Reset Life – Chapter 16

KR Translators:

・StarrySkySailor
・KawaiiKage
・ImmortalInk
・KingPotato
・SugoiSenpai

Chapter 16: You Should Understand When I Speak Nicely (1)

Imperial Year 372, July 4th.

The eastern part of Edikinz belongs to the Empire.

With a high wall built 2 kilometers from the border, it faces the Azot Kingdom’s Edikinz, 4 kilometers across. It is a city famous for having the highest proportion of standing troops in the Empire and the most intense military training.

If a war breaks out between the two countries, Edikinz must occupy the western part of the city no matter what. The same goes for the western part, which belongs to Azot, so the two parts of the same city always create a tense atmosphere.

It would be nice if they could just get along.

“The delegation, which departed for the sake of goodwill between the two countries, must naturally strive for goodwill. The reason I’m saying such simple things is because what you consider to be natural behavior could cause anger in Azot.”

Before entering Azot, the delegation began a self-inspection.

The key figures of the delegation gathered to discuss the activities they would undertake in Azot. And I, who could overwhelm everyone here in terms of title, was given the right to speak while sitting in a fairly high seat.

Although, being a minor, the possibility of being ignored couldn’t be ruled out.

Damachi, looking at me with ambiguous eyes, said,

“You are right. Sir Herduke, you are quite thoughtful. Would you like to elaborate further?”

I bowed politely and said,

“The cause of the discord between the two countries is their different religions. I am by no means saying that this is bad. However, I want to say that for the sake of goodwill, we should avoid touching upon sensitive areas.”

“For example, what kind of behavior?”

Turbo showed interest as if trying to help me. This would allow the audience’s attention to be directed towards me. I continued speaking calmly, receiving the attention of the people.

“Religious discussions are good, but there is no need to slander each other’s religions. If the two countries are to reconcile, they must acknowledge the issue of religion. Otherwise, the friendship will end in failure. For example, saying that the God of Light, Lynin, is a subordinate god of the Sun God.”

“But, Sir Herduke, that’s a clear fact. The Grand Sunshine has decided that it is correct.”

Damachi spoke as if admonishing a child for speaking carelessly. As if agreeing with him, I could see some people snickering. They thought it was ridiculous.

This allowed me to identify my ‘enemy’.

I said with a calm expression,

“Will the people of Azot think so too?”

“We have to make them think that way. That’s the purpose of goodwill, isn’t it? We have to make them accept the obvious truth.”

“You are wrong. We are right. Believe what we say. You’re not saying that this is how friendship works, are you, High Priest Ir?”

Damachi closed his mouth. His eyes gradually took on a different color. It seems he finally realized that I’m not someone to be underestimated. Anyway, I was able to confirm one thing with this.

That ‘idiot’ definitely joined the delegation with the intention of causing trouble.

“As far as I know, the Great Temple of Lynin in Azot, the Light of Origin, doesn’t say anything about the Sun God Achuni. If you trace the origin, both gods come from the ‘First One’. Ah, I won’t dare to talk about my short theology in the presence of the High Priest. However, I’m just trying to talk about general principles.”

After speaking, I took a sip of water. I need to somehow garner public support here. That’s the only way to prevent the idiot’s idiotic actions, even a little.

“Anyone would get angry if what they like, believe in, and follow is insulted. If you truly like something, it’s natural to get angry when it’s insulted. Achuni is such a being to the citizens of the Empire, and Lynin is such a being to the citizens of the Azot Kingdom. That may be the deep chasm between the two countries, but friendship can still be established without necessarily mentioning it. Think about it. You would have friends, and those friends would have habits or quirks that you find incomprehensible. In that case, what do you do? Do you cut ties with your friends because you don’t like those habits or quirks? Do you worsen the relationship? You wouldn’t. If it’s a habit you dislike, you would at least try not to show it in front of you, or you would simply tolerate it. Because you are friends. Isn’t that right?”

I gently asked the audience. After making a reasonable point, you should immediately get acknowledgement for it. That way, it’s easier for them to think that what you’re saying is right.

“That’s true.”

“There’s no need to make a fuss over religious matters……”

“If it’s about friendship, there’s no need to bring up difficult issues first……”

People seemed to be murmuring and talking amongst themselves. Overall, it seemed like my story was working. Of course, Damachi and those around him were making faces like they had just eaten a bug. They could refute, but since public opinion was leaning towards me, they couldn’t say anything.

“Of course, this is an issue that the two countries should resolve slowly over time. High Priest Ir’s words are also correct. However, we are the first goodwill delegation. There is no need to make sensitive issues our immediate task. We need to make the two countries friendly first. We need to become friends first. We need to build a strong foundation of friendship between the two countries and address serious issues on top of that solid foundation. If that foundation exists, we can talk about that issue as much as we want. But now is not the time. So, my suggestion is that we avoid religious issues.”

Explain in an easy-to-understand way, elevate the audience, and be polite. It’s the diplomatic rhetoric that any aristocrat learns. Thanks to this, people were generally agreeing with me.

Furthermore, I also praised Damachi’s argument. People usually can’t say anything against someone who praises them.

“Then, Arisein, are you saying that High Priest Ir shouldn’t say anything?”

One of Damachi’s people asked the question I had already anticipated. Since I had intentionally left room for it to sound that way, they fell for it perfectly. I smiled softly and shook my head.

“That’s not the case. Aside from causing religious disputes, High Priest Ir is someone who can achieve great things. If the religious communities of the two countries acknowledge each other and take a step towards peace, wouldn’t the two countries follow suit? I may be blindly respecting him due to my lack of knowledge, but I believe that the Grand Sunshine dispatched High Priest Ir for that purpose. Since you have been a believer of Achuni for a long time and have studied theology deeply, I believe you can lay the foundation for friendship between the religious communities of the two countries, such a meaningful task.”

Rather, I respect Damachi. That’s why I can’t stand to see him doing something bad. I trust the person I respect and I’m expressing that.

With words of the same meaning as above, Damachi’s people were unable to ask any questions. Naturally. Thanks to the idiot who asked me a question earlier, the basis for their rebuttal had disappeared.

Damachi stared at me intently. Public opinion had already tilted in my favor. I was a commendable young man who respected High Priest Damachi, and people would think that I was saying these things out of the hope that he wouldn’t make any mistakes because I respected him.

At this point, if he were to say that his purpose was to enlighten the followers of Lynin, it would be no different from claiming that he was far from being friendly. And that could be seen as a conflict between the Duke’s family and the temple in a different light.

Of course, my father wouldn’t help me, but to those who don’t know the inside story, it would appear that way, and Damachi doesn’t know that either.

So, what are you going to do?

“Sir Herduke’s words are truly correct. Indeed, you are worthy of being a citizen of the Empire blessed by the Sun. There’s no need to immediately bring up the delicate issues between the two countries. Now is the time for our generation to lay the groundwork. Everything else should be done after that. Well said, Sir Arisein Ka Herduke.”

Holding back my laughter, I politely bowed my head and drew the holy symbol of Achuni with my hand.

“No. I thought you already knew that, High Priest. Thank you for taking my unnecessary meddling well.”

“Haha. Not at all. I heard that all the children of Duke ‘Ecaledon’ are very intelligent, and indeed that is the case. Now, I believe everyone has heard. What Sir Herduke said is exactly what the delegation should truly pursue.”

I expressed humility and sat down.

With this, the meeting naturally turned into a discussion about what aspects we should be careful about for the sake of friendship.

For now, I’ve put a safety device in place. However, I’m not sure how that ‘idiot’ who took a big hit from me will react. So, I’ll only be at ease until today, and from tomorrow, when we enter Azot, I’ll have to keep my wits about me.

“You’re making friends and enemies at the same time. Still, those who underestimated you have acknowledged your aristocratic abilities. Because you praised your opponent and made them agree with your opinion. However, you made an enemy of someone you shouldn’t have. Well, it’s a good thing you found out that the High Priest was trying to do something stupid. Thanks to you, he’ll be careful too.”

“The evaluation is ambiguous. So, what’s the score?”

“75 points. In short, you were awesome, Risel.”

Aila smiled brightly and patted my shoulder. Since I had expected that level of success, Aila’s evaluation was pleasing.

“But Risel, how did you know the High Priest was thinking that way?”

“His career tells us that.”

I said to Turbo, whom I recently started calling ‘Rob’ as a nickname. Rob tilted his head and then nodded.

“Ah, I see. High Priest Damachi boasts an undefeated record in theological debates. There were rumors that he sometimes pushes his opinions relentlessly.”

Damachi is known to have risen to the position of High Priest through his debating skills. He has a reckless personality, but his specialty is making it impossible to argue against him by calling it faith. I nodded in agreement.

“Yes. But I was a little surprised when he tried to start a theological debate with a child. Although he did leave room to back out beforehand.”

“That’s right. It was excellent. If you drag someone who has acknowledged your ability and humbly retreated, it would only be poison to you. You even set a trap in the corner you retreated to. Moreover, it’s amazing that you made it impossible for him to bring up theological points with just that one move. You nailed it by calling it a general principle. You’re cunning, Risel.”

“Cunning? It’s thanks to him letting his guard down because I’m a child. Still, I’ll have to be careful from now on. I was able to clearly distinguish between friend and foe through this meeting. The future is the problem. Hmm.”

“The enemies are Damachi and about 10 others……and our allies start with the two of us, and we’ve pulled in quite a few today.”

Aila slowly counted the list of people.

Overall, I managed to pull about 20 people to my side through today’s meeting.

They didn’t show it clearly, but these are the people I believe will agree with my opinion in the future.

As if she suddenly remembered, she clapped her hands lightly and said,

“First, we need to prepare counterarguments for any trouble Damachi might cause. Rob-oppa, you have time, right?”

“Ah, yes. The formation of factions isn’t what I want, but for the sake of goodwill, Risel’s side is right. I have to lend a hand.”

I glanced at Aila for a moment.

My impression of her is that she’s an unfathomable girl.

With her pretty face and way of speaking, she’s a typical 16-year-old, but her natural ability to see through the essence, which transcends that, and her bold attitude of not taking it seriously, definitely suggests that there’s something more to her.

She’s helping me now, but it’s hard to say that she’s completely on my side. I’ll have to learn more about the Hind family later.

I said,

“Ah, sorry, but could you two excuse me for a moment? I have somewhere to go.”

Aila looked at me with a sullen expression and then said,

“You have to come up with the counterarguments. Where are you going?”

“I’m curious about how the carriage modification is going.”

“Ah. That’s right. Joey is too big, after all. Then come to Rob-oppa’s room before it gets too late. You have to memorize four or five counterarguments by today.”

“Okay. See you later, Rob-hyeong.”

“Yeah. Come as soon as possible.”

I waved goodbye and started walking in a different direction.

“Risel, if you have any requests, you have to say them clearly! Don’t make them create a strange outcome by mistake!”

Aila suddenly shouted that and then waved as she moved away. I had to slightly harden my expression as I watched her disappear around the corner.

Could it be……? Nah, that can’t be. How would she know?

It was true that I was going to see how the carriage modification was going. The carriage was too small for Joey to ride, so we had to somehow modify it or find a horse for Joey to ride.

However, the former was easier than the latter. A horse that could carry a giant over 2 meters tall and weighing over 150 kilograms would probably only be found among the wild horses of the Northern Plains.

Anyway, the carriage was being modified smoothly, so I wasn’t too worried. After greeting Joey, who was discussing this and that with the artisans as they had to adjust the modifications to his size, I returned to the lodging.

Relieved that Marlin and Levidian, who had become close to me at some point, had gone somewhere, I changed my clothes. I changed into commoner’s travel clothes that looked a bit rough and stood in front of a half-body mirror, looking at my reflection.

The image of a reasonably handsome boy with black hair and black eyes was reflected there. It’s ironic for an aristocrat that commoner’s clothes suit me better than aristocratic clothes, but since I’m half not an aristocrat, let’s just say that’s the case.

I closed my right eye and gently pressed my index and middle fingers of my right hand against it. I felt a subtle pressure and muttered quietly in that state.

“My eyes are truly revealed.”

There’s no feeling at all. Of course. I removed my hand and opened my eyelid. In the mirror, a boy with one black eye and one blue eye, an odd-eyed boy, was looking at himself a little sadly.

The mother who raised me has blue eyes, and my father has black eyes. And my birth mother also had blue eyes. And I inherited the characteristics of both sides, but due to circumstances, I have black eyes.

In the memories of the mother who raised me, her baby had black eyes.

I found out about this fact just before I died. My father told me literally ‘everything’. Thanks to that, I was able to accept reality.

He said that since it’s a magical change of eye color, there’s no problem with my vision. He also said that this procedure alone cost quite a bit. The reason why he didn’t make it permanent was to let me know the truth?

I resented it then, but this is a great disguise in its own way.

“Now, let’s go.”

I left the lodging and started walking down the street alone.

“Welcome! What can I do for you?”

The place I visited was the office of a company called ‘Edian Logistics and Transportation’.

They are renowned for responsibly delivering all sorts of goods, big or small, to various locations. They have their head office in the capital city, Nek, and branches in each city, and are known for their safe logistics and transportation.

Outwardly, that is.

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