In the first place, the heterogeneous people were reluctant to even talk to humans.
They only speak once.
In order to bury the guilt when the reward is violated.
“If you were going to punish us, you would have done it already.”
That’s why Willem was sure.
This tribe never hesitated.
If they had tried to destroy the harbor, they would have done it already.
But, why don’t they bring so many ships to attack?
Clearly, there was a reason other than conquest.
“Then why all of a sudden…”
“It must be because of the empire.”
“Empire? You mean apostasy?”
“hmm.”
A shout was heard in the car where Willem tried to follow up.
“Duke Willem!”
Belatedly, the king and nobles arrived at the marina.
The king looked at Willem with a tense expression.
“How is the situation? How did they react?”
“I do not know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Who can understand the current situation, Your Highness?”
With a grunt, the king stomped his feet.
Because he stood on the side of the Empire that rebelled against the different races.
The current situation was like a fire in the foot.
“The ship is moving.”
One ship in the fleet turned the bow.
Judging by its size, it appeared to be the flagship of the fleet.
“mmm…”
The king and his vassals came to the anchorage armed.
If the elves invaded, he must have come with the determination to stand up.
However, as the flagship approached the berth, his spirit quickly melted.
Some even untied the swords from their waists and set them down on the floor.
‘Then it is.’
Looking at them who lost their will to resist, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
But he was in no position to blame them.
Because he felt the same way as them.
The fear of the other race was the same.
Drizzle, Tung—
The flagship stopped at the berth and dropped anchor.
After dropping the anchor, the wooden stairs were fixed to the ground.
Then, one by one, the crew disembarked into the port.
“···what?”
Seeing the first of the different races, Willem’s eyes widened.
‘You’re not an elf?’
The first race to set foot in the port was the Lizardmen.
The lizard, whose scales glistened in the sunlight, flicked its tongue.
Then came the dwarves and elves, then the naga out of the water.
‘Elf, Dwarf, Naga, Lizardman… Why are they together?’
As the four races approached, they inadvertently flinched back.
“Who is the head of this place?”
the elf asked.
Her appearance, which was said to have been hand-combed by God, had a voice that matched her voice, so when her eyes glanced at the humans gathered at the marina, not one or two lost their minds in a daze.
“A cow, a cow has succeeded to the throne here, in Friedland. You are a great race.”
Huck, the king, who held his breath, answered belatedly.
Where are the humans who worshiped the empire and insisted on joining?
There was a coward who put his hands together politely and smacked his forehead on the floor.
“Don’t be afraid. We did not visit to intimidate you. We have found you as agents of the representative system.”
“That, what do you mean…?”
“To redefine our relationship with you.”
redefine? What is the relationship between this species and humans?
Humans didn’t understand at all, so they kept their mouths shut.
“I think the story will be long. I want to sit down and talk.”
“Ah, I will guide you.”
The king quickly got up and invited the different races to the palace.
While they were heading to the palace, the citizens who had not been able to evacuate were prostrating in amazement and admiration when they saw this tribe for the first time in their lives.
“If you sit on this side… this side…”
The king seemed possessed by the butler.
I sat a different race in the waiting room and stood in front of him.
The king is standing, but the servants cannot sit down.
The rest of the humans stood behind the king and watched the different races.
“You look uncomfortable. Will you sit down too?”
“no. How dare a small person…”
When the dwarf spoke nonchalantly, the king waved his hand.
The Dwarf raised the corner of his mouth as if that scene was very funny.
“If standing is comfortable, stay there.”
After exchanging only a few words, the king went blank.
The corners of his mouth trembled, and his shoulders and hands trembled.
As I said, until yesterday he insisted on incorporation on the side of the Empire.
Should I say that the thief is numb, he must be afraid.
I was afraid that my neck would fly off in an instant.
“Mmm.”
Several nobles stood behind Willem.
Those who could be called royalists who followed the king in the first place.
The way he returned must have guessed that the king’s fortunes were over.
We changed boats so as not to sink with the boat with a hole.
‘Stupid bastards.’
It would be futile to come and change sides.
Willem laughed inwardly and opened his mouth in place of the speechless king.
“You are a great race. If you don’t dare, may I ask you about the relationship you just talked about?”
“It is literally. We want to renew the relationship between you and us.”
The elf asked Willem, who was still listening.
“You know?”
“What are you talking about…”
“Why didn’t we come to your land until now?”
“Yes, of course.”
“say it. I wonder what you guys think.”
Willem was about to answer, but then stopped.
‘This is… a test.’
I responded in a cautious tone to match their taste.
“As the small man knows from Lord Horvid’s words, the great race took pity on us humans and made a pact.”
“…”
“The pact is to ensure the safety of this land while humans follow the order given by the great race under Lord Horvid’s protection. If a man disobeys the order, the promise will be lost and he will be punished.”
glance
Willem, who bowed his head in reply, peeked at the elf’s reaction.
She smiled as if she liked the answer.
‘Has it passed?’
I was relieved internally.
His answer was to recite the dogma of the Wolf Cult.
If I hadn’t suddenly realized my intention, I would have come up with a different answer.
It was the truth of Horbid, the representative system he had heard through the Empire.
‘I asked what you think. I didn’t ask if you knew the truth.’
“That is correct.”
And her reaction was as he thought.
“As you thought, we had pity on you. So I made a pact to settle you on the western edge and to keep you out of the way of anyone with evil thoughts.”
The elf paused for a moment before continuing.
“But now the promise is gone.”
Startle
“That word…”
“It means we can come to this land anytime. like now.”
Whoops, I caught my breath.
Who doesn’t know what that means?
It means that Friedland has become the same as the Great Plains.
It became a place where heterogeneous people could hunt humans.
Not only in Friedland, but all areas where humans live.
‘why?’
Is it because of the empire?
Because you hate the empire?
“Nothing to worry about. We are not here to hunt you down. didn’t you say He said he came to redefine the relationship.”
“What can we do?”
“Submit to us. Each of you sever allegiance to each of us and become our vassals in the name of your country. Then I will treat you accordingly.”
“If it’s Daewoo…”
“Don’t get paid. There will be no restrictions on exchanges, and we will guarantee your safety so that you will not be invaded.”
‘Abolition of bounty, trade liberalization, and security guarantee?’
Willem inadvertently bit his mouth open.
It was a condition where no loss could be seen.
It’s so sweet that it’s questionable.
‘…It’s to keep the empire in check.’
The reason was clear.
It was to check the empire that rebelled against the heterogeneous race.
To stem the growth of an empire ravenously expanding its territory.
It is to subdue human nations that are in danger of being incorporated into the Empire.
‘Is that guy really that strong?’
A silent exclamation came from my heart.
Why would this tribe make such an unconventional proposal?
Since you can’t punish the empire directly, you’re acting indirectly.
‘You said it yourself. The pact that forbade invasion of the human world has disappeared. And they even set foot in the human realm on such a large scale. But what is the reason for choosing to indirectly block the empire without stepping on it?’
“…”
Silence fell between humans.
The human being here must have had the same thoughts as Willem.
‘If the strength of both sides is equal, try negotiating…’
It was noisy outside.
Willem turned his head and looked out the window.
There was a commotion on the road leading from the marina to the palace.
‘They?’
The elves aboard the flagship disembarked and walked along the main road.
Each one was carrying a chest, and they stacked the chests one after the other.
Chests piled up on the road and he opened one of them.
Gold and silver jewelry, spices and silk.
All kinds of luxuries were in the chest.
“What is that?”
The elf received the words someone muttered inadvertently.
“Let’s say it’s a light greeting.”
say hello
The king and nobles who were looking outside widened their eyes.
Isn’t the elf distributing the luxuries in the chest to the crowd? I couldn’t help but be astonished at the sight of such precious items being distributed carelessly like grain rations.
“Me, me, me…”
“How precious!”
“I don’t know what you like, so I brought only what exists in your world. If you accept our proposal and interact with each other, you will exchange something more valuable than that.”
The nobles’ eyes changed.
In other words, there are treasures that do not exist in the human world.
And that means they can take it.
The representative envoys smiled at their reaction.
“Will you accept the offer?”
###
“Failed.”
As Griff yelled at me, there was a thud.
He had annihilated the hordes of orcs and goblins rampaging in the Great Plains, and was in the process of arranging the orcs’ necks one by one with an axe.
Grif read the letter the familiar held at his feet and handed it to me.
“It’s from Gehard.”
I received and read the letter from the saddle.
“Right. The representative system moved boldly.”
I passed the letter to Skadi next to me.
She chewed on the tobacco in her mouth.
“A fleet to southern Wallachia? Isn’t the homeland of the dwarves in the north? If we had moved as soon as the meeting was over, we wouldn’t have arrived this soon.”
I nodded.
It’s only been a few weeks since the last meeting.
From noble mtl dot com
In the meantime, I have put an end to the chaos of Oroko Great Plains.
They exterminated the Orcs and Goblins, and took control of the western area pioneered by the nobles of Germania and Wallochia on the Great Plains, expanding their territory a little.
Germania and Wallochia were still in chaos, but since Olymus, the capital city, and its surrounding territories had been stabilized, the delayed reorganization should have started.
The representative system moved.
“They must have moved before the talks started.”
Grif frowned and replied.
“I guess so. In the first place, the meeting itself was held with the end decided.”
The representative system only asked me whether or not to submit to me.
Didn’t all the prepared agendas pass regardless of my intentions?
“It wouldn’t be strange if we discussed the activities after the ban on entering the Great Plains was lifted beforehand.”
“It’s a headache.”
I received and read the letter again.
The letter states that small states in southern Wallachia have been subjugated to the Great Emperor, and that the Great Emperor’s forces have begun to build fortifications on the southern borders of Wallachia.
And the rapidly changing situation in the subjugated small country.
“My sweaty efforts have been blown away.”
After Grief, he sighed and covered his head.
“If the dwarf came a little later, he would have succeeded.”
Griff has been working behind the scenes in the small southern countries.
Because there was not enough time to suppress the uprising and civil war.
Grif’s purpose was to cause internal turmoil so that small countries would not ask for their own incorporation or do nothing until the internal arrangements were finished.
In recent weeks he seemed to have nearly achieved his goal.
He promised huge amounts of gold, achievements, and various benefits, and immediately dispatched Gerhard to a small southern country to incorporate it into the empire as soon as the civil war was suppressed.
However, everything went wrong with the bold move of the representative system.
“All those related to the Empire were executed…Efforts to intervene by inducing a civil war in the next best way have also been futile.”
Minor countries that submitted to the representative system executed all opponents.
There was no resistance because it was the yard where the soldiers of the different races were stationed.
There was also a country that changed the dynasty by cutting off the head of the king.
“It’s not all bad news, but…”
There was also good news at the end of the letter.
It was good news that the civil war was ending smoothly, or that the property confiscated while suppressing the civil war was great, but the incidents in the small southern country were too big.
“Looking at the construction of the fort, it seems that they have no intention of taking an offensive right away.”
“hmm. It’s not an all-out war. If we were going to wage an all-out war, we wouldn’t have to land in the South. It must be a kind of base.”
“A base?”
“A base for human hunting.”
Germania and Wallachia were the world’s first and second largest human exporters.
But didn’t I conquer the two countries and block human exports?
“Each tribe has different reasons for importing humans. Human beings can be used for human sacrifice, breeding, experiment subjects, slave soldiers, everywhere. It is human being that the demand is also steadily increasing.”
The largest exporter of such goods disappeared in an instant.
How will the different races accept the situation that has changed overnight?
Oh, do you think that from today, let’s use substitutes instead of humans?
“If you don’t want to pay for it or export it, you’ll hunt it yourself.”
At Skadi’s words, I shook my head.
“okay. The guys had three purposes for establishing a base in the south. One to prevent the expansion of the empire, and the other to be used as a human hunting ground.”
I recalled a map in my mind.
The Human Realm, the Conversion of the Southwest Peninsula.
“Shall we clear the border?”
Griff asked.
“It’s useless. Clearing the borders only brings them deeper. It’d be better for us to fortify our borders by building forts as well. So that if the hunter crosses the border, he can catch it right away.”
“But that’s—”
I stopped talking by raising my hand.
“okay. there’s a problem That you cannot catch the hunter easily.”
Elves, dwarves, naga, lizardmen.
These four races are of a different class from the enemies they faced before.
There is no such thing as a group of dozens overwhelming a group of thousands.
It may take three or four sacrifices to catch one of the heterogeneous species.
“And the same goes for hunters. Even hunters can’t catch you easily. Therefore, me and the representative system will be put in a situation of giving and receiving until the damage is difficult to handle.”
“It’s a war of attrition.”
“That is the third goal of the representative system.”
Blocking expansion, hunting humans, and falling into a war of attrition is a very uncomfortable situation for me, who has to seek internal stability and internal affairs in the midst of it.
“Nothing to worry about. Even if they come out, nothing will change. It’s inconvenient to move around, and it just takes time.”
The representative strategy had clear limits.
Because it’s not an all-out war, it doesn’t come deep inland.
Only borders and coastal areas are exposed to threats and suffer damage.
It was excruciatingly painful, but bearable.
“It will get better little by little. Little by little, while they waste time… Humans will rise just below this race.”
i will make it like that
At that time, they will regret giving me time.
“To do that, we will first improve the messy administration. The subjugation ends here. Bring back Calliope.”
Administrative system reorganization (organization chart attached)
###
“Administrative reorganization. You are finally doing it.”
I sat at a round table in the middle of the barracks.
Calliope stood behind me as always, Skadi sat to my right, and Griff sat to my left, chewing dried fruit on the table.
“I couldn’t tell you because the situation was moving so fast, but it was too narrow-minded. Honestly, if it wasn’t for us, there would have been people who couldn’t stand it and ran away?”
I laughed at the sight of him showing off his hard work.
“However, I am still able to afford it. Even if the representative system and disputes continue, isn’t it to the point where all the brothers and sisters are mobilized like before?”
“hmm.”
Quite a few members of the family, such as Pasimea, Gehard, and Nuadil, are busy running around, but the vast majority of them are combat-specialized members, so they are doing work that suits their main job.