Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 21 - Eve of the Storm

At Le Brias, regular administrative meetings were held every day.

"Your Majesty, we have good news today," the minister in charge of trade reported eagerly. "We've received an unprecedented large order of magic stones from the Holy Mirishial Empire."

The figure reported was three times the volume of any previous transactions.

"And all of them are of the highest quality. In terms of the transaction amount, it's more than ten times our previous record."

While the minister celebrated innocently, Queen Lumies remained unconvinced.

The new Kingdom of Altaras was struggling with a trade deficit. Magic stones had been the main source of income from trade, with the Parpaldia Empire being the largest customer. However, with the diplomatic relations with the Parpaldia Empire severed trade had come to a halt. Even if it were to resume, the financially weakened empire, having lost its position among the great powers, couldn't afford to purchase large quantities of magic stones. As for the 72 former vassal states, there was some demand, but it was gradually diminishing. The shift from magic to electricity brought about by the import of Japanese products was reducing the demand for magic stones.

Altaras decided to explore new customers, targeting the Central World. In particular, the Holy Mirishial Empire was at the forefront of magical engineering. If they could enter this market, it would make it easier to enter markets in other countries. The Minister of Trade, who had been conducting top sales in the Holy Mirishial Empire, was pleased that their efforts had paid off. However, the order from the newcomer was too large. Queen Lumies was cautious, but the trade deficit couldn't be ignored. Japanese aid also had no guarantee of lasting forever.

While instructing the minister to proceed with negotiations, Queen Lumies secretly instructed the Commander of the Royal Guard to gather information.

. . .

Altaras did not have an embassy from the Holy Mirishial Empire. Formerly, the Ambassador to Parpaldia had also served as Altaras' representative, but due to the complications lingering since the war with the Parpaldia Empire, the situation had been left unresolved. From the perspective of the Holy Mirishial Empire, the threat from the former hypothetical enemy, the Parpaldia Empire, had disappeared in the east, but a new threat, the Gra Valkas Empire in the west, had emerged. Consequently, diplomatic efforts towards the Third Civilization Area were somewhat neglected.

In light of this, Lilceide visited the Japanese Embassy without an appointment again, but this time the Ambassador was tight-lipped. She reported to Queen Lumies with empty hands.

"Is that so? Japan has formed a military alliance with the Holy Mirishial Empire and the Kingdom of Emor, it seems. It's understandable that we wouldn't be prioritized."

"Yes. Japanese diplomats referred to the Principality of Qua-Toyne, the Kingdom of Quila, and Mu as the 'Big Three.' Due to our geopolitical conditions, we were treated as second only of that 'Big Three,' but Your Majesty, the two nations you mentioned have now joined the 'Big Three,' making it the 'Big Five.'"

"So, from Japan's perspective, our importance has dropped from tied for fourth place to tied for sixth place."

"Nevertheless, our country remains important to Japan."

The two continued their political analysis.

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Honda from the ATLA's Aviation Equipment Research Institute was present at the Gifu Air Field for the test flight of the ATD-X2 by the Air Development and Test Wing. Although it shared the name "ATD-X" with its predecessor, the ATD-X2 was an entirely different aircraft. It featured the P&W F100 engine of the F-15DJ replaced with the IHI's XF9-2, an engine planned for adoption in the next-generation main fighter (F-X). The initial XF9-1 (Dash 1) had shown excellent performance in combustion tests. The ATD-X confirmed the aircraft's stealth capabilities, while the ATD-X2 aimed to verify the engine performance and the feasibility of replacing the F-15J's engine.