The Toscanian Empire and the concept of a new religion—two shocking ideas.
Malik’s expression contorted greatly upon hearing this startling revelation.
He furrowed his brow into a frown and sighed deeply before looking at me and speaking.
“Explain it to me in a way that I can understand.”
“First, I will clarify that I lied about the name of the nation I belong to.”
Trust between people can easily be shattered by even the smallest lie.
Although there were circumstances, I did deceive him about the nation I belong to.
We’ve known each other for a while, but this is a serious matter that must be explained right now.
“Go on.”
“The main reason I came here was to bring about the fall of Governor Nador. He’s an enemy of our Toscanian Empire.”
The enemy of my enemy is my ally.
This principle was proven during World War II, when communists and capitalists, despite their vast differences, fought together against common enemies.
Back then, even in America, leaflets were distributed with slogans such as, “Soviets are friends of freedom.”
So, even though I lied, emphasizing that we share a common enemy is important.
“To bring about the fall of Governor Nador, I orchestrated the conflict between the Granada Kingdom and Nador. In the process, I accidentally learned about the situation of the Botswana tribe and decided to support you. Since your enemy is also our enemy, it only makes sense to ally with you.”
When persuading people, it’s best to use logic through money, interests, power, and various mutual dependencies—especially when dealing with political matters.
‘Here, saying, "We’ve gotten along well so far, so please forgive me" is not the way to go.’
If I said that, I would either be told to leave or get killed immediately.
“Continue. I will listen and judge afterward.”
“But if this information leaks, Governor Nador will obviously turn against our Toscanian Empire. Then, we will be forced to fight against a Sultanate that is twenty times stronger than Nador.”
“An enemy stronger than Nador... Honestly, I don’t even want to imagine that.”
“If we face such a strong enemy, we won’t be able to sell weapons, armor, and matchlock guns like we do now.”
If war broke out between the Sultanate and the Toscanian Empire, the Sultanate would mobilize at least 100,000 soldiers, and possibly up to 150,000.
If the Toscanian Empire focused solely on defense, we could withstand their attacks, but we would lose territories outside of our homeland.
The blockade of maritime trade would deal a devastating blow to me as well.
‘The key to scheming is to keep it hidden from others as much as possible.’
And if the Sultanate and the Toscanian Empire went to war, it would be impossible to continue selling armor and gunpowder. What would they do if they didn’t forgive us? If they’re not happy, they can go join Nador’s slaves instead.
I can rephrase it as a polite statement.
“So, I had no choice but to deceive the Chief until now. Please forgive me.”
After hearing this, Malik drank several more glasses of rum before sighing deeply.
“We couldn’t trust you from the start, and I suppose you didn’t trust us either. Let’s forget about the past.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, explain why we should accept the religion you believe in.”
Unlike Korea or, more broadly, the East, the tribal union here has no religion or belief system to replace Deusism.
At best, they only practice primitive ancestor worship, so there’s plenty of room for new religions to take root.
“First, the Toscanian Empire opposes Governor Nador because of religious differences.”
“To fight simply because we believe in different gods... truly...”
I can understand that sentiment.
Killing others simply because of religious differences doesn’t make sense, frankly speaking.
To put it bluntly, Deus never said in the Bible that anyone who doesn’t believe should be killed.
Though, in Exodus, it did say to kill the idolaters of the land you conquer, so it’s not entirely wrong.
“I’m not going to fight you just because our religions are different. But the other high-ranking people in the Toscanian Empire don’t think like that.”
Frankly speaking, I can’t fully understand the idea of fighting just because of religion.
However, in a one-eyed world, anyone with two eyes is considered abnormal.
If I preach love and peace but no one understands, then I’ll just be seen as a madman.
So, I have to accept the reality as it is.
“Once they find out that you follow a different religion, they’ll likely move to suppress you as soon as they arrive.”
Malik gritted his teeth at my words.
“Are you trying to threaten us? Are you saying that if we want to survive, we must abandon our ancestral traditions and adopt Deusism?”
“Yes, that’s right. If you want to survive, you must embrace Deusism.”
“What will you do if we refuse?”
When negotiating, the most important thing is to deceive your opponent’s perception.
It’s to break their spirit and force them to accept worse terms.
‘The Maasai Union doesn’t know much about the Toscanian Empire, but we know plenty about them.’
I can exploit this information gap to make them bow to me by lying about how powerful I am.
Just like scammers impersonating senior prosecutors in a phone scam.
“I like you, Chief. I like the Maasai Union too.”
“That’s an odd thing to say.”
“But if you refuse to adopt Deusism and oppose our Toscanian Empire, then, as a member of the Empire’s nobility, I will have no choice but to oppose you and your union.”
The reason we kill enemies in war is simple: they are our enemies.
As long as I’m a soldier in the war, when an order is given, I must follow it and kill any enemy soldiers in front of me.
As a noble of the Toscanian Empire, I must do the same.
“If that happens, I’ll lead thousands of elite soldiers to invade here.”
Even though I enjoy the Emperor’s favor, I can’t just hire thousands of elite mercenaries and invade this place on my own.
However, if I tell the Emperor that the Maasai Union is a heathen group, and I’ll bear all the expenses of the expedition?
I’m sure the Emperor and the military will just tell me to do as I wish.
If I succeed, I’ll pay taxes; if I fail, I’ll die alone.
“I’m one of the wealthiest in the Toscanian Empire. If I sell off all my family’s assets, I can easily muster thousands of elite soldiers.”
This is an exaggeration.
Even though I have a lot of money, hiring thousands of elite mercenaries would bankrupt my family.
Moreover, what happens afterward when I’ve occupied the land and need to manage it?
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Also, Nador wouldn’t just let me do this.
But Malik doesn’t know that.
If he doesn’t know, then he’ll just have to accept the threat.
“No, this land is fertile, and there’s plenty of gold. I’ll throw my family’s wealth into this and seize the rights to this land. I’ll amend what I said.”
I smiled as I said this.
“All of my family’s assets will be sold off, and I’ll bring 30,000 elite soldiers to invade this place. After that, I’ll enslave all the tribes under the Maasai Union. Slavery may be inefficient, but it’s better than having this place trampled and turned to ashes by the Toscanian Empire.”
After thinking for a moment, I came up with the most fitting words.
“Because for me, it’s in my best interest to leave something behind.”
Malik couldn’t refute my words.
He silently stared at me, unable to speak.
“Do you think I can’t do it?”
“If so, why aren’t you doing it now?”
I scoffed at his words.
“If you refuse to accept Deusism, this place will be turned to ash, and I won’t gain anything. But if you accept Deusism, I will continue to trade with you and make great profits. The Maasai Union will benefit as well. So, the choice is yours.”
“......”
“Will you coexist, or will you both perish?”
Malik’s mouth moved silently.
“...... I’ll try to persuade them. But honoring our ancestors is as important to us as life itself.”
I understand that.
Even in Korea, many Christian families still perform ancestor rituals.
“Deusism is surprisingly flexible. I’ll persuade them to hold a mass once a week and have ceremonies to honor your ancestors on your festivals. For the sake of coexistence between the Maasai Union and me.”
With that, I immediately stood up.