Ch.107End of War (3)

‘Tsk… This doesn’t look good.’

Cardinal Andrea, the Pope’s representative who has the attention of everyone gathered in the hall, inwardly expresses his dissatisfaction.

‘They seem to have deliberately set high demands from the start, knowing their initial proposal would be rejected, but unfortunately, we didn’t do the same. I’ll need to change our approach.’

The characteristic of most clergy could be described as pure in a positive light, or gullible in a negative one, which put them at a severe disadvantage in negotiations.

The negotiation tactic of starting with extreme demands and gradually compromising, even if aimed at fully achieving one’s goals, was considered a significant loss of face for the clergy.

In other words, the proposal brought by the Vatican was their minimum non-negotiable condition.

If the Vatican side refused to compromise at all, while the Empire kept conceding and backing down? Unthinkable. If that happened, the Empire would become furious, negotiations would collapse, and the war would continue.

So the way to break this impasse is…

“As Leo’s representative, I, Andrea, demand that the Empire prohibit heretical prince-electors, revoke the Emperor’s eligibility for election, fully restore destroyed churches, ensure that no church territories within the Empire be abolished for any reason, and return relations between the Empire and the Vatican to what they were before the holy war.”

I have no choice but to inflate our demands as well.

Prohibiting heretical prince-electors means the Vatican, a foreign power, would interfere with privileges that have belonged to the electors for centuries. Revoking the eligibility of emperors with heretical faith and returning relations to pre-war status implies continued heavy interference in imperial affairs. Full restoration of destroyed churches would be funded by imperial finances, and prohibiting the abolition of church territories guarantees the church’s special privileges.

Naturally, none of these are easy for the Empire to accept. They might be bearable if accepted in exchange for something, but accepting them without compensation would completely distort the Empire’s political structure.

“?!”

“…Hmm.”

The Vatican clergy, surprised by demands far stronger than previously agreed upon, stare at Andrea’s back in confusion, while the imperial delegation, vaguely perceiving Andrea’s intention, breathe sighs of relief.

With both sides making unreasonable proposals, they can now negotiate downward, satisfying the other party while still securing what they originally wanted, giving them something to report back to their respective factions.

The imperial envoys, who had been worried whether these “naive” clergy would understand such negotiation tactics, look at Andrea, the Vatican representative, with surprised expressions.

“Wait! What is this—”

“Enough, you have not been given permission to speak, so please remain silent.”

Some of the confused clergy try to confront Andrea despite the rudeness, but Claude, who had been watching them cautiously, immediately silences them.

Claude normally wouldn’t need to speak so respectfully to clergy given his position, but right now he’s acting as a mediator rather than a king, prioritizing his authority as a mediator over his royal authority, so he restrains the clergy using formal language.

“Ahem, thank you for your input. Now all that remains is to narrow our differences through appropriate compromise.”

“…Yes, I hope we can reach an amicable agreement.”

Damn it…

If only those useless followers who came along had kept their mouths shut, but because of that brief commotion, it’s been revealed that this proposal was my own initiative.

The imperial side has nothing to gain by pressuring me, so they’ll likely pretend not to notice and move on, but still, having such an obvious weakness isn’t good. This is a negotiation after all. I hope this doesn’t become an obstacle.

……….

“Ughhhh…”

“You must be very tired today. Here, lie down and rest.”

“Thank you, I can always count on you, Chloe…”

Ugh, those crazy people.

I knew negotiations were always like this, but experiencing it firsthand gave me a headache.

With both sides inflating their demands several times over, the whole thing looked ridiculous from the outside. It was like a competition between pathological liars trying to outdo each other’s boasts.

[Then what if we carefully estimate the cost of reparations for damage caused by the holy war and the reconstruction of destroyed churches, and then divide the burden at a ratio of 70:100?]

[Unacceptable. The holy war was started by the Vatican first, and this is not a surrender treaty, so we cannot pay more than you. It must be at least 100:100.]

[Hmm… I don’t like the statement about who started it, but I acknowledge this isn’t a surrender treaty. How about a fair 100:100?]

[Agreed.]

The negotiations generally proceeded like this.

One side would pretend to be sincere while moderating their proposal, and the other side would accept that moderation while simultaneously pretending to be sincere in moderating their own demands.

It was like they already knew the answer and were just working backward to make the solution fit. Is this how professors and teachers feel when they catch students cheating?

Crack— Crack crack—

“Aaahhh…”

My body must have been shocked from sitting in a chair for so long after a while. Even though Chloe is just pressing down with her weight, my muscles and bones are cracking loudly, spreading a refreshing sensation throughout my body.

“Wow… It’s been a while since I heard such loud cracks… Hehe, make sure you rest well today.”

Saying that, Chloe gradually moves her hands from my upper back downward. The refreshing feeling that started from my neck spreads down my spine bit by bit.

Ahh… It feels so good… Just the right amount of weight, slightly painful but perfect.

It feels like she’s optimized to climb on top of me.

“Mmm… Thanks, Chloe. I can always count on y—?!”

Wait, didn’t she tell me to rest well?

Chloe’s hands, which started from my neck and traveled down my back, suddenly move forward after passing my tailbone.

“Well… it’s been a long time since I gave birth… and they said it’s possible again starting today… so… um…”

Rest well…

Chloe presses her body close to my back and whispers in my ear while grasping with both hands.

No, this isn’t resting… mmm…

……….

“Then… I will resume the peace treaty negotiations between the Holy Empire and the Vatican that were suspended yesterday…”

“…?”

The negotiations resumed at 9 AM. Others look at my exhausted face with questioning expressions, but soon turn their eyes away hastily, apparently deciding it’s not worth inquiring about.

“The matters agreed upon by both sides until yesterday are… equally sharing the cost of rebuilding plundered imperial territories and churches at a 1:1 ratio; the Empire will not prosecute nobles who sided with the holy war unless they committed excessive massacres or plunder; the official faith of imperial territories will follow that of their lord; the Vatican will recognize heretics within the Empire as brothers in faith; church territories within the Empire will maintain all privileges except immunity and tax exemption; Emperor Friedrich’s excommunication will be canceled; and finally, only those of Canaan faith can become Holy Roman Emperor, and the Emperor’s coronation will still be performed by the Pope of that era… Any objections?”

“None.”

If either side had been even slightly doctrinaire, they would have engaged in theological debates and accused the other of greater wrongdoing, but the representatives from both sides deliberately ignored such matters, focusing the peace negotiations primarily on what to give and what to take.

‘Well, these are all just patchwork solutions.’

The official faith of imperial territories follows their lord, yet only a follower of the Canaan faith can become Holy Roman Emperor. This could be seen as the Vatican barely maintaining the supremacy of the Canaan faith in the Empire, but as we know, in the feudal system, a lord cannot interfere with his vassals as long as they fulfill their obligations.

The Canaan faith must be officially followed in the Emperor’s direct territories, but he has no influence over the faith of his vassals or their territories. In other words, it’s all for show.

The same goes for the Empire. They can now punish corrupt church territories and extract taxes from them, but they still cannot abolish church territories themselves and cannot punish nobles who clearly rebelled. Of course, even though this is a negotiated peace rather than a defeat, the inability to punish clear acts of rebellion against the lord severely undermines the Emperor’s authority.

However, neither side can say anything about this. Asking for more from the other side means offering something of equal value in return, which results in a zero-sum game. There’s no benefit.

“Since we discussed the overall content yesterday, today we will focus on adjusting the details—the plundered territories and churches, the minimum conditions for prosecutable nobles, and so on.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

After several hours of discussing the details, the Holy Empire and the Vatican finally reached a moderate agreement and signed the peace treaty. Thus ended the civil war of the Holy Empire that had briefly lasted for over a year.