"Yes, I see...", said Joyce with a mixed opinion. He liked this proposal, but it nominally conflicted with what he has been sent to negotiate. "I'm afraid I don't have the authority to accept this, but I see your point and I will take this to the government. Can we consider the Barra question resolved for the purpose of further negotiations?"
He noticed Joyce's mixed feelings about the matter and shared the same sentiment. He considered this a rather undiplomatic way to deal with Crayter, yet he knew the voices within the government pointing out the fact it was Crayter to first declare hostilities against Kusari.
"Hm, yes, we shall consider the Barra question resolved with this proposal. It is certainly not what you expected but I consider it a good step in the right direction. You'll receive a copy of the data regarding Barra Anchorage, a proposed draft structure of the new installation included, so the Bretonian government can discuss this matter with more than just my words at their disposal."
"This is not all", said Joyce, happy to finally address his main point. "You agreed that he Treaty of Rishiri doesn't stop you from demanding reparations for the first war. I think that such demands would be legitimate, having in mind that the Enclave, the successor to the Gallic Kingdom, is now part of the new Gallic state. Whoever negotiated the Leviathan Accords -- that is our treaty with Gallia -- specified neither the deadline for paying off the reparations to us nor what those should in fact amount to. In my opinion, this was a very serious and very elementary, inexcusable mistake. Our new government wants to correct this and sees the Enclave's repatriation as a cause to impose these conditions. The idea is that our two Great Houses should stand before Gallia together with these demands of reparations, and if only one of us doesn't get their demands accepted, then both of us should impose a total embargo on all Gallic shipping."
What the Bretonian representative proposed was a slightly unexpected surprise. Toshinori did not expect the Leviathan Accords to be brought to this table but he could not get around - at least silently for himself - crediting the diplomatic move by Bretonia.
"Hm, around the time the Leviathan Accords were negotiated.. mistakes indeed happened. Missed opportunities added on top of it. Kusari so far abstained from making demands over the Gallic onslaught directly resulting in the split of the Naval Forces and the civil war, a missed opportunity in my eyes. However, your proposal goes far beyond my jurisdiction and will require a conference between the Cabinet, the Emperor and probably the Admiralty. Be assured that I will do my best to convince them of the fruitfulness of Bretonia's idea, as I can already see multiple ways Kusari can benefit from a joint approach towards Gallia."
Joyce took the notebook and wrote something again:
"2. CR: bara t.b. scttled, upgrdd, sold to CR, hel. t.b. sold to CR
3. joint repar: tbd by kugov, tosh. happy"
He joyfully put the notebook back and returned his attention to the tea, which had by now become lukewarm. "The pleasure was mine, Mr Toshinori. It is always a pleasure to exchange thoughts with a well-educated Kusarian, and look, it almost made me forgot about my gyokuro! As far as I am concerned, my job here is done for now and I must notify the Bretonian government of our progress. If you allow, I would like to finish my tea before I go, and I will not run away from some casual chatter to rest our minds before each of us goes back to work."
Toshinori nodded.
"I am glad we could hold this meeting in a timely manner before the inevitable - an incident - could result from the unregulated nature of the Tau sector. Enjoy the tea, please. I will make arrangements for a small gift, namely a weeks supply of gyokuro, to be brought to the vessel you travel with before your departure. Oh and yes, I have a topic I'd love to discuss which isn't what we settled down here for today.. but it might be interesting. Rheinland. What's your honest opinion about recent developments there?"
Rheinland was neither Joyce's expertise nor within his job description. It was certainly not part of his mission and it would be unprofessional to release what little of his government's intentions he knew without instructions from the government. If it was up to him, he'd try to avoid the subject, but it was professional to find out what Kusari wanted with Rheinland. There are no truly informal conversations between diplomats.
"Rhein-Rheinland? I suppose... it's an objectively positive circumstance that their civil war is over. Do you have anything specific in mind?"
Toshinori smiled briefly. This could make for a very interesting second part of the conversation.
"Indeed, while the outcome is surely going to bring up several questions, I agree about the positive nature of the recent developments there. Despite the brief coldness over Planet Saigon, Rheinland is a valuable business partner to us. I think the same applies to Bretonia, a Rheinland less busy with murdering itself should come in handy during your reconstruction efforts, correct?"
"Yes, we expect the prices to stabilise. Unfortunately they are also Gallia's trade partner, but it is a relieving circumstance that this is only nominal thanks to the Hessian blockade of Cologne. Is their trade agreement with Gallia what you want to talk about?"
![[Image: IeOloj2.png]](https://i.imgur.com/IeOloj2.png)
![[Image: X04Ng2q.png]](https://i.imgur.com/X04Ng2q.png)