The Inspection Team Seems To Be Coming Soon, How Should We Respond?
The Mobile Nation Ama no Murakumo. It was a sunny day with calm waves. A large number of monitors were deployed on the bridge, monitoring both the inside and outside of Ama no Murakumo's territorial waters. The ones keeping watch were support golems, Takeda and Chosokabe. Since they have to keep an eye on so many monitors at the same time, they were equipped with Array Thinking Core and Multiple Monitoring Core that I created through alchemy. I had also tweaked their appearance to match their names. The image of Takeda as a bearded warrior and Chosokabe as a handsome man came from my own memories.
Robo Shingen and Robo Motochika, huh. If any Sengoku warlord fan saw this, they'd probably jump up and punch me.
"Master, fleets from various countries are beginning to gather outside Ama no Murakumo's territorial waters. What should we do?"
"Leave them alone. If they enter our territorial waters, give them a warning. Well, it's impossible to cross the barrier without our permission, so don't worry about it too much."
"Then, what should we do about the ship that's fishing just below Ama no Murakumo?"
Huh!? A ship crossed our barrier? How on earth?
"Hold on, which country's ship is that?"
"It's a small vessel. Judging from the direction it came from, it's probably Marshall Islands. What should we do?"
"Octa-One, did you give them permission to enter our territorial waters?"
"*beep*.... They apparently have been fishing around here for a long time, so I did give them permission. Also, it's not a Marshall Islands ship, but a Japanese deep-sea fishing ship. They don't seem to have any malicious intent, and they're also unarmed, so I don't see any problem."
It's not worth making a fuss over a territorial violation, but if we make an exception now, it could cause problems later....
"*beep*.... In exchange for allowing them to fish in Ama no Murakumo's territorial waters, we have received a fair amount of compensation. Currently, Kandagawa is preparing to make sushi at a sushi restaurant in town. What would you like to do?"
"Issue a permit to fish within our territorial waters for that ship immediately. The tax will be in the form of freshly caught fishes."
"*beep*.... Understood, since it's fishing in the territorial waters." //it’s a pun//
"Octa Once, there's definitely someone inside you, right?"
"*beep*.... Negative. I am a super magical brain. If someone were to enter inside, they would die."
I don't understand why they would die. Still, it's been a while since I've had sushi. I used to eat it during my corporate slave days, but it's been ages since I've had non-conveyor-belt sushi. I wonder how many years it's been.
"Master, Russian vessels have begun an investigation near our territorial waters buoys."
"Use the microphone to warn them not to touch the buoys. We will consider such actions as an attack and we will retaliate."
"Understood, since it's fishing in the territorial waters."
"Chosokabe, don't imitate Octa One."
See? This kind of one-liner joke is infectious. I guess that’s enough for the morning rounds. The sushi restaurant will open in the evening, so I'll just relax until then.
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New York, USA. The permanent members of UN Security Council were meeting at UN Headquarters. The topic of discussion was the existence of Ama no Murakumo, focused on how to interact with them going forward. Just a few days earlier, Ama no Murakumo had declared itself a nation at the UN Secretariat in Geneva. The declaration met all the requirements under international law, and the documents received by the Secretary General even included a detailed information regarding their governmental constitution. No countries could challenge the legitimacy of Ama no Murakumo under current legal system, so the United Nations' stance was clear at this point.
“Whether a newly established country is recognized as a country under international law should not be decided by political decisions, but rather objectively determined based on whether they meet all the requirements to be a country.”
This summary indicated that the United Nations as an organization had no reason to not recognized Ama no Murakumo as a country. However, among the permanent members of the UN Security Council participating in this session, only the US was in favor of this decision, while the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China were openly opposed to this. The other two members, France and the UK, chose to abstain, stating that it was too early to reach a conclusion.
“Before we talk about recognizing Ama no Murakumo as a country, we first need to investigate whether that mobile battleship really has what it takes to be a country. How about dispatching an inspection team from the United Nations and reconsidering the matter based on the results?”
The proposal from the Chinese ambassador was reasonable. In addition, there was also an opinion from the Russian ambassador that the press should be included in this inspection team. The two countries were clearly planning something. However, they believed that Ama no Murakumo would accept this proposal, since refusing it would be seen as if they were hiding something.
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After the Security Council meeting concluded, the members formally requested Ama no Murakumo through the United Nations to accept the dispatch of 'an inspection team' for their country recognition. The ambassadors then contacted their home countries to send 'suitable personnel' to the United Nations headquarters to participate in the inspection team as soon as possible. It was still unclear when Ama no Murakumo would accept their inspection team, but every second counted. Meanwhile, the Russian and Chinese ambassadors were holding a secret meeting in a different location.
"Let's arrange for the members of the inspection team to conduct an internal investigation. Ama no Murakumo has declared that there is a city inside the battleship, so it would be wise to record that and obtain at least a small part of their technology."
"The inspection team will be guarded by elite soldiers from each country, right? Of course, we will need to discus about the detail. It's like a temporary UN force, and if possible, it would be great if we could take control of Ama no Murakumo with them. That's if it's possible."
For Russia and China whose reputations have been ruined at the international level, recognizing Ama no Murakumo as a country was tantamount to a national defeat.
"The US, UK and France will not go along with this plan, but we have already anticipated that. They will be focusing on protecting their delegations and won't get in our way."
“If the other party is Japan, we can take a suitable hostage to threaten them. Ultimately, there will be plenty of bargaining chips, such as information disclosure or troop deployment. However, Misaki Tendou, the master of Ama no Murakumo, seems to be a Japanese woman.”
"The Japanese government has issued a statement that she was not their citizen, though. Let's handle this carefully."
"That's right. For the prosperity of the Russian Federation's ."
"For the prosperity of the People's Republic of China."
*clink*
The two ambassadors clinked their wine glasses lightly and made a small toast. Whether the inspection team could pull this off or not, and depending on the results, their future directions would change significantly.
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The bridge of Ama no Murakumo. In the afternoon, the Russian ships that had been surveying the territorial waters buoys finished their work and left. Then, in their place, the Chinese ships approached and began conducting the same survey. According to Takeda, the naval vessels from various countries were stationed around the buoys surrounding Ama no Murakumo's territorial waters, conducting surveys, and once one survey was completed, they moved to the next buoy, and so on.
I wonder what kind of result will come out of this....
“Captain, we have a call from the United Nations Headquarters. Shall I connect it to you?”
"Hold on, I'm not ready yet."
I quickly sat in the captain's seat.
Recently, I've been receiving diplomatic calls from the UN and various countries, so I always make sure to wear my captain uniform whenever I come to the bridge. According to Octa-One, since my body is now female, I should use it to my advantage. However, it would be hassle to change clothes every time I come to the bridge, so I've prepared a magic tool that allows me to change clothes in an instant.
"Automatic Clothing Change Ring!"
This is a ring-shaped infinite storage device that can only store clothes, equipment, weapons, armor, and accessories. In exchange, it allows you to put on clothes that you have set up in advance in an instant. It's very convenient, but if the clothes get dirty, you have to send them to the dry cleaners. There's magic to clean clothes instantly, but I can't use it since I'm an alchemist.
“Line open.”
"My name is Maximillian Kraft from the United Nations Headquarters. I am contacting Ama no Murakumo to request permission to dispatch an inspection team there on behalf of the United Nations Security Council."
"Thank you for your hard work. I am Misaki Tendo. Ama no Murakumo is ready to receive the inspection team. You can discuss the details with our representative after this."
"I understand. Thank you very much for this opportunity."
"That's fine. I have no intention of plunging the world into chaos. Then, that's it from me."
I will let the Valkyrie in charge of foreign affairs to handle the rest since Octa One told me that the head of state shouldn't negotiate on their own. It's fine to leave such miscellaneous tasks to my subordinates. The story would be different if the other party is also the head of state, though.
"*beep*.... Helmviecke is still in the middle of discussion, but the point is that they want to send an inspection team consisting 40 people here."
"That's quite a big group, isn't it?"
"*beep*.... According to them, 20 members of the team are the representatives from various countries, while the rest are their escorts. I guess they have their own agenda."
"What do you think, Hilde?"
I turned the conversation to Hildegard, who was standing next to me.
"In the worst case scenario, the real purpose of this inspection team is to take control of Ama no Murakumo from the inside, or to assassinate Lady Misaki."
"That can't be true, right? We are talking about the UN inspection team here."
"The other party is representing the UN Security Council members. That's what it comes down to."
Now that she mentions it, this request is coming from the UN Security Council, not the UN itself. In other words, the reason for sending the inspection team is most likely to conduct an internal investigation and to observe our movements.
Hilde also suspected that there was some kind of resolution that couldn't be passed due to the principle of unanimity, and the dispatch of an inspection team was proposed as an alternative. Octa One had predicted this, but still agreed to welcome the inspection team into Ama no Murakumo.
"So, are you saying that I should welcome people who might be after my life as guests with open arms?"
"There is no need for Master to show yourselves in front of them. Hildegard, Rossweisse, and I are enough."
"Isn't that a breach of etiquette?"
"Master, please be aware of position. There is no need to be humble in front of others. You can even look down on any country. This a chance to show how superior Ama no Murakumo is."
No, hold on, I have no intention of standing in the top of the world. I mean, why are they so eager with this idea? I just want to live leisurely.
"Is that really necessary? What do you think, Octa One?"
"*beep*.... Personally, I would like to obliterate an inhabited island or two with a barrage of our main gun fire. Then, I would demand the whole world to submit or die. Putting that joke aside, I think it's important to show our technological superiority to other countries."
"*sigh*.... Just in case, what do you think, Truss One?"
"*beep*.... Obliterating an inhabited island is too lukewarm. We should fire planet-destroying missiles at all continents from satellite orbit."
"Do we have such a dangerous weapon?"
"*beep*.... No, but you can make it."
Can I really make something like that with my alchemy?
I have a rough idea of the magic formulas that will be used. The missile's destructive power comes from the implosion of magic energy. Then....
"Oh, I really can make it. But I'm not going to make such a dangerous weapon, alright?"
"*beep*.... That's a wise decision. The discussion seems to have been concluded. It's less boring than listening to them talking, right?"
"Thanks for your concern, I guess. So, Helmviecke, how did it go...."
Then, a week later, a special airplane left the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. The maximum length of the runway that Ama no Murakumo had was 1500m, so a Boeing-type airplane couldn't land on it. Therefore, it seemed that they would be transferred to several small aircrafts at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam before heading to Ama no Murakumo.
This will be the first time Ama no Murakumo receiving guests onboard. I'd like to welcome them in a big way. Let's discuss with everyone about a good way to entertain them. I'm looking forward to it.