There were a couple of reasons as to why Souma wanted to meet Jeanne in the throne room rather than in the audience chamber. For one, Julius was all but certain to be there. Since the whole point of the negotiation was to make sure that Elfrieden honored the Humanity Declaration and Van was given back to the principality, if Julius decided to not attend, for whatever reason, he would get absolutely screwed out of any sort of deal, not as if he wouldn't be already.
With Julius seeing Souma sitting on the throne, more specifically, his throne, and forced to look up at him sitting where his father used to sit, that would no doubt stoke the flames of hatred that had long overtaken him. The hope was that Julius would slip up and let his behavior run wild, which would only worsen Amidonia's relationship with both Elfrieden and the Empire, as well as give extra leverage in negotiations.
Souma, Aisha, and to a lesser extent, Liscia, felt that this was a bit excessive, as Amidonia had already lost a massive portion of their army, but everyone else, even Juna, agreed that this was necessary. First and foremost, according to both Hakuya and Testa, this was to send a message to any countries that wanted to try something with Elfrieden, just in case the weeklong war wasn't enough. The country had no real allies to speak of, and Turgis, a nation to the south, whose desire for more fertile land were known in hushed whispers, was likely to try something next. Ideally, they could strike a deal as they had some very capable blacksmiths, but that all depended on a king who was only a couple years older than Souma.
In any case, dealing with Amidonia harshly not only defanged them for the far future, but also sent a clear message that even though Elfrieden didn't sign the Humanity Declaration, that didn't exactly give the green light for other countries to attack without repercussions. In the example for Amidonia, with Souma pursuing monetary compensation, there was a very good chance that they would wind up defaulting on their loans and have their economy completely crumble.
Another added bonus on how Souma would deal with the inevitability of Amidonia retaking Van was providing infrastructure that was built by the kingdom. It certainly wasn't anything flashy, however having a bridge or building that was named Souma's Bridge, Rimuru's Building, Liscia's Bridge, etc. was bound to get under the skin of someone like Julius. Since he wouldn't tolerate anything even remotely resembling help from Elfrieden, he would be forced to take it down, furthering the people's belief that the kingdom was beneficial to them and Amidonia was more oppressive than anything else.
But still, they first needed to go through with the negotiations. And to that end, soon enough, the doors opened to show Princess Jeanne, second princess of the Gran Chaos Empire, and Julius Amidonia, next in line to the throne of Amidonia, if he hasn't taken the title already.
Immediately, the first thing that struck him as odd was the fact that she didn't bring any sort of guards whatsoever. It was just her and Julius. He could understand why Julius might not have brought any guards, and that was probably due to Jeanne's 'request,' but as for why the woman herself didn't bring any, well that was either out of trust, confidence, or arrogance.
The second thing that he noticed was Julius having his face scrunched up in anger, but only for a moment, before it went back to its normal cold demeanor. With that, Souma could tell that this whole situation was getting under his skin. Still, that wasn't any reason to give him any leeway, and he fully understood this.
Opting out of the normal greeting, Souma instead remarked on how there were no guards that they brought. "I must say I'm surprised. I thought that there would be at least a few soldiers watching over us today."
"I can say much of the same." Jeanne responded. "Though, perhaps not with the quality of your cabinet. I must say, it is quite envious how you have people that are both skilled in politics and in war."
By his cabinet, he was sure she meant both Rimuru and Testa. He did have to admit that having them here certainly helped him assure that he and his close ones were safe. Even with the cover that they were using, they were still crazy strong, and perhaps more important, very versatile.
"Well, bringing excess soldiers only complicates things. At least that's how I feel about those matters."
What Souma was referring to was how, back in the Middle Ages, there was a ruler who was meeting with a diplomat, and when the diplomat entered into the palace, there was a small squadron waiting for him along with the king. Instead of the desired result that the king wanted, which was submission, the diplomat said something along the lines of, 'Is it customary in your country to greet one person with a plethora of troops?'
Suffice to say, that plan backfired splendidly. Still, Jeanne had her own thoughts on the matter. "I can only agree with you. However, I decided against troops for the simple reason of being an intermediary. I'm only interested in peace, so there should be no reason for someone to come after me."
While she said this, Testa was able to detect some spies near the area belonging to the Empire. Sure, they weren't soldiers, but it was evident that she still wanted as much protection as possible without endangering the meeting. She thought that it was a fine balance.
"Well then," Souma began. "What can I help you with?"
Without missing a beat, Julius stepped forward and said, "I'll be frank. Return Amidonia to me. Your actions are in clear violation of the Humanity Declaration Act, wherein you cannot have a changed border due to war."
Right into the thick of things, huh? Though I can't say that I expected anything different.
Without any deliberation, Souma responded and said, "No."
If Julius's face was anything to go by, it was clear that he didn't expect such a response. "Wha-? You don't mean to go against the Empire?! Against the Humanity Declaration?!"
Though he hid it well, some disgust managed to make its way into Souma's words. "First, you start a war, then lose it along with some territory, and now you have the gall to demand it back? I'm sure even you can see how ridiculous that sounds."
Naturally, everyone except for Julius saw the gross double standards that the principality had regarding the current situation. Even Jeanne was no exception to this. In fact, when they first received the messenger for assistance, she was really tempted to simply not go. It was clear to her that Amidonia was abusing the Humanity Declaration for their own benefit, as they sure as hell wouldn't have had any second thoughts had they won.
As for the excuse that Julius gave, though it was very bitter, it was clear enough. "That was… my father started the war. I had nothing to do with it."
"I don't care who started the war." Souma began. "The point is that your side started it, and you didn't do anything to try and stop it. I know this because our scouts spotted you both at Altamura when you were setting up a siege and, on the battlefield, before you ran away."
"Don't you dare say that I ran away!" Julius roared.
Before things could escalate further out of hand, as it looked like Julius was primed and ready to kill Souma right then and there, a new voice sprang out and said, "Wait, wait, wait. Why don't we all calm down for a sec? Yelling at each other won't do anyone any good."
Though it will certainly tank their case in the eyes of the Empire. Rimuru thought.
Julius, however, had other ideas. Thinking that this was all a formality, instead let his tongue do all the thinking. "I don't want to hear anything out of the mouth of my father's killer!"
Rimuru gave him a look that all but said, 'what the hell are you even doing?' In fact, literally everyone looked at Julius like he was some sort of alien, almost refusing to believe that he was still trying to instigate things despite the capital of his country being on the line.
The first to come back to her senses was Jeanne, and she harshly rebuked him. "Prince Julius!" she hissed, "I expect you to behave like someone of your status should!"
Rimuru, however, took the bait. "No, no. It's fine. In fact, before we even begin negotiations, why don't we fully establish the predicament we are in and air out our dirty laundry. Hakuya, if you would."
Hearing his name called out, the raven-haired slender prime minister stepped forward and began to explain everything that Amidonia has done leading up to the war. After all, one of the reasons why he was even sent here in the first place was to dig up and find proof of some of the dirty business that Amidonia has been involved with. And despite some of it missing, there was still more than enough for him to make a strong case about it.
He began, "Aside from the obvious fact that they started this war, we have also recovered documents from their archives detailing how they would send in splinter cells under the guise of bandits to attack merchants in our country. On top of that, there have also been clear-cut cases of bribery to turn our country's nobles against us and sell information to Amidonia."
What he said was enough to silence even a man like Julius, and if that wasn't enough, a sharp look from Jeanne bore onto him. "Prince Julius… is this true?"
It was clear from her tone that she was quite pissed at this, and him staying silent only served to deepen his grave.
"Prince Julius," she said, "I think it's best if you leave the room."
Julius, obviously, had some reservations about this. "But Madam Jeanne, it's my country! I have every right to fight for it-!"
"In that case, the Empire will withdraw all support for you and Amidonia as a whole, and you can proceed with the negotiations alone."
That was enough to get Julius to shut up. As loathe as he was to admit it, there was nothing that he could do without the support of the Empire backing him, and so, after one last dirty look at Souma on the throne- on his throne- as well as his father's killer, he left.
"Well, that got… tense. But, with that out of the way, how about we move to a different room and reintroduce ourselves."
Souma took initiative soon after Julius left the room. Though it wasn't his plan to rile up Julius that much, now that he was out of the negotiations, things could progress a lot smoother.
"I would appreciate that." Jeanne responded. "But before that, would you mind if I brought some of my bureaucrats to assist us?"
After getting the go ahead from Souma, everyone found their way into the government office. Once they got inside, Jeanne had a remark that Hakuya picked up on. "I never thought I would meet someone who acts the same as my sister…"
"Oh? The queen of the Empire sleeps in her government office as well?"
Hearing this, Jeanne let out a long sigh, as if she just got off a long day of work. "You have no idea… is what I'd like to say, but you clearly understand. It's just unbefitting of someone of her stature!"
Hakuya added on to her complaints. "I agree. I keep telling His Majesty that he needs to set a proper example for the rest of us, but it falls on deaf ears. Constant things about how it's more efficient and how the work is right there for me."
Jeanne looked elated that someone was able to resonate with her. With a much more animated action than before, she said, "Right! They can't seem to establish a proper work/life balance!"
"It really is something…"
A not-so-subtle cough from Souma brought them back to Earth. While he was happy the normally isolated Hakuya had someone he can relate to, there was such a thing as time, place, and location. If only a certain blue-haired person could also understand this. Nonetheless, with everyone comfortable in the room, a much tamer meeting began.
Well, meeting may not have been the most apt word to use. The only ones who were sitting down to talk were Souma, Rimuru, and Testa. Liscia was recording information, with Aisha and Hinata standing guard. If Jeanne had any reservations about the latter attending, she didn't let it show on her face. This left Hakuya with the rest of the ministers and bureaucrats, going through paperwork in a flurry. This was the first time in a long time that these two countries have met, and each party wanted to make the most of it.
Though Jeanne wanted to start off by talking about the negotiations, Souma insisted that they instead familiarize themselves with each other's country in an attempt to build rapport. Naturally, the other reason was to let Julius stew for a while longer. And so, conversation topics shifted from how the Saint of the Empire, Maria, took a surprising interest in Souma, certain policies the Empire was looking into, and eventually shifted on the topic of food.
As they continued about the topic, Jeanne dropped something of a bombshell. "Oh, by the way, something that you can do is you can eat the monsters from the Demon Lord Domain."
Such a revelation caught most of them off guard.
Most of them.
Rimuru, however, being the glutton he is, asked, "Wait, this is news?"
"Wait, you knew about this?" Souma asked. "How come you didn't share this before?"
"Well, I thought that this was just common sense. I mean, and correct if I'm wrong here, Jeanne, but monsters seem to have borrowed their look from some of the native species here, so it would only make sense that you'd be able to eat them."
"Well, certainly," Jeanne began, "But we're talking monsters that have come up who knows where. We didn't want to take the chance that they were poisonous or anything like that."
Testa chimed in. "That's another thing that I wanted to ask about. The demon beasts have supposedly originated from the dungeons, correct?"
Jeanne nodded her head in approval, wondering where the white-haired woman was going to take things. "If that's the case, could this just be a matter of one extremely large dungeon break? Or a bunch of dungeon breaks?"
Without hesitation, Jeanne shook her head. "I can see where you're coming from, but no. It just isn't possible. We actively work to make sure to eradicate the dungeons that are near villages and towns, and the ones that we don't eradicate are kept under careful surveillance. And this isn't just an Empire thing, as I'm sure Liscia can corroborate. But even when dungeon breaks happen, it can threaten a town, and perhaps even a large city in the absolute worst-case scenario, but it's nothing that can't be handled by a the country's military. For this whole mess to be a dungeon break, especially at the early stages, hundreds at once would have had to have a dungeon break all at once, which is something that I can't even fathom how it would happen."
This got Souma thinking a bit. "Wait, if the demon beasts come up from the dungeons, isn't it possible that they could come up from any dungeon?"
Jeanne assuaged him on that end. "That's what we thought, but no demon or demon beast has been spotted south of the Domain. Especially the demons. I don't know how much you know about the domain, but the main threat to the nations so far are only the monsters. When my father charged an attack, they got quite far before meeting one of the demons. And instead of fighting like mindless beasts, they fought like a proper army with formations and everything."
"I see…" began Souma, "Umm… I might have an idea of something regarding the demons, but it's a bit… much. Do you think the others could leave the room for a bit?"
Jeanne was a bit skeptical with his reasoning, but nonetheless obliged. Asking everyone else to leave the room, they were only left with the important people from Elfrieden, and herself.
Once Souma was sure that they were alone, he asked, "Do you think that it's possible that demons see demon beasts the way we see animals?"
Jeanne, and for that matter, everyone else, was caught a bit off guard with that question. "What exactly do you mean by that, Souma?"
To her, at least, this wasn't something that warranted everyone to leave the room. In fact, it felt quite empty now that everyone had stopped running around and working to file with paperwork. Not that the bureaucrats would complain. They would probably enjoy the much-needed break.
Explaining his reasoning, he said, "Well, this is the difficult part. As you now know, I'm not from this world. However, unlike Rimuru and Testa here, the world I originate from has only humans. And on Earth, the animals there are vastly different from the animals here. If an animal from here were to somehow find its way to Earth, people would see it as a monster."
This point rang quite true. Though they share the same name, the rhinos from this world were significantly larger than the rhinos back on Earth. If one of them showed up back there, many people would think that the dinosaurs somehow came back.
"That's not all, though. If I may, taken a bit further, I can't really tell the difference between different demihuman races either. Unless they have distinct characteristic traits, like dragonewts and beastmen, they look very familiar to me. For example, the mystic fox and the mystic wolf races look very familiar to me, but to both Liscia and Aisha, they can easily tell the difference."
"Well, naturally." Jeanne said. "The differences to us are plain as day. Their features are quite different once you get accustomed to them."
"Well, yes but…" as Souma tried to find the words to make his argument, Rimuru gave him a lifeline.
"I think what he's trying to ask is what is a defining characteristic with the different species. For example, while humans have many different shapes and sizes, you'll never find ears on top of their heads nor a tail on their backsides. But for the various beastmen, some of them can have more animalistic qualities, such as Duke Carmine, whereas some of them are more human, such as Tomoe or Kaede, who are part of the mystic wolf and mystic fox races respectively. The thing is that they all fall under the umbrella of beastmen."
Jeanne, and for that matter, the rest of the native people thought about different ways to prove their point. However, every single example that they brought forth was shot down, causing Hakuya to say, "I'm… genuinely shocked that not a single person has thought more in depth about this. Now that it's presented right in front of us, I suppose it really is difficult to tell the difference. I never realized that I was only able to distinguish them based mostly off intuition."
"Well, it's probably because you've never needed to put much thought into it." Rimuru said. "When it comes to things like pattern recognition and the like, our brains just do all the heavy lifting for us. It's kind of like meeting a look-a-like of someone you know. With enough time, you'd be able to tell that they aren't that person, but at first glance, your brain immediately filters them as someone familiar."
"Is that how that works?" Hakuya asked with a pensive look across his face.
"Something like that." Rimuru responded. "I mean, could you imagine what it would be like if you tried to put all the pieces together yourself? Bone structure, hair color, skin color, just to name a few. Having an automated process for that helps tremendously."
"Well, that's also kind of where the problem is." Souma continued. "According to reports I've read of the demons, to me, they appear very similar to the beastmen of this world."
As soon as he said that, the room went so silent that you could hear a pin drop.
"That's…"
"...Dangerous."
Jeanne finished the thought that Liscia started. "I can see now why you wanted the room to be empty. I might have had to kill my men if they overheard that."
"Isn't that a bit excessive?!" Souma loudly exclaimed. "I mean, Rimuru! You have demons back in your world who look similar to people!"
Comedically picking his ear free, he said, "Well, there's a large difference there. First and foremost, demons back in my world never had any grand plans of invading the world. Secondly, demons are spiritual life forms, meaning that they can possess a body if the circumstances are there. As far as I know, the demons here have no such ability."
"More importantly," Hakuya began, "this can give ammunition to supremacy nations such as Amidonia. If the idea spreads that demons are indistinguishable from beastman, that would give those kinds of nations justification to heavily persecute beastmen. Things like slavery would be completely out of control."
Jeanne added on, "Not only that, but the Humanity Declaration doesn't prevent nations from doing things like this." Holding her head, she heavily sighed and said, "This is quite the issue. I never imagined such a loophole could be brought up."
Souma sheepishly said, "Sorry. It was just something that came up on the spur of the moment. I didn't think that it would be so serious."
"No," Jeanne said, "it's better that we are aware of it now rather than being blindsided by it later on down the line. At least now we can prepare for it in case this idea is brought up by other people."
"That may be easier said than done." Testa said. "If it really is the case that demons look familiar with beastmen, then don't we have to go with the possibility that some demons have blended in with the refugees and are living amongst us?"
The irony was certainly not lost on Souma and the others who knew her true identity. Nonetheless, it was an issue that was not brought up earlier and was hastily denied by Jeanne.
With a surprisingly terse attitude, she said, "There's no way that's possible. We didn't even know of the existence of the demons until just a few years ago, well beyond when the Domain formed."
"But I'm just trying to put the pieces together. If the demons truly see the demon beasts as little more than animals, then it is very possible that they have the same animosity towards them as we do. If that's the case, then it wouldn't some of them also flee to the south-"
Standing up and slamming her hands on the table, Jeanne furiously said "You weren't there! You didn't see the devastation they caused! Entire villages slaughtered! Men killed and women raped!"
Seeing as everyone, save for Testa, was taken aback by her outburst, she meekly sat down and said, "Sorry for my behavior." Regaining her steely demeanor, she continued. "Still, why would the demons want to flee? I would think that it would be common sense to stay with their people. Why would a bunch of rapers and pillagers come down here and act all peaceful?"
Testa withheld a chuckle at her. It never ceased to amuse her just how foolish people could be when the right chords were struck. "Well, that's assuming that they are only rapers and pillagers. Keep in mind that they are fighting a war, and raping and pillaging is still very much something that every sapient race does, no? Is it even remotely possible that they are like every other race?"
While Liscia and Aisha would have normally had a reaction like Jeanne, considering recent events for them, they were listening to her words with a much more open reaction. Hakuya, naturally, had his consistent unreadable expression written across his face. He honestly could compare to Serina in that regard.
Since neither Rimuru or Souma had any real bias towards the demons, this left Jeanne with by far the most expressive face of the group, looking like she had just swallowed a bitter pill. It was clear to everyone present that she was having trouble grasping this concept.
Deciding to give her a little added push, Testa asked four simple words. "Let me help you a bit with this. Who attacked who first?"
"They attacked us first!" Jeanne immediately said.
Both Aisha and Liscia backed her up on this. "We side with Princess Jeanne on this one. With such a massive attack taking over almost a third of the continent, they obviously attacked first."
Hakuya was the one to go against this, now with his complexion being noticeably paler. "No… if what Lady Testa says is true and the demon beasts are mindless monsters who will attack anyone and anything, and if the demons truly are no different to us… then that means they were caught in the crossfire when we started fighting back…"
This was quite a big deal for a number of reasons. First and foremost was that this essentially meant that rather than demons starting this war, it was in fact the natives of the planet. While this may not change the outcome of the goal to eradicate the demons considering that, well, war is war, this was an immensely precarious situation that, if got out, could cause massive unrest in many countries, and could even cause many other countries to turn against the Empire since it was their idea to charge into the Domain. Naturally, the fault lies with all the countries that joined in, but someone would have to answer for this.
Still, this was all predicated on one thing. As Souma pointed out, "This is all just a theory, so there's no need to see it as the truth. Just a different way to look at this. We don't need to take any action right now."
"Even still," Jeanne added on, "This can't get out. Certainly not without proper manipulation of information. And even then… no, it may just be better to not let the public know about this until after everything has ended."
Adding to her daily quota of sighs, Jeanne let another long one out, feeling as though she aged considerably in the few minutes that they were talking. What was supposed to be a negotiation for the city of Van turned into something that she felt very conflicted about.
On the one hand, she was glad that the issue about the demons was pointed out to her, but on the other hand, the very idea of having demons living amongst them was concerning, to say the least.
In any case, since it seemed that no other bombshells were coming her way in regards to the demons, she asked if they could bring everyone back. Soon after, she begun to do the job that she came to do in the first place, which was the negotiation of Van.
Naturally, Souma wouldn't want to give up a city that he conquered, especially since Amidonia started the war, which then brought another headache her way, and this one she directed towards Amidonia, and more specifically, Julius.
Souma explained his reasoning behind his decision. "My goal isn't necessarily to keep Van, but to prevent Amidonia from ever mounting an offensive again, and to show the surrounding countries that we aren't an easy target. To this end, we want payment, minted in Imperial coinage, and to have the Empire facilitate this payment for the full duration of however long it takes until they can pay us back."
"So, you want us to make sure they pay. I can understand that, but what will happen if they default for whatever reason?"
Jeanne was honestly not sure about the whole schematics of this negotiation. Since this was really the first time the Empire had to intervene in a settlement like this, and especially so since one nation took advantage of their status as a signatory of the Declaration, she really only had her lessons on warfare and reparations to draw off from. This sounded fair, but it still irked her that the Empire couldn't just negotiate and be done with it because the late King Gaius was delusional with revenge.
"Naturally, if they default, they lose their place in the Mankind Declaration, and we'll retake the city." Souma said casually.
With a tone that could be resembled as a joke, she asked, "Are you sure you won't just be content with Julius's head?"
Ignoring how freely she was prepared to kill of Julius to make her burden lighter, Souma responded with an equally light tone, "We both know that his head is hardly worth that of a city. Besides, with people like him, if one falls, another will simply take his place."
"I suppose so…"
As she let his answer go into the air, a short silence filled their conversation, despite the bustling of the room. And then, she remembered something she wanted to ask, something that her sister Maria wanted to know about Souma. And if he answered sufficiently, it would help bridge the gap between their two nations quite a bit.
"By the way, Souma, why haven't you ever signed the Humanity Declaration?"