Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 123

Creating Retainers to Build a Human Empire 125

Human Ranch (6)

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The eastern edge of the Nerup Plain.

A region where lush green grass began to appear in the otherwise desert-like Nerup Plain. It marked the border entering the lizardmen’s kingdom of Theokal, a region historically plagued by orc and goblin raids.

Similarly, the elves, having also suffered orcish invasions, fortified their entire border with walls tens of meters high. However, the lizardmen lacked the elves’ resources and instead built only a few fortresses.

Consequently, small groups of orcs and goblins frequently infiltrated their territory, causing widespread resentment among the people, but Theokal was largely powerless to stop it.

How could they possibly defend a border stretching over 300 kilometers in the first place?

The elves’ construction of a massive wall along a border several times larger than their own was an extraordinary feat, and its maintenance for over a thousand years was truly exceptional.

The lizardmen understood that a crow-tit trying to imitate a stork would only tear its legs [an idiom meaning attempting something beyond one’s capabilities leads to failure], so they opted for a more realistic approach.

1. Build fortresses densely along the border.

2. Eliminate orcs and goblins before their numbers grew too large.

The construction currently underway at the border was focused on the first strategy.

“Don’t dawdle!”

Clack—!

The lizardman supervisor cracked his whip.

The whip struck the back of an old man shuffling past.

“Aaaagh!”

The skin on his back tore open, splattering blood, and the old man collapsed.

However, he immediately pushed himself up, his hands trembling on the ground.

He knew from experience that failing to rise would result in another lash. He gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain, and rejoined the line.

“Tsk.”

The lord of the fortress clicked his tongue as he watched.

“Aren’t you being a bit too rough?”

“No, sir. Humans are like animals; they quickly become lazy if they aren’t whipped regularly. Look. When that old man was whipped, the other humans started moving more busily.”

“Hmm…”

The lord nodded.

“Human slaves are hard to come by these days. It would be troublesome if they died.”

“Of course. I’m being careful, so don’t worry. More importantly, is there any news from the expedition?”

“Well, it’s the same as always. They fought somewhere, they conquered somewhere, that’s all. There’s no news you’re hoping for, so give up on that.”

The supervisor frowned.

“It’s difficult to proceed with construction without additional slaves.”

“Difficult? To the point where you can’t complete the construction?”

“It’s not that bad, but…”

“Then that’s enough. It’s okay if the construction is delayed, just don’t let it stop entirely.”

“But, haven’t you heard the rumors?”

The rumor that orcs were gathering strength in Pantonia.

As lizardmen who frequently suffered from orcish border incursions, they couldn’t help but be anxious. Orcs were unlikely to target elves or dwarves, and would almost certainly target vampires, humans, or lizardmen.

The reason they were reinforcing the border fortress was precisely because of this threat.

“Look at those guys.”

The supervisor sighed deeply and pointed to the workers.

Thousands of workers were carrying building materials, sweating profusely.

“All they sent as workers are either children or old people. At this rate, progress is too slow. I doubt we can finish it this year.”

The workers were all human.

Humans mobilized from ranches throughout the Theokal kingdom.

The gender was mixed, but the age range was limited to children and the elderly. There were almost no young or middle-aged people among them.

“It can’t be helped, can it.”

The lord shook his head.

The reason human slaves were scarce was because of the war.

They were selling off human ranches to finance the war against Vlad’s Mycenae Empire. As a result, there weren’t enough slaves to mobilize for the fortress reinforcement.

“It’s an opportunity to bring down the Mycenae Empire. Elves, dwarves, and even nagas are eager to seize the chance to destroy Mycenae.”

“…”

“Every race except the orcs is fighting Mycenae. What would happen if we were the only ones left out? If we’re going to fight, we have to fight properly and claim our share.”

“Still, selling humans like that…”

“Don’t worry. Once this war is over, humans are next.”

What was the reason for selling off human ranches in the first place?

It was because they believed the Human Empire wouldn’t last long.

“His Majesty is selling off the ranches not only because of the war, but also because ranches can be sold at a high price right now. Haven’t slave prices risen sharply since the Human Empire banned slave exports?”

The price of human slaves had risen so much that it was said to have returned to what it was a thousand years ago, reversing a long downward trend.

“It’s a mess now because there are no slaves. Just a few years ago, there was a mess because there were too many. The price of slaves plummeted because of the slaves pouring out of the Southwest Peninsula, and they couldn’t even cover the maintenance costs of the ranches.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If the Human Empire collapses, it will be like that again. His Majesty knows that, so he’s selling them off while he can get a good price.”

Everyone knew that if the Mycenae Empire fell, the Human Empire would be next.

Not for reasons such as the representative assembly or the treatment of humans as livestock, but for more practical reasons: the Empire had banned human exports.

“The Emperor made a big mistake. Banning human exports? I don’t know if he did it for his own people, but what country in this world doesn’t use slaves?”

The societies of other races were slave societies.

The only country that officially prohibited slavery was the Human Empire.

All other countries relied on slaves to run their societies, so banning slaves was impossible. And slaves usually meant humans.

Cases of enslaving races other than humans were rare, except for orcs and goblins who sometimes enslaved their own kind, or when people captured as debt or prisoners of war were enslaved.

The only race that was systematically enslaved from birth was humans.

But, banning the export of human slaves?

There was no way other races would accept that.

The impact of human slaves on society had become too great. To maintain their comfortable lifestyles, a steady supply of slaves was essential.

There were still human ranches in the lizardmen’s territory, and there were several human territories that the Human Empire hadn’t conquered. Humans were being supplied through these channels, but the supply was limited.

However, that kind of supply wouldn’t last long.

The only way to meet the overwhelming demand was for the Human Empire to allow human exports, and if the Empire refused, war was inevitable.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

As the lord patted the supervisor on the shoulder, a commotion broke out on one side of the construction site.

“What’s the commotion?”

Soldiers brought a child before the lord.

“There was a runaway.”

“A runaway?”

A young boy was dragged by the soldier and forced to kneel before the lord.

His whole body was bruised and his face was swollen, as if he had been beaten repeatedly during his capture.

“Is he alone?”

“Yes. There don’t seem to be any accomplices.”

The lord narrowed his eyes and licked his lips.

Even whipping and shackling couldn’t extinguish the desire for freedom. The proximity of the Nerup Plain often created the illusion that freedom was just a step away.

Most runaways were caught, and the rest were destined to starve to death or be hunted by orcs and goblins.

Even so, runaways appeared from time to time.

“Execute him.”

“Execute him?”

The supervisor’s eyes widened.

The lord smiled at his reaction.

“Why? Do you feel sorry for him?”

“Didn’t you just tell me to treat the slaves appropriately?”

The lord snorted.

“This *is* appropriate. Didn’t you say that humans need to be whipped often? The same goes for running away. If we respond by locking them in a solitary cell for a few days and forgiving them, they’ll look down on us. Humans are animals that think, ‘They won’t kill us no matter what.’ So sometimes it’s necessary to make an example like this to maintain order.”

Moreover, the one being executed was a child who hadn’t even reached adulthood [coming-of-age ceremony].

He was the perfect subject to demonstrate their ruthlessness.

“Tie him up!”

The soldiers dragged the boy onto the wall and placed a noose around his neck.

The boy was terrified and began to cry.

Tears streamed down his swollen face, and his body trembled.

“Shut up.”

“A brat is whining.”

The soldiers frowned and gagged the boy.

To the lizardmen, humans were just livestock without scales, so they felt no emotion at the child’s crying, only annoyance.

“You shouldn’t have run away in the first place.”

“——!”

The boy stood on the wall’s ledge.

If the soldier behind him kicked him, the boy would fall off the wall, and the noose would tighten around his neck. The boy’s ragged pants were wet with urine.

Clack!

The supervisor cracked his whip.

The construction continued even as the execution was taking place.

When the workers passing in front of the wall turned their heads to avoid seeing the child’s death, the supervisor lashed out with his whip and screamed.

“Don’t turn your heads!”

The whip struck the worker who had turned his head.

The workers reluctantly looked up at the boy.

They saw the despair and fear in his eyes.

“Look closely! This is the fate of a coward who abandoned his duty and ran away!”

The executioner raised his right foot to knee height, ready to kick, when—

Boo———

A trumpet sounded.

“What’s going on!”

The lord was startled and looked up at the spire.

From the spire, the watchman shouted urgently.

“Unknown army approaching!”

“Army?”

The lord went up to the wall and looked at the horizon.

The plains where hot winds blew as summer approached.

Mirages shimmered in the distance.

“Orcs…?”

As he narrowed his eyes, he saw a mass of figures filling the horizon.

As the mirage subsided and the shapes became clearer, the lord recognized the approaching force and his eyes widened.

“Humans?”

A human army was crossing the horizon. The army of the Human Empire had traversed the Nerup Plain and arrived at the lizardmen’s kingdom of Theokal.

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Boo———

A loud trumpet blast.

I raised my right hand and waved it once.

The cavalry unit, composed of retainers, surged forward at the head of the formation.

“Calliope, join the cavalry and rescue the humans outside the fortress.”

Normally, Army Commander Zekt would lead the retainer cavalry, but the lizardmen were different from our previous enemies. A particularly strong warrior might appear.

In anticipation of this, I sent Calliope as commander.

“Yes, Edar-nim.”

Calliope immediately led the cavalry unit into a charge.

As the cavalry thundered forward, the trumpet grew louder.

Thump— Thump—

The enemy fortress beat its drums, signaling those outside to retreat.

However, most of those outside the fortress were humans, and they simply stared blankly at the approaching human army.

Would humans raised as livestock ever have seen a human army that wasn’t made up of slaves? At best, they might have seen humans moving in groups when they were used as arrow fodder.

The lizardmen soldiers began grabbing the unmoving humans and dragging them toward the fortress.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the lizardmen?”

“This isn’t even a confrontation. It’s a minor skirmish.”

How many defenders could there be in a fortress like this? At most, a few hundred. We had nearly 100,000 troops here, including support units, so we needed to make a show of force so the enemy wouldn’t underestimate us.

“Shoot, shoot! Don’t let them into the castle!”

The enemy was unable to mount any significant defense against the cavalry.

While pulling the soldiers and workers inside, they raised the gate and fired arrows when the cavalry feigned an attack. The cavalry deflected the arrows, slaughtered the lizardmen who failed to reach the fortress, and led the human workers back to the main army.

Their number was over 4,000.

All children and the elderly.

‘Did they sell off the humans who could actually work?’

I suppressed the anger boiling inside me, positioned the army outside the range of the arrows, and approached the fortress with my guards. Several arrows flew, but they all shattered at a gesture from my guards.

“You!”

A lizard wearing the most extravagant clothes shouted from the wall.

“You’re the one who claims to be the emperor of the monkeys! What is your purpose! Don’t you know that the representative assembly forbids the monkeys from leaving the peninsula!”

I smiled, twisting the corners of my mouth into a sneer.

What did I care about the representative assembly, which had been at odds with me for so long?

“I have nothing to say to you. Bring your master.”

“Get out! Who do you think you are, demanding to see His Majesty!”

“Your mouth is too rude.”

I raised my hand again.

Bang!

The siege cannon roared, firing a shell.

The shell struck the wall with pinpoint accuracy.

Thud, thud…

The outer surface of the wall was heavily damaged, and fragments rained down.

The lord looked down to assess the damage and stammered.

“Wh, what…”

Now a common reaction, and one that was becoming tiresome.

“Surrender. If you hand over the fortress for the sake of the humans, I guarantee your safety. Go back to your master and tell him that I, Edar Lundringen, the Emperor of Humans, have arrived.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Monkeys, this is—”

Bang! Thump!

The cannon fire continued, cutting off the lord’s words.

The lord ducked behind the parapet as soon as he heard the cannon fire.

“Do you still have anything to say?”

“…”

Not a single lizard dared to show its head above the wall.

“Keep shooting. Until those things surrender.”

쾅! 콰광! 콰과광! [Sound of explosions]

The shelling continued for three days.

The wall collapsed on the first day.

However, I didn’t order an assault on the fortress, and instead continued the bombardment. There was no need to occupy a meaningless fortress. I shelled them until the defenders surrendered, and on the third day, the fortress raised a white flag. I waited, using the fortress as a base.

Until Sumontema, the king of Theokal and the embodiment of the lizardmen, arrived before me.