In a splendid room of the Tuileries Palace.
"Hmmmm."
"Chief? Are you alright? What are you pondering..."
"No. I'm just turning so thoughts over in my mind."
There, Oitotan paced around the room with furrowed brows. He couldn't seem to co up with a good strategy.
Oitotan had crossed the Atlantic with a weighty mission.
A mission to strengthen the alliance between Virginia and France and to expand the Virginia community's influence over France and Henri IV.
"I trust only you. Use whatever ans necessary, as long as they aren't immoral. I trust you."
His mission was important, as none other than Nemo himself had said these words. It was a path to find a new ally to face the Spanish threat together and connect Europe with their community.
"...Hmm."
However, he still hadn't achieved any notable success since building the chicken farm and raising chickens.
This wouldn't do.
Nemo was counting on him, and tens of thousands of people in the community were depending on his shoulders.
"Isn't there so clever way to move forward?"
In the case of 'chickens,' it was quite successful, but it was largely due to chance.
The situation had developed where everyone had expectations about giant chickens from the New World because his unintended mistake had spread by word of mouth.
Now he needed a different approach.
Chickens weren't the only goods he had brought to expand influence in France. He had brought wine, wine bottles, and various other necessities.
"...Chief?"
"Indeed... is 'that' the only way?"
"Have you thought of sothing?"
"Yes. I've made a 'decision.'"
The tribesn who had co to assist the chief briefly recalled what had happened the last ti their chief made a 'decision.'
He had tried to extort the Powhatan tribe by bringing refugees from Roanoke Island. The tribe had nearly disappeared from the face of the earth as a result.
Cold sweat suddenly ran down the tribesn's backs. They tried to dissuade the chief, but Oitotan continued with a hearty laugh.
"Don't worry! This thod is 'already proven'! It can't fail or go wrong!"
"..."
"..."
"..."
This made them feel even more ominous.
Soon, it was ti for the banquet at the Tuileries Palace.
==
Henri IV had been engaging in a peculiar behavior lately when moving around.
"By God's grace, His Majesty Henri IV, King of France and Navarre, enters!"
Whether in court or when inspecting outside the Tuileries Palace, there was always a leashed creature following by his side.
That creature was...
Flutter!
Cock-a-doodle-doo.
"Th-there! It's a chicken bigger than a dog, for real!"
A chicken. And one from Virginia at that.
"No... to think such a chicken really exists, Lord have rcy."
"With one that size, catching just one would feed a whole family with plenty to spare!"
The French had been enthusiastic about this for a long ti. The chicken farm established by the mysterious envoy from the New World had already beco a must-see course for nobles.
'If God grants more life, I will ensure there isn't a laborer in my Kingdom who can't afford to have a chicken in his pot on Sunday. (Si Dieu donne encore de la vie, je ferai qu'il n'y aura point de laboureur en mon Royau qui n'ait moyen d'avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot.)'
That giant chicken was a symbol of the catchphrase Henri IV had put forward when he took the throne. At the sa ti, it was a symbol of the success of Henri IV's newly launched 'New World policy.'
In other words.
This giant chicken had beco a symbol of French royal authority.
Everyone marveled and looked up to this giant chicken and the abundance of the New World it symbolized. Just as they would look up to Henri IV.
And in a short ti, the expanded chicken farm and the new breed of chickens sold at high prices to various regions were served at banquets, providing joy to nobles.
But such a situation would be temporary. Chickens are creatures with vigorous reproductive ability, so it wouldn't be long before those giant chickens adorned dining tables across France.
With a bit of exaggeration, there might truly be no subject who couldn't eat chicken every Sunday.
Cluck, cluck.
"Yes. Eat well, Coco."
Cluck. Cluck-cluck.
"Ha, hahaha. Just looking at this fellow makes feel full."
Henri took advantage of this opportunity by carrying around a robust chicken every day, and eventually beca attached to it, making it his pet.
Watching it peck at grain placed in a luxurious glass bowl, Henri was pleased, and the Marquis de Rosny, Maximilien de Béthune, stared at him blankly for a mont before clearing his throat and calling his lord.
"Ahem. Ahem."
"Ah, Maximilien! You're here? What is it?"
"The servants said you wouldn't co no matter how much they called... it's almost ti for the banquet."
"Ah... is it that ti already."
Suddenly, Henri makes a sour expression as he rises from beside Coco. When Coco looks up at its owner in confusion, Henri strokes its head and clicks his tongue.
"If it's a banquet... the envoy will be there too."
"Well... ahem, your expression doesn't look good. Did sothing happen?"
"No, I just have a strange feeling. Perhaps it's because of 'that incident' at the last banquet."
That incident.
The mont when he heard "your kingdom is poor" in front of everyone.
Of course, it was later revealed to be a misunderstanding, but he couldn't count how many days he had been stressed because of it.
For so reason, he felt uneasy and uncomfortable whenever eting Oitotan again after that.
"Ah, you don't know? This is sothing called an 'incubator.'"
"I see you don't know. It's alright. France too, like us, can soon beco wealthy."
"France as a country, poor but the people are kind."
"It's certainly polite... but sohow I feel a condescending gaze that makes uncomfortable inside. It's like sothing scraping away at my insides..."
"...I understand what you an, but should you be wary of an important ally's envoy because of that?"
"..."
"..."
"Yes, you're right."
Henri lightly pats Maximilien's shoulder before opening the door and stepping out.
"You're right. After all, hasn't he brought us enormous wealth?"
Henri soon straightened his shoulders and walked towards the banquet hall with dignified steps.
Yes. Co to think of it, didn't even that Oitotan fellow's insult(?) eventually prove helpful?
Moreover, and most importantly, there was no intentionality.
The subsequent words were also unsettling, but there was considerable room to view them as minor verbal mistakes by an envoy ignorant of European diplomacy, or misunderstandings due to cultural differences.
Yes.
Let's not worry about it.
With that thought, Henri entered the banquet hall alongside the Marquis de Rosny. The table was lavishly decorated with chicken dishes, symbolizing friendship with Virginia and the prosperity of both countries.
And in the seat directly to the right of the king's place of honor, Oitotan was waiting for him.
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