Joyce took a sip of gyokuro. He intended to have a thought: was Tau-23 really worth discussing? Did he go past his mark? The war reparations clause was in fact his primary aim. But the overwhelming aroma of the tea and the immersive nostalgia distracted him.
"Tau-23...", he uttered indecisively, trying to catch his train of thought. "Bretonia's borders are most precisely defined by the Bretonian constitution. But during the 8 years since its latest alteration, the galactopolitical spacescape has suffered crucial changes. I think that our nations must conduct a delimitation before anything more serious is considered."
Joyce slightly raised an index finger by reflex to indicate that he wasn't finished yet. "For example... the constitution claims that Tau-29 -- Tau-29! -- belongs to the queen herself. But Her Majesty is a constitutional monarch, and if the constitution is amended, Her Majesty will reign according to the new constitution. In reality, the border is obvious. I believe Mrs Blunt was already instructed to tell you that we have no interest in Tau-29, that our only interest is Tau-31, and that our only interest in Tau-23 is that no one -- no one, not even us -- makes a serious claim. Great Powers of history used to embrace the concept of buffer zones, I don't know why our contemporaries have abandoned it. We think that Tau-23 should be a buffer zone between the three Great Powers. Our ideas are that neither may make a claim, but it is left to our respective corporations to exploit at will. It will be up to them to agree how they will share it. Our governments must have nothing to do with it. The only condition is: Gallia may not set foot. Not their navy, not their police, not their corporations, no one. Who enters must return. Gallia stays in Gallia."
Joyce took a lustful sip, purposefully giving Toshinori time to reflect.
![[Image: IeOloj2.png]](https://i.imgur.com/IeOloj2.png)