The Shores of Land: The Diplomacy of Japan, an Alien Nation

Chapter 64 - The Ant and the Grasshopper

While Haguma hesitated whether to answer the call from his ex-girlfriend, a staff member entered the office of the Royal Palace in Ilforn, the designated floating capital of the Kingdom of Illyharan.

"My King, we have a message from the Rassalon Floating Base. It seems to be something urgent."

"Very well. Put me through," King Hauer responded and picked up the receiver, pressing the button on the phone. "It's me. It seems to be an urgent matter, but what happened?"

Hauer spoke with a majestic air as a king, but in reality, it had been only a short time since he took over the duties from Rict. Still in a state that required rehabilitation, he had been placed on a newly appointed doctor's orders to refrain from work, but he persisted in carrying out his duties against the doctor's advice. Not because he could not trust Rict to handle it, but because he couldn't forgive himself for not working when his mind was sharp but his body wouldn't move. So, wearing a nursing suit that supplied heat to his body, he forcibly moved his body to work.

"...What? Mult?"

The communication from the Rassalon headquarters reported that a giant bird species named mult had changed its planned course from the Rassalon Floating Base and was heading towards Eustre. With a length of 100 meters and a wingspan exceeding 200 meters, a mult was a giant bird with a Leviron organ similar to the Lians, allowing it to fly without being hindered by its own weight.

While land-based giant animals preyed on small animals around five meters in size, a mult fed on giant animals. Mult was designated as a "non-interference surveillance target," and the entire world cooperated in sharing information about it. Although there were other giant birds, mult was the only one designated as a non-interference surveillance target. One of them had changed its predicted course drastically and was now heading toward Eustre.

It must have sensed the phoronite that was being mined in Eustre, because it too needed to ingest phoronites. If this had happened before Japan was transferred, it wouldn't have been a significant problem, but now it was very serious. Though different from the previous incident, it would become a problem involving Altaran and Japan.

"Just when we finally cleared the biggest obstacle, here we go again."

Hauer couldn't help but complain. Even though he had been absent for the last month, he was still involved overall, so complaints were not allowed.

"In that case, I must negotiate with Japan. If possible, we may need the cooperation of the Japanese military..."

If it were anything other than mult, Illyharan could handle it without involving Japan. However, mult was beyond Illyharan's reach. While it was possible to take action through extraordinary measures, whether it was possible or not would have to be brought to the Altaran General Assembly. This issue was unrelated to security, so it had to be brought to the General Assembly instead of the Security Council, but it would likely cause a dispute. Some countries regard mult as a sacred animal.

In any case, they have to see the reactions of Altaran and Japan. The king had no time to sigh. After hanging up the phone, he called another number and summoned the heads of various departments.

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About three hours had passed since Haguma's ex-girlfriend's number appeared on his smartphone. Alone, he entered a family restaurant about fifteen minutes by car from the Suda Garrison in Kamisu City. He had a simple disguise, wearing a baseball cap and switching from glasses to contact lenses.

People often go unnoticed based on whether or not they have a trademark. Changes in hairstyle or glasses, as prominent trademarks, can make someone less noticeable at a glance when altered. As evidence, nobody said anything as Haguma moved from the garrison to the family restaurant. Perhaps Haguma's level of fame wasn't as significant as he thought, which could be a good thing. Being somewhat away from the connection area, it wasn't an evacuation zone, and since they casually didn't handle ingredients from the Foreign Land, Japanese ingredients were available, attracting a fair number of customers.