Summoning Our Country - NHS Kai

Chapter 25: Trade Wars and Famine

NOTE: After a 3 month absence (2 weeks if you were following the Emissaries series), we're back. While I'm afraid to say that this is another GVE chapter (two at that), this was something that the Team wanted to do to showcase more of their capabilities and, admittingly, do our own chapter/s that's all just about warfighting. This is also a chance to give better justice to Leifor (who in the original just disappeared after the GVE clapped them) and do some cleaning on the previous GVE chapters (currently WIP). More importantly, I'll announce that the releases will be slower, just like with the NHS translations, so bear with us.

Discord: https://discord.gg/wEp44XuaT3

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Cent. Calendar 29/11/1639, Esthirant, Parpaldia, 14:35

"Hmm... Just the right amount of bitterness as always."

The sharp, almost tingly flavor of grounded coffee beans was something that Kaios would never get tired of. Its distinctive aroma was enticing and, in itself, something of a drug that he just couldn't stop taking. Perhaps such was the reason for this four-star-rated cafe in the northwest end of Esthirant, the imperial capital of Parpaldia, to only serve them in quaint amounts. It was either that or an entirely different reason related to ongoing events.

Kaios felt himself sinking in his seat from the plentiful comforting feelings he was getting from each sip of the coffee. Still, as the chair of the Third Foreign Affairs Department, he has to maintain a certain standard of civility in public, and so he continued to sit with a firm pose. Sitting on the seat opposite him was someone of different circumstances, leaning onto the seat with an almost crooked back and displaying his displeasure with the coffee's pungent aroma.

"This is too high class for my taste! Blegh!"

Accompanying his hoarse voice was his equally rough personality. The man was Hendric, a captain serving with the Parpaldian Imperial Navy. Unimpressed by the cup of coffee's taste, he put it back down on its saucer and elected never to touch it again. As for why a high-level official like Kaios and a rugged, no-nonsense captain of the navy were having coffee together in the middle of the capital, there was no particularly special reason. As the chair of the Third Foreign Affairs Department, Kaios maintained a plethora of contacts and friends in the military as he believed in getting to know better the men he was sending on punitive expeditions across the region by the stroke of his pen. One of these friends was the man sitting in front of him.

"With time, you'll get used to it."

"Sure, if they'd only give me an office away from a ship and paperwork to mull over day and night, I don't see why not."

The two shared a chuckle with one another. It had been a while since they'd seen eye to eye, and despite their fields and social statuses being worlds apart, they somehow still hit things off, although that was largely down to Kaios's agreeable personality. Wondering how his friend has been doing lately, he brought up relevant recent events.

"So, how's the deployment upstate? I heard things got rough this time."

The question was expected, but it still caught Hendric with his pants down. His eyes darted here and there as he rested his jaw on his hands, deep in thought about how he'd answer. As if settling on something agreeable, he snapped his fingers and leaned forward.

"The deployment was nothing special–it was just a routine deterrence mission. What I can say, though, is that we were able to seize a hundred or so refugees, probably from Panera or Grano. Poor bastards... Some of them were almost skeleton-like, but the colonial authorities took the more healthy ones to god knows where."

Hendric served as the captain of the Harmattan, a river monitor designed to navigate and patrol Parpaldia's countless rivers and inland lakes. For this particular mission, the Harmattan and a small company of marines were sent up the river to the north where Parpaldia's colonies and conquests lay–unsurprisingly, it was also where the Grand Crater Mines, the largest mana stone excavation operation in Philades (and probably the world), was located. Due to worsening socio-political conditions in northern Philades, coupled with the resentment from the fact that those Parpaldian colonies were former territories of the other civilized nations, rebellions and uprisings are a common sight there. While the bulk of Parpaldia's venerable Imperial Army was already deployed to the region, the Harmattan was still deemed necessary to deter any prospecting locals with disobedient tendencies. Since the matter concerned Philadean diplomatic and geopolitical affairs, the deployment was not Kaios's call to make, so he had no idea as to what transpired besides going off of official reports. As such, he was intrigued to hear more from Hendric.