Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 108

Foundation Stone

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“···Anyway. The Imperial Guard will be led by Calliope. And that concludes the administrative system reorganization plan. Just reassign the officials accordingly.”

“The problem is that there aren’t any officials to assign.”

“We’ll have to ask Father for that.”

I ignored the glance she sent my way.

“At least Germania and Wallachia will maintain their existing administrative officials through the Governor-General’s offices, so there will be almost no administrative vacuum. The problem is the directly governed territories we have to manage.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Griff chewed on dried fruit while examining the administrative organizational chart.

“Are you not creating a separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs?”

“Ministry of Foreign Affairs? You mean diplomacy?”

Skadi smirked and looked at me, signaling me to answer instead.

“We have no foreign countries.”

Griff burst into laughter that sounded more like a cough.

“That’s quite a radical statement.”

“But isn’t it true?”

As the two said, it was radical but not wrong.

From the start, there was no country to conduct diplomacy with. The other races didn’t consider us as equals, and all the remaining human nations had been subjugated by the other races. If we sent diplomats, we’d be lucky if only their severed heads came back.

“Instead of creating a Ministry of Foreign Affairs with no work, it’s better to split the work from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and create another department. Or divide the Security Forces.”

“Hmm… that’s also true.”

“Anything else to say? If not, let’s conclude the discussion on administration.”

Griff pondered for a moment before nodding.

“Yes. I think the administrative system is sufficient as it is. The Empire has just been founded, and we don’t have the capacity to delve into such details.”

“Then let’s move on to the next topic, Father. We have a lot to do. We’ve caught the orcs and goblins rampaging in the Great Plains, and we need to send the refugees from Olympus back.”

Refugees, huh.

I recalled a problem I had forgotten.

“Griff, what’s the extent of the damage?”

“There were almost no casualties. We issued an evacuation order before they came down. As for the facility damage, well, it can’t be helped.”

Facilities meant residences, walls, factories, mines, and such.

Residences and walls would have to be rebuilt.

Factories were concentrated in Olympus, so they were fine.

The problem was the mines.

“Did you check the mines?”

Griff was about to answer but suddenly laughed to himself.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s just a bit funny.”

“Hmm?”

“The mines are fine. They must have heard about what Ugdash was doing because they were mining themselves.”

Orcs and goblins mining minerals themselves?

For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard.

“···They must have been desperate.”

“It’s been almost half a year since we stopped the slave trade, you know.”

Usually, orcs and goblins don’t even consider the concept of trade.

They’d rather grab a weapon and swing it than think about such a concept.

“The ones who came down to the Great Plains were the ones who lost in power struggles. They couldn’t take from other tribes, so they came with the idea of capturing humans directly.”

“But since we issued an evacuation order, they couldn’t capture humans, so they were nosing around the mines?”

“They didn’t take the mined minerals anywhere and just kept collecting them. Thanks to that, the mines kept running without rest.”

It was a truly ridiculous sight.

I chuckled in disbelief.

“Once the damage recovery is complete, focus on absorbing the occupied territories. Applying the same policies we used in the Great Plains and northern Wallachia to the occupied territories will already be too much work.”

“Yes, we have to.”

Griff sighed deeply.

The policies implemented in the Great Plains and northern Wallachia were numerous.

“Land confiscation and distribution, agricultural technology dissemination, provision of livestock and farming equipment, tax exemptions, land reclamation, mine development, encouragement of migration, fortification of borders, factory construction—it’s enough to make your head spin.”

Moreover, the occupied territories were incomparably larger than the existing territories.

It was no wonder Griff was groaning.

“At least, unlike the frontier lands, the farmlands and mines are already developed, so that’s a relief. If we had to do that as well, it wouldn’t have ended with groaning. Even if we mobilized all our siblings and freed slaves, we wouldn’t have seen a solution, given the scale.”

I nodded.

“First, it’s urgent to preserve the farmlands and fill the grain warehouses. There must be quite a few places where farming was ruined during the chaos. If we’re not careful, there could be mass starvation before next year arrives.”

That was likely.

When my territory was only the Great Plains, it was fine.

We could import grain from Germania or Wallachia.

But now that those two countries were gone, where would we import grain from?

“Therefore, you must stop mobilizing manpower beyond the agricultural production capacity, as before. You must focus on stockpiling food more than gold.”

“Hmm.”

“Ah, come to think of it.”

Skadi suddenly asked.

“Father, didn’t you say you had a way to increase crop production?”

“Did Pasimea tell you?”

“Yes. I heard she’s going to make fertilizer, not just improve farming equipment or disseminate technology.”

I nodded.

“Yes. I instructed Pasimea to make artificial fertilizer. The reason she’s not here right now is because the key ingredient for the fertilizer is···.”

Suddenly, I felt a throbbing headache.

“Are you alright?”

Calliope placed her hand on my shoulder and asked worriedly.

I patted her hand and shook my head.

“I’m fine. Rachel must be using her power.”

I took out a cigarette to forget the headache.

“It means things are going well. Rachel is helping Pasimea’s exploration. Soon, Pasimea will bring good news.”

###

Rachel gripped her warhammer and scanned the city’s exterior.

Antz, located in southeastern Germania, was a poor region within the kingdom, and the city was smaller and more dilapidated than the small cities built in the Great Plains.

The city was surrounded by stone walls, but the walls seemed to have been built a long time ago and hadn’t been repaired. Cracks and fissures were everywhere, making them unreliable.

“I thought Germania was a wealthy country, but I guess not.”

Pasimea muttered, and Rachel responded.

“According to the preliminary information, about 8,000 people reside here.”

“8,000? That’s small.”

Pasimea glanced back.

4,000 soldiers under Rachel’s command stood in formation.

Even if all the city’s residents were citizen soldiers, it would only be a difference of twice the number.

Considering the level of citizens and soldiers, it was a meaningless difference.

“I wonder what they’re relying on.”

“That’s what faith is.”

Pasimea blinked at the casually thrown words.

“Are you the one to talk?”

“What do you mean?”

She saw Rachel tilting her head and let out a sigh.

“Never mind. Forget it.”

Muttering, “Fanatics,” she looked at the top of the wall.

“You filthy heretics!”

The lord happened to be spewing out shouts with a flushed face.

“Do you think you can break our faith! Get out before Horvid’s divine punishment falls upon you!”

“Filthy heretics? Are there clean heretics, too?”

Pasimea scoffed.

“That’s true. It sounds funny when you hear it.”

“Right? The way they talk is just like ‘bad other races,’ ‘evil vampires,’ things like that. Bad bad guy. Evil evildoer, what does that even mean?”

“They’re so stupid that they believe in wolves as gods.”

“······.”

She tried to say something but held back.

“We will not surrender! Even if only one believer remains! Arm yourselves with faith and your—“

“Pasimea, I’m counting on you.”

“Okay. Prepare to breach.”

Cracking her neck, she walked forward.

“These tiresome bastards.”

She grumbled and reached out her hand.

“I don’t know why they’re so confident because of some mutt.”

It had been several weeks since they conquered Olhus, the capital of Germania, but the Wolf Cult’s uprisings were not decreasing but rather burning more fiercely day by day.

“Nuadhil thinned them out so much, but they keep popping up.”

It must be because they couldn’t completely block the borders.

Thanks to Nuadhil and his subordinates hunting the priests in advance, they prevented a simultaneous uprising, but the faith rooted in the region remained intact.

The Theocracy was secretly sending priests to regions where faith was maintained, inciting them, and the uprisings were breaking out a beat late.

“They said that conquering Olhus wasn’t the end but the beginning. It’s really true.”

Pasimea enveloped the gate with magic.

The moment her magic touched the gate, sparks flew.

Someone had raised magic to protect the gate.

She scoffed and pulled her hand back.

Thud—!

Then the gate was torn off.

“······.”

The lord, who had been spewing curses from the top of the wall, gaped.

Seeing that expression, Pasimea twisted the corners of her lips upward.

“Surprised, huh.”

Following that, a shout erupted from behind her.

“Let’s go!”

“Aim for the priests first!”

Twenty familiars [magically summoned creatures] dashed toward the wide-open main gate.

The knights and citizen soldiers who had only been standing behind the gate tried to stop the familiars charging on horseback, but it was a futile effort.

With a single charge, three or four enemies were skewered on the familiars’ spear tips, and the spears couldn’t bear the weight and broke, forcing them to take out auxiliary spears.

“R-r-run away!”

The citizen soldiers’ morale collapsed with that one charge.

A vow to protect the city with unwavering faith?

How many people remain steadfast in the face of death?

“Come back! Come back! You cowards!”

The lord shouted at the citizens fleeing in all directions.

But no one listened to or looked back at the lord.

“Cough!”

The lord, left alone, tried to escape belatedly but was skewered by a spear, and

“Horvid!”

Thwack!

The priests who were shouting Horvid were no different.

They were not cardinals, archbishops, or bishops.

The only difference from the citizens was that they didn’t run away.

They couldn’t withstand the familiars’ attack either.

“What is this?”

Pasimea frowned as she looked at the dead priests.

The appearance of being mutated by Horvid’s blessing was truly pathetic.

It wasn’t the form of a demon, nor did they become werewolves, nor did they become wolves, but their snouts and teeth protruded long from their human bodies, creating a grotesque sight.

Who would look at this and think they had received the blessing of a god?

“Since a false god put power into a small vessel, this is what they look like.”

“Geez··· if they don’t have anyone else to send, why are they sending these guys?”

Thud!

Rachel received an axe and struck the neck of a priest who was still breathing.

“You can’t ignore them. They may be nobodies to us, but they cause quite a bit of damage elsewhere.”

“To these guys?”

“Even if it’s a false god, they claim to be a god. Even a little bit of power makes them equal to our siblings. They’re dangerous if their numbers grow.”

The problem was especially serious in large cities.

The number of priests was high, and their level was relatively high.

The damage caused by the Wolf Cult’s suppression in recent weeks, which was focused on more than the damage Edar suffered during the Olhus battle during the coup, was greater.

“Sister, it’s over.”

“Gather them in one place as usual.”

Rachel gathered the surrendered citizens in the plaza.

Would they be massacred, or would they be sold as slaves?

She went up to the platform, receiving the gazes of the citizens trembling with fear.

She called the wounded soldiers from the platform.

“Huh?”

The crowd widened their eyes and looked at Rachel.

Light arose when her hand touched the soldiers’ wounds.

The light was brighter than sunlight, so all the citizens gathered in the plaza could see it.

But what surprised the crowd was not the light itself but its effect.

“The wound is healing!”

“How can a heretic perform the miracle of a high priest···.”

The sight of each soldier’s wound healing.

It was the same sight as the miracle performed by a high priest.

The crowd forgot their fear and only admired.

“Did you see?”

Rachel quietly spoke after finishing the treatment, and there was no one who didn’t hear.

“I have proven the truth to you.”

Truth?

The crowd blinked.

“I have shown the power of faith that I can show as a priest. Is that power, which you call a miracle, something that anyone can unleash?”

Hadn’t someone just said it was the miracle of a high priest?

That was not one person’s thought but the thought of the entire crowd.

In their eyes, the power she unleashed was a sacred power that a heretic could not dare to imitate.

“You cursed me as a heretic and opposed me. But what about now? I have proven my faith, but what about the priests you believed in and followed?”

A familiar threw the corpse of a dead priest onto the platform.

The crowd, seeing the corpse in front of the platform, screamed.

The mutation hadn’t been undone even though the blessing had disappeared, making it a grotesque sight.

No one in the crowd considered that appearance sacred.

“Look. The appearance of a monster that is neither wolf nor human. If these were truly priests of Horvid, why would they look like this?”

“······.”

“The priests you believed in and followed are heretics.”

Pasimea, who was standing far away from the platform watching Rachel’s oration, clicked her tongue.

‘Since it’s hard to push out the Wolf Cult faith, she’s framing the Wolf Cult priests as fake and pretending to be the real one… her thinking is really scary.’

Rachel cleverly deceived the crowd.

Nuadhil had massacred the priests who had been appointed before.

The priests who led the uprising were the priests who had infiltrated later.

Therefore, they didn’t have a close relationship with the city’s residents.

“What do you think of me? Do you still think I’m a heretic and they’re orthodox? Even after seeing the light that my faith unleashed?”

She suddenly appeared, led the uprising, and shed blood. Then, she revealed that she was the real high priest of the Wolf Cult, denouncing the real priests as heretics and liars.

To the citizens, they had no choice but to believe it.

The real priests had turned into monsters that were neither human nor wolf, Rachel had shown miracles that even high priests had difficulty unleashing, and all those who were devout enough to give their lives to fanaticism had died.

The remaining ones would realistically accept and choose to be deceived.

“It would be right to punish you for standing on the side of the false ones, even if you didn’t know. But I will forgive you and show mercy.”

The crowd, who had been trembling at the word “punish,” breathed a sigh of relief.

“If you swear to correct your faith, I will reduce the tenancy for this year and next year by half and not collect special taxes.”

On top of that, she would reduce or not collect taxes.

Who would dare to call her a heretic?

‘Not only that, but she’s also going to distribute the property confiscated from the lord and the temple to make them accomplices so that they can’t side with the priests even if the Theocracy sends them again, right?’

By now, other familiars would be ransacking the lord’s mansion and the temple, taking all the administrative documents and wealth.

The wealth was for distribution, as mentioned earlier, and the administrative documents were to clearly reveal the ownership of land and slaves to send to Edar.

Pasimea shook her head.

‘She’s really born with it.’

There was a reason why uprisings didn’t recur in the cities Rachel suppressed.

‘…Well, the good is good. There’s no other way.’

Pasimea decided not to think deeply.

After all, her mission wasn’t to monitor Rachel.

She carried a much more important mission.

She narrowed her eyes and looked around.

“Hey.”

“Yes… yes?”

She grabbed a farmer who was blankly looking at Rachel.

“Have you ever seen white crystals around here?”

“Crystals… you say?”

The farmer looked at her and cautiously asked, shrinking back.

He didn’t seem to understand what she was asking.

“Have you ever seen transparent or white lumpy minerals in the mountains or fields? It can be small grains. The important thing is whether it’s transparent or white.”

“Well….”

The farmer, who had been trying to recall, opened his mouth with an “Ah.”

“I, I think there is. If you go out the north gate, there’s a barren land where white grains form after it rains.”

“Really? It’s to the north?”

She quickly got on her horse and went out the north gate.

The gate the army had entered was the south gate, so it was the opposite direction.

After going out the north gate for a while, she saw rough land where the ground was yellow and not a single blade of grass grew, just as the farmer had said.

“This is crazy.”

She stopped her horse and muttered, looking at the dirt floor.

The ground seemed dry as if it had rained and the ground had hardened recently.

White crystals were scattered everywhere on the ground.

“What kind of place is this?”

Muttering in disbelief, she got off her horse.

As she picked up and examined the scattered crystals one by one, Rachel came.

“Is that what you were looking for?”

“Yeah.”

Rachel tilted her head.

Pasimea’s purpose was to discover resource sites, and Rachel’s was to help Pasimea secure and stabilize those resource sites.

But this destination was unusual.

There were no mines or production facilities.

She wondered what was here, but.

“What is that?”

“What does it look like?”

“Salt?”

“It’s more precious than that.”

Pasimea swept the dirt on her palm with her thumb.

Several translucent crystals were revealed in the dirt.

“It’s called saltpeter.”

Saltpeter?

As she stood blankly, not knowing the meaning, Pasimea sighed.

“An essential ingredient for gunpowder.”

“Ah!”

Only then did Rachel clap her hands.

She couldn’t not know about gunpowder.

Wasn’t it the black grains used in bronze cannons?

“Gerhardt sang so much about gunpowder, gunpowder, and we’ve finally got it. The reason we haven’t been able to increase the number of cannons until now was because we didn’t have gunpowder.”

Rachel remembered the power of the bronze cannons.

To put it coldly, they weren’t that great.

‘The destructive power is high, but the accuracy is excessively low. The reloading speed is terrible, and it’s inconvenient to move. If we can improve it as Gerhardt says, it would be really good… but it’s ambiguous right now.’

That was Rachel’s assessment of the cannons, and it was an appropriate assessment.

The cannons mobilized for the conquest of Germania were hastily mass-produced from those Rachel had made for research and demonstration, so they were ambiguous weapons to use for both field and siege warfare.

The ambiguity was offset by the fact that there were 20 cannons, but conversely, because there were 20 cannons, there was a shortage of gunpowder, so they were only actually used three times.

When demonstrating at the border, when fighting the Duke’s army, and when fighting the Kingdom’s army, the gunpowder ran out after those three battles, and there were even talks of making them into bells and donating them to the city.

Pasimea frowned.

“Do you know how much I suffered to make that damn gunpowder? I suffered all kinds of hardships to make what others say is just a few uses and then throw away.”

The story that she turned over the latrines of the entire Great Plains to make gunpowder was famous.

Rachel smiled awkwardly as she looked at her huffing and puffing, and changed the subject.

“Then can we make gunpowder if we have only this now?”

“The other ingredients are nothing compared to this.”

Pasimea held the grains in her left hand and showed them to Rachel.

“And there’s something more important.”

“Something more important?”

“There are three nutrients that crops need. But this guy contains two of them. What does that mean?”

“…You mean we can use it as fertilizer.”

“If we mix in the one missing ingredient separately, it’s a perfect artificial fertilizer. The crop production will increase incomparably more than planting beans in the field.”

Pasimea smiled brightly.

If crop production increases, the number of people who can be supported also increases. If the number of people who can be supported increases, the number of people who can work outside of farming also increases.

Pasimea knew that Edar’s goal was to organize a standing army with this increased manpower and arm the standing army with gunpowder weapons.

“We’ve found the most important puzzle piece for Edar. Now all we need is time. Just the time to build a civilization based on what we have.”

She clenched her fist tightly.

White crystals mixed with dirt fell to the ground.