Power Harassment… Was It?

“First, I will explain the territories adjacent to former Yōntsu Territory. To the east is Harekukku Territory, to the north is Kruser Territory, to the south is Hareru Territory, and to the west is Assen Territory. As for Assen Territory, Lord Gusco is already under Einheria, so I will omit it.”

Eltrise stood and began her explanation with documents in hand.

Maybe she was slightly nervous—her expression seemed stiffer than the last time I saw her—but her words didn’t falter.

“First, Kruser Territory to the north. This land is ruled by a viscount of the old nobility, and during the recent war, the routed remnants retreated into this territory. Because of that, they learned of the national army’s defeat the fastest, but they did not strengthen defenses along their border.”

Hmm… I’d had the image that the old nobility would get serious when it came to protecting their own land… so why weren’t they preparing?

Did they think fortifying would be pointless? There was no way they hadn’t scouted a battle that happened right next to their own territory… and if they’d seen that, it would’ve been obvious that resisting was futile.

“As for Kruser Territory, we have already sent a letter, and Lord Karmos has arranged to meet the lord in a town on the Kruser side as an envoy. The schedule is five days from now, and Sword Saint Jōsen-sama will serve as escort. The territory is a bit smaller than former Yōntsu Territory, but it is close to the royal capital and appears to have a relatively large population.”

I see… so correspondence was underway and things were progressing.

And a small, densely populated territory was a blessing… wide land with few people was the worst… I’d heard the mana collection devices didn’t operate in places without people… I needed to ask Otonoha next time how many people were required for them to function.

“The lord of Kruser, Tors-Elaras-Kruser, apparently gathered some information about former Yōntsu Territory even before the war. He seems to have known that Einheria does not mistreat its people, and the feel of his letters has not been bad.”

So as long as his people’s peace was preserved even under our umbrella, he had no issue… but even if the people were fine, the lord’s treatment would probably change drastically… would that really be okay?

Karmos and Gusco didn’t seem concerned at all… were other old nobles the same? Well, I couldn’t generalize… but I wasn’t going to meddle in subversion matters, so fine.

Kiriku and the others would probably handle it well…

“And the same seems true for Sicl-Morasu-Hareru of Hareru Territory to the south. However, unlike Kruser’s lord, they have not gathered much information about us, and we have not yet progressed to a stage where talks can be held.”

The south had a decent feel but no progress… Personally, the south really interested me… Bangagonga had said there might be a harpy settlement somewhere down there.

I didn’t know how far south, but… if they had five times the efficiency like the goblins, I absolutely wanted to get along with them.

Sure, in terms of sheer income, humanfolk cities were better… but a goblin city of a million would be the dream… and that would be fifty million in one shot…

With a million people, that wouldn’t be some hidden village anymore… that would be a major designated city. Huh? Wait, did it not need to be a million anymore? Whatever, who cared.

“Hareru Territory is governed by a count’s house, and even if you combined former Yōntsu Territory and former Assen Territory, it still would not reach the scale of Hareru Territory.”

“Do you know roughly how large the population is?”

“I apologize, I did not investigate that far. However, including the territorial capital, there are two major cities, each larger than the former Yōntsu territorial capital. There are also three other key cities; these are somewhat smaller than the former Yōntsu territorial capital, but still large enough to be called major cities.”

If I remembered right, the former Yōntsu territorial capital had a population of under thirty thousand… so Hareru Territory might have over one hundred fifty thousand people?

But it was also that much larger… it felt both delightful and exhausting… still, having that much population secured just in the large cities was a huge help… I wanted it under our umbrella. Immediately!

After all, teaching those maid girls abilities would be another five million… and we had forty-five million mana stones left… because some Overlord somewhere had dropped us below half…!

Because of some Overlord somewhereeeee!!

…Whew. I seemed to have lost my composure. My stomach and heart hurt like hell, but I had to stay calm. I told Kiriku too—defense was the top priority. Mana-stone collection came after. It did… it did…

…But still, I want mana stones!

Showing none of that, I kept listening to Eltrise with a dignified face.

“We are also spreading the rumors about former Yōntsu Territory and the recent battle into Hareru Territory, so there should likely be movement soon. Lastly, Harekukku Territory to the east… they have taken a stance of total resistance. The throne of Lumoria is currently vacant, so this is not formally recognized, but the eldest son of the former Count Harekukku has declared that he has succeeded the title and assumed the seat as head of the house.”

She talked about her own family with incredible detachment… while Haria-kun beside her wore a complicated expression.

“What kind of person is that eldest son?”

Eltrise answered Kiriku’s question at once.

“It is difficult to call him competent. In the Lumoria Kingdom, primogeniture is the norm, so he has received a certain level of education, but he is strongly self-important, looks down on others, and cannot use people well. The former count also tended to look down on others, but he had the skill to make them move as he wished. However, it seems the son failed to learn that sort of cunning from his father.”

…She’d gone past dry and into downright cutting.

“Despite fifteen thousand national troops being defeated, he seems to believe Harekukku’s own forces can win, and there is no sign he has sent envoys to other territories. If gathered in full, Harekukku’s troops number around five thousand, but the limit of what can actually be deployed is three thousand.”

“Harekukku Territory will likely require military subjugation rather than subversion.”

“It is an army that does not know war, so I question whether it will even become something worthy of being called combat, but as Kiriku-sama says, regarding Harekukku Territory, that may be best.”

Eltrise had been like that from the start… she really didn’t seem to feel any affection for her family besides her little brother.

Well, setting that aside… subversion in two places, military subjugation in one.

Having both methods available wasn’t bad.

To other nobles, we could present an impression like: terrifying militarily, but willing to negotiate.

If we negotiated backed by force, and on top of that demonstrated benevolent rule that didn’t disregard the people, it would be even more effective.

“That concludes the neighboring territories, but… there are two major problems when advancing subversion.”

Problems… one was probably the dragon, but what was the other?

Had some trouble I didn’t know about surfaced?

“The Ground Dragon issue originating from the land where Einheria Castle stands, and the existence of goblins who are accepted as people within Einheria.”

Ah—yeah, right. Goblins. Goblins. Of course I remembered.

They worked normally in our country, so I’d forgotten, but in other nations, if goblins were found, an army would be dispatched immediately—so it was a huge problem…

“Both are matters that not only the Lumoria Kingdom but also neighboring countries avoid. The more directly dangerous one is the Ground Dragon, but the goblins… Lord Bangagonga, I apologize, but this is an issue of ideology in humanfolk states.”

Ideology… long-planted beliefs born from fear: goblins are dangerous, goblins are the enemy of humanfolk… by instilling that for years, they’d created a common enemy across the neighboring countries.

Naturally, if we tried to protect goblins, those countries would have righteous cause and would invade.

As a direct danger, the Ground Dragon was worse, but if we found it, we could just kill it… we could win… probably.

But goblins weren’t like that.

I didn’t think there were countries that hated goblins as a nation, but on an individual level, plenty of humanfolk probably did.

Even if they claimed they were “exterminating goblins,” goblins wouldn’t just die without resisting.

That meant the exterminators must have suffered casualties too. From the goblins’ perspective, it was unfair, but relatives of those killed would surely hate goblins.

Since surrounding countries actively nurtured that chain of negativity, there was no way it would stop just because someone suddenly said, “Let’s stop.”

“I believe it is wonderful that they are recognized as people in this country, but for neighboring states it becomes only a convenient pretext for attack. This is not a problem we can ignore when advancing subversion. If we do not tell them in advance, it will become an issue later, but if we do tell them, I do not believe they will nod and agree to join under us.”

“I am well aware that there is a deep gulf between humanfolk and goblins. No matter what anyone says now, I will not be troubled by it… but we are those who have been saved not once but many times by His Majesty. If we would become an obstacle in His Majesty’s path, we do not hesitate to vanish from here.”

Receiving Eltrise’s words, Bangagonga declared that while remaining seated.

His voice held no anger or disappointment… he merely stated, calmly, that this is what they would do. Yet that resolve reached everyone present.

But I wasn’t going to allow that.

“Bangagonga. If you intend to leave Einheria, you will take permission from me without fail. I will not allow you to disappear without authorization. If I ever decide you are no longer needed, I will personally tell you so.”

There was no chance that would happen though!?

If anything, I wanted more goblins… I’d be in trouble if they left!

“Understood. At that time, without fail.”

Bangagonga bowed his head deeply while still seated.

“This is good timing, so I’ll state one policy going forward. We are currently gathering information through diplomats, but we will also gather information about the goblins. You’ve lived hidden from humanfolk for centuries—perhaps it’s time to live in a world under the sun. Bangagonga, the reason I called you here today was the matter we discussed before: dialogue with the fairy-folk. I intend to move that forward.”

Our people nodded in silence at my words. Karmos and Gusco nodded with wry smiles.

Eltrise and Haria widened their eyes in surprise, but seeing everyone nod, they hurriedly bowed their heads as well.

“Eltrise. I understand your concern. But… so what? We are indeed proceeding mainly through dialogue to bring them under us, but if they won’t nod, then we simply grab their heads and make them nod. What about neighboring countries? If they want to become enemies, then that makes things easy—crush the enemy nations along with their foolish ideology.”

“…”

Eltrise looked at me, her expression stiffening as much as when Lynferia and the others had pressured her.

Around the Lumoria Kingdom, there were only nations of roughly the same scale.

Meaning, even if neighboring countries attacked us, each nation could send an army of less than one hundred thousand at most.

Even if forces of that scale attacked from all directions, we could repel them with ease—and we could even invade the enemy nations in return.

Of course, that assumed the mana collection device installations were completed… but at worst, even if they advanced somewhat into our territory, we could just push them back. Our army marched at a speed unimaginable for infantry, so even if the departure point was far, we could deal with it.

It wasn’t thirty kilometers a day. Even at thirty kilometers an hour, marching would be like humming a tune. If we got serious, we could move faster—without rest.

Infantry that could march from Tokyo to Osaka while humming and arrive in under a day. Well, summoned soldiers didn’t actually hum, but still.

“I’ve interrupted you. Eltrise, continue.”

When I said that, Eltrise flinched, her shoulders trembling, and she opened her mouth as if frightened.

…Had I scared her that much…?

“U-um… s-sorry. I’ll continue. About the dragon…”

Eltrise continued, her shoulders far more tense than before.

I hadn’t meant to intimidate her… I’d done something I regretted… was this… power harassment…?