PbMMEnxL

1Chapter 1 Part 1:
2
3	A big swig of pale ale was taken from a mug that was almost overflowing.
4
5	This used to be a beverage he had no chance of obtaining back in his demesne, but nowadays the taste of first-class booze flowing down his throat felt all too familiar.
6
7	He noisily belched out the sweet fragrance of the ale as he set down the large mug, with half of its contents still remaining, back onto the table. If this was one of those wooden mugs he was so used to, he would’ve slammed it on the table without a thought, but he wouldn’t dare do so with the porcelain stuff.
8
9	However, even if he did break the mug he wouldn’t have to pay for it, after all, this bar was specially prepared by his secret supporter, Hilma Cygnaeus. Everything was free of charge for any of the nobles he would send to this place, this even extended to their guests.
10
11	This kind of investment was to be expected for someone who’s destined to become a powerful noble like him, Baron Philip Dayton L'Eyre Montserrat. 
12
13	All he had to do was to show his gratitude and repay her for this favour later on, for now everything is kept on tabs.
14
15	As things stood, even Hilma, whose wealth was beyond comparison to Philip’s, was still a commoner and had to bow before authority. Perhaps that was the reason why she was trying so hard to become acquainted to a noble like Philip by supporting his faction on all fronts.
16
17	This is what separates the strong from the weak in this world - the difference in status.
18
19	Still, he owed her a big favour for all of her efforts.
20
21	As a gentleman who held himself accountable for his debts, Philips hoped to improve his social standing as soon as possible. Hilma should also be expecting him to obtain authority above the rank of baron at the very least.
22
23	Then he’d have to repay his dues.
24
25	If those favours were not repaid as soon as possible, he would be stuck making concessions, having to obtain permission even for things he personally wanted to do.
26
27	To have the freedom to do whatever he wanted and the right to use his powers as he sees fit, those were Philip’s dreams.
28
29	But-
30
31	“Why is nothing going my way!”
32
33	He could longer hold in his true feelings. Philip surveyed his surroundings. This bar was not a regular peasants’ bar. Hilma had converted one of her mansions into a bar so crude noise had no place in it. So although his voice wasn’t too loud to begin with, if there were someone around they probably would’ve heard him.
34
35	After confirming that no one was looking towards him, Philip calmed down.
36
37	To allow others to find out that he had failed would be disgraceful.
38
39	That’s right - he had failed.
40 
41	{Die, you’re all trash!}
42
43	Philip gulped down ale as if it could literally put out the fiery emotions in his heart. This only agitated him further as in his hurry, drops of ale had leaked from the corners of his lips, causing his skin and clothes to feel sticky as a result.
44
45	Philip’s expression twisted in his anger.
46
47	If all had gone according to his plans, the output of his demesne would have been multiplied and he should have been surrounded by people grateful that he’s their new lord. His name should’ve been known to all after his neighboring nobles caught wind of his accomplishments.
48	
49	So, how did it end up like this?
50
51	Not only had the grain productivity of his lands started to fall, he also felt as though the villagers he had visited were all staring at him with contempt.
52
53	{Insolent scumbags!}
54
55	He was finally the head of the house of Montserrat, a family with a long and dated history, those villagers should’ve known full well how they should pay their respects. Could it be possible that the villagers were all slacking off in an attempt to weaken his position?
56
57	It was certainly possible.
58
59	The world was filled with dumbasses who would be envious of others’ talents after all. They couldn’t even understand his talents and only scoffed at and got envious of those with talents. In that way they could create an illusion of megalomania.
60
61	No, it was not as though that was the only type of people in the world. There were so many villagers back there, there had to be some other reason for it. For example, a neighboring lord may have paid them to sabotage Philip’s political ambitions.
62
63	It was certainly not impossible.
64
65	In general, if you focused production on more valuable goods, revenue would naturally rise by huge proportions. This should’ve been common sense. Wouldn’t it make sense to dedicate all the available farmland to the more valuable crops and buy grain from traders?
66
67	It was so obvious yet the number of people who’d disagree with him were countless.
68
69	{Absolute trash! How about I ask Hilma about how I should punish these fools? If I do that they’ll certainly start working hard for me again! I’ll still need to investigate if they’re conspiring against me, their lord! ...no wait. If it’s something as simple as dishing out punishments, it’d be fine if I approve of it on my own right?}
70
71	In theory, it’d be the same as whipping cows and horses to get them to obey you.
72
73	{Yeah, there’s no need to tell Hilma about this at all. If I end up owing her another favour from this… Umu, Hilma’s been good to me for quite a while, it’s about time that I repay her generosity…}
74
75	To a soon-to-be great noble, debt owed to a commoner like Hilma could be bilked, it was an easily exploitable situation. But alas, doing so would make him no different than a common thief. As a noble of nobles, such an act was utterly despicable, so it’s best to pay her back as much as possible soon.
76
77	It would be a big problem if he let Hilma have something to threaten him on due to his generosity. If that ever happens, Hilma could always have things her way and shut Philip up.
78
79	{The question is, what would be the best form of repayment in this case…?}
80
81	If he’s going by their previous agreement, he would have to repay her in gold collected from the increased revenue of his land, but that’s obviously not possible - neigh, it would be difficult to do so at the moment. 
82
83	So what was something that he could do that will both demonstrate his brilliance and also leverage the newly formed faction’s power to benefit Hilma?
84
85	{I say that but I still don’t have total control over this faction yet……}
86
87	As a member of the faction, Philip had had the opportunity to connect with all kinds of people.
88
89	Though the number of members supporting the idea that Philip should be the faction’s leader was steadily rising, he hadn’t gained the support from the entire aristocracy.
90
91	Hilma had aided him in that pursuit, but considering his age, social standing, et cetera, there were still some major hurdles he had to overcome. If Philip was to be in their position, he would be inclined to agree with their decisions too.  
92
93	The same speech by a senior earl and a junior baron would not be convincing to the same degree. {But doesn’t that sound like they’ll just be conforming to the traditions of the more established factions?} Philip thought.
94
95	Being members of a new faction, they could not act like some aging organization but rather introduce radical changes into the system. As a man with the courage to experiment and innovate, Philip was the perfect fit for the role of leader in this faction.
96
97	{All the other guys are just so inflexible.}
98
99	Blinded by his feelings of irritation, Philip did not notice his mug had somehow become empty.
100
101	“Oy! More booze!”
102
103	“Yes, my lord”
104
105	Some maid that looked like she’s employed at the establishment was just passing by, so he barked his orders at her.
106
107	After taking a deep bow, she walked away in an odd manner, as if striking a pose, and Philip was unable to take his eyes off of her. Was it because her uniform was too thin? One could make out the shape of her buttocks.
108
109	“Ooof.”
110
111	An attractive derriere is obviously a desirable quality to flaunt with, but this maid had demonstrated a clear understanding of what constitutes an acceptable interaction between a superior and their inferior through her work ethic. This pleased Philip a lot.
112
113	Philip had already borrowed two maids from Hilma who were not so dissimilar to the one he’s staring at.
114
115	These ladies would do anything you ask of them, you could even stiff their salaries. Every one of Philip’s household matters had been handled by them. Hilma also recommended people like butlers and exclusive merchants.
116
117	Though Philip wanted to fire those who had been under his family’s employ for a long time and just keep his subordinates at hand, his father’s fervent rejection of that proposal made him give up. Well, if he was the one paying for those servants then he would have definitely fired them to save expenses.
118
119	As Philip vaguely thought about these matters, someone spoke to him suddenly.
120
121	“Oh hey, Baron Montserrat. What’s going on? You seem troubled.”
122
123	He turned his head towards the source of the voice to see two nobles in front of him.
124
125	They had inherited their baronies at the same time, friends who belonged to the same faction. One of them carried a large mug topped with ale while the other held a plateful of nuts.
126
127“Oh! Baron Delvin and Baron Rokerson!”
128
129	Baron Delvin was a man who lacked the status and prestige expected of a noble of his rank due to his short stature and delicate constitution. The only aspect of him that matched with his status would be his raiments, so if he was to wear common clothes, no one would be able to tell that he was one with the aristocracy. As it stands, you could convince a large group of people into believing that he was just an actor pretending to be a nobleman for a comedic play.
130	
131	In contrast, Baron Rokerson cuts an imposing and sturdy figure. The man was thick in every dimension. Though he was a physically menacing man, he couldn’t hold his own opinions without getting swayed by others. In Philip’s eyes, Rokerson was more likely to be ordered around than order someone else around. 
132
133	Their demesnes neighboured each other and it was a common sight for them to be working together. Philip remembered them due to a mental note he made to himself when they first met, that being {why not just work solo like me?}
134
135	“Are these seats taken?”
136
137	“Oh, please, do take a seat”
138
139	Rokerson gave a gentle nod and sat down alongside Delvin. The maid seemed to have timed her entrance perfectly as she walked in with ale in tow.
140
141	“Here, cheers!”
142
143	“It’s our pleasure!”
144
145	According to legend, the act of clinking glasses together during a toast originated as a way to mix the contents of two cups together, proving that neither were poisoned. Philip knew of this fact and so used more force than was necessary.
146
147	Alcohol was spilled onto the table.
148
149	“Oh!”
150
151	Some of it had landed onto Baron Delvin’s clothing.
152
153	It would be rude to say that his clothes had finally matched his appearance, but his garments, while noble-looking, were not fresh and clean. No, it would be more accurate to say that it was reminiscent of a more traditional style, something that Philip would wear in the past, like a hand-me-down from his elders.
154
155	Philip felt pity.
156
157	What he currently wore was top tier fabrics he had instructed Hilma to prepare for him. In other words, those two were not valuable enough to warrant such a level of investment from Hilma.
158
159	Philip contemplated the tragedy of the apparent difference in their future prospects compared to him as he asked, “So were the two of you here for drinks too?”
160
161	“-umu, that’s right, that’s right. We were just here for drinks and were pleasantly surprised to find that Baron Monserrat was here too, so we came over to pay our respects! Right?!”
162
163	“It’s just as you say, Baron Rokerson”
164
165	“No no no, what’s this nonsense about paying respects? Aren’t we equals? Comrades who are supporting each other?”
166
167	“Oh! I never knew that someone as great as Baron Montserrat viewed people like us as equals! That does bring joy to our hearts! Right?!”
168
169	“It’s just as you say. Now, if you will, please try some of these.”
170
171	The man on the opposite end hastily presented the hors d'oeuvres.
172
173	“Thank you very much, Baron Rokerson.”
174
175	“Oh my! We’re no strangers, Baron Montserrat. Feel free to call me Wayne and him Igthorn. ” 
176
177	“Understandable. Then I’d request that both of you refer to me as Philip!”
178
179	The three shared in a hearty laugh as they downed their pale ales.
180
181	“But anyways - Philip-sama, what has been bothering you? You seem quite troubled just then”
182
183	“Just then?” At this point the alcohol had slightly - yes, only ever so slightly dulled his mind, his anger flared back up.
184
185	“Ahhhh, those useless idiots keep giving me headaches. Oh, I’m talking about the pariahs living on my land.”
186
187	“So that’s why, I completely understand! It’s completely understandable for someone as sagacious as Philip-kakka to be angry over those who could never hope to grasp your thoughts. Common people like us aren’t on the same level as you, right?”
188
189	“Exactly, it’s completely understandable for someone as smart as Philip-kakka to be angry over such matters.”
190
191	Philip was touched by their agreeing with him.
192
193	They were nobles like him, so was it natural that they could understand his troubles? They too must also be perturbed by their own subjects’ stupidity.
194
195	“The two of you get what I’m going through?!”
196
197	“Umu, we do, we do. Though I’m not as outstanding as Philip-kakka, I’ve also had my fair share of experience with the issues you’re faced with.”
198
199	“Exactly - looks like we’re out of ale - oy! What are you doing not pouring ale for Philip-kakka!”
200
201	The maid that was summoned immediately brought over some ale straight to Philip. He raised his mug, now filled to the brim with ale.
202
203	“Here, let us toast each other once more”
204
205	The mugs were smacked together.
206
207	Philip downed his ale.
208
209	Delicious.
210
211	He felt as though the ale had never tasted better than in this moment, perhaps it’s because he’s sharing a drink with his sympathizers.
212
213	Most members of the new faction chose to distance themselves away from Philip, one reason being that Philip was at the helm of the faction; consequently, he hadn’t been able to make any friends. That was why Philip was in such a good mood, these two who had approached him gave him solace. He was overjoyed to the point of wanting to rub shoulders with them. 
214
215	“Ah, Philip-kakka! I’m honored that you’d rub shoulders with me, but your ale might spill. How about you down some of it first and then……oh”
216
217	He spilled some ale again. Though it was free of charge, being so wasteful would be an insult against Hilma.
218
219	Philip removed his arm from the other noble and drank in a rambunctious manner.
220
221	“Woah! That’s what I expected of you, you can certainly hold your alcohol, am I right?”
222
223	“That’s right, as expected of Philip-sama”
224
225	“Psssht! No no, that’s not true. It’s just that this ale tastes better than usual when enjoyed with outstanding nobles like you.”
226
227	“Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! Kakka would speak such words that fill my heart with joy. As the two of us have a lower tolerance for alcohol, we can’t help but be in awe of your capacity.”
228
229	“Eh? The two of you can’t drink much?”
230
231	They were both still on their first cup and the level of ale hadn’t gone down much.
232
233	“It’s embarrassing to admit, but to tell the truth, neither of us can find any appeal in alcohol, right?”
234
235	“That’s right, but since we’re in this type of establishment it would be awkward not to drink at all, so we’re only taking tiny sips.”
236
237	“Because we can’t hold our alcohol, we’re quite envious of men who could, like Philip-kakka. Please, please, do take our portion as well.”
238
239	Philip followed along with their suggestions and drank cup after cup. The more he consumed, the lighter his head felt. It was around this time when his face started turning red.
240
241	“Now that’s the way to do it. I remember Philip-kakka mentioning the idiots in your land, so what happened exactly?”
242
243		“Huh? Ah, what was it, did I talk about that?”
244
245	“Yeah, you mentioned something along those lines……it appears to me that you might’ve had a little too much to drink, should I bring some non-alcoholic beverages over? Does that sound agreeable?”
246
247	“That’s right. Philip-kakka, would you like some water? The water they serve here does not stink of moss.”
248
249	“Ehhh-, that wouldn’t be necessary. I’m fine, I’m fine.” Heat pulsed across his face, he does not need a mirror to know that his face had turned completely red. “......ahhh, I was talking about my woes. I’m broke, broke.”
250
251	“We’re in a similar situation, am I right?”
252
253	“That’s right, our demesnes aren’t exactly prospering either”
254
255	“No, no. It’s not what you think it is. If those worthless pariahs had done what I ordered them to, there should’ve been large sums of gold flooding into my pockets. But they don’t work hard enough and won’t listen. It’s all their fault. Every single one of them is worthless.”
256
257	“Oooooh! Philip-kakka is absolutely correct. This world is filled with worthless trash. I can understand your pain! By the way, what is the special product of your lands, Philip-kakka?”
258
259	“Nothing apart from agricultural produce at the moment. Damn it.”
260
261	A lot of trials were being run on various aspects of production, but none had bore fruit yet.
262
263	“Agricultural produce, huh… It would be nice to have some kind of unique product, otherwise...”
264
265	“Typical agricultural products don’t sell for much, but that’s to be expected.”
266
267	The two noblemen spoke of a lot of their own opinions.
268
269	They were correct, that was why there was a need to cultivate crops of higher value. It would be risky as it was probable that they would not be able to harvest the crop in the short-run, the fact of whether a crop could be cultivated at all or not had to be investigated too. Even so, it was a necessary investment for the future, yet those lowly peasants would always use “our hands are full” as their excuse even in the face of a direct order.
270
271	“Considering that current situation, if nothing changes then I could only wait for a bad harvest so the price of grain would go up!”
272
273	“What about your own terri-”
274
275	Wayne jabbed Igthorn with his elbow mid-sentence and then he moved closer to Philip to whisper. 
276
277	“You’re right, but even if a bad harvest occurs, the price won’t necessarily rise. Did you know that there is a huge amount of cheap grain being transported from the Sorcerous Kingdom to the Kingdom? So the price for regular produce is unlikely to fluctuate much and it would be equally unlikely for any non-value-added product to fetch a high price.”
278
279	“What!?”
280
281	“Ah, Philip-kakka, you’re being too loud.”
282
283	Philip surveyed his surroundings in a frenzy, lowered his voice, and then said to Wayne, “is that true?”
284
285	“Mhm, the intel was obtained from trustworthy sources, it was being spread amongst a few of the merchants in the capital. Apparently the Sorcerous Kingdom had stored large quantities of grain in warehouses owned by the merchants in the capital. It was said that they were even allowed to sell them, but the Sorcerous Kingdom obviously had the priority input on how they were being used.”
286
287	“Hm? So it wasn’t merchants importing goods from the Sorcerous Kingdom to sell here, but rather, the Sorcerous Kingdom was storing food in the Kingdom?”
288
289	“That’s right. I don’t know much about the exact details other than the fact that it’s there for storage only and the Sorcerous Kingdom had already paid for the storage fee… or was it rent for the warehouses? In any case, the merchants made money from that deal. It wasn’t much, but it was still something.”
290
291	“... Do people just rent out their warehouses so easily?”
292
293	“Normally it would be difficult to secure storage space. But wasn’t that warehouse district attacked by that Fiend? I heard a lot of the warehouses were empty and so the owners happily leased them out. Therefore, as long as the grain remains there, the merchants are not likely to raise the price of food. It’s easy to imagine people saying things like ‘if it gets more expensive, I’d rather buy from the Sorcerous Kingdom’ should the price go up. Oh right, did you know about E-Rantel’s huge grain storehouse?”
294
295	“No, no. What about them?”
296
297	“Within this huge warehouse enchanted with the spell [Preserve], there are places where food will never rot, courtesy of a magical item. Until recently, military rations for over a hundred thousand soldiers were painstakingly collected from neighbouring lands in preparation for a war with the Empire annually. Food collection takes time so it could rot during the process, not to mention that obtaining food was harder during some time periods. That huge storehouse was built to counter these problems. Apparently that the magical item wasn’t something that could be transported elsewhere, so it was formally gifted to the Sorcerous Kingdom. That means the Sorcerous Kingdom’s surplus grain could be stored there for years.”
298
299	“Even if the food could last for many years, the Sorcerous Kingdom is a country with a single city, E-Rantel. How’s it possible for them to produce that much food?”
300
301	Even if the rumour spreads throughout the Kingdom, grain prices should only drop by a tiny bit at most considering the Kingdom’s large population.
302
303	“Oh, about that. According to some credible rumours, the Sorcerous Kingdom is using undead creatures to work large swathes of farmland; as a result, they saw a tremendous boost in their grain productivity. That way even such a small territory could match the entire Kingdom’s output. If you think about it, we’re talking about undead creatures that do not know of fatigue. But. Well, if you think of that food being made by the undead it’s hard not to feel disgusted by it.”
304
305	“What? That’s just cheating!”
306
307	Philip couldn’t help but yell. The Sorcerer King could easily accomplish what he couldn’t get his subjects to do no matter how hard he tried. All the pain that he had to suffer through, the Sorcerer King deserved as well.
308
309	Or, perhaps he should also be using the undead for farming?
310
311	“That being said, it’s not like there’s nothing suspicious about it. After all, even if the undead worked tirelessly around the clock, for them to match the entire Kingdom’s output is… Still, their agricultural output is quite high, there’s no doubt about it. Right now, the Sorcerous Kingdom is sending food aid to the Holy Kingdom.”
312
313	"Food aid?”
314
315	“Mhm. Jaldabaoth, the Archfiend who had brought chaos to our royal capital, appeared in the Holy Kingdom. It seems like his rampage had caused some food scarcity issues and the Sorcerous Kingdom responded by sending the food bought from the Kingdom merchants as aid. A caravan with carriages full of grain passed through my territory the other day, so it has to be true.”
316
317	“How much can remain in the merchants’ warehouses if the food was used as aid to the Holy Kingdom?”
318
319	“That’s true. Still, it’s a necessity to stockpile food in order to prepare for bad harvests. Plus, I don’t think the Sorcerous Kingdom used up all the grain they had bought as aid.”
320
321	That made sense. If Philip were the Sorcerer King, he would have also used the surplus food, which had been sitting in storage for quite a long time, as aid.
322
323	“Exactly. Well, bad harvests don’t happen that easily, right-”
324
325	“-That’s why it’s risky to wait for the climate to influence the situation. A better solution is required. For example, if the Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain supply suddenly disappeared, then the food produced in Philip-kakka’s demesne should sell for a high price. That being said, you can’t just do things like instigating a war with the sole objective of forcing the enemy to burn through their grain supply”
326
327	It was at this moment when an idea was formed spontaneously in Philip’s head.
328
329	If the fact that grain does not sell for much even during bad harvests depended on the continued existence of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain supply, what would happen if that were to disappear?
330
331	There was only one answer.
332
333	Grain prices would go up.
334
335	Next question: how could one make the Sorcerous Kingdom’s stockpile of grain suddenly disappear?
336
337	The hint was in Wayne’s words. The Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain production must fall. But, this was not an easy task. After all, Philip couldn’t just sneak into the Sorcerous Kingdom and burn all their fields, right?
338
339	What about stealing the grain?
340
341	The moment Philip thought of this solution, he felt as though a lightning bolt had just struck his body.
342
343	To take a foreign country’s property by force was, by common sense, an extremely dangerous action. Even without taking the consequences into account, Philip simply did not have the military strength to take on an entire country at this current moment. But, the Kingdom should see the Sorcerous Kingdom as its enemy. After all, a significant portion of its own citizens was killed in the war. It would be strange to not view them as enemies. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be a brilliant move to steal from an enemy?
344
345	That way, Philip would be able to earn the support of the Kingdom’s ruling class and perhaps there was even a chance he would be promoted to a higher position in light of his contributions.
346
347	{...Not bad. Isn’t this a great idea?}
348
349	As the cherry on top, he could also sell the grain that was taken from the Sorcerous Kingdom.
350
351	{This is like killing three birds with one stone. A plan that was so perfect it could not be improved upon. But, how will I rob them of the grain? Should I discuss it with Hilma and hire mercenaries? No, that’s no good. Mercenaries don’t have a sense of honour. Only idiots would leave a trail behind that could be traced back to them and be used as blackmail material.}
352
353	Following that logic, only his own soldiers could work. He’d call them soldiers but in actuality, they would just be a few armed villagers. He had considered forming a corp with trained soldiers instead of villagers who could only do farm work. Paying said soldiers with the grain that they would seize would be an excellent option.
354
355	{But still, marching straight into the Sorcerous Kingdom’s territories would still be dangerous.}
356
357	Philip’s demesne was some distance away from the Sorcerous Kingdom so the cost of a marching army wasn’t something that he could just shrug off.
358
359	{No, wait, didn’t he talk about some of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravans passing through his lands? What if I attack those?}
360
361	Was Philip alone enough to take on such large caravans? There was a limit to the number of villagers he could mobilize, but an overwhelming numerical superiority, enough to make the enemy surrender without any resistance, was absolutely necessary.
362
363	“Are you two free to chat? I have a thing that I want to discuss with you all.”
364
365	“We are, what’s this ‘thing’?”
366
367	“Mhm, it’s something good.”
368
369	Philip moved towards the pair and proudly began to explain his impeccable plan.
370
371--------
372
373hapter 1 Part 2:
374
375	“What the hell, he should’ve said sorry at the very least.” Wayne scoffed after saying goodbye to Philip.
376
377	The garment that was now stained with beer used to be his father’s and was quite old in both texture and design, making it quite a rare item. He had originally planned to show up to formal social gatherings with that garment, but now he would have to make preparations all over again.
378
379	At the end of the day, the aristocracy was nothing more than a bunch of creatures whose eyes could not see past one’s appearances. Clothing was naturally a part of the game, so what had just happened was absolutely unacceptable. But the truth was that Wayne was at the bottom of the upper class society, so what good could have come from having some nice clothes? 
380
381	On the contrary, this shabby garment could signify the owner’s weakness, and was therefore very useful for someone who wishes to be under the protection of their superiors. An outfit like this was a must-have for him to play the role of a weak nobleman on the stage that is a salon. So until he takes on the role of another character, he was under its care.
382
383	That was why it was even more unbearable than usual to see it sullied.
384
385	“That is true.”
386
387	A voice besides him chimed in, prompting Wayne to turn to look at its source.
388
389	“...Enough, that’s enough.”
390
391	His voice turned sombre along with the atmosphere surrounding him. Had Philip stood witness to this change, he would have been shocked speechless.
392
393	Wayne was never the extroverted type, he just plain disliked conversing with other people. To do so he would have to create layers upon layers of facades as he desperately attempts to pretend he was the extroverted and effusive type.
394
395	“Sorry dude, I really can’t handle that kind of a guise so you had to take care of most of it.”
396
397	Igthorn had switched from his previous personality too, his language was now so unrefined that none of the nobility would dare be caught using that language.
398
399	“No need, if you’re really sorry, go practice a few of these pleasantries. Lower level nobility like us have to put in real effort to appease those at the top.”
400
401	“Life’s just getting more and more difficult. I thought that once we inherited the barony we’d be able to join the racket of the aristocracy… Shameless flattery and ingratiation, just those two things alone annoy the shit out of me”
402
403	“Pffft, what are you talking about…? Peasants have to deal with the same shit. Nevermind who has it worse, everybody who's working under somebody has to be a bootlicker of sorts.”
404
405	“And that’s why I never wanted to grow up… Man I miss the days when we were carefree enough to swing sticks around and pretend to be dragonslayers.”
406
407	“There’s no going back so don’t think about it. Anyways, just learn to flatter others. That brainlet seems to be a good candidate to practice on, right? Even if we fuck it up our losses would be small.”
408
409	To noblemen of the higher echelon or those with more experience in life, basically those who had seen it all, nothing could satisfy them unless it was made to perfection. That was why they had to gain experience every time they had a chance.
410
411	“For real…? Well the next time we meet him I’ll try extra hard to put on a face.”
412
413	“Yeah, that’ll do, that’ll do. No one dislikes pleasantries. If someone you’re talking to is annoyed at you, it just means that your ability to hold a conversation isn’t there yet… Igthorn, I know this is hard. I’ll make up for your flaws and you can make up for mine, that was our deal, but you can’t just stop trying to overcome your own weaknesses because of that. It’s not like we’ll be with each other forever.”
414
415	Though Wayne might be more intelligent than the average person, he was completely outmatched in terms of athleticism. Igthorn was the complete opposite.
416
417	If they were of the same type, perhaps they would have been competitors instead. It was for this reason they were grateful for the fact that neither of them thought of each other that way. It was unusual for neighbouring lords to be friendly with each other, but since they were the third and fourth sons of their family, they weren’t indoctrinated with animosity from the past. That was why they were so close.
418
419	Most importantly, they had chemistry.
420
421	“Is that so…? So, what about what we discussed with him?”
422
423	“Absolutely terrible.”
424
425	Wayne did not hesitate for a second before answering his friend’s question. 
426
427	For someone like him to be at the helm of the faction was just far too dangerous of a situation.
428	
429	“But, wasn’t that guy easily manipulated?”
430
431	“Mhm, that’s true.”
432
433	This faction was, frankly speaking, a garbage dump. 
434
435	Its members were only in it to capitalize on their status as noblemen, and had absolutely no interest in developing their lands. Like a child with an iron sword, they abused their windfall authority. They had accomplished nothing whatsoever, yet were overconfident enough to believe they were omnipotent. These people were beyond saving. Even someone like Wayne could understand that he was just a completely ordinary nobleman, yet they couldn’t. The faction was full of that kind of people.
436
437	It was safe to say that because of this, the faction had a huge problem.
438
439	“The Sorcerous Kingdom storing grain in the capital is a disturbing development because they theoretically have complete control over its market price. They’ll definitely raise the prices due to our bad harvest this year. What’s even more terrifying is the fact that the nobles who are optimistic about such a blatant trap and have switched their farmlands to only grow cash crops aren’t the minority. Their mentality is that even if anything bad were to happen, they could get through a famine by importing grain from the Sorcerous Kingdom, even if the price is a bit higher.”
440
441	A lot of landed nobles in this faction had this mentality. Despite his attempts to subtly hint at the perils of doing so, their attitudes clearly demonstrated their belief that they alone would not be affected by it. They were determined to put their plans into action.
442
443	“...We lost a great amount of our labour force in that war. It’s easy to see that they’re fixated on the short term profits based off of how they’re distributing their remaining work force alone.”
444
445	To let go of petty gains and instead focus on long term profits should’ve been common sense for those at the top of the hierarchy.
446
447	“So to even think of robbing a Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan of grain is evidence that he’s got brain damage. Surely no one is stupid enough to not understand that attacking a caravan that’s flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag would be treated as a declaration of war and would result in serious retribution? Even if he’s this- Hold up. Were we being deceived?”
448
449	It was certainly possible that they were being set up and he just couldn’t figure out what that man’s goal was. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad choice to accept his proposal after all.
450
451	“No, aren’t you overthinking? It’s probably because he was really that much of an idiot that he didn’t consider the potential consequences at all while he was coming up with that plan.”
452
453	“Hey now,” Wayne smiled bitterly, “to not consider the consequences of attacking those carriages at all- can an idiot of that magnitude really exist?”
454
455	“Well...if you put it that way...”
456
457	At any rate, there was no plausible way that a noble without common sense would be chosen to inherit his family’s title; hence, Philip must have had a goal. What could his goal be?
458
459	“It’s best if we consult Cygnaeus, right?”
460
461	“-no, don’t tell her.”
462
463	Hilma Cygnaeus, the woman who did everything in her power to establish this faction.
464
465	It was rumoured that she was a lover of a certain earl, but the formation of this faction would not have benefited said earl in any shape or form. And so, the origin of her overly plentiful funds and wide connections remained a mystery.
466
467	It was probably an organization, not an individual, that was behind the woman. By the simple process of elimination, one could easily arrive at which organization would have had such capabilities.
468
469	The Eight Fingers.
470
471	The crime syndicate controlling the Kingdom’s underground society.
472
473	In that case, Hilma was probably someone who could be readily discarded, like a mannequin.
474
475	{No}, Wayne’s intuition told him.
476
477	His few conversations with her told him that she was definitely not some simple sacrificial pawn. In fact, it was more than likely that she was one of the higher-ups of the organization. To have someone like her embedded in the faction was worrying to say the least. Although some nobles had the power to covertly form pacts with the crime syndicate, Wayne did not want to get entangled with such illegal organizations himself.
478
479	It was precisely because they didn’t think too highly of themselves that they would want to take advantage of her whilst maintaining a smooth operation.
480
481	“Why…? Looks like you’re thinking about something that I won’t be able to grasp again, but isn’t it about time that you tell me what’s going on? Even I know that saying yes to that guy will get us into trouble in the future. We’re about to attack a Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan in your territory, you know? That bony bastard is definitely not gonna just let it slide. There’s no way that that guy’s not losing his head after this, and yours might not stay connected to your neck for long either.”
482
483	Igthorn was completely correct, but Wayne had an idea; he had agreed to the proposal with a full understanding of the risks involved.
484
485	“Perhaps that is that idiot’s plan, to make us his scapegoats and pocket the stolen goods for himself. How about we go along with his plan? We’ll be patrolling our own territories and will just so happen to stumble upon a group of bandits, the group that was responsible for the attack on the Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan. After that, we’ll kill them all. It’s crucial that we alone are responsible for taking care of them.”
486
487	If an individual’s caravan were to be attacked, no victim would simply stand down after receiving the news that the perpetrators were killed. This holds true even on a national level. Retaliation would have been more than warranted. This is why they must not leave behind any evidence of their involvement. Moreover, they had managed to make it easier for them to maintain their innocence by painting the narrative that they were simply taking care of an incident that had coincidentally occurred on their lands.
488
489	“How about that? Not a bad plan to gain favour with the Sorcerous Kingdom, right? Even if we are suspected of involvement, we can just say that we were attempting to help aid the caravan. We’ll be fine as long as the perpetrators are all dead. You know what they say - dead men tell no tales.”
490
491	“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, but we do have to consider the possibility that there are priests who could resurrect the dead. You know what they also say? No lie slips by the priest.”
492
493	“...Do you seriously believe that there are priests capable of resurrection in the Sorcerous Kingdom? In a country where the undead are said to proudly walk the streets, tormenting the living?”
494
495	“No, I guess?”
496
497	Wayne grinned as he concurred with Igthorn.
498
499	“Regardless of that man’s goals, an attack on a Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan is beneficial to us no matter the outcome. It doesn’t matter if the attack succeeds - which I don’t think it will - or fails, because the Sorcerous Kingdom would be on high alert for further attacks in the future either way. They might stop storing grain with the Kingdom’s merchants. That way, those idiots would get a wake up call and start making plans with a more solid foundation. Also-” Wayne laughed mockingly, “that man will be done for no matter what.”
500
501	“Is he worth all the hassle? For us to take all of these risks just for him?”
502
503	“Of course he’s not worth it personally, but it’s necessary to hinder Cygnaeus, the woman behind him, even if it’s by a little. She must be planning to use him to manipulate the faction and draw attention away from her, ultimately allowing her syndicate to operate in one form out in the open. If that wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t make sense for them to invest so much money on the faction.”
504
505	The Royal faction and the Noble faction had already lost much of their power. If one could freely manipulate this third faction of theirs, they would be able to wield a terrifying amount of authority. This meant that the Eight Fingers would be in charge of both the Kingdom’s legal and illegal affairs.
506
507	“I would only be able to come up with temporary solutions for these things, but you’ve already thought this far ahead huh?”
508
509	As Igthorn said, such an idea should be out of reach from the minds of nobles, let alone a lowly Baron. The truth is of course, not all barons are the same, some of them owned more land than nobles of a higher rank. Unfortunately for the two of them, their territories were of sizes befitting a Baron, so they were your average barons in the Kingdom.
510
511	All the nobles without connections in the Royal faction or the Noble faction wanted to do was to better develop their land. For this to happen, the Kingdom must also change for the better.
512
513	They had the idea not just because they were nobles, it was also borne of their own ambitions.
514
515	What they desired was to become wealthier and happier.
516
517	That’s why they would exploit any beneficial opportunities to its maximum potential.
518
519	“But even if we switched to a better faction, we would have to rebuild our reputation and connections all over again, right?”
520
521“Yeah, right.”
522
523	They had joined the faction to obtain opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them had they joined a more well-established faction. However, they never expected the Eight Fingers to appoint such a cretin to its leadership position. It seemed as though joining this faction was a mistake.
524
525	“Speaking of which, would the Sorcerous Kingdom use this as an excuse to declare war on the Kingdom?”
526
527	Wayne thought about it for a moment and shook his head.
528
529	“Unlikely. The Sorcerous Kingdom is a nation with a single city, they lack the manpower to fully occupy the entire Kingdom. Even if they have a lot of undead, they’re only suitable for simple manual labor anyways. They can’t properly manage a country, so even if war was declared, they would only ask for land that is closest to them at most… It shouldn’t be an issue for nobles like us whose land is far from the Sorcerous Kingdom. -now then”
530
531	He raised up a clenched fist as he spoke and Igthorn mirrored his movements to give him a fistbump.
532
533	“Let’s do this!”
534
535	“Yeah!”
536Chapter 1 Part 3:
537
538	Philip had finally reached his destination, a patch of road in Baron Delvin’s demesne. He had led his soldiers on a march, starting from the previous day and camping overnight, to the location of the attack. According to intel, a Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan would be passing through this place.
539
540	Philip was on horseback, looking down upon his lined up soldiers.
541
542	They were soldiers, or more accurately villagers, under his command.
543
544	A total of fifty were gathered.
545
546	He had sent draft orders throughout his entire territory, but not many men responded to the call. The most common response was that they had already served the time they were obligated to.
547
548	The truth was, this heavily upset Philip.
549
550	The plan was devised for the future prosperity of their lands, for the good of everyone who lived there. There was also an abundance of potential spoils of war, which Philip had given thought to and proposed that it should be distributed to everybody. Still, no one came to help.
551
552	They’re too foolish.
553
554	A bunch of ignoramuses who could not tell if something was beneficial to them or not. Nay, this was the exact reason why they had to be led and lorded over by a genius such as himself.
555
556	Despite trying so hard to convince himself otherwise, his anger towards those who didn’t understand him flared up. He had thought about forced conscription, but that would definitely enrage his old man, who already had a foot through death’s door.
557
558	In the end, he paid them in advance with the money he had borrowed from Hilma.
559
560	After all of his hard work, he managed to gather fifty men, but these were either old geezers well past their prime, sick youths with frail bodies, or men with inflated egos who went around looking for fights in their villages and were generally fractious.
561
562	To put it bluntly, they were the nuisances of their village and none of them were worth the money. Even so, Philip felt an indescribable excitement basking in the gaze of his soldiers.
563
564	He had a hunch that a widely circulated heroic tale of his own was about to begin. No, it had already begun.
565
566	As his territory will inevitably expand, so too would his status grow. He will soon be joining the world’s stage under brilliant limelight.
567
568	He was about to deliver the first blow to the Sorcerous Kingdom, a feat no one else could accomplish. As a ploy to contain the Sorcerous Kingdom, this would surely allow Philip to receive high praise from the royal family and a rank that’s befitting this achievement. Perhaps he could even marry that beautiful princess-
569
570	“-So, milord, can we actually attack them?”
571
572	Philip, who had been basking in his dream, was dragged back to reality as if a bucket of cold water had just been dumped over him.
573
574	He returned to his senses and looked at the soldier who had asked the question. 
575
576	The soldier was an ordinary man, around 30 years old. He wore disheveled clothes and, for some reason, was holding a wooden shovel. Even a club would have been better than a shovel, otherwise even some of the sticks lying around here would have worked as well. Philip wanted to say something about that, but the shovel was probably the result of his order to have them bring their own weapons.
577
578	Frankly, seeing that a few of the villagers were without even sticks gave Philip a bit of a headache. Apart from them, however, the group as a whole appeared as though they were some destitute bandits. Perhaps it could even fool their opponents into believing so.
579
580	The soldiers around them apparently agreed with the man’s doubts, as everyone within sight turned their heads towards him as if to say “yeah, I was thinking about the same thing”.
581
582	“It’ll be fine, this is a move to save the Kingdom.”
583
584	“Uh, milord, we don’t really get the whole Kingdom thing, it’s too complicated for us. We won’t get tied up and ‘ave our heads chopped off though, ye?” Another man asked, and soon the others started to echo along with their “yeah”s.
585
586	Philip was greatly surprised by the questions that demonstrated a complete lack of an understanding of justice.
587
588	{-It’s precisely because so many people like them exist, that someone talented like me has to lead them. Nobody obeyed my plans on farm management because these people could only think on a surface level...}
589
590	“I said there would be no problems, are you all deaf?”
591
592	“...No, no we aren’t.”
593
594	The soldiers were not convinced, their spite was visible.
595
596	Maybe he should have executed someone as a warning to the others, but that would make it seem like he couldn’t lead at all. He would lose his dignity if he couldn’t get them to work despite knowing that there were risks involved.
597
598	As Philip panicked and knew not what to do, he heard the overpowering sound of horses’ hooves stomping on the ground. He turned his head to see two horsemen galloping towards him. Their faces were both covered save for the eyes, but he still knew who they were.
599
600	The two stopped afar and waved at him.
601
602	{Why didn’t they come over here? Shouldn’t they come towards me and not the other way round?} Philip thought maybe they had something to say that must be kept secret.
603
604	“Hm, I guess I have to.”
605
606	He could finally feel a bit better about himself by saying things in a pretentious manner and so changed his expression to a flippant one to match.
607
608	Philip moved towards them on horseback. He had had some practice riding, so having a horse walk in a straight line was not a problem.
609
610	“Baron, how are your preparations coming along?”
611
612	The man’s face was masked so it was hard to identify him, but judging from the voice and his build, the man could be deduced to be Baron Delvin, or Wayne.
613
614	His outfit, however, was nothing like that of a baron’s.
615
616	The hide armour was a bit dirty and a sword hung by his waist. His horse looked bored and lifeless, like a farm horse instead of a warhorse. Next to him was Baron Rokerson, or Igthorn, who looked pretty much the same. Their appearances matched so well that even their horses looked similar.
617
618	Unlike Philip who had some financial backing, they must have been quite poor. Philip thought about the time when he had seen them wearing shabby clothes, and tried his best to hide the sense of superiority that was about to show on his face.
619
620	{Well, now I can’t show this pathetic duo that I’m irritated by my soldiers’ low morale, can I? This is such a pain.}
621
622	He, as someone of higher status, must show to those below him what exactly made him superior to them. Philip must act as a role model for society, and the inferior must follow Philip. That way, the world could run smoothly.
623
624	“Only the two of you? What about your men?”
625
626	“We have already prepared them, right?”
627
628	“Exactly, our soldiers will flank Philip-kakka’s and form the Crane-Wing Formation.”
629
630	“Oh! The Crane-Wing Formation!”
631
632	Even Philip knew about that formation. Deploying such a famous formation was quite a gratifying thing to do; it was as though he had become the protagonist of some tale.
633
634	“So, if things go south please scatter towards the left and right. The enemy won’t scatter if we only go in one direction. Remember to spread as far apart as possible when retreating.”
635
636	“I understand. It’s fine, you don’t need to remind-”
637
638	“-Wouldn’t it be better to decide in advance who should go which way? A successful retreat can be difficult in the heat of battle. This applies to Philip-kakka as well. Which direction will you be retreating to?”
639
640	They spoke as though they had foreseen his defeat, this made Philip quite upset.
641
642	“So you’re sure that I’ll lose?”
643
644	“No, no, it’s nothing like that, Philip-kakka. Have you heard of the tactic of feigning a retreat to exterminate all the pursuing enemies in one go?”
645
646	“-ah, aha, yes I have.”
647
648	{Oh I see}, Philip accepted their explanation, but since it would be unpleasant to admit his ignorance, he acted as though he had already known of the tactic.
649
650	“As I thought, you knew about it. Well there you have it, this is the strategy, one that includes a strategic retreat.”
651
652	{Well in that case…} As Philip was getting ready to discuss which way to retreat to, he realized that an important piece of information was missing.
653
654	“Before I answer, I have a question. You two haven’t told me about the size of your forces yet. How many men did you bring?”
655
656	“75 each.”
657
658	Philip was so shocked that they could muster up more men than he could that the thought that {with these numbers, escaping in any direction would be the same} never crossed his mind until later on. Philip rationalized that, since this was their demesne after all, it made sense that it wouldn't be as difficult for them to do so. If this were simply a matter of quantity, things would have been much easier, the problem lied in their prior considerations. Philip estimates that he could have mustered at least twice the number of men had this been his demesne.
659
660	“...if we have this much manpower, doesn’t it make more sense for us to attack all at the same time? After all, we have around 200 men here.”
661
662	“Though that would be a viable option too, it wouldn’t be the Crane-Wing Formation. For it to be a Crane-Wing Formation, Philip-kakka soldiers must advance first with our forces covering the side flanks.”
663
664	“Ahh, so that’s why!”
665 
666	Right, that’s why. He had managed to completely forget about it.
667
668	Wayne let out an audible sigh. Since his face was completely covered, no one could see his current expression.
669	
670	“I’m glad you could understand. Now then, which direction should we retreat to?”
671
672	“Ah, yes. We’ll retreat towards Igthorn-kakka’s direction then.”
673
674	“So towards the left flank, I understand. Then I’ll request that you stick to the battle plan we had discussed before. Please also keep an eye out for archers, it’s not so uncommon for horses to kill their riders in a stampede once they’ve been struck by arrows.”
675
676	“As long as I have this armor, I’ll be fine even if a horse stepped on me. This is a high-grade item that was crafted by a renowned blacksmith and enchanted by magic casters.”
677
678	Philip’s armor set was a gift from Hilma. The armor had been enchanted with magic that boosted its defense, allowing it to outclass the armor set that had been passed down as a family heirloom in his house. Though he had received this gift quite a while back, he had never had the chance to try it out yet. This will be the armor’s debut.
679
680	That Baron over there certainly did not have something of such high quality. Philip tried his hardest to stop his sense of superiority from showing up in his voice.
681
682	“Even so, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Everything would be for naught if kakka were to be killed in the fray. This is the truth.”
683
684	“That’s correct, because Philip-kakka is our general.”
685
686	“Even if you’re donned with such excellent armor, there are still weak points where an arrow could strike. In addition, no matter how durable the armor is, it cannot defend against most spells. Please do not let down your guard because of the armor, after all, Philip-kakka is our general.”
687
688	Their repeated warnings greatly annoyed Philip, but he understood where they were coming from. If a general were to be slain, then the battle would be over, that was common sense.
689
690	Knowing that these two saw him as their leader, Philip couldn’t help but smile.
691
692	“Of course, I understand.”
693
694	“...Also, where will Philip-kakka deploy our formations? It would be too dangerous to deploy on the road. I believe it would be best to stay back, that way we could rush to your aid if we have to retreat. It would help if you can tell us your position.”
695
696	{Umu, umu.} Philip was in agreement.
697
698	When the general is in danger, it is the duty of his subordinates to rush to his aid. Though this was common sense, Philip was shocked that he wasn’t the one to suggest this in the first place.
699
700	{I would have noticed these things if this was the usual me...right now I’m just too excited. This is my first time organizing a battle of this scale.}
701
702	Philip gulped slightly and took a deep breath.
703
704	“Wha-, what’s wrong?”
705
706	“Ah, nothing. I was just trying to temper the fiery passion for this battle in my heart.”
707
708	“...oh-, I see. Is that so…? Umm, then where would Philip-kakka like to wait for the caravan?”
709
710	“First of all-”
711
712	Philip took a look to his left and right.
713
714	The paved roads were quite wide, enough space for two carriages to pass through side-by-side. This road seemed to be a major source of income for Baron Delvin.
715
716	There were lush forests to the sides of the road but the closest spots to the road where bandits would usually hide, had been cleared completely down to just grass.
717
718	The forest was under human management, apparently to allow pigs to forage the grounds for acorns and the like, so there was no need for them to be on alert for monsters or wild beasts. 
719
720	If that’s the case-
721
722	“We’ll set up the ambush in the forest.”
723
724	“I see. If that’s the case, I know of a suitable spot. There’s a patch of forest where twigs, weeds, and whatnot have already been cleared out, that could allow us to retreat on horseback. How do you feel about that?”
725
726	“Such a place exists?”
727
728	“Indeed. When Philip-kakka decided to launch the ambush in these lands we knew something like that was necessary, so we took the time to prepare that spot”
729
730	Philip had repeatedly chosen this patch of land for the ambush in their previous meetings. Though he had asked Wayne and Igthorn for their opinions, both of them deferred to Philip. It must have been quite troublesome for them to make preparations after that.
731
732	“Then I’m truly grateful to you.”
733
734	“Nonsense, since you had to take on the risks of leading the first charge, what we did was just our fair share, right?”
735
736	“It’s just as Wayne-kakka had surmised!”
737
738	The two led Philip to the site and it was just as they had described. There shouldn’t be an issue for horses to gallop if the grounds were in this condition.
739
740	As he finished his discussion with the two, Philip simply walked back to his soldiers.
741
742	Philip couldn’t stop sweating because of his full body armor, and because they were on uneven ground, his helmet could cause him to lose his balance and fall over easily.
743
744	“Whooo, whooo”
745
746	Philip wheezed heavily as he took off his helmet to clip on below his waist. He took out a handkerchief and began to furiously wipe his forehead.
747
748	Philip felt like the armor was a failure. Even though an armor’s defensive capabilities are its most important quality, mobility is equally as important. He seems to remember that there were enchantments that lighten armor, he’ll have to ask for one of those in the future. Or perhaps an enchantment that prevents him from sweating while he’s wearing the armor.
749
750	He should talk to Hilma about this the next time he’s in the capital.
751
752	After making a mental note of that, he walked back to the site where he saw his soldiers bored out of their minds doing nothing.
753
754	“Sorry for the wait”
755
756	“-milord. Who is that man who’s covered his face? His appearance screams bandit. Are we being set up?”
757
758	“That’s impossible, that man’s obviously an esteemed noble of the Kingdom. Speaking of appearance, don’t mention it. It’s not as though every nobleman could afford full body armor.”
759
760	Plus, during the battle of the Katze Plains, those families that had lost their successors also lost many heirloom weapons and armor. Philip’s household was in this exact situation, if he loses this set of armor it would be difficult to acquire one again.
761
762	Though it appears the soldiers do not believe in his reasoning, there was no need to force them to accept it.
763
764	“Okay! Let’s wait till the caravan arrives! After it does, we’ll attack it immediately!”
765
766	Philip heard no response and raised his voice.
767
768	“Do you understand!!?”
769
770	“Understood…”
771
772	Though everybody answered begrudgingly, their voices in unison were still loud enough to be heard. 
773
774	Philip was unsatisfied with their response, but he’ll have to leave it at that. This is their first battle after all, there was no need for them to meet all expectations.
775
776	For them to develop into excellent soldiers, they will have to focus on the most immediate problems at hand.
777
778	As Philip mulled over these thoughts, he sat on the ground as if his body was giving in to the desire for rest.
779
780--------
781
782Chapter 1 Part 4:
783
784	A vast criminal syndicate known as the Eight Fingers lurked in the shadows of the Kingdom.
785
786	There existed eight divisions within the syndicate, one of them being the smuggling division. Christopher Olsen, a member of said division, sported the face of an honest merchant. His words carried quite a bit of weight on the major trade route connecting the royal capital to the west side of the Kingdom. As such, he had had the first-hand experience in having his warehouses be looted clean of various types of goods during Jaldabaoth’s rampage.
787
788	They had substantial losses but it did not spell the end for his company. Still, a considerable amount of time was now necessary to recover those losses, so he found it to be a necessity to borrow a portion of the funds from the Eight Fingers.
789
790	You’ve got to spend money to make money, that was how businesses operated. Of course, it could also lead to greater losses, but as long as he kept his head down and avoided unnecessary risks, there was not much to worry about.
791
792	Borrowing money from Eight Fingers, however, would start one down the gradual path towards losing oneself. The Eight Fingers would force merchants who had made losses into criminal activities such as smuggling, selling or transporting narcotics.
793
794	Merchants fell into this trap quite often.
795
796	So what about Christopher, who had already been ensnared?
797
798	In order to borrow money, he had had a meeting with the leaders of the divisions, which shocked him, to say the least. Christopher belonged to the smuggling division, so the management of loans should have been by his superiors in the same division. Meetings with the executives of the other divisions should have been an impossibility.
799
800	Despite all of this, he got to meet with the top brass. Was it because his accomplishments had earned him a high recommendation? Or was it some other reason unbeknownst to him? He couldn’t figure out why even after the meeting had concluded. The only thing that he was certain of was his suspicions towards the divisions’ leaders’ unusually friendly attitude towards him, knowing full well how they were feared even by the dark side of society.
801
802	Of course, goodwill from mafia heads could just as easily be faked as anything else.
803
804	Another thing that caught his attention was the fact that they, befitting their status at the highest echelon of the organization, apparently took their own health quite seriously. Though he wondered if they were perhaps a bit too skinny, they were definitely healthier compared to his overweight body.
805
806	Such people of importance had given him a job on the spot.
807
808	The kind of job to be given out depended on various factors, such as the amount of money borrowed, the value of the person as a human being, and whether that person could be of use to Eight Fingers in the future. Those with better ratings were given safer jobs and vice versa.
809
810	The job given to him was-
811
812	“-Transportation of Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain, huh. Whether if it’s safe or not is still unclear, hm.”
813
814	“Hm, what’s the matter? Did you say something, sir?”
815
816	“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just mumbling to myself.”
817
818	The one to respond to his question was the leader of the mercenary division.
819
820	He was a robust man.
821
822	Very much different from Christopher, who was in his forties and saved up a thick layer of fat around his waist. The man was young, sharp, and apparently only in his twenties.
823
824	He wore a steel chestplate with chainmail underneath. A helmet that could cover his entire face sat next to him, together with a well-worn sword.
825
826	The man was the leader in charge of protecting the Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain caravan, which consisted of seven carriages.
827
828	The security detail consisted of 24 people in total, all of which were employed by Eight Fingers and like Christopher himself, belonged to the smuggling division.
829
830	Though they were members of the same department, they still charged for their service and at a rate higher than that of mercenaries of a similar level nonetheless. On the other hand, they no longer had to worry about information leakage for secret missions as they were more loyal to the mission at hand.
831
832	In the face of threats that couldn’t be taken care of, regular mercenaries would probably just abandon the mission, but these men would fight as rearguards to their death. This was understandable, as abandoning the mission would cost the higher-ups their dignity; as a result, they would have been hunted down and murdered even if they were to make it out alive.
833
834	Therefore, for someone like Christopher who did not know of any trustworthy mercenaries, these men from the Eight Fingers were probably his best choice. But then again, for this mission, they were his only choice.
835
836	It was a direct order from the higher-ups to use these men.
837
838	To make up for the lack of options, they were to provide their services for free and so he had surplus funds to hire even more mercenaries. However, hiring extra mercenaries would be seen as a sign of distrust towards the men. Nevermind the fact that their employment was specified by the top brass, so hiring other mercenaries could be seen as him disobeying their orders.
839
840	After giving it some thought, Christopher decided against hiring extra mercenaries.
841
842	Moreover, all of the guards appeared to be quite capable, but of course, Christopher, who was no warrior, could not properly grasp their strength. That was not a problem however, as the higher-ups have vouched for them by claiming that they were outstanding. Going against orders would be dangerous regardless of the reason.
843
844	That being said, if he were to be asked whether if he felt it was safe to depart with such a small detail, he would have wished for more capable men.
845
846	It would have been great if he could borrow a boss from the security department, a member of the Six Arms, the enforcement group of the Eight Fingers. Needless to say, that wish would never come true.
847
848	It was said that the Six Arms, including its leader Zero, who was said to be the strongest warrior in all of the Eight Fingers, was exterminated in a conflict with the royal family, just before the calamity caused by Jaldabaoth.
849
850	Credible intel attributed their defeat to Brain Unglaus, a warrior serving under the Golden Princess.
851
852	It would be outrageous to assume that all six of them were defeated by a single person, but apparently the Blue Roses, an Adamantite ranked adventurer group, had joined the fight as well. Christopher deduced from this that it was most likely a six-vs-six battle.
853
854	The security department was said to have lost most of its members in the battle. At the moment, every department was building up a force of its own to compensate for the loss, to the point where even members of the assassination division began to operate out in the light.
855
856	Nevertheless, this managed to improve the mood of those within the Eight Fingers to the point where it was now better than it was before the appearance of Jaldabaoth.
857
858	Internal conflicts were rife in the past and it wasn’t unlikely for one to fall victim to dirty tricks being played behind their backs. Some merchants were even reported to the authorities by people from the other departments during the most crucial stages of a smuggling mission.
859
860	At the moment, however, the higher-ups were being so cooperative with each other that it was almost disgusting to think of.
861
862	Business had expanded as a result and illegal profits from each endeavour grew too.
863
864	“Puhuuu-ahhh.”
865
866	The mercenary leader farted audibly while yawning. It was an unavoidable physiological phenomenon, but he had no intention to apologize.
867
868	A disgraceful action.
869
870	Christopher frowned. That was the worst sound to wake up to from a daydream.
871
872	He honestly wanted to complain, but this man was to be his companion during the trip to and from Re-Lovell, a large port city on the west side of the Kingdom. His desire to maintain a friendly relationship with him suppressed his desire to complain.
873
874	Ships would be used to transport the cargo from Re-Lovell to the Holy Kingdom, so that would be the job of a certain maritime merchant. He was a great man and Christopher knew him well. It came as a surprise to him that the man was also a member of Eight Fingers, but he claimed they were collaborating solely for the mutual benefits.
875
876	Still, he couldn’t help but worry.
877
878	“You seem relaxed. You don’t think anyone’s going to attack?”
879
880	“Hm? Oh, I haven’t gotten that stinging feeling, so no prob- Oh, you probably wanted to say that feelings can’t be trusted, eh? Well, I understand where you’re coming from but you surely have had moments when you thought ‘this will work out fine’, right? There are also times where you have had a bad feeling about something so you try to plan for it, and it ended up being true, or something.”
881
882	“...Yeah, I’ve had those experiences.”
883
884	“See? Our past experiences can function as our intuition.”
885
886	The mercenary leader spoke in a tone that did not match his appearances at all.
887
888	“See. Well, we’re also flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag. Only ignorant villagers-turned-bandits would dare attack such a caravan, in which case, we can easily take care of even a hundred of them.”
889
890	“What if it isn’t villagers?”
891
892	“Are you worrying about down and out mercenaries? Would they not be able to recognize the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the hottest of all topics?” he shrugged, “experienced mercenaries are surprisingly well-informed. Those who don’t even know of the flags of the countries around don’t scare me at all. ...Looks like you’re not buying it. Think about it, wouldn’t it be worrying to not know which noble you’re picking a fight with? You wouldn’t want to get into trouble that way, would you?”
893
894	“That makes sense… I’m curious, which nobles are the riskiest to pick a fight with?”
895
896	“About that- for example the famous ones like Raeven and Boullope. The likes of them have strong armies stationed within their own territories and it’d be dangerous to bump into them. Well, they both suffered great losses in that war, so maybe they’re not as dangerous as before… Don’t be careless. Blumrush pays well so I don’t wanna get on his bad side… Well, I simply just don’t want enmity from any of the noble lords.”
897
898	“But you’re being backed by a criminal syndicate. Are you being serious?”
899
900	“So are you, right? If I get into trouble with them, the big shots will just abandon me without a second thought. Same goes for you, yeah?”
901
902	“Yeah.”
903
904	They fell silent and the mood began to feel a bit gloomy.
905
906	They were reminded of the ruthlessness of the top brass, but there was nothing they could do about it as people who were part of such an organization purely for the profits. Perhaps there was a way of life for him that did not require any connections to the organization, but that wouldn’t have led to him becoming the great merchant that he is today. Perhaps he would still have had to stick to smaller business deals to this day.
907
908	The word “if” carried the connotation of an infinite amount of possibilities, but without the means to travel back in time, one must be satisfied by the present.
909
910	“...Anyways, just don’t worry, right? I get it. So what’s the worst threat that we could face as of now?”
911
912	“If the enemy were to use flaming arrows to try and burn down the caravan - burn, not rob - that would mean that we're getting involved in some greater conspiracy - a national problem. Or a rival organization’s ploy.”
913
914	“An organization that could rival the Eight Fingers… Is that even possible?”
915
916	“Don’t know. Even a rival group would probably not want to burn Sorcerous Kingdom’s goods, unless they’re confident that no clues would be left behind. Personally, I think national conspiracies or ploys from the Kingdom or other neighbouring countries are more concerning. We’re probably under a higher threat to receive an attack from those sources...”
917
918	“If that’s the case then there’s no point in worrying about it, huh.”
919
920	“Right? Anyways, it looks safe for now. Don’t worry, just sit tight.”
921
922
923Chapter 1 Part 5:
924
925*(T/N: Name change: Igthorn -> Igor)
926
927	The caravan was soon approaching a forest.
928	
929	They could utilize that fact to estimate their approximate location.
930
931	Christopher opened up a mental image of a map to confirm that they were indeed making good progress. He could finally relax. Messing up a job related to the Sorcerous Kingdom would invite some terrifying consequences.
932
933	The time was around noon. They just had to pass through this forest and then they could take a break as planned. This wasn’t a wild forest, it showed signs of being well maintained by men so it shouldn’t take too long for them to traverse through this place.
934
935	The sound of bolting horses could be heard within the wobbling carriage, which was when the carriage also started slowing down.
936
937	Christopher took a peek at the mercenary leader and found his aura to be completely different from just then, things were getting serious.
938
939	“Excuse me, but it looks like I have a job to do.”
940
941	Two men poked their head through the portière, subordinates of the mercenary leader.
942
943	“Sorry, boss! This guy said there are a lot of villagers hiding in the forests.”
944
945	The merc said as he turned to face Christopher. The one who he had referred to as ‘this guy’ was their scout.
946
947	“...Not bandits, but villagers? How’d you know that?”
948
949	“Yes. First is their equipment. They were neither armored nor armed. Many of them are using hoes as improvised weapons...not clubs but hoes.”
950
951	“Even rocks could be weaponized...but hoes you say? That’s odd. No, were they metal hoes?”
952
953	“I couldn’t get a closer look but they appeared to be made out of wood.”
954
955	Christopher, who had been silently listening in to the conversation, thought that it must have just been regular villagers who were returning home after working on their farms.
956
957	“Hah? Really? Hoes? Is this a hoax…?”
958
959	“It didn’t feel like that was the case...”
960
961	“Send a few men to disperse them? Maybe we’re being too cautious…”
962
963	The mercenary leader mumbled.
964
965	The situation called for everyone to speak their minds, and that was probably why he was mumbling loud enough to himself for the others to hear. Probably.
966
967	“Excuse me, sorry for butting in on your conversation but can I say something?”
968
969	“Ah, that’s fine. As long as it’s constructive suggestions, we can never have too many of those.”
970
971	“First of all, this forest is well maintained - a cultivated forest, people let their pigs forage here or something. Aren’t they just here to round up their pigs? If that’s the case, if we were to disperse them, it might seem as though we are trying to steal their sounder of swine. We’re flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag too, if a rumour was to circulate that the Sorcerous Kingdom is stealing pigs...wouldn’t it be bad if {that} country found out?”
972
973	“Tsss”, the mercenary leader sucked in his lips.
974
975	Up to this point they had had their safety guaranteed by the flag. They had the right of way through some of the cities along the way and were treated with respect because of it, but now it seemed as though the grace of the Sorcerous Kingdom had turned into shackles instead. To bring shame upon the Sorcerous Kingdom would be to bring disaster upon themselves.
976
977That was why Christopher did not dare bring along any contraband for sale later on.
978
979“You said there were a lot of them, how many is ‘a lot’?”
980
981	“For a rough estimate... Felt like there were around 50 men”
982
983	“I think that’s too much manpower for simple farm work, what about you?”
984
985	He was the one to bring farm work up, but his parents were merchants too. Christopher had no experience raising pigs.
986
987	“No, no. I don’t know if that’s too many or too little. I have no idea how many people are necessary to catch a pig. Maybe they’re here to plant more trees, or even cut down some. I heard there were also some types of farm work that require pigs or something…”
988
989	Well, if they brought hoes, then {that} would be more likely.
990
991	“Then, what about the noble of this land? Any tales of him working his serfs to death?”
992
993	Christopher kneaded his thick neck as he replied.
994
995	“No, I had seen him once in the past. He’s pretty young but also highly reliable. His demesne has also been stable under his management. If he was to learn more about the etiquette of the aristocracy and political strategies, he would have a bright future ahead of himself.”
996
997	Though he didn’t know him well, they had had conversations back when Christopher supplied alcohol to some tavern in the capital that was being funded by the Eight Fingers.
998
999	It was unfortunate that Christopher had not been given a warrant of appointment, so he had never done business with that noble even when he had to pass through this section of road in his demesne before. The lord here had potential worthy of Christopher’s attention, and no way was he the type to mobilize villagers to attack caravans. From what Christopher could recall, there weren’t many villagers in that man’s demesne who were hungry enough to attack a trade caravan, nevermind fifty of them.
1000	
1001	There was a world of difference between him and the man introduced to Christopher by Hilma Cygnaeus. No, that man was simply unparalleled in his inferiority. 
1002
1003	Christopher couldn’t help but suddenly tense up his forehead at the memory of being mistreated back there.
1004
1005	“Boss, even if they were to attack, they’re only fifty unarmed and unarmored villagers. We should be able to defeat them easily.”
1006
1007	“What are the chances that this is a bait and there are more soldiers lying in wait for an ambush?”
1008
1009	The two mercs looked at each other upon hearing what their leader said.
1010
1011	“That’s possible. Should we scout out our surroundings? If so we’ll need some time.”
1012
1013	“Better safe than sorry, do it.”
1014
1015	“Please don’t take too long, if we deviate from the plans too much I would have to march an army of wagons through the next time around to make up for the time we lost.”
1016
1017	“Understood, just take a look around and return as soon as possible.”
1018
1019	The scout gave a nod and ran out.
1020
1021	After around ten minutes, he returned to report that other than the fifty, there did not seem to be more waiting in ambush.
1022
1023	They arrived at the conclusion that they must be there for farm work and continued on their way. Not even five minutes had passed before the carriage stopped again.
1024
1025	“...patron, I do apologize but can I trouble you to come out for a second? The villagers have blocked our path. If they had any malicious intentions we would have just rushed them to scare them off, but they seem to be indifferent, lethargic, or...they just don’t look right. So I was hoping that you could come out and talk to them? Of course, your safety is our number one concern, so we prepared this shield for you.”
1026
1027	To tell the truth, Christopher really wanted to decline the merc’s request. He did not believe in his own abilities, after all, he had avoided any and all violent confrontations throughout his life.
1028
1029	But, this wasn’t something he could ignore. If they were to be embroiled in a dispute over what happened today, it would cost Christopher his access to this road. In that case, it wouldn’t just impact him but possibly also his children who will inherit his business.
1030
1031	“...yeah, let’s go”
1032	
1033Christopher and the mercenary leader stepped off the carriage together and walked towards the front of the entourage. They were escorted by mercs carrying a large shield known as a tower shield, which could cover half of his body during the negotiations.
1034
1035	Furthermore, they were also followed by halberdiers who were there as a deterrent and archers who hid in the forest. Of course, the mercenary leader was also there. He had warned Christopher to listen carefully to his commands should a situation arise.
1036
1037	Between the two sides of the forest on the road ahead of them, sat a few chattering villagers.
1038
1039	There was no mistaking it, they could only be villagers who were returning home after they had finished a day’s worth of farm work.
1040
1041	But if that was the case, why did they stop in the middle of the road to block them?
1042
1043	Perhaps the mercenary leader had perceived Christopher’s worries, as he started to mumble towards him in an attempt to initiate a conversation.
1044
1045	“Hey, pretty baffling right? If they’re planning to jump us they should’ve split into two and hid in the forest or something. There are lots of ways to set up an ambush, but none of them would require you to show yourself in the middle of the road. No commander would be stupid enough to make such a mistake.”
1046
1047	“Could it be that they’re trying to scare us?”
1048
1049	“Scare us? With their equipment? With those numbers? Wouldn’t that be a serious insult to us if that were the case? Has my patron only employed mercenaries of such low levels before?”
1050
1051	It was just as he had said.
1052
1053	Christopher did not bother replying but only stared towards the villagers. That said, the distance between them was huge and there were rows upon rows of mercenaries standing in front of them.
1054
1055	“I’m just a simple merchant who has accepted a transportation contract. If you’re on the road to beg some noble or whatever, we do not want anything to do with that. Please vacate the road, otherwise we will be forced to bear arms against you all in the name of self-defense.”
1056
1057	A man appeared from the forest just as he had finished speaking to the villagers.
1058
1059	The man had donned an exquisite set of full-plate armor, but because he wasn’t wearing his helmet, Christopher could see his face.
1060
1061	It was someone Christopher had met before.
1062
1063	“Unfortunately, for the sake of the Kingdom’s future, I cannot allow you to pass!”
1064
1065	“...Hah?”
1066
1067	Christopher couldn’t stop himself from vocalizing. It wasn’t just him either, the mercenaries around him had made similar sounds too.
1068
1069	“...I see. Looks like there has been some sort of a misunderstanding, we are just transporting the Sorcerous Kingdom’s food aid to the Holy Kingdom.”
1070
1071	“I mew it! Ahem-! I knew it! That’s precisely why I’m doing this!”
1072
1073	{What the fuck is this guy talking about?} or rather, {what kind of thought process would lead you to that conclusion?}
1074
1075	Christopher was perplexed from the depths of his heart.
1076
1077	But wait-
1078
1079	{It doesn’t matter what this unpleasant fool thinks. I don’t think his demesne is even close to this place? Why is he here? Are they in cahoots? But would the lord of this land even bother working with this guy?}
1080
1081	{Meh, whatever.} Christopher thought. The man had admitted guilt already, now Christopher could report back to his superiors that they were delayed by fools who were standing in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s way. It shouldn’t even be a problem with the Kingdom or the Sorcerous Kingdom if they were to kill them all. Just as he was about to motion to the mercenaries around him to slaughter them, he felt a strong feeling that he shouldn’t.
1082
1083	The man they called Philip is a nobleman who has the backing of Hilma Cygnaeus. Christopher, who was humiliated and had to hide his anger beneath a fake smile back then, was told that though this man was moronic, he still had value, so it was best to just ignore his own humiliation.
1084	
1085	Would it be such a good idea to kill a valuable pawn of the Eight Fingers?
1086
1087	Speaking from common sense, there’d be no way a local noble would attack a caravan that was flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag. Everyone should know that that would just invite the Sorcerous Kingdom’s wrath and spark all-out war between the nations. No matter how dumb a noble may be, they certainly wouldn’t do something so braindead.
1088
1089	If that was the case- what would his reason be to undertake such a task?
1090
1091	{Plus, if he was trying to pretend to be a bandit, he would at least cover up his face. I can’t understand his reasoning.}
1092
1093	No matter how stupid someone could be, they should at least know that they should be concealing their identity in this situation. Since he was wearing that set of full-plate armor, it should’ve come with a helmet that could cover his entire face. If that was the case-
1094
1095	{He wants us to see his face. He wants us to identify him as Philip? Why wou- Ah!}
1096
1097	Christopher was suddenly reminded of the existence of illusion magic.
1098
1099	{That’s it! It’s an illusion! Someone’s trying to frame Philip so they faked his appearance. Maybe those villagers aren’t villagers after all...}
1100
1101	He had managed to deduce it perfectly.
1102
1103	Then-
1104
1105	“So, so you’re saying, you’re robbing us specifically because we’re carrying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain. Is that correct?”
1106
1107	“Oy, oy? Patron, what’s wrong?”
1108
1109	The mercenary leader who had been standing beside him asked with a perplexed expression. That was to be expected. He had expected an order to kill, so Christopher must have appeared to him like a mad man.
1110
1111	“That’s right! We’ll be using these grains efficiently!”
1112
1113	The man, who was purportedly Philip, replied with pride.
1114
1115	{He’s talking like a retard… The man pretending to be him must also be thinking why he’d have to say something so dumb. But...}
1116
1117	Could this be a pre-prepared script? But why?
1118
1119	Christopher’s first thought was of the rival organizations the mercenary leader had mentioned in their previous conversation, his next thought was of the leaders of the Eight Fingers.
1120
1121	If it was the former, they had to get away from this place immediately. The Eight Finger handed out the most ruthless punishments for those who had betrayed them, followed by those who had failed a job they had given to them. If the former was the case, then their opponents must have enough numbers to defeat Christopher’s security detail. But even if they’re just wearing disguises or whatever, Christopher couldn’t think of a reason why there would be shovel-wielding villagers.
1122
1123	Now that he thought about it, the latter felt more natural. If that was the case, then they’re dealing with something truly troublesome, something that’s extremely troublesome. This could imply that the leaders of the Eight Fingers were not as united as previously thought, but were still attempting to sabotage each other. Or, was this the will of all of the leaders?
1124
1125	{-are we being thrown away? Are they trying to push the crime of killing Philip, a noble of the Kingdom, onto me? ...his actual body might have already been dealt with.}
1126
1127If that was the case, what would their next best move be?
1128
1129“Hey, patron? What are we doing? Are you scared? You know that we can easily fight off someone like him, right? Though that noble-looking nutjob has some pretty impressive armor, he doesn’t seem to have the skills to match.”
1130
1131	The mercenary leader spoke in a hushed tone. This wasn’t the time for that, he shouldn’t be interrupting Christopher’s thoughts.
1132
1133	“-hold on. Just wait for a minute.”
1134
1135	Their problem wasn’t going away. If they were pushing the job to kill Philip onto him, why didn’t they mention it before? Had they told Christopher in advance, he wouldn’t have to worry as much. He would have just taken care of that man as if he was just a normal bandit.
1136
1137	So was their plan to make it out to be that a Sorcerous Kingdom’s caravan had killed one of the Kingdom’s nobles, and bring the nations to the brink of war? This thought made Christopher uncontrollably tilt his head.
1138
1139	As the situation stands, it was more like a merchant of the Kingdom killing one of its nobles in self-defense.
1140
1141	It would be hard to force a war on these conditions. Of course, Christopher, as someone who had had deep connections to the criminal underworld, knew full well that many people wouldn’t think twice about doing something as long as they had a reason prepared. There were also people who would kill for the simplest slight, but it was hard to imagine a country being this impulsive.
1142
1143	{...Then there’s only one possibility left. The top brass had decided on this already, but the word never got to me, so it’s just a misunderstanding. After all, there would be no way they thought that it was possible for them to kill us all right now and not have news of it spread all over the place.}
1144
1145	Careless mistakes being made was a tale as old as time, so it wasn’t as though that was an unreasonable assumption. What would be his best move from this point onward?
1146
1147	If he was to take independent actions, there was a chance that he would be ‘taken care of’. If he wanted to avoid that kind of situation, he should have an excuse for himself at the very least - he should act in a way that makes it possible to shift responsibility to someone else.
1148
1149	{Killing that Philip guy would be the worst option. Once he’s dead we can’t bring him back and it would probably anger Cygnaeus-sama. If that’s the case...}
1150
1151	“...Leave the cargo...leave this place. If we did that he wouldn’t chase us would he?”
1152
1153	“Hah?”
1154
1155	Christopher tried his best to ignore the perplexed sounds coming out of the mercenary leader’s mouth.
1156
1157	“Of course! I do not intend to harm the merchants of the Kingdom!”
1158
1159	{Even if it isn’t directly, you’re still harming me.} Though those were his hate-filled thoughts, Christopher did not let it show on his face.
1160
1161	“Oy, oy, oy? Are you for real? Are you being serious right now? What’s going on? What’s happening? Are you under a spell? Or do you see an entire army I’m not seeing right now?”
1162
1163	“This is an order from your patron, prepare for a full retreat.”
1164
1165	The mercenary leader rolled his eyes and got quiet for a moment. Perhaps he was considering the possibility that Christopher was under a spell, his own opinions, and his future. After a while, with an expression that said he couldn’t accept any of this, he said, “I understand.”
1166
1167	The mercenaries covered for Christopher as they backed away. 
1168
1169	He was allowing the grain to be taken away, but he knew the exact quantity and what exactly was in the cargo. If worse comes to worst, he could always re-purchase the cargo and send it to the Holy Kingdom. They wouldn’t be so picky as to only want this exact caravan of grain, right?
1170
1171	Though he would have to apologize to the maritime merchant who was waiting on him, it was imperative for him to return to the capital to ask Cygnaeus-sama about this.
1172
1173
1174	Christopher knew from the depth of his heart that there was no easy way out of this situation.
1175
1176---
1177
1178	Was it because the merchants knew which side was in the right? They backed off without even unsheathing their swords.
1179
1180	There were numerous wagons as their spoils of war.
1181
1182	He had taken a look inside, they were all filled with barrels and crates, each filled to the brim with grain. Though it was all the types of grain that was easy to store and were by no means fresh, they should be safe for consumption.
1183
1184	It was disappointing how it was just food.
1185
1186	Philip wanted to take something as a trophy to commemorate his great achievement, but grain couldn’t fulfill that purpose. 
1187
1188	{If only there were sets of armor or swords in here, I could take one as a souvenir...so I really should have asked those men to leave their weapons behind, huh?}
1189
1190	Philip looked over the cargo wagons that were his prize.
1191
1192	The horses had been taken away already so they did not have a way to move them. Of course, Philip had ordered them to leave the horses, but someone who looked like he led the mercenary group had refused his order.
1193
1194	He even shot an arrow to the tree next to Philip back then.
1195
1196	Though Philip hated his guts, he had no other option but to back down.
1197
1198	{I have my full plate armor so I should be fine, but these soldiers aren’t in the same boat as I am. Ah, how merciful am I to forfeit my own gains out of consideration for these people. Though, considering how everything had gone so well - not a single injury and not a single drop of blood spilt - I wanted to keep that up till the end.}
1199
1200	Philip surveyed his spoils and his gaze fell upon the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom.
1201
1202	{Oh, I can keep this as a souvenir. The first to capture the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag, the country that had defeated the Kingdom’s 200,000 strong army in battle, is me!}
1203
1204	{Umu umu, umu umu}, Philp nodded his head.
1205
1206	Though he wanted to hide his joy, he couldn’t help but smile.
1207
1208	A perfect conclusion suited him the best - as he thought, he was truly someone with exceptional abilities. This made him extremely happy.
1209
1210	In front of him were the excellent fruits of his labour.
1211
1212	Since there were multiple flags around, it should be fine if he did it to one of them right? After finishing that thought, Philip dropped the flag and began to stomp on it.
1213
1214	The image of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag being defiled with dirt filled his heart with excitement. This wasn’t something anyone else in the Kingdom could accomplish.
1215
1216	That’s right, Philip had accomplished what no other man could.
1217
1218	{Look at that! I’m not a good-for-nothing after all! Compared to brother, compared to father - compared to everyone else in the Kingdom! I’m truly the greatest!}
1219
1220	“Ah, umm, my lord. Can we really take these? Or is it better to leave ‘em where they stand?”
1221
1222	One of the villagers checking the wagons asked timidly. With his excitement curbed, Philip asked without masking his emotions, “...What are you talking about?”
1223
1224	“No, you see, umm, won’t those who ran away come back ‘ere with soldiers?”
1225
1226	“What do you mean? You think it would be better if we killed those merchants?”
1227
1228	“N-no! I didn’t mean that! Killing them would ‘ave been unnecessary.”
1229
1230	“Then what are you trying to say?”
1231
1232	“Umm, my lord. What should we do about these? If we can take them back, how do we do that?”
1233
1234	The other villagers chimed in, it was what was bothering Philip as well.
1235
1236	“What should we do…”
1237
1238	Even if he forced all fifty of them to carry it back all on their backs, it still wouldn’t be enough to move all of their spoils back. The carriages themselves were also of high quality so they could probably fetch a fair price, or Philip could just use them.
1239
1240	But, with the manpower he has on hand, moving these back wouldn’t be an easy task - it would be heavy, gruelling physical labour.
1241
1242	Right as Philip was agonizing over the matter, he heard the sound of people running on grass. Upon looking at the source of the sound, he saw the silhouettes of two masked men.
1243
1244	“Philip-kakka!”
1245
1246	It was Wayne’s voice, but his equipment looked completely different from before. The dirty leather armor he had on was now replaced by a sturdy chestplate, he had a sword by his waist too. Why would he change his equipment? Philip felt doubt in his heart, but the feeling of excitement over the result of this operation was much stronger and thus overrode it.
1247
1248	“Hey! You two! Come, over here - look at our haul!”
1249
1250	“This...what, what happened?”
1251
1252	Wayne stood still, surveyed his surroundings, and spoke with an incredulous tone as if the cargo wagons being there was a strange sight to behold. Outside of regular combat and raids- once he considered that, Philip understood what questions Wayne had in mind.
1253
1254	As if to affirm Philip’s thoughts, Igor opened his mouth to ask.
1255
1256	“...Exactly. Looks like none of Philip-kakka’s soldiers have been harmed. The ground looks fine - the air looks fine, not even a whiff of blood. What kind of tactic did you employ? Did you have on your person any special magical items?”
1257
1258	If only he had any arcane talents, but that wasn’t what Igor was talking about was he?
1259
1260	“None of that, after all I’ve gathered a great number of men, the enemy simply did not want to fight to their deaths. I think.”
1261
1262	The two of them turned to face each other, but because both of them had their faces obscured, he couldn’t see what their expressions were like.
1263
1264	“Now then - how should we split this?”
1265
1266	If he was being honest, the spoils of war in front of them were there entirely because of Philip’s actions. It did irritate him somewhat that he had to split the prize with two people who had just been standing far back as spectators. However, if Philip were to take it all for himself, they would surely be unhappy too. After all, they also had to mobilize the villagers in their demesnes. Eighty percent of the spoils should go to Philip, those two can take the rest of it.
1267
1268	{To take a tenth of the spoils each just for mobilizing some villagers, there’d be no way they would want more, right?}
1269
1270	“Ah, no need to worry about that. It doesn’t sit right with us if we were to take a portion of the spoils without doing anything at all. Please, Philip-kakka, you should take it all. I trust that there aren’t any objections?”
1271
1272	“That’s right, Philip-kakka should take it all, including the cargo wagons.”
1273
1274	Even someone like Philip would feel guilty to take it all after hearing such cordial words. Though they did say their villages were too small so Philip couldn’t stay there, the fact that they had set up camps near the forest and had prepared food for him meant that those favours must be repaid.
1275
1276	“Nonsense, nonsense. Aren’t we partners? I would have to leave some of the spoils behind anyways, please feel free to use them.”
1277
1278	“No no, we have more than enough, Philip-kakka.”
1279
1280	Wayne replied without hesitation, not a single shred of doubt was present in his answer.
1281
1282	“These were all earned through Philip-kakka’s efforts. As the etiquette of the nobility would dictate, we cannot accept these.”
1283
1284	“Is that true?”
1285
1286	“Yes,” both of them answered simultaneously. They seemed to possess an unyielding will on this matter, so there was nothing he could do about it. {This is all mine!} Philip’s heart fluttered at that thought.
1287
1288	“Since it has come down to this, I’ll take it all. Also- though I’m embarrassed to ask, I do have a request for you two. Could I borrow some horses to pull these wagons?”
1289
1290	“Horses?”
1291
1292	“...What should we do?”
1293
1294	“We’ll discuss this privately for a second, please excuse us.”
1295
1296	The two who had temporarily left his presence seemed to be exchanging their opinions, but from this distance it was hard to tell if they were talking at all. They seemed to reach an agreement after a while and promptly returned to Philip.
1297
1298	“We’ll prepare the horses as soon as possible. However, because these aren’t warhorses but workhorses, could you return them shortly after you’re done with them?”
1299
1300	“Thank you very much.”
1301
1302	“Umm, an important thing to note, it would probably be best to lower the flags of the Sorcerous Kingdom. You wouldn’t want to be seen by regular folks while transporting your spoils back, so though it will be difficult, please consider transporting them through the forest.”
1303
1304	“Understood, I’ll do that then”
1305
1306	The two strode away as soon as they were done talking.
1307
1308	Soon their silhouettes could no longer be seen in the forest. Philip surveyed the cargo wagons again.
1309
1310	This was proof of his victory.
1311
1312	They were as bright as his future.
1313
1314	On the other hand, that which now rests underneath Philip’s foot, the dirt ridden flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom, was a representation of that country’s eventual downfall.
1315
1316
1317--------
1318
1319Chapter 1 Part 6
1320
1321	Ainz strode proudly through the streets of E-Rantel.
1322
1323	Momon walked alongside him.
1324
1325	Needless to say, it was actually Pandora’s Actor.
1326
1327	To match Momon’s appearance, he had been equipped with a set of full-plate armor and two greatswords which hung on his back.
1328
1329	His regal and austere gait had garnered him much praise and prestige. In fact, his version of Momon appeared to be even more heroic than Ainz’s.
1330
1331	To be honest, Ainz had considered asking him to adopt a worse gait in case the citizens were able to tell the difference between the different versions.
1332
1333	Of course, this wasn’t something he would actually say out loud, so he figured he could at the very least attempt to secretly copy his gait. To this end, he had been stealing glances at Pandora’s Actor from his side view and fortunately, he hadn’t appeared to have noticed yet.
1334
1335	The one silently tailing those two to keep an eye out on their rear was Nabe - Narberal Gamma.  Though it appeared that they did not have any bodyguards, in actuality, multiple Hanzos were hidden around them and were on alert; consequently, Nabe, whose level was lower than theirs, was largely redundant.
1336
1337	However, considering how she had acted in this manner ever since she first debuted as Momon’s companion, Ainz felt it was unnecessary to order her to stop.
1338
1339	It’s important to note that these three were walking through the streets of this city without any goals in mind at all.
1340
1341	It was just a familiar exercise for all.
1342
1343	Through this procession with Momon and Nabe, Ainz was able to demonstrate various different things to the crowd. It was also for this reason that Ainz hadn’t brought the maids along.
1344
1345	This act served multiple purposes, the most important of all was to validate the fact that Ainz was still working together with Momon, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to exclude Narberal from this operation. After all, Momon was always seen in full-plate armor and his appearance wasn’t known to many. So, had they not brought Narberal along, rumours would begin to circulate that, “Momon was already killed by the Sorcerer King and it’s actually an undead in that armor.” In fact, those rumours had already begun circulating, so it was crucial for them to avoid creating further misunderstandings.
1346
1347	The pedestrians all kept to the sides of the road as if it was a no man’s land upon spotting the trio’s silhouettes.
1348
1349	This was of course, mainly due to the Sorcerer King’s presence. If Ainz had walked down these streets as Momon, this wouldn’t have happened. Though much time had passed between the founding of the Sorcerous Kingdom and now, the citizens were still terrified of Ainz.
1350
1351	It wasn’t just the humans who were reacting to him in that manner, but also some of the demihumans too.
1352
1353	This was because E-Rantel, which used to be a purely human-inhabited city, was no longer so. Demihumans could be seen sprinkled throughout the crowds.
1354
1355	If one were to look around where they were, they would see the outlines of a number of demihumans (although not many) in the shops. They were both employees and customers, and sometimes they were even the owners of the store. 
1356
1357	The part of the city which used to be a slum was renovated into residential zones for demihumans under Ainz’s orders. If they had been in that part of the city, this wouldn’t be such an unusual sight to behold, but Ainz and the others had been walking through one of the main streets of E-Rantel, far away from the slums of yore. 
1358
1359	It was easy to see from this fact alone how there had been a considerable number of demihumans flowing in and out of E-Rantel.
1360
1361	Though this wasn’t due to any special policies Ainz had put in place, after all the one who had been putting effort into these matters was Albedo, he still felt proud of this fact. It told him that his plans to unify the races was progressing at a steady pace.
1362
1363	{If this was the case, I would really like to enact policies that could speed up the process of uniting them all...}
1364
1365	In fact, he had such a plan in mind already. Ainz had considered holding some sort of an event in E-Rantel with the ulterior motive to draw in more tourists and increase their income from foreign sources. What he hadn’t considered was how unfestive and non-participatory this world was in general, which was the cause of his boredom this entire time.
1366
1367	Though a gladiatorial arena like the one in the Empire wouldn’t be too bad, Ainz wanted something that hadn’t been done already, something truly special.
1368	
1369	If he was to hold a large event that involved audience participation or anything that would allow an interracial team to shine, that would surely boost racial unity. If people had something in common to talk about, surely it would be easier for them to get along.
1370
1371	{How about some kind of ball-based sport like baseball or football? Or should I do something to spice up an existing event...}
1372
1373	As he mulled over those issues, Ainz was also observing an orc shopkeeper who appeared to be in a serious discussion with their human customers.
1374
1375	They were probably part of the orcs he had encountered in the Holy Kingdom, the ones who had been devastated by the Evil Lord Wrath and were then unified under Ainz. He couldn’t recall any other time he had brought orcs to E-Rantel.
1376
1377	Who this orc was exactly, Ainz had no clue. Though he had incorporated a large number of orcs into his dominion, the main reason was because Ainz, as one with human sensibilities, could not tell orcs apart at all.
1378
1379	In a similar vein, he couldn’t tell members of the other races apart either. For example, female Zerns differentiated themselves by their color. Speaking of zerns, he couldn’t help but wonder, how do they ‘see’ anyways?  In any case, they all looked about the same to Ainz.
1380
1381	This issue was applicable to most people anyways.
1382
1383	It was equally as difficult for an orc to differentiate between two humans as it was for a human to differentiate between two orcs.
1384
1385	For this reason, they had stuck to recognizing humans through features like hair length, pupil colors, et cetera but incidents still arose whereby goods reserved for a specific person were sold to someone who looked similar, even though to someone like Ainz the two persons looked completely different.
1386
1387	The Sorcerous Kingdom had no issues with public order. Crime rates for misdemeanors were low, nevermind felonies. This however, wasn’t due to the strict enforcement of the law, but rather out of people’s fears that their corpses would be turned undead to serve the country after their deaths.
1388
1389	It was for this reason that misunderstandings were cleared up quickly and without much fuss, mountains weren’t being made out of molehills. This was why the orc was calmly discussing business with his human customers.
1390
1391	“The Adventurer’s guild have also started accepting demihumans amongst their ranks. I believe that all of the demihumans will be able to reach their potential in the foreseeable future.”
1392
1393	Ainz said under his breath without much thought, prompting Pandora’s Actor to reply,
1394
1395	“Ainz-sama, it is exactly as you have surmised. Those demihumans, upon witnessing the undead Ainz-sama had created, must have thought that the career of a common soldier was no longer feasible. Those with talents in the arts, manufacturing, and research would then be more inclined to utilize said talents to their maximum potential.”
1396
1397	The Sorcerous Kingdom was still following the system of, “your race is pretty good at this, so you should probably seek employment in this field.” However, as the citizens’ knowledge of the other races and their respective cultures increases, they would probably begin to desire various other professions. Though this change was still in its early phases, the desire for self-determination would surely blossom over time.
1398
1399	The main drive for this change was the fact that all menial labour was now handled by the undead.
1400
1401	“Albedo seems to be managing that sector of the country well. After all, it’s imperative for us to halt the development of problematic crafts.”
1402
1403	Ainz and the rest were already at their level caps, so it was necessary to plan against those who were weaker than them and thus had the potential to become stronger.
1404	
1405	As part of those plans, they couldn’t allow their own people to achieve superiority in expertise over them. Weaklings should remain weaklings. 
1406
1407	At the same time, they had to ensure that the supremacy of their country as a whole was well maintained against their neighbouring countries. Perhaps Albedo was the only one who could possibly maintain this delicate balance.
1408
1409	{To this end, we’re in desperate need of spies capable of obtaining top-secret intel from our neighbours… We’re still too weak on that front.}
1410
1411	To create a pop monster that Nazarick would not automatically respawn required two ingredients. One was the monster’s data and the other was the corresponding amount of gold coins from Yggdrasil.
1412
1413	Though the library of Nazarick contained data on various types of monsters, it did not contain the data of every single type of monster from Yggdrasil. Some monster’s data were of limited use too. For example, they had already exhausted their supply of data on Hanzos and the library did not contain any data for the creation of Eight-Edge Assassins.
1414
1415	The creation of higher-tiered monsters incurred the cost of a large sum of gold.
1416
1417	If that was the case, shouldn’t weaker monsters suffice? Though he wanted to say so, actually using them would mean that there would be a higher chance of them getting caught whenever they tried to infiltrate someplace.
1418
1419	Amongst the surrounding nations, it wasn’t inconceivable to think that they were the only ones capable of employing monsters. It would be best for them to use higher tiered monsters who were harder for others to detect while their country was still of modest size. Or maybe-
1420	
1421	“-human spies?”
1422
1423	Ainz accidentally spoke his thoughts out loud. Nabe, upon hearing him speak, walked closer behind him to say,
1424
1425	“Ainz-sama. Speaking of which, how has the training for those spies been going? Shall I make sure those sows know who their rightful master is*?”
1426
1427	Ainz lowered his voice and responded with,
1428
1429	“...Nabe. You’re the partner of the folk hero Momon now, do not forget your position.”
1430
1431	After all, they had made it out to be that Momon and Nabe had been bound to this city out of concern for the safety of its inhabitants, which was why they were working with Ainz Ooal Gown in the first place. 
1432
1433	Perhaps enough time had passed that it wouldn’t be too bad to have their characters have a change of heart so that they were staying in the city out of reverence for the Sorcerer King instead. That being said, it would be safer to discuss this matter in advance with Albedo and the others to formulate a better script before committing to anything. Until then, it was best to not make suggestions to Ainz directly. It was better to discuss these matters within Nazarick and avoid those topics entirely while outside.
1434
1435	“-I profusely apologize.”
1436
1437	“You have been forgiven,” would have been what he would have said, until he took a good look at their surroundings. 
1438
1439	A lot of people were watching intently with horrified expressions, hopefully they hadn’t heard what Nabe had said. Ultimately it wouldn’t have been feasible for him to kill them all out of the suspicion of what they might have overheard, otherwise the facade he had built up that he was “a unique undead capable of speech who was different from the other members of his kind” would be harder to maintain.
1440
1441 	Nonetheless, ignoring Nabe’s question and causing her to put on a dismayed expression caused Ainz to feel pity for her. 
1442
1443It would be troublesome if she were to stop asking questions of her own entirely. With that in mind, Ainz muttered his answer in a volume that was incomprehensible to those around them,
1444
1445	“...We’ve lent out the Hanzos. Tira is currently in charge of training them, but if I’m being honest, they are no better than a single Eight-Edge Assassin...hmmm, just consider it an investment for the future.”
1446
1447	Though it was unlikely that they would receive a return on investment proportional to the gold and time they had invested into this programme, it wasn’t as though it was completely impossible. The same applied to their investments in Runecraft™ and other magical technologies. 
1448
1449	They were going in completely blind on whether or not those efforts would bear fruit, so it was best to dial back their investments down to a minimum for now.
1450
1451	Ainz stopped talking.
1452
1453	And just like that, the trio continued to walk down the street in silence.
1454
1455	Occasionally they would bump into patrol teams consisting of Death Knights, Death Wizards, Death Warriors, Death Priests, and Death Assassins. Though they were walking on the streets too, they maintained a tight formation with the Death Assassins silently keeping a lookout on the front. This wasn’t due to any perceivable dangers, but rather the fact that they were just following their original orders to patrol in formation.
1456
1457	Something of note was that though Death Assassins were bad at concealing themselves, they had a high damage output thanks to their high critical strike chance. If an enemy were to let their guard down because they believed that a Death Assassin did not pose a threat to them, then they would be able to deal an alarming amount of damage. This was why Ainz couldn’t make spies out of them.
1458
1459	{Even though we’re exporting undead, those exports mostly consisted of weak Skeletons…}
1460
1461	Of course, they were charging vastly different prices for weaker undead compared to the stronger ones, so the most popular product was still those designed for cheap menial labour.
1462
1463	Consequently, the amount of undead around the level of a Death Knight they had exported was minimal.
1464
1465	It would be a waste to not use up his daily limit of [Create Undead], so Ainz had been exhausting his daily-use abilities; as a result, the number of undead he had created had already become a nuisance to him.
1466
1467	{If I were to lower their rental costs and raise them in the future, no one would rent from us again. Plus I don’t want to cut prices directly… Should I create a rewards system? The Empire rented quite a lot of Death Cavaliers from us, so we should probably focus on marketing to nations directly...but...}
1468
1469	Ainz glanced at Pandora’s Actor, who was beside him.
1470
1471	{It’s kind of awkward to just walk like this in silence. But, there’s not really much I’d want to talk to him about.}
1472
1473	If people were to perceive that their relationship wasn’t so great after all, then there wouldn’t be a point to this exercise.
1474
1475	“Ah- miss Nabe”
1476
1477	A conversation with Pandora’s Actor would be insufferable, so Ainz chose to speak to Nabe instead.
1478
1479	“Yes!”
1480
1481	{Hold up, you don’t have to answer with such vigor, you know?} Ainz thought but did not bother to say out loud. Her actions weren’t so strange in hindsight; when all was said and done, they were essentially subordinates under Ainz.
1482
1483	“Umm, how should I say this. How’s Yuri’s orphanage? Have you visited yet?”
1484
1485	“No, I haven’t been there yet.”
1486
1487	And that was the end of their conversation.
1488
1489	That couldn’t be because she had a bad relationship with Yuri, but just that she had no interest in that matter, right? Wait a second-
1490
1491	{-would someone really be so disinterested in the workplace of someone whose existence was their closest analogue to family? But, that response was also to be expected from Narberal.}
1492
1493	{Would she have reacted in the same way if the question had been about Shizu or Entoma’s workplace?} Ainz shrugged as that thought came up.
1494
1495	“Shall we visit it then?”
1496
1497	Because the full responsibility for the orphanage had been given to Yuri, not even Ainz knew of its current status. Of course, he had been given detailed plans about it, but no memory of it remained in Ainz’s vacuous, boney head.
1498
1499	There should’ve also been some scheduled reports on the finances of the orphanage, but since Ainz had been delegating those responsibilities to Albedo, he had only pretended to have read those reports.
1500
1501--------
1502
1503hapter 1 part 7 (revision)
1504
1505Changes:
1506- semantics (minor)
1507- grammatical errors (minor)
1508- one missed reference to Raeven at the end (major)
1509
1510--------
1511
1512	Though he had advocated for talent scouting through the education sector, the Sorcerous Kingdom had yet to implement the as of now unrealistic policy of universal education for all. 
1513
1514	If the level of education rose, so will technological and cultural advancements, but it could also strengthen weaklings. Though their current policies may lead to some people with undiscovered talents to stay as farmers for the rest of their lives, Pax Nazarica was the top priority.
1515
1516	“I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”
1517
1518After Pandora’s Actor agreed, the trio began walking in another direction led by Narberal.
1519
1520	Not even two minutes had passed before Ainz received a [Message].
1521
1522	“-Ainz-sama.”
1523
1524	“-Entoma? What’s going on?”
1525
1526	Ainz walked as he talked and felt rather inauspicious.
1527
1528	He couldn’t remember the last time he had received a [Message] like this this year, so it must have been some kind of emergency.
1529
1530	But - Ainz's fearless smile never wavered.
1531
1532	The whole ordeal in the Holy Kingdom was such a pain that nothing could be worse in comparison.
1533
1534	{Compared to the hell I had to go through, nothing this world could throw at me is undoable.}
1535
1536	The request, as he had expected, was for him to return to Nazarick immediately. After replying that he would do so, Ainz instructed Narberal to bring the rest of the maids back to Nazarick too. He opened up a [Gate] after bidding his farewells to the two to allow the Hanzos who had been securing their perimeter to go back.
1537
1538	Only then did Ainz return to Nazarick himself.
1539
1540	After dismissing the Hanzos, he took the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown from Solution, who had welcomed him back. Using the ring, he teleported to the tenth floor and began to walk towards the room that was his destination.
1541
1542	The rooms that were either important or special in Nazarick had all been marked so that one could teleport straight to their doors with the ring. This was not the case with rooms that had been deemed as ‘normal’ from the start and thus one could not teleport straight to them.
1543
1544	This could be seen as the only flaw of the ring that allowed its user to teleport freely within Nazarick but it was no longer possible for them to modify its functions. If they still had the Yggdrasil creator kits around it could be possible, but neither Ainz nor Nazarick’s inventory had any.
1545
1546	Albedo stood in front of the door to Ainz’s destination, awaiting his arrival. Ainz did not probe how long she had been waiting there, but only about the progress she had made on her assigned tasks.
1547
1548	“-you’ve been working hard, thank you.”
1549
1550	“I’m not worthy of your praise!”
1551
1552	Ainz sighed on the inside as he witnessed Albedo deeply lowering her head.
1553
1554	Though he had said that he would return immediately, he had not given them a specific time frame. The thought that he could have wasted Albedo’s time by making her wait unsettled Ainz. He did not and could not let those thoughts show on his face.
1555
1556	This had happened several times before. Despite telling Albedo that there was no need for her to wait for him each time, she had always insisted, saying that it was natural for a servant to welcome her master’s return.
1557
1558	In fact, he had talked about this with not just the Floor Guardians, but the Area Guardians and the maids too. Every time he brought it up, their responses would be the same as the one Albedo was giving him right now. The maids were especially enthusiastic with their answers, demonstrating a level of determination that could even make someone like Ainz cower and apologize.
1559
1560	If this was the general consensus then Ainz, as their overlord, had to forgo his personal opinions on the matter.
1561
1562	Albedo opened the door to the room and welcomed Ainz in.
1563
1564	Ainz believed that he was not a man outstanding enough to be worthy of such treatment and with great guilt, he put on the facade that this was all to be expected and walked into the room before her.
1565
1566	Shalltear.
1567
1568	Cocytus.
1569
1570	Aura and Mare.
1571
1572	And Demiurge.
1573
1574	The Floor Guardians had already been gathered in this room and were all bowing towards the throne that somehow radiated darkness.
1575
1576	Behind the throne hung the flag of the Sorcerous Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown.
1577
1578	It looked like everybody who was supposed to be here was already here. In cases such as this where all hands were on deck, Ainz had to be the last one to arrive according to procedures. Unless it was for a special occasion, no one would arrive later than him.
1579
1580	Ainz surveyed the overburdened Guardians in front of him.
1581
1582	Every Floor Guardian had had their own duties in the past, but recently the scope of their work had increased by a wide margin.
1583
1584	The air transportation system that mainly relied on flying monsters (mostly dragons) had established a transportation network between the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Empire, the Dwarven Kingdom, and the desolate, demihuman-inhabited region to the east of the Holy Kingdom. The one who was placed in charge of this network, Shalltear, now had the responsibility to utilize her skills to gradually establish a land-based transportation network.
1585
1586	The one in charge of controlling the weather in the territories and building an underground tomb on the outskirts of E-Rantel, Mare, was also working alongside the newly established Adventurer’s Guild.
1587
1588	The one in charge of commanding, managing, and training the Sorcerous Kingdom’s army, which consisted mostly of the undead but also included various types of demihumans and a small number of humans, was Cocytus. 
1589
1590	The one who used to only have to command her own magical beasts but now had to operate a department which deployed a warning net that provided adequate coverage over the ever-increasing boundaries of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s territories, was Aura.
1591
1592	The one who was establishing an intelligence agency on the seventh floor of Nazarick, was Demiurge.
1593
1594	Just like that, the responsibilities of each Floor Guardian grew over time.
1595
1596	Which was why there were plans to shift some of those responsibilities to those who up till that point had only been concerned with the internal defence of Nazarick, the Area Guardians. 
1597
1598	Needless to say, the one who was in charge of checking up on everybody’s progress, receiving requests or suggestions, and approving the various affairs of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Guardian Overseer Albedo, had been the busiest of them all.
1599
1600	The truth was, no one was as idle as Ainz was.
1601
1602	His daily duties amounted to simply practicing to act more like an overlord, it was a deeply embarrassing fact to admit.
1603
1604	So basically, he had been summoned for something that those who were occupied by the most important tasks had deemed to require his presence. 
1605
1606	Ainz strode in a dignified manner through the center of the room. Albedo shut the doors behind them and followed closely behind him.
1607
1608	He sat on the only seat in the room. Albedo took a knee in front of him and said,
1609
1610	“Ainz-sama. The Floor Guardians of every floor have arrived.”
1611
1612	{What do you mean, they have arrived? They were here already!} Of course, Ainz did not and could not say that out loud.
1613
1614	“-umu. You Floor Guardians have been working hard. Raise your heads.”
1615
1616	“Yes!”
1617
1618	The guardians raised their heads as they gave their crisp answers, an action that was both flawless and in unison.
1619
1620	Originally, Albedo had been the one to ask them to raise their heads but Ainz had decided to put an end to that. Though it had been said that a superior shouldn’t talk so easily to their subordinates, Ainz did not want to distance himself from them that much.
1621
1622	The guardians’ gaze, which made apparent their absolute loyalty, all fell on Ainz’s body. In the past, Ainz couldn’t handle this kind of attention, but his skin had grown thick in the intervening times to the point that it did not affect him in the slightest these days.
1623
1624	{But...why? Am I getting the wrong impression or do they feel even more loyal than they were before…? No...it has to be the wrong impression, right...?}
1625
1626	Ainz, who couldn’t recall doing anything that could have raised their loyalty, avoided the welcoming gazes of the guardians to randomly scan the room he was in. This wasn’t because he couldn’t handle their gazes, but he did it anyway.
1627
1628	On both sides of the room were doors that were dissimilar to the one they had just walked through, doors that were not warranted given the relatively small size of the room. The room was just decorated in such an exquisite manner that it emanated an air of grandeur.
1629
1630	It was set up to be the audience room within Nazarick. Another was set up in E-Rantel.
1631
1632	Nazarick’s throne room was glorious, but it was too spacious and would feel empty if not enough people were gathered inside. He could gather enough people if he wanted to, but considering problems such as the presence of a World Item, something that was among Nazarick’s strongest assets and thus could not casually be seen by others, an audience room was built.
1633
1634	Everything in Nazarick was made by its guild members in the past, except this audience room. Under Ainz’s orders, the Floor Guardians had put great consideration (though it wasn’t as though much consideration was necessary anyways) into refitting an empty room for this exact purpose.
1635
1636	It made Ainz quite happy.
1637
1638	NPCs, made by the guild members, had grown beyond being mere NPCs. It was as though they had become players.
1639
1640	{There will always come a day when chicks will leave their nest to fly on their own, huh.}
1641
1642	Ainz smiled mentally. 
1643
1644	Every one of them had made him proud.
1645
1646	Suzuki Satoru had no children and not many of the other guild members did either. He wasn’t sure, but perhaps this was what it was like to be a father. At any rate, this was not what it would be like to be a mother, probably.
1647
1648	He immersed himself in his own thoughts for a bit. However, no one would speak until he had spoken, so he was forced to despite not being the emcee or something similar.
1649
1650	“So, Albedo. Tell me the reason why everyone was gathered here. It’s something important to Nazarick, or rather, to the Sorcerous Kingdom, right?”
1651
1652	“Yes. Simply put, our grain that was being transported through the Kingdom towards the Holy Kingdom was plundered four days ago.”
1653
1654	“Oh… and who did that?”
1655
1656	“A noble of the Kingdom.”
1657
1658	The light in Ainz’s eyes flashed for a moment. Albedo was being vague. Normally, she would report the name, military power, and goal of the noble all at once. {Why is that?} Ainz thought about it as he asked further,
1659
1660	“Did the Eight Fingers’ merchant in charge of transportation not have soldiers guard the caravans? Moreover, the rule was that our flag should have been flown, yes? Which meant the Kingdom had chosen to start a war with us?”
1661
1662	He had thought, judging by the Kingdom’s actions, that they were trying to avoid a war, but it now seemed to be an incorrect judgement. Or, was the incident itself some kind of strategy? Ainz took notice of another possibility as his thoughts developed.
1663
1664	“Could it be that the Eight Fingers had betrayed us?”
1665
1666	“No, well…”
1667
1668	Albedo lowered her head as she muttered, she then glanced at Ainz as if she were trying to sneak a peek.
1669
1670	Ainz thought that her current attitude was quite rare. Rather, this might have been the first time she has ever shown this kind of behaviour. She was behaving like a little girl who was afraid of getting scolded, definitely unlike the Overseer she had always been.
1671
1672	“What’s wrong, Albedo? Is something the matter?”
1673
1674	Ainz carefully maintained his dignified facade and felt as if his back was soaked with sweat. Ainz, of course, could not sweat.
1675
1676	Was it because of a mistake Ainz had made? If that was the case then Albedo’s response would make sense.
1677
1678	She was behaving like an employee who had had to point out the mistakes her boss had made that messed everything up.
1679
1680	{A noble of the Kingdom? I have no idea… Did I do something? I didn’t do anything funny in the past few months, did I? No, could I?}
1681
1682	As Ainz, who couldn’t even remember the documents he had stamped a few weeks ago, thought about it, it felt more and more like it was a mistake of his own. His anxiety grew alongside his thoughts.
1683
1684	{No, wait! I got it! I got it! Didn’t I tell Albedo and Demiurge during the Holy Kingdom thing? And I told a lot of people the same thing after coming back. Yes, I made a mistake deliberately! Past me, you’re great! Wait, now is the time… to use that excuse!}
1685
1686	Ainz had always thought that the title of an absolute overlord was too much for him to bear. It was about time for him to take it off.
1687
1688	He had a cordial smile on his face.
1689
1690	“Don’t worry about it, Albedo. Tell me about it.”
1691
1692	“Yes… Ainz-sama. Surely you remember our plan to make use of an idiotic noble for the purpose of gaining control over the Kingdom…”
1693
1694	{Hmm?} Ainz raised a question in his mind. What she said was not what he had expected, but at this point Ainz knew what to say.
1695
1696	“That fool had something to do with it?”
1697
1698	Albedo nodded, “Yes. That dimwit had caused this incident. Ainz-sama has probably realized by now the possibility that this could be a scheme of the Kingdom’s ruling class.”
1699
1700	{More misunderstandings, huh?} “Hmph…” Ainz started thinking. He couldn’t see the deeper aspects of such a scheme, but it was probably beneficial to the Kingdom to convict a noble associated with Nazarick. That way, they could purge a pest from their ranks.
1701
1702	“I understand… but does the blame truly lie with that imbecile? It’s not some ploy by the Kingdom is it? … Wait, Albedo must have investigated the intel already. Sorry for unnecessary questions.”
1703
1704	“No, those questions were only natural for you to ask, Ainz-sama. We have prepared a witness for this purpose. Shalltear.”
1705
1706	“Understood.”
1707
1708	Shalltear curtsied, stood up, and then left through the left door.
1709
1710	Right after that, a woman held on both sides by Death Knights returned with Shalltear.
1711
1712	She was so thin her bones were visible as if she was sick. She also had heavy bags under her eyes, did not wear any make-up, and had messy hair.
1713
1714	Tear stains could be seen around her bloodshot eyes, which darted around uncontrollably like a terrified, tiny creature.
1715
1716	Ainz remembered seeing that person somewhere, but he couldn’t recall important details like her name and position.
1717
1718	As he tried his best to search through his memories, the Death Knights let go of her.
1719
1720	The woman knelt down in one smooth movement. It was flawless, one could even say that it was beautiful.
1721
1722	It was something that was only possible through a suitable amount of training. Ainz even felt a bit of respect for her because of that.
1723
1724	“Yoar, yoar mejasty...” her voice was trembling a lot. She paused for a moment, then spoke again, “Your majesty.”
1725
1726	The room fell silent. Realising that it was his turn to speak, Ainz said in a deep voice, “-Woman, I permit you to speak your name.”
1727
1728	“Ah! Hilma Cygnaeus, your majesty!”
1729
1730	His reawakened memories spread like vines. She was one of the leaders of the Eight Fingers, the Kingdom’s crime syndicate.
1731
1732	“Ah, ah.”
1733
1734	It was not known how she understood the noise that Ainz had made subconsciously. Hilma, who had not raised her head even once, yelled as her forehead rubbed against the floor.
1735
1736	“I, I have no idea! No idea! I have absolutely no intention of disobedience! The grain robbery has nothing to do with me!”
1737
1738	Ainz took a glimpse at Albedo’s back.
1739
1740	It would be incredibly easy to determine if the woman had lied, so Albedo must have done so.  So why did she not report the results directly to Ainz?
1741
1742	Ainz didn’t know what was Albedo thinking, but it certainly wasn’t about stabbing him in the back. Actually, it was probably the opposite. There was some unknown misunderstanding that was borne of her holding Ainz in too high of a regard. It would not be appropriate to ask her about it directly.
1743
1744	{I got myself into this situation because I repeatedly performed as my persona, didn’t I? Albedo won’t understand if this continues on. Should I ask and see what happens? It would’ve been fine if Albedo was the only one who was here, but the others are also here...} Ainz looked at Aura and Mare. {Hm, next time I guess.}
1745
1746	“-Umu. First of all, let me confirm if Cygnaeus was telling the truth. [Dominate].”
1747
1748	After the spell had been cast, Ainz asked Cygnaeus:
1749
1750	“Did you play any role in that noble robbing our grain convoy?”
1751
1752	“None whatsoever!”
1753
1754	A dominee could not lie to their dominator, which meant that Cygnaeus had no direct connections to the incident. Though an indirect connection was still possible, it wouldn’t have made it her responsibility. The hypothetical that she had been lying by ways of memory manipulation was unlikely.
1755
1756	“-have you been described by others as having multiple personalities?”
1757
1758	“No!”
1759
1760	“Umu...then do you wish to oppose us?”
1761
1762	“Not at all! I don’t have the slightest intention to! Absolutely not!”
1763
1764	She denied with her fiercest tone yet. Bearing witness to this, Ainz released her from his [Dominate].
1765
1766	“If we were to punish her based on a crime she wasn’t purposely responsible for would be too harsh. Cygnaeus, not guilty. That’s my ruling.”
1767
1768	Cygnaeus raised her head and gazed towards Ainz with a brilliant passion within her eyes, to the point where Ainz found it to be terrifying.
1769
1770	“But, Ainz-sama. Shouldn’t the faults of a subordinate be the responsibility of their superiors? That cretin was her responsibility.”
1771
1772	Albedo was right.
1773
1774	“You, you’re absolutely correct! But he took those actions randomly and of his own accord! I had instructed him multiple times! ‘Contact me before you do anything!’ I had even appointed a subordinate to monitor him for this exact reason!”
1775
1776	Albedo did not object to her explanation. So that was the truth. She had performed her duties to the utmost, so it would be too cruel to let her shoulder the full responsibility for this incident.
1777
1778[Albedo], Human Resources, had hired an [simpleton] who caused major issues in [Cygnaeus], the department. Though it’s obvious that there were issues within that department, Ainz also understood the tendency to want to blame this on HR.
1779
1780	[Ainz], the salaryman, thought about this issue from Cygnaeus’ perspective.
1781
1782	If he was to leave this matter to Albedo and the others, they would surely dish out severe punishments to her. Then-
1783
1784	“-the faults of a subordinate is the responsibility of their superior. I concur with that statement.”
1785
1786	Ainz watched as the colors drained from Hilma’s face and continued,
1787
1788	“But, that proverb was said by a leader who wished to shoulder the burden of their subordinate, it was not meant as a way for subordinates to shift blame onto their superiors. As for how encompassing the statement could be. Albedo, let me ask you a question. Cygnaeus was in charge of that dunce, but who was in charge of Cygnaeus?”
1789
1790	“That’s- that’s my responsibility.”
1791
1792	“Umu. I am your master, so the responsibility for this incident falls on me in the end, correct?”
1793
1794	“W-W-We wouldn’t dare! This is absolutely not the fault of Ainz-sama!”
1795
1796	Albedo disavowed his statement with an uncharacteristically panicked expression.
1797
1798	Cygnaeus, whose expression just a moment prior had been one foretelling of their own doom, now gazed upon Ainz with the same spark in her eyes as before. Her face was almost ever-changing.
1799
1800	“Though Cygnaeus’ modus operandi may be flawed, she had performed according to the expectations of her office. For that, she has been forgiven. The first time an error occurs, it is because everyone makes mistakes. The second time around it would be the result of carelessness. The third time should have been avoidable. The fourth time is the one to indicate one’s incompetence- Cygnaeus.”
1801
1802	“Yes!!”
1803
1804	Cygnaeus lowered her head so much that it made an audible impact with the floor. It looked painful even from an outside perspective.
1805
1806	“To prevent a similar incident from occurring again, work harder on your preventative measures. Prepare a set of all of the plans you could think up of, submit them to Albedo, and wait for approval. That will be your punishment.
1807
1808	“Yes!!”
1809
1810	Cygnaeus rubbed her head against the ground, as if she was trying to lower her head even further.
1811
1812	{That seems unnecessary.} Ainz thought as he turned to look towards the guardians.
1813
1814	“That is my decision- do you have any comments? I won’t get angry, you are free to speak your minds.”
1815
1816	No one seemed to have objections. Still, every one of them was capable of saying ‘Ainz-sama’s decisions are always correct’ with a straight face even if they had any dissenting opinions, it wasn’t likely that they would give voice to those opinions. In any case, it was better to confirm than not.
1817
1818	“-Albedo.”
1819
1820	“No objections.”
1821
1822	“-Demiurge.”
1823
1824	“I concur with Albedo.”
1825
1826	“-Aura.”
1827
1828	“None.”
1829
1830	“-Mare.”
1831
1832	“Ah! Y-yes. I don’t have any objections.”
1833
1834	“-Cocytus.”
1835
1836	“No. Objections.”
1837
1838 	“-Shalltear.”
1839
1840	“None.”
1841
1842	Were they really fine with it or were they too afraid to speak up? Ainz wasn’t sure, but he had at least received their approval.
1843
1844	Ainz forcefully nodded his head and made his judgement final.
1845
1846	“...Good. Now then, Cygnaeus. Prepare those plans within a few days, that is...have them ready within two days.”
1847
1848	Cygnaeus audibly whipped her head upwards.
1849
1850	“Understood! I’m grateful for my lord’s merciful judgement!! I thank you from the deepest depths of my heart!! Oh Sorcerer King-heika!! Please allow me, Hilma Cygnaeus, to continue loyally serving you from now on!!”
1851
1852	“Is that so…?”
1853
1854	Cygnaeus’ almost revolting amount of passion reminded him of a girl he had met in the past with scary-looking eyes.
1855
1856	“I look forward to your loyal service. Now then, Shalltear, please send Cygnaeus back.”
1857
1858	“Understood.”
1859
1860	Shalltear took Hilma along as she activated her ring’s function, the destination of their teleportation was the surface. She should be using [Gate] afterwards so it shouldn’t take too long. With that in mind, they waited in place for her. Not too long after, Shalltear returned alone as he had expected.
1861
1862	“Now then- that couldn’t be the only reason I was called here for, right?”
1863
1864	If that was the only reason why then he would be thanking his lucky stars, but that wish was shattered by Albedo.
1865
1866	“Yes, it is exactly as you have surmised.”
1867
1868	Ainz looked at Albedo as if he had held a grudge against her. He would have loved it if she had only let him hold onto that hope for just a while longer.
1869
1870	“Umm, is something wrong? Perhaps just then…”
1871
1872	“No, nothing’s wrong. Now then, how about you tell me the true purpose behind you calling me- gathering every Floor Guardian here?”
1873
1874	Albedo and Demiurge exchanged glances upon being asked.
1875
1876	“First on the docket, for what purpose did that buffoon undertake his actions? Was someone manipulating him as part of their ploy? That is certainly possible. Depending on the answer to those questions, we may have to significantly revise our plans against the Kingdom. For that it would be nice to know what Ainz-sama’s thoughts are on the matter, so I proposed that we ask for your presence.”
1877
1878	“Umu… As of now our strategy against the Kingdom had been ‘Sugar and Whip’ hadn’t it? Have you explained the concept to Aura, Mare, Cocytus, and Shalltear before?”
1879
1880	“Demiurge and I were in the process of doing so, but we have yet to explain the specific details of the plan.”
1881
1882	“Is that so? Then Albedo, please share the intel with everybody. Any suggestions or opinions from you all could be helpful.”
1883
1884	“Understood.”
1885
1886	Albedo began her explanation to the four of them.
1887
1888	The Sugar and Whip strategy (the term, coined by Ainz, was popular due to being easy to understand) to prepare the Kingdom for a takeover was in essence a plan to destabilize the Kingdom from the inside to the point where a portion of the Kingdom’s citizens would actively hope for peaceful foreign intervention by the Sorcerous Kingdom.
1889
1890	Was it because Demiurge was also involved in the planning process? The plan began sounding more and more like what they had done in the Holy Kingdom. It was a strategy that depended on internal conflicts and would thus cause a massive loss of life at the start. His preference for internal conflicts over physically invading a country was probably due to him being a fiend. If Cocytus or Shalltear were in charge of planning, they would probably prefer more direct methods such as a full-blown invasion.
1891
1892	But apparently this plan had been formulated by someone within the Kingdom and Albedo and Demiurge had only made slight modifications on top of the original.
1893
1894	That imbecile of a noble was a crucial element of this strategy.
1895
1896	He was meant to start a revolution. In conjunction with the internal conflicts initiated by their grain shortage, the Kingdom would then be forced to request aid from the Sorcerous Kingdom. There were multiple ways to make use of the nobility, but they would all create a reason for the Sorcerous Kingdom to intervene in the Kingdom’s affairs.
1897
1898	This meant that to Ainz, everything was still going according to plan. The incident caused by that dimwit was more than enough justification for the Sorcerous Kingdom to involve themselves.
1899	
1900	However, it appeared as though Albedo and Demiurge were a bit worried by the current situation. There had to be something that Ainz was missing.
1901
1902	“Now then, Albedo. Though I want to ask questions of a fundamental nature… Do we actually have evidence that noble caused the incident? Do we have clues that this was a ploy by the Kingdom? I recall something...about Albedo’s scheduled correspondence with that noble we were supposed to get under our influences?”
1903
1904	Albedo had complained to Ainz time after time about ‘having to send letters to that unpleasant noble’, ‘a mere human…’, or something similar. She had also requested Ainz to review said letters so he had to read them on numerous occasions.
1905
1906	If it was simple paperwork, Ainz would still know a bit about it, but he had no confidence in his ability to proofread or edit. He tried to avoid having to do so but Albedo had begged him in earnest, so he had to.
1907
1908	By the way, though much time had passed since he came to this world, Ainz still hadn’t learned to read the language.
1909
1910	The best he could do was write out his and Momon’s names and recognize numbers. Compared to Albedo, Demiurge, and- Pandora’s Actor- who understood the language of several countries, it was easy to see how their brains functioned on a completely different level than his. It was for this reason that Ainz had to rely on magical items to understand any texts.
1911
1912	If he was being honest, he didn’t think any edits would be necessary so he just handed them back as is to Albedo.
1913
1914	“I’ve also seen the letters that noble had sent back in response and frankly it appears as though he was completely charmed by you. I did not think that he would be the type to oppose the Sorcerous Kingdom.”
1915
1916	He had heard of a saying that betrayal from one’s crush could lead one to become irrationally hateful. Like finding out the cute voice actor you stan had a boyfriend. As this thought came to mind, Ainz could see a reflection of his friend of yesteryear crying tears of blood in Shalltear’s place.
1917	
1918	He could also see in Aura and Mare’s place, that friend’s sister laughing at him.
1919
1920	“Yes, we’ve conducted detailed investigations into this matter, it is undeniably true that that man was the mastermind behind the grain robbery. But...the possibility that he could have been charmed, brain-washed, or controlled in any other way is certainly not none… the one thing we could be sure of is that he had committed the crime.
1921
1922	“Perhaps this was a ploy by someone of an even higher intellect than us. If that was the case, then there is the possibility that they are somehow taking advantage of his actions...”
1923
1924	Albedo had a troubled expression and so did Demiurge. What Ainz found unbelievable was the possibility that someone who could rival the intellect of these two would just show up out of the blue. Or rather-
1925
1926	“Maybe that nobleman did what he did without thinking it through?”
1927
1928	If that was the case, then it would make a lot more sense to Ainz.
1929
1930	“Ainz-sama, I don’t believe that’s possible…”
1931
1932	Albedo said in a tone as if she were apologizing. This was the first time she had adopted such an attitude and Ainz couldn’t help but feel refreshed from this new kind of behaviour.
1933
1934	“No, wait a second, Albedo. We are only able to make pre-emptive moves against the strategies of some genius, but Ainz-sama could even see through an idiot’s rash actions. There’s always the possibility that that could be the case, is there not? No, isn’t that explanation the most plausible?”
1935	
1936	“B-but… to be that stupid… is it really possible…? But Ainz-sama…”
1937
1938	“If Ainz-sama said so, then isn’t it the truth? Albedo.”
1939
1940	“I-I guess so, I think…”
1941
1942	For some reason Aura and Mare had butted in back up Demiurge’s argument, stunning Ainz who had simply muttered a throwaway comment.
1943
1944	“If that’s the case-”
1945
1946	Albedo and Demiurge furrowed their brows and began to debate.
1947
1948	“Hol-hold on a second. Let’s hear the opinions of the other Floor Guardians regarding the operation. They must have quite a lot of questions, so let’s set aside some time for that. Those of you with questions could just raise your hands and Albedo or Demiurge will answer them.”
1949
1950	{Please don’t direct any questions at me.} Ainz had put up a white flag in his mind already.
1951
1952	“Umm, I have a question,” Aura said as she raised her hand, “why did we not just draw in as many of the nobility as we could at the start of the operation? If we did that, we could just kill off that troublesome noble and continue the operation as we had planned, right?”
1953
1954	The one to answer this question was Demiurge.
1955
1956	“We had considered that during the planning phase, but ultimately chose to abandon that idea after deliberations. It would have been fine had we drawn in outstanding noblemen, but they’re not exactly known for their intellect, are they? With that in mind, the more people we drew into the fold, the more likely it was for an unexpected leak in intel to occur. That was why we had decided to focus on an individual and have them form and manage a new faction.”
1957
1958	Things were the way they were because they hadn’t expected that person to be such a wildcard.
1959
1960	The next one to raise their hand was Cocytus.
1961
1962	“We. Could. Not. Make. Use. Of. The. Exceptional. Nobles?” 
1963
1964	“It wasn’t as though we couldn’t. In fact, we had recruited someone like that already… it’s so easy to blackmail a doting father. We had considered the fact that we would want to spare the noblemen who were at least somewhat capable, which was why we chose the expendable portion of the nobility. Don’t you believe that it’s necessary for us to clear out the moronic few so that the country could become one worthy of being ruled over by Ainz-sama? That was why we formed a faction that was filled with people that were incompetent in various forms. As a metaphor, think of it as preparing a rubbish bin before throwing away trash. Of course, we had received intel on the talented people of the Kingdom, but we wanted to also collect intel of our own directly from the source.”
1965
1966	“Because the Sorcerous Kingdom has no need for nobles other than a few of them who are either talented or hard-working ascetics.”
1967
1968--------
1969
1970Chapter 1 Part 8 & Chapter 2 Part 1:
1971
1972	“I have a question,” Shalltear said as she raised her hand,” I’m not sure I understand-arinsu. Even if that dolt of a nobleman was being manipulated into doing what he did, did his actions not constitute an attack against the Sorcerous Kingdom? If so, shouldn’t the Sorcerous Kingdom use that as casus belli to invade the Kingdom-arinsu? If it really was a trap set by someone, could we not just crush them?”
1973
1974	“That is correct, we should have done so especially if there were no hidden masterminds...but...hmm” 
1975
1976	Albedo glanced at Demiurge, prompting him to answer, “that’s right.” Demiurge then turned his gaze towards Ainz before looking towards the guardians.
1977
1978	“It is extremely difficult to find the right balance in dealing with the situation. Though now that we have Ainz-sama’s superior insight, we’ve come to understand that the nobleman had committed this act without putting much thought into it. If we were to lightly punish him for this transgression, the Sorcerous Kingdom will be looked down upon by other nations. So, what do you all believe is the suitable punishment for someone who had attacked a caravan flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag — something that essentially signified Ainz-sama himself — and had stained Ainz-sama’s public image?”
1979
1980	“We should kill him.”
1981
1982	“Yeah, I think onee-chan is correct.”
1983
1984	“That’s right. That’s how it should be. Now then, I must ask you all. Do we simply let this slide after we have dealt with the criminal himself?”
1985
1986	“That. Will. Not. Do.
1987	His. Master. Must. Also. Answer. For. This. Crime.”
1988
1989	Cocytus nodded his head in silence.
1990
1991	Ainz had never been more shocked than he was at this moment.
1992
1993	Though it was surprising that the guardians would have such an overreaction, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary considering their personalities. What Ainz was shocked about was how they had accepted his throwaway comment about the noble as the truth at face value.
1994
1995	To be honest, it was quite scary.
1996
1997	“That’s right, I also agree with Shalltear’s judgement. For them to be dumb enough to make a fool out of Ainz-sama, I say we need to mete out appropriate punishments to the entire Kingdom! But, back then...”
1998
1999	“Ainz-sama once said that ‘to rule over a ruined nation would be bad for our reputation.’ I’ve also heard that Ainz-sama has no interest in standing atop a pile of rubble, so we should try our best to avoid that kind of situation.”
2000
2001	Upon hearing what Demiurge had to say, Albedo nodded her head.
2002
2003	Ainz had two questions in mind in response.
2004
2005	First, has he ever said something like that before?
2006
2007	If you surveyed a hundred of Nazarick’s denizens on the question, “Who is correct, Ainz or Demiurge?” perhaps a majority, no, 99 of them would be certain that it was Ainz. Only a single person would be against that notion and that person is Ainz Ooal Gown.
2008
2009	But how credible could he be as a person who couldn’t even remember what had happened a week ago?
2010
2011	Which was why, although Ainz had no recollections of this, since Demiurge had said so, he must have said something along those lines in the past. If that was the case then there was only one correct way to approach this.
2012
2013	“As expected of you to have remembered what I had said. Demiurge, you’ve made me very happy.”
2014
2015	“I-I remember too!”
2016
2017	“I do too, Ainz-sama.”
2018
2019	“Umu. Umu. Shalltear, Aura. I’m thankful for you two too.”
2020
2021	He couldn’t figure out if they had actually remembered or had not but were simply concurring with Demiurge, just like what he was doing.
2022
2023 	Speaking of which, how have they still not figured out the truth that he’s incompetent? Was he really that good at acting?
2024
2025	Much time had passed since he came to this world as the overlord of Nazarick. He had been operating as their overlord this entire time. They should have seen through his ‘overlord’ disguise already, they should have seen through the useless nature of Satoru by now.
2026
2027	The conversation continued on as he agonized over this.
2028
2029	“So, in keeping with Ainz-sama’s wishes, we will not be punishing the whole of the Kingdom. However, we can’t just let them get away with a light punishment. We will also have to put the plan on pause or abandon it entirely for now. At the very least, it will require major deviations.”
2030
2031	Ainz couldn’t help but feel a great sense of guilt at the fact that his words held such prominence in their minds.
2032
2033	“...So that was why. But, Demiurge, did the plans really fail this time?”
2034
2035	Demiurge, Albedo, and their assistant in the Kingdom possessed an incomprehensible level of genius in Ainz’s perspective. Would the plan that was the culmination of their minds truly fail? If that was the case, he must keep in mind what he says to them from this point onward. It would probably be best if he kept his mouth shut from now on. So, just in case, he asked again,
2036
2037	“Are we really abandoning our plans? The Candy and Whip plan?”
2038
2039	“...”
2040
2041	Demiurge looked towards Ainz with a bewildered expression, he had seen this expression on numerous occasions. It was the expression he had made when he was trying to figure out the true meaning behind his words as if they were all euphemisms said by a being on a completely different level of brilliance.
2042
2043	{Wrong. Demiurge. I’m just trying to reaffirm what you’ve said. There are no hidden layers of meanings. You should chill out by taking a bath first.}
2044
2045	These thoughts disappeared right as Ainz was about to give voice to them. 
2046
2047	Just as an unpleasant premonition surfaced in his mind, just as Ainz had expected, Demiurge stood aghast as if he had just had a sudden realization.
2048
2049	“...No wait, could it be...Ainz-sama. Could it be that you have had the same intention back when you immaculately brought the Empire under our dominion?”
2050
2051	His premonitions were right on the target.
2052
2053	{What is he saying?}
2054
2055	Ainz started ranting towards Demiurge in his mind, {what kind of a thought process would lead you to that conclusion?} 
2056
2057	{‘No, that’s not that case at all,’ would be the best response, right? But would that response really be appropriate?}
2058
2059	“-that’s right.”
2060
2061	After he vacillated for quite a long time, this was his reply. For some unknown reason, Albedo’s eyes were opened as wide as Demiurge’s.
2062
2063	It was a bit, no, it was extremely terrifying.
2064
2065	“I see...so that was why Ainz-sama had repeatedly instructed us to do so...please forgive your subordinate for not realizing it immediately, I have disappointed my master.”
2066
2067	“No, Demiurge. How could someone like you, no, how could people like us ever hope to be able to fully comprehend Ainz-sama’s ingenious plans? To have forgotten that Ainz-sama’s every move was made with a multitude of intents may have been our greatest failure.”
2068
2069	“-that’s right. It’s just as you have said. To have applied the Candy and Whip policy on a national level. As expected of our Ainz-sama. As expected of the leader of the Supreme Beings...”
2070
2071	{Hmph.} Ainz laughed at himself.
2072
2073	He could no longer understand what these two were talking about.
2074
2075	In that moment, a thought flashed across his mind. What if these two had already realised Ainz’s incompetence and were just trying to cover for him?
2076
2077{They’re both geniuses. The truth is, I can’t even comprehend how much smarter they are than me. How long would people like them continue to mistake my stupidity for genius? No, that shouldn’t have even been possible!}
2078
2079	“Ainz. Sama. Is. Truly. The. Greatest. Mind. Of. Nazarick.”
2080
2081	“Exactly, you’re completely correct, Cocytus. To Ainz-sama, someone who’s capable of planning on the scale of millennia and myriad years into the future, something on the scale of a few years is nothing.”
2082
2083	“Eh? I-is that true…? As expected of Ainz-sama.”
2084
2085	“To be able to plan for millennia ahead, I’m truly in awe...Ainz-sama.”
2086
2087	{What is Demiurge talking about?}
2088
2089	{Who? When did they say that? How would someone be able to plan that far ahead into the future? Don’t make stuff up on your own.} Ainz suppressed his desire to yell out his thoughts. It would be bad if the two naive children took it as the truth.
2090
2091	However, since he had been approving every single one of Demiurge’s suggestions, he didn’t know what was the best way to respond to him now. Plus, if he was to object now, it would most likely create issues for him in the future.
2092
2093	{So I still have to act as usual?}
2094
2095	If Ainz was capable of facial expressions, he would probably have a dubious smile right now. After racking his brain, he managed to come up with a response that neither confirmed nor denied Demiurge’s statement,
2096
2097	“No, that’s not the case at all.”
2098
2099	“There’s no need for our master to be so humble-arinsu. Oh great Ainz-sama.”
2100
2101	“To. Be. Able. To. Think. This. Far. Out. Into. The. Future...No., If. That. Was. Not. The. Case. Then. He. Would. Not. Have. Been. The. Leader. Of. The. Supreme. Beings.”
2102
2103	He couldn’t handle it any longer, he should just give up the facade.
2104
2105	Ainz made his decision.
2106
2107	“Now then, since we now have Ainz-sama’s permission, let’s give unto the Kingdom the most miserable of punishments.”
2108
2109	“Eh?”
2110
2111	How did the word “miserable” show up in their conversation up to this point? Ainz was completely baffled.
2112
2113	Albedo clasped her hands together and grinned brightly. The adorable Albedo and Demiurge spoke in unison,
2114
2115	“The Empire, who had surrendered immediately to Ainz-sama, had been given the Candy. The Kingdom, who had not surrendered, will be given the Whip. By doing so, we will be sending a message to everyone else. Candy and Whip, the people of this world must choose between them. Wooo, things are getting a little more interesting aren’t they, Ainz-sama?”
2116
2117	“...Uh”
2118
2119----
2120
2121	Hilma was violently thrown back to where she was taken from. The [Gate] that had transported her back was gone by the time she turned around to look.
2122
2123	She surveyed her surroundings as she nursed the arm that had made impact with the ground when she was thrown out. She was in a well-ventilated, spacious, and familiar room.
2124
2125 	This used to be the head of the gambling division, Noah Zweden’s mansion. He had originally purchased this swath of land with the intention to build a casino on top of it, which was illegal. They had successfully built the associated mansion, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the remainder of the plans had to be cancelled.
2126
2127	Because of this, the mansion had included enormous rooms meant for gambling and Hilma was in the largest room of them all.
2128
2129	Hilma finally calmed down and sighed deeply.
2130
2131	Her body quivered as it was overtaken with joy.
2132
2133	“Hilma!”
2134
2135	Her companions rushed over to her. There were three others in the room, including Özkuzu who rang the handbell on the table.
2136
2137	Their eyes were filled with tears.
2138
2139	Surely their pale expressions were all out of concern for her wellbeing.
2140
2141	“Are you alright!? Is anything wrong!? How’s your stomach?”
2142
2143	“We have some fruit wine! Do you want to wet your beak?”
2144
2145	 “The rest of them will come here soon!”
2146
2147	“Noah, Endio, and Özkuzu—” the three quieted down upon hearing Hilma’s voice, “—I’m sorry I made you guys worry about me.”
2148
2149	“Nevermind that! You must have suffered through a lot, you should take a rest immediately.”
2150
2151	Noah wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes as he said this. He must have thought that she had experienced ‘that’ or something equally as horrifying. Hilma had no option but to explain herself.
2152
2153	“I wasn’t put through ‘that’, they didn’t do anything to me.”
2154
2155	The atmosphere grew thick as the companions who had been surrounding her had their confused expressions gradually surface as if to say, {was that something that was even possible?}
2156
2157	“I also met with his Majesty, his Majesty the Sorcerer King.”
2158
2159	Hilma’s moist eyes were like a broken breakwater as a never-ending stream of tears flowed out.
2160
2161	“His Majesty the Sorcerer King...”
2162
2163	As his title alone commanded an inconceivable amount of fear, Endio made the sign of a God that he didn’t even believe in as he spoke while the other two began to frantically look around the room.
2164
2165	Perhaps they were trying to look for any eavesdroppers, even though they had never seen any. It was common knowledge between them that there was always the possibility that someone could be listening in on them.
2166
2167	“You met — no, you were granted an audience with him? Glad you were able to return successfully then.”
2168
2169	“Ufufu…”
2170
2171	Hilma, who was still crying, gave a smile as her reply.
2172
2173	Though everybody had been called on by the Sorcerer King, they had bowed the entire time so no one really caught a good look at his face.
2174
2175	However, through the intel they had gathered and second-hand accounts of people who had stolen glances at him, the Eight Fingers, including Hilma, arrived at the unmistakable conclusion that the Sorcerer King was the avatar of evil. No, he was simply a magic caster who would use such cruel methods of torture and could ruthlessly crush the soldiers of the Kingdom.
2176
2177	“His Majesty was...his Majesty was truly a reasonable master. Not only was he tolerant of my failures, but he was also merciful in his ruling.”
2178
2179	Suddenly the world around them felt as though time had stopped.
2180
2181	Noah was shocked for a moment, but then he shut his eyes as if to offer his pity. 
2182
2183	In truth, if someone else had said this, the Hilma of a few minutes ago would have probably thought the same as they did. {So that was what happened, she’s completely broken} or something similar.
2184
2185	The two behind her spoke with bloodshot eyes, “Hilma...I’m more or less envious of your current situation.”, “Ahhh, if only I was there with you back there…”, and other laments.
2186
2187	“No, hold on a second. Perhaps she has some sort of mind control spell cast on her, Hilma, is that true?”
2188
2189	Noah wouldn’t stop asking. Of course, she herself knew that she wasn’t under the influence of any spells but at the same time, she could not prove it definitively to them. Because of that, she just simply ignored his questions and continued to talk. Whether they believe her or not is up to them.
2190
2191	“I didn’t think that I would be returning alive too, the reason why I could return without a scratch was because of our master. His Majesty the Sorcerer King — truly someone fit to be called a king. If our master wasn’t there...”
2192
2193	Perhaps she would have been forced to take responsibility for what had happened. Perhaps — no, this wasn’t a hypothetical, she would have definitely been implicated due to that idiot’s actions and suffer a hellish punishment for it. The Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, would’ve definitely done that.
2194
2195	If she were in her place, she would have also had someone take the fall for it even if the punishment was not death but simply pain and suffering. So from her perspective, the Sorcerer King’s decision was infinitely more merciful than the one she would have given.
2196
2197	“...Hilma. Sorry to interrupt your spiel on his Majesty’s mercy, but that was out of his Candy and Whip policy.”
2198
2199	“Is that so…? Ummm, perhaps that was the reason why.”
2200
2201	Though she had said so, Hilma did not believe that to be the case.
2202
2203	Hilma could tell a person’s inner thoughts by the fluctuations in their voice, their expressions, and their partialities. 
2204
2205	This wasn’t some unusual ability, but just something she had picked up over time with experience. It was accurate to a certain degree and if those feelings were to be trusted, the Sorcerer King and Albedo were not playing the routine of Good Cop Bad Cop.
2206	
2207	The reason why she wasn’t completely certain of her own judgement was because it was incredibly difficult to read the Sorcerer King’s thoughts given how he had no facial expressions to speak of. So there was a chance that his assumptions were correct.
2208
2209	“That’s right. After all, I’ve done so in the past too so I’m quite familiar with it. But...ahhh, how sweet is the Candy to those who had tasted the pain the Whip could inflict. Perhaps we were lied to, perhaps his Majesty the Sorcerer King is a terrifying being that could not empathize with people and his confidants were there to make sure that he doesn’t go overboard. Even so, I would still be inclined to believe him. No...or I wanted to believe him.”
2210
2211	Ladies of the night who were easily swindled by men and were subsequently devastated was something Hilma had seen one too many times. She knew that she was no different than those troubled women she had seen in the past. Even so, she couldn’t resist the Sorcerer King’s ability to draw people closer to him.
2212
2213	“...Hilma. You’ve bore witness to countless types of men. You’re the best out of us all in terms of understanding people, especially men. Tell the truth, what kind of man is his Majesty the Sorcerer King?”
2214
2215	As a high-class prostitute, it was true that she had seen all kinds of men, especially those who were high in status or had great authority over people. She had seen that type of men so often that it had become annoying for her. 
2216
2217	If she were to compare and contrast them—
2218
2219	“If I were to describe him with a single phrase, it would be ‘a merciful master’. He has the clarity of mind to think and judge but also the flexibility to accommodate his subordinate’s constructive suggestions into his own train of thought. He does not seek schadenfreude as a hobby, which would have been par for the course. How should I put this...right, he just didn’t give off that kind of an aura, you know? Of course, he would still give out punishments callously if he felt they were necessary.”
2220
2221	“That is high praise, coming from you.”
2222
2223	The slightest suggestion of a smile broke out on Hilma’s tear-stained face as she laughed, “ufufu.”
2224
2225	“That’s right. Though our master is of the undead, he embodies justice and mercy. Even when he’s being callous, he isn’t being cruel. After all, the consequence of failure is punishment. He could have killed me to send a message to you all, but his Majesty did not do so.”
2226
2227	She didn’t know who had just swallowed audibly, but the sound was reverberating through the spacious room.
2228
2229	“I hope his Majesty the Sorcerer King will remain with us forever. If it was our master, he would have…”
2230
2231	A depressing silence weighed heavily on their hearts.
2232
2233	“Hoooooh…”
2234
2235	Someone breathed out the way a missionary would if they had borne witness to a miracle.
2236
2237	They did not know when that hellish fate would befall them, but as people who had lived in constant fear, this was salvation.
2238
2239	“I see...so you’re saying that we must be even more loyal than we already are, right?”
2240
2241	“Yes, Noah. We should do so...now that we know. But the prime minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, is still a terrifying master. I can’t imagine her saying the same words his Majesty the Sorcerer King had said to me…”
2242
2243	Though she had mumbled that last sentence to herself, her companions who had heard her all had looks of surprise on their faces.
2244
2245	It was difficult to read the thoughts of the demon known as Albedo, but her intuition had told her that something was wrong in that moment.
2246
2247	Perhaps it was because her brain was in overdrive under those extreme conditions.
2248
2249	Her intuition told her:
2250
2251	Even though the Sorcerer King could be considered a compassionate figure, Albedo was someone who saw people as mere toys. Something like that.
2252
2253	Hilma really wanted to try her best to make it so that she and her companions could become direct subordinates under the Sorcerer King. He would be the type of master to reward someone based on their performance and would not treat his subordinates unreasonably.
2254
2255	“Everyone. Let’s work even harder for his Majesty the Sorcerer King.”
2256
2257	Hilma said to the three in front of her and shared her thoughts. Afterwards, she began seeking assistance from various sources for the task she had been given by the Sorcerer King.
2258
2259----
2260
2261Chapter 2: Countdown to Extinction 
2262
2263CH2P1
2264
2265	In the capital city of the Kingdom of Re-Estize, in the Valencia Palace.
2266
2267	One of the rooms had a kind of heat typical of the number of people gathered inside. Though that number was not high by any means, the room wasn’t spacious either. The point was, the people in that room were so serious and occupied with their tasks that they had begun to raise the temperature of the room bit by bit.
2268
2269	In the center of the room sat a rectangular meeting table and situated on the most important seat in the room was Rampossa III. Sat to his right was the second prince, Zanac, and the rest of the seats had been filled by the Kingdom’s courtiers and ministers. Due to the fact that they were all advanced in years, if you were to take a look around the room, all you would see were white hair on white heads and shiny bald heads.
2270
2271	If this was a normal situation, everyone except the king would have stood up to pay their respects and then properly initiate the meeting — this was the protocol after all — but that was not what had happened. Each one of them had a cup filled with tea in front of them, signifying the potential length of this meeting.
2272
2273	After confirming that everybody had received the materials they had prepared, Zanac said loudly,
2274
2275	“Let’s start the court meeting then. The topic of this meeting will be the declaration of war we have received from the Sorcerous Kingdom.” He had used a term as intense as ‘declaration of war’ in hopes that everyone would treat this meeting with the gravity it deserves.
2276
2277	The truth was, the white-haired interior minister, who was around the age of his father, had the most displeased expression out of them all. It seemed that he was deeply anxious about the emergency.
2278
2279	Zanac took a stealthy glance at the side of his father’s face. He was worried the most about his father’s judgment. Was his father still capable of fully understanding how dangerous this situation could be and take appropriate actions against it?
2280
2281	{He probably has some convictions against the Sorcerer King who had killed ‘that guy’...}
2282
2283	He had heard that after his father received news of the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff’s death, he was shaken to his core and couldn’t think straight. After it was explained to him how resurrection was not possible, he flew into a rage that had never been seen before. Zanac bore witness to it all as he was there with his father when it occurred.
2284
2285	Since then, his father appeared to have aged quite significantly. He had lost all motivation and was as lifeless as a mannequin constructed out of flesh and bone.
2286
2287	Would his father, who had been traumatized this much, be able to make a calm judgment against his sworn enemy, the Sorcerous Kingdom?
2288
2289	{It’ll be up to me then—}
2290
2291	Zanac felt uneasy so he took a peek at the ministers.
2292
2293	The topic of this meeting was something that was delivered to them days ago by an envoy from the Sorcerous Kingdom, an official document that bore the royal seal of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The content of the document reads, “A grain convoy meant to serve as humanitarian aid from the Sorcerous Kingdom to the Holy Kingdom had been taken by force by a citizen of the Kingdom. We deem it a hostile action against the Sorcerous Kingdom and hereby declare war on your country.”
2294
2295	The document also bore the seals of other countries that approved of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s actions.
2296
2297	As of now, the envoy was staying within the capital, waiting to deliver the Kingdom’s response letter back. Given that this was an official communication between countries through documents, it would not have been unusual to give the other side a week or two to respond. Even then, for them to reach consensus on a response, finish their preparations, complete investigations, et cetera would probably take them more time than they have on hand, even if they were to rush through every process.
2298
2299	“I’m terribly sorry, because we have had to investigate two of the six seals on the document from the envoy, it took us quite a bit of time.”
2300
2301	The one who had lowered his head was the minister of foreign affairs, who was also the minister of seals and was in charge of the investigation over the seals approving of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s decision.
2302
2303	“The ones we were certain of before were the four from the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Empire, the Draconic Kingdom, and the Holy Kingdom, correct?”
2304
2305	The minister of foreign affairs nodded in response to the minister of finance’s question.
2306
2307	“That is correct. Of the two remaining — one was from the Dwarven Nation. Though we had identified the design as Dwarven, the seal still had some variations compared to the ones on the documents we’ve had from them from two centuries ago. After we received the assistance from Re-Blumrusher with the investigation, we found a similar seal, so we judged that it was probably a remake of the original after a certain era. The other seal, the one that was next to the Holy Kingdom’s, appeared to be the seal of the one they call the ‘Faceless One’.”
2308
2309	“They placed an individual’s stamp alongside the seals of state?”
2310
2311	The minister of military affairs was in total disbelief.
2312
2313	He was the youngest of the ministers. Both him and Zanac lowered the average age of the room by quite a lot. With that said, he was already over 40.
2314
2315	His appearance did not do his rank of the minister of military affairs justice; he was skinny, weak, and had a face that suggested he was neurotic. He seemed more of a financial personnel than a military one.
2316
2317	His relationship with Gazef had not been great - or rather, he had deliberately flaunted his dislike of him - so he was not heavily relied upon by Rampossa and had been absent from court meetings quite frequently. The lack of contact between them made Zanac unaware of his capabilities.
2318
2319	However, since Marquis Raeven had praised his abilities to Zanac, he should be someone who could earn his keep at the very least. No matter what he was like as a person, he should at least be competent, right? No, if he wasn’t at least competent he wouldn’t have made it as a minister.
2320
2321	“It appears as though the minister of military affairs is not too familiar with this matter. Usually, when the Holy Kingdom applies their national seal on a document, their high priestess would also stamp on the seal of their temple. This must be something similar to that.”
2322
2323	“...so they’re trying to send the message that the ‘Faceless One’ had already overtaken the authority of their religious institutions, or that she has authority above that of their current religious institutions?”
2324
2325	“Your servant believes that to be the case, your Majesty. The document we received for the current Holy King’s coronation still had the seal of their temple, so it appears that she had begun rapidly consolidating power right after that event. So even though we had never seen the stamp of this ‘Faceless One’ and could not confirm its validity, since it was stamped next to the national seal of the Holy Kingdom, we could only assume that to be the case.”
2326
2327	“Other than the Council State and the Theocracy, most countries have approved of and joined the Sorcerous Kingdom’s condemnation of the Kingdom. This wasn’t subterfuge by the Sorcerous Kingdom, but the truth.” 
2328
2329	“Yes, your Majesty.”
2330
2331	His father let out a tired sigh.
2332
2333	“Has the Draconic Kingdom also bent their knees to the Sorcerous Kingdom?”
2334
2335	“We can’t be certain, your Majesty, because we have yet to receive intel on what had happened in the Draconic Kingdom. Perhaps they had fallen prey to some honeyed words or perhaps they simply felt that there was more to gain by siding with the Sorcerous Kingdom than siding with us.”
2336
2337	The Dragonic Kingdom was probably only endorsing the Sorcerous Kingdom’s actions and was not participating in the war itself.
2338
2339	“Is that so? I understand, minister of foreign affairs. Thank you for your hard work. Now then...interior minister, how many of those within the Kingdom believe in the contents of this document?
2340
2341	“Yes. Though we’re not too sure about the entirety of the Kingdom, about seven-tenths of those within the court believe this to be a ploy of the Sorcerous Kingdom. About a tenth of us believe that it was done by highwaymen — that part of the peasantry that would be boorish and foolish enough to do such a thing. The remaining two-tenths believe that this could be the plot of a third nation.”
2342
2343	“Hmm, if it was a plot, their goal would most likely be to weaken the Kingdom and the Sorcerous Kingdom or to simply disrupt the peace between the Sorcerous Kingdom and the Kingdom. If that was the case, it has to be the Council State and the Theocracy.”
2344
2345	“Your Majesty, I believe that conclusion to be too rash. There’s also the possibility that the Empire is plotting to overturn its status as a vassal state. After all, if it was the knights of the Empire, they could probably easily charge and overwhelm a convoy.”
2346
2347	“—that would not be possible. The incident happened on Kingdom soil. Did our investigations not reveal that there were tens of men? Even if it was the Empire or the Council State and the Theocracy, there would be no way they could bring so many soldiers onto our soil behind our backs. Or maybe, they had help from within. Perhaps they had hired bandits within the Kingdom, mercenaries would also be an option — the specifics does not matter, what matters is that we as a nation had committed a mistake.”
2348
2349	The minister of military affairs asserted that it was impossible for this to have been a plot that had been executed by soldiers foreign to the Kingdom.
2350
2351	Everyone knew how hard he had worked to maintain the public order which had almost collapsed within the Kingdom after that battle. He had proven his aptitude through the debacle, perhaps that was why he was so confident in his own judgment.
2352
2353	“It would have been hard with bandits, but I still hope that we could absorb some mercenaries into our ranks, but we simply do not have the capital to do so.”
2354
2355	“Are you saying that our finances are not in order?”
2356
2357	“I did not say that at all.”
2358
2359	“But you implied it—”
2360
2361	“Minister of finance, minister of military affairs, please stop arguing. We do not have time for that.”
2362
2363	The two lowered their heads upon hearing the king speak.
2364
2365	The minister of military affairs continued to speak to a now silent room.
2366
2367	“But, I have no doubt that this is some sort of a plot by someone. I have testimony from the guards at the gates that the caravan was flying the Sorcerous Kingdom’s flag and had a pretty impressive security detail when they left the capital.”
2368
2369	Most of the Kingdom’s people knew of the massacre the Sorcerous Kingdom had committed on the Katze plains, so no one within the Kingdom would dare to provoke such a terrifying country.
2370
2371	If they had to deduce who was behind all of this, there was only one country that checked all the boxes.
2372
2373	—The Sorcerous Kingdom.
2374
2375	Everything made sense once they considered it as a self-orchestrated, self-performed plot.
2376
2377	They probably had ordered the caravan to burn or dispose of its cargo — or maybe they plainly did not load those wagons up in the first place — and made up the excuse that they were attacked by some non-existent entity. It was hard to imagine a more plausible explanation.
2378
2379	“Zanac, though not much time has passed, how much progress have you made on your investigations?”
2380
2381	“Actually...your son I had already found out who had started this incident.”
2382
2383	The courtiers all had shocked expressions.
2384
2385	“...It’s just that, that was what made it difficult. We had doubts about it being a conspiracy precisely because it was so easy to find the culprit. Would you be so kind as to give me a bit more time?”
2386
2387	“Of course, we have to investigate the exact details of this incident, but given the situation any amount of intel would be helpful. Can you report on what you have figured out — what you are absolutely certain of?”
2388
2389	“As you wish, my king. What we are certain of, is that the criminals in question include the one known as Baron Philip Dayton L’Eyre Montserrat and his serfs.”
2390
2391	The courtiers began to speak, “Montserrat?” “Have you heard of that name?” “A baron and his serfs attacked the convoy?” “Were they trying to avenge someone who died in the battle?” “Perhaps he’s one of those that does not put much thought into their actions?” “Emotions could lead one to go on unexpected rampages, couldn’t they?”
2392
2393	In the midst of this, the one to speak up was the minister of justice who appeared to be pretty miffed,
2394
2395	“Your Majesty, this...this has to be a scheme of the Sorcerous Kingdom, correct? Your servant could not fathom why a noble of the Kingdom would mastermind something like this.
2396
2397	“I concur. Is the Sorcerous Kingdom not a country that would nonchalantly use [Charm Person] in their courts? It is entirely possible that they couldn't care less about using equally sleazy methods on a national level. For example — was that baron being controlled using [Charm Person]?”
2398
2399	The phrase “I see” could be heard throughout the room. Zanac couldn’t help but feel regret for leaking that information after hearing the accusations the minister made in the second half of rhetoric.
2400
2401	“If that’s the case, we need to offer protection to that baron as soon as possible. Though I’m not too versed on the matter, I have heard that the spell called [Charm Person] leaves the victim with the memory of what happened when the spell was cast on them. Therefore he would not remain silent.”
2402
2403	Zanac wasn’t as knowledgeable in magic as the minister, so he had made a rookie mistake.
2404
2405	“Summon that baron. Investigate what had happened. At the same time, protect him.”
2406
2407	“—my king,” Zanac did not want to say so, but after steeling himself he said, “after we find out what had happened, could we offer the head of that baron as an apology to the Sorcerous Kingdom?”
2408
2409	“What are you talking about?”
2410
2411	His father’s gaze was sharp enough that it felt as though it was piercing right through him. Even when he was reduced to a skinny old man, the man who had borne the title of king for the longest time still had an aura that was worthy of praise.
2412
2413	{I doubt I have the same level of majesty, but, I won’t back down so easily.}
2414
2415	Even if this was a scheme by the Sorcerous Kingdom, was it really worth fighting a battle on the battlefield the enemy had specially prepared for themselves? He was terrified of the prospect that they would be continually arguing back and forth about whether ‘it’s a scheme’ or ‘it’s not a scheme’ up to the point when they will be engaged in a full-scale war.
2416
2417	Rather than wait for things to get to that point, it would be better to just give up the head of the noble who had started it all sooner than later and hope that it would de-escalate the situation.
2418
2419	It would be absolutely foolish to fight an opponent who had already demonstrated their superior powers in their previous battle. If a war was to occur, it was hard for him to imagine that the nobles who knew about that tragedy would still send their levies. 
2420
2421	Even if they were willing to send their own soldiers, they would just be endangering themselves.
2422
2423	“My king, I believe that we should avoid a war with the Sorcerous Kingdom.”
2424
2425	“And so you would be willing to offer an innocent noble as a sacrifice? Is that something the heir to the throne should say? My son, think before you speak.”
2426
2427	Zanac licked his lips and replied,
2428
2429	“My answer remains the same regardless of what the others may say. I believe that it’s imperative for us to avoid a large loss of life with a small sacrifice.”
2430
2431	“If we were to do that, should we just hand over the head of another loyal servant every time the Sorcerous Kingdom comes knocking on our door? Do you understand that simple logic?”
2432
2433	“I understand...but father should have seen the tragedy of the Katze plains which I had not. Would you still risk conflict with the Sorcerous Kingdom with that in mind?”
2434
2435	His father let out a sigh and curled his lips into a straight line. Zanac pressed home his advantage by following up with, “I am against the idea. Allow me to repeat myself, I believe that a war with that kind of country should be avoided at all costs, even if we have to sacrifice an innocent noble.”
2436
2437	His speech was hardly fit for the heir to the throne. He might get called weak behind his back and lose the loyalty of a few courtiers because of this, but Zanac believed that this was the only path through which the Kingdom would survive.
2438
2439	“...Your Majesty. Your servant supports his Highness’ proposal too.”
2440
2441	The one to agree with him was the minister of internal affairs, but he was about to add on to Zanac’s proposal,
2442
2443	“Your Majesty, your servant understands your desire to protect all citizens. So how about we just — become a vassal state of the Sorcerous Kingdom?”
2444
2445	The courtiers began shouting “What are you talking about!?”, “Have you lost your sense of honor!?”, and so one upon hearing what the minister of internal affairs had to say. The minister ignored them all with his gaze affixed towards Zanac’s father.
2446
2447 Faced with a suggestion that had branded the suggester a traitor, his father gradually let out a smile.
2448
2449	“That, I especially cannot do. That would be akin to betraying the loyalty of generations of people who had served this Kingdom. How will we be able to face them then? I apologize to you, earl. Thank you for your suggestion.”
2450
2451	“Your servant did not deserve that apology.”
2452
2453	Zanac saw that they were communicating on the deeper level through their gazes.
2454
2455	Would he be able to have courtiers who were this loyal?
2456
2457	His father was a merciful man, but nothing more. No — perhaps it was because of this that talented people were willing to serve him. His father was exceptionally talented in recruiting people more talented than him, like the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff.
2458
2459	Zanac felt that it was better for him to become king than his brother, who was more likely to become a puppet of the Eight Fingers or the Noble Faction and doom the country than not. That was why he had worked together with Marquis Raeven to become king or a powerful grand duke to prepare for the future.
2460
2461	But now — Zanac couldn’t help but feel inadequate compared to his sister’s genius and his father’s charisma. Even if he became the king, it wasn’t likely that he would have made the Kingdom a better place.
2462
2463	The only thing he could do was to improve himself, but it wasn’t such an easy task given his age and personality, plus he never wanted to self-improve anyways. He would probably keep his personality until death.
2464
2465	“—minister of military affairs, I want to propose a hypothetical. What could we do to win a war against the Sorcerous Kingdom?”
2466
2467	“Could we form an alliance with another country before then? Are we to face them alone?”
2468
2469	Zanac, Rampossa III, and the minister of foreign affairs exchanged gazes. Zanac, as their representative, answered with,
2470
2471	“We have not been successful in forging an alliance with the Council State. We had begun negotiations with them way back — just after that battle had ended. We were not able to form an agreeable alliance back then. If they knew our relationship with the Sorcerous Kingdom has worsened, the chance of rejection would only go up.”
2472
2473	“Is that so...then your Majesty, though this question may be out of line. What would you consider as the victory condition of this war? Do we have to drive the enemy off in battle? Or do we have to kill — or rather, destroy the Sorcerer King? If it’s the latter, I do not believe that we have any chance at a victory at all.”
2474
2475	“...minister of military affairs, that would not be the case. What if we only had to force the enemy to withdraw their forces?”
2476
2477	“Let me think about it…” the minister of the military tilted his head as he contemplated. He came up with the answer, “luck would have to be on our side, but if we were to march an army the long way around and occupy E-Rantel while their troops are still marching from E-Rantel towards the capital, we might have a chance to turn the tide of battle.”
2478
2479	“We would have to break through their three layers of fortifications?”
2480
2481	“Yes, your Majesty. It would be something that could only be accomplished if we were able to sneak an army that is as large we can possibly muster past their defenses — which was why I said that luck had to be on our side. Of course, if the Sorcerous King, the one who was capable of casting that terrifying spell without breaking a sweat, was to stay in E-Rantel then this plan would undoubtedly fail.”
2482
2483	Another way to put this was that if luck was not on their side, they had no chance of victory at all. Zanac wasn’t sure if his father understood the full implications of the minister’s words.
2484
2485	“If that was the case, then if the Sorcerous Kingdom had invaded us without a formal declaration of war, everything would have been over. A surprise attack would have rendered us unable to gather enough troops in time, in which case we wouldn’t even be able to carry out the plan.”
2486
2487	It was the tradition for formal declarations of war to be passed between nations, a sort of gentleman’s agreement or etiquette.
2488
2489	To send a formal declaration of war was to send the message that ‘our country respects etiquette’ to the other nations. If they did not do so, they would have been viewed as a barbaric nation, which would have had a seriously negative impact on their diplomatic efforts.
2490
2491	Between nations of different races, this tradition was not often observed. However, even when nations of different races were involved, it depended on the age, history, diplomatic relations with their neighbouring countries, and so on.
2492
2493	So given this context, how would a nation ruled by the undead, which hates the living, conduct itself? Would they provide a formal declaration of war?
2494
2495	“—My king. As I had expected, we would only have the slimmest chance of victory if we were to go to war. If that is the case, should we not try our best to avoid that outcome, by sacrificing a little?”
2496
2497	“Sacrificing a little…?”
2498
2499	“Yes, my king. We should summon that baron at once and put him on trial. Afterwards, we will have him take responsibility for his actions regardless of the outcome, and off with his head.”
2500
2501	“...We can’t do that, Zanac. To summon that baron and put him on trial would be fine, but if he was innocent or if we could declare his innocence, I will not do such a thing. I have a better plan in mind.”
2502
2503	“A better plan…? What is it?”
2504
2505	His father fell silent and shook his head.
2506
2507	After witnessing that, Zanac concluded that his father was probably lying. If there really was a better plan then he should say it out loud. If there wasn’t, he was probably lying to cover for the fact that he had not thought of a good reason on why they should spare that nobleman.
2508
2509	Zanac felt disappointed by his father and contemplated what he should do next.
2510
2511	{No matter how I look at it, the future of the Kingdom seems grim…Looks like I will have to do it by force.}
2512
2513	First of all, it was a necessity for them to pin all responsibilities on that baron.
2514
2515	Though the probability is slim, that baron may have been the source of all of their troubles anyways. In any case, if they could make that the truth, then their problems would be solved.
2516
2517	However, Zanac couldn’t think of a way to pin all responsibilities on him. What if he was to kill the baron on his way to the capital and then pin the responsibilities on him? His father wouldn’t be able to say otherwise if that was the case.
2518
2519	Even if his father objects to the plan, as long as he could pull it off on his own, everything would be fine. He had considered whether things would turn out this way the moment he had heard of the incident. He had already arrived at a conclusion back then.
2520
2521	The grave crime of usurping the throne.
2522
2523	He was so close to inheriting the throne, he didn’t even have to do anything but wait. The number of disadvantages of doing what he was about to do was too many to count. The only advantage of this plan was that it solved the problem at hand.
2524
2525	If that was to be the case then usurpation might be a stupid idea on paper, but if he was to allow the status quo to remain as is, there would not be a Kingdom to speak of soon.
2526
2527	Zanac had hoped that he could at the very least receive approval from the courtiers present. There was also a need for him to request the services of that man from his sister. Brain Unglaus was an indispensable part of his plan. If Brain was there, they would definitely have the upper hand in terms of strength.
2528
2529	{—ah—how frustrating! Why do I have to plan this out in the first place! If only the Sorcerous Kingdom did not exist! If only that freakishly powerful undead being did not exist!}
2530
2531	If not for the Sorcerous Kingdom, if not for its intervention with their annual battle with the Empire, though his brother may have become king already, the Kingdom would still not be forced into the corner as it had been now.
2532
2533	Zanac cursed in his heart.
2534
2535	And then, the sound of door knocks could be heard.
2536
2537	Zanac had a premonition.
2538
2539	To interrupt a meeting this important, it must be an emergency. To be honest, the way they were knocking on the door was quite violent too.
2540
2541	Issues of such importance were usually — no, they were definitely bad news. That was Zanac’s premonition.
2542
2543	Zanac, as their representative, gave his approval to let them in. A knight panickedly entered the room, just as he had expected.
2544
2545	“A forerunner from the Sorcerous Kingdom has just notified us that their Prime Minister, Albedo, will arrive at the capital in less than two hours!”
2546
2547	In their previous communications, the title of Guardian Overseer did not make much sense to them so they had apparently switched her title to that of the easily understandable Prime Minister. Did the arrival of a person of such calibre confirm his apprehension?
2548
2549	—-no, wait.
2550
2551	His premonition was off the mark. This wasn’t bad news — but the worst news.
2552
2553	{So — for what purpose has she come for?}
2554
2555	The envoy who had brought the official document was not inside this palace. Though he had wanted it to linger within the capital, they did not have the courage to let an undead creature stay with them. This was why it was currently staying within a mansion in the nobility’s portion of the city.
2556
2557	They had stationed guards around the mansion under the guise of protection, the perimeter was so tightly guarded that not even a slime could make it out without them noticing, but the envoy had apparently yet to contact the Sorcerous Kingdom.
2558
2559	Could they have been communicating through magical means? Or did they plan to visit the Kingdom even if the envoy had not returned?
2560
2561	Also, they had not sent the forerunner before they had departed, but rather this late into their journey. What for?
2562
2563	{With that said — it doesn’t seem as though they’re here to declare war.}
2564
2565	If they were here to declare war, they would not be sending their second-most powerful official into territories where they were uncertain of what could happen.
2566
2567	As an envoy from a foreign nation, the Kingdom would not dare harm her — though she might have that naive idea. However, from Zanac’s perspective, she did not appear to be the kind of person to wander into territories she knew would be dangerous to her.
2568
2569	“Grant her an audience. Prepare the throne room for an appropriate reception immediately.”
2570
2571	“Yes, your Majesty!”
2572
2573	The knight left the room upon hearing his father’s orders.
2574
2575	Usually, even if a foreign dignitary was to come to the capital, it wasn’t as though they would be granted an audience with the King on the same day. But, given their current situation, they couldn’t just tell the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom things like, “you will be granted an audience in a few days.”
2576
2577	“Everyone, I apologize but can you all switch to more formal attire and gather in the throne room?”
2578
2579	Upon hearing their king’s request, the courtiers including Zanac, lowered their heads.
2580
2581
2582Chapter 2 Part 2:
2583
2584
2585	The throne room used for audiences with envoys (there were multiple throne rooms each for separate purposes) wasn’t too large, but to prepare it so that it was adequate enough for dignitaries was still a sizable time commitment. However, since the guide they had sent was quite slow — this wasn’t a deliberate move by them to buy them more time — they had just enough time to prepare the room and gather the courtiers who were now clothed in ceremonious attire before the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, arrived.
2586
2587	The smell of the freshly cut flowers began to permeate the room.
2588
2589	To Zanac, it all just smelled grassy, but Renner would probably put it as, “Onii-sama probably just has a stuffy nose.” or something similar.
2590
2591	He felt that fresh flowers were unnecessary given that everybody was wearing some sort of perfume, but he understood that there was a certain beauty to the sight of blooming flowers. If that was the case though, why couldn’t they just use fake flowers? Well, since there was no precedent for that, the use of fake flowers could give envoys the wrong impression that they weren’t welcomed there, that would be troublesome.
2592
2593	Every race had comparable acts of etiquette, yet the same action could be interpreted differently by different races. So how did the Council State, which was home to various non-human races, manage this issue?
2594
2595	The reason why this thought came across his mind out of nowhere was because of the horns and wings on the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo, who had just walked in.
2596
2597	As the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the seductive beauty had a dark air of allure about her, unchanged from the last time he had seen her. Her beauty was such that it could almost make them forget that she was a high ranking official of the despicable Sorcerous Kingdom. He wasn’t sure if she had been spoken for, but she was bewitching enough that countries would go to war over her.
2598
2599	That was the Prime Minister of the Sorcerous Kingdom, Albedo.
2600
2601	The sound of men who had become instantly love-stricken could be heard throughout the room, the sound they made as they sighed, “ooooh.” The nobles who had made those sounds were also obvious in their enraptured ogles. 
2602
2603	The beauty who was able to instantly hold them captive gradually let out a smile that was like that of a loving mother’s. Perhaps no one else in this world could produce such a charming smile.
2604
2605Though Zanac’s sister was also considered a beauty, he thought Albedo’s beauty could even outshine hers. 
2606
2607The only odd aspect about her was her gown.
2608
2609	If they were at a ball, nothing would be more appropriate than that light-peach coloured gown, but given their current situation, it wasn’t proper at all.
2610
2611	She couldn’t have worn it by mistake. It had to be on purpose. What is the hidden meaning behind all of this?
2612
2613	Zanac had no ideas regarding the implications of the different types of gowns worn by women. Perhaps his sister would be able to figure it out, but she wasn’t exactly normal compared to the other women of the aristocracy. With that said, her decision to not spend too much on herself out of disinterest in sprucing herself up had earned Zanac’s respect.
2614
2615	Zanac stole a glance at his sister.
2616
2617	She wasn’t wearing her usual gown, but the one she had worn for ceremonies. She couldn’t be wearing the same clothes as she had the last time they welcomed Albedo, right?
2618
2619	Though he wanted to tell Renner not to wear that outfit as people would look down on her, her gown wasn’t too out of the ordinary compared to what Albedo wore.
2620
2621	A few of the courtiers had also noticed that Renner was wearing the same gown she had the last time and had on them bothered expressions, but those expressions only surfaced for a mere moment before subsiding. 
2622
2623	“Long time no see, Albedo-kakka.”
2624
2625	Upon hearing Rampossa’s voice, the nobles who had been enthralled by Albedo’s beauty finally snapped back to reality.
2626
2627	“Not at all, it’s my fault for not visiting Your Majesty in such a long time.”
2628
2629	Albedo replied with a strikingly appealing voice that matched her appearance. Her back remained straight and the vertical position of her head remained unchanged, just like she had done the last time around. This was in direct contrast to her gentle demeanour, it made clear her belief that humans were too insignificant for her to bow down to.
2630
2631	“You do not appear to have changed much, that is a relief.”
2632
2633	“The same to you, Your majesty.”
2634
2635	The way the two smiled and looked at each other could lead one to believe that it was just a warm gathering of friends, and nothing more.
2636
2637	“You appear to be busy, so I will be direct, why have you come here today?”
2638
2639	“Indeed. I’m here regarding our previous affair — that being how my country’s grain caravan, which was intended to be humanitarian aid to the Holy Kingdom, had been robbed by one of your own.”
2640
2641	Though this was no laughing matter, Albedo’s smile remained steadfast from before.
2642
2643	In contrast, his father had stood up from his throne to say,
2644
2645	“I see, you are here for that. Then allow me to firstly, apologize for my citizen’s actions.”
2646
2647	His father lowered his head and bowed deeply. The king of a kingdom was accepting the words of the other party at face value. In diplomacy, that was something that should not have been done for any reason. In the world of diplomacy, where not even the shrewd were safe from deceit (TL’s note: 生き馬の目を抜く), to confirm the faults of one’s country was a major blunder.
2648
2649	Nevermind the fact that it was unwise for the head of state to directly apologize for something, because that would be akin to the entire country admitting guilt.
2650
2651	To have done so would be to damn their country to the Sorcerous Kingdom’s every whim and fancy. No—
2652
2653	{Considering that we are trying to avoid an all-out war, this might not have been the worst idea. But if the Sorcerous Kingdom was to demand the head of that noble now, aren’t they bound to do so?}
2654
2655	He couldn’t imagine that things would turn out this way given what his father had said earlier. If he intended to refuse the Sorcerous Kingdom’s demands at this point, the one to have apologized should have been someone like Zanac instead of him. After all, the difference in the weight of a head of state’s words and his son’s was worlds apart.
2656
2657	But just as Zanac’s train of thought reached that point, his father’s subsequent words put him at a loss for words.
2658
2659	“Now then...would the offering of my own head allow for the Kingdom to receive forgiveness from the Sorcerous Kingdom?” 
2660
2661	The moment those words came out of his father’s mouth, it felt as though the entire room had frozen over.
2662
2663	After his shock had waned, Zanac couldn’t help but feel ashamed of himself from the bottom of his heart.
2664
2665	This was undoubtedly, his father’s trump card.
2666
2667	Though the scale of an incident would affect the response, if the gift of repentance was the head of the head of state, the other party had to accept it no matter who they were, right? No, if they were to make further requests beyond what was offered, their lack of magnanimity would surely draw condemnations from everyone.  
2668
2669	His father did not consider himself unfortunate to have to offer up his life, not because he wanted to die, but because to sacrifice oneself for one’s own Kingdom was for a king to insist on.
2670
2671	His father was a true king.
2672
2673	Though it was a fact that his father’s weakness was in how he had dealt with matters, it appears as though Zanac had been underestimating his father for a long time.
2674
2675	“Of course, the Kingdom will take responsibility for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s grain loss, we could even reimburse twice the amount of grain should you desire it. That is in addition to the offer of my head. What is your opinion on this offer? Albedo-kakka.”
2676
2677	“Hmph…”
2678
2679	Albedo’s facial expression grew heavy. Though she was still a smiling beauty, it was oddly terrifying.
2680
2681	“...Hehehe, looks like you’ve made a slightly wrong prediction, Rampossa the third?”
2682
2683	Albedo shifted her gaze, apparently to his sister.
2684
2685	“Was it because you lost that man? Or was it because of something else? Did you find out about the brilliance—” Albedo then looked at Zanac, “—of your child, and so decided to have a change of heart?”
2686
2687	“I do not believe that I have had a change of heart...”
2688
2689	“Oh, but you did. If this was the past you, you would not have made that decision...perhaps it was a combination of a multitude of factors that had influenced you, but your basis as a person had not changed much? Whatever, that doesn’t matter. In any case, we will not change our policies towards this matter.”
2690
2691	Due to how sudden and peculiar Albedo’s shift in aura had occurred, no one noticed it at first. She had completely forgone the etiquette expected of an envoy during an audience with a head of state. Even if she was a foreigner, this was not an acceptable attitude to display towards a king who was actively leading his nation. Surprisingly, this attitude of hers felt more natural to Zanac, perhaps because the difference in power between the Kingdom’s King and the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Prime Minister was warped to begin with.
2692
2693	Human and fiend.
2694
2695	From that perspective, her attitude felt the most natural.
2696
2697	Perhaps that was why. There was an invisible pressure emanating from Albedo that stopped everyone from voicing their displeasure.
2698
2699	That was only temporary, as the fiend quickly put back on her sheep’s clothing, the Sorcerous Kingdom’s envoy.
2700
2701	Albedo surveyed the courtiers who were standing on opposite sides of the aisle and proclaimed loudly,
2702
2703	“This is a formal declaration of war from the Sorcerous Kingdom. We will deploy our troops a month from this day at noon! However, if you were to march troops towards E-Rantel — to cross into the Sorcerous Kingdom’s borders, then we will no longer follow that timeline.”
2704
2705	“Please wait!”
2706
2707	“I have no intention of tarrying any longer. Alright, with that my work here is done. The last thing I was meant to convey from His Majesty was—”
2708
2709	“—You planned for things to turn out this way all along, didn’t you?!”
2710
2711	Said a rage-filled courtier. Albedo squinted her eyes at him. The message conveyed through those eyes was probably menace. 
2712
2713	“You dare interrupt His Majesty the Sorcerer King’s message—human. Can you not wait to die a month from now?”
2714
2715	The colors instantly drained from the courtier who had spoken out even though Albedo hadn’t raised her voice by much and hadn’t done anything unusual. Still, the expressions of the courtier, who had been threatened by some feudal lord with soldiers before, changed dramatically due to a stare from a beauty.
2716
2717	“...Hmph. Now then, allow me to convey His Majesty the Sorcerer King’s message. ‘I have no intention of using grand magic as I had last time, let us enjoy the process. That’s all.’” After saying so, Albedo had a confused expression on her for the first time ever. “Even if you say that this was a scheme that we had planned out, to be completely honest, what had occurred was completely out of our expectations. We also wanted to find out how things had turned out this way.”
2718
2719	Albedo appeared to be telling the truth judging from her expression and voice, one wouldn’t believe that she was lying. Of course, the possibility that this was all an act was also incredibly high.
2720
2721	“If you wish to treat this incident as our nation’s scheme, that is fine by me. History is written by the victors. All of your false accusations will soon be erased.”
2722
2723	Zanac understood the stance the Sorcerous Kingdom had adopted for this incident.
2724
2725	The idea that they could avoid a war was futile.
2726
2727	The Sorcerous Kingdom had not been seeking to expand its territories through conquest, but rather the complete destruction of the Kingdom. It was safe to say that war was inevitable. In a month, the Sorcerous Kingdom’s undead will surely be marching into the Kingdom’s borders.
2728
2729	“There’s no need to escort me, I do not wish to take up any more of your precious, limited time.”
2730
2731	After Albedo exhibited the attitude that told them that she had said all that she had wanted to, she turned her back on the rest of them and walked out the door.
2732
2733	Was it truly advantageous for the Kingdom to let her go without laying their hands on her at all?
2734
2735	If they killed this woman who held the office of a Prime Minister, would it plunge the politics of the Sorcerous Kingdom into chaos temporarily and make them unable to start a war?
2736
2737	However, one look upon the back of her dignified figure made him hesitate. 
2738
2739	As Zanac pondered the possibilities, no one dared to stop Albedo from leaving the room.
2740
2741	The giant doors were shut just as Albedo’s silhouette disappeared over the side of the doorframe. Zanac said to his father,
2742
2743	“What should we do? If we chase her…”
2744
2745	“Do not do anything of that sort. If we were to do something like kill the envoy of another nation, the blame for this entire situation will fall on our shoulders. Then no other nations would ever come to our aid.”
2746
2747	His father replied with a feeble voice as he placed his hand onto his forehead, as if he’s having a headache. Zanac felt as though his father had just rapidly aged somewhat compared to just a few moments ago.
2748
2749	“Your Majesty. Your servant wishes to spread the news that you had offered your head as a gift of repentance to every nation.”
2750
2751	“...Yea, I will leave that to you, Minister of Foreign Affairs. If you did that...in the worst-case scenario…”
2752
2753	“Please, do not speak of the worst-case scenario. Will we not be fine as long as we manage to defeat the Sorcerer King’s army?”
2754
2755	“Yea, yea. You are correct.”
2756
2757	The Minister of Foreign Affairs’ words restored some color to his father’s face, but the smile he had was still one filled with grief.
2758
2759	“Zanac, Renner. I have something to tell you. Could you come to my room later? Now then, I do apologize to everyone gathered here, but we will have to convene in another hour to discuss what will happen in a month.”
2760
2761	The courtiers all lowered their heads and bowed.
2762
2763	After the chief of the guards escorted his father out of the room, Zanac and Renner left together.
2764
2765	Though Climb and Brain waited outside the room as Renner’s guards, Renner told them to wait in her room so they just watched as Zanac and Renner left.
2766
2767	The two walked shoulder to shoulder through the corridors.
2768
2769	“So, sister. Do you know why father has summoned us?”
2770
2771	“Yes, I believe it’s for the same reason as the one onii-sama has in mind right now.”
2772
2773	“Is that so? Is father about to show us the delicious desserts that Albedo-kakka had brought over?”
2774
2775	“Yes! As expected of onii-sama, I believe that to be the case too!”
2776
2777	Zanac stared at Renner with his eyes wide open for a second, to which Renner responded with a smile as if nothing had just happened. This woman’s such a pain to deal with.
2778
2779	“What do you plan to do?”
2780
2781	“Um—”
2782
2783	Renner placed her index finger below her chin and tilted her head towards the side. Zanac saw what she was doing and intentionally sighed heavily.
2784
2785 	“What do you get out of acting cute in front of your own brother? Go act for Climb instead, he’s the one who’s gullible.”
2786
2787	“Onii-sama, that was really rude of you. I’ll try this with Climb next — though I did not plan to do so. Isn’t onii-sama’s the one who should be asked about what he’s planning to do?”
2788
2789	“Me, I want to run away. But, that wouldn’t be possible. The Sorcerous Kingdom would surely hunt us down.”
2790
2791	“I was thinking the same thing you know?”
2792
2793	For a woman who wished to marry a man whose social status was far from hers and had intentionally partnered up with Zanac, that reply was too straight. Zanac had thought that Renner would be the type to value her survival more and would have planned to leave the palace by tomorrow or something. Perhaps she too understood how impossible it was for them to escape from the grasps of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and thus snuffed her desires to do so.
2794
2795	Zanac stole a glance at Renner but could not tell her feelings on that matter through her expressions alone.
2796
2797	After the both of them had entered the room, the first words from their father’s mouth was just as he had expected.
2798
2799	“Zanac, Renner. Leave this place at once. You are only just the prince and princess of this country, there is no need for the two of you to die alongside it.”
2800
2801	The two of them looked at each other and answered in unison that—
2802
2803	They did not intend to do so.
2804
2805	The expression on their father’s face was bittersweet.
2806
2807	“Is that so...but, there is still time. If you two change your minds, tell me immediately.”
2808
2809	Though he did not believe that his intentions would change, a man’s mind was most prone to falter. 
2810
2811	Zanac gently nodded his head towards his father.
2812
2813	Renner, who was beside him, did the same.
2814
28152
2816
2817	The children, upon seeing that Brain had returned, ran towards him.
2818
2819	“Os-san, you’re back!”
2820
2821	“Os-san, os-san!”
2822
2823	(TL’s note: an informal form of oji-san, a weird middle ground between ‘old man’, ‘sir’, ‘uncle’, etc. so there is no direct English analogue)
2824	
2825	The ten children surrounded Brain, nine boys and a girl. They were all orphans. Brain had taken those who he had believed to have some sort of potential, allowed them to live with him, and were training them in the art of swordsmanship.
2826
2827	Because they grew up in a rough environment, they fully understood the importance of violent force and were able to keep up with his harsh training regimen. Having said that, they were still just children so Brain was still unsure if they could meet his expectations. Surely if they continued to train like this, they would be able to, at the very least, reach Climb’s level.
2828
2829	The children stunk of sweat but it wasn’t offensive to Brain. After all, he would be the same after training, this was proof that the children had been working hard.
2830
2831	“Oy oy, you guys. Are you done with practice?”
2832
2833	“Break—”
2834
2835	“I’ve practiced so much—”
2836
2837	“My hand—”
2838
2839	Because they all responded at once, it was hard to fully understand what they were trying to say, but they had completed their practice, that much he did understand.
2840
2841	“Now then, go take a break. Remember, I told you guys that breaks are part of training too, right?”
2842
2843	The children agreed in a cacophony of noises.
2844
2845	“I’ll practice with you guys after a while, do not tell me that you’re too tired to practice by then, do you understand?”
2846
2847	The children, once again, agreed in a cacophony of noises.
2848
2849	“Good! Remember to also fill up on water. Also, don’t forget to fill up on salt just because you have been sweating so much!”
2850
2851	A few of the children said “We get it already” or “Os-san’s so naggy” but the majority of them replied that they understood.
2852
2853	“Good, now go. Oh, right. Before you go, where are those two?”
2854
2855	The oldest of the bunch, their representative, told him, “in the backyard.”
2856
2857	Brain responded with an “oh”, bid goodbye to the children, and walked towards the backyard.
2858
2859	The children returned to the house to dine on the food and drinks they had received from the elderly couple who had been expecting them and to probably take a nap afterwards.
2860
2861	Good exercise, good diet, and good sleep. That was how excellent muscles were built.
2862
2863	Brain nodded his head in satisfaction. 
2864
2865	“You made me wait for so long.”
2866
2867	A woman’s voice called out as Brain entered the backyard.
2868
2869	“Ah, I’m sorry. I had to prepare in advance to accompany Her Highness the Princess on her meetings with the nobility, merchants, and so on, so I was a bit late.”
2870
2871	There was a man and a woman there, who had been instructing the children before he arrived.
2872
2873	The woman who was speaking to Brain curled up her hair into the shape of a bun, apparently a hairstyle that was called ‘Magay’ in the South. 
2874
2875	(TL’s note: incomplete pronunciation of ‘Marumage’)
2876
2877	Her appearance, rather than being what one would usually consider beautiful, gave off the impression that she was icy and acute. She wasn’t too tall, perhaps a bit shorter than most women her age.
2878
2879	The other person there, the man, remained silent.
2880
2881	Though he had an indifferent attitude which could make one think that he was unhappy, that was not the case. He raised a hand as his form of greeting to Brain.
2882
2883	He was just not apt at expressing himself. Brain had actually heard him talk quite a few times in the past, but his voice was as quiet as an ant’s.
2884
2885	The man wasn’t too tall either. He had short legs but was otherwise physically fit, but if a rumour was to spread that he had dwarven heritage, he wouldn’t have much in the way of a proof against it.
2886
2887	The two were both counted in the Six Great Disciples of the dojo of the swordsman known as Vesture Croff di Leoghain. 
2888
2889	Brain had his reservations on how they taught, in his mind, his practical swordsmanship training was more useful than their performative swordsmanship practice.
2890
2891	Compared to waving air around for a few hundred times, training with a real sword — even if it was a mock sword — was much more effective. Brain believed that his method would allow one to gain more muscle memory than simply exercising one’s body.
2892
2893	However, this was a good way to allow them to learn the techniques first and build up a foundation solid enough that they would be less likely to die in actual combat.
2894
2895	It was hard to say definitively which side was right or wrong.
2896
2897	Though they all had gained strength, they had completely different ways of living.
2898
2899	It would be troublesome for Brain if the children die in combat before they even had the chance to fully realise their talents. That was why he opted to have the children train with the two, while passing down his own experiences; as a result, the children’s training regimen had become harsher.
2900
2901	“Were their accommodations finalized?”
2902
2903	“Yup, they were finally finalized. They’re scheduled to travel northwest — with a group of merchants operating in a city close to Council State.”
2904
2905	The woman frowned a little.
2906
2907	“It’s been two weeks since the Sorcerous Kingdom declared war on us, but there hasn’t been news of either country’s armies mobilizing. According to some rumours I’ve heard, the Sorcerous Kingdom only wants to force the Kingdom to back down in some negotiation and does not actually want to fight a full-on war? If that was true, wouldn’t that render Mr. Unglaus’ efforts in vain?”
2908
2909	“Would that Sorcerer King really do such a thing?”
2910
2911	If Brain had not met the Sorcerer King in person, he would have believed that this was just a negotiation tactic too. But as a witness to that tragic battle, it was hard for him not to doubt that the Sorcerer King was plotting something. Perhaps he was preparing to cast that spell again.
2912
2913	Had Brain’s uneasiness spread to her? The woman spoke in a hushed tone,
2914
2915	“...Mr. Unglaus had met with that Sorcerer King?”
2916
2917	“Not only have I met him, I bore witness to his duel with Gazef...hmmm, I still don’t know what happened to Gazef till this day.”
2918
2919	Her gaze shifted towards Brain’s waist.
2920
2921	Sheathed by his side was one of the treasures of the Kingdom, the Razor Edge.
2922
2923	This was something that was granted to him when the war was declared, even though he had turned it down on numerous occasions. To Brain, this sword was too heavy of a burden for him to bear so he treated it as something that was entrusted to him for safekeeping only. He did not intend to unsheathe the sword.
2924
2925	Though this sword was like a hot potato that he would rather pass on to someone else, if that person could not match Gazef Stronoff’s abilities, he did not intend to just give it away so easily.
2926	
2927	“A duel with Mr. Stronoff? I...”
2928
2929	She stopped herself before she could complete that sentence.
2930
2931	Perhaps she wanted to say something along the lines of, “I wish I was there to witness it too.” Brain did not think too much of it, after all she was a warrior too. To wish to bear witness to Gazef’s duel was natural for them.
2932
2933	No, it was more appropriate to say that he wanted her to witness it too. He had just said that he still could not figure out what had happened during that duel, so if someone else could explain it to him that would be best.
2934
2935	“I think the Sorcerer King is plotting something, but I’m not sure what exactly he is plotting, I don’t have a basis for that thought after all. My instincts are blaring alarms right now, and I tend to trust my instincts without question.”
2936
2937	“If it’s the warrior instincts of someone like Mr. Unglaus, then it just might be true...”
2938
2939	“I’m not too sure on the specifics...anyways, we have to get these brats out of this place as soon as possible. Even if I die, they could still make a living for themselves with the swordsmanship I’ve taught them — even if it’s not that significant of a skill.”
2940
2941	“...actually, our sensei had told us the same thing as Mr. Unglaus, that the Sorcerous Kingdom is plotting something in the dark. So when the children are to be sent away—” the woman looked towards the silent man next to her, “—could you request that he go along with them?”
2942
2943	“What? Would he do that?”
2944
2945	He glanced at the man who gave him a silent nod. He appeared to be annoyed, but that was probably not the case.
2946
2947	It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that this man was patient with children.
2948
2949	Though all of the Six Great Disciples had been here at some point, the one the children liked the most out of them all was him.
2950
2951	“Yes, sensei appeared to have given it some consideration already. As long as he lives, our swordsmanship could continue being passed down through the generations.”
2952
2953	In other words, they had the same thought as Brain.
2954
2955	If that was the case, he had no reason to reject their request.
2956
2957	“I do not mind as long as your end is fine with it. Having said that, I am grateful for you all. I’ll go speak to the merchants who will be taking them away.”
2958
2959	Brain heard the man say something in his tiny voice, probably something like, “please take good care of him” or something.
2960
2961	Brain raised his hand as a response, to which the man responded in kind by deeply nodding his head.
2962
2963	“Now then, after the brats have rested up it’ll be my turn to train them. Sorry to have troubled the both of you to train them while I was away.”
2964
2965	Gratitude was the only thing that flowed out of his mouth. Even though he hadn’t paid them much, they still took the time to teach the children.
2966
2967	Their sensei Vesture had probably considered the fact that Brain was one who wielded outstanding swordsmanship and so wanted to introduce his Six Great Disciples to him, perhaps making Brain owe him a favour in the process, so Brain’s gratitude was not that great. The Six Great Disciples were different on the other hand, perhaps they had their interests piqued at the prospect of being able to train children that someone who could beat them handily, Brain, had judged had potential, or perhaps they were just interested in passing down skills to the children that they could use to survive? In any case, they were motivated to help the children without any ulterior motives from the start.
2968
2969	Because he had been acting as the personal bodyguard of the princess, he had to come into contact with those annoying nobles. This was why people as straightforward as the Six Great Disciples shone even brighter in his eyes.
2970
2971	“...I do have to say that I was quite impressed by how magnanimous Mr. Unglaus really was. To have adopted these children and teach them skills so that they could survive...”
2972
2973	Brain’s expression darkened.
2974
2975	He hadn’t done any charity that was worthy of such praise.
2976
2977	“Stop flattering me. I’m not that nice of a guy. While it’s true that I picked these children up from the slums, it was for a purpose. There were ones that were on the verge of death yet I still walked past them without lifting a finger to help. If you want to praise someone for their charity, do it to someone who actually deserves it — like the princess for example.”
2978
2979	He could see that the woman had a perplexed expression, but he wasn’t sure what had caused it.
2980
2981	“Are you talking about Princess Renner-sama? About how she had funded her orphanage? It’s true that the princess had done something extraordinary, but I believe that Mr. Brain had also accomplished what no other person could. Aren’t you both equally worthy of praise?”
2982
2983	“Doesn’t look like I could get through to you. Think whatever you want to, but don’t do it in front of me. I’d have heartaches from the guilt alone.”
2984
2985	“Then I do apologize.”
2986
2987	“...No, don’t think too much about it, it was a joke. I’m not innocent enough to feel guilt from something so small.”
2988
2989	Brain shifted his gaze away from the shocked expression on her face and looked towards Gazef Stronoff’s, now Brain’s, residence.
2990
2991	His thoughts were of the children who had just had their fill and were probably sleeping right now.
2992
2993
2994--------