29. Back to Earth.

 

 

 

 

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“Of course, that’s not nearly enough.”

 

 

Around the time Veronica volunteered to offer her body to Yu-eun, Yuna and Sonya were meeting with Princess Ludmila.

She was in a very bad mood due to the series of events, but she willingly welcomed the two women because the potential benefits were so great.

 

 

“…I was expecting this. I hope we can discuss proper conditions instead of just trading people. Surely, even Yuna-ssi wouldn’t do that, would she?”

 

Ludmila felt a small sense of relief that Yu-eun wasn’t the one she was dealing with.

Talking to Yu-eun, who puts everything below sex, always leads to offering sex slaves.

That won’t do. He’s after Ludmila’s best friend and irreplaceable subordinate, Veronica.

 

 

“Well…”

“….”

 

 

Yuna said those slightly unsettling words and looked at Sonya.

Of course, the person who would actually lead the negotiations in this meeting was Lee Sonya. There was no one in the palace as skilled in negotiation as her, a lawyer.

 

 

“First of all, Your Highness is miscalculating the benefits you can gain through exclusive exchange with us.”

“…I haven’t even stated my opinion yet, how do you know that?”

“Whatever you’re expecting, it’ll be at least ten thousand times more.”

“…?”

 

She had seen the power of the space-time battleship and the drones. And she had heard things from Yu-eun and Yuna as they came and went.

Because of that, Ludmila was expecting the greatest possible benefit she could imagine. But at least ten thousand times more than that?

Sonya, knowing she was puzzled, gave her a gentle smile and showed her a tablet she had brought from the space-time battleship.

 

 

“Do you know what this is?”

“…What is it? A mirror? It’s too dark for a mirror.”

 

 

Ludmila, who naturally had no way of knowing about modern civilization, frowned and turned the tablet she received this way and that.

Then, she accidentally pressed a protruding button, and the all-black screen suddenly lit up brightly, displaying a dazzling picture.

 

 

“???”

Ludmila was greatly surprised by just that.

Curious, she touched it with her finger, and the picture on the screen moved slightly.

 

 

“That’s called a tablet PC. Almost everyone in our world has one. If you work for a month, you can buy up to ten of the cheaper models.”

“Hmm…it’s interesting, but…so what?”

 

 

Ludmila, after touching it a few times, handed the tablet back.

It was quite a novel item, but it was hard to accept that the benefits that could be gained with it were more than ten thousand times greater.

 

 

Of course, from the part where she explained that an ordinary person could buy about ten of these items with their salary, one could get a glimpse of the level of productivity and purchasing power of that world. Even just an artifact that simply outputs pictures like this would cost quite a bit in this world, and if they could mass-produce such things and supply them as much as they wanted, and also be able to purchase them, it would be a very attractive market.

 

 

But even thinking in those terms, it was hard to accept a difference of ten thousand times.

 

 

As if knowing her mind, Sonya smiled slightly, unlocked the tablet, and showed her a video. A common type of video that can be found anywhere. Just a so-so video taken with a drone of the cityscape from the sky above the city, with no special editing.

 

 

But the value contained within it was enormous, at least in this place.

 

 

“Currently, the population of our world is about 10 billion. I don’t know how many people there are in this world, but considering the level of civilization, I’d estimate it to be around 1 to 2 billion at most, so at least 5 times more. And the level of civilization itself is extremely different.”

“…Towers?”

 

 

The video Sonya showed was of the downtown areas of Gangnam and Seoul, lined with incredibly tall buildings, which was a kind of shock to Ludmila, who had lived her whole life in this world.

 

 

She was a woman with a sense for things, so she could easily understand that those tower-like things were buildings, and that made her even more shocked.

 

 

She had heard that there was no magic in that world – although it had recently appeared due to the dungeons – and that they were building towers as tall as mountains with pure science and technology alone. And a lot of them.

 

 

“The city you’re looking at now is called ‘Gangnam,’ and it’s our base. It’s huge, isn’t it? The buildings are also big. But this is not even a tenth of ‘Seoul,’ which is the ‘capital.’ Seoul has a population of ten million.”

“Ten…million? Isn’t a capital a city?”

“Yes, that’s right. One city has a population of ten million.”

“….”

 

 

The population of a city is due to the overall level of civilization.

 

 

Basically, basic food production is meager within the city, so it has to be transported from rural or fishing villages, and then it needs to be processed and distributed to the market.

 

The key is transportation capacity.

And this transportation capacity was a very important issue that was directly related to the combat power of the civilization.

 

If a city can be formed that can accommodate a very large population, then a very large army can also be operated.

 

Sonya went on to explain the enormous benefits of exchange with the modern world.

 

 

Economic aspects, philosophical aspects, political aspects, and so on.

She made her understand that an indescribable leap would be made in every aspect and caused her to lose her will to fight.

 

 

“There’s a lot I could say, but to put it simply, the countries and civilizations in our world can’t even be compared to this world Your Highness lives in. Population, national power, productivity, capital, culture. I guarantee that the moment this world and our world open up exchanges, everyone except the group that becomes the gateway will lose all their competitiveness and be reduced to colonies. Do you understand what I mean?”

“….”

“It’s not just a matter of profit. It’s life and death, heaven and hell. It’s exactly the same as that. I’m sorry to bring back painful memories, but you witnessed it the other day, didn’t you? We can conquer this world without shedding a single drop of blood even without doing any of this negotiation. From a macro perspective, is there really a need to negotiate even though the losses are close to zero? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, our Emperor is willing to listen to your request to exchange. Originally, such a backward civilization doesn’t even deserve to sit at the negotiating table. Shouldn’t Your Highness be grateful to Seo-hyun-ssi?”

 

 

On the outside, she was speaking with grace and politeness, but the content inside was chilling. To summarize the long passage in just one sentence, it would be something like, ‘We can wipe you guys out and take whatever we want whenever we want. So don’t complain and do well when you have the chance.’

 

“…So, does that mean I have to accept all of your demands without exception?”

“Of course, what that person demanded, and everything I’m going to demand here too.”

“….”

 

 

Ludmila’s face hardened unpleasantly.

This isn’t negotiation, it’s just being a vassal state or a colony.

 

“Don’t make such a face. At least Your Highness and Your Highness’s kingdom will be able to live prosperously. Or you can put a figurehead here and Your Highness can live a sophisticated life in the developed modern world. You’re free to choose that much.”

“How is that freedom? And I think you’ve forgotten, but this negotiation is being held as an apology for the massacre caused by that side…specifically, a woman named Seo-hyun. The only reason it’s even in the form of a negotiation is because the benefits are so great. But if you come out like this, do you think it will be accepted as a genuine apology?”

“It won’t be, will it.”

“Then!”

“So what?”

“What…did you say?”

 

 

Sonya, who had blown away her gentle and polite expression, crossed her legs to the other side.

 

“You seem to be mistaken about something, but only the strong can demand an apology. Only those who can inflict even a little bit of damage or influence can demand an apology. To put it more harshly, the words of the weak have no value. They mean nothing. They have no influence.”

 

 

Sonya, with a cold smirk, leaned towards the princess.

 

 

“What are you going to do if Your Highness doesn’t accept it? Can you do anything to us?”

“….”

 

 

The princess gritted her teeth in anger. But Sonya’s harsh words did not stop.

 

 

“You can’t do anything anyway. With the power of Your Highness and this world, you’ll be swept away not just by the Imperial Palace, but even by Han Sarang-ssi’s unit. In that situation, can Your Highness’s opinion have any meaning? Can Your Highness’s will have any value?”

“….”

“Your Highness is here of your own free will, but we can do that with our coercion as well. And vice versa, of course. In other words, Your Highness’s will or opinion has no influence on the actions or situations Your Highness is currently taking or in. In other words, the fact that Your Highness is sitting in front of me and Yuna being treated like a human being is entirely due to our Emperor’s will.”

“….”

 

 

Sonya delivered the final blow to the trembling princess.

 

 

“Ants discovered by humans can continue doing what they were doing, be caught and raised as pets, or be stepped on and killed. Everything, from A to Z, all of it! They have no choice. Do you understand, you immature princess?”