Chapter 151
Strategy
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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