Chapter 30
Stronghold completed and invasion

After having married Altia away, now more than before, I was busy with the development of the city Maust.

The population grew more than I imagined, so I had to expand the city more than I had planned.

As a measure, now, I decided to expand even the city around the castle that is on the hill where I control all the affairs of the government.

However, because it is realistically complicated to connect the river with the ca.n.a.l, it was decided to separate the river from the ca.n.a.l, on the river side there will be a river town and from the hill side there will be a hill town. If you look at it from afar, it’s a big city, and even if you look closely, you can see two cities lined up.

And finally after nine long months, the castle was finished and I moved to the Maust Castle.

Usually the castle is connected to the city by a bridge, but if you raise it, it becomes a fortress floating in the water.

The first thing I did was gather all the retainers in the reception hall.

The s.p.a.ce that there is now is incomparable to the castle in Neville, however because the number of retainers also increased, it doesn’t look so s.p.a.cious.

「Gentlemen! From this moment, this place will become the center of our politics, economy, and all the rest. You may not be used to it yet, but sooner or later your attachment to it will bloom. At least the construction of this castle is not at all inferior to Neville’s」

The retainers were listening to my words respectfully.

There was Raviara with her belly growing day by day.

Also the old general Shivik who has supported me for a long time.

The captain Orkus who leads the Red Bear Unit.

Similarly, Leon, captain of the White Eagle Unit.

The commander who leads the elite forces Noen.

The finance minister werewolf, Fannelia.

The promising merchant of Maust, Ornis.

The rest is composed of retainers gathered from different places. Also present are retainers who served Neville’s house for generations, although their numbers don’t make up the majority.

「So, first, I’ll talk about one of my goals. I don’t care if you think of me as a megalomaniac. However, I’m going to make that delusion a reality. From the moment I controlled only three villages, I planned to conquer this amount of territory that I now own. What I’m trying to do is not different from what I’ve already done」

I spoke without interruptions.

「Currently the royal family is in the apex of chaos. The royal family is divided into two lineages, both have under their power influentials chief retainers in addition to being supported by powerful families. Both have been competing for a long time for the royal capital. As someone who lives in this Sawiru kingdom, I think it’s a very sad thing. That’s whyー」

I look at their faces one by one.

It seems that there is no one who thinks of me as a megalomaniac.

「――That’s why we’ll enter the royal capital, and help the declining royal family rebuild its power. Serving the king by his side, we will end up the chaos in the country」

Surely half of the people present think that we will make the king a puppet and that we will seize the power.

Almost right but still they are wrong.

I will build my own kingdom.

Of course, it’s not an easy path, but from the moment I succeeded my house, my territory has grown six times its size.

If I manage to grow my current territory by six times its size, there will almost no longer power able to defeat me.

「It’s for that reason, that I will make you all work with all your strength from now on. There will be many challenges, but there will also be many rewards. It wouldn’t be strange for people to appear among you, able to obt

ain a county, not to say a prefecture. Work with that conviction. Then, let’s raise our voices」

I took that long spear. The one I obtained from the Great Temple.

I repeatedly hit the ground with the spear.

「Glory to us!」

「「Glory!」」

The voices filled the new castle.

――Special skill 【Monarch’s Aura】has been activated. As long as the Monarch behaves according to his t.i.tle as Monarch, people with Jobs in his castle will begin to age extremely slow including their relatives.

It seems that I have obtained something new again.

Will their wives be considered as relatives? If it can preserve the beauty of both Raviara and Serafina, then it’s something to be thankful for.

――You will be able to preserve their beauty, so rejoice even more. What a dull guy.

Instead of worrying about such a thing, I should be expanding my territory even more at this time. First is the unification of the prefecture. I’ll get the three remaining counties of the north.

――That is a place where a lot of the small feudal lords have come together. Let’s go and see what they have.

I don’t know whether is a good idea or not, but we will continue to observe them.

I gathered the captains of the units, Red Bear Unit, White Eagle Unit and as well, the old general Shivik, and Noen.

「There is a Viscount within the three counties that I still don’t control, who doesn’t want to cooperate with me. We will destroy him. I will tell this clearly. Do it thoroughly. Don’t let any person escape of the fortress alive」

「Count, it would be good if you could you confirm it again?」

Noen asked. A military man in his thirties who was gaining some weight recently.

「Because this time the enemy is very close to a town, there is the possibility for them to escape to neighboring villages, which would make difficult to distinguish the soldiers from common people. That’s why――」

「It’s okay to kill everyone in the fortress」

I answered quickly.

「I have already warned not only the feudal lord, but the village too. 『I will kill everyone inside the fortress. This is not a threat』 If they insist on staying in the fortress, then everyone inside the fortress will be considered as combatants」

「I understood. If we can confirm that, then it’s fine」

Noen nodded.

「Then, what method will we use to capture the fortress? We will surround them and wait for them to get exhausted? If we play by the book, then we have no choice but to use that strategy」

「Why do you think I have gathered all of you? Use you strength to make them submit to me」

「I, I understand…」

This time Noen nodded a little scared.

「It seems that you are still unable to understand my intention, so I will explain it. If in the first encounter we annihilate our enemy, then the enemy that we have in our back, what will he think?」

The old general Shivik took a step forward while explaining it.

「They will tremble with fear. Most people would choose not to fight against such an enemy. If they are conscripted farmers, then surely these will try to escape」

「That’s how it is. If we demonstrate our strength in our first encounter, the enemy will surrender immediately. This is but a wishful thinking, but if all goes well the first time, then, we will be able to subjugate the following enemy feudal lords without fighting」

For that reason although it’s somewhat unreasonable, we will strike hard our first fortress.

I will make them think that my power is in a completely different league than the feudal lords they have faced until now.

「In addition, prolonging the war will bring with it a much more annoying enemy. And I don’t wish for such a thing to happen」

「Colt Rentland from the Naguri prefecture, right?」

As expected of Shivik, his experience is deep and his speed of thought is fast.

「That’s right. In the name of helping them, they will send soldiers」

It goes without saying that the remaining three feudal lords have a good relationship with the Rentland House.  That is the lifeline of those small feudal lords.

「From the beginning, I have not been destroying small feudal lords with the aim of unifying the prefecture. Our objective is the destruction of the Naguri House. This warーーis nothing more than the first step」

My words also surprised the soldiers.

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