Ilmitt’s Request

“My apologies, Fels-sama~ for having you come all the way here while you are so busy with the Lufelon Holy Kingdom~”

“No, I had dumped everything concerning the Est Kingdom onto you, after all. If there is anything I can help with, I would be glad to do so.”

Since the talks the other day, I had continued discussions with Efaria and the others for several days regarding how to handle the Lufelon Holy Kingdom, but today I had come to the Est Kingdom at Ilmitt’s request. Incidentally, as usual, Lynferia was serving as my guard.

This was my first time coming to the Est Kingdom since the war the other day, but the occupation of the royal capital had already been completed, and the installation of mana collection devices had also been finished, so getting here had been extremely easy.

Incidentally, one reason Ilmitt had called me here was so that, by having me, the King of Einheria, enter the royal capital, it would make known that we had seized the capital and brought the Est Kingdom under our influence.

Well, that part was already done. I had held a parade together with the summoned soldiers, after all.

The atmosphere in the capital had been far better than I had expected…

Of course, it was not as though they were welcoming us with open arms, but that was only natural.

Even if it was the Est Kingdom that had launched the preemptive strike, that meant nothing to the ordinary citizens… an enemy that had defeated them in war and could threaten their lives had marched into their royal capital.

They surely harbored a great deal of anger inside.

And though we had fought the recent battles while trying as much as possible not to kill enemy soldiers, there had still been no small number of war dead.

The grief and anger of the bereaved were probably not something I, who had never experienced such things, could truly measure.

Of course, I thought it would all depend on how we governed them from here on, but apparently the real issue was that there was something to discuss regarding the people who would do that governing, and that was the true reason Ilmitt had called me here.

Ilmitt then handed me some documents. On them were written people’s names and positions… along with checkboxes.

One set of documents already had several boxes checked, though fewer than half overall, I guess?

“This one~ is the list of useful personnel~ and this one is the list of personnel not worth appointing~”

So the one with several names checked was the useful personnel list, and the one with no checks at all was the list of people we did not need…

“Has everyone on this list not yet sworn allegiance?”

“No~ among the useful personnel list~ the ones with checks have already shown submission~. The problem is the individuals without checks~”

I see…

“What standard was used for the people deemed not worth appointing?”

“Basically~ things like corruption or criminal conduct having been found~. I do not think we need people who commit corruption obvious enough to be discovered with only a little investigation~”

“That makes sense.”

Well, I did not want to appoint people who had committed crimes that were not easy to uncover either… but I supposed those would get smoked out in time too.

And if they were capable of committing crimes that never came to light, that also meant they were extremely competent.

Terrifyingly so, if we were to appoint them…

“Crack down harshly on crime. Corruption at the top in particular leads directly to disorder in governance. I absolutely will not permit that.”

“Understood~. We will use people formerly belonging to the old Lumoria Kingdom for the investigation~”

I see. I did not know how capable the investigators were, but people without ties to the Est Kingdom nobility would certainly find it easier to investigate them, and my own people were a bit overwhelmed at the moment.

Cougar and the others had been training the former Lumoria Kingdom scout unit as diplomat apprentices, but every last one of them had been dispatched somewhere-or-other under Kiriku’s orders.

What was the name of that country again… um…

This was bad. We had gotten involved with the surrounding countries all at once around that time, so I could not remember.

Other than the Lufelon Holy Kingdom, the others had left only a weak impression.

What should I do… ask Ilmitt? No, but…

Even if I had left it all to Kiriku, how bad would it look if I could not even remember the name of the country we were actively making moves against?

Could I pull off the Overlord act of not concerning myself with trifles…?

No, was the name of an enemy nation really a trifle…?

…All right, this was a little risky, but I would step into it. At worst, I would go with the style of not concerning myself with trifles!

“It would have been nice if we could have assigned the diplomat apprentices here.”

I muttered that with a sigh while keeping my eyes on the list.

Naturally, loud enough for Ilmitt to hear.

“That is true~. But they are doing their best right now in the Kingdom of Largray~ under Kiriku’s orders, so it cannot be helped~”

Ahh, I see. The Kingdom of Largray. Right, that was it. Yes, I had actually remembered.

Anyway, now that I knew the country’s name and felt refreshed, I turned back to the matter of the Est Kingdom.

Thinking that, I lowered my gaze to the list of unnecessary personnel… hm?

“Ilmitt, the very first entry on the list of people not worth appointing appears to be the King of the Est Kingdom.”

Incidentally, the second one was the First Prince… or rather, the Crown Prince? The next king, in other words.

Huh? Were we entering the route where the entire royal family gets wiped out?

No, maybe not? The top name on the useful personnel list, which already had a check mark, had the position of Second Prince.

“I do not think there is any need to appoint the King and Crown Prince of the Est Kingdom~. As former royalty, they could become figureheads for those who would resist Einheria, but~ more than that, both of them have issues with their character~”

“With their character?”

“They are the sort who think the country exists for the king~. And they are also steeped in hostility toward the neighboring Duchy of Yuran~”

“I had heard the neighboring country was on bad terms with them… Kamila was attacking there, was she not?”

“Yes~. Apparently they were originally one country~ but after that side cut away territory and became independent, the relationship became extremely hostile~”

Well, given that history, I supposed resentment was unavoidable, but… was that not quite an old story?

No, Bangagonga had said something similar the other day too. Resentment and grudges were not the sort of things that vanished over a span of mere decades.

To someone uninvolved, a few decades felt like quite a long time, but to the ones who carried the hatred, it was probably only a span too short to ever truly forget.

“…Bad blood between the two countries, huh… that sounds like the kind of issue that could linger even after they are brought under Einheria.”

“That is right~. In both countries~ the people have also been incited to direct hostility toward the other nation~. Even if they become fellow subjects of Einheria~ I do not think that hostility would disappear so easily~. And above all~ I believe the one who would most obstruct your intentions, Fels-sama, would be the King of Est~. He possesses no kingly dignity whatsoever~ and the words that come out of his mouth are extremely light~. Well, he is talented when it comes to keeping up appearances~ but since he is hollow inside~ he might be suitable as a symbol~ but not as a ruler~”

Ilmitt was being brutally harsh in her assessment of the King of Est… well, since he was the sort of ruler who made enemies abroad and roused the people’s hostility as much as he could, he did give off the air of a petty man.

Even so, this really was troublesome.

As territory expanded, all sorts of complications increased too… no, that was only natural.

What should we do… I wished there were some good measure, but… this was not the kind of problem that could be solved overnight.

First, we would have to bring both countries under our control, then hear both sides out.

Still, the leading obstacle to that kind of reconciliation… was this King of the Est Kingdom, was it?

“We will have to carefully understand how much hatred the Est Kingdom directs toward the Yuran Kingdom, and how much in return is directed back… if we do not grasp that properly, this could become very troublesome.”

“We plan to begin by hearing from the personnel who have already shown submission~. I would like to promise that it will be resolved quickly, but~”

“There is no need to rush. Problems like this only create distortions if you hurry or try to crush them by force. There is no need to strain yourself. Just take your time and work through it slowly.”

“Understood~”

Ilmitt said that and bowed her head.

It would probably take time, but I was sure Ilmitt would successfully resolve the issues between the two countries.

Thinking that, I lowered my gaze to the list… and for just a moment, the faces of Ururu and Cougar passed through my mind.

…They were not going to use drugs or brainwashing… right?

Thinking that, I lifted my face from the list and stared at Ilmitt.

However, Ilmitt only showed her usual laid-back smile, and I sensed nothing dangerous from her in particular.

Yeah, it was just my imagination. I could not imagine Ilmitt resorting to such alarming methods… it seemed I had let my suspicions run wild a little.

Rather than thinking about such silly things, I should get to the main point soon.

“We have drifted quite far off topic. So then, what is it you want me to do?”

“Actually~ it is the second person from the top of that useful personnel list~ the general of this country~. He is someone who is highly trusted by many nobles~ especially military nobles~ and is someone we very much wish to appoint~ but no matter what conditions we offer, he will not nod his head~. It is very disappointing, but~ I was hoping we might borrow your strength, Fels-sama~”

“Hmm…”

No… I did not think that kind of negotiation was something I could handle…?

I did not know what sort of person he was, but… if Ilmitt could not persuade him, then there was absolutely no way I could.

My charisma only worked on the children of Einheria, after all.

…That said, Ilmitt was relying on me for once, so as the Overlord, I had to do my utmost.

Still, thinking about failing… made my stomach hurt.

Did potions and healing magic work on stress-induced stomach pain too, I wonder?

“Ilmitt, take me to this general… General Saga, was it?”

“Certainly~. There is one thing I forgot to mention~ General Saga~ was the one who fought the army under your command the other day~ the man who served as supreme commander of the Est Kingdom army~ and he is stubbornly insisting that he be executed~”

…He was asking to be executed… and I was supposed to persuade someone like that?

And on top of that, a man I had personally beaten down by brute force?

Faced with this suddenly assigned high-difficulty quest from Ilmitt, I broke out in an inner waterfall of cold sweat as I was led to the room where the general was said to be under house arrest.