Chapter 77 - Two Million Strong

—Next Day, Cole POV—

Getting up as the Sun began to rise, the first thing I did was make sure I was back to looking like my usual self. Once I confirmed that, I got dressed and reignited my campfire from the night before. Pulling out a percolator to make fresh coffee, the Four Hero Camps were still completely void of anyone watching for threats. Disappointed that they went all night without any surveillance, I decided that they needed to be punished for their oversight.

'I am going to pretend that animals made off with their supplies sometime during the night. Since they have no food now, they will need to go out and find some for themselves.', I thought transferring their food stock back into my storage, 'They should be grateful I am not as abusive as my Master was…he'd beat the shit out of me with his Bow Staff for not setting up proper safeties before going to bed.'

Putting the percolator on the edge of the fire, I then pulled out a cast iron skillet and got it prepped for cooking. Browning some toast on it first, the next ingredients I cooked were the eggs and bacon. Seasoning both of them with salt and pepper, the smell of my cooking slowly awoke the Heroes and their parties from their deep slumber. Popping their heads out one after another, I gave them a disappointed and annoyed look.

"Something wrong?", Ren asked with a worried expression, "Did something happen?

"If I were an assassin paid to kill you, none of you would have lived to see the morning. All of you didn't have a night watchman nor any early warning alarms to advise you of an approaching enemy.", I scolded them, "You need to take your safety into serious consideration."

"What about the guards inside?", Motoyusa proclaimed pointing to the Conference Building "They were watching over the camp last night right? Why did we need to worry about that?"

"Haha…", I laughed before bashing his head in with Telekinesis, "The guards are here only to protect the dignitaries, not you four knuckleheads! If something happened last night the first thing they are going to do is lock down the building, they won't come to help you."

"I am sorry!!", he shrieked hiding behind Naofumi, "I didn't think about that!"

Apologizing for their oversight, they promised it wouldn't happen again. Going to prepare their breakfasts, they realized that everything was missing and immediately flew into a panic. Tearing their camps apart looking for the supplies, they looked over to me once they confirmed the food was gone.

"Maybe your night watchman might have stopped the animals that camp into camp last night.", I said with an unamused expression, "Looks like you have to go find breakfast in the forest today."

Hanging their heads in shame, I was happy none of them thought to blame the refugees. If one of them had, I would have sucker punched them into last week for suggesting that. Since all of them were hungry, they quickly got geared up and ready to go out hunting.

"You have two hours to find food and eat before your training starts today. Every minute you make me wait past that I will increase your armors weight by ten pounds during training.", I warned them, "Leave one or more people in each camp to watch what is left of your belongings. If you take everyone with you, monsters and thieves may come to take your shit while you are away."

Not wanting to lose any more of their equipment, each party left one person behind and then headed off into the forest. Staying behind, Raphtalia and the Enchanters the other Heroes left behind turned to me for guidance. Asking them what they thought was a good use of their time, the Enchanters thought reviewing their books was while Raphtalia wanted to forage around the immediate area.

"Both are valid options, but there are some more pressing things you should consider. First of all, getting a hot campfire going should be your first priority. You can't make hot beverages, cook food, or warm up on a cold morning without one.", I told them as they began jotting down notes, "After that, you can gather more firewood, locate fresh water, forage for food near the camp, and do maintenance on your equipment. Most importantly, always pay attention to your surroundings so you don't get caught by bandits and monsters."

"Got it!", Raphtalia said, "I know there isn't any water around here though, I can't hear any running nearby. What do I do if I can't find any?"

"When your party is alone, you have to make sure they bring water back. In this case though, you have three capable mages next to you that can create water with magic. I suggest offering them firewood in exchange for making you some fresh water.", I advised as I assembled my breakfast, "If you find berries or other food while you are out there, you can probably even get them to ignite your fire for you too."

"I see!", she stated nervously turning towards them, "Is…is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine with us.", Ren's Enchanter agreed.

Silently observing their work, as I ate breakfast, the four of them made quick work of the tasks I listed off. Rewarding them with cups of coffee, they graciously accepted my offer though Raphtalia didn't like the bitter flavor. Having her add cream and sugar to her coffee, that opinion quickly changed as she happily sipped on her beverage.

As we sat around my fire waiting for the others to return, I heard several people coming down from the Conference Building. Assuming that it was some of the dignitaries coming to greet me or check on the refugees, I paid them no mind.

"Where did everyone go?", Melty asked as she approached my camp, "I don't see the Heroes anywhere, please tell us you didn't kill them."

"They are off catching breakfast.", I replied looking over my shoulder, "Shouldn't you be inside having breakfast with your-"

Realizing that Melty was with her whole family, I stood up from my seat and turned to greet the Queen. Seeing Mirellia for the first time in person, it was nice to see that she was just as beautiful as she was in the anime…though she did look a bit exhausted. Keeping those thoughts to myself, I reached my hand out for a handshake.

"Pleasure to finally meet the Queen of Melromarc.", I stated looking her in the eyes, "Name's Cole though most people call me Kessler."

"I have heard a lot about you from the Shadows, it is a pleasure to meet you in person.", she said with a pleased smile, "I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, but there were a few things I wanted to talk to you about. First off, as a mother, please accept my sincere thanks for saving my daughters. I know one of them didn't deserve it, but I am still grateful nonetheless."

"No problem, I am glad we found Melty before she was captured by the mercenaries the Church sent.", I remarked glancing at Malty, "As for Malty…she can't be allowed to have the easy way out. She's got a long road of mending to do before she can be allowed to die."

Noticing that she didn't respond at all to my jab, it seemed like something happened last night to her. Deciding to test her later, in case she was faking it, I opted to leave her alone for now as her mother seemed to be in a hurry.

"Now then, a ruler of Melromarc, I want to also thank you for all you have done from ending the most recent Wave to ending the tyranny of the Church of the Three Heroes.", Mirellia stated bowing her head in respect, "Due to the number of things you have done for our nation, there are very few fitting rewards I can offer you. In this case, I would like to give you a place in our nobility."

Giving her a concerned look, I felt that was a bit much to offer me. Usually you'd offer gold, weapons, or prestige to someone like me…a noble title wasn't something you gave to someone you barely knew. With that in mind, I suspected that there was an ulterior motive for giving me a title.

"I would like to make you an Archduke, it's an honorary title that gives you almost equal footing to the Crown.", she said with a nervous tone.

"You aren't the least bit concerned I might try to usurp your authority?", I inquired of her, "I have only interacted with your family for about a month now, you don't know a lot about me. Surely there are more fitting rewards for my deeds than being a noble."

"Be that as it may, this is the most fitting reward I can offer you.", she answered firmly.

Staring into her eyes for a moment, I probed into her mind to see what she was actually thinking. Finding out about the deal the Conference made, it annoyed me that they dumped the Heroes on me to train. I had trained several Heroes as a Sage, and frankly, I wasn't sure it was worth training three idiots and one average guy. As far as wanting me to help reform their nation to be friendly towards both Nonhuman and Humans alike…I wasn't bothered by helping with that in the slightest. Personally, I wanted to help the nonhuman population here because they really needed a powerful ally in their corner if they were going to thrive.

"Very well, I will accept the position and begin implementing changes once the Church is gone. To be clear, in my territory, slavery will be outlawed aside from Criminal Slaves. Of those Criminal Slaves, most of them will be able to earn their freedom though violent offenders are slaves for life.", I told her, "The laws of Melromarc will be equally applied to all races, with absolutely no exceptions. Any nobles found to be using their position of authority to sway the law will be executed immediately and their assets forfeited."

"I…I understand.", she said blinking her eyes a few times, "I am not sure how the nobility will react to such an abrupt change. You may run into opposition among the nobles, and even have some that will resist."

"They will learn to accept it or find themselves removed from power and life, it's that simple.", I replied with a smirk, "I am sure your husband mentioned that I am also a King, that is how I run my nation. In my country, I rule with a rule a firm and caring hand. My nobles are held to the highest standards and I hold monthly meetings where my people are free to voice their issues to me without fear of retribution. This keeps nobles honest and working for the people, and my subjects happy and protected as their concerns are taken seriously."

"K…King!?", she gasped turning to her husband, "You didn't tell me he was already a King!!'

Remembering that he had been told that previously, the King scratched his head and apologized for forgetting that part. Letting out a groan, she apologized profusely to me for insulting me with a lesser post than I already had. Assuring her that it was fine, I opened a portal to the Special Zone and gave her an overview of my territory.

Showing the four of them the results of four hundred years of work, they were all dumbfounded by what they saw. Seeing sprawling villages and towns full of life, Melty and Mirellia were shocked to see so many different races living in relative harmony together.

"My word!! This is your nation!?", Mirellia gulped, "As I zoomed out, it is almost the size of Melromarc!"

"Technically it's bigger than Melromarc actually, we have extensive underground regions that are home to many more people.", I told her with a smile, "In total, we currently have several million people living in my nation. According to our census records, our nation's population will likely double in about five years."

"Double!?", the King gasped.

"Yes, this is due to excellent crop yields, low taxes, and a solid military presence.", I exaggerated, "I have a standing army of around two million soldiers with another million in reserves. Just to list off a few of our military assets, we have twenty thousand Wyvern Knights, twenty thousand Griffon Knights, forty thousand Siege Mages, one hundred thousand Dragoon Knights, and several hundred Dragon Knights. As it stands, none of our neighbors want to engage in war with us."

"Haha…", the Queen laughed before fainting into her husband's arms, "Did you hear that…two million with one million in reserves."

Combined with my overwhelming power, I realized that I might have gone a bit overboard listing my military assets. Giving the Queen some time to recover from her mental overload, I eventually went over a few other changes I wanted to implement in Melromarc.