Chapter 151
Strategy
Translator : PolterGlast
When I led the people who had been waiting outside the moat
to the pre-designated location, Priola, who had secured the humans just
like me, was already there.
While I was bringing down the castle, I had her head out to
rescue the humans who had been made into slaves.
「Masaru-sama, I am glad you are safe.」
「Yeah, for now, I've defeated every
single demon inside the castle. Including Sigur, of course.」
「...As expected. To think you would
defeat Sigur so easily...」
「Then, can I leave the rest to you?」
「Yes, of course.」
Priola headed
towards the castle, which was already completely devoid of people. The people
watching this exchanged some words, and Calies-san approached me as
their representative.
「Masaru-dono, we truly thank you for this rescue. If possible, we
would appreciate it if you could explain the situation to us...」
「I plan to get permission from Her
Majesty Emilia... later, but I intend to put an end to the conflict in
the Doog Wasteland by the end of today. What we are doing now is
basically the finishing touches.」
It wasn't really an answer, but explaining everything would
be a pain.
From their perspective, there must be a lot of things they
want to ask, like why a demon is obeying me, or why I, a mere Military Observer,
had turned into an absolute demon-killing machine in the first place.
Especially since their feelings towards demons must be at
rock bottom after being treated so terribly by them, it could lead to all sorts
of trouble if they found out what I was doing.
I gathered everyone and healed them all at once using an AoE
casting skill, then decided to have them leave this place for the time being.
「I am going to transport you all to
the Doog Wasteland now. It will be a tough journey, but is there anyone
who cannot run?」
Perhaps everyone strongly desired to return home, because no
one voiced any objections to my words. I used Jaunt to secure high
ground, and then used Jaunt again, repeating the same method I used when
transporting my classmates, as we made our way back to the Doog Wasteland.
Perhaps they hadn't stopped training their bodies even
during their lives as slaves, because not a single one of them complained as
they steadily kept pace behind me.
「M-Masaru-dono!? What in the
world is this... Her Excellency Lieutenant General Calies!? And His
Excellency Major General Eristas too!?」
「I just popped over to the Demon
Territory and snatched them back. Please evacuate them to a safe location.」
「Eh...」
Not allowing for any arguments, I activated Jaunt
once more. After breaking line of sight with everyone, I used my Home Gift
to return to the city of Ronack.
Just then, I could hear Priola's declaration echoing
throughout the city, using something akin to a megaphone.
『Therefore, as of this moment, this
city of Ronack and the Demon Territory Zwaarth... shall be
governed by me, Priola!』
That's right, the strategy Priola had proposed and I
had approved was... the "Why don't we just have Priola rule all the
hostile Demon Territories?" Operation!
Demons obey the strong. Because of this, usurpations and
territorial wars occur at a frequency that cannot even be compared to human
societies.
Yes, according to demon values, there is absolutely no problem
with Priola taking over another demon's territory.
To begin with, the Demon Territory Kingsbury,
which borders parts of the Kingdom and the Empire, is the
territory of her Luora family. (By the way, the reason the Kingdom, which
is vastly inferior in national power to the Empire, is still able to
hold the front line is because Priola is appropriately half-assing the
war just enough to avoid drawing Odd's ire).
Heading east from there brings you to the territory of the Subjugation
Faction, here in the Demon Territory Zwaarth. With this, even
externally, it can be passed off as a territorial dispute.
I had massacred all the power-holders in the castle, and to
make it look like Priola did it in the first place, I properly crushed
the castle using Ice Magic. In this situation where all the influential
figures are dead, there shouldn't be anyone who would try to rebel against Priola.
(This should result in the least amount of casualties. I
feel like Emilia might oppose it... but I think Alice will
approve, yeah.)
I do believe that demons hostile to humans should die, but
there are a certain number of demons in this city who aren't like that.
I don't think it's necessary to massacre them all.
Therefore, I figured that if Priola governed the entire territory, things
would settle down amicably to some extent.
Of course, since they need to maintain the appearance of
fighting against humans externally, I intend to have her actively send the Subjugation
Faction demons to the front lines, taking into account future political
instability and the overall situation.
I'm not so kind as to think about keeping them alive
indefinitely, after all. Since I've killed the prominent demons to a certain
extent, the Imperial soldiers should be able to manage the rest of the battles
on their own. And the people Priola and I rescued all seemed to be quite
capable fighters, too.
And if this goes well, I want to continue pushing east and
west and do the same thing in the Empire and the Dragonia Dragon
Knight Kingdom, which are fighting against the demons.
If, ultimately, Lirica, who stands above Priola,
brings everything together, the need for conflict between humans and demons
should disappear. According to Emilia, fierce battles with the Subjugation
Faction are still raging on over there.
While masking my presence and observing the ruins of the
royal castle that had become a mountain of rubble, Priola, who had
apparently already gathered people from the castle town, was starting to have
them clear the debris.
If I were to go over there now, it would only complicate matters. As for Lirica's training... if she's been going at it continuously, she should be finishing up her second set around now, right? For now, I guess I'll go check on her.
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