Good Neighbors (Leagio-Elthize Summit)
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"Of course. The military construction is mainly for to serve as a dockyard for our submarine fleets as docking them in Port Hilson has started to become a headache with the high levels of overseas trade coming into Leagio. It will have some weapons but for mainly defense. The building of it is not made with the intention of being threatening at all. The project in terms of civics is that the idea is to construct a new city that can build a large number of a new Leagioan merchant marine fleet and handle additional shipping." Mouri-Kudo explained as she showed a picture of the planned naval base.
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"Oh, no, I didn't want to be taken that way, Mrs. President. I don't think it would be threatening, either. Just wanted to know the details." Grimwald replied as he kept looking at the naval base for a while. "We can supply construction workers, yes. Any other project we need to talk about?"
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"Of course, Mr. President. As I am sure that you know, Leagio is working out a railroad connection from Tullion to Tokyo, Yosai. Depending on the outcome of Project Wayside, we could consider a time to connect the line to also to Forecoaster?" Mouri-Kudo explained.
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"Why yes, that would be great! In addition, we're considering renovating the rail line between Forecoaster and St. Lucas, which is our largest city, I'm sure you're aware. I reckon its location is great for another train line that'll pass through Montgomery, our second largest, Project Wayside, and ending at the city of Port Hilson. Let me draw you what I mean."
Grimwald then drew the map of southern Elthize, almost a bit too perfect, and after drawing some lines, he showed Mouri-Kudo the picture:
"Well, not my best drawing," Grimwald chuckled. "And some locations may be wrong, but this should get the gist. So there's the Tullion-Forecoaster line, which I'm assuming will pass through Geaqi as well. Then, there's the dark red line, which will connect this line to St. Lucas. I've already mentioned we do have a train line connecting these two, but it is a bit old and slow, and to outcompete the car you must make your trains significantly faster. And that's not an issue. Then, the bright red line will connect St. Lucas with Montgomery. This line already exists, and again, it'll need some renovation. Then, there'll be a border crossing from Montgomery to Project Wayside. That is the orange line. And lastly, a train line between that and Port Hilson is shown in the green line." Grimwald then took a sip of water before continuing.
"Elthize can also help with the last line I mentioned, by the way, though that'll probably be dealt with by private transportation companies. But anyway, what do you think of this plan, Mrs. Mouri-Kudo?"
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Examing the map provided, Mouri-Kudo founded a lot of benefits to the idea.
"I think that these are very beneficial to our nations and am in agreement, Mr. President. You are correct on the Tullion-Forecoaster Line going through Geaqi and then around the Beaumont Mountain Range between Tullion and Forecoaster. However, at the moment studies are being done at the moment to determine a line can be made through the mountains with tunnels going through. However, the study will most likely not be complete until at least another month or two from now. " Mouri-Kudo explained as she took a sip of her fresh Leagioan Desert Lemon Tea.
"Now, I was wondering in terms of the issue dealing with the Meditrean Straights between Spain and Yosia, I was wondering on the position of your government on it? At the moment, Leagio has to stay neutral in order to avoid a distribution in overseas trade."
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"I... Actually, not me. But the government holds similar beliefs, Mrs. Mouri-Kudo. We have talked about this issue, that is, me and the Elthic cabinet, and all of us agreed to not hold a definitive stance on the issue for now. Both Spain and Yosai are essential countries for both of us and personally, I would rather not fall off with either side. So we're mostly quiet about it." Grimwald went silent for a while, and then noticed his colleague's drink thanks to its distinct smell.
"Pardon me for asking this, but what is it that you're drinking?"
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"Oh, this is Leagioan Lemon Desert Tea . The Tea leafs are grown in the deserts within the Commonwealth with it being blended with a mild form of lemon juice in. It's a Karptniz method of Tea that became popular for colonial Leagioans when trading with the Native Kaptniz residents." Mouri-Kudo explained.
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"Ah, I see. That'd make a good gift for Imogen," Grimwald chuckled. "That's my wife if you didn't know. She doesn't like the spotlight much."
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"I Understand, her wish to avoid the spotlight much. I use to be the same way before I went into the Progressive Alliance Party." Mouri-Kudo explained as she went to look in a draw within pulled out a large family-sized box of the Lemon Tea Packets that was unused and still wrapped.
"Here you go. A little personal gift from me to your wife."
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"Oh, I could've bought it my- Alright, whatever. Thanks a lot for the gift." Grimwald was not expecting the gesture at all, though, by this point, he was too tired to counter. Still, he was pleased.
"Now, if you excuse me, I'll call Tobias. He's waiting outside." Grimwald then pulled out his old yet handy phone to call him.
"Yes, we're done here. I'll be outside in a moment... We can do that, yes. We'll talk about that in detail. Alright." Grimwald then hung up the phone and got up to shake his colleague's hand.
"Mrs. Mouri-Kudo, thank you for taking your time for this meeting. This will greatly improve the already impressive relations between Leagio and Elthize. In this new era of Elthize where we are a member of the European Union, we are glad to ensure that our relationship with our allies are strong as ever. Alas, thank you, once again."
