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Thomas Jefferson, the President of the United States and a Founding Father, once said: “The tree of liberty must be nourished with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

Democracy is a tree that drinks blood.

But in this world, there exists an even more bloodthirsty tree.

The name of that tree is Dictatorship.

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Episode 17 – The Tree That Drinks Blood

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As July approached its midpoint, deployment was decided.

The target area was the countries located in Northern Mauritania. Four coastal nations stretching from east to west were selected as the deployment sites.

The Mauritania Continent has traditionally been an unstable place. The central government, known for its tyranny, was haunted by the threat of military coups, and the unstable political situation soon led to the activation of regional warlords.

The internal fears embedded in every sector of society shook the foundations of numerous local governments, resulting in monsters breaching the borders.

As such, the residents of the Mauritania Continent were facing threats to existence represented by civil war, monsters, disasters, and epidemics.

Amidst this grim situation, a ray of light shone down.

[The World Union has approved military intervention to resolve the crisis in the Mauritania Continent.]

[Chairwoman Ariana urged member countries to actively participate in the Union’s efforts to maintain international peace and security as a responsible member of the international community.]

An international organization was taking military action.

I stuffed a bundle of passports and files into my travel bag while glancing at the television. The screen occupying the wall of the Military Intelligence Agency Office was broadcasting a statement from the Spokesperson of the Abas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[Our government expresses its admiration for this decision by the World Union. Established under the banner of freedom, our government has worked for international peace and global security for the past century.]

It was archive footage from a cable network.

Panels exchanged their opinions while watching the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement. University professors, senatorial aides, defense reporters—these so-called experts shared their insights, yet everything remained mere armchair discussions.

The broadcast then shifted to the statement of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense. Dressed in a stylish suit, when asked by a reporter if a deployment decision had been made, he spoke in a businesslike tone.

[As far as I know, we have not yet received a request for deployment from the Union. Currently, we are not considering deployment, but if a request comes in, the government will conduct a comprehensive review….]

“…….”

After gathering my luggage, I turned off the office lights and closed the door.

In the empty room filled with a desolate atmosphere, only the hollow noise of the television lingered.

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An international organization corresponding to the UN in the global community. The World Union decided on military intervention to resolve the crisis in the Mauritania Continent.

The Union urged the members of the international community to participate in the cause of safeguarding world peace and security, and an astounding 18 governments received proposals through formal diplomatic channels.

Kien Empire.

Kingdom of Abas.

Cult.

Republic of Patalia.

Lushan Federal Kingdom.

And even numerous minor states from the Mauritania Continent and the Eastern Continent.

Each government that received the Union’s proposal began to review the deployment. A comprehensive review was conducted at the government level, and a motion for the deployment of peacekeeping troops was submitted to the Empire’s parliament, the Abas Upper and Lower Houses, and the Patalia parliament.

With signs of a multinational force consisting of 18 countries being formed, the international community began to stir.

A large-scale military operation aimed at saving innocent lives suffering from civil war and monsters. The news of the multinational army beginning to form to rescue citizens in peril sparked cheers among many.

From intellectuals who had criticized the government for ignoring foreign tragedies to ordinary citizens completely unrelated to the war.

The hope brought by the cause of world peace was monumental.

But a problem arose.

[Peacekeeping troops, you say? Not on your life! This is plainly foreign meddling in internal affairs!]

As large-scale deployments by various governments were announced, voices of dissent began to emerge. The speakers were countries located near the deployment area in the Mauritania Continent.

[The essence of military intervention is foreign meddling in domestic affairs. It suggests that imperialists of the continent are attempting a dangerous venture to seize the oil and magic stones buried in the Mauritania Continent.]

[Who exactly are you sending troops for? The presence of foreign troops is an infringement on our government’s sovereignty!]

Delegates sent to the World Union vehemently opposed the Union’s military intervention. Whether peacekeeping troops or whatever, the presence of foreign troops was clearly seen as invasion and interference in domestic affairs.

Considering that those arguing this were uniformly dictatorial governments engaging in human rights violations, it was indeed a ridiculous situation.

However, the impact was undeniable.

As the governments of the Mauritania Continent collectively opposed, parliaments began to take action.

Arguments both for “saving innocent lives in the face of a government that cannot protect its own citizens and abuses human rights” and against “any act that infringes upon the sovereignty of another country cannot be justified” arose simultaneously, leading to a split in public opinion.

Internal opposition became a massive political pressure on the government. The opposition party laid down in resistance to the war, while civic organizations demanded a humanitarian solution from the government. Regardless of whether it was a democratic or dictatorial state, public opinion carried an intangible power that the government could not ignore.

Eventually, the government raised the white flag.

Among the 18 governments that received deployment proposals from the Union, ‘some’ governments decided to postpone their deployment decisions.

The restaurant inside the Magic Tower Immigration Office was playing the ‘Peacekeeping Force Deployment On Hold’ address by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense of Abas on the TV.

Sipping my coffee, I leaned back and spoke up.

“Well, it ended up like this.”

The news about the hold on the deployment of the International Peacekeeping Force had already been taken as a given among the Abas parliament and Ministry of Defense. To be exact, the higher-ups knew all along that the deployment wouldn’t happen.

I was one of those who knew it too.

“After all, it’s not like deploying forces is a decision that can be made in the blink of an eye. From the decision-maker’s standpoint, it isn’t the most attractive issue either, and soldiers don’t want to deploy. Their families don’t want to either.”

“Plus, there are many countries that oppose the stationing of peacekeeping forces under the pretext of internal interference. Kosovo was a prime example.”

“Those kinds of places must be quite a few, huh?”

The vast majority of dictatorships do not tolerate the stationing of foreign troops. Whether the foreign army is from their own country or a neighboring country, they can’t hold onto power if foreign troops settle in.

Thus, countries in Africa and the Middle East often refuse to deploy UN peacekeeping forces.

As domestic public opinion began to boil, the Government of Abas hastily put the brakes on the deployment. When Abas applied the brakes, other countries began to voice their difficulties in deploying additional troops as well.

Most major powers had already stationed a significant number of troops overseas. Abas was one of them, and so was the Kien Empire.

The logic presented by the Government of Abas for refusing deployment was simple. They stated that it was challenging to send more troops after already sending many units for peacekeeping operations.

That wasn’t an incorrect claim.

The Government of Abas had a history of deploying peacekeeping forces to the Mauritania Continent, and currently, six units were carrying out missions there. Some of the countries mentioned as potential deployment candidates already had troops stationed there.

Thus, the Abas Ministry of Defense was able to comfortably refuse the deployment. It was challenging to send additional troops when peacekeeping forces had already been dispatched.

And the Government of Abas had never claimed they would send peacekeeping forces. They merely said they were ‘considering’ the request from the coalition to send a new unit.

As the Abas government subtly backed off, other governments began to pull the same stunt.

The Kien Empire avoided responsibility by claiming that the imperial army was fulfilling its duties with just the peacekeeping forces already sent to the Mauritania Continent, while Patalia and Lushan also rejected sending troops from their homeland.

To put it precisely, they all stated, “We’ll decide the matter via a national referendum, so please wait for now,” but they evaded questions about when that vote would take place.

Anyway,

Governments of major powers like Abas and Kien successfully distanced themselves from the situation in the Mauritania Continent by opting to redeploy their current peacekeeping forces in the area instead of sending more troops. Of course, no one knew when those forces would actually move.

Thus, the governments of the major powers, which accounted for the backbone of the multinational force consisting of 18 countries, managed to slip away from the situation in the Mauritania Continent.

Now, that gap would be filled by a few countries that managed to maintain some level of stability on the Mauritania Continent and smaller nations from the Eastern Continent. Effectively, they had to bear the responsibility.

From the perspective of those governments, they could only curse at the blatant apathy of the major powers. Ironically, however, there was no backlash.

After all, the international community operates on the logic of power.

There are reasons why the armies of developing countries make up a significant part of the UN peacekeeping forces.

As I packed my briefcase, I turned my head and looked over.

“Camila, are you ready?”

Camila, with her backpack, jumped up and answered.

“All set!”

Having just returned from the Magic Tower, she arrived with a mountain of baggage. An almost bursting backpack and two large suitcases. Not to mention, a duffel bag and sports bag also stuffed to the brim.

“Did you really pack all this? Are we moving overseas?”

“It’s a long-term deployment, you know! I only packed what I needed; it just came to this much.”

“Oh, come on.”

I clicked my tongue while lifting one of Camila’s bags with her relaxed hand. She, with her big grin, expressed her gratitude.

With arms swinging vigorously, Camila stepped out triumphantly. Then she threw me this question.

“Shall we go now?”

“Let’s do it.”

In mid-July, right in the heart of summer.

The Warp Gate leading to the red desert started to shine.

 

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