Chapter 101-102

Chapter 101 – I Became the Emperor!!

"I see… In that case, people will definitely be sent from Sanfaris."

Ashton muttered with crossed arms.

I had called everyone to the round table underneath the World Tree, so we could discuss what we should do in the future.

Erevan stood up and slapped the table.

"I don't care what comes here! But if they refuse to listen to what the Chief has to say…then we just have to drive them away! It doesn't matter how many of them there are!"

As Ashton and Haines were both warriors, they nodded at Erevan as if in agreement.

However, it was clear that Erevan was being careful about his wording. He had not used the word 'fight.'

But then Kamyu said,

"You mustn't get ahead of yourself. Indeed, I doubt they will come unarmed, but it would be normal for them to want to investigate the situation first."

I nodded at Kamyu.

"Aye. If they are still treating me as a lord, then they should send a tax collector or inspector first…"

"Tax collector…I sort of understand what that is. But an inspector?"

Fule asked with a puzzled expression.

The others also looked a little confused.

"An inspector is someone who makes sure that a land is being properly governed. Are they planning a revolt or are the people being oppressed… They find out if anything unreasonable is occurring."

Of course, this inspector would be selected and sent by the royals and nobles.

In other words, it was most likely that my older brothers would send one of their own men.

Rienna looked quite concerned as she spoke.

"Aside from the matter of the empire, there is no doubt that they will find fault with the existence of us monsters."

"Yes…"

Even if they didn't do anything at first, they would return to Sanfaris, and the army would be dispatched.

It was here that Fule made a suggestion.

"Well, since Miss Leila and other humans are here. What if only we who appeared human remained on the surface…and father and the others hid in the cave?"

However, Erevan immediately looked annoyed by this suggestion.

"Hey, hey. Why do we have to hide?"

"Bu-but it would only be for a short while? If it meant we didn't have to fight… Besides, these humans are your own kind, aren't they, Lord Heal?"

"We-well…"

Erevan fell silent at this.

I could tell that they were both thinking about me.

They didn't want me to feel any distress. However…

Baris nodded.

"That is one possible solution. You will have to temporarily hide the entrance to the cave. But there is not much you can do about the World Tree…"

Leila had been silent up until now, but here she opened her mouth.

"I hope you do not take offense, but you are all rather too passive for my liking. I expected you people to be more spirited than this."

"Eh? And who the hell are you?"

Erevan glared at Leila.

"Me? Oh, I'm just Heal's fiance."

Upon hearing these words, Erevan and the other monsters looked at her with surprise.

I quickly corrected her.

"Le-Leila! Didn't your father annul that a long time ago? I recall that he wasn't happy with my inferior crest."

"How should I know. But I haven't agreed to such a thing, and you never informed me of your intention. It is we who should decide whether we are to marry or not."

What Leila was saying was quite outrageous for a noble of the continent. Engagements were always decided by the master of the house. Children had no right to decide anything.

However, Leila's beliefs…were that of the old empire, and she believed that it was the right way.

Erevan then raised his voice.

"…Fiance!? You speak nonsense! If anyone is going to marry the Chief, it is the Princess! And if not her, then it shall be my daughter! I won't allow this! Not in a hundred years!!"

"Chi-chief!!"

"Father!!"

Rienna and Fule used magic to unleash torrents of water into Erevan's mouth.

"M-mm…gg… I understand why you're upset, Fule…but…Princess?"

"General… You will get thirsty if you talk too much. Besides, that has nothing to do with what is being discussed."

Rienna was smiling, but she was somehow intimidating to watch.

Erevan became silent and nodded.

Rienna then turned to Leila and bowed.

"Miss Leila, I'm sorry that you were interrupted."

"I don't mind. And you can just call me Leila. As for the matter of Heal, that can be discussed later."

"Oh, uh, yes!"

Then Leila turned to the rest and said,

"I will not take back what I said about you. I cannot understand why you will all make such sacrifices to comply with what they want? You know, this is called spinelessness."

While she was speaking to us as a group, they were words that I had to accept more than anyone.

After all, they were only trying to accommodate me, because of the way that I had wanted things done until now. Always peacefully trying to avoid fighting…

They just didn't want to see me sad…

Leila continued in a strong voice.

"From what I've seen, this island has an impressive fighting force. So why are you so afraid?"

Erevan, Ashton, Haines and the others had expressions that suggested they knew this all too well.

If anything, they agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"There is no need to hide that there are monsters on this island. You should proudly declare what this island really is. And if they say that they do not like it, you can call them sons of bitches."

Leila's dream was also for the different races to live together.

And so she had a strong desire to see this realized here on this island.

And she wasn't wrong.

"…Leila. They only made that suggestion out of concern for me. All of them actually agree with you."

I told her before continuing to the others.

"…All of you. No matter what comes here, I will protect you. And no matter what they say, this place belongs to all of us. And if that is under threat, then I don't mind going to war."

I looked down at the two crowns that had been placed on the table.

"If they won't accept us… I will tell them. This isn't a part of Sanfaris. This is our country."

I didn't know how my father would react, but I supposed this was a declaration of independence.

In that case, I needed to be prepared.

It was my ideal for us all to talk together and decide. And I would continue to do that.

However, it had also been a way for me to escape my own responsibilities.

The people that lived here all respected me. I had to protect them. And if Sanfaris's hatred was directed towards us, then I had to accept it.

"I…I'm going to accept the title of Emperor."

Sheorl was an Empire now.

With me as its head, this would be a country where everyone was equal and free.

It was on this day, that a most heretical state was born.

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Chapter 102 – We decided to increase our numbers!!

"Our defenses on land are more than enough. We should have no problem fighting back against the enemy."

Ashton declared to those around the table with a face full of confidence.

"We have more ships now, and they should look quite impressive from afar."

Kamyu said without hesitation.

"Chief! They are right! Leave the fighting to us! I have a feeling they will just run away before we can even fight!"

Erevan said proudly.

And then Baris turned to me.

"Indeed, our fighting force has increased greatly… Still, I don't really know the full power of Sanfaris's navy. But you know them quite well, Your Majesty. How large is the difference?"

"I think we…no, we can overwhelm them."

As the others said, this island had incredible defenses now.

We had a disciplined defense team, and aquatic Golems.

There was also the Mappa Golem, stone towers and walls. Even visually, we looked to have very strong defenses.

Even the royal navy would think twice before attacking us.

As the others all muttered with awe, the octopus on the table, Aries, spoke.

"I see… So we have the superior force. I had been expecting to suppress a great army in spite of a great disadvantage…"

"Hey, hey. What is it with this octopus… She calls herself a great strategist…uh…what's her name? Ari…something like that."

Erevan said, and Aries's voice became angry.

"The great strategist Aries! And I am not an octopus! How many times must I tell you!"

"Yes, yes… Still, a strategist? If that's what you are, don't you have any good ideas? You've done nothing but listen up until now."

"Ah, I have only just joined and you already beg for my opinion, eh? I had thought you were a ruffian, but you are at least not completely foolish. Yes, you did good to ask me."

"Well I, I supposed."

Somehow, Erevan seemed a little pleased as he folded his arms.

Fule looked at her father with an exasperated expression.

"Father, you're so easy… Oh, well. So what's your suggestion, Aries?"

"Indeed… If we have the military advantage, we should ensure that we also have an advantage when it comes to negotiating."

"Negotiating? What do you mean?"

"Ye-yes… Well…"

Aries trailed off.

I thought she meant that we needed something to surprise Sanfaris during negotiations.

"Surprise them… Do you mean like showing them a mountain of gold?"

Asked Haines.

Send the king gold in exchange for allowing us to self-govern. Or bribe the inspectors and tax collectors… I suppose those were possibilities.

However, there was also a problem.

Perhaps she was of the same opinion, because Rienna opened her mouth.

"You mean trading precious metals and stones… I think doing that would only strengthen their greed."

"Yes… If we do give them money, it should only be a small amount. I've said it before, but the riches of this island have the potential to massively impact the economy of the continent."

Besides, it won't just be Sanfari that will react when they find out about the gold. Other ambitious countries might also come and attempt to take our land.

The cave and the gold should be kept secret.

Then Fule said,

"Well, we haven't done anything wrong. It doesn't feel right to give them something. Also…why don't we just use Aries's poison to make them do what we say?"

"…Ah! Indeed!"

Aries looked as if this idea had not even crossed her mind.

However, Rienna voiced her objection.

"I don't think that…"

And then Baris added,

"A negotiator is just a representative. Having them under our control won't mean much. If Sanfaris cannot defend their advantageous position, they will just send someone else. However, Emperor Heal is thinking to destroy Sanfaris, perhaps we can send spies and…"

"I don't think that will be necessary…"

That was a worst case scenario.

And who knew what we would be forced to do in the future.

When Erevan learned that Aries could control people with poison, he turned to Fule.

"Fule… I didn't realize you were capable of such gruesome thoughts…"

"You're one to talk, father. Besides, it would be one way to avoid fighting, wouldn't it? Do you have any better ideas?"

"No-no…I don't…"

Like Erevan, we were all troubled over this.

Just then, Leila opened her mouth next to me.

"Gold, poison, bribery… To be honest, I do not believe that the people of Sanfaris will bend or compromise with such strategies."

"Ah? If you're so sure, what brilliant ideas do you have?"

Erevan demanded. And so Leila turned to the others.

"You do realize that they hate monsters so much, that they wouldn't even consider using them as slaves? Do you think money will change anything? No, the moment they see this island, their swords will swing."

"As if we don't know that more than anyone. We've fought them. I'm asking for a solution."

"Be patient. These people. They believe that all humans hate monsters."

"Yes…and?"

"And so we will crush that assumption. We will shake the foundation that they stand on."

"Uh…in other words… What do you mean?"

Erevan tilted his head to the side as Leila continued.

"What if there were more humans on this island? If those who supported Heal came here and lived together with the monsters… They would think it was a recipe for disaster, wouldn't they?"

If other humans came here and coexisted with the monsters… Yes, they wouldn't like that at all.

However…

I turned to Leila.

"I doubt there is a single person in Sanfaris who supports me. And even if we were to accept people from other countries, it will take a long time…"

"Yes. And so there is no reason to actually bring people here."

"…Just appearances then. It will look like there are more humans here?"

"Yes. In the places that visitors are not allowed to go, you can build human houses in the Sanfaris style. Judging by what I've seen here, you should have no problem doing that."

Leila scanned the island as she continued.

"Then you can just scatter those that are close to humans or the humans from my ship. It will give the illusion that there are some living here. Well…maybe not the one that is half naked."

Leila muttered as she saw Mappa dancing in front of her crew.

Mappa…was that his way of greeting people?

As they had come this far with Leila, they must agree with her way of thinking. However, they were looking at Mappa's dance with bewildered expressions.

"…As a plan, it's definitely worth trying. While the royal navy will tighten security, they have yet to actually come here. So no one will be inconvenienced. Besides…"

I took out a bottle that contained golden liquid.

This was the Ryukin I had received from Shiel.

"Ryukin… It's a metal that can be shaped into anything. I will be able to make golems that look very similar to humans."

"Huh. What an incredible metal."

Leila said with a surprisingly cool voice.

They accepted it rather easily…

Well, perhaps that was bound to happen once you saw the World Tree.

"Yes… And there is apparently a lot more in the underground storages. And we'll be heading there anyway in order to repair the machine…"

And if we were able to do that, Shiel and the others will be able to return to their human forms.

"Alright… Shiel, can I use it?"

Shiel nodded.

"Thank you. I really do belong underground after all…"

And like that, we decided to go with Leila's plan and bring more 'humans' in.