Risou no Himo Seikatsu - Vol. 14 Ch. 58 - The Royal Family's Decision

[Air203776]

Man mc has been dealing with these backroom dealings and political maneuvering to the best of his abilities but theres always a catch or some kind of opening made by his choices

 

[dereth]

Yo man, if you come for the son you better get ready for the momma.

Zenji may have gotten played but I have a feeling that he can fuck them up without even going to war if they try to pull it again. More otherworld knowledge perhaps?

Honestly, just before leaving the conversation, he should have stopped, stood still, try to be as subtly intimidating as possible and say something like: "This time's issue was resolved in this way for the sake of relations between our respective lands... Today, you just obtained a small sample of what I can achieve. But... if this were to happen again, I won't necessarily take the same path." All the while giving them the mother of all death stares. Then he would have returned to his chambers and plopped down on the sofa, sighing tiredly with Ines in the background with her usual "I'm already used to this" stare.

Basically, remind them that he can think outside the box better than them in many ways and that if they try to pull the same stunt again, he will fuck them up real good, possibly even through war (without outright saying so).

Now THAT would have been an epic scene that showed some good character progression, while keeping him in character.

 

[RonBWL]

Honestly, just before leaving the conversation, he should have stopped, stood still, try to be as subtly intimidating as possible and say something like: "This time's issue was resolved in this way for the sake of relations between our respective lands... Today, you just obtained a small sample of what I can achieve. But... if this were to happen again, I won't necessarily take the same path." All the while giving them the mother of all death stares. Then he would have returned to his chambers and plopped down on the sofa, sighing tiredly with Ines in the background with her usual "I'm already used to this" stare.

Basically, remind them that he can think outside the box better than them in many ways and that if they try to pull the same stunt again, he will fuck them up real good, possibly even through war (without outright saying so).

Now THAT would have been an epic scene that showed some good character progression, while keeping him in character.

Hate to break it for you, but the moment Zenjirou attempts anything like that, the noble in Capua will immediately prop him up to be (puppet) king and kick Aura off her throne. As much as he'd like to show strength, he literally cannot.

This story is about Zenjirou trying to support Aura's throne, not to take it for himself. People are too used to OPed and ambitious isekai MC who dominates the world - Zenjirou is NOT one of them.

 

[ciera]

Thanks for the scanlation

Edit: satisfying conclusion to this long arc. Aura pointing out Zenjiro’s oversight was important for his growth, but her vowing to make up for his inexperience was equally important as well. they are such a good couple

 

[Grikath]

He doesn't even need plutonium, gunpowder/black powder and cannons and they are screwed.

Other than as a novelty, proper pew-pew gunpowder is actually pretty hard to make, and this world may well not have the correct elements/physics to make it work as intended.

And that's not even going into the metalwork and associated knowledge that's actually needed to make guns work as a serious, modern weapon.
There's a very big difference between a wikipedia article with some basic principles and formulae, and the Real Deal™..

And people forget/don't know that it took roughly 5 centuries(!) even in Western Europe where they actively pursued the technology to develop "the Gun" from the early siege bombards to the flintlock frontloader to the point where you could produce enough of them to matter, and not have them blow up in your face consistently.
And a hell of a lot of that was because of advances in metallurgy. They had gunpowder down to a pretty accurate, though rather esoteric, art around halfway the 13thC. The bits that Consistently Contain the Bang in a portable manner didn't appear in any volume until the late 15th/early 16thC.

If you want to introduce "Isekai" warfare/weapons into this world to get an advantage, you don't need gunpowder anyway..
The main shock staple of warfare from what's shown seems to be mounted cavalry and mounted archers. Both need serious amounts of training to be useful on a battlefield.
And both can easily be countered by crossbow infantry units, which take far less training with far more warm bodies that make the grade to enlist...
There's a solid reason the Flemish crossbow mercenary units were in high demand way back when.. They. Stopped. The. Knightly. Cavalry.
And you could replace your losses within a month...

 

[dextersTomato]

TWITTER IS NOW OFFICIALLY INVENTED IN THIS WORLD!!!

 

[dereth]

Hate to break it for you, but the moment Zenjirou attempts anything like that, the noble in Capua will immediately prop him up to be (puppet) king and kick Aura off her throne. As much as he'd like to show strength, he literally cannot.

This story is about Zenjirou trying to support Aura's throne, not to take it for himself. People are too used to OPed and ambitious isekai MC who dominates the world - Zenjirou is NOT one of them.

Lol what. He is acting as a representative of the Queen. He NEEDS to show strength every now and then. Especially when he is dealing with foreign powers. What he can't show is opposition to his wife's will as the true ruler of the land. Looking limp dicked all the time serves no other purpose than making Capua look weak. Which is what happened in this chapter. Despite having the authority to negotiate with other nations, because he did not put a strong front he ended up exposing his weakness (his son).

He doesn't have to be "OP" or whatever. This is basic negotiation. Even if the other party knows what button to push, he has to let them know that if they go too far, it won't be worth it; that there will be consequences. Otherwise, he'll just get steamrolled over and over again by people poking at his weak points.

 

[Mist221322]

love this manga, just wonder why its so far behind the raws.

 

[xyzzy]

Oh, I used to read this until I happened to read a spoiler that made me ask ”WHY?” like in some stories that add time travel out of blue (it's not a spoiler, just a comparison).

Dare I ask?

 

[Nerts]

Clearly, next time the answer needs to be: You threaten my son -> I end you. Possibly Harry Dresden style.
Thank you for the chapter!

for a second i thought you were referring to Arthur Harris and Dresden xd

 

[RonBWL]

Lol what. He is acting as a representative of the Queen. He NEEDS to show strength every now and then. Especially when he is dealing with foreign powers. What he can't show is opposition to his wife's will as the true ruler of the land. Looking limp dicked all the time serves no other purpose than making Capua look weak. Which is what happened in this chapter. Despite having the authority to negotiate with other nations, because he did not put a strong front he ended up exposing his weakness (his son).

He doesn't have to be "OP" or whatever. This is basic negotiation. Even if the other party knows what button to push, he has to let them know that if they go too far, it won't be worth it; that there will be consequences. Otherwise, he'll just get steamrolled over and over again by people poking at his weak points.

I'll have to disagree on that. The representative is supposed to, as you name it, represent the queen, not "acting in the name of the queen". Should Zenjirou do anything on his own accord, it'll be recorded as his own achievement and plop him up to be the new (puppet) leader.

This story is set up in such a way that forbids Zenjirou to show his strength (not that he wanted to in the first place). Anything that he achieved publicly will be recorded under HIS name, not queen Aura. The only thing he can do is to make other party willingly back down on their own (and even then, like Aura pointed out, it showed Zenjirou's weakness to be exploited).

 

[LiAuN]

The problem is not the naval aspect, but the greater extent of their influence that comes from it (think missionaries greater range of travel), that's what the Twin Kingdoms are wary of. They want a cultural and influential counter to that if/when the Church comes knocking.

i know why they are weary of it but my point was that even if that's the case they can't do shit about it currently.

 

[dereth]

I'll have to disagree on that. The representative is supposed to, as you name it, represent the queen, not "acting in the name of the queen". Should Zenjirou do anything on his own accord, it'll be recorded as his own achievement and plop him up to be the new (puppet) leader.

This story is set up in such a way that forbids Zenjirou to show his strength (not that he wanted to in the first place). Anything that he achieved publicly will be recorded under HIS name, not queen Aura. The only thing he can do is to make other party willingly back down on their own (and even then, like Aura pointed out, it showed Zenjirou's weakness to be exploited).

??? Did you even read the chapter? What you call "representative" is nothing more than a messenger; go to negotiation table, discuss terms, return to leader, report and receive instructions, go back to negotiation table, and repeat until conclusion is reached.

That's clearly not what happened here. Zenjirou was the one conducting the negotiation, using his own judgement. Aura even said so herself, that Zenjirou's decision didn't align exactly with what she would have done. That means that she wasn't the one directing the talks; Zenjirou was. A true representative needs the authority and trust from the one they are representing to act on their behalf. Otherwise, if their role simply was to parrot what they've been told to say, listen to the other party and go back, there would no need for an important person to play said role. A relatively trusted messenger would have been enough.

In any case, this manga doesn't really showcase well how politics and diplomacy work, since even acting as a proxy grants you a level of recognition for your achievements, however minor they may be. This idea that a representative gets absolutely no credit for their work is just silly. The world just doesn't work that way.

And you are overestimating what nobles can do. Zenjirou cannot become a puppet leader on behalf of the nobility if he doesn't let himself become one. He simply has to refuse to act in a way that benefits them and that's the end of it.

Also, the fact that Ines is not prepared to assist Zenjirou in his duties as a King Consort is a major oversight. She is his primary attendant and advisor when acting abroad, and has been (presumably) trained to support him in whatever he needs; that should include diplomacy.

 

[RanmaChaos]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Eeliejun]

??? Did you even read the chapter? What you call "representative" is nothing more than a messenger; go to negotiation table, discuss terms, return to leader, report and receive instructions, go back to negotiation table, and repeat until conclusion is reached.

That's clearly not what happened here. Zenjirou was the one conducting the negotiation, using his own judgement. Aura even said so herself, that Zenjirou's decision didn't align exactly with what she would have done. That means that she wasn't the one directing the talks; Zenjirou was. A true representative needs the authority and trust from the one they are representing to act on their behalf. Otherwise, if their role simply was to parrot what they've been told to say, listen to the other party and go back, there would no need for an important person to play said role. A relatively trusted messenger would have been enough.

In any case, this manga doesn't really showcase well how politics and diplomacy work, since even acting as a proxy grants you a level of recognition for your achievements, however minor they may be. This idea that a representative gets absolutely no credit for their work is just silly. The world just doesn't work that way.

And you are overestimating what nobles can do. Zenjirou cannot become a puppet leader on behalf of the nobility if he doesn't let himself become one. He simply has to refuse to act in a way that benefits them and that's the end of it.

Also, the fact that Ines is not prepared to assist Zenjirou in his duties as a King Consort is a major oversight. She is his primary attendant and advisor when acting abroad, and has been (presumably) trained to support him in whatever he needs; that should include diplomacy.

Not really tbh... I think we are just playing the wording game now. In the end like the other person said He can't do much because the nobles will give him too much credit for it and not the queenn. Saying no will not really work. The problem is that even if he says no the power of the queen will be damaged. It would be a sticking point of her rulings. She it like this. You are in a room and you need to lead. You say do this and that. The whole rooms looks to the person to your left. He does not want to have that power but no one acts if he does not say anything.

 

[solax636]

love this manga, just wonder why its so far behind the raws.

i think we only get this series because someone pays TOOR scans to do it for us, the official English release is about to release VOL14 in august

 

[WhimsiCat]

Hard to be a perfect wife when she can easily discard her family if it's for her kingdom.

Then you get to exactly what Aura point out: get used constantly because they know threatening your kid is enough to make you yield.

Or what, you're gonna go to war that will cause more casualties but it's ok because it's not your kid that die? (remember Aura lost her family to war, and even right now Capua militay isn't back to its former glory either)

It's not like she's discarding her son, she's just not going to yield to the threat because it's not like Zenkichi's bloodline will change and the twin kingdom can always reveal it whenever they decide it's ok to turn Capua into enemy anyway.
So yielding not only did not remove that threat of revelation, as said in the chapter it makes them MORE LIKELY TO KEEP THREATENING IT.

 

[MangaRockRefugee]

Other than as a novelty, proper pew-pew gunpowder is actually pretty hard to make, and this world may well not have the correct elements/physics to make it work as intended.
(...)

On one hand I agree, countering mounted shock troops with crossbow variant of Tercios is far easier than introducing MG42 to the isekailand.

On the other, the power of hindsight is not to be scoffed at too.
If you can jump straight to guncotton or smokeless powder, suddenly guns are far more viable.
Bypassing all the boring evolution and jumping from match fired smoothbore pistala straight to rifled caplock or even Dreyse bolt action will save a lot of development cost.
Add these together with Germ Theory (and all its dependencies), advanced chemistry, modern idea of logistics, merit based cadet schools, machining tools and ideas, Steam Age factories and workshops...
Suddenly you have horrifyingly efficient parallel world cousins of 19th century chasseurs fighting against people totally not prepared for this bullshit and it all feels like usual Hammurabi game in Civ 6
And that's ignoring every single other silly idea our madlad could bring upon this cursed world, like FLYING THINGIES and TRAINS and COMPULSORY EDUCATION or even HABER'S AMMONIA SYNTHESIS

 

[syntheretique]

Clearly, next time the answer needs to be: You threaten my son -> I end you. Possibly Harry Dresden style.
Thank you for the chapter!

Wow That's a reference I didn't expect here. But it's on point. Dresden crew fucking up the Red Court was so visceral and satisfying.

 

[isoycrazy]

Clearly, next time the answer needs to be: You threaten my son -> I end you. Possibly Harry Dresden style.
Thank you for the chapter!

So...Zenji is getting the marshmallows ready? Cool.