"Princess, do you know how long these barbarians have been ignoring and tormenting the Greeks? And even in this difficult moment, they refuse to share what's theirs! Princess, we only seek justice, to reclaim what originally belonged to the Greeks!"
"Princess, although we may have Turkish appearances and names, we are true Romans who have embraced Roman traditions and believe in Christ! During the Sultan's rule, we were given village administrative roles because of our lineage, but even then, we never accumulated wealth through unjust means! How can you ask us to share our property with them simply because Turkish blood flows in our veins!"
"Lies! When the Sultan's looters came a few days ago, isn't it true that they left your property untouched because of your lineage?"
"As we've already explained, they didn't take plunder separately because we personally entertained the looters! Surely you didn't want our village to be completely destroyed like the upper village?"
Just hearing the arguments between the two representatives a few times was enough to understand the complex situation this village faced.
I gestured to my guards to calm the two increasingly noisy groups, then looked at Haakon, who stood beside me with his arms crossed in silence.
"Haakon, what do you think we should do?"
I asked.
"...Huh? Are you asking for my opinion?"
Haakon asked, seemingly surprised.
"The Varangian Guard has quite a diverse mix of races. I'll listen to your opinion, so speak freely."
"An opinion," Haakon pondered for a moment.
Then he looked up with a gleaming expression.
"Let's have the representatives duel. And the winner..."
"Enough. Stop right there."
Right, I was foolish to expect anything else.
I turned my attention back to the two groups who had resumed their argument, leaving behind a confused Haakon with his "Huh?" expression.
'Personally, I'd like to confiscate some of the kebabs' property and distribute it to the Greeks... but I can't do that as a princess.'
The princess's will is Rome's will. I had to refrain from shameful actions.
Moreover, seeing how the Greek representative was so angry yet couldn't clearly point out any wrongdoing by the Turks, it seemed that, as the Turkish representative claimed, they hadn't accumulated wealth unjustly.
Lost in thought, I lightly tapped Haakon's side and asked him to focus everyone's attention on me.
"SILENCE!!!"
'Eek...!'
A thunderous voice that could only be described as a "lion's roar" echoed along the riverbank.
My eardrums rang and my ears felt numb, with a piercing sound between them, but Haakon's voice was completely calm as he said, "Please speak."
"...Ugh."
Feeling somewhat irritated, I jabbed his solar plexus with my elbow.
Still, since everyone was looking at me with surprised faces, I stepped forward and addressed the gathered crowd.
"Please select two representatives from each group. I will host a meeting for the future of this village under my supervision."
The conflict between Greeks and Turks.
Right now, it was just a small village problem, but in the future, after the Sultan's brother completely corrupted, it could escalate into a national conflict.
Even if the meeting took some time, it would be good to find a reasonable solution for the future.
"Y-yes, we will do that."
"Y-yes, let's do that."
Perhaps impressed by the princess's charisma, both representatives, who had been fighting fiercely until just now, bowed their heads respectfully.
※※
In the triclinium (dining room) of the village chief's mansion, a typical Roman-style building in the center of the village, the meeting place was set. The village chief, two representatives from each ethnic group, and Haakon and I were gathered.
As I nodded from my seat at the head of the table, Sophia, the representative of the Greek residents, spoke first. Her young and elegant face showed determination.
"Princess, we have lived in this land for generations. Our ancestors helped each other build this village and lived like one family under Christ's teachings.
But those barbarians are different. They refuse to participate in the community because they claim not to know farming methods, and they refuse to share property with neighbors, which should be natural during difficult times!
No matter how much they claim to be Romans, how can they be called Romans when they don't follow Roman traditions and only look after the prosperity of their own tribe!"
The man sitting next to her, Gerasios, who had been passionately speaking at the village entrance earlier, clapped his hands vigorously, saying, "That's right!"
I nodded silently and shifted my gaze. This time, Ali, the Turkish resident representative, spoke. Unlike Sophia, his eyes reflected a sense of injustice.
"Princess, Sophia's claims are absurd. We settled peacefully in this village with the permission of the previous village chief, and sincerely wanted to become part of Rome, even abandoning our ancestral culture.
However, they discriminated against and rejected us simply because our ancestors were nomads.
They say we refuse to participate in the village community, but when we came with hoes, they were the ones who didn't properly teach us farming methods, and they were also the ones who forcibly drove our children out of school!
And now they demand we share the money we earned through livestock with the village! We believe we've done our duty by protecting the village from the Sultan's invasion!
Although we are members of this village, we cannot give up all our property in these uncertain times!"
"Ali is distorting the facts!"
Sophia raised her voice.
"We were only trying to preserve our unique way of life and traditions. You claim you wanted peace, but when you collected unreasonable taxes and exploited our livestock with the Sultan's backing, your barbarians were anything but peaceful!"
"We never collected more taxes than the Sultan allocated, and we took livestock only for tributes to be sent to the Sultan!
How can you now condemn those unavoidable actions for the village's sake as mere evil deeds and demand compensation for them!"
The argument was getting more heated. It seemed unlikely to reach a conclusion at this rate.
Feeling the need to cool things down, I cleared my throat and began to speak.
"I've heard both of your opinions. First..."
"Princess, Ali speaks of peace on the surface, but their real intention is to seize control of the village!"
Sophia sharpened her tone.
"We know their true motives! They want to drive us out and take this beautiful land that our ancestors left us!"
"Let's stop these baseless accusations!"
Ali also raised his voice.
"All we want is for you to accept us as members of the village! If you don't accept us, we won't do anything for you either!"
"Blaming each other won't..."
"Princess, we cannot trust those barbarians."
Sophia interrupted, shouting.
"They clung to the Sultan, exploited us, and fattened themselves with our property. Unless they give up their ill-gotten wealth, we will make no concessions!"
"You are the ones who are incredibly narrow-minded."
Fire lit in Ali's eyes.
"We will pursue peace to the end. But if you continue like this, we cannot back down any further."
"Excuse me..."
"What will you do if you can't back down? Will you fight? We are prepared too. This is our land. If you don't act, we will take action first!"
"Fine, if you want a fight, let's have one! We desire peace, but if necessary, we won't hesitate to use force!"
These bastards, really...
I, the princess, now seemed to be completely ignored in their eyes. Irritably turning around, I jabbed Haakon, who was standing quietly behind me, in the side with my elbow.
Haakon nodded briefly, then approached my side and slammed the table with a bang!
The loud noise startled both people, and their gazes immediately turned to Haakon.
Haakon leisurely picked up an apple from the table, split it in half with one hand's grip alone, and then began to gradually apply more pressure.
"The Princess is speaking."
With a squelching sound, apple juice dripped from Haakon's grip, staining the table yellow.
'...Crazy gorilla.'
Fortunately, it seemed no one dared to raise their voice in front of this human juicer.
I calmly looked at the two stunned representatives and spoke.
"Raising your voices won't solve anything. Let's take a 10-minute break. Both of you, go outside and cool your heads."
I had some solutions forming in my mind, but it was clear that nothing would get through to them in their excited state.
Besides, the ethnic conflict seemed much deeper than I had anticipated.
"Y-yes, I'll do that."
"Y-yes..."
The two people, who had been glaring at each other, hurriedly rose from their seats.
The other two representatives and the village chief also bowed to me and followed them outside.
Left alone with Haakon in the room, I leaned back deeply against the backrest and sighed.
"Haakon."
"Yes, Princess."
"Clean the desk first."
"...Huh?"
"You made the mess. Clean it up quickly."
I pointed to the remains of what used to be an apple still on the desk.
Haakon stared at me blankly for a moment, then nodded, saying, "...Understood." He then went to the corner, got a cloth, and quietly began cleaning the desk.
"So what are you planning to do next?"
"I've thought of a few solutions, but I think there's something we need to do first."
"Something?"
"First, we need to narrow the gap of conflict between the two ethnic groups."
It was obvious that no matter how good an answer I provided, it wouldn't last long if they continued to distrust each other as they did now.
I sat up straight in my chair and continued.
"I'm going to write a letter now. Could you deliver it to headquarters?"
"Headquarters...?"
Haakon tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
Meanwhile, I answered with a giggling smile, thinking it would be fun just to imagine.
"Yes, headquarters. I want to ask Nikephoros to send a few Turkish auxiliary troops."