He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 123

“Bestow authority upon the ranks and make them obey that authority.”

Over the years, Golrak had generously heeded the advice of Fiona, a noblewoman he had taken as a prisoner.

He considered her advice to be the wisdom that would transform the Greenskins, who were unable to escape their tribal society, and he was right.

“You, from today, are a Baron.”

“Krrk? Baron? What is that? Can you eat it?”

Of course, it wasn’t easy from the start.

Most Greenskins didn’t understand even if you told them about being a Baron or a Count [titles of nobility].

But Golrak listened to Fiona’s advice and tried to give it ‘authority’.

“You! You’re being cheeky these days!”

“I was appointed ‘Baron’ by the Great Chieftain. A Baron is allowed to be cheeky!”

“Cheeky-”

Crack!

“Touching those I have appointed as nobles is disregarding my authority. Understand?”

The method was truly Greenskin-like, a way of dealing with those who recklessly harmed those he had granted titles to ‘by force’.

And that method worked surprisingly well for the Greenskins.

Of course, in the process, there were those who challenged Golrak, but did Golrak lack the strength? He smashed all their heads.

So, even when Golrak favored goblins or even kidnapped people, those who could challenge his authority disappeared.

“Now, you need to create knights, not just warriors.”

“What’s the difference between a warrior and a knight?”

“Warriors take care of themselves, their families, or their tribe. But knights are loyal to the king or their lord.”

“Loyalty… then how do I bestow loyalty?”

“You must give rewards. Fiefs [land grants], wealth… in this system, giving slaves…”

Not stopping there, Golrak continued to introduce human methods.

Fiona, who was giving advice, was also motivated, because she could spread her wings now more than when she had to live only as a noble lady.

Most of the nobles who were captured were useless and used for menial slave labor, but she, as a woman, was more useful.

Living among the Greenskins was a bit tough, but she was treated fairly well, and she also felt a sense of superiority in the Greenskins listening to her.

“Great Chieftain—no, Your Majesty. Give me a human noble too. I need authority.”

“I pledge allegiance to His Majesty, the King, who has bestowed upon me a fief and serfs [peasants bound to the land]!”

“When is the next social gathering?”

Soon, as Golrak wished, the Greenskins changed.

From a tedious tribal society, it rapidly developed into a monarchy centered on Golrak.

Of course, since the basic foundation was a noble feudal system [a social hierarchy based on land ownership and loyalty], the king’s authority could have been very small if it were humans.

However, the Greenskins’ unique keynote of ‘the strongest is the best’ remained, so all the nobles and knights who received fiefs pledged strong allegiance to Golrak.

For Golrak, it couldn’t have been better.

However, things didn’t just flow smoothly.

“Golrak is being influenced by humans and destroying our traditions!”

“The warriors of the Green God do not follow the customs of humans!”

“The warriors of the plains must not lose their purity!”

It was only natural.

Those who rebelled appeared.

No, to be precise, there were many who opposed Golrak from the beginning.

They did not follow Golrak’s transformation.

Even if it was beneficial or reasonable, they consistently opposed it for the sake of opposition.

Because they thought that following Golrak meant surrendering to him.

In a way, this was also the shackle of the tedious tribal system.

“Annoying. It’s good that I’ve gathered my forces, but those who oppose me have also united.”

Golrak sat on the throne and pondered.

As a result, Golrak had a force with a level of solidarity that was incomparable to before, but the Greenskin tribes united by those who opposed him were even larger.

Of course, they had the clumsiness unique to the tribal system, so their solidarity was very low.

So, he had won in several battles and wars, but Golrak was still annoyed.

“If I can embrace those guys in the end, the Greenskins will become stronger.”

Like that empire.

But as it is, it seemed that only infighting like eating away at each other would continue.

Golrak was thinking about how to resolve it.

“What? Humans have come? And they want to meet me?”

At that time, unexpected news was delivered.

And Golrak once again had a strong feeling that it was an opportunity.

* * *

“This is quite a bizarre sight.”

“I agree. Something about them feels… different from the Greenskins I knew.”

Before long, I, along with some Igrid [likely a race or group of people] and adventurous explorers, including the expedition leader, visited the Greenskin’s tribal village.

And after arriving, no one could help but be surprised.

Of course, the Greenskins hadn’t built any great structures or anything like that.

Only brick houses, which were not uncommon among humans, were visible.

But even though it was common for humans, brick houses were extremely rare for Greenskins.

Of course, wooden houses were still visible, and tent houses similar to the Greenskins’ unique ger [a portable, round tent traditionally used by nomads in Central Asia] were also visible… but something called ‘civilization’ was emerging.

“I can see them plowing the fields too. Mostly goblins, though.”

“There are humans too. But… they don’t seem to be from the old empire.”

Even the Greenskins were plowing the fields. I thought they were just doing nomadic animal husbandry at best.

While I was wondering whether to feel awe at the barbarians accepting civilization or to be wary of the enemies’ development, I was able to meet the one they called the king.

The ‘king’, dressed in a somewhat clumsy manner for a king, was sitting on the throne, looking at me askance.

For reference, there was also a human woman, presumed to be a noble, next to the Orc king.

“You are before His Majesty the King. Kneel.”

“I refuse.”

“What?”

“Kneeling is something you do to an equal opponent at least. I don’t feel like I’m lacking to you guys, so there’s no reason to kneel.”

“You!”

The Orc knight was furious at my prickly attitude and tried to swing his axe.

“Stop!”

But the Greenskin king, wearing a crown that was somewhat ridiculous by human standards, stopped him.

He stood up from the throne, trying to establish some dignity.

“Human, I am Golrak, King of the Greenskins. What is your name?”

“Shadow. I am called Shadow.”

“Shadow… I’ve heard of you. Are you the knight who repelled the large-scale looting last time?”

“That’s right. Are you perhaps thinking of repaying the grudge from then?”

I said it with a slight provocation, but King Golrak rather smiled and replied.

“Of course not. Rather, I am grateful to you.”

“Grateful? Why?”

“Because you swept away the tribal chiefs who didn’t listen to me at that time. If not, I would have had more headaches by now.”

“Ha… I had roughly expected it, but it really was a discarded piece.”

The guys who attacked the Western Ranger Branch Fortress.

I used siege weapons and fire magic to make them into grilled skewers, but I didn’t know they were really discarded pieces.

“However, I wanted to compete with someone who easily repelled those guys. So-”

Chuck-

“Won’t you compete with me?”

Golrak said, showing his axe himself.

When he said that, his knights were enthusiastic, but the noble woman next to him showed an uneasy look.

But he didn’t care and stood in front of me.

“Then I won’t refuse.”

Sreung-

Koo-oong!

As soon as I drew my sword, Golrak leaped towards me with such intensity that the floor shattered.

A speed comparable to high-speed movement.

A speed that didn’t match the heavy and huge axe.

Clang!

“Not bad.”

“You too.”

Chaechang! Clang! Chwaak!

“Keuk!”

“Hoo!”

In a short time, we exchanged blows aimed at each other’s left and right shoulders and abdomen.

I blocked several times, but in the end, we inflicted slight scratches on each other.

That was the prelude to each other.

Shushushuk, shushuk!

Deciding to exert more sincerity, I immediately created shadow blades.

“You use strange magic.”

“You wouldn’t say it’s cowardly, would you?”

“Of course not. Rather-”

Golrak, who had said that far, immediately inhaled.

“Ridiculous!”

Kwooooong!

And when he shouted, the shadow blades scattered.

The sound containing the aura affected the shadow blades and neutralized them.

“Amazing!”

Putting aura into the voice was a skill that the head of the guard had shown before, but it was the first time I had seen such a powerful lion’s roar that would neutralize shadow blades.

“I’ll have to put in a little more sincerity!”

“Kroo-ooo-ooo!”

With each other excited, Golrak and I now infused our respective holy swords and large axes with aura and engaged in a brawl.

“Human knight. I like you.”

“Is that so? Well, I know you’re interested in humans.”

Fierce killing intent came and went, but rather, in such a situation, we were able to have a frank conversation with each other.

“That’s right. I want to resemble humans even more. Not just me, but all Greenskins!”

“Hmm… that’s an interesting thing to say. So?”

“Help me. So that I can achieve my will!”

Chang! Chaechang!

The balance of power was neck and neck.

I didn’t exert all my strength, but that was the same for Golrak.

Of course, if I used all my strength with the Imperial Soul and Sylphatein [likely special abilities or equipment], I would win nine times out of ten, but even this meant that Golrak and the Greenskins were not easy.

“Well, why should I help the Greenskins?”

“Humans also want to expand their power, right? Isn’t the Greenskins’ looting a nuisance to that?”

Chang! Clang! Kagaga-

With our swords facing each other, we met each other’s eyes.

Even if his proposal had some unreasonable parts, I could tell that his words were sincere by looking at his eyes.

“I can stop it. No, we can interact with each other!”

“I don’t know when that exchange will break, when you will turn into enemies, should I help you?”

Chae-aeng!

Finally, each other’s weapons bounced off and created distance.

“Humans say that if you swear on your honor, you must keep it, right?”

“That’s… well, that’s the case.”

In fact, there were plenty of people who broke oaths a hundred times, but I didn’t bother to correct something that was a great misunderstanding.

“Then I, Golrak, King of the Greenskins, swear on my honor. As long as I live, the Greenskins under my command will not be hostile to humans.”

“……”

Golrak’s eyes were endlessly serious, and it didn’t seem like a lie.

Of course, I had no intention of judging lies by just looking at his eyes.

More than that, there were parts where his and my interests coincided.

“If I can stabilize the development of the Western Territory, it’s not a bad deal.”

Chuck-

I lowered my sword, and Golrak also lowered his axe.

“Then, are we friends now?”

Golrak, who heard my answer, first offered a handshake.

I also smiled and shook his hand.

“Yes, we’re friends for now.”

I gained strange friends.