Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 71

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I headed to the Loegene Marquisate.

The reason, as I said, was to cure Marquis Loegene’s illness.

“It feels somewhat lacking.”

Sister Rachel lamented, looking at the soldiers following behind.

The troops accompanying us in the territory consisted of one hundred retinue members and five hundred conscripts.

The rest were temporarily stationed beyond the border.

“Even for a visit, I think it’s too few.”

“No, this is just right.”

She tilted her head.

“From the start, I only intended to bring this many people when going to the Marquisate.”

“Why?”

Why? To provoke Duke Seodred.

“Provocation serves two purposes. One is to make Duke Seodred feel threatened and gather as much power as possible.”

To do that, the number of soldiers I mobilized had to be significant.

“How much of a threat would a son who was chased out bring by returning with only a few dozen or hundred soldiers?”

Six thousand conscripts were a suitable number to threaten the Duke.

A number that threatened Seodred without provoking Germania.

“Is Germania that strong?”

“Rather than strong, it has too many twigs and thorns.”

The only factions directly related to Wallachia were a few mosquitoes.

And those were just baby mosquitoes that had just started nesting in the capital.

However, Germania was a country that deserved to be called a pandemonium [a chaotic, wild place].

“Humanity didn’t build civilization on its own. It’s a greenhouse created by other races for their plans. Therefore, the fact that it’s the second nation built by humanity doesn’t just mean it has a long history.”

“It means it’s deeply connected to other races.”

“Yes. Germania was never a nation created by humans in the first place. It’s just that other races designed and built it and lent it to them.”

“But… I don’t see any other races around here.”

I chuckled.

“They don’t go around openly. Even though Tiamar’s energy has almost faded, some of her energy remains in Germania. The other races themselves would find it unpleasant to come to this land.”

I added, “However.”

“There’s definitely a deep connection, to the point where the covenant of the representative system is laughable.”

As seen in what Vlad did in Wallachia, the representative system was collapsing.

Even when the representative system was functioning properly, Germania was a country where the representative system officially and directly or indirectly intervened and exerted influence.

I’m going to erase the poison that the mosquitoes spread, but what’s happening in this land is more numerous and complexly intertwined than mosquitoes.

“So, even if it’s annoying, we have to cut down each and every thorn as we approach.”

“The thorn in front of us now is probably the mosquito attached to Marquis Loegene.”

“Maybe. Is it just a mosquito?”

Rachel tilted her head.

I didn’t bother to answer and continued speaking.

“In any case, 6,000 isn’t a scale that would provoke the entirety of Germania. It’s an ambiguous scale, neither too small nor too large.”

But not for Seodred.

“It’s enough to threaten Seodred. Not just the soldiers, but my very existence.”

Like it or not, I inherited Seodred’s blood.

If I use this, the nobles of Germania will see my return not as an invasion but as a family feud, and my threat will be focused solely on Duke Seodred.

From the Duke’s perspective, wouldn’t it feel like a band of thieves is targeting only him?

“The two things are to make the Duke clash with me. If the Duke and I gather troops but only face each other and end up doing nothing, it would be meaningless, right?”

The reason why I only accompanied a small number of soldiers into the Marquis’s territory was for this reason.

If I had all my soldiers, there would be hesitation.

“No matter how many soldiers the Duke brings. Even if it’s a scale several times larger, 6,000 is never a small number in absolute terms.”

It’s a number that can’t avoid damage even if you win the fight.

Also, there will be talk about a large-scale battle.

Neither situation would be welcomed by Seodred.

No matter how high his authority, he’s just one of the nobles of Germania.

“By the way, how many am I leading right now?”

“Only about 600 if you add them all up.”

“Rachel, you said it was too few.”

Rachel laughed, making an ‘ah’ sound.

“Even if most of the soldiers are outside the border, it will still be threatening to the Duke. The fact that Loegene opened the gates proves that they have no intention of fighting me.”

From the Duke’s perspective, my soldiers haven’t decreased to 600, but rather look like 600 commandos.

This was also true as a deal between Yulia Loegene and me.

“If you think about it that way, wouldn’t he want to catch the advance party before it joins the main force?”

“Bait.”

“A savory bait.”

The Duke will feel quite tempted.

“I’ll stay at Marquis Loegene’s mansion. To give the Duke plenty of time to gather his forces. That way, he’ll look down on me even more and want to catch me after I’ve divided my troops.”

I’m only returning to my homeland as Seodred’s heir.

I brought soldiers, but even those are outside the border.

If he attacks me in that state… whose fault would it be?

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“……..”

“Edar.”

I snapped out of my reverie.

Yulia, riding next to me, gestured with her chin.

“Have the soldiers stationed here.”

“Okay.”

Rachel raised her hand and stopped the soldiers.

The Loegene troops split to the sides of the conscripts.

They set up a temporary camp, surrounding my soldiers.

I promised that nothing would happen, but a promise is just a promise.

Yulia put up guards in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

“How long will you be staying?”

“Why?”

She looked over my shoulder.

A fancy carriage was chasing our procession from behind.

“Ugh! Ugh—!”

A voice leaked from inside the carriage.

The owner of the voice was my second younger brother, Haral Seodred.

He was bound and locked in the carriage immediately after his hand injury was treated.

“If this situation lasts too long, I’ll be in trouble too.”

“You think Seodred will suspect the relationship between you and me.”

“Wouldn’t he? You opened the gates, bound my son, and even invited me to the mansion.”

I grabbed my forehead and sighed deeply.

It was a sigh that made me feel the long-standing frustration.

“Don’t think I’ll let you off if you’re lying.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t lie to humans.”

‘To humans.’

I smiled inwardly and looked ahead.

We were getting closer to the central city of the Loegene Marquisate.

The city’s name was Jauritz, a metropolis with a population of 100,000.

As we approached the city, I noticed the ring on my index finger trembling in response.

‘I knew it.’

Hiding the ring with my other hand, I looked at Rachel.

She looked at Jauritz and exclaimed, “Wow.”

“100,000? That’s quite big.”

“Quite big? There’s no city bigger than this in the nearby territories.”

Yulia Loegene corrected Rachel, shrugging her shoulders.

Pride could be felt in her voice.

‘Wallachia’s border cities rarely exceed 10,000.’

Until the Great Plains were opened, low-level other races such as orcs and goblins frequently crossed the border to plunder Wallachia.

After the Great Plains were opened and humans migrated in large numbers, the border became stable only after a sacrifice called a buffer zone was created.

On the other hand, Germania was west of Wallachia, and thanks to that, it was relatively safe because it was far from the east where orcs and goblins lived.

In addition, it had the national power to build walls around the entire border, so large cities could be formed even near the border.

‘The Loegene Marquisate is the most powerful family among the border lords. The title of Marquis was originally given to rule the entire border.’

It was just divided through inheritance over several generations.

The border lords near the border had the Loegene Marquisate as their ancestor.

Jauritz started with the Marquisate, so its influence remained.

Therefore, it was considered a kind of small capital for the Loegene Marquisate and its branch families.

It was natural for Yulia to be proud.

“Still, it’s smaller than Olympus.”

Yulia reacted to Rachel’s nonchalantly thrown words.

“Where is Olympus?”

There was a slight force in her voice.

“It’s the central city of the Great Plains. It’s huge.”

“Does it have a larger population than here?”

“Not the population, the size. The size.”

Rachel spread her arms wide.

At the same time, she had the face of a smiling girl.

“Olympus is a planned city designed by my father. He planned it to be bigger than Sodomora. There are many empty places here and there because there aren’t enough people… but it’s more than ten times bigger than this city, right?”

“Ten times?”

Yulia chuckled.

“That’s amazing.”

Her face and voice were full of disbelief.

“It’s true, I tell you.”

Yulia’s reaction was natural.

Logically, what is the total population of the Great Plains?

I’m talking about the entire Oroko Great Plains before I took office.

When I obtained the surrounding territories from the representative system immediately after taking office, it was 5,000 people.

Even if you add up all the pioneers scattered throughout the Great Plains, it wouldn’t be many times that.

No matter how many, the total would not exceed tens of thousands.

‘Who would believe that it increased to 100,000 units in less than a year?’

Rachel looked at me, signaling me to say something.

Would she believe me if I said it?

I glossed over it with a smile.

As we entered the city, the ring began to tremble so strongly that I couldn’t stop it with my hand.

“……..”