Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 98

Creating Retainers and Building a Human Empire 100

Advice

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I stood before the desk in my office, looking down at the map.

The map spread out on the desk was a national map of Germania.

There were markings made with ink here and there.

“Hmm…”

I crossed my arms and retraced my memories.

Various resource sites in Germania.

I was marking those locations on the map.

After pondering for a moment, I added a few more markings.

“Deliver this to Pasimea as is.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I rolled up the map and handed it to the messenger.

“To Pasimea?”

Skadi tilted her head after the messenger left.

“Isn’t Pasimea in charge of research and manufacturing?”

“She’s also in charge of managing the resources needed for manufacturing. Especially mining; even if it’s under Griff or Gerhard’s jurisdiction, Pasimea has the priority to develop it.”

“Is there a particular reason for that?”

“To provide the materials needed for research and manufacturing with the highest priority. If research and manufacturing can’t proceed due to a lack of materials, it’s meaningless. I’ve also given her the authority to mobilize manpower if necessary.”

Skadi frowned.

“This is quite a complex relationship.”

“It’s all ad-hoc [Latin for ‘for this’]. There was no time to organize the system. Giving authority and making exceptions as needed, repeating that process, and it turned out like this.”

“The system needs a major overhaul. Germania and Wallachia are overwhelmingly larger than the territories previously occupied by Father. If you operate like this, problems will definitely arise.”

“Yes, you’re right. I plan to reorganize it as soon as I return to Olympus.”

As she said, it was an urgent matter.

“What about the coronation?”

“Coronation?”

“Father did declare himself emperor, but who besides the few people present there would know about the empire or the emperor? I think it would be a good idea to hold a coronation to announce it to the world.”

Coronation, huh.

I leaned back in my chair.

I had taken the thrones of Germania and Wallachia.

And proclaimed the founding of the empire and declared myself emperor.

Now, she’s suggesting I go further and hold a coronation?

“I don’t know.”

I shook my head.

What meaning would that have?

Would the Council recognize me just because I held a coronation?

Or would the regions where administrative power doesn’t reach even know about it?

“The administrative power of the two countries isn’t that deep. Even if I hold a coronation, the regions won’t know that I’ve declared myself emperor.”

If the intention of announcing the founding of the empire and the enthronement is futile,

What meaning would be left in a coronation?

“If we’re looking for meaning beyond enjoying the propaganda effect, it’s only legitimacy. But what legitimacy do I need? Horvid is my enemy, and the Council is also my enemy, so where would I draw legitimacy from? Helmut, who originally crowns the king?”

Looking at Helmut, the old retainer of Seodret, he smiled awkwardly.

“Germania and Wallachia hold coronations in the churches. The Pope personally crowns the king and meets with Horvid. That’s how they receive legitimacy.”

“Do you want me to do that?”

Rachel, who was quietly cutting fruit beside me, said,

“I wanted to crown you, Father.”

“A crown is something you put on yourself. It’s not something someone else puts on you. Only weaklings cling to legitimacy.”

Was there a reason I got rid of the crowns and seals of the two countries?

What I wanted was severance.

A historical severance from the other races.

“Therefore, there will be no coronation.”

“Ah…”

It was Skadi who asked, but Rachel was the one who seemed disappointed.

“Helmut, what’s the atmosphere among the soldiers like?”

“There are some grumbles.”

Complaints? I narrowed my eyes.

“The ban on looting is causing some issues.”

“Hmm.”

He must be talking about the ban on looting immediately after occupying the capital, Olhus.

If 60,000 soldiers started looting, it would be obvious what would happen.

Nothing would be left after the looting.

So, I banned looting and stationed the soldiers far away, instructing them to monitor the captured royal army.

“Until now, they didn’t fight directly and only occupied cities and fortresses, so there was no room for complaints… But this time, they fought a large-scale battle, so they seem to be claiming their share.”

“I see.”

The 11 cities and fortresses occupied in the process of coming here.

They were occupied almost bloodlessly thanks to the retainers’ efforts.

Therefore, the soldiers had no reason to demand looting.

“It doesn’t seem like they contributed much to claim a share.”

Skadi smiled bitterly, holding a cigarette.

“That’s true, but…”

Helmut also smiled bitterly.

‘Looting, huh.’

Looting was common in this era.

Many people participated in wars for the purpose of looting.

If wages were delayed, they would promise looting to make up for it.

Because it was such an era, it would be a shame not to loot the capital, let alone other cities, and leave it as it is.

The solution to these complaints is simple.

“Tell them that I will compensate them greatly later. Materials will arrive from the Great Plains soon, so I will compensate them with that.”

Don’t I have a gold mine?

Helmut opened his mouth with a gasp and brightened up.

“Would this be enough?”

“If it’s not enough, I’ll have to cut off their heads.”

“If similar problems arise again, let me know anytime. I have no intention of saving money.”

How easy it is to buy hearts with money.

I chuckled inwardly and said,

“You also need to pay attention to the management of prisoners. The reason I spared them is not only because they surrendered. You know that, right?”

“I know.”

“I have obtained the throne of Germania, but this is not the end. The influence of the Wolf Church still remains in Germania, and uprisings continue. It will not end until all of them are suppressed.”

Helmut’s expression hardened.

“And identify those who seem to have military talent. If there are soldiers among the prisoners who join me, I will give them a role.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Rachel, you will also move with them. Until the remaining influence of the Wolf Church is eradicated.”

“Yes, Father.”

While I was eating the fruit that Rachel had cut after sending Helmut out,

Tok, tok…

A sound of knocking on the window was heard.

“Griff?”

Originally, this sound was made by Griff’s familiar [a magical animal companion].

A sound of pecking with its beak, asking to open the window because it had arrived.

But the bird pecking at the window now was not a kite.

– You’ve made quite a splash. Human Edar.

The Dragon Lord, Ailetrio, spoke with the voice of a giant lizard dwelling in the crow.

– You know why I’ve come.

The reason was obvious.

I had offended the Council.

Soon, the Council would call me.

I opened the window and let him in.

“The Council is calling me; you wouldn’t have come just to tell me that.”

– Of course not. I wanted to meet you before the Council called you.

He wanted to meet me?

I took out a pack of cigarettes from my inner pocket and looked at him.

He scanned me with his bright yellow snake eyes.

– First, I want to borrow a body.

I called the retainers who were on standby.

As the crow stared at the retainers, its bright yellow eyes returned to their original black, and the retainers’ eyes turned into yellow snake eyes.

“That’s better.”

The Lord wiped his face and coughed.

“Let’s walk for a moment.”

I walked through the palace hallway, which was left in a mess.

The Lord put the crow on his shoulder and began to speak.

“Your soul has become brighter, but you look tired.”

“You can see that too?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I can see souls. The soul I see is exhausted. It’s even wrinkled.”

Wrinkled, huh.

My physical age is in my early twenties, but already wrinkled.

No, considering my possession before, it makes sense to be wrinkled.

I chuckled at the various thoughts that came to mind.

“If you look with your eyes, your appearance is only… well, I don’t know human ages. Anyway, you’re very young as a human. But your soul is shriveled up and looks emaciated.”

“……”

I had nothing to say.

I can’t see my own soul.

I knew I was overdoing it because of the constant headaches lately, but I didn’t even think it was that serious.

“Don’t worry too much. You just need to rest. However, souls don’t heal easily, so you’ll have to rest for a while. Why did you overdo it so much? Is it because of Horvid?”

“He was deeply influenced by Tiamar.”

“That foolish wolf.”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He would know the meaning of being influenced by Tiamar well.

“That’s the result of soaring arrogance. Believing he could control the dragon and abandoning his duty is the result. Dragons cannot be controlled.”

“Vlad seems to have fallen for the temptation as well. Do you know?”

“I know very well. He broke the agreement and tried to kill you? After that, he came to me and questioned me. Whether I was the one who handed over Tiamar’s soul.”

“So? What did you say?”

“I asked him if he really needed to ask when he already knew. And where he left the ring. His pale head turned red.”

He waved his hand as if chasing away a bug.

It meant that he had chased Vlad away like this.

“Do you happen to have it now? That thing?”

That must be referring to the fragment of Tiamar’s soul.

I took off the pendant I was wearing around my neck and handed it to him.

“Do you guess why I entrusted it to you?”

“Well, it must be because of the soul.”

“That’s right. Corrupted souls change color. Raeragon, Gotava, Vlad… All the souls that were present when I extracted Tiamar’s soul changed color.”

The Lord smiled as he examined the pendant.

“On the other hand, your soul was very bright. What does that mean?”

“Because I wasn’t corrupted.”

The smile deepened even more.

“I asked you why I came a little while ago. I wanted to check your soul. I was really curious about what would happen to your soul, which had Tiamar’s soul. Whether your soul would maintain its purity or be corrupted.”

I looked at the blue jewel embedded in the center of the pendant.

The Lord says that I protected myself from Tiamar’s soul, but that didn’t make sense to me.

Unlike Vlad’s ring, I didn’t hear any voices, magic didn’t flow out, and there was only one tremor when I hunted the Archbishop.

“That’s natural. Because there’s no hope, it doesn’t even try. Unlike someone somewhere.”

His gaze turned to Vlad’s ring on my hand.

The soul of a foolish mosquito that is still tempting me at this moment.

I chuckled.

“How is it after seeing the results? Are you satisfied?”

“I’m satisfied. So, I’ll give you some advice.”

“Advice?”

“Don’t advance further west.”

West, is he talking about the Church?

“The influence of Tiamar will become stronger as you go west. Of course, you know that too. But her influence is stronger than you think. You can’t handle it in your current state.”

Can’t handle it?

In my memory, advancing into the Church didn’t cause any problems.

Even the problems that did arise were unrelated to Tiamar.

But now, Tiamar is becoming a problem?

I narrowed my eyes.

“You are no longer an ordinary human. The closer you get to Tiamar, the more you will be affected. So, if you want to go west, you have to prepare.”

“Prepare?”

“It’s simple. Just grow and fill your soul more.”

The Lord stopped walking.

He picked up a bowl lying on the floor in the hallway.

It was a glass bowl that had luckily fallen on the carpet and hadn’t broken in the midst of the chaos where the servants had turned into thieves.

“Edar. Your soul is like this bowl. And what you can put in the bowl is faith.”

“……”

“You have just become a being like a god. Because of this, the bowl is big, but the inside is empty.”

Dust fell as he shook the bowl.

“It’s not completely empty. The number of humans who believe in you is increasing. But the bowl keeps getting bigger, and the rate at which the contents fill up is slow. There’s a lot of consumption. So, that’s why you’re suffering. You’re suffering from headaches now, right?”

Just in time, a severe headache started again, and I frowned.

“There are two ways to get better. One is to rest, as I said earlier, and the other is to have humans believe in you and fill your bowl with contents.”

He handed the pendant back.

“Faith will make you stronger. And it will also be the power that pushes back Tiamar’s influence and prevents the corruption around you.”

I put the pendant around my neck and sighed.

In the end, he’s telling me to become a god in a roundabout way.

“You’ve already saved many humans. You just need to buy their faith and grow your soul. Your soul is definitely huge. But that’s just your personal soul. Compared to the gods believed in by elves, dwarves, and snakes, it’s too small. Are you going to fight them as you are?”

He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and whispered.

“You’ve become the emperor of humans, what’s stopping you from becoming the god of humans?”

I shook off his hand.

“Is that all the advice?”

“There’s one more thing.”

He looked at the crow sitting on his shoulder.

“Gods should be able to sit on the throne and rule the world.”

The crow’s eyes turned yellow.

– You must have experienced it before.

I recalled the memory of borrowing Rachel’s body and speaking to Duke Seodret and the Duchess.

– In my opinion, that’s too much. Sometimes, you need to take the power out, like dropping an apple from a tree, like I’m dwelling in a crow now.

The retainers’ eyes turned yellow again.

“I’ll teach you how to regulate the power of your soul until the Council calls you. This is the advice I’m giving to you, who hasn’t fallen, and the reason I came here today.”