The Shocking New Truth…!

It seemed the goblins’ council—something I’d expected to turn into a whole ordeal—ended surprisingly quickly.

According to Bangagonga, what decided it wasn’t so much the threat of knights being sent in, but the fact that many goblins had watched us fight the frenzied monsters.

We weren’t doing gunboat diplomacy… right?

Well, setting the real reason aside, the agreement was made in a friendly atmosphere, and the goblins decided to move into the area below our castle.

They said they wanted a few days to prepare for the move, so we agreed we’d come to pick them up after about three days.

I told them we’d provide furniture and they only needed to bring personal belongings, but they were leaving a place they’d lived in for years. Even if everyone was moving together, they’d still need time to sort out their feelings.

For now, we returned to the castle once—but I didn’t like the idea of knights attacking during these three days like it was some kind of scripted event, so I left Ururu and Camila behind at the settlement.

If something happened, they would stall the knights with illusion magic, and—

Move the goblins during that opening.

It wasn’t like I had no desire to avoid losing an income of seventeen thousand, but… after talking with Bangagonga, I’d realized something. There was no reason to kill people you could talk to, no questions asked.

Anyway… I decided I’d go with an Overlord style of, “If we can communicate, don’t kill.” Even within the same race, there were plenty you couldn’t communicate with, after all.

I’d already reported to the village chief outside the forest that the goblin matter would likely be resolved in a few days.

He’d stared at me with his eyes wide in shock, but once the goblins finished moving, I could just show him the empty settlement they’d left behind.

Now then.

Back at the castle, waiting for the goblins to get ready, I was in my room wrestling with a different problem.

Not the problem of “I suddenly became the protagonist of Legions and got thrown into a mysterious world with the characters I edited,” or anything like that.

It was my vassals’ eating habits.

Three days after arriving in this world, I realized no one ever seemed to be eating in the dining hall, so I asked a maid who was cleaning nearby.

“When do you all eat?”

I might have used a slightly stiffer tone than that, but that was the gist of it.

She answered:

“At the start of the week.”

I tilted my head, having no idea what she meant.

The maid standing in front of me also tilted her head while looking at me.

We stared at each other for a while… She was one of the unenhanced edited characters, so I still hadn’t fully memorized everyone’s names and faces, but she was a very cute girl.

As my thoughts started drifting in that direction, I went back to basics and asked again.

“So… you eat once a week?”

She gave me a wonderful smile and said yes.

Not “one day off a week”—one meal a week!?

Even the loan-shark groups that kidnap debtors into underground facilities for forced labor would blush at those working conditions.

Seeing me fall silent, the maid started to fidget anxiously, so I thanked her and left the spot.

How was I supposed to interpret this…? Did my vassals not get hungry? Or was it like those beans you get at the top of some tower—one grain keeps you going for a week?

That made me remember Eisha and the other kids in my forces.

It was unacceptable not to give growing children proper meals.

But… I should confirm first.

I stood up from my chair… and then—wait. If I wanted to call my vassals, how was I supposed to do that?

There wasn’t any “summon” command… Oh. I could just ask someone, couldn’t I?

Realizing that, I opened my door and peeked into the hallway—

No one was there.

Earlier, there happened to be a maid cleaning nearby, but now the hall was empty.

Where did everyone normally go, and what were they doing…? Well, they were probably working in various places, but…

The military types might be in the training grounds.

The craftsmen in development were probably in the lab or the workshop.

Maids would be cleaning, but… could around twenty people really clean a castle this absurdly huge?

And how many vassals did I even have…?

Even if every character I created was here… I shouldn’t have made a hundred. But I had enough people to fight on multiple fronts, easily…

In the game, once I finished raising everyone except the main members, I used them however I felt…

I didn’t know the exact number.

I’d have to confirm it with Kiriku later.

Thinking that, I wandered around at random… but I didn’t run into anyone.

Having too much space was its own problem. Going anywhere took time, and finding people was a pain.

Normally, I could just call “Ururu” and she’d appear… but she was in the forest nearly thirty kilometers away. Even for an absurdly competent Minister of Foreign Affairs, that was probably impossible.

Part of me wanted to test it, but if I did, it’d be in my room… It would be embarrassing if someone heard.

For now, maybe I should head to the training grounds, since I at least knew where that was? Someone had to be there…

While thinking that, I casually looked out the window.

The same wide-open grasslands stretched out as ever… Ah, right. Otonoha and the others were building temporary housing for the goblins. Maybe I should go over there.

…No, wait. Wouldn’t it be awful if I went to the kids working their hardest under my orders and asked, “Hey, by the way, are you eating?”

I was the one who hadn’t been feeding them. If I asked that of people working hard…

Yeah, a riot wouldn’t be surprising.

While I was pacing the corridor awkwardly with that thought, I ran into a maid cleaning—different from the girl earlier.

When she noticed me, she stopped cleaning, bowed, and froze.

She didn’t twitch at all—like she’d stopped breathing, too—so I thought: I can just ask this girl.

“I know you’re busy, but I have a request.”

“Please command me as you wish.”

“Summon Kiriku, Ilmitt, and Arandor to my office.”

“Understood.”

After asking her to call them, I tried hard to remember where my office was.

It’s fine… I’m an Overlord who can reach his office. I won’t get lost in my own castle. There’s absolutely no problem.

Well, as expected…

I got lost in the castle. I got lost a lot. I simply couldn’t grasp the relationship between my current position and the locations of each facility. I was lost enough that I seriously considered jumping out of a window more than once.

…I felt truly sorry to the three I’d summoned.

Because an entire hour had already passed since I told them to come to my office.

Could that maid have gotten lost in the castle too? Clinging to that slim hope, I opened the office door I’d reached by pure miracle.

Inside were Kiriku, Ilmitt, Arandor, and the maid—standing at rigid attention like they’d been statues the whole time.

This was unbelievably awkward…

But I steeled myself, put on an “I totally wasn’t bothered” face, walked in, and sat on the sofa.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. All three of you, sit.”

““Yes!””

After the three sat opposite me and a short beat passed, the maid placed tea in front of me.

I had no idea when she’d brought it in, but… it smelled very nice… I think. Honestly, I don’t really know.

Wait—just me? This also tied into the food topic, didn’t it…

Was water intake also once a week?

“I assume you heard yesterday’s report. Do you have any questions?”

“No, none. We received a full report from Lynferia and the others.”

Kiriku answered as the representative.

He always seemed to take the lead in these situations, but… how was the hierarchy among my vassals decided? The game didn’t have anything like that.

But that didn’t matter right now.

“I see. There were no problems at the castle?”

“Yes. Not a single one.”

I’d meant to share information about yesterday’s events, but it ended in three seconds.

Well, that was just a light jab. The main event started now.

“By the way. Do the three of you eat meals?”

“…Y-yes, we do.”

Kiriku hesitated, like he couldn’t process what I’d asked at first.

Fair enough. Getting summoned to an office and then asked “Are you eating?” was not normal.

“…How often?”

Why did I even need to ask this? Normal was two or three times a day. It shouldn’t need asking!

“Yes! Once a week!”

So it was true…!?

But… how was I supposed to ask this? “Aren’t you hungry?” didn’t feel very Overlord-like…

“Does your belly not grow empty?”

That sounded unbelievably stupid.

“……”

“……”

N-no—this was bad. I had to say something. It wasn’t just Kiriku—Ilmitt and Arandor also looked like they had question marks floating over their heads.

“…What if we increased the frequency of meals?”

“…For what reason?”

Because humans eat food, that’s why— I swallowed the urge to say it.

This wasn’t their fault… In Legions’ system, you set meals and they’d eat once a week.

But this was reality. They were living people now.

They needed to break out of the system.

Mostly in the ‘not starving’ sense.

“This is also one of the attempts that differs from before.”

“…I understand. Then… how about twice a week?”

That’s not a holiday schedule!

“How about twice a day?”

“Two meals in one day!?”

Not only Kiriku, but Ilmitt and Arandor also widened their eyes in shock.

I’m the one shocked by that reaction!

“Listen, Kiriku. And Ilmitt, Arandor. It was this Overlord Fels who ran across that continent with you and unified it. But it’s hard to say the me of then and the me of now are the same existence.”

Because I ordered them to listen, the three stayed perfectly still, their expressions serious as they took in my words.

“But I don’t think that’s something that applies only to me. Kiriku, Ilmitt, Arandor. You can’t be exactly the same as you were back then, either. Growth, changes of heart… That’s only natural. It’s impossible to remain the exact same forever.”

The three—and the maid standing by the door—grew more solemn.

I also needed to look up all the maids’ names… Was there no menu-like function I could use somewhere?

A pointless thought slipped in, but I kept going.

“…Because we are living here, now. And this too is obvious… if you live, you get hungry.”

The three and the maid looked startled.

“Are you… not hungry?”

At the very least, I got hungry.

If even in Fels’s body I got hungry, then Kiriku and the others should, too.

“…T-that is… yes… certainly…”

“So it is… And I’m in the same condition as you. We need to take measures immediately.”

Measures, meaning: please eat normally.

“Kiriku, notify everyone. From now on, meals will be at least twice a day. Twice is mandatory. Anyone who wishes may eat three times. But if your condition changes, report immediately.”

“Yes!”

Without taking my eyes off Kiriku bowing in his chair, I issued an order to Ilmitt beside him.

“Ilmitt. Calculate how increasing meal frequency will affect the amount of ‘magic stones’ required to maintain the dining hall. Also, suspend the release of ingredients that can only be obtained from dungeons and specialty goods that were delivered from towns. For the time being, serve only meals that can be made from ingredients purchasable with ‘magic stones.’”

“Yes!”

Wait—huh?

In the game, you could buy items with unlimited stock at the general store… Could we still do that now?

“Speaking of which, what’s the general store like? Can we still purchase goods with ‘magic stones’ as before?”

“Yes. There are no issues.”

“I see… Good. But if any problem arises, report immediately.”

“Understood.”

I was extremely curious how restocking worked… And the general store wasn’t one of my created characters, right? There was a shop NPC for it…

I’d check later.

Anyway, I had to finish this first.

“Arandor. Until now, we had no concept of logistics. But if we need to conduct expeditions in the future, we’ll have to consider everyone’s meals. Summoned soldiers likely don’t need food, but you commanders do. We may need to form a supply corps. Investigate how we should manage food and troop operations going forward, and draft a proposal. Kiriku, Ilmitt—you two will assist with this. Arandor, if you need manpower, say so immediately. This is extremely important. Don’t stumble.”

“Yes! Even if it costs me my life!”

That’s… a little more intense than necessary.

“Make sure this reaches those who are currently outside as well.”

““Yes!””

Was this enough? We were dangerously close to everyone starving… Death by starvation and malnutrition—no joke.

No, thank goodness this happened before anyone became a victim…

I think I did the best work I’ve done since arriving here.