In The Name Of Ingrad! (8)

As soon as the blocks were produced, they were being loaded onto freight wagons using golems. The blocks were truly being made so busily that there was no time to breathe, and while what kind of result this would produce remained to be seen, if this succeeded, I became certain it would truly rewrite history.

That was because no matter how magic existed, raising a castle wall inevitably took a long time, and castle walls were money-devouring monsters built by investing massive funds over half a year at the shortest, or several years at the longest.

However, if the blocks were used well, excluding the time it took to transport them, it was estimated that a fortress on the scale of a stronghold could be built in a little over a month through actual assembly.

“All right, if the finishing is done from this side to that side, move everything!”

At my shout, the waiting soldiers moved in perfect order. Since it was a suitable weight if four beastkin soldiers lifted and moved it, I was mobilizing the army to work.

The only problem was that while they were moving the blocks, they were looking at the blocks with distrust in their eyes.

They probably disliked laboring for an unverified object, and I thought that even I would have no choice but to show dissatisfaction if I were mobilized in that sort of situation.

“Today’s quantity should be finished after about two more rows.”

I said that while taking a brief moment to rest, looking at Matilda as she approached my side, and Matilda also looked at me and said,

“No country has a case where the king personally comes out to the site and works.”

“I have to, since I’m the only one who can do it. And I don’t think of it as work. It may not have been verified yet, but if we use this to produce proper results, that will be enough for me.”

“It will take time. And if the enemy does not invade, it will not be verified. You know that, don’t you?”

“Safety is… in my opinion, even if you cannot prevent something immediately, you still have to prepare for it. The enemy will not tell us before invading, and the existence of castle walls will also deter war. And I am confident. Those blocks will definitely show reliable performance.”

Compared to the castle walls I made directly using Construction, they would be lacking by a great deal, but I was certain they would be much sturdier than half-baked walls.

Like that, with Matilda watching, I used Construction to create the final block, told them to move it, and was able to finish several days of work.

As if seeing off the last departing block, I looked at it and asked Matilda a question.

“How are things going with the people appointed as administrators and their education?”

“They are all approaching it passionately. First, in the case of the hundred talents who will be appointed as middle-grade administrators, they are certainly faithful to their roles, and in the case of the remaining lower-grade administrators, I received a report that they clearly understand what they must do and are learning the work.”

“What about the background checks on the middle administrators?”

“Most of them are clean, aside from a few. However, those few have some suspicious aspects.”

“What sort of aspects do you mean by suspicious?”

Matilda stopped speaking for a moment before opening her mouth.

“There are some cases where we suspect they may be spies from several countries.”

“Spies…”

Certainly, if they were outstanding people, they had been hired based on test scores without any special investigation, so people like that could have mixed in. That made me a little worried, but since there were limits to the information that middle administrators could access, I was able to tell Matilda that we should first make sure to investigate properly, and Matilda also said that would be good for the time being.

Aside from that, Matilda brought up the matter of establishing an intelligence organization.

“It is said that Sir Gamung is personally training people. Through the Information Guild, he has hired retired Information Guild members and is conducting training alongside them, and I received word that they will later be able to operate as an intelligence organization of five hundred people.”

“How long do they say the training period will take?”

“They say it will be half a year at the shortest and three years at the longest.”

It was unexpected that it would take quite a long time. However, I thought they would need at least that much to gain professionalism, so I said I understood, and aside from that, we were able to discuss trade, mainly about our neighboring country, Briden.

“I received word that the war situation is gradually coming to an end.”

It meant that Onellia had contacted us. She had sent word that most of the rebels had been dealt with, and although the whole country had been swept up in the flames of war, victory was right before their eyes.

And she had also sent word that Onellia might succeed the throne in place of her aged father, and if that happened, she sent an invitation asking me to attend the coronation ceremony.

“Was the King of Briden that old?”

“I understand he is over ninety years old.”

That is incredibly old, I thought, then said,

“Send Onellia word that I understand. And… I would like you to convey that, as an allied country, we intend to support them with food to help stabilize their national territory quickly, as an apology for not being able to help with their civil war.”

“Food… understood.”

Matilda wrote something down on the documents. Like that, after finishing the routine report with her, I was about to return to the castle when it happened.

“Yoooouuuur Maaaajestyyyyy!!!”

If I had to name a person in the country who would shout like this, there was only one.

When I turned my head and looked toward the source of the voice, Jeliko was running over while bursting out with a shout. Although it was not far from the castle, I wondered if there was a reason for him to be this urgent.

So I moved toward the direction he was running from, and when we quickly grew closer, Jeliko, who had prostrated himself in front of me while panting, gasped roughly for breath and handed over the object in his hand.

“…What is it…?”

I thought it would take a little time before I heard an answer, so I first opened the note and checked its contents.

‘I’m going insane. There’s chaos everywhere…’

The contents written on the note were a message that the Dradnos Empire was moving its army on a large scale and heading toward the East Continent.

Although they were not waging war against humans, there were Corrupted Heroes forming a middle zone there, and beyond them were the Demonic Tribe and the Demon King, so I felt that it was a troublesome situation.

On top of that, the direction where Ulde and the whale beastkin had headed was also not very far from the location where the Dradnos Empire was advancing, which weighed on my mind.

As I was pondering it, Jeliko finally caught his breath and spoke to me.

“The Dradnos Empire says it hopes Ingrad will provide large-scale support in food and medical supplies!”

The justification written in the letter I received was “for the peace of the continent.” In truth, if it was a war against the Demonic Tribe, I thought there was no reason to refuse support.

In the past, I would not have stepped forward that actively because there was much to lose by making enemies of the Demonic Tribe, but now it was the opposite. When I thought about how they had targeted the Relief Group and repeatedly attacked it, it was not something to tolerate.

“Has someone come?”

“That is so. The head of House Glicias has come in person.”

“House Glicias?”

Since I did not know what sort of house they were, I looked at Matilda, and she spoke to me.

“It is a house that has protected the Dradnos Imperial Family for generations, as that family has a strong tendency to walk the path of supremacy through exceptional strategy. They are one of the three great archducal houses of Dradnos.”

Recalling the past when I had caused one of the three great archducal houses to step onto the path of ruin, I said to Jeliko,

“You go and entertain them grandly.”

“Is… is it truly all right for someone like me to entertain such an important person?”

“Jeliko, you are a top-grade administrator. That means you are someone with a high-ranking post, of which there are not even fifty in our Ingrad. If it is merely entertaining a guest, I do not think you are lacking.”

“…Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”

Jeliko had recently been appointed as a top-grade administrator. He was a case who had risen rapidly from a middle-grade administrator, but since he had ability to match that, I considered it fitting that he should hold a suitable position.

Matilda watched Jeliko run off, saying he would obey the order immediately, and let out a sigh.

Come to think of it, Matilda had often not liked Jeliko’s disorderly manner, and when I subtly asked the reason, it turned out she did not like him because he was too noisy.

However, aside from that, she did not spare praise for him, saying he was a capable person, and I was able to return to the castle with her. Not long after, I called the person from House Glicias, who had been resting in the reception room, into the Audience Chamber and met with them.

There was one old man and two young men and women, and the old man bowed his head to me and introduced himself.

“I am called Schwarz, the one leading House Glicias of the Dradnos Empire. It is an honor to meet the king of a great nation. And these are my grandchildren, Sara and Babel. I ask that you remember even just their names.”

“You bring an interesting story. I welcome you gladly. By the way… they say it is war?”

Schwarz neatly placed both hands together, then slowly bowed his head and said that it was so, and soon he raised his head and spoke to me.

“Our Dradnos Empire is a nation that has stood at the forefront of war against the Demonic Tribe for generations and worked for the stability of the continent. To the southeast, we are in a cooperative system with the Apoca Kingdom and the nations of the Southern Continent as a whole, and to the north and west, we have formed cooperation with several kingdoms of the Central Continent. We also cooperated closely with Terakan, and thus were able to strive for the stability of the continent, but with Terakan’s circumstances not being good, and Atoon and the Mirkas Federation exhausted by the long war, we had no choice but to reach out to Ingrad.”

It was a calm tone. That said, it was neither slow nor fast. It was exactly a pace pleasant for a person to hear, and it felt like it helped one understand the words.

So for now, I asked Schwarz,

“What practical aid do you desire?”

“We hope that you will aid us by slightly increasing the quantities of the items Ingrad supported us with in the previous war against the Demonic Tribe. The current scale of our operating forces is three million, and we plan to request support troops from places such as the Mirkas Federation and Atoon to bring it up to five million at most.”

“…That is many. With such a large number, is your will this time to take back the East Continent?”

“That is so. Recently, we have confirmed that many humans are surviving on the East Continent. His Imperial Majesty said that he could not simply watch as they suffered and lived through difficult days, so he drew his sword.”

“It is fortunate that it is not being pointed at humans. Is that alone enough?”

I asked because I had the feeling he would want more, and Schwarz reacted to that.

“At present, we have received word that Ingrad’s elites have advanced near the route the Empire is taking. Could we obtain the cooperation of that army?”

“You would borrow even our hands?”

“I have heard they are an elite force that achieved tremendous results with small numbers. If we had that strength, we would be able to recover the East Continent more smoothly, and perhaps we could also drive the Demonic Tribe out of our world… That is what I thought.”

It was an interesting story. Driving out the Demonic Tribe. Taking back the East Continent. But in reality, even if the East Continent was taken back, there were no longer any countries or anything else remaining there.

Then someone would have to occupy that place, and I thought this could also become the beginning of another great war.

To put it bluntly, although war was not the solution to every problem, it was only a pity that they were trying to solve things only through war.

“The reason we sent our army there is none other than to protect the Relief Group. Due to frequent attacks, the Relief Group was unable to fulfill its role, and recently, even mercenaries have been causing problems, so in the end, we had no choice but to dispatch the army. Our army is not meant to be turned outward and used to show off power, so I will refuse that proposal.”

“That is unfortunate. I had thought Ingrad’s strength would be able to splendidly adorn a great stage in the future.”

“Ingrad is not a country that will dance to another’s rhythm, so you had best wake from that dream quickly.”

Schwarz bowed his head, saying he understood. After that, he requested various specific things through a list of support items, and unusually, he conveyed that they wanted “hand grenades” as supplies.

“That is not a proposal I can accept easily. Do you know that?”

“I know they are a consumable type of weapon. We are not asking you to support us with them free of charge, but asking that you deliver a small quantity, as we will pay the necessary price for their production.”

If it was hand grenades, the principle was simple. It probably would not be impossible to imitate them if one tried, and since it did not seem like a matter that could be decided easily, I first told Schwarz that I would think about it, and with that, I was able to dismiss him. My head was growing complicated from the fairly large-scale request for support.