Because It Was A Refreshing Morning

“Your Majesty, there is a matter I wish to petition you about.”

Just past noon on the day I had rejoiced at finally meeting Fio, Viktor came over by teleportation from the former royal capital… and the moment we met, he said something like this while wearing an expression as though he had steeled himself for some tragic resolve.

At present, Viktor was serving as governor of the former royal capital while also standing in something like a leadership role among the former nobles, so he was probably the second most frequent former noble visitor to Einheria Castle.

Incidentally, the one who came to the castle most often was Gusco.

Well, setting that believer {that} aside, I had been fairly busy since morning and was subtly tired… but there was no way I could just not listen to Viktor when he had come to make such a serious personal appeal.

I was an Overlord who listened to what people had to say… or rather, because I lacked confidence, I was an Overlord who appreciated people who would tell me various things.

“Hm, let me hear it. Is there some problem?”

“Your Majesty… with all due fear… might you allow me to handle the ceasefire negotiations for this current war?”

“Ceasefire negotiations?”

Ceasefire negotiations… well, without even asking, that meant with the countries currently invading us, but… in effect, was it basically like being an envoy of surrender?

Hm… I had thought they were probably worried, but this seemed to have worried the former nobles even more than I had expected.

“Yes. Your Majesty forbade spreading word to the other countries of the great feat of slaying the Ground Dragon. As a result, countries ignorant of your military might have looked down on Einheria and continue their invasion even now… but I believe that even for Einheria, taking on three countries at once is by no means an easy matter. Therefore, I shall stall two of the countries through negotiation… and in the meantime, I ask that you concentrate your efforts on the remaining one.”

“I see. It seems I have made you all worry quite a bit.”

“To think on behalf of the nation is our true calling… would you not entrust me with this duty?”

“…Hm.”

Now then, how was I supposed to explain this?

There was no way Viktor would approve if I said I had deliberately made our defenses look weak so they would invade, right…?

No… should I just push through?

“Viktor. To think I had placed that much strain on all of you…”

“Your Majesty…”

At my words, Viktor took on an apologetic expression.

“That is the collective will of the governors, is it not… that we ought to begin ceasefire negotiations?”

“I have not confirmed it with every last person, but generally speaking, that is indeed the opinion.”

“I see… however, there will be no ceasefire negotiations.”

“Your Majesty!? Why ever not!? If it is me, I can establish connections with each of the countries! Even at the cost of my life, I shall surely win a ceasefire on favorable terms!”

Ahh, so that grim resolve I had seen earlier was not fear that he might incur my displeasure by giving his opinion, but rather his readiness to go to the negotiations prepared to throw away his life?

“Heh… and yet, coming from the man who said he would stop two countries with negotiations, saying even at the cost of my life is a bit much, is it not? If you throw away your life, would you not only be able to stop one country?”

“T-That was only a figure of speech… no, it is not that I mean to cling to my life, but…”

“It was a joke. More importantly, ceasefire negotiations are unnecessary.”

“What do you mean unnecessary? Do you mean to turn the tide of the war from here…? Could it be that Your Majesty yourself intends to go to the front lines!?”

The moment he shouted that, tears poured from Viktor’s eyes like a torrent.

Why…!?

“Certainly, if it is Your Majesty, who slew the Ground Dragon, then dealing with one army would be easy. Your Majesty’s power… is tremendously reassuring, and yet… I am too pathetic, that I can do nothing but cling to Your Majesty!”

I somehow felt that Viktor was placing the same kind of utterly mysterious trust in me that my own people did… the exact same sort.

I did not think I had done anything that would earn that kind of extraordinary trust…

“It is because of us that the other countries were given an opening to take advantage of… how pathetic! Truly, truly pathetic!”

Now it was starting to feel like he might spiral into a frenzy of self-reproach…

For the time being, I wanted him to calm down, because that level of intensity was scary.

“Calm yourself, Viktor. The reason there are countries now making war on Einheria is because of my strategy. There was not a single lapse on your part.”

“…W-What do you mean?”

…I had not wanted to say it because it seemed like he might get angry and say I had exposed the people to danger, but… now that I had lost to Viktor’s intensity, it seemed I had no choice but to abandon the plan of bulldozing through it.

I would explain it properly.

“Did I not speak to you of this before, Viktor? That the number of troops we could mobilize exceeded five hundred thousand…”

“I certainly remember that you said so when I first had the honor of meeting with you…”

Viktor showed a somewhat awkward expression.

Ahh, so he had thought I was exaggerating.

All right, Viktor looked uncomfortable, so now I felt like I could push through after all!

“Heh heh… what is this, then? You did not believe me?”

“N-No! Never anything of the sort!”

“Hmph… well, I did not show them to you in actuality, after all. And this time, the army I sent out amounted to only around fifty thousand in total, so I suppose it cannot be helped if you thought it was a bluff.”

“…”

Ohh, Viktor’s expression kept growing more and more apologetic… this was winnable!

“I shall apologize in advance, but the reason I sent such a small number of troops to intercept the invading armies this time was intentional.”

The Overlord style of saying sorry without actually apologizing… personally, I really wanted to say “forgive me” like it was a prefix, but I held it in.

“Naturally, we still have plenty of troops we could send out. In truth, I had wanted all five surrounding countries to invade us.”

“W-What!? Why would you do such a thing!?”

“Obviously… to crush those fools who invaded us for such unreasonable reasons.”

At my reply, Viktor stared in stunned disbelief.

“It is human nature to squeeze even more out of those who look weakened. If one openly put on the appearance of central confusion, it was only natural that they would bite at the bait.”

“…Your Majesty let them invade, drove them back, and then intended to begin a war of invasion in return…?”

“Exactly. Any country that comes marching in over nothing more than a small bit of bait… would be rather difficult to trust as a neighbor, would it not?”

“But! What if the people suffered because of that…”

“Did they suffer?”

At my question, Viktor now looked blankly astonished.

It made me uneasy that, as a former great noble, he was showing such plainly readable changes in expression… if I entrusted ceasefire negotiations… or rather negotiations with other countries to him, I felt like he might get taken advantage of entirely.

“As for suffering… I have heard of no harm to the people… at present.”

“Indeed. The enemy likely intended to seize the forts built along the border and use them as a bridgehead for further invasion, but beyond that point, they have been blocked by our army and unable to advance. There should have been no cases of border towns or villages being plundered.”

“…”

“Did I not promise you all that I would protect the people? We have watched the enemy army thoroughly, and I have had things protected so completely that stray units or reconnaissance forces cannot misbehave in the surrounding areas. Not a single one of Einheria’s people has suffered harm.”

“T-To think such a thing was possible…”

“The Kingdom of Fregis, which attacked first. The reason I sent only twenty-five thousand soldiers against it was to lure out the other countries. Just as expected, the Kingdom of Est and the Duchy of Yuran saw that our military strength was still not fully restored and moved as well…”

“…So that is why the stalemate continued despite the difference in troop numbers. Even if they were few in number, I had thought the Einheria army’s movements strangely sluggish for one that had annihilated the Kingdom of Lumoria’s forces in an instant…”

Viktor said that while nodding as though it all finally made sense.

Perhaps because no harm had come to the people, he did not seem to have any complaint about the fact that I had deliberately let the enemy invade…

“In our battle with the Kingdom of Lumoria, we always fielded equal numbers of troops. In truth, it seems we did not need that many, but… it was not wasteful. It was because I was able to hear that the surrounding nations possessed military strength on the same level as the Kingdom of Lumoria that I was able to think of this plan.”

“…Then from here, will you defeat the invasion armies of the three countries, retake the forts, and invade the enemy nations? Or one country at a time…?”

“Ahh, we will attack all three countries simultaneously. A front of this degree is no issue even if we take it on all at once. I have sent the development department along with the invasion armies, so securing footholds will be quick.”

If we invaded with a system in place that allowed us to install mana collection devices immediately after taking territory, time and cost could be handled with great efficiency.

“…The teleportation devices truly are magnificent, no matter how one looks at them.”

“Well, yes. It is precisely because we have those that such forceful strategies can be carried out.”

“From the enemy’s point of view, it must seem like nothing short of a nightmare…”

Viktor said that and let out a deep sigh.

“With the Kingdom of Lumoria, we at least fought properly from the front, but from here on, we shall be fighting in ways that are normal for us.”

“…Then it means it will not be long before Einheria makes a name for itself as a great power.”

“…I had thought you would oppose wars of invasion, Viktor.”

I was surprised by Viktor’s almost contemplative attitude, which showed far less revulsion toward war than I had expected.

If war came, there was no doubt that the people would suffer in various ways… it was not only soldiers who died, after all.

Rather, the number of ordinary people who suffered things like looting would likely be considerable, and it would also surely be unavoidable that many orphans would result from households losing their male labor and no longer being able to survive.

I had not thought Viktor, who put the people first, would tolerate that…

“Certainly, as for starting a war… it is not as though I can approve of it with both hands raised… but becoming one of Your Majesty’s people, becoming a citizen of Einheria, is by no means a bad thing. Temporary confusion cannot be avoided, certainly, but the happiness that follows afterward is guaranteed.”

…Huh?

Viktor had suddenly started saying something incredibly frightening.

No, certainly, once they became citizens of Einheria, I would protect them with everything I had, but… whether happiness was guaranteed… I did not know about that.

No, certainly, I did feel like I had once gone and declared something like I would promise peace and security to my people… but that was the sort of thing politicians say in campaign pledges… I would make the effort, but whether it would be realized or not… it was that sort of thing, you know?

This was praise on the level of my own people… but really, had I done something to Viktor?

I could not think of a single thing at all, but… for now, I should ignore it and keep the conversation moving.

“By the way, Viktor. It is not that we are going to retake the forts from here. We have already retaken the forts.”

Whether it was because I had suddenly changed the subject, or because of what I had said… I did not know which, but Viktor tilted his head.

“…What do you mean? As of yesterday, there was still nothing at the forts…”

“Ahh, we attacked the forts this morning. The battles themselves ended quickly enough, but since there were three separate locations, I did feel a little fatigue.”

That was right. I had been able to greet the morning with a refreshing feeling for the first time in a while, and riding that clear mood, I had spent the whole morning carrying out fort assaults one by one… and quickly broken through the front gates and retaken the forts.

It had been an easy victory even without my needing to take command… but since it was my first time attacking forts, I had tried a triple engagement as practice.

“F-From the way you say that, it sounds as though Y-Your Majesty personally participated in the attack on the three forts…”

“I did not go so far as raising my sword and charging in, no. But I did take command.”

“You took three forts in the span of only a few hours!?”

The Overlord was pleased to see that his units of time had become properly aligned with Einheria’s standards.

“Yes, about one hour per fort. Well, most of that was my own travel time rather than actual combat time.”

“One fort in one hour!? Just what kind of strategy did you use!?”

“A frontal assault.”

“A frontal assault!?”

“There was no need to resort to strategy.”

More to the point, there was no way I, who had only ever fought wars in games, could outdo professional soldiers through strategy. Einheria was always the power of justice.

“Did you reinforce the troops…?”

“No, I used only the soldiers who had already been dispatched on site.”

“But there should have been forts where more than twice your number was holed up in defense…”

“It posed no problem. We took no casualties on our side. The enemy had been holding the forts, and without letting the enemy soldiers escape, we locked more than half of them up in the forts as prisoners. We could have released them, but armies that lose command often turn into bandits while fleeing and worsen public order.”

“…Certainly, it is not unusual for defeated armies to engage in looting while they flee… but you shut them inside the forts?”

“As makeshift prisons. I have already informed the governors near the border, but the watch will be entrusted to the former Lumoria soldiers. However, the prisoners are to be treated well, and abuse is utterly unacceptable. If such conduct is discovered, severe punishment will follow. We have no need for needless grudges.”

Summoned troops were not really suited to long-term guarding of prisoners, or rather, they were not especially good at looking after people.

I had learned from the battle with Karmos and the others that it was better to leave the guarding of prisoners to human hands.

“Yes! I shall make it a strict order!”

“I am counting on you. In no more than two months at the latest, those prisoners will also become my people. There is only loss in mistreating them.”

“…You intend to bring down those nations in two months?”

“Yes. The soldiers who retook the forts have already begun their invasion of the enemy countries.”

Incidentally, I was also testing whether they could properly conduct the invasion without my command… but I had told them to contact me early if it looked difficult.

“They will invade while installing mana collection devices at key points… but they should be able to push as far as the capitals in no more than two months at the latest.”

Summoned troops vanished after one week, after all… and without mana collection devices, they could not be resummoned, so I hoped they would advance efficiently.

Incidentally, this time the three armies had Arandor, Kamila, and Saria respectively as their supreme commanders, with five generals assigned under each.

The reason Saria, who was the Spear Saint, was a supreme commander was that unlike Jōsen, I had properly taught Saria war-oriented abilities.

Since she had been raised in a different direction from Jōsen, who specialized in dungeon conquest, Saria was superior in unit command even if Jōsen might match or exceed her in a duel.

Who would be the first to bring down a nation… it was something I was very much looking forward to, but it would probably be Arandor.

The rank of Grand General was no decoration.

As I was thinking about the armies I had sent out like that, Viktor, who had worn a stern expression, suddenly relaxed his face.

“What is it?”

“No, I had wondered why Your Majesty did not publicize the matter of slaying the Ground Dragon, but now I understand clearly. In order to make the enemy nations underestimate you and make them more likely to invade. Of course, that too must have been part of it… but for Your Majesty—no, for Einheria—the slaying of the dragon was not something that could even count as one of the military feats worth boasting of… to think that all along, you were aiming to take on three countries at once and expand your territory in a single stroke…”

“My true aim had been to make all five countries attack at once. The movements of the two countries that did not invade are what concern me now, but it is a pity they did not take the bait.”

When I said that and shrugged, Viktor let out a dry laugh.