Chapter 134: Rich Autumn (2)

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I no longer had anything left to do after the blueprint for the dungeon was completed.

Even if I wanted to start working on my dungeon, I have to receive funding from Sitri first. Adding to this, the Crescent Alliance’s war has to come to an end before Sitri can move her money around. Therefore, I basically have a lot of free time until the war ends.

I frequently communicated with Sitri through magic orbs. According to her, the battle was going in a very favorable direction for the Demon Lord army. However, there was an incorrigible issue that the Crescent Alliance couldn’t fix. Apparently, they were severely lacking in provisions. 

– We’ve finally gathered, but every legion is acting on their own.

The image of Sitri displayed in the magic orb pouted. The number of supplies that 10,000 monsters consumed regularly was actually immense, so the provisions the 6th legion had gathered until now bottomed out almost instantly.

– Those slippery humans keep running away whenever we try to fight them too……Grr!

If an army of monsters wants to acquire food, then a large battle is necessary. The human corpses that appear as a result of battles are immediately used as monster food, after all. Naturally, the humans know about this as well. The human army would do their best to avoid big confrontations with the Demon Lord army and force prolonged battles.

A rather unpleasant scenario was playing out for the Crescent Alliance.

The human army confiscated the farm areas around them indiscriminately as they slowly drew the line of battle back. They would chase farmers away since a swarm of a hundred thousand monsters was approaching. They would give some pocket change to a few of the farmers as they obviously pillaged their supplies.

It was somewhat okay for the people who received some compensation, but the number of people who received absolutely nothing and had everything taken from them was countless. They say that the human army even burned the villages down.

“Cheongya tactic, huh.”

– Huh……? Clear field tactic? What’s that?

I see. The term Cheongya tactic doesn’t exist in this world. Usually, the words I use are automatically translated before being transmitted to other people, but there are times like this where the system would translate the words literally. I explained to Sitri what Cheongya tactic was.(TL Note: Cheongya tactic is basically scorched-earth policy.)

Sitri furrowed her brows after she listened to my explanation.

– Eeh? Then what are they going to do about their people later?

“It is fundamentally a tactic that does not think about the future. It is that effective, after all. ……Human rulers are different from us Demon Lords. They cannot feel the emotions of their own people, so they naturally are that much lacking when it comes to being considerate to their own kind.”

Despite saying this, I personally thought it was a rather good idea. 

For starters, not only does this get rid of things that could potentially be eaten by monsters, but it also increases their own food supply. What’s important here is what excuse you give in order to steal the food that the farmers had shed tears and blood to harvest. The Demon Lord army has invaded, a massive army of monsters is approaching……there is no excuse stronger than this.

‘No, that’s not all.’

A couple of schemes came to mind as well.

If I were a leading member of the human army……then I would treat morale as one of the most important things to maintain. The man named Dantalian had ruthlessly poisoned everything during the ceremonial speeches. There is probably a lot of tension between soldiers and officers right now. What can they do to subdue the flames within their army?

It’s simple. They just have to enforce an ‘accomplice’ mentality.

They’ll let their soldiers pillage villages as much as they want. Their soldiers are poor, so they would participate in the pillaging fervently. They would feel an immediate satisfaction after filling their famished stomachs, however, what about afterward? Could they blame the nobles without feeling any sort of guilt themselves……?

They stole from other people so that they could survive. The soldiers were the same as the nobles in that regard. They still couldn’t trust the nobles, but, at the very least, this would make it difficult for them to openly complain. This should be able to temporarily prevent morale from dropping to the point of creating mutinies. 

Going beyond this.

‘If it were me, then I would distribute black herbs to the villagers who got pillaged.’

During the last harvest season, the human nations did everything they could to cultivate black herbs. The harvest wasn’t even nearly enough to save their entire nations, but they had enough to at least treat their soldiers. They should have some excess left right now. I would use those now.

If villages are pillaged by soldiers, then the villagers would naturally blame the person in charge. The rulers could show mercy at that moment and distribute black herbs to the villagers. Not only would they be able to compensate them to a certain degree, but the rulers would also be able to keep up their image.

What would happen then? The soldiers won’t be able to trust the noble officers, but they would at least trust in their merciful rulers……this should become the general consensus. The soldiers won’t work as hard as they once had unless it’s a direct order from their ruler. Thus, the ruler would naturally gain more sovereign power.

If you take into consideration the army as a whole, then losing the trust between the commander and the common soldiers would be incredibly detrimental. However, if the ruler knows how to look into the distant future during a difficult situation like this……then they would realize that this crisis could also be an opportunity.

The nobles aren’t idiots either. They’ll immediately piece things together if their rulers start doing something like this. Therefore, the only rulers who can accomplish this are those who are confident in their ability to go head-to-head with nobles.

Which nation’s leader will use this method? Which nation is strong enough to take this gamble? There was a need to keep an eye on the war while keeping these facts in mind. 

How interesting. I personally think highly of Henrietta from the Kingdom of Brittany and Elizabeth from the Habsburg Empire. They might show their class during this war. They were the two supreme rulers of the continent in <Dungeon Attack>. Who will take the lead here……?

Now then, how should I behave?

I decided to leak some information to Sitri.

“Miss Sitri, there is a chance that the human army intends to give up on the northern region of Habsburg, no, the entire central region.”

– Huh? What are you talking about?

“If their goal is to only exhaust your provisions, then there would be no need to set villages on fire. Monsters do not require villages. They are a type of species that prefer to live outdoors. And yet, they set villages ablaze……. This means they are trying to destroy the land so that it cannot function as a rulable domain.”

Imperial Princess Elizabeth loves her people. She will use all sorts of cruel methods if necessary, but she will always be gentle on the inside. This is an era where it’s natural to slay your own kin for the sake of authority; however, the fact that she laments over killing her one little brother to this extent makes Elizabeth von Habsburg’s personality clear.

There’s no way that the imperial princess would destroy her own land for no reason. There’s no way that she would approve of this. Therefore, this means that the imperial princess has already given up on the northern and central regions of Habsburg. After handing half of Habsburg over to the Crescent Alliance, she most likely intends to reform her empire in the south.

“A final line of defense is most likely being prepared in the southern region of Habsburg right now. I assume they are going to make their final stand there. At the earliest, this autumn. At the latest, during the winter……. The Crescent Alliance will receive a large-scale counterattack around this time.”

It becomes easier for other nations to send reinforcements the further down the human army retreats. As the human army continues to retreat further south, they will eventually join forces with the reinforcements sent by the other nations. I don’t know how many people will gather. How am I supposed to know the population of this era?

– Hmm? But Dantalian, if you’re right……wouldn’t the humans want to defend in a siege instead of trying to retaliate? The capital of the Habsburg Empire is like an impregnable fortress. If they shut themselves inside and defend for a couple of years, then we would have no choice but to give up on Habsburg.”

“Ah, they cannot do that.”

I shook my head.

“They do not have enough food.”

– Eh, food?

Sitri tilted her head.

– But it’ll be autumn soon…….

“Even if autumn is approaching, they need people to do the harvesting. Not only has the Black Death mercilessly decimated their population, but all of the healthy men were also drafted into the military. Their farms are severely lacking in manpower. I guarantee you that the humans will face a serious shortage of food soon.”

I smiled.

“Thus, they will have no other choice but to fight back at their final line of defense. They will probably try to turn the tide in a single moment. Well, it does not matter either way……. Miss Sitri, you must leave the war as soon as possible.”

– Huh?

Sitri must’ve been struggling to follow along as she was almost on the brink of tears. How cute. I felt strangely sympathetic, so I kindly gave her an explanation.

“Think about it. The human army will not care about their own well-being as they fight back desperately. Will the other Demon Lords also fight actively when they realize this?”

There are extremely few Demon Lords who actually want the Crescent Alliance’s expedition to succeed. At most, it’s only the Demon Lords from the Plains Faction and a few war fanatics who are confident in their ability to fight against high-ranking Demon Lords. The rest only want to fight to a reasonable degree.

The 8th Crescent Alliance has already accomplished a reasonable amount.

“Everyone will keep their hands behind their backs as they wait for someone else to take the hit first. No. They want to receive a certain amount of harm. They need to have losses if they want to use something as an excuse to leave the Crescent Alliance, after all.”

They will then emphasize all of the feats they had accomplished as they try to take some land for themselves.

“You will only incur more losses the longer you are there.”

– Uh……Sorry. I don’t get it. What am I supposed to do?

“Your honesty is your strong point, Sitri.”

I smiled brightly.

“Simply fight with any human army. Incur a certain amount of losses from them. If possible, you should try to make the battle flashy. ……That’s right, getting encircled should be good enough. If you experience this type of battle, then you should be able to leave the Crescent Alliance first.”

– Okay. Get encircled, right?

“You have to incur a reasonable amount of losses. A reasonable amount.”

– All right!

Sitri nodded energetically. She clenched her fists as if she were declaring that she would definitely carry out my plan. Her enthusiasm was pleasant to see. I can feel reassured if Sitri’s side is intact. They are allied forces, after all.

This was the only thing of interest that happened.

I spent my days relaxing, completely detached from the Crescent Alliance. There was nothing to do, so it seemed like I would spend some heated nights with Laura again, but Laura protested greatly here. She claimed that I was only having obscene thoughts because I spend most of my time in a cave.

“Go outside and do some farming! Maybe you will not have the strength left for intercourse if you go out and let out some sweat.”

“I dislike moving my body, though…….”

“Lord, do you want this young lady to hang herself?”

Laura asked that in a completely serious tone. It really sounded like she was going to hang herself, so I had no other choice but to go outside. I had a vacation home built in Parsi’s village and spent my summer there.

I received a separate field and cultivated it. I decided to take some monsters and made them swing some pickaxes, but it turned out to be a lot more effective than expected. The other farmers were in awe as they watched the never-before-seen monster-farmer hybrid with their mouths agape.

“A task that usually takes 6 people is being done by a single monster!”

“Y-Your Highness, if you have some extra manpower, then could you lend our family one…….”

“Hey! You disrespectful chaps.”

But the monsters were the only ones that were impressive.

Parsi taught me how to farm, but he would snort every time he saw me swing a hoe.

“You’re pretty crap when it comes to using your body, huh?”

“…….”

According to Parsi, I was apparently more inefficient than a 12-year-old child. Damn it.

However, efficiency wasn’t an issue. Surprisingly, the villagers were incredibly moved when they saw me doing fieldwork despite basically being their lord. The villagers, who once had a hard time approaching me, were gradually opening up to me now.

“Dear me, Your Highness Demon Lord. Are you going out now?”

“That is right.”

“Have you had breakfast? How about having lunch with us humble ones later? My wife is actually quite the professional when it comes to baking.”

Whenever I went out to the field at dawn, I would receive courteous but affectionate greetings from the other farmers. I don’t know how to put it, but it gave me a strange feeling.

Watching the grains of wheat grow steadily made all the desperate running around I had done feel pointless. What was so important that I had to crawl around like that? ……Is this the world that farmers see?

The summer passed like this.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. From territory management simulator to dungeon management simulator and now to farming simulator. Dant is quite the talented fellow. Although these parts are interesting, I do wonder when things will start to ramp up again like during the war. It’s definitely a lot more exciting to translate those parts.

Nothing much else to say, so I’ll see you guys in the next chapter.