon he has raised in my hands, don’t you think I should threaten him and take advantage of it?”

Carl Hansen let out a sinister laugh.

“Oh, of course. I will send it right away.”

Sultan Saldin. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

If we’ve put their hearts in turmoil, we have to pay the price, don’t we?

“Damn it! Damn it!”

Sultan Saldin was raging in a way that he had never seen before, throwing objects as he grabbed them. His second son, Amir, and his first son, Rashid, had nothing else to do but cower as they watched their father’s rage.

The Black Abyss, where Suin combat troops were trained, had turned into ashes by none other than the dragons, and when the news of the Suins escaping by riding on the dragons was reported, Sultan Saldin could not contain his anger.

However, Sultan himself knew better than anyone else that anger could not solve the situation.

“How dare the dragons burn our territory! This is an act of war! O Sultan! If you give the order, I will lead the army to the trade route and demand strict responsibility for this matter…”

The second Amir, who was observing the situation, thought of a response that his father would approve of and spoke a word, but Sultan responded with even more anger.

“You foolish fool! On what just cause will you start a war? Huh? If we do that, we will have to admit that we sent spies first! Are we going to attack first and throw a tantrum? Even though it’s obvious that the morale of the army is a complete mess, you still want to go to war! Do you have a brain or not?”

Amir had to bow his head without even uttering a single word in response to his father’s anger. Sultan’s words were spot on.

They were in a position where they couldn’t express their anger about the fact that the dragons had destroyed part of their own territory. It was a painful loss, but since Sultan had made the first mistake, they had no grounds to be angry.

Furthermore, just when various goods from the eastern continent were gaining popularity, rumors were circulating that Sultan had sent spies and almost destroyed the relationship between the two countries. In that moment, Sultan’s evaluation was clearly about to be ruined.

“The nomadic tribes living outside the fertile plains of Crescent Triangle and Grassland have become unable to survive without the Ayram Empire! Most of the poor tribes in Dagamba and its surrounding areas are on the side of Rendor! Rendor! If time continues to pass like this, there is even a possibility that they will emerge as a new political force!”

Amir hesitantly gave his opinion again in response to his father’s words.

“If you refuse, send 500,000 armies and elephants…”

“More than 40% of those 500,000 troops are from the nomadic tribes of the wastelands! Since they couldn’t raise livestock properly, most of the tribal people, regardless of gender, were warriors who survived by plundering the sheep and goats of other tribes! We recruited those people and succeeded in conquering wars! But if we provoke them, will the army be maintained?! Do you have a brain? Amir, do you have one or not?”

Amir could only lower his head depressed again.

If they just stayed still, half would be lost.

Sultan paced back and forth for a while before weakly sitting down on his throne.

“Let it go. They don’t seem to want to make it public either, so we won’t either.”

“But Father! Our territory has been burned down by the dragons!”

“I know too, Amir. I’m not an idiot, and I’m not that ignorant! But if we announce and start blaming and fighting, we will lose in the struggle for just cause.”

“Even so…”

“We have no choice now that we’ve started the fire of the unnecessary war. Lashed.”

“Yes.”

“We can’t just keep suffering one-sided losses. Develop products that cannot exist without the eastern continent and sell them. Make refrigerators, air conditioners, canned beverages, and sell them. If we continue like this, our market will be taken over by them.”

“…Understood, Sultan.”

“And stop sending spies. Once the Suyin are in their hands, spies will no longer be useful. No one understands the Kambara’s underground tactics better than the Suyin. As long as the Suyin exist, spies will not be able to set foot in Ayram.”

“I will do as you command, Sultan.”

“Leave. Leave!”

Sultan waved his hand nervously, and the two sons bowed their heads and left the room.

No.

They attempted to leave.

“Your Majesty.”

“Have I not made it clear that I do not wish to see anyone right now…”

“A messenger has arrived from Lord Rendor.”

As a court official cautiously entered the room, he held up a small disposable magic communication device and delivered the message. The two sons who were about to leave the room were forced to stop. Even the Sultan stood frozen in place. The three of them stood silently for a moment before coming together without anyone prompting them.

“Fetch it!”

After handing the communication device to the Sultan, the official carefully exited the room. The father and his two sons swallowed nervously and activated the device. They heard a low buzzing sound and then saw Lord Rendor and an interpreter appear on the screen.

With his torn thread eyes and glasses, the treachery in his expression was beyond words.

“hahahaha! Long time no see! Sultan!”

The Sultan chuckled brightly and did not say, “Long time no see, Brother!” That would have been a formal laugh and expression appropriate for political situations. However, by secretly sending the communication device through a back channel like this, it meant that he didn’t expect formal treatment.

“Oh, you have an ear-to-ear smile. You seem to be in a good mood, Rendor.”

So the Sultan replied with a nervous laugh.

“I heard that you have gotten rid of all of my minions? I never believed in monsters with ears and tails attached to their human forms. I never knew they would betray me like this after feeding them well and treating them well.”

In response to his words, a woman with beast’s ears appeared at Lord Rendor’s side.

“You didn’t feed them well or treat them well, Sultan. Learn to speak properly.”

The Sultan’s eyes widened.

“You call this beast ear a safe place!…”

“What can you do? I am in the Ayram Empire, so what can you do if I say this? Huh? Be careful with your words. We are now people of the Ayram Empire. We might even fly on a dragon and terrorize the Karmba Empire if necessary.”

Lord Rendor cautiously calmed down the snarling Cheertu and pushed her out of the screen. And Lord Rendor still looked at the Sultan with a grin.

“Sultan. Well, since the situation has turned out like this, let’s talk to each other honestly and directly. It was quite frightening for you to send your minions to blow up the Portu Commercial City. If that happened, our side would have suffered greatly.”

At that remark, the Sultan snarled.

“Didn’t you also send dragons to turn a part of the Karmba territory into a sea of fire?”

“Sultan, the one who strikes first has nothing to say. Isn’t that right? So let’s keep quiet about sending dragons and burning down cities. If I get angry, I can raise the minions you have cherished and loved and ride the dragon and send them flying again.”

At that, the Sultan gritted his teeth in frustration.

Lord Rendor laughed at his appearance.

“The minions know quite a lot of interesting things. They know exactly how to assassinate key figures and disrupt cities in the Karmba Empire. They were well aware of how to carry out terror attacks. If we give these beings the asymmetrical weapon of dragons, what do you think will happen?”

Lord Rendor laughed ominously.

“It might have been impossible before, but now, from the beginning, we could launch terror attacks on most of the important cities and key personnel in the Karmba Empire. If we decide to go to war, that is.”

“A deal. Let’s make a deal, Lord Rendor.”

In the end, the Sultan had no choice but to surrender to Lord Rendor’s words.

Not only were the dragons a headache, but now he had lost control over the minions as well. If war broke out, Lord Rendor could really do as he had just claimed with those minions.

From Karamba’s perspective, it was clear that the situation would make war much more difficult.

“Don’t you think brothers should really engage in war? Isn’t that right?”

“I’ve seen it well. I have no intention of going to war. I am not someone who likes uncertainty. Of course, if Sultan keeps provoking like this, I have no choice but to do as I just said.”

“Is that so? Then let’s not go to such extreme conclusions, brothers. Let’s make a deal. You can benefit, and we can benefit as well. Let’s bury our anger. How about that?”

Sultan felt his pride crumbling as he spoke cynically.

How was it possible to make those suspicious servants change their minds faster than the speed of light? He couldn’t know the method, but the deal was already on the table, so it was time to let go of his pride.

From Noble mtl dot com

Rando smiled brightly and nodded at the suggestion of making a deal.

“Since the great Sultan brother suggests making a deal, then I guess we should make a deal, right? Listen, Sultan. I heard that Karamba has a lot of mysterious black water. Is it oil?”

“You mean the black water that catches fire? Yeah, that’s right. Karamba has a lot of oil.”

“I heard from the servants that the land where the most oil is stored is called Molta. They say that when you dig wells there, oil comes out instead of water. Is that true?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Do you want that land?”

Sultan had a slightly puzzled look on his face.

The black water that burns and gives off heat.

Why would Sultan suddenly ask for oil when Ayram already used the magic stone furnace for heating? Sultan couldn’t understand.

Anyway.

If Karamba wanted the useless black water in exchange, Sultan would be slightly less deceived. To be honest, Sultan thought Karamba would want some of the land in the Crescent Triangle where spices could be produced.

“Yes. Please give me that land. That’s what I want in return.”

“Alright then. I’ll give it to you. Since we agreed to make a deal, there should be a counter-gift, right? As the price for giving you the land that produces the black water… what I want is…”

Sultan was planning to say that he would increase the import tariffs on canned drinks, refrigerators, and air conditioning, but Rando interrupted him and cautiously raised his hand.

“The only thing I will give to Sultan in return for taking that land is this one thing.”

“What is it?”

“I will save you.”

“……..”

“Do you have any objections? Or should I send dragons and servants to the Crescent Triangle? They were also planning to carry out a terror attack in Portu Commercial City. Can you say not to do this while doing that?”

Sultan was at a loss for words.

But what could he do?

“…Take Molta, the land where the black water comes out. Let’s use it to cover up this incident, Rando.”

That was all Sultan could say.