Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 50

“Bunch of useless bastards.”

Leaving the VIP room, Hugo Chaiken spat out a curse.

The sound of grinding teeth echoed through the hallway.

“I wish I could chew them up and spit them out….”

His fierce temper made the guards standing before the wall flinch.

They avoided eye contact, fearing his gaze.

‘Something that should have been dealt with ages ago… those pigheaded fools dawdled, and now they issue an attendance order instead of a deployment order.’

His chest felt so constricted he wanted to punch it with his clenched fist.

The nobles regarded the foreigner occupying the North as just a kid.

But Hugo knew well that this kid was a terrifying individual.

Because Hugo had a connection that the other great nobles didn’t.

‘I need to report to Master quickly.’

He scratched the back of his neck vigorously.

Even without a scratch, his neck throbbed.

Years ago, there had been two holes in that spot.

The marks of being bitten by sharp fangs, his blood sucked and replaced.

Back then, Hugo Chaiken had become a thrall [a person under the power or control of another] of a vampire.

‘My actions are too slow, he might be angry. But I couldn’t help it. From the start, the Orc was a bluff, and I couldn’t reveal that he was the eldest son of Thurdret.’

The great nobles were greedy, but not stupid.

If they had even a slight suspicion, they would tear at it until it was resolved.

If he held information they didn’t know, they would ask why.

Didn’t their eyes gleam even when he revealed that he was the eldest son of Thurdret?

It was only because some time had passed that they didn’t say much.

‘That old man knew it too, so he only played his hand after I spoke.’

The old man who ruined the carefully constructed plan, Duke Majenkin.

The most elderly among them, but also the most respected great noble.
The other great nobles didn’t easily ignore the old man’s words.

‘Respect my ass. A traitor who clung to Germania.’

That was the truth he had heard from the bloodkin [vampire relatives] of Vlad.

Duke Majenkin had passed secrets to the enemy for his own gain.

That was the decisive reason for the defeat against Germania six years ago.

‘And he dares to act as the leader among us with the territory he expanded that way? How dare he ignore me, who is under the protection of the bloodkin?’

His teeth ground together.

‘Just you wait. The day the Elder arrives on this land, you will be begging for your lives at my feet.’

Hugo stopped in front of the royal palace gate.

The sunlight beat down intensely, as if to scorch his skin.

He cautiously extended his bare hand towards the sunlight.

The moment his hand touched the sunlight, intense pain flared.

“Damn it….”

He quickly pulled his hand back.

The hand hadn’t melted, burned, or cooked.

It was no different from before it touched the sunlight.

The intense pain was an illusion created by his mind.

But even knowing this, Hugo couldn’t erase the pain.

It was the curse he had gained since becoming a thrall of the bloodkin.

– If you kill that human, I will tell Father. To bestow blood upon you, so you may become a bloodkin instead of a thrall. If you become a bloodkin, you will not fear the outside even in the morning.

The words his master had spoken.

Remembering this, he put on his gloves.

‘First… let’s think about how to kill him. Before the Elder arrives, all obstacles must be removed. That brat. I don’t know what sins he committed to displease the Elder, but he won’t be able to escape death once the bloodkin has decreed it.’

City of Sin, Sodomora

###

“It’s hot. So hot.”

Pasimea grumbled.

Sweat beaded on her forehead.

“It’s summer now, isn’t it?”

I said, taking the cloth she had draped over her shoulders.

She sighed deeply and made a sulky face.

“But Ollimorphous was cool.”

“Temperature differences between regions are unavoidable.”

We should be grateful it wasn’t the middle of summer.

The southern Wallachia in midsummer was beyond just hot.

It was a place with virtually no winter, so there was no fallow season due to the seasons.

It was a land as blessed as the Oroko Plains.

“Ha, I guess we should be glad we came early.”

Pasimea put the leather pouch to her mouth and tilted it.

Then, she grimaced at the strong leather smell.

She ungracefully spilled water out of her mouth.

I sighed and wiped her lips with my sleeve.

“You’re being dramatic. Isn’t the workshop hotter than this?”

At my remark, Pasimea poked my side with her elbow.

“That’s that. This is this. Anyway, I want to rest soon.”

“······.”

Calliope stared silently at Pasimea.

As always, her expression was unreadable.

But her thoughts were quite fiercely turbulent.

It was her way of expressing a warning.

“What.”

Pasimea scoffed and turned her head.

Watching their silent battle, I shook my head.

Pasimea’s whining and bickering were a deliberate act.

I knew through telepathy that she was acting to get my attention.

And Calliope didn’t like it, so she was keeping her in check.

‘My subordinates are all like children.’

Griff and Gerhard too.

“Bear with it a little longer. We won’t be here for long.”

“Not for long? How long?”

“A few days if it’s late, today if it’s early.”

I ignored Pasimea’s “What?” and looked ahead.

The southern gate of Sodomora, the capital of Wallachia.

The lines of people going in and out of the gate were long and stretched out.

Even though the guards weren’t inspecting, the congestion was particularly severe.

I heard that the west and north were closed due to a recent rebellion.

So the crowds were concentrated at the remaining two gates.

“The rebellion must have been quite big? To affect even the capital.”

It must be; the price of mercenaries didn’t plummet after the civil war ended.

20,000 mercenaries flocked to the north to receive less than half the pay.

Those who didn’t come must be several times that number, so the scale was imaginable.

“It’s the limitation of a country called Wallachia.”

“Really?”

I answered Pasimea, who tilted her head and asked why.

“Wallachia is a union of lords. The king is merely the strongest among the lords. When the king weakens, it’s natural for the lords who want to be king to challenge him. Judging by the fact that this civil war is being called a rebellion, it seems the royal family is still holding its ground.”

The current royal family of the Kingdom of Wallachia is Kusrorf.

The third dynasty of Wallachia, and its reign is less than 200 years.

In the player’s timeline, the fourth dynasty effectively takes over.

That time hasn’t come yet, so they’re barely clinging on.

“Hmph. Wasn’t it the royal family that called us?”

“Nominally, yes.”

“Nominally? Then in reality?”

“It’s an order from the Wallachian Aristocratic Council.”

The Wallachian Aristocratic Council.
A governing body composed of 133 influential nobles from across Wallachia.

Wallachia was a monarchy, but the power of the council was stronger than the king.

It was an organization that had everything except the power to elect the king.

Even the king could not pass laws without the council’s approval.

“Declaration of war, deliberation of special taxes, election of ministers… all are the privileges of the council.”

“At that point, wouldn’t it be fine without a king?”

“In extreme terms, you could say that about this country.”

It wasn’t always a country with such weak royal power.

The beginning of the Aristocratic Council was a governing body to support the royal power.

However, over several generations, incompetent but ambitious kings ascended the throne.

‘When the king is incompetent, he sometimes falls to the nobles.’

That’s how the dynasty changed twice.

In the process, the power of the nobles grew stronger, and the council overwhelmed the king.

“Because the power of the nobles became too strong, each one gained absolute power. The reason why the Wallachian Aristocratic Council uses a unanimous system instead of a majority vote proves that.”

“Unanimous?”

“If even one of the 133 members opposes, the agenda is not passed. Similarly, even modifying existing laws requires the consent of all 133 members.”

Thanks to this unanimous system, the nobles were able to minimize interference from the king or the council and strengthen their independence, but the price was paid by the country.

“What do you think is the problem with a country like this?”

“It seems like it would be hard to unite.”

I nodded.

“If even one of the 133 nobles opposes, a declaration of war cannot be made, special taxes cannot be collected, and even ministers cannot be appointed. Even the residents of a small village have different opinions, so would it be easy for 133 rulers to speak with one voice?”

It wouldn’t be easy.

“That’s how the Wallachian Aristocratic Council operates. That’s why even though I occupied the North, they delayed for months and only issued an attendance order.”

An attendance order is issued when an agenda is submitted to the Aristocratic Council.

And those who submit the agenda are the nobles among nobles.

In my memory, there were seven nobles who had that privilege, and they were called by the alias of great nobles or high-ranking nobles.

Currently, there were few matters that those great nobles would be interested in regarding northern Wallachia or me.

‘Therefore, the agenda submission was bound to be slow.’

Some might ask this.

Isn’t a foreigner occupying the territory of the country?

Why aren’t the nobles rebelling and trying to resist the foreigner?

‘Because the concepts of nation and patriotism are weak in this era.’

To the lord, the country is merely a contractual relationship.

It’s not that they belong within the framework of the country, but that the king and the lord have a contractual relationship.

Being a Wallachian noble means being a vassal of the king and the council.

It doesn’t mean becoming a subject who is loyal to the country.

Therefore, they didn’t care who took over the North.

Only the nobles whose territories directly bordered the North, or the nobles who knew my origins, or the nobles who were hostile at the behest of the Grand Assembly would be interested.

The other nobles would only be thinking that they hoped they wouldn’t provoke them and create an excuse to collect taxes.

“What a pathetic country.”

“But you mustn’t disregard it.”

As we passed through the gate, the interior, which had been hidden by the high walls, was revealed.

“Wallachia is a powerful nation comparable to Germania. Even if it’s tying its own hands and feet and eating its own flesh, its size alone makes it the second largest nation of humanity.”

“Hmph.”

Pasimea nodded, looking at the cityscape.

A large, wide road leading straight from the gate to the royal palace.

It was wide enough for several carriages to pass, but it was packed with people.

Peddlers with backpacks, beggars with empty bowls, hawkers waving flags, musicians performing street performances, artists drawing passersby, clergymen warning of corruption…

And along the main street were all sorts of workshops such as carpenters, blacksmiths, tanners, street food on stalls, crude crafts, and tents of scribes, fortune tellers, and apothecaries.

A bustling scene that couldn’t be seen in Ollimorphous.

“I hate to say this, but Ollimorphous has a long way to go.”

Calliope looked at Pasimea’s muttering.

She stuck her tongue out briefly and avoided her gaze.

I chuckled and agreed.

“If a village with only a hundred or so people until a few months ago is compared to a city developed over hundreds of years, which one would be the problem?”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Pasimea scratched her cheek.

“How big is a place like this in the human world?”

“It would be around tenth among cities.”

“Tenth? And the national power is second?”

I shook my head.

“Germania has several more cities like this. My main family, the Thurdret Duchy’s main territory, is even bigger than this. And shouldn’t we also consider city-states like the Theocracy and the Republic?”

“We have a long way to go. Our Ollimorphous.”

“There’s no need to worry.”

It’s a city that’s large in scale but shabby in substance.

If you strayed even a little from the main street, it was full of filth.

The filth was so bad that it created a mud pit, and you would get wet up to your knees if you walked.

‘It would be fortunate if it was just dirty.’

The buildings were built haphazardly, the spaces between buildings were too close, or buildings were built in the middle of the road, cutting off the road, or the buildings themselves were so weak that they easily collapsed.

As befitting a metropolis with hundreds of thousands of residents, it had its own sewage facilities, a department that planned urban development, and hired workers to tidy up the scenery, but the administration didn’t run very well.

Ironically, there was a time when even this city became clean for a while, and that was when an epidemic broke out and the population plummeted, or after a fire spread and several districts were destroyed.

‘I drew up the city plan so I wouldn’t see this mess.’

That was the reason why I drew up the city plan immediately after taking office in Ollimorphous.

A city is naturally formed if there is only a population, but if it does, it will be completed in such a shabby and unstable form.

It’s difficult to fix and requires a lot of money and time.

So, you have to present the right direction from the start.

‘Creating a city is not an easy task. But it’s something I’ve done a lot. Doing something I’ve already done is not a difficult task either. It just takes a lot of work.’

And I have a lot of hands called subordinates.

When I drew the big picture, the subordinates skillfully handled it.

Clap—!

I woke up from my reverie and raised my head.

A boy was lying on the side of the road.

Behind him, a large man was panting with a whip in his hand.

“Stupid bastard!”

Clap!

He raised his arm high and swung the whip.

The child instinctively cowered.

The whip struck the fragile back and tore the flesh.

“Aaaagh!”

A girl of the same age ran to the child, trembling as she cowered.

The basket she was holding rolled on the ground, spilling its contents.

The man with the whip saw this and raised his voice.

“You brats! Can’t you do anything right!”

The whip flew again.

At that moment, the boy covered the girl and was hit by the whip.

The whip stuck to the wound that was already torn and bleeding.

“———!”

A scream that couldn’t even be uttered because it was so painful.

I watched the scene and stepped forward.

“Hey.”

The man with the reddened face turned his face at my call.

The man, who had been breathing heavily with anger, raised his eyebrows.

“What do you want?”

“How much?”

“What?”

At the stupid question, I pointed to the children and said again.

“How much?”

The man blinked and chuckled.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he spread out both hands.

“Twelve *nip* [currency]. No. I’ll sell them for ten *nip*.”

“Cheap.”

“It’s a *pungnyeon* [bumper crop] these days.”

A *pungnyeon*.

Referring to the fact that many people are falling into slavery as a *pungnyeon*.

I barely held back the laughter that was about to come out.

Calliope took out a gold coin and handed it to the man.

The man checked the gold coin and flinched.

“…An Oroko gold coin.”

He weighed it in his hand, bit it with his teeth, and exclaimed.

The arrogant attitude he had shown until just now was greatly softened.

That’s because Oroko gold coins have a gold content of almost 100%.

It was a *yanghwa* [high-quality coin] that Pasimea’s currency minting workshop had excluded impurities as much as possible.

The gold coins circulating in Wallachia were less than 30% to 40%.

In terms of simple value, it was more than double the currency.

I raised the corners of my mouth at his change in attitude and pointed to the girl.

“Take that child with you too.”

The merchant nodded immediately without hesitation.

“Do as you please. I won’t charge you more.”

Pasimea approached the children with quick steps.

The boy looked at her with difficulty, even as he bled and sweated.

What was in his eyes was pain, and even greater anxiety and fear.

‘Because what’s stronger than pain is the anger of one’s master.’

Because slaves have to be more concerned about their master’s mood than their own pain.

The children were watching the new master’s mood even at that young age.

The man, the slave trader, fiddled with the gold coins and grinned.

“Do you perhaps have any thoughts of buying more? There are many items that are much better than those half-wits.”

“Hmm.”

“If you do, there’s a big auction held every evening, so come anytime. If you give my name, I’ll arrange a good seat for you.”

The merchant revealed his name and left, and the spectators left one by one.

I approached the children, who Pasimea was tending to their wounds.

The anxiety returned to the eyes that had been relieved by the care.

I loosened my hardened expression, smiled, and bent one knee.

“There’s no need to be afraid. I’m not trying to punish you.”

I reached out and placed it on the boy’s forehead.

Then, the boy’s body, which had been trembling, stopped trembling.

The child opened his eyes wide and looked up at me, then slowly closed his eyes.

“The wound…?”

Pasimea muttered.

The wound was healing very, very slowly.

It was a mystery different from the healing caused by magic.

I smiled at the subordinates and children who were looking at me with surprised eyes.

“It is said that faith sometimes affects the soul. It seems that the faith directed towards my soul is deeper than I thought.”

I took my hand away and stood up.

The slowly healing wound stopped recovering at a certain level.

Reality was too strong for faith to change reality.

Realizing that I couldn’t heal it anymore, I took my hand away.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people living in this city. Do you know how many of them are citizens and how many are slaves?”

Half.

Half of the humans in the city were slaves.

And these were livestock that didn’t even belong to the extreme poor.

Just as humans are treated as livestock by other races, just as humans were exploited in the Bakuku’s garrison, their lives were being exploited by being treated as livestock by the same humans.

“A life sold for a few gold coins that don’t fill the palm of your hand. This is the human paradise that enjoys wealth by laying hundreds of thousands of such lives on the floor, the city of sin, Sodomora.”