Despite having served as a king of a World Government member nation for many years and having attended countless Levely, King Arnold still found himself deeply uneasy.
Given Vice Admiral Kuzan's strength, even if his entire royal guard attacked at once, they wouldn't stand a chance against him.
"Ara, ara~ That would be me," Kuzan said casually. "Speaking of which, this country is truly wonderful. The climate and the winds here are just right—so comfortable. I've already grown fond of this place."
Enjoying the cold wind and swirling snow, Kuzan gazed at the endless mountain ranges and the eight exaggeratedly large, drum-shaped peaks towering inland.
It was said that each of those peaks reached a height of 5,000 meters.
However, when he thought of the mission he had received this time and looked at the peaks again, a feeling of weariness and helplessness crept over him.
"Hahaha, with our Drum Kingdom's climate, of course you would like it. If you don't mind, you're welcome to stay a few extra days!"
King Arnold kept up his enthusiastic front, thinking to himself that at least with this man stationed here, he wouldn't have to worry about pirate raids for a while.
Lately, for reasons unknown, the number of pirates landing on the island and attempting to plunder had increased sharply, causing heavy casualties among the royal guards.
"Then I'll take you up on that. I really do need to stay here for a while this time," Kuzan nodded.
Hearing this, King Arnold was filled with even more confusion, but he wisely chose not to ask further questions. Instead, he quickly led the two guests to a snow-river carriage that had been prepared in advance.
...
About an hour later, the procession passed through the town and arrived at the top of a snowy mountain, where a large, luxurious cable car awaited them.
"Since the royal palace is located at the summit of the main peak, we'll need to take this cable car to get there," King Arnold explained as he guided Minister Marvany and Vice Admiral Kuzan aboard. "Don't worry—the whole ride is very safe and stable. Along the way, you can also enjoy the snowy scenery!"
Five minutes later, the cable car began to move, sliding steadily along the taut cable toward the towering, snow-covered peak.
"From the ground to the summit, it's a 5,000-meter elevation gain," Minister Marvany commented softly as he gazed out the window.
"Though the cable car is decent enough, I imagine there are still shortcomings in terms of load capacity and efficiency?"
"Indeed," King Arnold sighed.
"There are only two aerial cable lines connecting the ground to the main peak. Each line operates one cable car, and each car can carry at most twenty people at a time.
When large amounts of supplies need to be transported, it becomes extremely time-consuming.
And if we encounter a blizzard, the service must be suspended altogether."
"Hehe, that's exactly what Vice Admiral Kuzan is here to help you with. You Drum Kingdom folk should really be grateful to the World Government this time!"
Minister Marvany chuckled, then turned to Kuzan and asked with a smile, "So, after seeing the environment firsthand—do you think you can manage?"
"Five thousand meters is a bit tough. With my current capabilities, I can't do it all at once," Kuzan replied wearily.
"I'd say I need about ten days."
Hearing this exchange left King Arnold completely baffled.
At that moment, Marvany pointed toward the other drum-shaped peaks surrounding the main summit.
"Your Majesty, how are those other peaks being utilized? Are there any buildings atop them?"
"No," King Arnold shook his head.
"Those peaks are empty. We don't have enough citizens to populate them."
In truth, successive generations of the royal family had deliberately kept commoners from settling at the same elevation as the royalty, borrowing a page from the aristocratic practices of Mary Geoise.
"Is that so? That's perfect!"
Minister Marvany clapped his hands happily.
...
Returning to the royal castle at the summit of the main peak, King Arnold unhesitatingly seated himself upon the throne forged from white iron, looking down at Minister Marvany and Vice Admiral Kuzan standing below.
From this moment on, the official talks between the member nation and the World Government had begun.
"Well then, may I finally hear the true purpose behind your visit to my Drum Kingdom?"
Throughout the journey here, they had spoken in riddles, their words shrouded in ambiguity, long stoking the king's curiosity.
"Your Majesty King Arnold, I have come under orders from the Cabinet to discuss designating the Drum Kingdom as a 'World Government Medical Development Cooperation Nation'."
As he spoke, Minister Marvany retrieved a white scroll trimmed with golden threads from his robes and said, "This is the cooperation agreement. If you are willing, you need only sign it."
At the same time, the official from before stepped forward, taking the scroll and respectfully presenting it to the king. King Arnold casually accepted it, unfurled it, and began reading.
As he read, a look of delight quickly appeared in his eyes.
This was truly wonderful news!
According to the scroll, the so-called 'World Government Medical Development Cooperation Nation' meant that the World Government would actively promote, support, and encourage the Drum Kingdom's medical research and development.
Starting next year, as long as the Drum Kingdom's medical advancements passed the Cabinet's review, the annual Heavenly Tribute would be reduced by a certain amount—up to fifty percent.
Furthermore, the World Government and the Drum Kingdom would jointly establish a Medical Academy, dedicated to collecting, organizing, and conducting in-depth research on global medical knowledge, with the stipulation that its services must be provided free of charge to the World Government.
Of course, 'free of charge' merely referred to the fact that when the academy's services were needed, it could not charge any fees. In reality, the academy's primary funding would come from the World Government, with the Drum Kingdom contributing a smaller share.
Additionally, it was stipulated that Dr. Kureha would be appointed as the academy's first headmaster.
This particular detail made King Arnold's eyelid twitch. Speaking frankly, Dr. Kureha was, without question, the most outstanding figure in the Drum Kingdom's medical community, both in skill and seniority. However, her eccentric personality made her seem highly unreliable for such a role.
Still, he continued reading.
The World Government hoped that under Dr. Kureha's leadership, the Medical Academy would establish a rigorous physician promotion system, standardizing medical qualifications across the world. In the future, doctors who wished to raise their certification levels would need to undergo examinations at the Drum Kingdom.
At this point, King Arnold's eyes were practically shining.
He was no fool.
This was practically turning the Drum Kingdom into the global center of medicine!
"Quick! Send someone to summon Dr. Kureha immediately! Tell her the World Government has urgent matters to discuss with her!" the king hastily commanded the officials below.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" An official quickly departed the castle's great hall at a brisk pace.
At that moment, Minister Marvany spoke again.
"Your Majesty, you must have seen the details regarding the establishment of the Medical Academy. Earlier, I asked about the other peaks of Drum Island because I was hoping we could build the academy on one of them. What do you think?"
"Well…"
King Arnold grimaced slightly. To be honest, he wasn't too keen on the idea. If commoners were allowed to ascend to the same height as the royal family, would that not diminish their prestige?
Yet the minister had made the request so straightforwardly, and Arnold really had no good reason to refuse. Besides, he very much wanted the Medical Academy to be established.
In the end, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "Fine. No problem. In a few days, I'll have an aerial cableway and gondola system constructed on the left peak!"
"Heh, regarding that, the World Government already has some preliminary plans prepared," Minister Marvany said with a cheerful smile, clearly pleased with how smoothly everything was proceeding.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan will find a way to resolve the transportation issues."
"Oh?"
King Arnold looked in surprise at the extraordinarily tall Admiral Candidate. He saw Kuzan stroking his chin thoughtfully as he spoke.
"When I came in earlier, I glanced at the surrounding Drum Peaks. I noticed that the distance between them isn't very far. We could probably connect all of them using ice bridges, allowing free passage from peak to peak."
"What? Connect all eight Drum Peaks together?!"
King Arnold jumped to his feet in shock, his face full of delight. If that were possible, the seven previously unused Drum Peaks could all be put to use, effectively expanding the kingdom's territory.
"Yes. In fact, I strongly recommend that your citizens be relocated up to the peaks," Kuzan said sincerely. "The current towns are located too low, right at the base of the snowy mountains. If an avalanche were to occur, it would be extremely dangerous."
The Drum Kingdom's population wasn't large. Even if one peak were used to house the Medical Academy, the remaining six would be more than enough to accommodate everyone.
"Well…"
King Arnold hesitated again. It was one thing to let the doctors live at the same height as the royal family—but now even the lowest commoners would be allowed to ascend?
As for the threat of avalanches, he honestly didn't care much. Avalanches did happen from time to time, but the citizens living below had survived just fine for all these years, hadn't they?
Still, just like before, Kuzan's reasoning was sound, and Arnold had no good argument against it. Not to mention, the man standing before him would soon be a Marine Admiral!
If the kingdom were ever attacked by a powerful pirate crew, they would surely need his help.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan, even if we do relocate the citizens, it won't be an easy task. Just relying on the cable cars' transport capacity would take several years to complete."
King Arnold tried to push back.
"That's true. The cable cars shouldn't be abandoned, but they can no longer serve as the main means of transportation," Kuzan replied. "So for the foreseeable future, I'll be working on building a staircase that connects the ground to the main peak."
"Since the elevation difference is a full 5,000 meters, we'll need to construct resting platforms every 1,000 meters for people to catch their breath. Alalalala, no matter how you look at it, this is going to be a massive project~"
Kuzan sighed helplessly. Ever since he had created those thick, reliable ice battlefields for Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Garp, it felt like the World Government had been eyeing him for such jobs.
Now, he had practically become a one-man construction crew.
Still, he understood that this was truly a wonderful thing for the people of the Drum Kingdom—a righteous task worthy of the 'Justice' he carried on his back.
So deep down, he didn't really feel any resentment. In fact, he was a little happy and excited about it, and his impression of the World Government had even improved slightly.
It was just... he would be exhausted for a few days.