<h4>Chapter 30: Alliance Discussions: Part 1</h4>


    The Vijayanagar Empire, Hampi Pce.


    Vijay, who had no idea what happened in the Maratha Empire, went to meet the envoy. As soon as he entered the hall, he saw two men sitting in chairs.


    One man was dressed well and looked like a noble. Considering he was wearing a Dastar, Vijay thought he was from the Sikhmunity. Another man was dressed like a soldier. Vijay presumed him to be a guard of some sort, but he couldn''t help but notice that they were carrying a heavy load with them.


    Vijay had no clue why the Maratha Empire had sent the envoy; they had cooperated well when his father was alive. However, due to the Mughal threat, they couldn''t trade often anymore.


    He didn''t have any enmity with the kingdom. If anything, he was on good terms with the Maratha Kingdom, and he wished he could foster an even better rtionship, possibly leading to an alliance.


    Seeing a young man dressed in luxurious attire exuding a noble aura, the envoy and his follower stood and bowed ording to etiquette.


    "Long live your majesty, long live Vijayanagar," the man who appeared high ranking said, still bowing.


    "My name is Bhupathi, your highness, an envoy from the Maratha Kingdom. I am here with goodwill and best wishes for you and your people," he continued.


    Vijay nodded his head and told them, "Please, esteemed guests, get up." Vijay ordered the servants to bring some tea and snacks for the guests.


    "So, what brings you to my kingdom, my dear friends?" he asked, as he took a sip of tea.


    Bhupathi replied, "Your Highness, we are here on the orders of our king to discuss a potential alliance that could be formed between us."


    Vijay was surprised, as he didn"t know what interest they could exchange. Intrigued, Vijay said, "Please exin in detail."


    Bhupathi, the envoy, began to exin, "It"s like this, Your Highness. We came to know, through a mutual coborator, that you are capable of mass-producing iron weapons, which we are in dire need of." Before he could continue, Vijay dropped the tea ss he was holding, he was in disbelief, he was shocked by the fact that the secrets of the military factory were known to outsiders. He began to suspect whether it was Hey Ram or one of the cksmiths who had leaked the news. But he soon came to his senses, realizing that he had made a mistake by showing his emotions. Before he could correct it, he knew he had already given himself away to the envoy.


    Since the secret was out, Vijay didn''t hide his unhappiness anymore, demanding the details from the envoy directly, "Bhupathi, this is a matter of national security. So you better tell me who leaked the news?" Bhupathi, the envoy, knew that he had to rify things, or else there might be problems between the Vijayanagar and Maratha kingdom. Hence, he quickly exined how they had acquired the news from a rebel leader named Roshan, and about how they were fighting against the tyranny of the Mughal Empire."


    He quickly took out a letter and passed it to Vijay.


    Vijay took over the paper and realized that it was a letter from Roshan, the Rebel leader to whom he had sold arms. In this letter, Roshan mentioned his doubts about the armsing from European nations. He described how he had uncovered the truth and addressed all the loopholes and security risks in his n. Roshan also mentioned that he chose to disclose this information to the King of the Maratha Kingdom because he believed it could aid the Vijayanagar Empire.


    After reading the letter, he let out a sigh of relief that it was not the worst oue. Imagining the st furnace technology with the Mughals just sent chills down his spine, but in the end, he med himself for not conducting thorough intelligence work.


    Although it turned out fine this time, he couldn''t guarantee that things would work out like this every time. So, he decided in his mind that in the future, he would establish a spy organization dedicated to collecting external information.


    Although Vijayanagar already had spyworks, they weren''t specialized; these spies performed various tasks for the court, which made them inefficient. He nned to change this in the near future.


    "What else?" Vijay asked.


    Bhupathi replied, "Your Highness, we would also like to trade for the food avable in your country."


    Vijay nodded and expressed his doubts, "It is all well and good as you''ve said, but how do you expect us to transport the goods you want without being seized by the Mughals?"


    As if he knew that Vijay would ask this question, Bhupathi immediately responded, "Regarding this, His Majesty the King, has written a letter directly addressing the issues he wants to convey."


    After he said that, a servant carefully handed over a letter to Vijay with both hands, treating it as if it were a treasure. Vijay, now in possession of the letter, began to read it.


    First, it stated how the friendship between Vijayanagar and the Maratha Empire had persisted from generation to generation. It also outlined how they would like to utilize the rebels within the Mughal Empire as transportation nodes. Reading up to this point, Vijay was dumbfounded. "Clever and shrewd," he thought, realizing that while he had only managed to establish a market through the arms Trade, the elder in the Maratha Empire had directly turned the rebels into something simr to a smuggling cartel in the future generations.


    "I guess I am still too short-sighted," Vijay thought to himself. As he read on, he was even more shocked than before. "Is this old man willing to sacrifice his daughter for the sake of resources?"


    While Vijay from the 21st century was no stranger to arranged marriages, he did not dislike them. Arranged marriages spared him from the process of vetting potential partners, and he got to be on good terms with his parents, yet he himself had never married due to his busy lifestyle and advanced age by the time he was ready to marry, due to this, his parents used to remind about that fact every time he got to meet them.


    Therefore One of his regrets from his past life was not experiencing family life. In this current life, his options for potential spouses were limited due to his status. In the present era, At 21 years old, ordinary men were already married and had children. However, he remained unmarried due to his inability to find a suitable candidate.


    He didn''t "t mind the idea of marrying a Maratha princess, as it could yield both political advantages and continue his family line, where he was the sole remaining member. "If she isn''t particrly unattractive, I wouldn''t mind marrying the princess," he thought to himself internally with some hope.