Episode 324: Interlude (Aedia-Beastin United Kingdom)
“So, King Beastin is still missing, then?”
“Yes. His direct relatives are also nowhere to be found. There are collateral lines, of course…”
“…It’s regrettable, but there’s no helping it. Bloodline is bloodline. We can’t possibly recognize them, can we?”
Near the border between the Aedia-Beastin United Kingdom and the Republic of Franka.
In that land, the surviving nobles had gathered.
Duke Aedia, who held the most power after the king, was from the ducal lineage that held territory in the Aedia region.
On the other hand, most of the heads of the Beastin region’s nobles had either died in battle or gone missing.
They were at the forefront of the Prava Theocracy’s invasion, and most of their territories had been seized, so it was only natural.
Only the lords who were located relatively eastward, or those who had evacuated their families in advance, had managed to escape.
Even then, most of them were women and young children, and they would likely not be needed for anything other than their bloodline.
There were a few women involved in politics, but their numbers were insignificant.
“Then, I believe we have shared a common understanding among all of you who have gathered here. From this moment on, Leidahl Aedia shall ascend to the throne. Due to the circumstances, it will be a simplified ceremony, but we shall hold a formal coronation when we have reclaimed our homeland.”
“All hail our King!”
“All hail our King!!”
Thus, the Aedia-Beastin United Kingdom, which had been in a political vacuum for a long time due to the chaos of war, was finally beginning to regain its cohesion.
Of course, how wonderful it would have been if the domestic forces had cooperated with each other and this meeting had been held with unanimous consent.
“It is truly gratifying that you have all gathered here and that the succession to the throne has proceeded smoothly!”
As the applause subsided, the representative of the nation that had organized this royal conference stood up and spoke eloquently.
It was Baridan Lebidal, dispatched by the Republic of Lepuitari’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the officer in charge of the Aedia-Beastin United Kingdom.
He had run around the United Kingdom, persuading and assisting those involved, and sometimes even threatening them, finally preparing the situation to the point where it could function as a parliament.
Therefore, he had many enemies.
In fact, several nobles were glaring at him resentfully.
However, it was a fact that he had done his best and was working for the sake of the United Kingdom.
No matter how unpleasant they found him, if they voiced it, they would be ostracized on the spot.
“What you must do from now on is, first and foremost, stabilize your territories. Only then can we begin to talk about reclaiming our homeland.”
“…That may be so, Lord Baridan, but we have a duty to return the displaced people to their homes. It is easy to say, ‘Build a new home in a new land,’ but…”
The one who immediately retorted was the lord of a certain territory who had actually succeeded in evacuating his people. He was currently taking refuge in another territory, but that was only temporary.
“Of course. However, in the current situation, to gather troops, organize an army, and maintain it for a long period of time… I dare say, you no longer have the余裕 to start any more battles.”
Because it was a great power from abroad.
And because it had the power to reject any hostility it might incur.
The diplomat from the Republic of Lepuitari spoke of the painful reality.
“We must also consider domestic security. If we cannot even produce enough food, new bands of thieves will only continue to emerge, won’t they?”
“…”
The nobles fell silent at the irrefutable words.
They probably had a lot they wanted to say, but a careless retort would lead to their downfall.
Everyone understood that.
Of course, this was also because Baridan Lebidal had gone around persuading them in advance to ensure that this would be the case.
“Besides, we cannot continue to provide assistance indefinitely without compensation. …As I have already told everyone, we are also willing to trade. Let us aim for domestic stability first with that. Even then, reclaiming our homeland will require much effort from all of you… But not now.”
Then, the Republic of Lepuitari’s demands and the accompanying support were announced.
The highest priority was to maintain public order and restore national power, and to disband the standing army while creating patrol units.
The supply of weapons, including ammunition, would be kept to a minimum, and the focus would be shifted to supporting daily necessities, including food.
The reason for limiting weapons and ammunition was to prevent the precious manpower from being consumed as soldiers without restoring the nation’s power.
If they lost their workforce, even if they reclaimed their homeland, it would only become an uninhabited wilderness.
At least, it would be pointless to take it back unless they could prepare enough people to cultivate and develop the land.
In this way, each noble was persuaded, or threatened with force, and agreed to the Republic of Lepuitari’s demands.
However, among them were a small number who were secretly promised a supply of weapons.
These were lords who were particularly ambitious and had suffered little damage because their territories were located on the eastern side.
They each had a secret treaty.
To launch a military coup after a certain period of time.
And, after seizing control of the domestic forces, to reorganize the army to reclaim the homeland.
They had been skillfully encouraged in their ambitions by the Republic of Lepuitari.
The current method of forming independent armies by each lord would not be able to stand up to the Prava Theocracy. It was necessary to form a single army with strong leadership.
Furthermore, the current royal family could not exercise such strong authority and would inevitably fail.
That was indeed a highly predictable future, and there was no doubt that the command system of the army needed to be unified.
However, everyone realized that it would be impossible for a lord from one region to actually do it.
Only the individuals themselves were unaware.
The seeds sown by the Republic of Lepuitari would sprout in various places from now on.
◇◇◇◇
A certain town near the Prava Theocracy’s blockade line.
It was a rare city that had managed to avoid falling because refugees from the surrounding area had gathered there, and the soldiers who had somehow managed to retreat were in charge of defense.
“We have prepared enough food for everyone! Line up in order!”
“Those with families must declare it when receiving! Those who are found to be lying will be arrested and punished!”
“Food will be distributed again in 7 days! There is no need to take more than you need!”
And it was only in the last two months that regular rations had begun to arrive in this desperate city.
At first, it was the national army, but gradually their numbers dwindled, and now completely different people were carrying out this distribution and, in some cases, maintaining public order.
For the past three weeks, all those who had come were different from ordinary people.
Beautiful girls with animal ears on their heads, whom no one had ever seen before.
However, contrary to their appearance, they possessed extremely high combat power.
The girls themselves were only about 10 to 15 years old, but the large armor they wore made them over 2 meters tall.
Furthermore, their physical strength was incredible.
When the sight of notorious thugs who underestimated them being blown away with a single swing of their arms or easily subdued was repeated, no one resisted anymore.
The sight of usually violent men silently lining up for rations was no longer unusual.
“From now on, we will begin examining the sick and injured! Those who can move, line up here! If there are those who cannot move, we will make house calls! Tell us!”
And the biggest reason why the people of this city obeyed them was because they took care of the injured and sick.
They had military power, provided supplies, and even provided doctors.
There were very few people who chose not to obey such new rulers.
It’s like poison being planted in various places.
From The-Tree’s point of view, they are stirring things up with the feeling that they just need to muddle through until they can get their act together.
Of course, Mr. Amanake is leading the charge.
★Promotion for Volume 3
It will finally be released on Monday, September 30th!!!!
Volume 3 has been heavily, very heavily revised! I hope you enjoy the differences from the web version! Yes! It’s a confident work!
Thanks to everyone’s support, we were able to reach the release of Volume 3. Thank you so much.
Apparently, some bookstores in the Tokyo metropolitan area have already started putting them on the shelves… Yes, it’s very, very moving…
★Bookwalker and other e-book stores are also having coin redemption sales for past issues, so please take this opportunity to check them out.