The Overlord’s Tale

“Was it over…?”

“Yes. As planned, most of the enemy army was annihilated. We also let roughly two thousand who remained in the rear escape to spread word of the defeat. Since the fighting happened inside enemy territory, the story should circulate quickly.”

I ended the effect of Hawk Eye and turned to Kiriku, who stood at my side.

This was our main camp, positioned far behind the battlefield. It was so quiet it hardly felt like a war zone, though during the fighting I could still hear distant explosions and what sounded like shouting.

Well, I’d been watching the battlefield through Hawk Eye—“directly” might not be the right word, but still. Even while lounging around in the main camp, my situational awareness had been perfect.

Originally, I was supposed to command this war… but because of an accident before the fighting began, Lynferia ended up taking command of the vanguard.

An accident… I wasn’t sure I could even call it that, but the enemy’s commander-in-chief died out of nowhere before the battle began.

And not just any commander-in-chief—somehow, the king himself, the top of the Lumoria Kingdom, got cut clean in half without being given a chance to object.

Even the Overlord was shocked.

At that moment, I thought the Overlord’s guts—swallowing a scream—were worthy of praise.

I mean, it was shocking enough that the enemy king came out to the very front line, but I was even more shocked that Lynferia just went and cut him in half.

From what I heard from Lynferia and the others, the enemy king apparently said something wildly stupid… It was a shame Hawk Eye and Hawk Ear couldn’t pick up the enemy’s voice… though maybe that was asking too much.

Anyway, those stupid lines seemed to put Lynferia in a fury, and she urged me to let her take command of the vanguard.

I’d carefully chosen a battlefield with plenty of room for tricks, matched our numbers to the enemy’s, and even brought a slightly larger number of commanders so we could make all sorts of moves.

My plan was to create one clash in the forest, one at the western bridge, and one across the river—multiple fronts, multiple developments… but the moment I yielded vanguard command to Lynferia, I gave up on trying anything fancy.

At minimum, I ordered Ururu and a few others to scout the forest so the enemy couldn’t advance through it. The enemy also seemed wary that we’d use the forest for an ambush, and they’d sent plenty of scouts in—Ururu’s group captured seventeen enemy scouts in the woods near their army.

I was satisfied with that result, but… we absolutely needed more diplomats. Our people were high quality, but the quantity just wasn’t there…

If we took the entire Lumoria Kingdom, next time spies from other countries would start slipping in nonstop.

Einheria Castle would be fine for counterintelligence… but protecting an entire nation was beyond “not enough people.” It would be impossible.

We only had five diplomats, after all.

And we needed to expand the development department too… we couldn’t install mana collection devices fast enough otherwise.

But… to increase diplomats or development staff, we needed to create new characters and strengthen them… and I hadn’t tested recently, but strengthening wasn’t working.

Or… should I change how I thought about it? If strengthening let me assign the maids to diplomacy or development, that would be ideal—but with no method for strengthening, there were only two options: assign them while ignoring stats and abilities, or train locals…

In terms of loyalty, our people were more trustworthy than anyone else. They also seemed pretty strong even without training, so they might be able to handle diplomat work or development tasks.

On the other hand, the people of this world weren’t as trustworthy as our people in loyalty terms, but they could learn skills if we taught them.

Well, our people might be able to gain skills through study too… Should I have a maid try doing development work?

It might be difficult since it was specialized work… but it was still better than sending them out as diplomats, where danger was constant.

It wasn’t as good as strengthening with mana stones, but we could raise stats a bit through the training facility… we couldn’t reach maximum values, and the gains were tiny, but it was convenient since we just had to set training and leave it running.

For now, I’d think about staffing again later. I also wanted to hear Ururu and Otonoha’s opinions.

“Still, the way Lynferia fought really stoked fear in the enemy.”

“I believe it was extremely effective. The soldiers who fled will spread word of our army’s terror far and wide. And since their spirits have been utterly broken, I do not believe they will be foolish enough to defy us.”

“Yeah. Lynferia did good work.”

It had been pure overwhelming force, but because of that, it carved fear into the enemy in the clearest possible way.

If I’d been on the other side… yeah, I would’ve been crying.

That said, the enemy commander had been surprisingly brave.

Against Lynferia’s “bulldozer operation” using a thoroughly trained body, the enemy main camp chose a central breakthrough.

And they formed a wedge formation in the main camp, out of sight from Lynferia’s position, then charged.

A wedge formation was a deployment shaped like an arrowhead, meant to pierce through at a single point. I vaguely remembered something about the Shimazu clan using it at the Battle of Sekigahara to break through enemy lines… or something like that.

Putting Sengoku berserkers aside… they probably saw Lynferia’s bulldozer line as wide and thin, and tried to punch through the center.

Judging by how their army collapsed, they likely intended to escape west after breaking through Lynferia’s line, right? There was no way they planned to keep going and attack our main camp.

We had more than twice as many troops held back behind the vanguard.

And I couldn’t imagine them slipping past us and fleeing south like the Shimazu did… plus, going south would still be deep inside Yōntsu Territory.

Trying to break through the vanguard was a good call on their part. We hadn’t moved anyone except the vanguard, and from the lookout tower they might have even realized we had no cavalry. They also seemed to repeatedly confirm we hadn’t stationed troops in the west… In that situation, thinking of that plan and executing it was praiseworthy.

Yeah, I’m saying that from above, but if it were me, I doubt I could make that decision on the spot.

The only problem was… Lynferia was basically an actual bulldozer.

The enemy vanguard cavalry that charged at Lynferia… got sliced clean in half, horse and all.

The people who charged after them also got sliced in half, horse and all.

The people whose faces twisted as they saw the vanguard get bisected in an instant also got sliced in half.

The people who realized something was wrong and tried to stop in a panic also got sliced in half.

The people who desperately tried to wheel their horses around to avoid the monster and change direction also got sliced in half.

Everything was getting cut in half.

And the whole time, the bulldozer line never stopped advancing.

Even in those overseas zombie dramas with massive hordes, I felt like the march was usually kinder than that.

“Did we take any noble prisoners this time?”

Pushing the bulldozer line to the back of my mind, I asked Kiriku.

“None so far. This time, we have generally allowed any who can move to escape rather than taking prisoners. We will inspect the battlefield afterward, and if there are any wounded who cannot move, we will take them prisoner.”

“Make sure any survivors get proper treatment.”

“Yes, sir. Also, while not a prisoner, there is one noble whom Saria compelled to surrender.”

“Right—she said they surrendered when she spoke with them at the western bridge. Is Saria unexpectedly good at negotiation?”

As I asked while recalling the energetic Spear Saint with that puppy-like vibe, Kiriku shook his head without changing expression.

“No… I do not believe that is the case. Rather, I think the other party made a rational decision.”

“Hmm… I want to speak with that person later. Next is Arandor.”

I activated Hawk Eye and shifted my viewpoint to Arandor, who was deployed far to the east.

From above, he seemed to be marching slowly toward us. If he advanced a little more, he would reach the nearest town, and from there he would likely transfer to the territorial capital.

“Did something happen on Arandor’s side?”

“Yeah, I haven’t told you yet, Kiriku. I sent Arandor to the border with Harekukku Territory, right? He encountered the enemy army there.”

“So they advanced as the prior information indicated. Has the fighting already ended?”

“No. Apparently, there wasn’t any fighting.”

“No fighting…? I apologize, but what do you mean?”

“When Arandor advanced his army to a distance where he could see them, two people from the enemy side surrendered.”

“Two surrendering… who were they?”

“One was the commander-in-chief, and the other was a military inspector. More like they wanted asylum than a simple surrender.”

A “military inspector”… the role changed depending on the era, so it would be best to confirm what that position meant from the person directly.

“The commander-in-chief and the military inspector…?”

“Yeah. The enemy army turned back and will apparently be held in a Harekukku Territory city. Arandor will escort the two who surrendered to the territorial capital… and it seems both of them are relatives of the man we executed in the capital before—Karmos’s son-in-law.”

At my words, Kiriku narrowed his eyes.

Yeah. I understood what he wanted to say, even without him saying it.

“So they pretended to surrender, intending revenge?”

“From Arandor’s perspective, he says they didn’t seem like that. I plan to meet both of them in the territorial capital.”

“Is that not dangerous?”

“Heh… do you think they can harm me head-on?”

And when we meet, Lynferia will obviously be there—Arandor too!

“Understood. However… we will assign guards. Is that acceptable?”

“Go ahead. Do it however you think best.”

Also: please do. Absolutely. I’m begging you.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll meet the one Saria made surrender in the territorial capital too. Arrange it.”

“Yes, sir.”

As I listened to Kiriku’s reply, I looked to the map pinned to the blackboard. It wasn’t a map of the battlefield area—it was a rough map of the entire Lumoria Kingdom.

“With this, the so-called rising nobles’ faction has lost its power in one blow. I never intended to take the king’s head at this stage, but… it’s a minor matter. If I’m taking this country anyway, there is no place for the king of a fallen nation.”

I mean… honestly, if he seemed usable, I might’ve kept him as a governor… but he got sliced in half before I could even judge.

Well, based on what the diplomats found, he sounded like a total dud, so I wasn’t expecting much.

Also, this was definitely the Overlord route, wasn’t it…? We killed the enemy king right at the start… Not my fault, but still…

“With the king and the faction leader dead in battle, and with most of the nobles who participated likely slain, and the army heavily reduced, if we use these results to subjugate the lords, they will submit to Einheria.”

“For subjugation, I want to use Karmos, and if possible Viscount Assen too. He probably won’t refuse. Now that we’ve repelled the national army, his concern over whether he can protect his territory should be resolved.”

“It seems Viscount Assen has awakened to faith, and has been praying with Eisha nearly every day.”

“…Yeah.”

I was curious who the object of that faith was… but Karmos vouched for him, so he should be fine. Ability-wise.

“Kiriku, do you think the war with the Lumoria Kingdom will continue?”

Even if we crushed fifteen thousand, they supposedly still had several thousand troops in each territory and nearly twenty thousand in the national army.

If you only looked at numbers, they could still fight.

But considering the old nobility’s nature as I’d heard from Karmos, and the rising nobles’ power structure…

“I believe there will be almost no further conscription as ‘the Lumoria Kingdom.’ If anything remains, it will be only small-scale fighting with individual lords.”

“So you think the same.”

“Yes. The Lumoria Kingdom seems to be a nation with an unusual structure, and now, no one remains who can unify it.”

From what I heard from Karmos, the Lumoria Kingdom gave me the impression of Japan’s Sengoku era.

A central authority existed—like a court or shogunate—but each lord had their own army and ran their territory independently. They would comply if the center requested it, but it wasn’t really for the sake of the nation; it was for their own territory.

So their loyalty to the center was weak… and as a result, a rising-nobles faction aiming for centralization was born.

It was a bit annoying for us, since there wasn’t a single “if we beat this guy, everything is ours” opponent… but in some ways, it also meant they were easier to deal with.

“For a while, it’ll be suborning each region and dealing with skirmishes. Not just the development department and diplomats—everything’s going to get busy.”

“This is the first step of Lord Fels’s new path as an Overlord. None of us will begrudge the effort.”

“…I’m counting on you. Though as a first obstacle, they were a somewhat disappointing opponent.”

A path as an Overlord… I’m not planning to go down that road, but… once we take the Lumoria Kingdom, we’ll have more mana stones than we could ever need…

After we pacify the Lumoria Kingdom… I sincerely hope we can get along with the neighboring countries.