He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 137

I Became the Greatest Crazy Emperor – Episode 137

Like the previous expedition, most of the Elves I’ve encountered so far have been pale-skinned.

I mean, High Elves or Wood Elves. Those two races are the most common among Elves.

And the Dark Elves in front of me were ones I hadn’t seen much of, at least not in person.

“Why are you guys acting as bandits here?”

“…I have no reason to tell you. Just kill me.”

The leader of the Dark Elf raiding party wasn’t very cooperative, even as a prisoner bound up.

*Is he trying to seem brave as a bandit?* Looking at it that way, it’s just absurd, but I wondered ‘why’ they were resorting to banditry.

“Hey, you don’t seem to understand your situation yet. You’d better cooperate.”

“As I said, I won’t say anything, invader.”

He remained uncooperative, but I got a hint from his attitude.

These guys are too disciplined to be simple bandits.

Then are they formal warriors? But why would such people bother with banditry? Has there been that much of a problem in Elven society?

Questions kept piling up, and the answer was with this guy in front of me.

Reaching that point, I confidently threw words at him.

“Really? Then let me start by saying what I know. You were trying to plunder the border of the Eastern Territory. But you didn’t just target this place.”

According to Stella’s report, there were traces of Elves being plundered as well.

“You plundered Elves too. What does that mean?”

“…”

“There are two possibilities. One is that you are really just simple bandits. So you plunder indiscriminately, regardless of who it is.”

But that’s unlikely.

The disciplined attitude and high combat power of these guys make it hard to see them as a bandit group.

If these guys are doing banditry, then that means the Elves have gone to hell, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

“The other is that the Elves have started to split. And you are mercenaries hired by them.”

*Twitch-*

When I mentioned the second possibility, the guy showed a brief reaction.

Of course, he didn’t show it much, but it seems my guess hit too accurately.

“I can’t know the specifics… but… the Elves must be quite desperate. And the fact that you’re playing such a hunting dog role… means your situation isn’t that good either. Right?”

“…Hmph, think as you please.”

Trying to pretend he’s not.

Anyway, if my guess is correct, I wanted to try to win them over.

*It’s good to conquer the Elves and increase the Empire’s territory and living space… but… having collaborators isn’t bad either.*

Moreover, having collaborators can further divide the Elves.

The problem was how to win this guy over.

“Okay, then let’s do this.”

*Clang-*

I drew my sword.

When I drew my sword, his expression hardened, thinking I was going to harm him.

But I just swung the sword sharply and released his bonds.

“If you cooperate, I’ll gladly release you. Not only will I release you, but I’ll grant you whatever you want. Of course, as much as the value of the information you provide.”

When I said that, his expression showed a slight agitation, as if he felt it was quite an unexpected offer.

“…Why would you go that far?”

“Well, I just have a feeling you’ll be useful.”

I grinned and playfully twirled my sword before putting it back in its scabbard.

“It’s not a bad deal for you, is it? It’s a chance for you and your men to live.”

“If you release us, we’ll try to plunder again?”

“Then I’ll catch you again. Of course, there won’t be such leniency then. But why would you bother trying to plunder again?”

Even after feeling this difference in power? Moreover, I heard that the income from plundering the border is not very high even if I hadn’t come.

In that case, wouldn’t it be more profitable to just tell me what I want to know and get the promised reward?

“…Will you really release us? And… the reward too?”

“Of course. I don’t go back on my word. What benefit would I get from lying to you?”

“…”

The Dark Elf leader, half in doubt but speechless at my rebuttal, opened his mouth after much deliberation.

“…As you said, we are not bandits. We are formal warriors of the tribe.”

“Is that so? But your attire is quite different. Unlike the Elves I know.”

“That’s because we came from the arid lands further west.”

Speaking of which, is it a place with a desert?

“You live in such a land?”

“To be exact, we were exiled there. A long time ago. By the High Elves and Wood Elves.”

“Well, I’m not curious about your history. So why did those people do banditry?”

Not just humans, but Elves too.

I felt like I could hear the reason now.

“To survive. From the tyranny of the Spirit King.”

And the answer he gave as the reason was quite interesting.

* * *

Unlike humans, Elves are inherently attuned to a unique type of magic called ‘Spirit Magic.’

Spirit Magic can also do various things like regular magic, but the most representative is nature-based Spirit Magic.

Intuitively, it can quickly grow plants like trees, make the land fertile, or make it rain.

In fact, magic or spells can do similar things, but anyway.

“But that Spirit Magic is not infinite. Each use consumes the caster’s affinity [magical energy].”

The Dark Elf leader, who started to speak, named Nakan, added knowledge about Spirit Magic.

“Well, that’s obvious. I knew that, so I went around setting fires.”

I knew that Spirit Magic wasn’t an infinite power, so I plundered them and induced a large number of refugees to cause chaos.

“The problem is you did too well. When the forest burned and a large number of Elves lost their homes, the food balance collapsed. Famine soon struck.”

“Is that so, so they started plundering each other? To steal food?”

I naturally made that guess and asked back, but surprisingly, Nakan shook his head.

“Not food. To be exact, people were needed.”

“People were needed?”

“Yes. A source of magic to supply Spirit Affinity… with them, food could be created with Spirit Magic.”

“…”

Hearing that, I felt like the puzzle pieces were falling into place.

For the Elves, who had lived without knowing what a centuries-long famine was, this artificially generated famine must have been disastrous.

According to Nakan, the food produced by their World Tree would have been less than the number of refugees generated.

So how would they have solved it? Of course, they would have preferred an Elven-like elegant solution.

Just make more World Trees or use Spirit Magic. But they lacked affinity.

“So they tried to kidnap people, but our side was quite well-defended, so it must have been a setback.”

“That’s right.”

“So, as a last resort, are you plundering and kidnapping other Elves?”

As my question continued, this time he let out a short sigh.

“There are such things, but it’s not just that.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is a much more organized reason than you think.”

I sensed a deeper issue in his answer.

This plunder is organized? It wasn’t just something they were doing to survive.

“Everything was intended by the Spirit King.”

After saying that, Nakan drew a small triangle on the ground.

And he represented a pyramidal hierarchy with that triangle.

“Elves are divided into three classes. The ruling class is mainly High Elves, the vast majority of commoners are Wood Elves, and the remaining lower class are Dark Elves like us or a small number of other Elven races.”

Detailed information about the Elven class system was new to me.

“Then let me ask you. If you were in this emergency situation, who would you sacrifice?”

“Sacrifice…”

I would try to find a way not to sacrifice as much as possible, but if I had to assume that I had to sacrifice, the answer was already determined.

“Of course, the lower class? And if that’s not enough, commoners like Wood Elves?”

“That’s right. Otherwise, the ruling structure will be shaken.”

It may be difficult for a small citizen who lived on modern Earth to understand, but that was the right thing to say in this medieval land.

Of course, I smashed the heads of the nobles who ‘rebelled’ during the civil war, but without a ruling class like nobles, social chaos occurs.

To prevent that, sacrifice had to be the share of the lower class. Unless a revolution breaks out.

“But then dissatisfaction will explode?”

However, such an extreme method would naturally cause great dissatisfaction.

No one wants to be human fertilizer.

Wouldn’t anyone explode with dissatisfaction and try to start a revolution?

Of course, I would welcome it if the Spirit King faced such difficulties.

“…That’s why we’re doing this now.”

“No way, then…”

But the Spirit King seemed to have used his head in his own way.

It was a way that was more tyrannical than me.

“You made them catch the scapegoats.”

“…That’s right. That’s how he turned the dissatisfaction to us. If we refused, our people would have been sacrificed.”

Nakan said that and became depressed.

Looking at that, it didn’t seem like a lie.

“Spirit King… he used a pretty sophisticated method.”

I thought I had given him an insurmountable problem, but he was overcoming it in a sophisticated way that was a trademark of the British, ‘Divide and Rule’ [a strategy of maintaining power by exploiting divisions within a population].

In other words, he divided the lower classes and made them fight and hate each other.

Without even having time to express dissatisfaction with himself.

“This is all I know.”

“Okay, you did very well. Then I have to give you a reward. But of course, I can’t give you people.”

“I know. Instead, I hope you give us food. At least to save the starving people.”

Nakan said in a resigned attitude. He didn’t care if I didn’t keep my promise.

That attitude was rather beneficial to me. It would be difficult for him to refuse my offer.

“That’s not difficult, but will that be enough? A handful of food will soon disappear. Instead, I’ll suggest something else.”

“Something else? What do you mean?”

What I would give them was of course decided.

“Freedom.”

“Freedom…?”