The informal summit of the world leaders continued.
"…There is something I wish to discuss with you all."
Empress Gerhardt of the Shouro Empire straightened her posture and spoke. "Rita."
"Y-Yes!"
Rita, who had been shrinking away while surrounded by the most powerful figures on the continent, looked up.
"This girl is Rita. Lieutenant Colonel Fritz, if you please."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I discovered her by chance in Telurus while I was traveling here from the Kingdom of Egerea and found myself detained…"
After briefly explaining the circumstances, Fritz continued. "The first issue is that despite what was supposedly 'fixed-term employment,' she was being treated as little more than—no, as an actual slave, bound by a collar of Master-Slave Magic."
The room buzzed with murmurs. While the Allied Kingdoms did not possess anything like the international law of modern Earth, there were still unwritten rules. The buying and selling of human beings was supposed to have vanished before the Great Magic War.
Fritz pressed on. "The second point is that there are local lords who permit this human trafficking…"
"I am beyond ashamed that such things are occurring in my nation."
"Your Highness!"
The speaker was Cesar Valois, the Crown Prince of the Celuroa Kingdom. The group fell silent, their faces paling slightly. The conversation had been flowing freely, but this was still Celuroa. To have been overheard by the Crown Prince meant…
"Ah, Your Majesty, Prince Cesar is already aware of this," Fritz clarified.
"Oh? I wasn't told."
"Regarding that…" Fritz explained that he hadn't intentionally omitted the detail, but rather felt it inappropriate to speak of the Crown Prince when the man himself was not there to answer.
Prince Cesar offered a gentle smile, as if to put everyone at ease. "I met with Fritz-dono and Gloria-dono just the other day. I intend to take decisive action regarding Rita's case."
Everyone exhaled in a collective sigh of relief.
"Furthermore, Rita’s situation is likely only one of many," the prince continued. "Until every last instance is resolved, our citizens will never know true peace."
"Hoh, a most admirable perspective."
Having caught a glimpse of the prince's character, the leaders relaxed. From that point on, Prince Cesar was included in the discussion.
While there was some initial hesitation, the prince spoke so candidly about his country's failings that the atmosphere gradually heated up, fueled by the knowledge that this was an informal gathering.
"For one, I believe the low self-sufficiency rate for food is a major factor," noted Prince Arthur.
"That is certainly true," the Empress nodded. "Even setting this current crisis aside."
"Would it not be beneficial to focus on distribution?" Marchioness Firenziano suggested.
"Indeed," said Prince Cesar. "The equalization of goods—or rather, the reduction of regional shortages."
"To achieve that, we must advance our means of transport," Reinhard proposed.
"I-In that case, I’m currently developing shallow-draft boats to move cargo via the rivers!" Marcia announced enthusiastically.
"Selecting the right crops is also vital," Marchioness Firenziano added.
"The Shouro Empire has a crop called the itopo," Reinhard said. "It hasn’t spread much yet, but I have high hopes for its future." He spoke with the passion of a man who truly loved the 'candied itopo' his wife, Bell, was so skilled at preparing.
"Such things are essential as emergency crops. In the Klein Kingdom, we have also begun cultivating buckwheat," added Arthur's tutor, Rio. Everyone listened intently to his insights.
It was a productive session.
"Everyone, so this is where you were. It is time for lunch."
They had been so absorbed in their discussion that two hours had vanished in an instant. It was already noon. The attendees stood, looking somewhat reluctant to end the conversation, and headed for the dining hall.
Jin privately thought that a recurring World Conference would be incredibly beneficial for this world. He began to consider what he should do to make that vision a reality.
The momentum did not slow even after the break for lunch.
As this was not a formal conference, they returned to the recreation room. It was highly questionable how the host nation of Celuroa viewed this gathering, but the participants were utterly engrossed.
The afternoon topic was infrastructure. Naturally, the term 'infrastructure' was one Jin had introduced to them. In this world, it referred to the foundational facilities for industry and daily life—specifically, roads and waterways.
"We must seek methods that allow for high-speed, mass transportation," the Empress proposed first.
"Regarding that, I noticed something while marching with the Golias squad," Fritz interjected. "Actually, to be precise, it was an idea from a knight of the Klein Kingdom, Cynthia-dono. Could we not create flatter, smoother roads by using giant, wide wheels to press the earth?"
Ordinarily, such an idea might be kept a state secret, but since it had originally come from Cynthia, Fritz saw no harm in sharing it—especially since Jin reacted immediately.
"Ah, a road roller," Jin said matter-of-factly.
"Does Jin-dono know of such a device?" Liones Ashford asked with a look of admiration and certainty.
"Yes. A road roller uses giant, wide iron wheels. By rolling them over the ground, it levels the earth perfectly flat."
"Ho-ho, the structure is simple enough. We could build one immediately," Boulton, Gloria’s father, said with a nod.
"If the roads are flat, carriages can travel much faster," Duke Blue added. Having seen the Golem horse and carriage Jin had given to Prince Ernest, he was the quickest to grasp the benefits of road maintenance.
The conversation then shifted to logistics by water.
"Standardizing the containers used to hold goods would make transfers between nations much more efficient," the Empress said, voicing an idea she had been mulling over.
"I see, that makes perfect sense."
"We use something similar on Kunlun Island," Jin added. "We call them containers."
The attendees nodded in agreement.
"I see, 'containers.' Since unifying our terminology will be helpful, I suggest we all adopt that name."
"Let us do so."
"It would be convenient to have giant golems like the Golias for loading and unloading."
"That is true. However, those are not easily acquired…"
"If you don't require high-speed movement, there are plenty of ways to handle the mechanics," Jin offered, providing a helping hand.
"Hoh, the words of the Magi Craft Meister carry great weight."
"This is the perfect topic for a gathering of nations."
Because Jin provided technical explanations and advice at just the right intervals, the discussion proceeded at a brisk pace. Though the tone remained light, one had to wonder if they fully grasped that the ideas they were discussing would change the world forever.
"My King, is it truly wise to leave them to their own devices?"
Among the representatives, the only one not participating was the Southern Duke of the Kingdom of Franz, Lufort de Orange. He shifted his portly weight as he questioned King Richard of Celuroa.
"Heh, it is fine. Their talk is nothing but trivialities. As long as there is no actual harm to us, we shall let them talk and simply reap the rewards of their labor ourselves."
"I see. Your wisdom is beyond compare."
Though Richard spoke boastfully, Jin’s Shinobi Squad had detected the surveillance magic long ago. However, since the World Conference was focused on peaceful development, Jin had decided to leave the devices alone for now.
As a result, the World Conference had, in a sense, been attended by every national representative. Unfortunately, there were two nations without a voice… or rather, since Crown Prince Cesar was participating for Celuroa, the only ones who couldn't speak even if they wanted to were those from the Kingdom of Franz. Not that Lufort had even realized it.