Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up - Volume 4 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Together with the People

Irritating as it was, if I was going to defeat Luaranz without using manpower, then I had to take my time. Ultimately, the fastest way to take down a puppet regime was to bring the populace’s discontent to the point of bursting. It was even easier when you had a justification for it, which, conveniently, I did: the existence of a queen who could claim to be carrying on the will of the late King Luaranz.

Lushak was running wild, just as I’d hoped he would. The guy was the absolute worst kind of human being. In less than two weeks, he’d already started oppressing the people who lived around the capital. Dozens of nearby villages disappeared, one after another.

Puppet regimes had an inherently weak claim to legitimacy, and the only counter to that was a high popular opinion. A state that turned its back on public sentiment couldn’t hope to continue functioning properly.

In the game, if Opinion dropped below 10, there would be rioting, and rebellion would break out. So if I could lower Opinion to that point, then in this world, which could be viewed as an extension of the game, a revolution was guaranteed to occur.

If I could manipulate the sporadic rebellions, then it was more than possible I would be able to drive out Lushak and create a vacuum of power. Then I could take advantage of the public sentiment created by that anger in order to gather the people and bring them back to Eintorian, killing two birds with one stone. This was also a chance for me to boost Eintorian’s population, which currently sat at one million fifty thousand.

Ryhein was fairly spacious, so there was still plenty of room for more. The larger the population, the higher the cost, but it meant I could raise even more troops. Manpower was going to be indispensable for Eintorian going forward. Absolute monsters abounded in Naruya. I couldn’t rely on using points forever, so I needed troops that could fight them on even footing.

Since my plan is to get the Luaranzine people to move to Brijit, no matter how things play out, this place is going to be a battlefield. With the justification of overthrowing the puppet regime, I’ll explain the grim realities of war, and persuade people that I can guarantee them a stable life.

It’s all pretty self-serving, but hey, what choice do I have? I need Opinion and Population. This is all part of clearing the game, which is the only way I can protect my own life. Frankly, my own survival comes first and foremost. I’m not from this world, and I don’t have justice on my side, or any kind of real justification—only the will to beat the game.

Regardless, it should be simple to manipulate public sentiment so that a rebellion breaks out.

Originally, the royal capital of Luaranz had an Opinion score of 70, meaning that it was fairly stable. Thanks to their mediocre king, there wasn’t much going on aside from infighting between the nobles, so the number had hovered at 70 without intervention.

And yet, in just two weeks, Lushak had caused it to plunge all the way down to 30. All I needed was to lower it another 20. Right now, things weren’t shaken up enough for a revolt to break out. There were just murmurs of discontent here and there.

In order to foment a rebellion and make it strong, I had a number of things I needed to do. First of all, infiltrating them so that, once the puppet regime was defeated, I could convince the people to become my people was the most important goal. Without an army of my own here, I was going to have to use the will of the people to overthrow the regime. Besides, I was confident that if I stood at the vanguard, I could ensure the insurrection ended in success, not failure.

It wasn’t as if I couldn’t liquidate Lushak on my own, because I could fight for at least half an hour without anyone being able to get in my way. But that wouldn’t bring the people’s hearts over to me, nor would it give them any reason to obey. If I was going to get foreigners to submit to me, I’d have to give them a damn good reason to.

Population was power, and a high population was tied to popular opinion, so I decided to infiltrate the largest village in the area.

＊

“You’re going to infiltrate a village?”

“Correct. And to do that...I want us to pretend to be a husband and wife who lost everything to the war.”

“Husband and wife?!” Serena looked pretty shocked.

“You don’t like the idea?”

“No, it’s not that... But I’m a married woman, after all...”

“We’re not getting married for real. You just have to play the part.”

“Yes, I know that, but... Okay.”

“All right, first things first... No, wait.”

A smoke signal rose in the distance. I raised two pillars of smoke in response.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s a signal. I’m calling people from Eintorian.”

“I see! I’ll be able to meet other people from Eintorian, then! I’m already nervous!”

The face of the self-proclaimed Eintorian scrunched up in anticipation.

“There’s no need to be so tense.”

“Who’s coming?”

I shrugged my shoulders. There was someone perfect for infiltrating a village like this. I didn’t know what village life was like in this world, but of my retainers, Jint was the most familiar with it. Not that calling just Jint would help that much. That’s why I had Mirinae come with him.

She was perfect for this mission.

I’d told them where I was with my smoke signals, so they’d be arriving shortly. Serena looked off into the distance, tense with anticipation. Not long after, the sound of hoofbeats heralded the arrival of the pair we were waiting for.

“My lord! Come on, Jint, hurry up and dismount!”

Mirinae and Jint greeted us the moment they saw me. Jint wasn’t the type to pay the proper respects, but when Mirinae was with him he’d bow his head, if only to spare himself her nagging.

“I’m glad you made it.”

I was going to need Jint when I eliminated Lushak, which was why I had summoned the two of them here. Mirinae spotted Serena, standing behind me demurely, and cocked her head to the side questioningly.

“Who is this with you, my lord?”

“A new retainer. Her name’s Serena Dofrey.”

“Ah! I didn’t realize she was nobility.”

When Mirinae heard me refer to Serena by her full name, she got very tense and closed her mouth.

“I may have once been a noble, but now I am no more than a fugitive without any redeeming qualities. Still, it is an honor to meet the Jint and Mirinae! I’ve heard so many stories. You’re both truly wonderful!”

She even knew Mirinae?

“Mirinae, how many times do I have to tell you this? You and Jint are practically nobility yourselves. I’ll be able to give you noble titles once we declare the founding of our country, so start acting the part now.”

“I’m, um...really struggling with that, my lord,” Mirinae said, awkwardly scratching her head.

“You oughta be able to do it. Nobles ain’t such a big deal,” grumbled Jint. Mirinae stomped on his foot as if that were the natural response.

“Anyways, it’s like I said,” I continued. “I want you to help me go undercover in a village for a while.”

“Eliu Village?” Serena asked, sounding as if she knew the place.

“You’re familiar with it?”

“Yes. The mayor is quite famous. He met my father on a number of occasions. Fortunately, I’ve never met him myself, so he won’t recognize me.”

Well, even if she didn’t get found out, that conspicuously beautiful face of hers was going to be a problem. I had an idea for what to do about that.

Even though we wouldn’t be entering an unruly mob but a village of generally good people, we still needed to act as though we’d fled in the chaos of war.

“First of all, Serena, we’ll cover your face in soot. Everyone, do the same. It needs to look like we’ve had a hard time on the way here.”

“Got it!” Mirinae said with alacrity. She and Jint got to helping each other with their disguises, and I applied the soot to Serena’s face.

“Eek...! Hey, that tickles!”

Don’t say it in that bewitching voice.

I had gotten used to being around pretty faces at least to some degree thanks to Euracia, but they still each had their own appeals.

“Well, that should do.”

“So, now I just pretend to be your wife?”

“That’s right.”

“You know... I’m quite the actress, actually. And especially good at seduction,” Serena told me with a broad smile.

“Yeah, that’s a lie...”

Serena gave me a look like I’d just suddenly slapped her.

“How could you tell...?”

“It was kinda obvious.”

“That’s a tad frustrating.”

I don’t think it’s anything to get frustrated about.

“We’re all ready over here, my lord!”

Anyway, with our preparations complete, we entered Eliu. From the entrance to the village, we could see people working in the fields. Their gazes turned toward us, the sudden interlopers. With all the rumors circling after multiple villages had vanished, the looks they gave us were not kindly ones. Immediately, one of the men of the village came over to us. His wariness was readily apparent as he said, “State your business here in the village.”

“We’re looking for a place that will take in refugees... Our village was razed to the ground in all this recent chaos.”

“You’ve lost your homes?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm. Well, sorry, but we’ve already taken in a lot of refugees. We can’t handle any more of you. Try somewhere else.”

Serena’s brow twitched. She’d heard that we absolutely needed to infiltrate a village near the capital in order to foment a rebellion, so she was probably getting worried. The man from the village shooed us away.

Two weeks ago, most of the villages surrounding the capital had been destroyed, and many of the dispossessed residents had drifted elsewhere. That meant the surviving villages were also having a hard time, and with only so much arable land to go around, this sort of reaction was inevitable.

I would have expected the same anywhere near the capital. With a look of desperation, I approached the man again.

“We’ll pay you for your hospitality. Will this be enough? It’s all we have...”

The man’s eyes went wide, but at just that moment, there was a sharp voice from behind him.

“What are you lot doing?!”

The man standing in front of the group jumped a little, and the men standing behind him slumped their shoulders.

“M-Mayor!”

The men made way as a white-haired man walked over and looked us up and down.

Though his hair had grayed, the man was still only in his fifties, not an old man yet, and possessed a certain charisma. No sooner had the mayor, who introduced himself as Vintora, appeared as he whacked the villagers upside the head with his cane. He didn’t seem to have any trouble walking, so it was possible that he only carried that cane as a beating stick.

This was probably the infamous mayor that Serena had mentioned.

“We’re all human. Everyone’s got struggles, don’t they? Who do you think you are to drive them off?” Vintora scolded the men before looking at us once more. “Good of you to come. We saw a lot of refugees a little while back. Where do you all hail from?”

“The soldiers from the capital wiped out a village recently. We’re from there... We were traveling to another city to trade, and when we returned, our homes...”

“Your village was gone?”

“I think...it had something to do with the rebel army...”

When I started to talk about the rebellion, the mayor hurriedly covered my mouth.

“If you don’t want to die, you should keep your mouth shut about that.”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

We were dealing with the kind of guys who could massacre a village and then cover it up, but clearly word was getting around.

“Well, fortunately, there’s a mountain between our village and the capital, and we’re able to do slash-and-burn farming... We can make the food situation work out somehow. The villagers aren’t heartless. They’re just wary of newcomers. If anything, we could use more hands to prepare the fields. Don’t you worry.”

With that said, Vintora turned to look at the men. Perhaps the mayor’s word was law here, because they just scratched their heads, unable to talk back to him.

“Put that money away,” he said to us. “Save it for when you need it later.”

Planting his cane on the ground, Vintora began giving orders to the men of the village.

“Show them around. Have them work on cultivating the fields, and then see what we can do about arranging a living situation for them.”

“Y-Yes, sir...”

After hearing their response, the mayor smiled before disappearing into the village. The first man to talk to us watched until he was out of sight, then approached me again.

In a conspiratorial tone, he whispered, “Hey, to celebrate the occasion, would you consider giving me a small amount of money anyways?”

“Come again?”

“Nah, forget about it. Ha ha. I’m Merol. Come with me.”

“Okay.”

Serena and I followed him. Jint was giving the men from the village a death glare, but Mirinae put a stop to that. Yeah, it was definitely the right call to have her come with him.

We proceeded through the village until we came to a wooden building that appeared to be a warehouse of some sort.

“We’ve been having the others who came here stay in this place, at least temporarily. We’ll build you houses once there’s time. For now, though, men stay here, and women in that building over there.”

There was a lumber pile in the direction he was pointing. It had a roof and walls, so it was better than roughing it, but that was all. Still, thanks to the mayor, the men really did do a lot for us.

Well, the villagers don’t seem like a bad bunch either. There are probably some places that would have run us off. I’d say we made the right choice in coming here.

“There’s no one here now. They’ve all gone off to work. Come with me. I’ll introduce you. Oh, and you two, head off to the fields.”

Jint and I went with Merol, while Mirinae and Serena went to the fields.

“It looks like we’re going over there, Serena.”

Although she had been a little hesitant to talk to a noble, at my urging, Mirinae was doing her best to be someone Serena could rely on.

We quietly followed behind Merol until we came to a rocky mountain behind the village.

There were a little over ten men here, digging up rocks, big and small, to prepare the area for cultivation.

＊

“This is how we work with the newcomers, helping them to cultivate the land so that they’ll have their own fields. Hey, Gordun!”

“Hey!”

The man called Gordun laid down the stone he was carrying and came over to Merol. Then, noticing us, he cocked his head to the side.

“They’re our first new friends in a while. Mayor Vintora let them in. They’ll be working with you.”

“Gotcha.”

Gordun seemed to accept it easily enough. He wasn’t going to object. I’d been worried that we were going to get the outsider treatment, but it looked like that wasn’t going to be an issue.

“Was everyone here accepted by Mayor Vintora?” I asked, and the men, who showed obvious signs of respect at the mention of the mayor’s name, vigorously nodded. They then went on to explain it to me.

“I was hurt bad when I ran away, but Vintora treated me,” the man next to Gordun said with a cheerful smile. “Everyone here is really nice. I was lucky to end up in a village like this one. It’s more or less the same story for the others too. We all want to repay them somehow.”

They seemed like good folks, generally.

“Thanks. I’m Erh, and this is Jint,” I said, shortening Erhin to make a fake name for myself.

Jint nodded curtly.

We started helping the villagers after that. It was the first time I’d done such sweaty work in ages, so it was pretty hard on me. I’d thought I was getting stronger, but I guess that was different from the stamina I needed for this kind of intense manual labor. Still, I gritted my teeth and bore with it. I needed to blend in for now.

“Put your back into it, pal. You’re built stronger than me, so I don’t see what the problem is!”

Gordun teased me, but at the same time he constantly heaped praise on Jint.

“Your little brother’s no slouch. Ha ha! He’s a real good worker.”

The men stared at Jint with their jaws hanging open as he carried two huge rocks at the same time. I couldn’t help but do the same. One of his strong points was that he wasn’t just fast; he was strong. Maybe I should’ve told him to hold back a little? He was making me look bad by comparison.

Well, it was too late now.

In the lodging house, Gordun gave me the newcomer treatment, assigning me the bed at the very end. Jint, meanwhile, was given a much nicer one in recognition of the hard work he’d put in that day. Jint was visibly unsure what to do about this. I waved my hand, telling him it was fine.

For some time after that, I ended up getting teased for being a weakling who couldn’t do his job properly.

It frustrated me, but there was no point in showing off my power here. I was just going to have to suffer the cold draft that blew on my corner bed in silence.

That’s how our first few days in the village went.

“Hey, mister! Is this right?”

If there was one thing that changed, it was that I was put in charge of educating the village children.

But here too, since I was always just reading the automatic translations of their writing system, it was Serena who had to teach them to write. That was something the mayor had asked Serena to do each morning after he found out she could read and write. There was no harm in making ourselves useful, so we instantly agreed.

In fact, Serena seemed pleased about it. On top of that, she also had a knowledge of herbs. She’d apparently been studying medicine. That was something she had in common with Vintora, so the two often chatted about it together. I ended up helping Serena as she taught the children, which freed me from hard manual labor.

“Yeah, that’s right. You’ve got them all correct.”

I patted the kid on the head, doing my best impression of a kind smile.

Once the lesson was over, the children all picked up large baskets.

“Where are all of you going?”

“We forage for vegetables and herbs in the mountains until we’re old enough to work in the fields!” answered the snot-nosed little kid next to me.

“We’re not just playing around,” said the boy from before, puffing himself up with pride.

It seemed that, while the people’s attitudes were cheerful, the situation the village found itself in was not so bright. The people worked from dawn to dusk. Merol had mentioned quotas on the first day, and that probably had something to do with it. Perhaps Lushak had set quotas for how much produce each village needed to provide him.

His demands were bound to only get more unreasonable from here.

That was what I wanted.

The more unreasonable he became, the further the people’s opinion of him would drop, and soon the opportunity for a rebellion would arise. The more I worked alongside them, the more I’d be able to sense it. So it was important to work by their sides, eat the same things, and share in their burdens.

When I finished my teaching job and went to the center of the village, I found the mayor and villagers dividing the produce.

“It’s quite the harvest,” I remarked innocently, but the mayor just sighed.

“I can’t say that it is. We won’t meet our quota with this.”

“Even with all this?! What is the king thinking?!”

“We’ve been warned they’ll destroy the village if we don’t obey them. We’ve had a better harvest than usual this year, so we’ll still meet the quota somehow. Anyways, I’ve told you to watch your mouth about that kind of thing!”

When the mayor nodded, so did the rest of the villagers. But he still looked worried. It wasn’t time for me to make my move yet, so I just nodded too, then headed back to the rocky mountain to help prepare new fields. As I approached the untamed lands, I heard the mountain rumbling.

It was a dull sound.

I rushed toward it and found a tragedy unfolding. There were rocks rolling down the mountain—a landslide.

The people who noticed it fled in a panic, but one man who had been absorbed in his work didn’t realize what was happening and got trapped under a huge boulder.

“Mandel!” Gordun shouted, rushing over.

“Urgh...” The man’s face twisted with pain.

Gordun tried to save him on his own, but it was no good. Me, Jint, and some other men joined him in trying to shift the boulder, but it wouldn’t budge an inch.

What made such a huge rock come rolling down? Not even Jint can move this thing.

Villagers who noticed the situation gathered around, working together to try to do something about it, but the rock remained unbudging.

The villagers shook their heads. The mayor did too with a sad look on his face.

“This is awful. It’s not as though we can just cut his legs off...”

“Help him, please!” cried Gordun. “He’s my friend! We came all the way here together. We were finally getting settled in here at this village too. Why did this have to happen...?”

“I get how you must feel, but...” Merol and the other villagers’ faces twisted with frustration.

“I have an idea,” I said, causing dozens of eyes to turn toward me.

Gordun, who was on the ground, weeping, clutched at my arm.

“Is there something we can do? Please, save him! I’m counting on you!”

The mayor looked at me with surprise as well.

“What are you suggesting we do?”

“We tie a rope around the boulder, and use a pulley to lift it,” I said, explaining how a pulley system worked.

“I’m not sure I understand, but you’re saying that will do it?”

“Yes. Please, lend me your strength, everyone.”

When I said that, the villagers began murmuring among themselves as they decided it was worth a try. Thanks to that, I had enough people to do it.

The sky darkened, and work continued until the sun had long since set. Under the moonlight, our labor came to its conclusion.

The rock moved.

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Cheers went up all around.

I hadn’t been that confident we could pull it off, so I was pretty satisfied with the result. The day I saved Gordun’s friend, the way the young men of the village treated me changed. The mayor worked diligently to treat Mandel’s legs. He’d likely never walk again, but he’d survive, at least.

While I hadn’t planned for this, I was slowly starting to fit in here.

Another day went by, and another opportunity for me to act came.

One of the children who had gone out to collect herbs came running back into the village, tears in his eyes. He said a beast had appeared.

I rushed to the scene and saved the children who had climbed up into a tree to get away from the animal. After that, I was completely excused from manual labor, and instead helped Vintora with his work. His job mostly consisted of treating the sick, so I wrote simple prescriptions for them.

This let me make my presence known to the villagers.

The more time passed, the more people saw me as a sort of vice mayor.

“Thank you for your hard work. With more children being born, I’ll have to work even harder!”

Vintora never failed to encourage the villagers who were straining under the heavy workload. I could see why they trusted him so much.

“You can slay beasts, and read and write, yet I can’t see you as truly being husband and wife... Be honest with me. Let’s not keep secrets anymore.”

I was a little surprised when the mayor suddenly hit me with this while we were walking around the village together.

Okay, I’d stood out a little too much, so maybe this was unavoidable.

“Okay... Could you come with me?”

I was going to have to give Vintora a story that would convince him. In my time here, I’d learned that he had a lot of sway with the nearby villages due to his personality. That’s probably what Serena was talking about when she’d said that he was famous. I went to the lodging house and called Serena. After that, we explained some things to him. We couldn’t tell the truth yet, so there were some lies mixed in.

Okay, no, it was mostly lies.

“So, what you’re telling me is...this young noblewoman...fled here with a commoner like yourself?”

“Yes. The two who came with us are her bodyguard and servant.”

When I explained this, Vintora looked at Serena’s face and nodded, as if he was convinced.

“I was sure there was something about you... So you really were a noble, huh? I’ll keep it a secret, of course. I can see your commitment in how hard you work. Besides, you’re not the only ones with an unusual background. Gordun used to be a mountain bandit. Did you know that?”

“Huh?”

That was a slightly surprising revelation.

I had assumed from his brusque attitude and large, muscular body that Gordun was a deserter, but I never would’ve guessed he was a bandit. Well, not that it mattered. Like Vintora said, looking at how hard the man worked, I could see he’d turned over a new leaf.

“That’s quite a decision. Accepting a bandit into your village.”

“The country is falling apart. Life is hard no matter where you go. I’m sure many people have had no choice but to turn to banditry. When you get to my age, you can tell those who have bad intentions from those who don’t.”

The white-haired Vintora smiled. This was probably why Gordun felt so indebted to Vintora. The more I learned about him, the more I liked the guy.

“Thank you for telling me. Now I need to have lunch and get back to work.”

Vintora waved to us before heading back to his house while we returned to the lodging house.

And so, another day passed. It had been more than a month at this point, yet the opportunity I was waiting for had yet to present itself. Still, the days I’d spent here weren’t in vain.

Because, from what Vintora told me, the tax collector would be coming two days from now.

＊

“How are you finding the work here, Serena? Hard to get used to, right? I’m sure you’ve never worked in the fields before...”

“Yes, you’re right. It’s embarrassing... But I’m getting used to it now, so I’ll be fine.”

Serena was grateful for all the care Mirinae showed her. To think she’d be shown such compassion by one of the people of Eintorian she’d admired all this time.

“You really are amazing, Mirinae. I don’t know all the details of what you’ve been through, but it must have been difficult. I hear that Jint rescued you, and Erhin brought you together in Eintorian? The love between the two of you really is wonderful. I know it must have been hard sometimes, of course, but... That’s part of why I respect you so much.”

“It’s all thanks to our lord. Heh heh!”

Mirinae twisted around bashfully. The two of them had been awkward with each other at first, but after bonding over their shared experience of going through hard times, they were as close as sisters.

“Lord Erhin tells me you had it rough too, Serena...”

“I wouldn’t say that...”

“But let’s not dwell on it! There’s no time to waste on such gloomy topics!”

Mirinae also had emotional baggage, but she always tried her best to maintain a sunny disposition.

“You’re right. Let’s change the topic. Your sewing is really wonderful, you know that? How can you be so fast and neat? Did you see how surprised the other women in the village looked when they saw your work?”

“Well... I made my living as a seamstress at one point. I wanted to be able to treat Jint to something nice to eat when he came back from the war...”

“Oh, so that’s why.”

“Yes...!”

Even though Serena had lost her parents, she had lived a privileged life up until recently, so the more she heard about Mirinae’s story, the more she came to feel her own pains were not so great. She also took an active interest in hearing about Eintorian.

“Would you mind if I ask one more thing?”

“Go on! Feel free to ask anything.”

“Anything...huh?”

There was one thing Serena had always wanted to ask, but she was still a little bit hesitant to. Especially because she could never ask Erhin himself. But she worked up the nerve.

“Uh, so Euracia of Rozern... What’s she like?”

“Huh? The princess? Well...”

Mirinae started to say something, then suddenly stopped. Then she stared at Serena.

“I want to have your back, Serena, but... I have to support Lady Euracia too, so... I can’t side with either of you!” She let out a heavy sigh and paused again. “I’m sorry!”

Mirinae backed away a little, as if she’d realized something. Serena hurriedly tried to correct her.

“No, it’s not like that! It’s not... I just wanted to know.”

“About your romantic rival, right? Hee hee!”

“Not at all. I could never...”

Serena shook her head vigorously.

“Why not? You have grace, and you’re more than pretty enough. Although Lady Euracia is no less beautiful. But the princess is a bit of an oddball.”

“An oddball?”

“Yeah. She pretty much only talks to our lord. And even then, her responses are brief... It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking most of the time. But when she gets into a fight, she’s incredible!”

“I see...”

She’s just like I heard, thought Serena.

“Well, I look forward to meeting her in Eintorian.”

“Don’t worry, Serena. I’ll be sure to show you around to all sorts of places when we get there. Just watch yourself when you pick a fight with the princess, okay?”

Mirinae cheerfully slapped Serena on the back.

＊

“Serena.”

“Yes.”

The sun had gone down after another day’s work, and, remembering something, I called Serena.

“The First Fleet was manned by a unit that was centered around Chesedin and his retainers, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Our fleet was the mightiest because of them.”

“The members of his house would all have been in the capital, so I’ll bet that Lushak’s purged them all, retainers included.”

“It’s such a shame to have lost him...”

“Is there anyone outside of Chesedin’s house who you think could do a good job of controlling the fleet?”

Yeah. That was my greatest concern. I didn’t have a detailed picture of Luaranz.

In the game, Kashak and Lecter were just about the only named commanders of note.

“There are some, yes. Most domains are on the sea, or along canals, so it is tradition for our nobility and soldiers to train for the navy. Many of the people in my own domain will have trained under Chesedin.”

“Is that right?”

Well, if the Dofreys’ domain was on the sea or a canal, then that only made sense, I guess.

＊

At last, the day came to execute my plan.

There were soldiers coming to collect taxes, and the village was abuzz with activity from early in the morning. Lushak was no doubt itching to use the supreme power that had fallen into his hands for the first time. This was something like a game to him. Looking at his massacres and general policies, it was easy to tell.

Opinions of him were abysmal as a result. Almost as if he were going out of his way to prove what I just said, the tax collector arrived in a gaudy carriage.

“Hmm, so this is the last village, then?”

The man embodied arrogance as he stepped down from the carriage. As soon as he had disembarked, one of his lackeys who was carrying a chair set it down on the ground for him. The man sat down with a look of satisfaction, crossing his legs.

Manshak Lechin

Age: 23

Martial: 23

Intelligence: 10

Command: 40

He had piss-poor stats, honestly. People only obeyed him out of fear due to the ongoing tyranny, which had to have been the only reason his Command was as high as 40. Going by his name, there was no doubt this guy was a relative of Lushak’s.

“I am Manshak, the son of Duke Lushak!” Predictably, in a show of arrogance, the man announced himself with a voice of feigned grandeur.

Once he did, his assistant, who was standing beside him, loudly barked, “What’s taking you?! Get down and grovel already!”

The duke’s son who enjoys playing with his power, huh? Well, the issue is that the duke has no legitimacy.

For the moment, I chose to bow down to him. Despite looking exasperated, I could spot some of the villagers also beginning to get down on their hands and knees.

Beside me, I heard Gordun mutter, “What a scoundrel.”

“You said it,” I agreed with him.

At just that moment, Manshak asked Vintora, “Have you met your quota?”

“Of course we have. The whole village pulled together to manage it somehow. The goods are over there...” Vintora began to explain, but Manshak stopped him as if it was too much of a bother to listen.

“Fine, whatever. I’ll take the stuff, but... Ohh! That’s right. I’m going to be entertaining a foreign dignitary! Sorry, but the original quota isn’t nearly going to be enough, you know.”

“I-If you do that, then work as hard as we might, there won’t be enough left for us to eat our— Gah...!”

Before Vintora could even finish, Manshak sent him flying with a kick and then flew into a rage.

“All I see around here is fields, and you’re saying you don’t have enough to eat? Drop the bullshit and bring out the stuff you’ve got hidden away!”

The soldiers began walking toward the warehouse. Kicking Merol as he clung to them and begged them to stop, the soldiers opened the door, and began seizing the meager amount left behind for the villagers’ one meal per day.

There were angry whispers and clenched fists, but none of the villagers could oppose them.

One of them, Gordun, couldn’t tolerate this, and suddenly rose to his feet.

Before anyone could stop him, he ran up to Manshak and shouted, with his eyes bugging out, “If you take the crops that we grow as taxes, and then even seize what little we have left for ourselves, how are we supposed to survive?!”

“What was that?”

With a simple gesture from Manshak, his assistant sent Gordun flying with a solid punch, then proceeded to administer a one-sided beatdown.

He left him almost on the verge of death.

Manshak looked at Gordun, lying there exhausted, and the corners of his mouth turned up as he presented a change of subject.

“This village is terrible. We’re not done here yet. There’s one more thing. Round up all of the womenfolk. All of them, from the youngest child to the married women!”

“Why do you want to see the women...?” Vintora asked, his expression pained, but he already knew why. That was the reason he looked so tormented.

Manshak didn’t answer him, though. He simply raised his voice.

“Just do it! Or do you want your village razed to the ground?”

With a wave of his hand, twenty-five soldiers unsheathed their blades. Shocked by this, the women of the village began coming forward one or two at a time. Irritated at how long it was taking, the soldiers began roaming around the village, pulling every last child out of hiding.

Having predicted this, I’d asked Serena and Mirinae to leave the village in advance. There’d be trouble if either of them got caught. The moment anyone laid a hand on Mirinae, Jint would probably go berserk on them. Obviously, I had no intention of just abandoning the rest of the villagers, but the process was important here.

“Hmm, we’ve got some lookers here, unlike the last village. We’ll be taking you, you, and that kid over there to the castle. Heh heh!”

Manshak pointed to his victims with a malicious grin. Even having seen this coming, I had trouble holding back my laughter at what an absolute cliché this guy was. Once Manshak had finished choosing his women, he rose from his chair as if to say his job here was done. Vintora rose too, as if a fire had been lit inside him.

“Lord Manshak, we will give you all the crops you would like, but, please, I beg you to spare our women!”

As Vintora made his impassioned plea, the rest of the villagers glared resentfully at Manshak.

“Yeesh, this village is a lost cause. You’re too defiant. Oh, I see. It’s your fault, huh?”

Upset with the attitude he was getting, Manshak gripped his sword and swung at Vintora. The blade slashed downwards across Vintora’s chest, splattering the ground with fresh blood. That single blow brought him to the ground.

“Mayor!!!”

The villagers all shouted, their faces full of shock, but Manshak planted his boot on Vintora’s writhing form and went on.

“You uppity peasants. Get on your knees already. Do you want your village burned?”

“Hey, you!”

Seeing Vintora go down, Gordun flew into a rage. However, it only got him another kick from the soldiers.

The soldiers all started swinging their blades menacingly, advancing on the villagers with no mercy in their eyes.

That’s the exact moment it happened—the Opinion of Eliu Village plummeted to a measly score of 3.

The time had come.

As if to prove it, the villagers all ran at once to their homes to fetch farming implements. I saw them arm themselves with spades, scythes, and even clubs. Merol led the way. Even Gordun, who’d been sent flying by that last kick, reemerged with a knife he’d been hiding in the lodging house.

All eyes focused on Manshak, who still had his foot on Vintora, with stares of rage.

The mayor had been their emotional pillar, supporting them through many trials and tribulations. He’d reassured them that, if they could just meet this quota, things were bound to be all right. Once they saw Vintora fall, the villagers completely snapped.

“Everyone! Avenge the mayor!”

The villagers rose up in indignation. But as things stood, it would only end in them being massacred by Manshak.

“Eeeeeeek!”

Women screamed as Manshak’s men charged. Anyway, this was a situation that was brought about not through my incitement, but the villagers’ own actions. I had to join the fray. I couldn’t allow there to be any more casualties.

Jint was off protecting Serena and Mirinae, so it fell to me to act. I could say one thing for sure, I’d been successful in getting their Opinion score lowered.

I’d have preferred Vintora not get hurt in the process, though...

While this was happening, Manshak started feeling up one of the girls who had been brought to him, a lascivious smile on his face.

“How do you like this? I’ll keep you for four years before I kill you, you lucky girl. Bah hah hah! But it’s death for the rest of you uppity peasants. Burn their village to the ground!”

Manshak gave his orders, cackling all the while.

I walked out in front of him.

“Who’re you?!”

The soldiers rushed to stop me, but I obviously cut them down with a single swing of my blade.

Seemingly a little surprised by what just happened, Manshak let out a confused, “Whuh?”

The look on his face was priceless.

“You imbecile,” I said with a smirk.

Manshak gave me a look of exasperation and shouted, “Kill this guy first! I want him torn to pieces! Who the hell does he think I am?!”

It seemed Manshak was not open to talking this over. Well, not that I was either. The soldiers who’d been attacking the villagers all turned to focus on me, and the villagers naturally ended up watching too.

“You took this too far when you harmed the mayor. That’s justification enough to kill you all on its own.”

When they heard me, the villagers started shouting too.

“Yeah, he’s right!”

“How dare you hurt our mayor!”

“He was the only one who’d take in a guy like me. All the other villages turned me away.”

Gordun sympathized with what I had been saying and glared at Manshak. Manshak, however, just snorted derisively.

“Hey, you losers! What do you think you’re... Wait, whuh?”

Manshak couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The soldiers I attacked died instantaneously. While he was still dumbstruck, I planted a kick on him that sent him tumbling.

Teeth flew through the air as Manshak went down with his chair.

I gestured for the girl he’d been molesting to run, then went back to taking down the rest of his soldiers.

“Out of the way!!!”

The soldiers were currently heading to attack the villagers who had armed themselves with farm tools. The groups hadn’t collided yet, but Gordun was already fighting by himself. I didn’t particularly need to buy time, so I just decapitated the soldiers who were fighting with him.

In no time, there were twenty-five dead soldiers, and Manshak was left alone, laid out on the ground by my kick.

“Well, since it’s come to this... You’re gonna have to die now.”

“What the hell are you?!”

Manshak looked at me like he was seeing a monster. He tried to crawl away, blood gushing from his mouth where I had kicked him, but he didn’t get far. I decapitated him completely with a single swing for dramatic effect.

Then, after flicking the blood from my sword, I rushed over to the fallen mayor’s side. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t lethal, probably thanks to Manshak’s pitiful Martial score of 23.

“The mayor’s still breathing! Merol, bring Serena here at once!”

Merol ran off to do as I’d said.

When he eventually returned, Serena began checking Vintora’s condition.

“He can survive this injury! I’ll need some herbs to treat it, of course.”

That was good news. When Serena nodded at me, the villagers all put their hands together and breathed a sigh of relief.

I left Vintora to Serena and called Gordun and Merol.

“Merol, even if the mayor was almost dead, what good could have come from you getting aggressive with them? If you or the other villagers had died, it’d all be for nothing.”

“W-Well...” Merol, who had kicked off the struggle, mumbled.

“Before that, who even are you? How are you so strong?!” Merol demanded. He wasn’t so much angry as surprised.

“What does it matter right now?! Save it for when the mayor wakes up!”

Thankfully, with Serena’s help, Vintora survived. However, due to the depth of the wound, he wasn’t regaining consciousness. The village was now faced with a major issue, and everyone gathered in the warehouse.

“I understand how you must have felt, but you could have gotten everyone killed.”

I wish he’d held back. While I’d managed to take advantage of the situation, the truth was that this wasn’t how I’d wanted things to play out. The plan had been for them to suffer this outrage, and then I’d use their mounting indignation to launch a big revolution all at once. In all honesty, my predictions this time had been a bit naive.

There was no way the world would go as I’d planned.

“They didn’t just take our food; they wanted our women too... Even the children were being taken away... When I saw him step on the mayor on top of all that, I couldn’t take it anymore,” Merol argued.

“Yeah, he’s right,” Gordun agreed. “You said it too. That guy messed up when he laid a hand on our mayor.”

I shook my head. “I’m not blaming you for what you did. The question is what we’ll do now. Just wait for death?”

“No... But assuming we run, where can we even go?”

“Well...”

The villagers looked at one another, murmuring indistinctly. It seemed to have dawned on them that their situation was hopeless.

I sent Jint out to investigate later, and he found that three nearby villages had been completely razed to the ground. Probably Manshak’s handiwork before he came here, if I had to guess.

That meant that his barbarism hadn’t only affected this village, but it also had spurred resentment elsewhere. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Thanks to him, I was going to have a much easier time finding sympathizers. Eliu Village had an Opinion of 3, while the kingdom as a whole was at 8.

The way that Manshak had been using his job as tax collector as an excuse to burn villages rapidly lowered it. He’d also been laying his hands on women and even young children, so that was only to be expected. All of this anger would inevitably turn toward Lushak.

“We buried Manshak and his men, but people will come searching soon. They’ll turn all the nearby villages upside down looking for them. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out who did it.”

“You can read, and you’re probably the cleverest guy in this village. Do you have any ideas? And on top of that...you’re damn tough. How in the world did you end up drifting here?”

“Yeah, see, I told the mayor about it...but, well, there are circumstances.”

At this point, I turned from Merol to Gordun.

“Gordun, how happy were you when the mayor made it so you could live an ordinary life as a farmer? What changed from your time as a mountain bandit? Assuming you had been able to sell and eat these crops, without having them stolen, that is.”

“Huh? How do you know about that?”

Gordun reacted to the words “mountain bandit” with surprise. But I continued on.

“Even if you used to be a bandit or a deserter, you’re a member of this village now. We’re all facing the same crisis here.”

“Yeah, that’s right...”

I looked around at the villagers. They all nodded. I could probably take that as them agreeing with what I said. Having just come through a life-or-death experience together, the village was united, and where anyone had originally come from wasn’t important. The sense of camaraderie that had taken root between them transcended all of that.

“I appreciate the sentiment. You’re right. It felt incomparably more fulfilling than being a bandit ever was. If only that piece of shit had never shown up here!”

“I know, right?” I agreed with Gordun, then paused for a moment.

The villagers stared at me earnestly, like children waiting for a parent to tell them something.

“We can’t let them run roughshod over us forever. So that’s why all of us are going to run the rebels out of the capital.”

An excited buzz ran through the crowd. It was just too extreme of a thing to say.

Speaking up for the rest, Merol said, “That sounds rash. Even if we could pull it off, more soldiers would come. We’d just be condemning ourselves to death.”

Hearing the sigh in Merol’s tone, I shook my head.

“And so we stay here doing nothing and wait for death? Shouldn’t we at least try? Is it better to let them rob us and starve us to death, or to fight back and be violently suppressed? We may be just as dead in the end, but wouldn’t you feel better about it if we could at least kill those fat bureaucrats who’ve been feasting on the crops we grow by the sweat of our brows first?”

When I finished speaking, the villagers looked at one another. The reality that they were going to die either way as things stood helped them find the resolve to act. There was no backing down for them now that they’d slain the son of the rebel army’s leader.

“He’s right!”

“Yeah! He is! We can’t just keep taking this lying down. Since it’s come to this, I say we take this as far as we can before we die!”

Excited murmurs spread through the warehouse. Sensing that things were going my way, I spoke again.

“But know that death isn’t an inevitability here. We won’t be the only ones fighting. I mean to round up people from the nearby villages. If I can manage that, we’ll be an army in our own right. From there, it’s a matter of fighting smart.”

“Will the nearby villages help?”

“They’ve been suffering all the same things that this village has, only without someone to lead them. If all they have to look forward to is being robbed until they die, I expect volunteers from those villages will stand with us. It will make success far more likely.”

Once I said this, Gordun stepped forward.

“He’s right. Let’s give it a shot. We’ll show them what we’re really capable of!”

＊

Serena came back after tending to Vintora.

“Thank you for doing that, Serena.”

“The mayor is a very good person, so it’s only natural that we would try to help him. Still, the tyranny the people here have experienced is just awful. I can’t believe the rebels would do such outrageous things...”

Serena shook with contempt. “Will you be joining the villagers in their fight against Lushak, Erhin?” she asked.

“That’s the plan. I can’t bring my own forces here, after all. Ultimately, if I’m going to defeat Lushak on my own, I need to use the people to do it.”

“I can’t say I understand it very well. But I am hoping for your victory.” Having said this, she pushed something wrapped in cloth toward me.

“I’ve heard that you will be traveling around to other villages to recruit volunteers.”

“Yes, and what’s this?”

“Something I expect will help with that. The Luaranz Kingdom is no longer the Luaranz we knew. It is run by a band of brigands without any legitimacy.”

As Serena unwrapped the cloth, the room shone with gold. The royal seal. That’s what lay within the bundle—the symbol of royal power in Luaranz.

“This is a sign of true legitimacy, left to me by the last king of Luaranz. Please, use it. And, as the last queen, you are welcome to use me as you see fit. I will make any statement you require. Without this seal, the current army are no more than brigands. If their illegitimate king continues with his tyranny, then we must protect the people, even if that means destroying the palace. That’s what I plan to claim the last king said.”

“Even if this means that the Luaranz Kingdom vanishes completely?”

Yeah, that was my true goal here. After she’d said so much, I had no intention of keeping my objectives cloaked behind the claim I was doing it for the Luaranzine people.

“I am fine with that, so long as I can have my revenge. Besides, after what Lushak’s done to it, this country can’t be called Luaranz any longer. Everyone knows that. It’s a country that no longer exists. I am your subordinate now, Erhin... I will simply do as you tell me to.”

She’d go that far?

“I’ll ask, just to be sure, but there’s no way it’s a fake, right?”

“None. The royal seal of Luaranz was made from an unusual metal. It can’t be imitated. It is one of a kind.”

“Okay, I’ll gladly use it, then.”

Serena nodded quietly when I said that.

“Thank you. I’m sure my father would have been happy to hear that.”

＊

At first, it was a feeling of admiration. She was sure that was all it was. The stories made her heart dance more than any others on the continent. She’d admired the man in the stories, but he was an incredibly mysterious individual. Serena had spent all this time suppressing her true self. There was always a falseness to the expression on her face.

Her smiles were lies.

She’d had to live that way.

Her genuine smiles were lost the moment she became queen on behalf of the Dofrey family.

But still she smiled, because her bright smiles caused the king, her maidservants, and all of the nobles to show her affection. If that’s what she had to do to make a positive impression, then that was how she would have to live. The only joy she had was listening to stories of the outside world. But she never smiled when she did.

When hearing a story that made her heart race, it made her think of her own circumstances, and she just couldn’t.

That’s why, when Erhin told Serena to cry, her mind went blank for a moment.

It was the first time anyone had been able to see through to how she really felt.

“I’m no one special.”

She was worthless, born into a family with no power. It had seemed obvious to her that no one would ever try to understand how a person like her truly felt. She was a victim of the power struggles between the nobility, leading an existence inferior even to that of a caged bird.

That’s what she had thought, and so she was grateful to Erhin for seeing how she felt.

All it took was those few brief words from him, and she broke down into tears. Never in her life had she bawled like that in front of another person.

In the time since then, Erhin had seen through her lies multiple times.

When he told her he wanted her to pretend to be his wife, she’d been mysteriously excited by the idea, and let out her first genuine smile in a long time. It was the first since she’d entered the palace. Obviously, she’d continued with her fake smiles even after that, but he quickly saw through them. It had dumbfounded her so much that she asked a question that she really probably shouldn’t have.

“How can you tell the difference?”

It just sounded so silly. There was someone who recognized her for who she was, and that person was someone she admired too.

How could she not be happy about that?

But old habits died hard.

Even though, now that she was free, and at the side of the man she idolized, she could have openly shown her true self, there was a part of her that habitually put on a fake smile, even with the villagers. A calculated smile, meant to elicit positive reactions.

When Erhin saw it, he’d said, “Don’t you think it’s time you lived your own life? I know you need to keep up this lie that we’re married inside the village, but when you’re away from the village I would hope you could be yourself, as you truly are. It’s okay to frown at things you don’t like.”

Hearing that put Serena at ease in many ways. That’s why, without thinking, she’d offered him the royal seal. Her father had told her to dispose of it, so it never fell into Lushak’s hands. But she wanted to be of use. And so she didn’t hesitate. He was very happy about it, giving her a fond pat on the head. She wished he’d do it more often, and the thought surprised her.

That day, when she left the room after giving him the royal seal, she realized a lot of things.

The way her heart raced was no lie.

“Father, what should I do?”

She mustn’t wish for things that were not to be.

But even as she thought that, the hand that Serena held over her chest clenched tight.

＊

Things got busy after the day I temporarily took on the role of mayor. After Vintora fell, I worked with the villagers, who’d come to see me as a sort of deputy mayor, and tried to bring everyone together. Once Vintora was back in action, I planned to gather people from the nearby villages. It was still going to be some time before then, but that time was incredibly important. I had a boatload of things to do other than rallying the nearby villages.

“Jint, you go for me.”

“I’m on it.”

I sent Jint with a letter for Fihatori. Even if I couldn’t use Eintorian’s military forces, that didn’t mean I couldn’t engage in a diplomatic war. With those preparations made, I traveled around to nearby villages. I needed to be fully aware of the situation there. Fortunately, Merol’s friend Barild was in frequent contact with the neighboring villages, so traveling to them wasn’t a major issue.

When I arrived in the nearby village of Mesequin, I could feel something brutal in the air. The village wasn’t burning, which meant that they had accepted Manshak’s unreasonable demands. It was little wonder things felt unpleasant.

“Those bastards hurt our mayor...”

When I explained Lushak’s barbarity, the mayor of Mesequin, a friend of Vintora’s by the name of Gadoro, looked aghast.

“They really tried to kill him too?!” he asked, his expression pained.

“It’s the truth. If we had been any slower in treating him, he might not have made it.”

“Grr...!”

Gadoro slammed his hands down on the table, anger readily apparent. His own losses the other day must have been bad too. I cut straight to the chase.

“Can we really leave things like this, Mayor Gadoro?!”

“It’s all we can do. This is the largest village in the area. We have a lot of strong men, but many of the people who were displaced by the chaos of the war will have settled in the capital, and they’ll mobilize all of them. We would have liked to resist, but it’s hopeless. There’s nothing we can do.”

“That’s why we all have to band together,” I said, producing a detailed map of the surrounding villages from my pocket. “There are hundreds of tiny villages in the area around the capital. If we all work together against the rebel army, even more people might flock to our side. We’re all suffering under their tyranny. We’ll be fighting for our own sakes, not because we were conscripted. It may be hard now, but it’s to bring peace in the future. If we gather people from throughout the capital region, we can easily muster a force in the tens of thousands.”

As the biggest city in the country, Luaranz had the most villages surrounding it, and the largest. That meant that once the people’s anger boiled over, their manpower would be immense. Every city had a Manpower commensurate with its population. When I laid out the numbers for him, Gadoro stared at me as if in a daze. He quickly recovered however, shooting me a look of disagreement.

“You’re talking about storming the castle with just the villages in this area, aren’t you?”

“I’ve heard you’re the eldest around here. Please, lead the people. We all have to fight together and break this chain of misery. Will you wait and starve, or fight for freedom from oppression? With the second option, only once you’re prepared to die can you see the path to survive. We never know what will happen until we try.”

“Hmm...”

Gadoro blinked more times than I could count. But think as he might, he couldn’t bring himself to do it, and shook his head once more.

“If we subsist on grass roots, we can avoid starving. But as things stand, we’d be marching to our deaths. It’s far too reckless. And you don’t have anyone who could lead that many people, do you? I am the eldest around here, as you’ve noted, but that’s all that I am. I know nothing of the way of war.”

Yeah. Everyone was angry. Many had seen their wives or daughters taken away, so of course they were. But they all thought they’d be dying in vain.

“I’ll come back with an answer for you about that once Mayor Vintora awakens. We do stand a chance of winning, at least.”

That was the answer I gave as I went around the villages.

＊

Mayor Vintora of Eliu Village.

Vintora

Age: 56

Martial: 23

Intelligence: 68

Command: 88

He was a unique individual with a great knowledge of medicine. His Command score was also fairly high, so there was no reason not to hire him. He had a useful skill, and a good personality. There wasn’t a single drawback to having him among my personnel. It was only natural I’d want him.

I was going to have more domains in the future, and entrusting one of them to him would be ideal. He was just the kind of person I needed, and so I had to have him. Looking at his Command score, part of it was that he lacked experience fighting in a war, so given his personal virtues, it would definitely grow to above 90 once he had that.

I had learned how much the other mayors respected Vintora when I traveled around the nearby villages. Overall Opinion currently sat at 8, and would only drop lower in this situation. It had come to the point where, once the fire was started, an uprising would occur in no time. If I could just arrange for it to be organized, not just spontaneous, then I’d easily be able to defeat Lushak and the rebel army.

They had no just cause, after all.

Obviously, this plan hinged on Vintora, so I had to prepare for it while I waited for him to awaken.

Today, after a week had passed, he finally regained consciousness. In preparation for future developments, I decided to reveal my true identity to him. It was necessary in order to not just use him, but win his heart over to my side as well.

“I see... The villagers did that for me...”

Vintora sighed as he saw there was no turning back.

“The important thing is what we do from here on. But first there’s something I need to tell you.”

Vintora looked suspiciously from me to Serena, then back again.

When Serena offered him a chair, as he wasn’t fully recovered, the mayor nodded and sat down.

He’d already been told she was a noblewoman, so he felt awkward accepting her kindness.

“So, uh, it’s about who she is...” I began, looking at Serena.

“Hm? What about Miss Serena?” Vintora asked, his expression dubious as ever.

“I told you she was a noblewoman before.”

“Yes, you did. I’ve tried my best not to betray that fact, but I can’t help but feel intimidated by her.”

“Well, what I told you was no lie, but there’s one more fact that I’ve been keeping hidden about her identity.”

“And what is that?” Vintora looked at me with suspicion.

His strong doubt made him frown, raising his white eyebrows.

“Her true identity is Serena Dofrey, the last queen of Luaranz.”

Vintora’s pupils widened.

“No, how can that...”

Vintora’s and Serena’s eyes met, and Vintora quickly cast his gaze to the ground. Then, gulping, he quickly bowed down before her.

“I have been incredibly rude to you, without ever realizing!”

“Please, stop that. You needn’t do this when you’re not well.”

“No, I must do it. I cannot be so rude in front of my queen!”

Vintora shook his head vigorously as he stubbornly refused to rise.

“I was unable to protect His Majesty. I am not the kind of person you should bow your head to.”

“No... Lushak is the one to blame for that. You are without sin, Your Highness!”

“Would you please just stand up?” I said. “You’re derailing the conversation.”

“Well...”

At my and Serena’s urging, Vintora finally got up.

“I’m sorry for keeping it from you. But I thought it was about time we tell you the truth.”

“Wh-What in the world is happening? Don’t tell me... You sneaked in to save the queen when she was being targeted by the rebel army?”

“That’s right.”

Well, it was half right. Or at least partially correct. Maybe twenty percent?

“Here is the proof,” Serena said, pulling out the royal seal for Vintora to see. His eyes fixated on its golden gleam. “The current national army are brutes. They treat the people like insects, not human beings. At this rate, the villages around the capital will all lie ruined and deserted. All justice and legitimacy currently lie with me. While I hold this royal seal, the so-called ‘Royal Army’ are no more than traitors and brigands, falsely assuming the name of Luaranz!”

“It is just as you say, but...”

“Will you not fight alongside me? Together, we may yet drive out the atrocious Royal Army!”

“Of course we will. There’s already no turning back for Eliu Village. No, even if that weren’t the case, there would be no shortage of villagers willing to rise up for their queen!”

Vintora had finally gotten to his feet, but bowed down again after he finished saying that.

“The villages surrounding the castle have always received your grace before now. The people are still grateful that, one year ago, when we had a bad harvest, you persuaded His Majesty to lower our taxes. And given Lushak’s tyranny... The people will rise up, even if it leads to their own destruction!”

That was only natural. They had an Opinion of just 8, so it was only a matter of time before there was an uprising. If I poured a little oil on it and started a fire, then the flames would burn even hotter.

“If this battle was one that led to your own destruction, I wouldn’t be showing you the royal seal to persuade you. I believe there is a chance of victory, Mayor,” Serena said as she walked closer to me, then took hold of my arm.

There was a certain modesty in the way she looked up at me.

“Are you aware of who this person is?”

“Your servant, perhaps? No, come to think of it... He’s also proven himself superb in a variety of ways. Are you a noble too?!” Vintora asked with a look of surprise.

“This gentleman is Erhin Eintorian, the Lord of Eintorian,” Serena told him. “He fought the Naruyans to defend Runan and Rozern. Although he was out of the country on the king’s orders and couldn’t stop the Naruyans’ second invasion, he heroically returned to defeat them again and defend the people of Runan!”

Not even Vintora knew what to say about this revelation.

＊

From that day forward, Vintora went about passionately persuading the nearby villages to rise up.

It wasn’t an easy argument to make, so I left him to it while I focused on training our own villagers in combat. Because we couldn’t immediately get our hands on any weapons, I started their training with bamboo spears, which served as a good stand-in for the time being. Gordun and his buddies, who had some previous combat experience, were a great help, and they, along with Merol and Gadoro, proved especially talented.

The people of other nearby villages also came to learn from me. This was exactly why I had gone around, showing off what I could do. No one outside of the most important people knew my true identity, so I’d had to demonstrate my abilities to ease their hesitation of fighting back.

“Yaaah!”

That day, there was a boy who’d joined us. I liked the vigor with which he held the bamboo spear in both hands, how he pushed grown men aside with it, and the look of anger in his eyes.

“You, there. What’s your name?”

“Commander! My name is Damon, sir!”

“Damon, why did you take up that spear?”

At some point, the villagers had started calling me “commander” because Vintora argued that my deep knowledge of strategy I had from my time in the military made me the best fit for the role. The rest of them agreed with him as the elder of the village, and that was that.

The story’s changed from me being the Lord of Eintorian to just a guy who happened to be in charge of military strategy, though.

“Because they killed my parents,” the boy answered. “I will never, ever forgive them!”

I shuddered at the hatred this child held. Though I’d checked the various village mayors’ ability scores in my search for talent, I hadn’t even thought to look at kids like him. Stricken with curiosity, I decided to scan this kid.

Damon

Age: 17

Martial: 72

Intelligence: 56

Popularity: 51

And I was shocked.

A Martial of 72 at just seventeen? Jint would’ve had a Martial of over 80 when he was in his teens, so this kid’s similar in a way, isn’t he? Looks like I’ve found a diamond in the rough.

Great change happened during one’s youth. If he was seventeen now, then his abilities would bloom as he turned eighteen, and again at nineteen, and so on and so forth. Having so many people gathered here gave me the opportunity to make rare finds like him. It was a lot of fun searching for personnel this way.

Gordun and Merol weren’t exactly superb, but they were still more than worth recruiting. But in Damon’s case, he had the potential to grow into one of the pillars that would support Eintorian’s quest for power in the future.

I called for Jint, who had just returned from Eintorian.

“I want you to fight this kid,” I told him. “But you take him on barehanded.” Then I turned to the boy. “Damon, would you mind fighting this man here? I swear I’ll make it so that you can avenge your parents.”

Damon looked at Jint for just a moment before he nodded. He wasn’t cowed by his opponent being an adult. Damon brimmed with confidence borne of going undefeated by the other villagers as he closed the distance between him and Jint. Jint easily kicked aside his bamboo spear, though, and the boy faltered for a moment.

I would have lost all hope for the kid if he let that beat him. But despite his hesitation, Damon quickly recovered, and went on with a flurry of blow after blow against his opponent. He turned the point of the bamboo spear upward and aimed for Jint’s head. Jint dodged, but the boy followed up on the backswing with elegance, never wasting an inch of movement. The saying went that the best defense was a good offense, and he seemed determined to prove it with his unrelenting assault.

The kid started to panic when Jint handled all his attacks. I waited for the right moment to give Jint the signal. Once I did, Jint sent the spear flying away with a roundhouse kick.

I immediately called for a halt to the fight. “That’s enough!”

I’m pretty satisfied with his abilities.

“You did well, Damon. Don’t let this loss get you down. He’s even stronger than I am.”

Damon had already lost to me once in training. The boy looked at Jint with utter surprise and no small amount of awe in his gaze.

I’m sure Jint can make something of him.

I liked the look in Damon’s eyes. If he wasn’t intimidated by a man who was stronger than him but instead felt a sense of admiration, then there was a good chance he’d continue to grow.

“But you’re more than strong enough. I’m impressed you could keep Jint on the ropes like that. I’ll make sure you’re able to do big things in this uprising. Get revenge for your parents.”

“Thank you!” the boy’s voice resounded with cheer.

“Okay, you can go back to training now,” I said before whispering to Jint. “How was he?”

“Great. Better than I thought.”

I smiled with wry amusement at how impressed Jint seemed. He looked like an old man seeing a promising youngster.

＊

Finally, the day of the uprising came. I didn’t plan to let this training go on indefinitely. We needed to catch the enemy by surprise. If the villagers could take on the soldiers, then that left Jint and me freer to act than I had anticipated.

“Yeaaaaah!”

A battle cry rang through the air as the villagers charged toward rebel-occupied Luaranz. We had a simple plan: we would storm the open gates of the capital, as the common folk came and went freely about their business.

Our ranks had swelled to a hundred thousand with villagers from the surrounding area I’d managed to recruit to our cause. Eintorian’s population had started at two hundred and twenty thousand. This being the capital of Luaranz, the population of the city and its surrounding villages nearly reached double that, just shy of four hundred thousand. With all of the commoners who could fight taking part in the charge, their battle cries reached an incredible volume.

Obviously, their Training level sat at a mere 30; pretty awful, honestly. But still, my hurried training had raised it from the 10 it was at before. Their Morale, meanwhile, soared to 90.

“Huh? What?!”

Due to the surprise nature of the attack, despite Lushak trying to have the rebels he’d led here from his own domain and then made the capital’s garrison force stop them, they couldn’t close the gates. The villagers had already taken the gatehouse, and I’d sent Jint over to the south gate, so the defenders there likely died before they could even so much as shout.

I stood at the vanguard, with Damon at my side like I’d promised him. The boy fought the rebels with firm resolve. Since this was his first time in a real battle, I had thought he’d be afraid to kill people, but no, there was no sign of that. His anger over his parents’ deaths was far stronger than any fear he might have felt. I just went around dispatching soldier after soldier, even going out of my way to use Daitoren, showing off flashy mana effects as I did.

Dozens of rank-and-file soldiers fell with every press of the Attack button thanks to my powerful S-rank attacks. There wasn’t a soul in this country who could stand up to me when I had Daitoren equipped.

“Wh-Whoa...”

Damon and the other villagers who came with me were awed by my power. We smashed the gates to the palace and forced our way inside.

“Yeaaaaaah!”

As the enraged people surged toward them, the palace defenders began retreating. Well, most of them were just terrified of the way I was going wild at the front of the mob.

Meanwhile, Lushak was out by the castle’s pond, engaged in a debauched scene of gluttony and fornication with the women he’d captured. He called himself a duke, but he treated the castle like it was his own property. Utterly appalling.

“Your Excellency, the people! The people are rushing into the palace!”

“Quit talking nonsense. You people need to get out there and find Manshak. I told you to bring him back, even if you have to burn a village to the ground!”

“I’m terribly sorry, but the situation...the situation is...”

Looking at how things were shaping up outside, the soldier stammered the same words repeatedly, but he was too incoherent for Lushak to understand.

Lushak scowled.

“Hey, you louts!”

At this point, Lushak heard the battle cries. And they were really close too.

“Yeahhhhhh!”

Finally, Lushak clued in to the fact his soldier was telling the truth.

“Defend me at once. What were you people doing that let things get this out of hand?!” he shouted angrily at the royal guard.

Seeing us, Lushak got a sour look on his face and started preparing to flee. The women he’d captured were still with him.

“Father!”

“Brother?”

“Darling!”

A touching reunion, huh? This’ll push their anger to the max. There isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t seethe with rage after seeing his daughter or wife toyed with like this.

“Kill him!”

“Kill hiiiiiim!”

“Stay back. Get any closer, and the women all die!” Lushak shouted as he tried to flee, but his back was to the wall. His luck had run out when he decided to fool around by the pond where there was no route he could use to escape us. This Lushak guy, in all honesty, was of no interest to me. He was no Kashak.

“Who the hell are you people?! And men, how dare you let these peasants in here?!”

“Shut your trap, scumbag!” I shouted as I kicked Lushak in the face, smashing his teeth as badly as his son’s, and sending him rolling across the ground.

The man had pulled off a successful rebellion based on what he’d inherited from Kashak, but not knowing how to use it, he’d just lost everything in an instant. I handed him over to the enraged people, who quickly beat him to death.

We took Lushak’s head to the garrison.

When we arrived, the peasant army led by Jint was fighting Lushak’s men there.

“Lushak is dead. All you’re doing right now is turning your blades on your fellow countrymen. Aren’t you people of this land too? Throw down your weapons, and we’ll let you live!”

With that, people began surrendering here and there. Honestly, many of the soldiers had been just as fed up with Lushak’s tyranny. Ultimately, the problem had been Lushak, the evil leader of the rebellion.

“Lord Erhin! Outside... They’re gathering outside!” Vintora shouted, spittle flying from the corners of his mouth.

“What are you talking about?”

Has another enemy shown up?

“From the other villages. The people are gathering from all over!”

Hearing this, I climbed up on top of the gates. Phones didn’t exist in this world, nor anything even close, so people shouldn’t have known what had happened yet, but here they were, showing up late to join the fray. At first, the uprising had just been Eliu Village and the other neighboring villages that Vintora was close with. Obviously, many villages had shown reluctance. But the number of villagers gathered outside was only growing. This rebellion had started with fifty thousand, but looking at that crowd, there were likely over two hundred thousand people now.

“Lushak is dead, and the soldiers of Luaranz have surrendered! The battle is over!” I shouted, holding up the tyrant’s head for them all to see.

“Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” the crowd cheered.

Well, what’s really important is that rumors will spread after this. That’s why I used Daitoren and made a deliberate show of my power. Those who were watching me up close will talk about it, and it’s important that those rumors spread and help to plant the impression that those who serve under me will be safe.

And so, the capital of Luaranz was conquered by the peasants. The former nobles, namely the ones who’d surrendered to Lushak, had all run away back to their own domains. On top of that, Lushak left behind a puppet king when he died, so there really was nothing left of his regime. The young king fled together with a group of nobles who’d wanted to gain power and influence, but Lushak was the one I was after, so I had no plans to pursue them. They’d ruin themselves in time even without my involvement.

“Lord Erhin, what do you plan to do now? Will you rebuild this country alongside Her Highness, the queen?” Mayor Vintora asked me inside the castle.

But I shook my head. “The people aren’t properly trained...” I said. “In the end, they’re just farmers. And in the present political climate, a country as divided as this one is just food for other nations. For the foreseeable future, Luaranz is going to become a battleground for other countries aiming to take its land.”

Yeah. All the other countries will start looking to invade Luaranz soon. With effectively no government, the domains of Luaranz will be unable to band together, and they’ll be picked off one after another.

“Then what would you have us do now...?”

“How about leaving?”

“This place is our livelihood, and you’re telling us to leave it?” Vintora asked, looking troubled.

“There’s not much else you can do. Sorry, but battles are going to rage across this entire country in time. If you stay here in the middle of it, you’re throwing your lives away for nothing.”

“But...where will we go...? This is our homeland... That’s why we all rose up to defend it, isn’t it?!”

I could see where Vintora was coming from, but after I had already gone to all the trouble of saving these people once, I wasn’t about to leave them to die, even if that meant making them cast aside their homeland.

“Would you be willing to lead the people, then?”

“What do you mean...?”

“I’m thinking of accepting all of you in Eintorian. My country doesn’t have a lot of land just yet, but I promise you it will grow by leaps and bounds. Also, I don’t plan to do anything that would expose my people to the dangers of war.”

Once I had said all of that, I bowed my head to Vintora.

“And I know you should be able to lead the people of Luaranz.”

“N-No...!”

Vintora seemed even more bewildered at the way I had bowed my head to him.

“Many of the people already respect you,” I explained. “I want you to lead them to find refuge in Eintorian. I will find land for them. I know this may seem like a bit of a roundabout method, but once the situation in the north stabilizes, I swear we’ll return to take back Luaranz. You’ll all be able to return to your homeland then... I believe you’re the only one fit to be made lord of the former domains of Luaranz. Let me make this simple, Mayor. I’m asking you to become a vassal of Eintorian.”

Vintora shook his head with a look of surprise.

“No, but...I mean to end my life as a humble farmer. I could never handle such a role!”

“I’m asking this for the Luaranzine people. You’re the only one who can lead them properly. They can’t be expected to just obediently follow a foreigner like me. I won’t make life hard for them. I’ll work my hardest to give them peace. Or...would you prefer to create a situation where many of them will die in the war, leaving the rest to become refugees or orphans? If you’ll just stay in Eintorian for a short while, you’ll be able to go back home again. I promise you that, if nothing else.”

Vintora’s mouth hung open as he searched for a response.

This guy’ll make a good lord for Luaranz when we come back here. If I have him work with Mirinae to encourage agriculture for the time being, I expect he’ll be able to produce considerable results since that’s his specialty. He’s indispensable to me in all sorts of ways.

“We’re only a tiny domain now, but I swear to you that I will eventually unite the continent under Eintorian’s banner. I’m asking you to become my people. If, at any point, you don’t think I’m up to the task, then you’re free to leave Eintorian immediately without question. So, please, let me say one last thing. Will you join me? In these chaotic times, I expect your neighbors, the Holy Ramie Kingdom, will be coming across the border shortly. There’s no time to delay, Mayor.”

Vintora just stared at me in silence, but then finally made up his mind. “I can’t bring along those who insist they won’t go,” he said at length.

“Of course not. It’s everyone’s choice what they want to do with themselves. If they come, I’ll exempt them from taxes for now and provide them with land they can farm. They’ll receive support until things stabilize, and after that, they just need to pay the taxes we agree upon and live as they like. I won’t exploit them. Make sure that you explain that thoroughly.”

“Well, let me try talking to them, at least... I trust in your character, Lord Erhin.”

I could only offer this because of the gold in my coffers. That mound of gold was the only thing keeping Eintorian’s finances from collapsing. Obviously, if I didn’t shift over to a more stable budget, it would eventually run out. Eventually, I would need that gold in order to open trade with other countries, but for now, increasing our population was the priority.

Fortunately, Vintora nodded his head in assent, and then fell to his knees. I planned to talk to the folks in Eliu Village and get them to cooperate with him. I wasn’t sure exactly how many people would migrate to my country with a current population of five hundred thousand, but I’d prepared for word to spread throughout Luaranz.

＊

“Your Majesty, this is clearly the perfect opportunity!”

In the palace of the Holy Ramie Kingdom, the nobles were trying to persuade their king. The reason, it went without saying, was that Luaranz had fallen into a state of anarchy and its lands were up for grabs.

“I see your point...but what if the Naruya Kingdom were to invade us while we were preoccupied?! That’s what happened to Runan. Their lust for Brijit’s lands ended in their own destruction!”

“The situation is different. We have no border with Naruya!”

“Well, no, but...”

Ramie’s king was not a bad monarch. He led his country reasonably well, but the fact that he could be rather indecisive was an issue.

“Sire! Sire! Urgent news!”

“What is it?”

The king shook his head in dismay as the noble who led the intelligence division rushed into the room with a report.

“It’s Rozern. Rozern is on the move.”

“What?! Are they after Luaranz, then?”

Now that the Runan Kingdom had collapsed, Luaranz had Rozern to the west, and the Holy Ramie Kingdom to the east. Because Luaranz was sandwiched in between them, Ramie didn’t share a border with Rozern, though.

“The way that things are going, won’t the Sintrage Kingdom in the north set their sights on Luaranz too?”

“Sire! We must act first. If we occupy the territory, surely the others won’t take aim at us. Ultimately, the faction that will gain the most land when a nation falls is the one that acts fastest!”

The thought that other nations might steal his prize cured the king’s indecision.

“Invade Luaranz at once!”

“Yes, it will be done!”

It was the same in every nation that shared the slightest border with Luaranz. They all heard that Rozern was on the move. Of course, Rozern’s move was all for show, and they had no intention of going to war.

Erhin controlled them, in truth, and the other countries fell for the deception hook, line, and sinker. He didn’t just plan to cause chaos and trigger a mass migration of Luaranzine peasants.

Only one other thing was on his mind, one other thing he had to gain from the fall of Luaranz: the jewel he had coveted all along. This long trip abroad had all been so that he could take it for himself without trouble.

“This is the Dofrey Domain, huh?”

“That’s right. It’s been so long since I’ve been back.”

The Dofrey Domain had been laid waste under Lushak’s rule and was in a state of total collapse as a result. It saddened Serena to see her homeland in such a state, but there were survivors in this once ruined land.

We had come here to pick up the retainers of the former House of Dofrey.

Once Serena appeared, the retainers who’d escaped Lushak’s forces and gone into hiding made contact with her one after another. Due to Dofrey’s good character, his retainers had stuck with his family to the bitter end, never abandoning them.

“Erhin slew my father’s killer!” Serena explained after gathering them together. “So why don’t we help him now?”

Once they knew what had happened, the loyal Dofrey retainers were, of course, all too happy to join Serena. Even those who had served under those retainers but were still in hiding came. The remaining Dofrey retainers all raced to swear their loyalty to Serena, and also to me, who had avenged their master.

There was another reason this was important: I had something for Dofrey’s retainers to do in Luaranz’s port. Once that was done, we returned to Eintorian.

Sometime later, a fleet appeared off the coast of Brinhill, which was now practically the de facto capital of the Eintorian Domain. It was the pride of Luaranz, the First Fleet.

“The Dofrey Domain is also a port. There wasn’t a soul there who hadn’t been on a ship, because we of the House of Dofrey prided ourselves on our many sailors.”

That was how Serena had introduced the House of Dofrey to me, and it was why I’d rushed to her domain as soon as the uprising succeeded in order to save the people there for my navy.

Now, I could see the results before my eyes.

As the ships drew closer, I could see the fleet were now flying Eintorian’s flag, and standing at the prow were the two people I’d entrusted with bringing together the members of the former House of Dofrey, and retrieving the First Fleet from the capital, Yusen and Gibun.