28 What to do? (1/2)
We are currently in our private rooms and our parents and Celes are staring at a map, racking their brains. The situation is complicated to say the least.
I am reading a good book about this worlds industrial capacities and having a sandwich as dinner. I will need to develop some better automated machines for them. If the stuff in this book is true, they still do so much by hand and magic.
My conclusion that this world is just starting it's technological advance in many aspects, was on the spot.
The reason is probably the existence of magic. You can do so many things with magic, it seems that some solutions don't even come to your awareness. Why should you start to create complicated machinery if you could develop a spell, which does the work for you?
Iris was sent to the Cygnus family to take care of her. My parents didn't like the idea to leave a minor to her own.
Then I take a look at the map too. It is surely a problem to have such a big area in rebellion. History shows, that it is almost impossible for a country to suppress another one, if the civil population is not willing to accept it.
And from our information, the civilians there are not on our side any more. The houses of Meltheim and Tulheim started a massive campaign of misinformation and propaganda, to bring everyone to their side.
They claimed that the gentle princess of Stricc was forced into a marriage with the cruel prince of Tirna. It would be a shame to obey such rulers.
It have no idea where they got that from.
Furthermore they accused the ruling house of favouritism towards a few selected houses.
Most of the minor Houses and Dukedoms in the northern region followed them. If willingly or not doesn't really matter that much. Those who didn't follow were struck down with overwhelming military force.
It must have been planned for a long time.
Practically over night, they had a third of the worlds population under their control. That's because there are many of the population centres located in the north. The population density becomes scarcer, the farther you go south.
The reason for that lies with the worlds ecosystem, with much more unfriendly organisms in the south.
Along with a big chunk of the population, they have access to some of best mines for rare elements. My parents already took control of every mine in our reach. Which comprises everything from the middle of the continent, down to the south.
They have also ordered every bigger noble family to pay a visit to the crown. The military is also already on the move. By now we can almost conclude that we have two completely separated countries again.
Together with the population centres, there is a sizeable amount of industrial capacity on the other side too. They have everything, they need. But so do we.
”If this evolves into a civil war. It will become very ugly. A lot of innocent people are bound to die again.” -Ireth
”But we have no other choice, than to react in some way.” -Arthur
”Assassinate them, like they tried with us? No need to be friendly any more.” -Nicol
”But wouldn't we make martyrs out of them. We would be tyrants, exactly what they claimed us to be.” -Ireth
”That's sure to cause a long period of disturb and unrest under the population of the whole continent” -Arthur
”And maybe that's what they want. If we strike them down with military force it wont be fast. And it will be messy. Maybe they hope to persuade some nobles, who are still loyal and turn them against us.” -Arthur
”Then just do nothing and isolate them. Shut down the border and hunger them to death.”
I interrupt the conversation and everyone turns to me.
”But we can't starve them. They have everything they need. Resources, food, equipment, industry. Everything is there.” -Nicol
I shrug my shoulders. ”We have those things too. We need nothing from them, they need nothing from us. If your conclusion is true and they just want to provoke a fight to create even greater chaos, then we don't give them what they want.
They threw their cards on the table and are hoping for us to do the same. But we shouldn't do it, because our cards keep changing, while we keep holding them.
Their interferences with our development plan, by controlling the market price, were a big hindrance. Now their control in our part of the continent is gone.