Episode 324: Sidestory (Edia-Beastin United Kingdom)
“So, King Beastin is still missing, is he?”
“Yes. His direct relatives are also nowhere to be found. There are collateral relatives, but…”
“…It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped. Lineage is lineage. We can’t possibly recognize them.”
Near the border between the Edia-Beastin United Kingdom and the Franca Republic.
In that land, the surviving nobles had gathered.
Duke Edia, who held the most power after the king, was from the ducal lineage that held territory in the Edia 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 Prawa Theocracy’s invasion war, and most of their territories had been seized, so it was only natural.
Those who escaped were only the lords who were located relatively to the east, or the relatives who had evacuated in advance.
Moreover, most of them were women and small children, and they would hardly 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 the understanding of everyone who has joined us here. From this moment on, Leidar Edia will ascend to the throne. Due to the circumstances, it will be a simplified ceremony, but we will hold a formal coronation once the National Reclaiming Army has succeeded.”
“Hail our King!”
“Hail our King!!”
Thus, the Edia-Beastin United Kingdom, which had been in a political vacuum for a long time due to the Wartime Chaos, was finally beginning to regain its unity.
Of course, how wonderful it would have been if the domestic forces had cooperated with each other and this meeting had been held unanimously.
“It is truly gratifying that you have all gathered here and that the succession to the throne has been completed without a hitch!”
After the applause subsided, the representative of the nation that hosted this royal conference stood up while speaking eloquently.
It was Baridan Lebidal, dispatched as the Repuytari Kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs officer in charge of the Edia-Beastin United Kingdom.
He had run around the United Kingdom, persuading and assisting those involved, and sometimes threatening them, finally setting the stage for a situation where the parliament could operate. He was truly the key player.
Therefore, he had many enemies.
In fact, some of the nobles were glaring at him resentfully.
However.
It was a fact that he had done his best and was working for the United Kingdom.
No matter how unpleasant they found him, if they voiced it, they would be ostracized on the spot.
“What you all must do from now on is, first of all, stabilize your territories. Only then can we finally talk about reclaiming our homeland.”
“…That’s what you say, Lord Baridan. But we have a duty to return the displaced people to their homes. It’s easy to say ‘build a house 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 some territory as a refugee, 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 to 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 of the Repuytari Kingdom spoke of the painful reality.
“We also need to consider domestic security. If we can’t even produce enough food, won’t new bandits be born one after another?”
“…”
The nobles fell silent at the irrefutable words.
They probably had a lot they wanted to say, but a clumsy rebuttal would lead to their downfall.
Everyone understood that.
Of course, this was also because Baridan Lebidal had gone around persuading them in advance to make sure that this would happen.
“Besides, we can’t provide assistance indefinitely for free. …As I have already told everyone, we also have a desire for trade. Let’s aim for domestic stability first with that. Even then, reclaiming our homeland will require a lot of effort from everyone. …But not now.”
Then, the Repuytari Kingdom’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 a patrol force.
The supply of weapons, including ammunition, would be kept to a minimum, and the focus would be shifted to support centered on daily necessities, including food.
The reason for limiting weapons and ammunition was to prevent the precious manpower from being consumed as soldiers without restoring national power.
If they lost their workforce, even if they reclaimed their homeland, it would only become an uninhabited wilderness.
At least, it would be useless to take it back unless they could prepare enough personnel to cultivate the land.
In this way, each noble was persuaded, or threatened with force, and agreed to the Repuytari Kingdom’s demands.
However, among them, there were a small number of people who were secretly promised the supply of weapons.
These were the lords who were particularly ambitious and had not suffered much damage because their territories were located on the east side.
They each had a Secret Treaty.
To launch a military coup after a certain period of time.
And to reorganize the National Reclaiming Army after seizing domestic power.
They had been skillfully stimulated in their ambitions by the Repuytari Kingdom.
The current method of forming independent armies by each lord would not be able to compete with the Prawa 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 anticipated future, and it was also true that the command system of the army needed to be unified.
However, everyone realized that it would be impossible for a local lord to actually do it.
Only the people themselves were unaware.
The seeds sown by the Repuytari Kingdom would sprout in various places from now on.
◇◇◇◇
A certain town near the Blockade Line laid by the Prawa Theocracy.
It was a rare city that had managed to avoid falling because refugees from the surrounding area had taken refuge there, and the soldiers who had somehow retreated 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 receive more than necessary!”
And it was only in the last two months or so that supplies had begun to arrive regularly in such a desperate city.
At first, it was the national army, but gradually their numbers decreased, and now completely different people were carrying out this distribution and, in some cases, maintaining public order.
For the past three weeks or so, 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 in height, but the large armor they wore made them over 2 meters tall.
Furthermore, their physical strength was also tremendous.
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 distribution was no longer rare.
“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 prepared doctors.
There were very few people who chose not to obey such new rulers.
It’s like poison being planted in various places.
＜The Tree＞ is stirring things up with the feeling of muddling through until they can get their act together.
The commander is, of course, Mr. Sweet Salmon.
★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 masterpiece!
Thanks to everyone’s support, we were able to reach the release of Volume 3. Thank you so much.
Apparently, some bookstores in the metropolitan area have already started putting it on the shelves… Yes, it’s very, very moving…
★Electronic versions of the existing books, such as on Bookwalker, are also having coin還元sales, so please take this opportunity to check them out.