In The Name Of Ingrad! (31)

Recently, meetings had been continuing on a tight schedule over matters related to the East Continent.

“So you are saying we should export weapons, are you not?”

“In the case of first-generation firearms, they are already weapons whose use is nearly finished. Are you not saying that we should export them and plant the will to resist in the East Continent?”

“I know. I know what His Majesty said. But it is a continent where the countries disappeared and three hundred years have passed. I am asking how much will to resist could remain in those who have lived there as slaves.”

We were in the middle of a meeting after calling in Samual and the overseers of several regions, and there were two people clashing sharply.

One was a scholar and official named Jin Climen, who managed the city near Longsem Gate, and the other was a scholar named Gregory Almun, who managed the location that the Josephine royal family had used as its capital.

Jin Climen was mainly the one in favor of the opinion that weapons should be exported, and what he viewed positively was “placing the East Continent under a debt of gratitude.”

“Among the harvests His Majesty recently gathered, there was also something concerning the will of the East Continent’s people. It was that even if their countries fell and hundreds of years passed, they had not lost their national identity.”

“How can you guarantee that?”

“Is it not a basic thing that can be inferred from their clothing, eating habits, and the fact that the existence known as the Demonic Tribe did not ‘govern’ them?”

“Huh, even if the Demonic Tribe did not govern them, it does not mean they left the East Continent’s people alone. They merely did not collect taxes or protect them, but it was no different from governing them.”

While the two glared at each other with expressions showing that neither would yield an inch, there was someone who lightly raised his hand. It was Samual.

“Please speak.”

“I have been listening well to both of you, but His Majesty has already informed us of his opinion that he would like them exported. I am not particularly in favor or against it, but could you tell me exactly why the two of you are arguing?”

At Samual’s words, the one who opened his mouth first was Gregory.

“Our own territory has grown dramatically. No matter how powerful the existing Ingrad Army may be, the territory that must be defended has increased rapidly, so I thought we should maintain a quantity of reserve firearms for that purpose as well.”

“That is a correct judgment. Then what is the reason for supporting export?”

When Samual looked at Jin Climen and asked, Jin Climen bowed his head respectfully in greeting and said,

“It is because weapons from the previous generations already exist. The current first-generation firearms are basic firearms given to trainees, and they are used only for getting accustomed to guns, as the words imply, and also because they are heavy, making them convenient for training.”

Jin Climen stopped speaking for a moment, organized his thoughts, and opened his mouth.

“When looking at Ingrad’s current state of development, I do not think there is any need to let first-generation weapons sit and go to waste. Training tools can simply be newly produced, and since we are now in a situation where we are arming our forces mainly with fourth-generation firearms, if trainees truly need firearms, I think it would be good to settle on mainly supplying the third generation. And as Scholar Gregory said, I recommend the second generation as reserve firearms.”

It was impossible for everyone’s thoughts to be the same.

Moreover, even now, Ingrad was continuing to produce next-generation weapons. The peerless genius named Richard was making that possible, and it was to the point that rumors were openly spreading that a prototype of the next generation of firearms would soon be completed.

On top of that, Ingrad’s tremendous financial power was restoring the merged national territory with vast funds, even in a situation where the country had grown dramatically through annexation.

Because of that situation, the two did not think of it as an attempt to export simply because of money.

‘What His Majesty wants will not be only to place power in the hands of the East Continent…’

Samual thought of several hypotheses he could come up with, then lightly clapped his hands and drew everyone’s attention.

“We must know exactly what His Majesty desires.”

“…What His Majesty desires…”

Gregory raised his hand and asked,

“I understand that it is not simply to place power in their hands. However, even His Majesty’s thoughts cannot be predicted, so we are merely troubled.”

As everyone’s gazes gathered on Samual, Samual carefully traced back his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“I think everyone knows that His Majesty wishes for the East Continent’s people to become self-reliant on their own. And for that self-reliance, they must have power, but I think the problem is that the time they have been ruled is quite long.”

“It has been more than three hundred years… So it cannot help but be long.”

It was an unimaginably long time. There were races that lived long lives, but even for them, when considering that three hundred years was by no means short, by human standards, it could be called an absurdly long time. Moreover, if it was the East Continent, where the environment must have been poor, the circumstances became even more complicated.

Human average lifespan only increased in regions with good medical technology. When sick, medicine was needed, and care, eating well, and living well could also be called essential.

But the East Continent could be said to be lacking all of this, and according to what had been investigated, the average lifespan did not exceed fifty years. That meant several generations had been ruled over by the Demonic Tribe as slaves.

Although it was three hundred years under the pretext that a god had ruled them, it was certainly by no means a short amount of time, so Samual pointed that out.

“His Majesty seems to be thinking differently about the situation where a ‘god’ descended and ruled.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Let us ask everyone a question about gods. What kind of existence is a god to you?”

“…It could be called an existence as vague as grasping at clouds. If it is at least the Demon God… would he feel like a threat?”

“Certainly, those words are not wrong. However, what His Majesty watched closely was the part where the Demon God did not interfere with humans on the East Continent.”

Samual spoke to those who looked as if asking what that meant.

“I am speaking of the circumstances of the Demonic Tribe. A god… reigns, but does not govern. Because of that structure, even if the East Continent was ruled as slaves for three hundred years, because the ruler was a god, His Majesty may be predicting that they may have reverence, but their hearts may not have submitted.”

“Would they not have submitted precisely because a god ruled them?”

“It is said that His Majesty also once thought that way. However, recently, we were able to receive word that some of the East Continent’s people wished to join the army. For now, all of them are being refused, but since this is growing worse day by day, I think he may have thought there must be something to it and reached that conclusion.”

The scholars sank into thought, thinking it was quite plausible. Moreover, if those words were true, would it not be possible to stir up a wind in the East Continent? Just as their thoughts were heading that way, Gregory raised his hand once more and asked,

“Does he wish to arm such people and send them to the battlefield?”

“That is not it. Under the assumption that there are people like a kind of death-defying corps, he wishes to support them.”

“A death-defying corps… you say?”

Gregory looked speechless because it was too sudden a story, but when he thought back on the fact that nothing the King of Ingrad had guessed and touched until now had been wrong, he wondered if there really had been such a group in the East Continent’s three hundred years of history.

“I intend to compile today’s agenda and deliver it to His Majesty, so if there is anyone who has anything else to say, please raise your hand.”

At Samual’s words, everyone fell silent. It was partly because they had already spoken a great deal, but the fact that they could not infer any further from only hearing the rough circumstances also played a role.

However, if such a group existed on the East Continent, and if the number of those who wished to resist continued to grow, the scholars thought that weapons export must certainly be carried out.

The blocks were being produced, and they began to be spread to various places through the whale beastkin.

The sight of an enormous number of blocks moving in lines could be called quite a fascinating spectacle, and among those watching, several people were showing interest in those blocks.

“What are they trying to do with those?”

“I hear they are used when building the walls of fortresses.”

“Against the Demonic Tribe, flimsy walls are… Moreover, can walls even make sense with hollow things like those?”

The man explained the circumstances of the blocks to the woman, who was staring blankly at them because she could not understand at all.

“I hear they are extremely sturdy. They cannot be damaged by most magic, and they are very easy to handle and light, so they can quickly be used to build fortresses or piled up into walls.”

“No matter how I think about it, I cannot understand. I do not see any traces of them being reinforced by magic either. Yet you say they are sturdy?”

It was not as if she did not know about Construction magic. That was because every country possessed Construction technicians, even if they were extremely few in number.

But the woman wanted to point out that the sturdiness of structures made through that Construction was obvious.

Just as she was watching that procession for quite some time, thinking it was incomprehensible in many ways, it happened.

“Excuse me.”

A beastkin approached and spoke to them. The woman took a step back in bewilderment, and the man beside her stepped forward as if protecting her and said,

“What… business do you have?”

“There is someone who wishes to meet the two of you.”

At those extremely bewildering words, they could not say anything, and then the man carefully asked,

“…Could you tell us what this is about?”

“We heard that a specific group exists on the East Continent, and we have been looking for people related to it. They say there is a group centered on humans that resists the Demonic Tribe.”

“…We are not brave enough to do such a remarkable thing.”

At the man’s words, the beastkin lightly smiled and said,

“A struggle for freedom. Well, one could say it is not remarkable, but if you learn of the person who wishes to meet you, you will have to think differently.”

“….”

While they could not say anything, the beastkin removed a badge from his chest and handed it not to the man, but to the woman, and said,

“I am Jorban, captain of the Ingrad Rangers. Please come find me with this badge. I will guide you to the person who wishes to meet you.”

“…You should at least tell us who that person is…”

At those words, Jorban pointed to the sun floating high in the sky and said,

“My sun shines upon you. Then…”

The two could not help but have complicated feelings. And the woman thought the badge in her hand felt far too heavy as she watched Jorban turn around and disappear, then said quietly,

“Ingrad… is not a country that can ever be taken lightly…”

“I, too… am somewhat surprised. What will you do?”

“We must meet him. At the right time…”

“…I will prepare.”

The woman once again fiddled with the badge.